Castle Pals is a cheap cheerful little coffee game. It doesn’t reinvent the challenging platform formula. But it has a nice little heart. For some reason, playing this game put a bit of a smile on my face; I think it was just because of how happy the characters looked. Or maybe it gave me that childhood nostalgia of when I had a cool red hat. I may not have found an adventure like this when I was younger, but I certainly enjoyed Kylee and Owen’s trip into a weird castle.
I found Push the Box quite hard to review. On one hand this game is very simple doesn’t do anything to make it particularly stand out from the crowd for a rather high price. On the other hand games like this are important. There is an audience for puzzle games like this. On doing some research I came across a young child showing off how proud he was for solving puzzles in a similar looking game to this. This lead me to think this game probably will make some people very happy. But it’s hard to ignore that there are lots of games like this for free on IOS as well. If you need that puzzle fix this is maybe worth getting on sale. Otherwise you might as well ‘Push.’ Just remember not to pull.
Discmaster is OK. But there is just not enough content here to justify the price tag. It’s a fun enough game to play through. Who would have thought you could make the game of noughts and crosses more interesting? Maybe worth a try on sale. But sometimes it’s perfectly OK to put the Switch down and grab a random scrap of paper and play best-of-10 or more games of noughts and crosses with some random person at the bus stop. It’s cheaper and might make for a fun story, and you could save that bit of paper in your journal as a nice memento.
Ailment is OK in all departments. It’s a shame the game wasn’t given more attention in bringing it over to Switch by adding a different control scheme and more content. For the price it’s asking for I’d say wait for sale if you fancy a simple brainless space zombie shooty bang bang to enjoy after work with a cup of coffee. Otherwise I think your good to let this one drift into space.
Potata is not a long game. An experienced gamer will clock through this casual adventure in under four hours easily. But it’s a fun adventure and there are multiple endings to discover. However, the game felt over just a little too soon for me and it just sort of ends without any major event. While I enjoyed the ride I would not say no to more content like extra difficulty modes or more challenges. There are some alternative dialogue options to discover when you chat to characters but there’s not a lot of reason to revisit. An easy casual game to recommend for a Sunday afternoon session sitting in the garage with the door open and a cold drink (I don’t have a garden so this was my only option.) This is a lovely stress free game to enjoy on the TV or on the go. Good graphics, music and solid controls. It’s all very safe but just feels it could do with a bit more content.
Fly Punch Boom is an interesting game. At it’s core it feels like a fun anime inspired fighting game to play with a friend provided you can both get the mechanics down. I enjoyed the wackiness of the graphics and general design of the game. However, my reactions were just not quick enough for the AI so I ended up failing to get to grips with it despite my best efforts. Not a game for me but I can see this being a fun time for a niche audience.
Cannibal Cuisine has all the right ingredients to be a fun cooking game to play alone or with co-op buddies. But it just hasn’t come together well and feels more like a burned meal than something created with care and attention. Floaty controls, silly difficulty spikes, targets and utterly horrendous random elements in the game will make you want to close the kitchen and never return. It’s just not fun. With patching I think there is still hope for this game and it could still be something worth dipping into. Currently I suggest getting your co-op fix elsewhere.
I was pleasantly surprised by Neversong. It’s another Kickstarter success story where the developer has made full use of their abilities and talent to create a wonderfully creepy but memorable adventure. The music, the graphics, the gameplay its all just so well polished despite the adventure being short. The game is due to release on Nintendo Switch in the future (as well as other consoles). This adventure moved me and did horror in just the right way. But don’t don’t let that put you off. Neversong is a game not to be missed.
Concept Destruction is a crash and fun title at a nice price to boot. It’s a decent little coffee game which you’re able to share with a friend. With some extra tweaking of the controls and gameplay I could see this game easily competing with some of the big guns like Rocket League. Maybe that will come later. For now I had a lot of fun smashing cars into each other. Let the cardboard fly I say.
Lonely Mountain: Downhill is a lovely little ride that reminds you of the beauty of the great outdoors, something that’s needed so much right now. The game does a good job of appealing to the casual and challenge-hungry gamer. While it would have been nice to have more challenge options or alternative ways to unlock things. I really enjoyed picking up this game just to have a casual ride down a mountain. It took me to a happy place, and I hope if you decide to pick it up it will do the same for you too.
