#fortunestreet

I spent today unexpectedly packing to move tomorrow morning. Busy week! Continuing the trend of filler content during this unfortunately busy string of weeks, here are some suggestions for video games to play with all the time you're not spending reading insightful, thought-out economic analysis. One for each system, to have something for everyone.

PC: Devil May Cry (yeah, the new one) I adore this game. The story and dialogue are the perfect kind of stupid, in a modern way that incorporates some of the metal attitude of prior DMCs while making the characters likeable and smooth. The weapons aren't quite as crazy as the older games (nothing will beat Nevan from DMC3, the lightning guitar with a power slide special attack) but the combat system is beautiful, switching into "angel" and "demon" modes with the triggers to use different weapons and modify a few skills. Like the best of combat systems, it's original and organic, feeling bizarre at first but like second nature after you've learned it. I recommend this on PC because it is gorgeous on anything. My computer runs Far Cry 3 with medium settings at approximately 15-20 frames per second. The last time I checked the framerate DmC could run at on Ultra, it was at least 120. That said, bring a damn controller because there's no way you will understand the control system without it.

Xbox 360: Syndicate Syndicate is old enough that you can get it for basically nothing, and somehow nobody else is on to the secret that this is one of the best shooters of the last few years. The gun mechanics and variety are pretty solid on their own, but the cyber-powers that let you manipulate the state of the battlefield add an edge of tactics that puts this over the top for me. As I've gotten tired of most conventional shooters, this one has stuck in my mind longer than most.

PS3: XCOM: Enemy Unknown The obvious answer is The Last of Us, but if you own a PS3 you already either own that game or feel deep shame because you don't. So, because it's free on PS Plus, I suggest to you XCOM. I would normally suggest a tactical game like this only on PC, but the first time I demoed this game was on the 360 version and the game is very well optimized for a controller. A sci-fi Fire Emblem with tech trees and plasma rifles, arguably the best game of last year, basically free. What's not to love?

Vita: Virtue's Last Reward You really should play 999 on the DS before jumping into this sequel, but this series is comprised of the most beautiful, intricate adventure-puzzle visual novels you can find. The discovery of new details about your surroundings and the way your world works is most of the fun of this game, so I can't really tell you anything about it, except that it is much the same flavor of perfectly interlaced meta genius as 999. And that it's also free if you have PS Plus.

Wii: Fortune Street As both an economist and a Dragon Quest fan I am basically required to like this, which is basically Monopoly made like Mario Party if you replaced all of the minigames with a stock market and made the cast look like it was made for a Mario vs Dragon Quest fighting game. Find a group of friends who won't find it crushingly boring and you have discovered true happiness. Also, you should invite me to join them.

3DS: Animal Crossing: New Leaf I could make a lot of arguments for this zen exercise in capitalism and town building to get you to buy this and play it, but really I just want to sell my fruit in your town for more Bells.

iOS: Dead Ahead Infinite runners are legion on this platform, but Chillingo's recent addition is one of the best, despite being about zombies. You're riding on a motorcycle avoiding obstacles ahead of you and gunning down or outrunning the zombies chasing after you until you slip on one of those aspects and die. The objective-based progression system is stolen well from Jetpack Joyride, and the risk/reward aspect of being able to speed yourself up anytime you like makes it more dynamic and less droning than most infinite runners. Plus, if you're okay with a few ads and average-speed progression, it's totally free!

Android: The Room While the full game is locked to iPad in its iOS incarnation, the Android marketplace has no such restrictions, which lets anyone's phone (that doesn't crack under the processing requirements) play this beautiful, mildly eerie puzzle game. There isn't much setup: a mysterious box is bequeathed to you that contains many other mysterious boxes which you meticulously crack open in your unsettlingly still attic. This probably isn't meant to be terribly scary but I can't help but be unnerved. The puzzles are pretty excellent, too, though they involve perhaps too many unexplained contextual swiping motions.