Its simplicity is its strength, focusing on the action first and foremost and using those limited toolsets to approach each flame. An impressive approach to difficulty and an appropriate amount of mystery puts this game into a neat package that is approachable and as challenging as you'd prefer. Nuclear Blaze is short, sweet, and definitely worth a look.
Teslagrad Remastered is an accomplished 2D platformer with a unique magnetic-based ability that shines while traversing the tower and being a puzzle-solving tool. Though the boss battles sometimes feel a little less tight an experience, that's a small blemish on an otherwise fantastic gameplay experience. With a fresh coat of paint and sharing the same price point as the original, this is an easy recommendation for those who enjoy older feeling indie platforms or as a primer to Teslagrad 2.
Fae Farm is a game where the developers have successfully streamlined the more tedious pieces of farming, chores, dungeon crawling, quest completion, and exploration so the player can quickly dive into the features and figure out their sim life rhythm. The sheer number of things to do keeps the experience fresh and for the most part limits the tedium that this genre can be guilty of. Beyond the glaring technical issues, Fae Farm has a lot to offer for both new and experienced players of the farm sim if you can forgive it.
The slower paced gameplay won me over as I learned to use that limited toolset to outright embarrass the other teams. The rogue like campaign, as threadbare as it is, does give the game a sense of longevity that's sorely needed. You'll be in for a fun time, if not for a long time.
Terror of Hemasaurus is a great "remember when?" kind of game. The way most good indies do, it takes that foundational experience of an underserved genre and tries to flesh out the experience to make it more substantive while retaining the good feelings from playing its inspiration. But with limited gameplay options and a game which can't handle more than one person on screen, this'll be relegated to the "fun if you like this kind of game" category.
While it wears the inspiration on their sleeve, Freedom Planet 2 struck out to build something grander in scale with a panache I have respect for. Even if the ambitions to make a play-your-way experience ends up flattening the experience a bit, it's a minor quibble to my overall positive impression of the experience. Freedom Planet 2 accomplishes the most important test – it is FUN, and the extensive character and environmental diversity makes this adventure a worthy one.
Panic Barn wears their beliefs on their sleeve, and that perspective informs the story in a way that makes it impossible to divorce their worldview from how they've envisioned our lives. With that caveat, if you give it a chance, Not Tonight 2 is an expansion of the original into a much more multilayered game with depth that makes for a more fulfilling experience. Coupling that with a tried-and-true queue management core and a cross country road trip makes for a game that is a big step above its predecessor.