You can control Brightstone Mysteries: Paranormal Hotel either by the touchscreen or the joy-cons. I played the game using both control systems and they both work well. My personal preference after trying both controls was to use the touchscreen controls and these I found to be intuitive and responsive. While the story is quite intriguing and some of the puzzles can be a little challenging to complete you won’t find anything new to the genre in Brightstone Mysteries Paranormal Hotel. That’s not to say that it should be overlooked as it does offer a decent puzzle game for fans of the genre to pass a few hours of time with.
Mittelborg: City of Mages has a pretty interesting premise, it’s a real pity that that is all it is. It plays like a straight port from pc or mobile. What art there is in the game looks well, I just wish there was more of it instead of a static image of the city. The translation of the text needs work to help the game story along and help to make it more interesting for the player. There are bigger and better simulation, strategy games to choose from on the eShop sadly this isn’t one of them.
Kingdom Rush is very well balanced, charming and with enough difficulty in it to even keep the veterans of Tower Defence games coming back for more. And with the extra modes and challenges Kingdom Rush offers the player a lot of content for replayability. Kingdom Rush is a classic example of tower defense, it combines elements of old and new and brings it to the Nintendo Switch as a very fluid battle simulator. Really, if you’re looking for a solid, amusing and satisfying Tower Defense game you should pick this one up.
Wreckin’ Ball Adventure is a simple and straightforward title that provides entertainment for only a few pounds in the eShop. I think it would make a great game to play with the family, its easy enough for children to be able to pick it up and play. Even if you can only play Wreckin’ Ball Adventures in single player, you will find this a decent puzzle game to while away a few hours on.
Locomotion is a very well crafted puzzle game. Packed full with humour and it’s very enjoyable to solve puzzles that really do leave you with a sense of accomplishment upon completing them. You can see the love developers Polyfox have put into their game as you play through it and they should be proud they have made such a cute, enjoyable experience for the player. Locomotion is priced very reasonably in the eShop and I see no reason whatsoever not to roll this super entertaining puzzle game on to your Nintendo Switch to let of some steam with Locomotion. That leaves me only one thing to say, my score for Locomotion is…. a choo choo fantastic…
Though this Paper Mario: The Origami King isn’t an RPG, and more of an Adventure game it is still a brilliant game. It is a game full to the brim with delightful writing, lots of humour, bright vibrant colours, old faithful characters and laugh out loud moments for the player. While it follows the Paper Mario formula in some aspects, it does more to re-imagine the series then not. Paper Mario: The Origami King is a worthy contender in the Paper Mario series, and is the perfect game to immerse yourself in for a wonderful crumpled, creased and folded adventure.
I have really enjoyed playing Conjurer Andy’s Repeatable Dungeon for this review and I will continue to play the game as I’m no where near the end of the dungeons. In fact, when writing the review, having to check something in the game, I found it extremely hard to set the game aside to continue writing. I love ‘the push your luck’ mechanics in the game and having to decide if I should risk one more floor of the dungeon when my team is low on HP. Yes, there is repetitive gameplay but it’s not the sort of game that is meant to be played for hours on end. It’s a fantastic quick fix game, the sort you would play in between something more heavy. Conjurer Andy’s Repeatable Dungeon should have pride and place on everyones Nintendo Switch.
For The House of Da Vinci 2 I feel that the developers Blue Brain Games have certainly improved on the game from its first outing. Though I didn’t actually count the number of puzzles in this game (who would?) it felt like there where more puzzles to solve. And it didn’t feel as much like a clone of The Room game as the first House of Da Vinci game did to me. All in all if you like The Room games, do yourself a favour and try out both the House of Da Vinci games. I’m sure you will find them fun and enjoyable with many fulfilling puzzles to puzzle over. One last word of advice: don’t be like Paula….remember to use the Oculus Perpetua!
I’m slightly disappointed in The Great Perhaps. The game expands no further on Kosmos’ feelings that lead to his declaration at the start of the game of not wanting to live. I think it’s a missed opportunity. The non-responsive controls when switching off the lantern can quickly turn into a very frustrating experience, while watching Kosmos die through no fault of your own. The story, while interesting, comes to an abrupt halt at the end of the 3 hours or so it takes to complete the game. I guess that leaving the story on a cliffhanger at the end leaves the door open for a Great Perhaps 2. We shall have to wait and see on that one.
The Forgotten Land is an enjoyable game, though there isn’t anything new as such in the gameplay that we haven’t seen before. However, that does not make it a bad game by any means, sometimes staying with a tried and tested formula is a good way to go. I liked the variety of different games, such as the card game that I wasn’t expecting to play in a match 3/strategy game, and I think it was a great idea to include them to break up the play a little and stop the dreaded repetitive feeling setting in that can happen in other games of this genre.
Railway Empire is a deep, engrossing simulation strategy game. Once you get the hang of the controls and the finer points of running a mega railway empire, you’ll spend many hours playing with trains. For train enthusiasts this is the game you need and for those of us that are looking for their next strategy simulation hit then look no further than Railway Empire! That only leaves me with one thing to say before I rush off to carry on building my vast rail empire across the UK and transport some much needed meat to those hungry folk in Kilkenny, my score is Two Thumbs Up.
