If you are looking for an interesting top-down shooter with some fresh mechanics, something with a pen-and-paper art aesthetic, or you just have a soft spot for a good, old-fashioned western, 12 Is Better Than 6 is a good title to consider. It's mix of face reaction with stealth setup can turn the tides from calculating to chaotic at any moment, keeping you on your toes.
Claybook puts the players into a world of clay creation and imagination to solve puzzles while getting your hands dirty. Its vibrant, whimsical colors and designs evoke a child-like wonder for creation over the course of its twenty levels, but it falls short by gating content behind an ambiguous rating system.
Capturing the essence of the 1991 classic, HumaNature Studios hits all of the right notes with ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove. With nine playable characters, light RPG progression, online co-operative gameplay, and a whole lot of funk, the latest entry into the ToeJam & Earl franchise rests solidly in the pocket where it is meant to be.
RIOT: Civil Unrest seeks to share both sides of global events of upheaval. While it is presented in masterfully crafter low fidelity pixel art, the controls on the Nintendo Switch are simply lacking in the care and finesse the rest of the game shows. If you are going to check it out, we would highly recommend the PC platform over the Switch.
Lonely In The Winter is a turn-based JPRG that falls a bit short of where it could be. With poorly optimized moments which cause frame rates to tank and a story that feels inconclusive, it feels like an Early Access title more than a completed project. That being said, the story does have some potential if it were fleshed out more. If you are looking for a JRPG, but want to be limitedly invested, Lonely In The Winter is not a bad evening distraction.
If you are looking for an uncensored, no punches pulled platformer with a healthy heap one-liners and fast flying bullets, Rad Rodgers: Radical Edition may just be your on-the-go ticket to the past. Be forewarned: it is a trippy ride with some bumps along the way. However, some experiences from the past are worth revisiting in all of their awkwardness and discomfort. They may just remind us how much we have grown… or how much we still love a good fart joke.
OlliOlli: Switch Stance is a 2D skateboarding simulator that refuses to lie to its players. You will struggle and you will experience pain. It is going to be difficult, but if you can pull it off, it can be incredibly satisfying… even if the execution of such tricks involved a healthy heaping of dumb luck and/or divine intervention.
Melbits World is a charming puzzle-solver for party-time. With the power of PlayLink, you will overcome obstacles with up to three friends by using cell phones and tablets to control bridges, boxes, barriers, and beyond.
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is a brightly colored exercise in balancing creativity and gleeful devastation. You get to choose how your patrons get from one end of a course to another by choosing the most elaborate or elaborately janky means to achieve your goal. For the adventurous parents who want to build with their kids, When Ski Lifts Go Wrong does have a gore filter to keep the bloody mayhem at a minimum.
If you are looking for a game that will constantly have you asking yourself what you just experienced, Pikuniku may just be what you are looking for. The main story can take you anywhere from 3 - 5 hours along with nine co-operative levels, trophies to discover, and achievements to unlock. Pikuniku is a truly delightful fever-dream on two spindly legs.
Bladed Fury attempts to tell a tale from Chinese legend, but exiles itself into the realm of the unremarkable with several missteps. Combat is not terribly deep and the precision strike system is no implemented well, though the Soul Sliver system adds a unique touch to it. While the sound design encapsulates eastern inspiration, the art design struggles to find footing in one place.
With the emphasis on choice, Sundered give you the opportunity to unlock multiple endings by pursuing the paths of full rejection to full embrace of the darkness. With the extensive map sizes, fast action pace, and high difficulty, Sundered is sure to keep you exploring and fighting for your survival for 10+ hours per play through. It is a satisfying Metroidvania title to close out a year of stellar offerings within the genre.
Matching pixel stylings with the ambient soundscapes of Jim Guthrie makes Swordbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP a wonderfully weird journey with a good balance of action and puzzle-puzzle-solving.
If you are looking for a puzzle-solving adventure that will keep you on your toes, Iris.Fall is well worth your time.
Personally, I am loving my experiences in Appalachia. It has been a great point of connection with friends and family. And that, to me, is almost… not quite, but almost heaven.
Gray Dawn is true to its description of being a psychological thriller with religious elements, but it can't seem to focus in on which religious elements it wants to portray.
It is good for short commutes to and from work and the Nintendo Switch IS both a living room console and a handheld portable. Maybe it will grow on me. But for now, it just leaves me in the Void.
The Bug Butcher feels like Earthworm Jim and Alien Hominid met in an arcade to play Space Invaders and the residual DNA collected from their shared joystick and button usage was used to genetically engineer The Bug Butcher. Its frenetic pace and creative arsenal create a humorously fun experience full of equal parts mirth and mayhem. If you enjoy arcade-style side scrolling shooter, The Bug Butcher needs to be in your go-to rotation.
At its heart, this is a street-level view with a focus on people and their relationship more than the politics of the situation - which is saying something with the amount of historical content found within. It reveals a timeless truth that we would be careful to heed in our heightened cultural climate: the fires of revolution always burn hot, but they are uninhibited in who or what they consume.
Road Redemption is a violent, but wacky successor to the Road Rash franchise born in the 90s. It's an “over-the-top” biker beat'em up that has some buggy moments, but they make for some of the more entertaining points. If you like the pacing of rogue-likes in a beat'em up wrapper, Road Redemption is worth swinging a pipe at.