StarCrossed is a fun colorful little arcade game. There’s something quite different here if you like the quick pick up and play arcade style game. It’s a little rough round the edges with awful voice acting and short story mode. Its biggest strength is in co-op but I had plenty of fun alone as well, trying to rack up the occasional high score in arcade mode. The developers have done a great job releasing a product on a small budget. My hope for them is this game leads to many more unique gameplay designs in the future. Good job.
I ended up liking Emma more than I expected. Once I overcame some initial challenges I began to appreciate its design and message. With no difficulty option in the main story it’s hard to recommend this to everyone. This game does require some pretty precise platforming and attention which may frustrate some. But if you can get through it the message at the heart of this game is quite sweet.
Streets of Rage 4 is an incredible game. Where I am now, compared to where I was when I played the series originally, is very different. However, this will easily become another nostalgic memory in years to come from playing with my wife, alone, and with a very good friend who lives just too far away for my liking. I think you’ll most likely already guessed my rating for this title –
Slayin 2 is a very good conversion from mobile to Switch. The graphics are excellent and I appreciated the extra effort the developers put into expanding the game. If you loved the game on mobile I would highly recommend upgrading to this version. This game feels designed for the arcade crowd looking for a good challenge and are willing to replay levels over and over again. Unfortunately, this design doesn’t suit everyone, particularly in co op. I thought this would be a fun game to prop on a coffee table, throw a joy con at my co op partner and we could have some good casual gaming. However, the difficulty spikes and grindy game play put my partner off. A darn shame. Nevertheless I personally enjoyed the experience alone, even if I did struggle to get into the flow of the game play now and then.
I really scanned to find some redeeming qualities in Stone. But every time I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt the game pushed back. No challenge, bland graphics, audio issues, and incredibly short on content. While I admire the developer for chasing their passion project, I feel Stone needs a lot more polish in just about everything to make it a worthwhile purchase. It did remind me how awesome Night of the Living Dead is though, and that’s good.
You know when I first saw the picture for Fury Unleashed I kinda expected this to be yet another junk food gaming rogue-lite. Some thing that I’m totally on board with. But after playing it several times and having weird nightmares about Aztec skeletons, this has easily jumped to one of my favourites in the genre. I loved the surprise heart to the story, as someone that often questions their own written work and creativity I found something to connect to; though I’ll probably never reach the heights of fame in my creative work. It’s good that video games like Fury Unleashed can remind you that moments of uncertainly are normal. And right now in this moment you are enough. Also Fury Unleashed is just brilliant.
MOB is unique, the type of game I’m pleased to have the pleasure of experiencing. It’s different and I was drawn in by all the weirdness. The platforming had me frustrated and angry at various points though especially in the last half of the game. But I insisted on pushing through to see the conclusion for curiosity. Had the gameplay been polished off I would see this as an easy recommendation. However, in its current state I would just be a little cautious.
Random Heroes is a fun retro looking game at a cheap price. I consider this a good coffee game. By that I mean it’s a game you can shut your brain off and play through a few levels at your own pace. Ideal for a quick coffee break, a wait at the bus stop, or if you just don’t fancy an in depth game. Unfortunately, it’s simplicity is also its downfall. Just a bit more depth to the game’s mechanics and some overall polish would make this stand out much more. It’s a cheap title which I had fun with. I was left wishing for just a bit more though.
There is something kinda special about a game whose goal is to help two lost souls meet. I saw Tani and Nani like my mind wandering away from my body. Sometimes my mind wanders off and I make myself incredibly sad and it can take a great amount of effort to find your way back. The route is not easy. You have to think. Maybe fail, many times. But you can make it and come back to your body. Then a metaphorical heart hovers over your head reminding you of the importance of loving yourself. Oh yeah, also, this game is pretty good too.
The game is due to release on Switch later this year. I think some tweaks like comfortable text and a cheaper price point may make this more appealing to the most dedicated visual novel fans. If you want to try a taste of the game you can download a part of it for free on the IOS store and see if its for you. For me, I was left feeling disappointed.