Before We Leave promises to be "gentle" and "relaxing" city-building game, and it is until you reach its game-breaking bugs. I guess you can't expect the post-apocalypse to be all fun all the time.
GameDec is a point-and-click cyberpunk adventure set in a dystopian world, You make a living by discreetly investigating crimes, mysteries, and transgressions in the vast sea of alternate realities to which most humans retreat. It provides a fun mechanic for dialogue junkies who find joy in solving the big puzzle.
I found Autonauts to be tedious at first, then really fun, then exhausting. It's a fun challenge, but in the end, I just wanted to build a robot to tell all the others what to do so I could sit down and read a book.
Deadcraft has a goofy tone that's reminiscent of the Borderlands series; hyperviolent with a light comedic touch. It's one of those games that finds the fun in treading the line between complete immorality and also trying to do the right thing.
Like the potions you'll mix, The Serpent Rogue is an odd concoction-a mixture of casual open-world play and twitch combat. I definitely prefer the former, but like the joy I felt when finding a successful formula, figuring out a way to crush an enemy after several defeats feels like an accomplishment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find some blueberries.
If you're looking for an endless outer space toy box to play in (and there are options to play without a scenario goal or with unlimited funds), then orbit.industries is a fun diversion. Learn, and fail, and start again on your way to the stars. Just don't forget about the interest rates.
The visuals of Mokoko X are only slightly lurid, and the cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs flavor text doesn't distract from a solid Qix clone with ingenious level design and challenging bosses.
Ikai is a first-person psychological horror game that isn't so much scary as it is confounding. It wastes its effectively chilling setting by simply getting you lost in it. You'll be annoyed more often than frightened, confused more often than entertained.
Gal*Gun Double Peace is an on-rails shooter with light elements of a dating sim. The lightly smutty aspect of the game is unashamedly its big selling point, but if you get into the mechanics of playing it successfully, you can get some solid gaming entertainment out of it.
MacGuffin's Curse is a solid entry into the maze/puzzle genre. It's low-pressure, you can correct your mistakes quickly, and the writing has a cheesy comedic tone that's very chill. And as an entry into the werewolf/jewel thief genre, it's the frontrunner of the year.
Omega Labyrinth Life is a colorful, well-produced roguelike dungeon game with a lot of cheesecake, set in the world of Japanese schoolgirls. The nice part is that you can participate with that aspect of the game to whatever degree you like, and there's a pretty fun game with some decent writing to season it all.
All in all, Senran Kagura Peach Ball feels less like a game than a poorly-crafted joke about anime, porn, and video games.
Paperbound Brawlers was so frantic the first time I played it that I couldn't keep track of the action and quickly switched the game off. I'm glad I came back, though, because things start to click once you get the hang of how to use gravity as a weapon, and you start to see each level in a brand new light. Planning becomes virtually impossible, and you exist simply in the moment. Until a goo bomb kills you, that is.
And at its price point and addictive nature, it's an entirely enjoyable addition to your Switch as a time waster, or if you simply feel the need to yell profanity at your console when you mess up one. Lousy. Flap.
Is this 22-year-old game worth your time? Absolutely.
Challenging without being stressful, She Remembered Caterpillars is an ideal game for shutting out the world and mapping out all the paths to victory.
Almost There: The Platformer takes a stripped-down approach to enemies and level design and adds a twist: while gravity can kill you, it only has limited power over your movement. It subverts the jumping puzzle game and manages to meld it with a fun brainteaser because the designers realize that a real-world motion (the joystick) doesn't have to play by real world rules.
Pet Care is, of course, an inexpensive game intended as a diversion for small children. In the spirit of research, I gave the game to my 4-year-old godchild, who played it intently for a few minutes, and rewarded it with "okay," then going back to watching my very real pet rabbit eat a handful of cilantro (not present in the game).
Pikuniku is an entertaining distraction, a wonderful game world to romp around in. And when you've finished the entire story in a day or three of casual play, you can look forward to restarting it with your inventory intact and exploring all the nooks and crannies to find what you missed before, and going back to finding Ernie, and kick, kick, kicking him back up through the tunnels and back to safety. Tell him I said, “Hi.”
If you're looking for a simple game about jet combat, Sky Gamblers – Afterburner will almost certainly scratch that itch. You don't have to worry about anything other than lining up your shot and not crashing into mountains. I suspect it'll really appeal to those who want to enjoy the multiplayer element where they can take on their friends rather than the simple AI villains who make this game mindless fun.