Six One Indie's Reviews
Freshly Frosted is a simple, yet delicious sleeper hit of the year.
A Memoir Blue blends contrasting visuals in dazzling fashion while supporting an emotionally impactful narrative with purpose. While the gameplay fails to deliver on that same notion, Cloisters Interactive’s debut is an aesthetically creative showstopper.
Never Alone tells an impactful tale of native culture, delivering an experience that is both unique and influential. Though a lack of stark puzzles and technical bugs does hinder the experience as a game, the alluring narrative is well worth the price of admission alone.
5AM Games delivers a fun, concise game where the written words are the puzzles themselves. Explore the wonder of a burgeoning pen pal friendship in the ‘90s in the ever so charming Letters.
Grapple Dog is an accessible, fun, and charming collectathon platformer with a great sense of challenge - but it’s missing a core driving force with missteps in narrative. As a love letter reminiscent of the beloved Game Boy Advanced library, Grapple Dog is worth sinking your hooks into.
The Pedestrian is a beautiful, well thought out puzzler that nails that mark between a relaxing and challenging experience. Skookum Arts has crafted an experience worth the time of those looking for a beautiful new brain teaser.
Sundae Month successfully grasps what a simple game made to boost one’s serotonin with lovable dogs should look like. If there was ever a game that achieved its vision to the nth degree, it’s Pupperazzi.
With their vibrant and approachable take on the genre, Aggro Crab has crafted an incredible soulslike that satisfies both genre veterans and welcomes newcomers with open claws.
Goodbye Volcano High is a fantastic narrative that provides themes and stories that are relatable to players of all ages and experiences. The team at KO_OP balances the wonderful teenage angst with meaningful storytelling, fantastic music, and animation that few can match. Goodbye Volcano High forced me to look within and see how I approached scenarios as a know-it-all 18 year old versus how I would respond some 10+ years later. This six hour adventure is required playing for those that appreciate a powerful coming of age story that is presented in a new and unique way.
Smushi Come Home is an adorable, comical, and emotionally gripping game that is the perfect icing on the mushroom cake.
Fall of Porcupine tells an authentic and honest narrative. It’s an experience that will simultaneously keep you laughing while ensuring the tissues are for a somber moment.
Return is a tight, engaging, and stunningly beautiful 2D Souls-like that will capture your attention immediately.
Dead Cells is already a masterful game with precision gameplay, visuals, and music, but Return to Castlevania not only highlights these fantastic features but elevates everything with the addition of the Castlevania franchise. The 6-8 hour quest is an absolute delight from start to finish, and just like the original Dead Cells, the loop is drawing me back in for one more vampiric-infested run…
Leaving your hometown can be a difficult and scary decision. Fear of the unknown terrain, people, and challenges can force a hefty emotional toll. Layer this with premonitions of the end of the world as you know it, and it almost sounds too insurmountable. SEASON: A letter to the future, beautifully encapsulates this sense of doom while also pushing the player to see the beauty when closing a chapter in someone’s story.
In the same way that films like Nope and La La Land are about films, We Are OFK feels like it’s about creating music, or perhaps more broadly but also more accurately: how painful and hard it is to create art with people you love, including yourself. And I played and replayed We Are OFK about a dozen times from its release to this chilly day. It wasn’t intentional for me to have such a long time with the game but it was ultimately for the better, I think. Life kept interrupting not only my review but my memories of We Are OFK.
Tinykin is a great 3D-platformer that wonderfully encourages exploration through it’s charm, engaging traversal, and cute creatures.
Coromon is a nostalgia trip down memory lane while simultaneously forging its own path. The 100+ creatures, wide variety of characters, and beautiful pixel art made me want to explore and delve deeper into the Velua region. The past few years’ examples of monster-taming games had me wishing for more, and my wishes were answered with Coromon.
Stray is simply captivating. Between unmatched world building, outstanding aesthetic design, intuitive cat physics, and immersive gameplay, BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive have crafted an engaging and awe-striking experience from start to finish.
Shredder’s Revenge is a new gold standard for the beat ‘em up genre, and by far the best of its class. It is a thoughtful and deliberately designed experience with both causal and hardcore audiences alike in mind. Across the board, it is an awe-striking presentational marvel featuring superb visuals and an outstanding musical score. And most importantly, it is such a delight to play for hours on end either solo or with friends. Tribute Games has crafted one of the most special arcade experiences in recent memory.
Infernax is a love letter to the action-adventure games of old while simultaneously excelling in the modern definition of the genre. Delivering a balanced experience, Berzerk Studio sticks the landing within the sweet spot between challenge and downright fun.