Overall, Cozy Game Restoration is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a cozy/dad game to relax with. With a tactile feel supported by great animations, realistic graphics, and sound effects, you will be absorbed in the gameplay. With hours of content available, those long days at work will be easily cleaned away.
Overall, Soup Weather, though short, delivers a mental health message worth exploring. Its subtlety, through graphics and audio, is thoughtful and doesn’t deliver a harsh experience while exploring its theme. Its simple gameplay lets you enjoy the narrative, with only a few minigame missteps that, for me, were annoying but didn’t detract from what Soup Weather was really trying to say.
Overall, Penguin Colony is strong in its penguins and their abilities, atmospheric tone, and approach to discovery and storytelling. Some audience members may bounce off this title because of its approach to sharing adventures and understanding the game itself.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is more of what Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun delivered, but with meaningful changes. It has great music and punchy sound effects, a new character to play, and replayability with meaningful accessibility options. Although there are some bugs that can break the flow and be disheartening, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is worth playing if you loved Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun.
Overall, Monuments Renovator was what you would expect from this genre of game. However, no amount of renovating it would sand the edges back to make it recommendable. It felt more like the focus went to where it mattered for a PC game and stopped short of any polishing effort for the console.
I wasn’t expecting much from BrokenLore: DON’T LIE, and I still left disappointed. I can easily blame myself for still not being able to understand what terrifies Japanese culture. But the experience here doesn’t feel complete, and with only a two-hour runtime, it was a blessing that it ended so quickly.
Do you find chaos abhorrent? Mall: Tidy Up Together is a game of unadulterated pleasure: sorting items strewn across the floor back into an orderly form on the shelves. Mall: Tidy Up Together lets me wallow in my own crapulence of satisfaction without the leering eyes of bystanders judging me for thinking I am better than everyone else because I forced order out of chaos.
I strongly recommend The Sinking City 2 to any survival horror genre fan. If you aren’t, it’s still a great game to try thanks to its difficulty options. With thoughtful use of music, sound effects, environment, and lighting, it produces a horror experience that doesn’t lean into the jump-scare trope.
Is the Ultimate Guess Game for everyone? NO. Would I recommend the Ultimate Guess Game? NO.
“Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition” is a game that brings the difficulty of 80s gaming into the now. If you played the original or are looking for an old-school challenge, “Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition” is a game that may give you the shits, but it’ll be up to you to decide if the journey is worth it.
R-Type Delta: HD Boosted is a shoot ‘em up genre for those looking to get that nostalgic hit. Its unforgiving gameplay is only for the hardcore fans of the genre. With updated graphics and newly added music, it certainly deserves the HD boost in its title.
Unfortunately, CLAWPUNK is not for everyone, but if you enjoy hard 80s-style gameplay, you won’t be disappointed. As uncompelling as the gameplay is, CLAWPUNK delivers a graphical explosion with neon flair and great music. With a great variety of cards, enhancing a cat makes customisation and experimentation fun.
Tingus Goose is a bizarre trip into the unknown depths of love and how it can transform you into something you never thought imaginable. If you enjoy idle games, this is certainly one to get, unless, of course, you like playing idle games so as not to get distracted. Either way, Tingus Goose is entertaining in a brain-melting way.
High School Dirty Secrets has an overly sexualised wrapping, but presents an interesting story to discover. With a cliché horror audio, you can become absorbed in the environment, but unfortunately, it has some poor graphical choices that spoil the experience. With a rewarding clue and puzzle loop, it is hampered by excessive backtracking.
Forestike is a good game, but I did not foresee the high level of patience and commitment required to complete it. Though I dream of a missed opportunity in visuals, the sound design was on point. With a mountain of gameplay options to unpack with the Forestriker ability, Forestrike is fun, but you need to weigh up if the heightened difficulty and convoluted story are going to be too frustrating for you, as it was for me.
A lot is going on in Painkiller, which is great and will give many hours of enjoyment. However, I question how long Painkiller will stay relevant in today’s market, especially in the co-op shooter genre. Painkiller has solid mechanics and a sturdy frame in which to build on. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time, but if content doesn’t come out at a pace to keep interest, I fear the player base will dwindle, which would be a shame.
There is a reason Jackbox Games Inc. is on its 11th iteration of party games. Though a particular game may not be to your liking, the fun had trumped overall with beautiful graphics, themed music, and a selection of games that you will find one you love. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 will bring big belly laughs to you, your friends, your family, and your community.
“Once Upon A Katamari” has a familiar gameplay loop that will be either a positive or a negative, depending on how you feel towards the franchise. New additions to the formula, including boosts, customisation, music, and multiplayer, add something refreshing to the package. With difficulty feeling a bit harder, it does impact the cozy, relaxing feeling I had come to expect from the franchise. Although it’s not so hard that it becomes a deal breaker, it is something that needs to be considered when you sit down to play. Overall, “Once Upon A Katamari” rolls above its weight and is a fun game. Whether you are new or old to the franchise, you will have a ball of a time.
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap maintains its core gameplay loop while taking smart, innovative steps to evolve its formula. The introduction of the rougelite element was that perfect step to keeping it fresh. While some elements are yet to evolve, such as humour and user interface interaction, these don’t take away from the fun of the Orc killing carnage. With four-player co-op, it’s a great time to join in with some friends and protect the Human World from the Horde.
So, has my anticipation been met? Yes, yes, it has. Although the lengthy grind and tiresome comedy didn’t appeal to me, as a whole, Stick it to the Stickman is great. With its fast-paced action, poppy graphics, thoughtful audio, and massive replayability, Stick it to the Stickman is another hit for developer Free Lives and publisher Devolver Digital.