So Many Games
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D-topia won’t tax your brain muscles as much as some would like, so if you’re expecting some real brain twisters, you’ll be disappointed. But for others this will be a breath of fresh air with its cosy, friendly approach to logic puzzles, alongside its intriguing narrative and fun friendship mechanic.
In the end, The Incident at Galley House left a favourable mark on me. Through its mixture of interesting gameplay mechanics, mystifying narrative, wonderful sound design, and excellent accessibility options. It lets itself down slightly with the death scenes, but it has still ended up being one of my most positive experiences of the year. It does, however, beg the question that maybe some things are best left in the past.
Black Flag Resynced is exactly what a remake should be. It modernises the areas that have aged while understanding why people fell in love with Edward Kenway’s adventure in the first place. Not every new addition lands, and some of the modern Assassin’s Creed influences will divide opinion, but they do little to diminish what remains one of the series’ strongest entries. More than a decade later, Resynced proves why some games are better preserved than reinvented.
Teeto is a 3D action platformer and collect-a-thon that harkens to its late 90s inspirations in both mechanics and personality. The writing and voice performances are enjoyably eccentric, and the plot is streamlined. The game boasts an ample moveset for traversal and combat, and exploration is rewarding without being overly demanding. A perfect game for those looking to jump around a big playground and collect little guys for nine hours or so.
A rocky performance and some unusual gameplay choices mean that Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains isn’t a must-play by any stretch, but for fans of Star Wars looking for a way to shake up their board game nights, you will be pleasantly surprised – just don’t expect a normal game of Monopoly.
Ultimately, my time with The Caribou Trail was refreshing. It provided me with a very important, albeit overlooked, perspective on a soldier’s life that deftly captured the doldrums that Orwell enumerated during his time in the trenches. The game honored a real World War 1 regiment that not many people know about, using a touching story about the bonds formed among countrymen. While the psychological horrors and exaggerated heroics didn’t really work for me, this game had a bleeding heart that will stick with me whenever I think back on this great world war. “We didn’t do nothing here,” one soldier said as they evacuated Gallipoli. “Getting out alive is not nothing,” the other responded. Perhaps, like that first soldier, I need to recalibrate my definition of a war hero.
Thunder Lotus has created yet another masterwork unlike anything they’ve made before. The hand-drawn animation and music are characteristically stunning. Players choose between eight playstyles and join with friends or strangers to battle online through the three different settings of Dante’s Divine Comedy, conquering imposing and eldritch bosses. Replay and cooperation are effectively incentivized, and full completion is no easy feat.
Maseylia: Echoes of the Past will not be the most polished game you’ll play, but thanks to its great exploration, interesting world-building and exhilarating platforming, it will be one that’s hard to put down. The abilities you pick up contribute massively to this feeling, as Maseylia contained multiple of the most original and fun powerups I’ve encountered in recent years. If you are out to find a Metroidvania with a difference, then look no further.
Catto’s Post Office is a perfect example of the short and sweet gaming experience done right. Characters are simple and easy to remember, the world is varied without straining its boundaries, and the story only demands a sliver of your attention to enjoy. Sadly a lack of accessibility options does cost the game half a star in the final rating, but the overall experience remains incredible.
Dark Scrolls is a trip down memory lane that emphasizes more tripping than memories. While charming in its adherence to retro stylings, it’s a lesson in why some of that game design is no longer the standard for roguelikes. For folks itching to relive the glory days of figuring out how to play a game all on your own, Dark Scrolls is a hunk of coarse sand paper to scratch that particular itch.
All said, Mini Murder Mysteries is a decent game. All the mysteries were interesting and nice brain ticklers. As an interactive-book-style game, I think it’s a real winner. It’s nice and bite-sized, has just the right sort of noir music in the background, and is overall a competent entry into the detective game genre.
Until Then: Afterimages is a much-anticipated expansion to the hit Filipino visual novel/adventure game. This substantial DLC offers the same poignant, realistic writing and cinematic art direction that made the base game such a success. It offers 2 new chapters featuring Mark and Sofia, which wisely focus on interpersonal relationships and slice-of-life activities over paranormal occurrences.
The return to the world of Tavern Talk with this prequel is one that doesn’t offer much difference from previous entries, but it’s different enough to make it stand out as a game of its own. In a similar move to the Coffee Talk series, you are welcomed in with gameplay that feels like a warm embrace, where you might know what to expect but will still end up pleasantly surprised by the twists of the stories and the warmth of the new characters. If the developers keep this high standard up in future entries, I’ll certainly be there to play each and every one of them.
The action roguelike scene has been flooded with high-quality titles in recent years, and Savara is no exception – boasting an incredibly strong set of combat and loadout management systems, this stylish standalone entry in the Wakfu universe is only let down by some of its more tedious mechanics – the constant fight for stamina and the lack of biome variety hold back an otherwise stellar title.
Lost in Art: A Miniature Realm is a concise point-and-click puzzle game that takes place in digital recreations of Persian and Ottoman miniatures. The art is desktop-background worthy, the puzzles are varied, novel, and approachable, and the music is historically and culturally appropriate. The extensive in-game glossary offers a treasure trove of knowledge about Anatolian culture.
Trading Card Simulator is fun, it is well-made, and I enjoyed it. In order to deserve a higher rating, it needs a wow factor, which it sadly lacks; I don’t think it brings anything novel to the genre. But it’s a highly competent and fun entry in the catalog. If you like job simulators, tongue-in-cheek meta humor, and doing mental math, you’ll enjoy this one. Some games are just a bop. Trading Card Inspector is a bop. Enjoy!
Duppy Detective Tashia is a concise and breezy point-and-click adventure. Made and set in Jamaica, it features a colourful cast of characters drawn from Caribbean folklore. Players new to the genre or to this folklore tradition are likely to appreciate its in-game glossary. Genre veterans may find the game rather short and lacking in mechanical depth and novelty.
Overall, The 7th Guest Remake doesn’t push the puzzle genre forward, and in that sense it sits fairly comfortably in familiar territory. What it does do is reframe the original experience into something more modern, more accessible, and easier to engage with today. It may not be a bold reinvention, but it is a solid, playable reinterpretation of a landmark moment in gaming history. If you enjoy puzzle games, it’s still an easy recommendation.
Momento isn’t changing the entire landscape of the genre or anything, but it’s an incredibly well-made and well-rounded game. If you enjoy cozy games broadly, or room decorating, dioramas, light puzzles, environmental storytelling, and tracing branching paths, then you will enjoy this game. I am docking it half a point for the disappointing audio—it might be just a ‘me’ thing (read my bio to see why), but I was really stumped on that. But I’ll just throw on a little cozy gaming podcast episode (No Small Games? Geeks and Grounds? How about some Slow Burn Podcast?) and enjoy the ride? The stories are lovely, and the puzzles are pleasantly delightful.
Much like sausages and ice cream, Bubsy 4D tries to mix together two great things to make something less than the sum of its parts. A good Fabraz game hindered by Bubsy and fun Bubsy dialogue which is hindered by a game designed without much to talk about. A great experience without a doubt, but one that feels lacking in places.