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Amanda the Adventurer is a clever little puzzle horror game with plenty of scares and a great story to tell. The tragic story behind this children’s cartoon is bound to keep you up at night, either with questions or a lingering anxiety about what’s behind your closet door.
If you’re a fan of the XCOM style of games, you’ll find a lot to enjoy in Showgunners. Though lacking some polish in the mechanical side of things and not straying far from a tried and true formula, the game is still solid and has a ton to offer with its style and setting.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is one of the best visual novels that I’ve played in a long time. It draws you in at the beginning, feeding you the vaguest pieces of the overarching story to keep you interested before opening to a wide-ranging mystery. While the pacing can be a bit slow at times, it’s worth putting up with to understand what’s really happening in this small Tokyo ward.
The Creepy Syndrome is an ambitious little game, plagued by amateurish writing and cheap jump scares that at best won’t satisfy horror fans and at worse will annoy them. Half of the game’s anthology of stories is held back by the other, and the two decent stories aren’t strong enough to make up for the weaker ones.
Smile For Me is a truly unique experience of a game. It presents players with a dark story hidden behind a surrealist world and absurdist humor. With character met and puzzle completed, you’ll find yourself a little deeper down the rabbit hole in this one-of-a-kind game.
Roots of Pacha is a game that innovates on the farming sim design, offering familiar gameplay with fresh new mechanics and a unique setting. Fans of the genre or those looking to get into it should definitely give Roots of Pacha a try.
Bramble: The Mountain King is one of the best story games I’ve played in a while. If the uniquely tragic subject matter is something you can deal with, you’re in for a uniquely heart-wrenching, tension filled horror story you just won’t find anywhere else.
Varney Lake is a great interactive story, presented in a way that’ll appeal to casual readers and tome-spelunkers alike. The story is interesting, the characters are great, and the modest $10 price tag reflects the game’s shorter run time.
Honkai: Star Rail is a gem I didn’t see coming. While the Gacha system might put some players off, the new setting and tone of HoYo’s latest title is bound to appeal to both Genshin fans who are looking for a change of pace, and players like me who couldn’t get into the game’s predecessor.
Throughout your time in The Last Case of Benedict Fox, players will be confused, intrigued, frustrated, and rewarded for the effort that they put in. While the combat isn’t the best in the show, the exploration and mystery-solving aspects will likely be enough to keep players coming back for more. It will be really exciting to see the theories and community that build around what has the makings to be a cult classic.
In a world where the latest half-baked Pokémon has taken up most of the bandwidth for a creature-catching game in people’s lives, Cassette Beasts is a feast. Players are bound to spend countless hours in the game as they come to understand what a fresh perspective using current-gen tech is able to accomplish in a genre that has been more or less stagnant for decades.
Afterimage excels in its presentation but suffers from a genre-wide reluctance to innovate on its gameplay. The story can feel a bit alienating but is nevertheless interesting and presents characters you’d be hard-pressed not to love.
Mr. Sun’s Hatbox is a loving parody to games that came before, which stands out with its unique mechanics and absurdist humor. However, I think those who fail to appreciate Hatbox’s comedy would be hard pressed to find a reason to stick to the game for long.
OTXO is a great roguelike that’s built on the solid foundations of the genre while still being willing to deviate from some design tropes to deliver on its theme. I’m hard-pressed to think of something negative to say about the game, and while not everyone is going to love the game’s style, there is a ton to appreciate here.
Gun Jam is a great rhythm game with a fantastic score that could use a little bit more improving on the FPS side of things. Gun-feel needs a bit of polishing, and I’m not in love with the way the game chooses to balance the three characters, but fans of the rhythm genre definitely have plenty to appreciate in this title.
While God of Rock has a cast of unique characters and some amazing tracks to keep the rhythm to, the inability to see the actual fighting makes it hard to recommend as a whole product. That’s a shame because the concept is genuinely interesting and the fighting on the beat looks really cool in the few instances where you get to see it.
Dead Island 2 is a huge return for the series. Fans of the first game will find much more to enjoy than just their nostalgia in this new title, and I can see a whole new generation of gamers falling in love with zombie-chopping in Hell-A.
Despite the rough state of balancing, Wildfrost is a game with a lot of love put into it, and rests on a solid foundation. With a little bit of TLC, I could easily see this game being an 8 or 9 out of 10, and I encourage players to keep an eye on the patch notes.
Plantera 2: Golden Acorn is a delightful little idle game with plenty to keep your mind busy when you need to kill a few minutes or want something in the background when you study or work. A charming art style and plenty of upgrades to spend your coins on, you’re sure to get plenty out of this little game before moving on to something else.
Library of Babel is full of beautiful art, excellent worldbuilding, and a story worth telling. Unfortunately, poorly designed platforming and boring stealth segments make up the majority of the gameplay, putting a damper on an experience that was clearly a labor of love.