If you’re a first timer to the series or revisiting the ages of Myst again, this edition on the Nintendo Switch is definitely worth a replay or a first time visit to Myst. And with the added bonus of the Switch’s portability, you can take it with you where ever you go. If you have never played Myst, well, now is your opportunity to delve into the mystical and mysterious world of Myst. This is still a great game to play if you love exploration and puzzle solving.
The visuals in The House of Da Vinci are beautiful and striking, dark corners and moody lighting all add to the atmosphere of the game, it really is a class looking game. The music and sound effect are on par with the graphics, as you manipulate a puzzle there are various clunk and clank sounds from the machines. Again, all this adds to the atmosphere and complements the gameplay. As for the control’s, The house of Da Vinci can be played using the Joycon’s or the touchscreen. Neither system is 100% perfect, the touchscreen does work but there are times when it can be sluggish and other times it can be overly sensitive and can overlap with other areas when your trying to focus on one particular place. The style of writing in Leonardo’s notes is reminiscent of the era the game is set in, however I found that the font the notes are written in make it slightly harder to read and decipher on the Nintendo Switch screen. There is no getting away from the fact that The House of Da Vinci is very similar to The Room. The story is a bit flimsy and at times some of the puzzling does feel like a direct copy of The Room. That’s not to say it’s not an enjoyable game as it is and if you enjoy playing this genre of game, why not give The House of Da Vinci a try.
Dread Nautical has a Lovecraftian horror theme, though it’s subtle it’s there. There certainly wasn’t anything in the game that I found to be scary as such, maybe a little bit more horror added to it would help in this area. The core gameplay goes round in a loop, start the day, roam the decks, find resources, and try to survive. After a few runs I found this got boring pretty quickly, there isn’t much variety in the style of the decks on the ship and after a while they all feel much the same. The tactical combat is nothing unusual that hasn’t been seen before and I recommend looking else where if that is the genre you’re looking to play.
Turmoil is a really fun little game, Yes it can get repetitive but it is fantastic for jumping in and out of and playing in shorter bursts. It does have a few niggles with the controls as I’ve mentioned, however these problems are small and you do get used to them. Do you fancy becoming rich, well, my advice is to take up the challenge in Turmoil and you never know you might strike it lucky and find some Oil that is, Black Gold. Texas Tea come a-bubblin up through the ground!
I really enjoyed playing Zenge for this review. It’s a simplistic puzzle idea turned into an engaging puzzle game. The puzzles are not too hard, just the right level of difficulty for the game to remain very relaxing without any frustration setting in. With its minimalist art design, which is beautifully achieved as the puzzle completes, and a little bit more of the journeyman’s story is revealed goes to prove that you don’t need flashy graphics in every game, sometimes less is more. For the few pounds or dollars that Zenge costs to buy in the eShop I have no hesitation in saying if you’re a puzzle fan and even if you’re not Zenge, deserves a spot on your Nintendo Switch. Which only leaves me to say: in my opinion it ticks all the boxes for a quality puzzle game and my score is….
In Help Will Come Tomorrow the basic concepts of survival are straightforward enough: camp, heat, water, but the greater challenge will be dealing with prejudice and class conflicts between the game’s characters. The game suffers from not explaining some of the actions well enough to the player, and of course the small writing that I’ve already mentioned doesn’t help in that area. Long load times as the game starts up are also a problem when your waiting to get into the gameplay. Be prepared to have all your camp survivors die, as it’s not an easy game. I’m even wondering if it’s possible to survive, as I’ve never managed to get the camp to survive until help comes. If you’re new to the genre I would look elsewhere for a easier game to start with.
Active Neurons is a neat wee puzzle game, with quite a few hours of gameplay for the price of a few pounds in the eShop, you can have a good few quality hours of puzzling fun. I don’t think there would be much replay value in the game as once you have played it and if your lucky to have a good memory you will remember how to complete the puzzles. But since it’s such a reasonable price point you do get a lot of puzzles for your dosh. If you’re looking for a puzzle game to play in between something more detailed or just a few hours of puzzling to activate those little grey cells then Active Neurons could be just what you are looking for.
The world of Archaica: The Path of Light is a gorgeous and remarkable place using simple mechanics involving beams of light and mirrors that is brilliantly done. You’ll need your spatial awareness and problem solving skills to be on form and working well to solve the puzzles. I never felt frustrated with the puzzles; between having the hints available to use, and no timer, you’re free to move the mirrors and splitters around the level at your own pace. Adding in new challenges and new concepts as the game progresses, the game always has something fresh ahead for the player. This stops the repetitive nature of some games settling in, and turns an otherwise simple premise into quite the detailed challenge. If you a big fan of puzzle games, I would recommend Archaica: The Path of Light take a spot on your Nintendo Switch.
First of apologies to Chicken Cat Games as this review isn’t quite the review of their game they were probably expecting. After many tries to further my progress in the game I resorted to watching a YouTube video of some gameplay, but again I was thwarted in my attempt to see what was ahead of me in the game as the video didn’t show any farther gameplay than I had gotten. I do like a challenge in a game, however the challenge in Stones of the Revenant was obviously to much for this old girl, if you feel up to taking on the challenge of Stones of the Revenant all I can say is: good luck to you.