I've noticed there are some folks writing at length here on their experiences playing games, so this felt like a good place to ask. Do you take notes as you play, and/or after each session, then write out full thoughts upon completing a game?
Or are your reflections compiled only after finishing a game, no notes?
I've dabbled with different approaches, and haven't really settled on a consistent process personally.
I keep a gaming journal, but it’s only for thoughts afterward. I keep it much simpler than I used to, as there’s a point where writing at length becomes work, and gaming shouldn’t be work. That’s the same reason I don’t keep a backlog. In my longer posts here and elsewhere, it tends to just be stream-of-consciousness writing derived from those journals entries, just cleaned up a little bit.
As for note-taking, I will almost never take notes on opinion/criticism during a play. Pretty sure that again, it’d feel like work if I took notes. I also rarely write about games I don’t finish unless I’ve played most of them (I tend to bounce off a lot of games lately). Other than that, my journal has the occasional random thought on larger industry trends, or a quick sort, like a toplist or the latest tier-making meme I saw. It’s interesting to see how my tastes change over the years.
What games would you suggest that have LAN support these days?
While PC may be one's first thought here, I'd also be really interested in any mobile games that might leverage one's local wifi network for multiplayer.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the obvious suggestion at the moment. That and Civ 5 are both good if your group wants something at a slower pace. For a FPS, I highly recommend Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Your players might be surprised at how good it feels even today.
StarCraft is a solid pick if you’ll have an audience.