Dino Dini's Kick Off Revival can't be recommended. It doesn't even feel barebones; instead, it feels like basic gameplay elements stacked on top of one another. Everything is messy, incomplete and generally broken, and it's hard to tell if it is supposed to be this way, or if everything is just poorly designed. When all is said and done, though, this is just a bad game, and there's no other way to put it.
The shame of it all rests in that Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers isn't broken. It functions perfectly fine. This means that it was developed in such a way that it was left a bland, emotionless husk of what it was trying to imitate. For a game without microtransactions, it manages to feel like a tremendous cash grab. While it's easy to say any game was made with love in it, this feels like it was terribly misplaced.
Hyposphere could have some interesting ideas somewhere, but good luck finding them. As it stands, it's a series of metaphysical questions better left unasked. Even if the game worked as frequently as it should, it gives way to boring design that never feels like anything other than the designer bragging about how deep they are.
Euclidean features all the inspiration and creativity that indie games are known for. It simply lacks the execution to be more than frustrating. Between the very slow pace of the incredibly short levels that kill the player pretty much consistently, or the fact that collision doesn't work correctly and the player can drift through other objects, there's plenty wrong with the title. There's also just not enough content to talk about in any real depth, and that's just one more unfortunate nail driven in the coffin of Euclidean.
Super Wiloo Demake is a game that begs the question: "who is this for? Children should avoid it, lest they be turned off to platformers forever. Platform enthusiasts should turn away for the same reason. So who does that leave, trophy hunters? Might want to pick up My Name is Mayo instead - at least it has some humour. This is some of the worst Ratalaika has put out there, and that's saying something.
Garden Tale could have been an enjoyable, if not wholly unremarkable, title, but with its poor writing, its terrible combat, and worst of all, its mostly pointless gimmick, this results in a bad game. Perhaps you'll be able to find a reason to soldier to the end, but in all honesty, it's probably easier to find something else to play. In a genre filled with so many lovely titles, Garden Tale just feels like it's trying too hard and falling every couple of feet.
Xenia may have the heart, but it feels more like a student project than a fully fleshed out title. It lacks polish in every area, even to the point where it goes from feeling charming for it and moves right over into being annoying. It still manages to function as a game, though, and for that, it may be worth a bit of your time if this sort of game peaks your interest.
Fourtex Jugo works well enough, but that doesn't resolve its problems. Everything here runs the gambit between lifeless and annoying; there's no rhyme or reason to how the game functions, and nothing that does make sense is engaging. This seems all too happy to make the player feel stupid, and comes off like the arrogant jerk telling everyone how cool he is.
Sometimes, what makes a game exciting is lost in translation. Difficulty can, but if it's handled poorly, it leads to something feeling broken instead of feeling fun. Just Hero feels broken, though some gamers may be able to view it for what it is: a small experience. Still, even a small experience should feel intact, and this just never does.
Ping Pong Trick Shot only wins points because it manages to function as an application. Beyond that, the gameplay is just an exhausted mini-game that doesn't even function well most of the time. The list of improvements needed to bring this to a passable application are numerous, suffice it to say, it would be advised to pass this one up.
Twin Robots takes a fairly unique idea, some rather bland window trimming, and then pelts the player with a lot of bad decisions. This is the videogame equivalent of "Why are you punching yourself?" Worse yet, it feels unpolished, with its poor ledge collision and the robots' ability to fling boxes, and each other, just by running into them. In an already crowded sub-genre of an already crowded main genre, Twin Robots is just too short on its execution to be memorable for very long at all.
There doesn't seem to be anything that makes Energy Cycle feel like a necessary entry into the puzzle genre. Even for fans of the core mechanic, there are plenty of alternatives in existence that look and play a lot better. Energy Cycle is, in truth, less barebones and more chalk outline, and doesn't add much more to the mechanic than a shining example of how not to do it.
The Town of Life gets credit for being willing to tackle a tough subject matter head on, and in such an honest way. It never concedes to being entertaining, so the player won't feel uncomfortable. It's a shame, then, that it's so difficult to follow the story and the few puzzles are so abstract. The real killing blows are the atrocious technical hiccups, though, and all of this mars a truly one-of-a-kind experience into a twisted shell of what it could have been.
The Complex is a decent story that feels bigger than it could be. While some choices feel very weighty, they are few and far between, leaving a lot of inconsequential decisions in between. Honestly, it may have worked if the experience was a bit shorter - sure, a common complaint has been it is too short, but maybe it would actually benefit from being trimmed a bit. As it stands, it feels like whatever ending you got the first time through, everything else is just "what if" scenarios that don't really matter.
At the end of the day, Super Box Land Demake would still be a passable first title for an inexperienced gamer.
Alteric fails to tick any of the boxes that make such a platformer fun.
36 Fragments of Midnight is over far too quickly, and the limited number of traps means players will likely see everything there is too see before an hour has passed. Perhaps for a child or a new gamer, this would be an enjoyable introduction. However, gamers have become used to platformers offering a wealth of content, and that's not what will be found here. Instead, this is the trimmings, the parts of the turkey thrown from the table to the dog without much care. The worst part? It sets up this awful joke. Ready? 36 Fragments of Midnight? More like 36 Minutes of Game! No, that won't do at all…
Catacombs 1: Demon War feels as dated as many of the games it is inspired by. It also feels unpolished, and as if many of the mechanics are just being tested out. This series could be the homage to early RPGs fans of the genre have been waiting for, though, and despite the low score, this should not be considered dead in the water.
It's hard to recommend Don't Disturb, because there seems to be a severe lack of content; content that is either broken or excellent. The beautiful world is realised just fine, but the issues that soon appear bog the experience down. The short play time means that getting around the one-chance puzzles and irritating save system is much easier, but is that trade-off worth it? Still, for those who find the beauty in the rubble, it will at least feel like a short time well spent.
Pixel Paint is a tool only the experienced should really consider. The lesson it teaches is to work within confined limitations. Unfortunately, newcomers to pixel art will likely find themselves spending more time trying to interact with the app than actually creating their masterpieces. Perhaps it shouldn't be as simple as drag and drop, but it should feel a lot more fluid than it does here.