Across the Grooves
This game has a really interesting and suspenseful story, and very beautiful art. Very similar mechanics to Along the Edge, but the game was more polished. I have a few things negative things to say about the game play, but found the game to be highly enjoyable regardless, so overall the pros overshadow the cons.
Cons - I played through several times. You can hold down the space bar to fast forward, but I’m not sure if there was a skip option? Maybe there was and maybe not. Choices do matter some, but I wish it mattered more, like it did in Along the Edge. Mild spoiler,
! the general ending is somewhat similar no matter what you choose. The person you end up with is different, your job is different depending on your choices, and there’s two special scenes that can be unlocked, but otherwise the endings felt very similar . Some of the gameplay was good concept, but not the best execution (but not poor execution either, just meh). Your choices influence your wardrobe and hair style.
– Real player with 13.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Indie Games.
This visual novel is certainly an interesting ‘slice of life’, but it is quite different from Along the Edge. I have only done one completion so far, though I intend to revisit it soon, probably better to make another run shortly after a first. Because to be fair, unlike ‘Along the Edge’, where it is a little more clear which answers will be for which type of answering rationale, there is perhaps a little more guess work with this VN, though that is totally fine, if anything it more reinforces a more ‘answer how you feel’, though the downside is you might not fully remember which choice you made on a next run (I guess if you have a great memory you probably could), so you might end up choosing the same choice again. But, that’s sort of small thing.
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Farmers' Market
100% reccomend! Super fun game!!
– Real player with 6.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Casual Games.
The Majesty of Colors Remastered
The Majesty of Colors was one of the first ‘art games’ I played; it was released in 2008 when pixel art flash games were having A Moment (Jason Rohrer’s Passage was late 2007; Daniel Benmergui’s I wish I were the Moon was mid 2008) and it was my favorite of the bunch; I even fit it into the independent study project on narrative in video games that served as the foundation for my book. It sees you play a long-slumbering undersea tentacled horror, who wakes to discover the wonders of the human world. You can make a series of choices about whether to help or hurt the humans as they swim, fish, and even try to evade sharks.
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Casual Games.
In one word, (I Fell in Love With) The Majesty of Colors Remastered is “memorable”.
Foreword
The Majesty of Colors Remastered is a remake of the original 2008 game The Majesty of Colors. I recommend checking that out first as it is available for free on Kongregate and other websites. For the most part, my review serves for both.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Along the Edge
Foreword:
A few hours ago a friend of mine logged to tell me about this visual novel. I checked the game title, I never heard of it. I checked the development company, I never heard of them. I looked at the trailer, and the art style intrigued me enough to try it out.
Along the Edge is a visual novel that tells the story of a Ph.D. student that due to certain circumstances is forced to give up on her research and move from the city to a town. It is a fairly interesting story of self-discovery, of family grudges - possible ways to solve them (Stabby! Stabby! Or other more boring venues of conflict resolution…) and between scientific reasoning and the occult.
– Real player with 14.6 hrs in game
So Along the Edge is interesting but the characters fall a bit flat and I don’t really find the romances compelling. The art style is nice and you are capable of taking many branching paths. One of the things that I find interesting is that you can take the skeptical route and never see confirmation of anything occult or magic. You get different' alignment choices but none are considered evil or good inherently, which is a nice detail. However the “60 endings” is misleading. In a way, yes, you do get that many but it plays it off like they are all very different. They are not. There’s only a handful of majorly different endings and then the DETAILS of each of those major endings can be varied. But they are not full stop completely different, most of those details are easily forgettable and not very impactful.
– Real player with 11.6 hrs in game
Detective Hank and the Golden Sneeze
A VN mystery solving game with four routes in the main game and 3 in the bonus. I liked the artwork mainly for its simplicity and minimal nature. This is easily a game to play when you want to play a quick game but don’t want to invest too much time in it.
My playthrough is longer since I had to take breaks in between my office work. The story is very simple and looking for clues amidst the conversation becomes easier on your second play through. However, by the time I was on route 3, it did start to become a little too repetitive - thankfully, they have the option to skip the dialogues until the next choice. Be warned though, you may potentially miss out on any different dialogues.
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
This is a wonderfull visual detective novel suitable for younger gamers. The mysteries involve simple things from finding out who stole a cookie to who stole the Golden Sneeze from the museum.
Light hearted and funny mysteries that can be played through in a single evening.
I had a lot of fun playing this with my nephew and watching him solve the mysteries. Made babysitting the kid really enjoyable.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Seers Isle
To sum this wall of text up: this is not a “every choice matters” game, it’s a “none of your choices truly matter, here have some cheap drama instead.”
This had looked so promising and then it all fell apart because we’re drowning in fake choices and that mass effect-y “whatever color you choose, your ending still explodes in a steaming pile of manure” thing.
First off, there are 7 characters in total, but one of them does not matter at all, one is there to help justify one of the ending variations of your sad unfulfilling outcome, and one is the reason you can’t have nice things and always get your life ruined, and you can’t do anything to stop it. Out of the remaining four who can be your “soulmate”, 2 are friendship-only (Connor, Freya), so don’t get your hopes up. The game does not care whom you, the player, like or want to succeed (or romance – what meager amount of interaction is supposed to pass for romance here before boom, let’s have sex since we’re running out of screentime). It cares about the number of answers chosen in four rather non-transparent categories (I’ve played through all 4 paths and I still sometimes don’t get why a choice gives you points in something). Each two-stat combo correlates with one of the main 4 characters – and the path you get is determined by the 2 highest numbers, not your choices. Even if you want to connect with a chosen someone, unless you pander to their assigned answers set, you WILL be booted to another path no matter how many times you try to indicate you want this other companion during special events. You think you can determine who among the rest of the group accompanies you to the endgame point? Wrong again, it is always a one male, one female exact combo depending on your “chosen one”: Arlyn-Duncan or Freya-Connor. And then the lower numbers person literally vanishes into thin air before they can make any impact on anything, because screw your attempts to save the group or use extra companions to change the ending.
