NUTS
Nuts is a fantastic little game with fantastic art and sound design. I played the demo when it was released and immediately fell in love with the look and feel of the game. The best way I can think to explain the extreme appeal of this game to ME is that it feels like you are occupying a liminal space. Like you are on the threshold of two planes of existence. From the desolate bus stop that you initially arrive at to the wide empty forests with these strange little squirrels being the only living things besides yourself… it’s strange, perhaps even a bit eerie in later chapters, but overall peaceful.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Mystery Games.
I feel like I am the perfect audience for this game—I love Firewatch, Gone Home and almost all first-person adventures / walking simulators. Recently I’ve enjoyed Call of the Sea and Old Gods Rising, despite their flaws. But Nuts left me very unsatisfied.
The success of a game like this rests on three things: The game world, the puzzle mechanic, and the story. Ideally, all three would be great, but usually one of them is weaker. So, Firewatch has an incredible game world and characters, but weak puzzles. The Witness has an incredible game world and puzzles, but no real story. Sadly, Nuts has an incredible game world, but the puzzle mechanic and plot just did not work for me.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Strange Horticulture
Find and identify new plants, pet your cat, speak to a coven, or join a cult. Use your growing collection to influence the story and unravel Undermere’s dark mysteries.
Welcome to Undermere, a quaint town surrounded by hag-infested forests and rugged mountains. You are the Horticulturist, owner of local plant store Strange Horticulture. As a cast of colorful customers come by your shop, you are quickly thrust into an occult mystery stretching back hundreds of years.
Explore the lands beyond your store to find new plants, but be careful! The dark woods and lakes are not always friendly to a simple herbalist. You might discover powers beyond your wildest dreams - or lose your mind completely. Use context clues to determine which places to visit, and which to avoid!
Using your trusty encyclopedia and clues found on your explorations, you learn more about the strange plants you come across. By identifying each plant, you will be able to use their effects to influence the story – from hypnotic hallucinogens to powerful poisons.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574580/Strange_Horticulture
Read More: Best Detective Mystery Games.
Letter Vetter
I’ve never played anything like this before! It has so many different parts to the puzzle and leaves you on your own more than I expected which I think is actually really satisfying and engaging to work through. Being both stimulating and calming I feel I can play it any time of the day and similarly it would appeal to all ages. It’s handmade artwork and graphics makes the fantasy land of Pipshire come alive. Finally, it has all the thrill and immersion of a whodunnit combined with the calm that life can lack - I would definitely recommend this game.
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Indie Games.
A really enjoyable game. Nice relaxing atmosphere. Can be played at your own pace, alone or with friends. Could easily be made into a tabletop/dinner party game. You can see my more in depth review here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uImL-d6eKH8
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
The Good Life
Just to play through and do the main quest… eh it’s alright. Quirky but it’s fine, just play it then go do another game and forget it ever existed.
To get invested in and mess around? Hell no lol.
From release this was a janky mess of game-breakers and softlocks. The biggest of which was at least patched out (storage).
The content of the game is entirely just “go get this” with everything a convoluted web of ingredients upon ingredients of which everything is a rare drop except meat. Little to no emphasis nor encouragement when it comes being a photographer. Even with thousands of followers, keeping up with the trends on Flamingo barely gives you a few hundred a week so it’s not worth the effort when you could be running around hitting rocks or getting your daily time trial allowance.
– Real player with 170.3 hrs in game
Kickstarter backer here, so my review shows as a CD Key review, and will not count towards the overall review score.
That out of the way…
recommending with some serious caveats.
It’s a SWERY game, but not a ‘typical" SWERY game.
Weird, messy, a bit sloppy, a more Eastern POV and stereotype of life in the UK and the West.
Kb/m controls are quite clunky. Controller is better, if the game and Steam recognize your controller (PS4/PS5 recommended- the game seems to reuse towork properly with my XBox One controller).
– Real player with 141.0 hrs in game
Chicken Police - Paint it RED!
Great game, couldn’t put it down until I’ve finished it.
Really hope there’s another one in the pipeline, I’ll definitely get it.
If you like detective games, and/or noir then it definitely will worth your while.
The concept of using animals in the art while weird at first glance, really grew on me, especially when I heard them talk.
There’s just so much effort put in the art and voices it’s hard to overstate.
I’m actually super interested in some unexplored areas, like the hive and Roachtown.
