Lysfanga Review (PC)
Developer Sand Door Studio has something special with its newest game Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior. On the surface, it may look like your typical hack-and-slash strategy game that is led by action and nothing more. Underneath its hood, it’s far more than just that. Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior is about finding, collecting, upgrading, and fighting. The latter part features a time shift comp...[Read More]
Astronaut: The Best Review
There’s nothing quite like screwing up so badly that you are rewarded for it. I’m sure it’s akin to working in the United States government, where you are flooded with money by doing absolutely nothing correctly. Well, Universal Happymaker has decided to make that sentiment into a video game with Astronaut: The Best. Astronaut: The Best puts the player in the driver’s seat of director for the FRSA...[Read More]
Blanc (PC)
Nonverbal storytelling in videogames often connects with thoughtful, touching, intriguing, and something saddening tales. Titles like Journey, Limbo, and Inside tell emotional stories by utilizing mood, nature, and static pictures to build a world around you and establish its lore. Sometimes these tales pique your imagination, others they pull on your heartstrings. Either way, the implementation o...[Read More]
Cult of the Lamb (PS5)
Several days had passed while I was out crusading in the name of The One Who Waits. My followers had patiently waited for my return, praying at my altar, tending to my crops, and keeping my land clean. As I returned with heretics, my cult rejoiced my successful crusade, praising me with gifts and well wishes. However, one little follower, a fish by the name of Hettle, drew my attention as he ran u...[Read More]
APICO (PC)
Farming simulations are fun games when done right–especially when the “chore” of maintaining a homestead becomes second-nature to the primary goal of something bigger. In Stardew Valley, all my hours spent on my (several) farms and in the mines were for the purpose of restoring the community center. During my summers off from grad school, I found solace in playing games that reli...[Read More]
Warp Frontier (Switch)
The point-and-click genre of PC gaming is what made my elementary schooling tolerable during the long afternoons I would spend at daycare. The fanciest computers at my school could run Putt-Putt and Freddi Fish, which were MUCH more fun than Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Rodent’s Revenge. As a 30-year old who pines for the simpler days of 1990s gaming, it’s not often that a point-and-cli...[Read More]
Grapple Dog (Switch)
I fondly remember my summers as a kid: I would go to Grandma’s house in Chicago and play Sonic the Hedgehog on her Sega Genesis. I owned a Sega Genesis in Los Angeles, too, but playing Sonic at Grandma’s felt so different in all the nostalgic ways. A few weeks ago, I saw a trailer for Grapple Dog, and right from the jump I got all of those nostalgic feelings back again. Grapple Dog is ...[Read More]
Aeterna Noctis (PS5)
The first game I played on my shiny new PS5 (on release day, no less) was not Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Astro’s Playroom. I played Hollow Knight, which was part of PS+ for the month of November 2020! My knowledge of Hollow Knight was limited; I knew it was fun, hard, and charming. I sat down…and played through the entire thing in about a week. While I couldn’t b...[Read More]
Clid the Snail (PC) Review
It’s January, and we all know what that means: Dry January! You betcha, it’s the one month of the year where we pre-game giving up drinking alcohol to prepare us for the inevitable social media Lent, where some of us give up social media and tell everyone we know through a snarky tweet. Of course, not all of us practice that, but then again, who does? It’s the anticipation that c...[Read More]
The Bear & The Admiral (Nintendo Switch)
A few weeks ago, fellow editor, dear friend, and head honcho Nathan Stevens reached out to me and asked if I was interested in playing The Bear & The Admiral. I hesitated, as I had never heard of it, nor its sole developer and publisher, Jack Boylan, nor had I seen much about it online. At time of publishing, it looks like there are no other critic reviews on Metacritic, either. I found a men...[Read More]
Where Cards Fall heads to PC and Switch
I have never played the game, but it looks absolutely fascinating. Enjoy the official details below. On November 4, 2021, indie developer The Game Band along with publisher Snowman will release their award-winning puzzle game Where Cards Fall for the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Where Cards Fall is a slice of life puzzle game where you build houses of cards to bring f...[Read More]
Flynn: Son of Crimson (PlayStation 5)
I love dogs, but I am sadly allergic (making my dream of owning a gigantic fluffy canine one that might never come to fruition). I recently followed a Twitter account whose sole purpose is to tell me if “I can pet the dog” in a game (or fox, if you’re playing Ghost of Tsushima); I use this Twitter account as a way to decide if I should pick up a game with a gigantic pupper in its...[Read More]