Coin Crypt

Coin Crypt

First off, this is my wife’s favorite game, even though she has never played it, entirely because of the opening theme music.

I would recommend this game as a fun, though sometimes challenging rogue-like romp, bringing together the constant threat of permanent death with a light-hearted playfulness.

The game attempts to present itself without tutorial or much explanation, evoking the enigmatic feeling of many games in the NES era, and does so mostly successfully. (I did do some wiki-ing about the gods after a few days, as this was somewhat opaque to me). The basic strategy of the game unfolds into a fairly rich and varied system as you unlock new classes and learn how to synergize class talents with the other elements of the game. While some classes can be made into powerhouses quite easily, others seem destined for failure. Though at first I felt the obvious imbalances of the classes was a flaw in the design, I now feel like this helps lend the game its particular charm.

Real player with 133.5 hrs in game


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EDIT:

I got super tired of reading so many complaints of people saying that the game is too hard and confusing, so I wrote a guide for beginners. This should clear up any questions you might have about the game, and if you still don’t like it afterwards, then I guess it isn’t for you. This review is also specifically focused on the base game and does not include any info on the DLC expansion.

Also, this was Slay the Spire before Slay the Spire.

Real player with 111.2 hrs in game

Coin Crypt on Steam

Comrades and Barons: Solitaire of Bloody 1919

Comrades and Barons: Solitaire of Bloody 1919

Fun Solitaire game with a couple of offbeat game mechanics relating to the story of the gloriously messy situation in the Baltics in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution and the end of the Great War. Unique setting provides for some fun story elements that are integrated into the gaming levels. If you like Solitaire, give it a try. If you like Solitaire with a unique theme, try it as well. If you like to learn more about the Baltic Wars of Independence and the personalities and insane heel-face-heel turns involved, play as well.

Real player with 29.2 hrs in game


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5.5/10

I initially snagged Comrades and Barons because 1) I dig playing Solitaire games while I’m listening to music and 2) I dig the Russian Revolution-era aesthetic of the game. The game tells the story of a communist uprising. There are 6 different locations, and each location typically consists of 3-4 battles. Each battle consists of 10 levels, with the exception of perhaps the first introductory battle. Each battle has its own set of objectives you must complete in order to “win,” which might include something like attaining a certain card combo (perhaps removing 7 cards from the board in a row) or flawlessly completing a number of levels (perhaps removing all cards while playing 5 different levels). Unfortunately, there isn’t really a way to seamlessly mesh Solitaire gameplay with fighting a war. Although the cards themselves were thematic and the in-level obstacles were things like barbed wire, the “story” is told through simple in-game text boxes. I read the first few, but it was difficult to maintain interest when I was given no protagonist to follow and was unable to connect my in-game actions to anything war-related.

Real player with 26.4 hrs in game

Comrades and Barons: Solitaire of Bloody 1919 on Steam

Skelly Selest

Skelly Selest

For such a low price, it’s definitely a game to get. It’s genuinely a really fun rogue-like, the playstyle of combat changes between vessel to vessel (character) but essentially it’s that kind of dark souls, all about timing dodging and attacking. The graphics are nice and the actual aesthetic of the menus and how you traverse the options is really nice, on top of that within the game there’s a load of different game modes pretty much opening the enjoyment time out indefinitely, there’s the “x Hunt” which are the first and main game modes where you go through floors/areas eventually reaching a boss, there’s a dungeon crawling one where a key must be found to open the door to the boss, but then also a strategic card game and an endless arena.

Real player with 66.0 hrs in game


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Update 5/12/2018:

Developer made some really positive changes earlier today. My issues from the earlier gameplay are pretty much all resolved now. Dungeon game mode is now available in the beginning, this makes me feel like the game is receptive to a wider audience off the bat, which is great. There is an Itemography to see what a drop does before picking it up, so you can plan your gameplay better. I continue to enjoy this game so much!

Real player with 7.1 hrs in game

Skelly Selest on Steam