An Englishman's Home: Mysterious Castle

It's Christmas eve's eve, which is cause for some excitement, surely? What better way to celebrate the imminence of gift-exchange than to accept this freebie from me? More accurately, it's from Jeremy Jurksztowicz, the chap who made it. Going by the name Mysterious Castle, Jeremy's game is a graphical blend of roguelike and turn-based tactical combat. There are loads of exciting plans for the future, including random quests and defined lair-like areas, but it's already a fine piece of work, with a simple and convenient party system and plenty of monsters to biff. Download it for free, right here.

Jeremy claims that as he continues to work on the game he may begin to charge for it, but always on a pay what you want/can basis, with a minimum buy-in of nothing at all. That is very much demonstrative of the spirit of sharing. I shall certainly be following the game's progress but I must stress that doesn't mean it's not worth grabbing now. I hope it will become bigger and better but it is more than capable of providing plenty of fun times as it is.

What further gifts await from family and friends? Maybe you're like me, unable to stop yourself from giddily running around, shaking every box that you can find to try and ascertain what's inside. I'm in quite a state. I was rattling what I thought might be a brand new boardgame this morning, only for a terrible crunching to emerge from within. Had I broken some fragile objet d'art intended for my mantelpiece? Turned out it was a box of cornflakes. Always check for Christmas-themed wrapping before making gift-related assumptions is the lesson you should take from that.