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
I usually don’t play visual novels, but Chicken Police made me interested and curious immediately when I saw it on Steam for the first time. I decided to buy it because of its distinctive art style and the fact that I love crime/detective games like L.A. Noire, The Wolf Among Us, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, Grim Fandango and many others.
Chicken Police has a very special noir look combined with very sharp colors when the game wants you to really NOTICE something, for example a text painted RED or stunning GREEN eyes on one of the characters. I absolutely love the contrast. The idea of having human bodies and animal heads is amazing! Also it gave the game a great opportunity to make good animal related jokes.
– Real player with 14.7 hrs in game
Heart of Moon : The Mask of Seasons
Wasn’t what I was expecting, but it’s not too bad and can be addicting. Works on Triple Screen.
– Real player with 21.8 hrs in game
A fairly standard match-3 game, but with nice music and really good graphics in the cut scenes where you get to find things. I think it’s good for younger players as well as those looking for an easy time waster. The rewards are nice, and come frequently enough to be satisfying.
– Real player with 18.0 hrs in game
Midnight Calling: Valeria Collector’s Edition
Elephant Games proudly presents the newest addition to the Midnight Calling series!
Your world is rapidly cooling down, and your grandmother has called for you to help prevent worldwide disaster! As you investigate the icy landscape, you’ll quickly unravel the magical forces at work. Can you save your family and the world in time? Find out in this exhilarating hidden-object puzzle adventure!
This is a special Collector’s Edition release full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version. The Collector’s Edition includes:
• Play as Granny and save Valeria from evil in the bonus chapter!
• Complete your collection of zodiac signs and picture fragments.
• Get awesome wallpaper, concept art, music, and screen savers.
• Earn achievements as you master the game.
• Replay mini-games and hidden-object puzzles in the secret room.
This is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game, meaning a specific genre of story-driven, point & click adventures. Throughout the game, players are tasked to find a list of objects hidden within a particular scene, and to occasionally complete various mini-games/puzzles.
The Ghost Train | 幽霊列車
Visually, this game is appealing. I feel like that’s the only pro I can mention. If you’re wanting a plot in this game then you will get a plot, just expect it to be a plot hole. Basically, all you do is go to the restroom in the train station, go to the smoking area, then ride the train until you reach the very end of the game. The puzzles were okay, but the last puzzle with the items you pick up was very confusing to figure out. If anyone is stuck on that… when you pick up the items (the cane, shoes, bug cage, windmill toy, and beer can) you set them on the train seat opposite of the reflection in the window in which character they belong to. It took me forever to figure it out. The endings weren’t as immersive as with the endings in The Convenience Store & Missing Children. Overall, decent game, but it gets a bit tedious for the time you spend playing it. I highly recommend playing Missing Children and The Convenience Store instead. Those are phenomenal, plot based, and wonderful atmospheric games!
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
This was my first game experience from Chilla’s Art and I got to say I wish it’d happened sooner, appearantly I’m an avid J-Horror fan and I didn’t even know it before crossing this game. I ended up reading Japanese urban legends at 4 AM in the morning- besides Kisaragi I guess
! the chase part is a reference to Teke Teke. Can’t wait to play the other ones.
My cons for the game is the walking/running speed and the fact that
! getting killed or not killed by the girl not affecting the ending type you get. And I can get the reason for low speed, building up tension etc. etc. but instead of that it just straight up frustrated me, drove me to boredom at first portion of the game. It felt repetetive and laggy, but after progressing enough and getting both endings the repetetive parts felt justified.
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Legacies
In Legacies you are a team of eco-vigilantes who are trying to do good with what they got. Choose from an assortment of tech filled submarines, investigate distress beacons and gather evidence to discover what caused the cry for help. But beware, dangers lurk above and below the water.
Distress beacons can vary from ecological, exploitation or even natural disasters. It’s up to your team to work together to discover the cause, log the evidence required, and choose whether it’s time to fight or flight. Your team could turn in your evidence for money, or face the problem head on for an even larger reward.
Wanderlust: The Bermuda Secret Collector’s Edition
The story is intriguing and kept my interest and the game play was fun. The puzzles varied in difficulty which kept me playing.
– Real player with 19.5 hrs in game
The best, most unique HOG I’ve played so far. The acting and graphics are wonderful too. I wish I had more of this to play!
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game