– Real player with 27.9 hrs in game
Pros:
1.) Variety of characters. Most of the characters in the game came from different backgrounds and have different motives on why they are here.
2.) Multiple endings. I like how an ending of the game was based on all the decisions you have made and how it showed you the payoffs and the consequences of those decisions.
3.) Choices. Compared to “Along the Edge”, “Seers Isle” had more choices to choose from and how the characters interact with one another.
4.) Artwork. The visual designs consisting the environment, the characters, and the choices placements felt fitting and not out of place.
– Real player with 22.4 hrs in game
Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense
Having put over a 100 hours into this game and completing every level to perfection https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1764814214
I think It’s safe to review this game now.
Let me start by saying when I first booted this game up, I was extremely impress by this port. This far exceeds anything I ever expected from a mobile (and later learned this port was made in Unity). This is a very polished title, don’t let the flash graphics throw you off. They do seem a bit weak early on, but get better later on in the game, in my opinion of course.
– Real player with 128.2 hrs in game
There are two types of people. The ones who have previously played a kingdom rush game on their browser and the ones who haven’t. For those who haven’t, they still have time before adobe flash gets discontinued thus making the free version unavailable. This review will focus on If you should buy the steam version of this game for those who have already beaten it and for those who have not.
To begin with, Kingdom Rush Frontiers is the sequel to the very popular kingdom rush(2011) and is regarded as the best one so far. It was released as a flash game for you browser(with some heroes you had to pay to get). Later it also got released for android and ios for around 2-3$ If I am not mistaken, with some extra stages.
– Real player with 54.1 hrs in game
BAO
As a Tanzanian local who grew up playing this game I am glad that the game now has a good and accurate representation on Steam. The game has a lot more strategic options and variations than most mancala like games.
– Real player with 13.2 hrs in game
Like chess, this game requires that the players think a few steps ahead; however, while chess has a few set of rules and a few kinds of pieces, Bao has only one kind of piece and a complex system of rules to govern them. In chess, you take time to set up your pieces. In Bao, you work through two different phases of the game, and watch your work chain react (the flow to this is hard to explain, but satisfying to experience). Those looking for a popular, simple game may find this hard to warm up to (that said, this game does come with a tutorial, and will highlight legal possible moves). Those looking for a fresh mental exercise, or perhaps wanting to learn about other cultures may be interested to give this a shot.
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Shadow Corps
Shadow Corps is a turn-based tactics game where you command a squad of elite soldiers on a mission to stop an ancient danger that threatens to consume the stars themselves. Fight your way across the galaxy, craft and equip your troopers with cutting edge gear and use cunning tactics to defeat your foes. Are you ready to take command?
Key Early Access Features:
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Turn-based tactical gameplay!
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Dynamic, line-of-sight based cover system!
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4 unique character classes!
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15+ maps with over 2 hours of content!
On top of this, we have heaps of really cool features planned, such as crafting, tons of new weapons and gear, character specific skill trees, etc. Wishlist Shadow Corps now, join our growing community and make your mark on the game itself!
Mad Nords: Probably an Epic Quest
If Skyrim would have been developed back in the 1980s, in 16-bit and with Midi-racket for a music, it would have looked quite a lot like this game: it’s got Nords, an open world (well, sort of…) and open ending (waiting for future add-ons), a dragon, some beastfolk, scores of sidequests, and it’s just yourself on your probably an epic quest (no party to weigh you down). But in all other aspects, “Mad Nords: Probably an Epic Quest” is its own adventure-RPG game. The main storyline plot is quite crazy, as well as the sidequests and some absurd situations coming from the interactions with NPCs contributes to its overall atmosphere of funny disbelief. The gameplay is quite smooth, with fewer skills and attributes so as not to give you headache what to choose during level-up, and limited inventory that rarely gets over-cluttered (thanks to an excellent “instant sell button” innovation in your inventory that will save you time dragging all that junk back to the town). The combat is not overly difficult, and is more action-oriented – you just need to press the right buttons at the right time, though having learned suitable skills and having decent equipment certainly helps. Despite the dreary trailer promising scores of gruesome deaths, your character actually isn’t going to die that often, once you get a grip of the game’s basics. Gameplay is somewhat short (about 6-8 hours clean time), but nine playable classes provide good replayability, and at a favorable price. So if you’re an avid RPG-adventure player, don’t hesitate and set out on this quest. Probably an epic one.
– Real player with 23.2 hrs in game
This game does not have any fancy features like deep character customization, lots of perks and skills, non-linear story or revolutionary role-playing mechanic. But, come on, give it a chance!
So, what are pros and cons about playing “Mad Nords”?
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it’s funny. Yeah, you probably won’t see anything extraordinaty, but I’m sure that this game will make you smile in the end of the hard week;
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it has lots of… uhm… weird equipment you definitely haven’t seen yet. Giant nail as an armor? Cheat scroll instead of sword? You personall accessory-dwarf? All these are quite common in the “Mad Nords”;
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game