Chaz Miller
I will admit, it's tough for me to say that Mushroom 11 is a game for everyone. Still, fans of puzzles or platformers definitely owe it a look, and those who enjoy trying out new things are sure to find something here. Even outside of the genre, there's enough that's innovative and creative enough that I'd recommend taking a peek at the game's Steam page
Suffice it to say, Amplitude may not be a perfect game that includes every single thing a fan of the previous games could want, but it certainly met my high overall expectations. It's not often that I find myself "buying in" to a crowdsourced project, and rarer still that I would spend more than the typical cost of a game on one, but I'm definitely pleased with the result of doing so this time around.
Klaus is, in a word, brilliant. While it may not exactly win the hearts of those who don't like the 2D platformer style, it's an expertly-designed addition to the genre that creates a challenging experience without ever seeming insurmountable.
If you’re a fan of the Monster Hunter franchise, it goes without saying that you should be playing Generations. If you’re new to it, this is a great place to start that offers plenty of variety and a ton of in-game help and optional tutorials to help you find the right fit.
Fenix Furia is, if nothing else, a story of perseverance and dedication. Though numerous delays cropped up, pushing the release back more than six months from schedule, Green Lava stuck to their guns.
So if you, like me, occasionally need a rest from fast-paced, action-first gaming, I truly cannot recommend Seasons after Fall enough. The art alone is sufficient to offer a unique and worthwhile experience, and the light yet engaging gameplay offers a wonderful way to experience it.
Despite the sometimes clumsy controls, though, Birthdays is still an incredibly easy-to-play game that serves as a great go-to for a quick bit of gaming. My entire family was intensely interested, and it became something that we got to explore together.
All together, Anthology does a masterful job of adding to the existing story without being caught up in what came before. The two pieces of the game’s whole are separate entities tied together by common threads, but capable of standing alone in their own right.
All told, Torment: Tides of Numenera shows that, even after some controversial post-Kickstarter adjustments, the money and time that went into it has paid off. It’s an all-around great experience with minimal bugs and a rich story.
The bottom line, though, is that I did enjoy Schrödinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark. Despite some lazy level design, the game's clever wit and vivid, animated design manages to create a unique and somewhat engaging experience.
Altogether, Secret Ponchos is a relatively simple, straightforward game with some very nice flair. Great visual and sound design bring the dusty Western setting to life, and a great cast of varied characters means tons of strategies to explore and refine.
Rollers of the Realm gets points for its unique play style and responsive, approachable play. It's definitely not an easily mastered mix of genres, but it's well-done enough that it takes more skill and concentration than it does luck.
One of the greatest things about Race the Sun, though, is that in the midst of this, there's variance and additional power-ups and other things that simply make the experience one worth repeating. Nothing captures this quite as much, though, as one fantastic vicissitude: every 24 hours, the game world is completely rearranged. While the real impact is minimal, the functional impact is phenomenal; any progress you'd made on memorizing where to go, which paths to take? It lasts less than a day.
All told, Defense Grid 2 packs in a vast amount of stuff, all with a great finish. While I'm hard-pressed to recommend many indie games sporting a Steam price of $24.99 ($29.99 for the Special Edition), Hidden Path has likely put enough into this one to make it worth it. It's quite the jump from 2008's Defense Grid: The Awakening and the tidy $9.99, but with the great slew of game modes, phenomenally polished content, and great replay value, a fan of the genre would easily find a lot to love. I'd probably wait to see one of Steam's famed sales hit this title before taking the plunge myself, but that's mostly because I'm a cheapskate when it comes to my gaming.
While much of Kholat can feel repetitive as players roam aimlessly through the barren landscape, the spine-creeping sense of dread that accompanies the rest of the game more than makes up for it. There were a few times that I began to feel a bit bored with winding through the same rocky paths, but they were offset by the time spent struggling to survive against encroaching threats and the strangely threatening narration of Game of Thrones' Sean Bean.
Even more impressive, according to one of the game's trailers, is that the whole affair is the work of one-man developer Ivan Venturi. Fetching a neat $14.
Shelter 2 is a tough game to pin down. With gorgeous artistic design, ambitious goals, and a unique spin on the survival genre, there's a lot to love.
Ultimately, The Old City: Leviathan is about as far from 'a game for everyone' as can be. Slow-paced, directionless, and requiring an inquisitive mind, those who deride so-called "walking simulators" would do best to leave this title alone.
If you're a fan of the genre, while you may not find anything truly innovative in the actual gameplay, the story and all-around design makes it more than worth a look. Challenging and rewarding, Red Goddess: Inner World is one that I think has slipped under the radar despite some excellent potential.
Adventures of Pip has plenty to offer in terms of action, as in addition to completing each level, players can rescue three of the scattered townsfolk within each stage. The game's pixel currency can also be used to buy helpful items and upgrades to aid Pip in his journey, and each boss battle bestows a health increase upon victory.