Mina Smith
Shockwaves has a simple concept that is unique. The puzzles are challenging and fun, and the game has a ton of replay value. If you enjoy 2048-type games and you are looking for a lot of fun for cheap, Shockwaves is not a bad choice. It’s one of those incredibly clever number games that you will find yourself going back to play again and again. It reminded me a lot of Num One, a game that I adore and keep downloaded on my PC to play when I have a few extra minutes and don’t want to dive into a complex game. It’s fun, colorful, simple, and has satisfying action on the number movement. I can’t recommend Shockwaves enough to those who like number puzzles and are looking for a new and unique challenge.
Pocket Oasis is chill, nice to look at, and a fun idle game to play while you are doing something else. It doesn’t require a whole lot from you, and your plants seem to grow even while the game is closed. It’s fun, but I think it could use a little bit more love from the development team. With a little tweaking, Pocket Oasis could be the best relaxing idle game I’ve ever played.
Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams is the best jigsaw puzzle game I have ever played. It only has one issue: it is pretty graphics intensive. It seems to run my computer a little hot, but nothing my gaming laptop can’t handle. I feel that most people’s computers would have a little trouble keeping this running well. But if you like jigsaw puzzles and you have a fairly decent machine, you cannot go wrong with Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams.
Another Crab’s Treasure has some bugs and some issues, it has some platforming challenges I prefer to never do again if I can help it, but overall, it’s a wonderful game. There is a lot of humor, a lot of beauty, and a wonderful story and music in this title (oh man, this review is already over 2,000 words, and I didn’t even talk about how good the story and music were! I have so much more I could say about this game). It’s a triumph of a Souls-like that is welcoming, accessible, and funny. I love this game more than I can say, and I think it’s art. But sadly, I can’t give it a very good rating based on the version I played. I can say that I recommend this game to everyone who has ever wanted to play a Souls-like but couldn’t get through it. I recommend this to everyone who ever loved absurdist SpongeBob SquarePants humor. I recommend this to anyone who loves Little Mermaid. If you want to laugh, cry, and have a really good time, pick up Another Crab’s Treasure. But if you have a choice, don’t pick it up on the Nintendo Switch.
RoboSync is a short, sweet puzzle game that is cheap and offers a unique little gaming experience. It’s fun, challenging, and simple to learn. If you enjoy these kinds of puzzles that hyperfocus on one type of puzzle, you will most likely get a kick out of RoboSync.
In all honesty, I was pretty disappointed with Doctor Cat. I like the idea, and the artwork is spectacular, but the execution is not amazing. If you are looking for a jigsaw puzzle-type game and you are willing to shell out $6 USD for 12-24 puzzles, I can recommend this game. The puzzles are pretty fun. However, the rest of the game, from the music to the text, kind of let me down. I’m not sure how I feel about Doctor Cat. I am certainly not in love with it, and I know I am disappointed at what was missing, but I did have some fun with the actual puzzles. However, I’m not sure I can recommend this game.
Poorzzle – Puzzle Alive is one of those puzzle games that is particularly frustrating. It’s clean, the action is great, and the sound design is okay, but the overall product is not as much fun as it could easily be. I was very disappointed with how this turned out, considering how good the basic idea, look, and feel of the game was. Free or not, I think this developer needs a few more playtesters and translation help.
RestorArt: Fairwood Hills Collector’s Edition is a great game. While some of the people are a little uncanny valley, the artwork you’re “restoring” is nice to look at overall. The music and sound effects are great. You can turn the tutorial off at any time. There is a lot to like about these sorts of games. If you enjoy puzzle mash-up games like Maze Of Realities and Twistingo, you’ll really like this game as well.
I like Corbid! A Colorful Adventure: it’s a colorful, innocent, and fun little puzzle game that is family-friendly. The main character is cute, and I love that he can change colors. You get friends and fix robots, and all sorts of other fun puzzle things. It has really good movement, interesting puzzles, and cute characters and animation. It has issues, but overall, I like it. I think with a few fixes, Corbid! A Colorful Adventure could be a really good game.
Sippy Disco: Light Up the Dance Floor is a colorful, cute puzzle game with some good ideas. The puzzles started easy, but got really hard very quickly. But there is just so much incomplete about Sippy that it feels like a prototype. I like the basic structure, and I like the puzzles, but I’m afraid this game is not worth picking up.
Overall, Planetiles is a super fun tile placement game. I like the look and style of the game. It feels well-polished, and the sound design is great. All the action, placement, and movement feel really good, and the visuals grow on you after a while. I came to really appreciate the trippy space aesthetic much more than I thought I would after about 30 minutes in. It’s fun, challenging, and has a whole lot of replayability. There is a lot to love about Planetiles and very, very few things I didn’t like. I do wish that the tutorial was a little more informative, but it couldn’t ruin my enjoyment of the game overall. If you enjoy tile placement video games or board games, I would recommend Planetiles to you.
Overall, Alchemy: Origins is fine. It’s not new or unique, even with the upgrades to the original. It works mostly pretty well. However, it feels a little boring to play. I miss the joke combos, and I liked the tactile feel of clicking and dragging the items together on the screen. There just isn’t much that would make me want to purchase this one over playing some of the free-to-play versions available outside of Steam. However, it’s a cute game of blending items and getting new ones, and I don’t dislike the look, feel, and play style of Alchemy: Origins.
The play of this game was smooth, and I didn’t have any issues with it. I liked the pictures; they were fun little dino-themed adventures. The music and sound effects were a little loud, but the menu allowed me to turn them down easily. I’ve played a lot of these types of games, and it was a great example of one of these hidden objects games. Cute, fun, and worth picking up if you like Dinosaurs and finding Waldo.
I have a lot of mixed feelings here. As I said before, I like the vibe. Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator has a lot of great things going for it, like the music, the look, the movement, most of the sound design, and the freedom the game gives you. But there are a lot of downsides keeping me from making up my mind. The items are cute, but if you try to do too much at once, your game freezes. I adore the aesthetic, but I really hated the inventory system. After a lengthy debate with myself, I think I like Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator. But I just can’t make myself recommend it to anyone. It feels finished, but the polish that games like this need to be fun is missing. I don’t think I can make a 100% sure statement on whether or not you should pick this up. If you really love the idea of gardening in a sim and you don’t mind the weird noises and the terrible sorting and menuing, then I could see wanting to spend $25 USD on this title.
Overall, I’m super happy with my time with Quilts and Cats of Calico. I haven’t finished the game just yet, but I can tell I’m pretty close to the end. I love the puzzles; I love making my own cats and taking on NPCs in quilting challenges. I’m super happy that I got to see the final product; it did not disappoint.
Plantabi: Little Garden is super fun, cozy, cute, and gives you a lot of freedom. I like the plants, I like the Cookie Clicker aspects of it, and the music is fabulous. If the tutorial were a little bit more robust, I would absolutely adore this plant-centric title.
I don’t think I can properly evaluate whether or not Professor Goodboi’s Ballistics as I bounced right off of it (pun intended), and I can’t give you a great reason for why. It’s cute, it’s polished, it doesn’t crash or do anything weird. The puzzles are different and challenging, but I’m still not convinced. With such a low price, though, you should try it for yourself if you dig these kinds of games.
Aqua Pals is a cute little sim with some heart but a whole lot of problems. I like where it is going, but it feels like it is not quite there yet. That being said, I hope to see some updates from this title soon.
Dead end Exit 8 is a beautiful, polished attempt at a find-the-difference horror game. It’s atmospheric and creepy and combines two of my favourite genres of modern horror games: find-the-difference and liminal, repeating space horrors. That being said, it’s far too short; it needs a lot more levels and more difficulty in some of those levels. There’s nothing wrong with the starting level being easy to ease you into it, but when it’s the only level of the game, that’s a big disappointment. Overall, I am really looking forward to more from this amazing indie.
Haikuna has the feeling of a first-time game that hasn’t been playtested by anyone yet. It has a lot of interesting things to say with fun sound design, interesting poems, and a whole lot of heart. But it just doesn’t feel quite like it’s done. Between the unnecessary flashing lights and the weird directions, I have a feeling that if Haikuna has had playtesting, it’s not from people who play video games. Regardless, there is a lot of potential for a unique little educational indie game if it gets a little more work.