Spiritfarer®
To preface this; The overwhelmingly positive rating the game has is justified, and it is worth every cent of full retail price. Do not wait for a sale, buy it now. (Especially fellow Linux users. They gave us Tux, give em bux.) – However, when something is so desperately close to perfection, the more cutting you find its flaws. With this particular game they ascend to being truly egregious. In the beginning I wanted to love the game, but I couldn’t. By the end, I wanted to hate the game, but also couldn’t.
– Real player with 91.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Funny Games.
Spiritfarer is what I would categorize as a game that shouldn’t exist, but it does.
This is not a negative category, to clarify; “a game that shouldn’t exist” is meant convey a sort of bewilderment, a sense of “how is this possible?”, a real struggle to maintain one’s generally pessimistic worldview in the shadow of an surprisingly positive gameplay experience (especially ironic given that this pessimism nearly prevented me from playing entirely, my working assumption being that all the positivity in the steam reviews was a sort of emotional naivety, akin to the devotion people seem to have to the Ori series [there are reviews that describe having experienced tears within the first ten minutes of Ori and The Blind Forest; the first ten minutes of Ori brought me nothing but an exhausted sense of overt manipulation {this is just to give you a sense of my preferences, my argument is not “The Ori Series is bad”, but rather “If Ori didn’t really work for you, this isn’t in the same vein, and is not worth writing off in the way that I would have initially”.}.].). The bewilderment comes down to methodology, as this is a product that gambles everything on being both deeply sincere and incredibly transparent; you guide characters to their deaths, that is your job, it’s what this game wears on its sleeve, you will do things for these characters and naturally get attached to them via a completely transparent gameplay loop of tending to these characters' needs and whims (as they tend to yours), and then the game will delete them, over and over. This is a game whose central gameplay loop is playing with Old Yeller, then watching Old Yeller die, over and over again, and it tells you this, from the beginning. There are no plot twists, there isn’t even much of an overarching plot at all; the closest you’ll get to a traditional “narrative reveal” is a late game scene that provides some context for the main character’s life, but this changes little about your interaction with the spirits.
– Real player with 53.9 hrs in game
Rumu
(click ↑ to open if you don’t see a bullet list)
Basic things you should know:
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Despite appearances, Rumu is “not a branching narrative ” – none of the dozens of dialogue options you’ll be asked to click through influences the story.
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The game proceeds through “days,” and you can’t save anywhere mid-day. If you quit out and continue, you go back to the start of the day.
– Real player with 16.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Dark Games.
Spoilers ahead. In summary, the game is tedious, too short, (only around 2-5 hours of gameplay) and too predictable.
I’ll give props where props are do. The game did its job in surprising you, in some cases. It was also pretty interesting the first time playing. The graphics aren’t godawful, and the vacuuming parts were pretty satisfying. Now for my complaints.
The storyline was too predictable. There was so much foreshadowing in parts like how Sabrina stuttered a ton when mentioned David and Cecily’s absense. There was obviously something shady Sabrina did.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Find the Letter H
I believe I am quite capable at finding a specific letter in the alphabet.
– Real player with 1818.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Survival Games.
Have you ever wanted to find the letter H?
No?
Then, why are you here?
For everyone else, I highly recommend this game!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Nebula Within
A life philosophy ruminating, fast-paced, geometric twin stick shooter made by the human, Nick Oueijan. Allow me to maybe put it a bit differently, one man’s escape from the black hole life tends to create for a lot of us at some point and a vessel that helped him break free from his own personal one.
Despite only using geometry shapes, the game’s visuals are very well done. Sharp, colourful geometry on a black background with tiny white, swirling stars makes for some good contrast and individual shapes stand out nicely. Game menus and selection are awesomely done, allowing you to pilot your ship and shoot to select individual options which are represented by different drawings. Even looking through your collected mantras is done by turning the pages with your ship.
– Real player with 15.0 hrs in game
Introduction
Fair warning at the start, the developer has been very kind to reach out to me as a Curator to leave a review for this game and despite me being extremely thankful that they did, this review is and will stay my personal honest opinion of the game. P.S. Considering the game this review might be a bit more of a ‘deepdive’ than normal.
Nebula Within is an Asteroids style game with a focus on zenning out and just enjoying the game and yourself with an overarching theme of motivation and relaxation.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Areia: Pathway to Dawn
This is a beautiful light platformer with a touch of a walking simulator. A relaxing and immersive game with a heavy spiritual overtone to it with Hinduistic and Buddhist influences. It reminded me of Ancient Knowledge and other reviewers have mentioned Journey which is on my wishlist.
This is not a walk in the park as you have to work your way through different environments and challenges on your way to enlightenment. That sounds really heavy, but the game is quite light and enjoyable.
Music is lovely with Indian overtones to it, but it did wear thin after a while. I only got half of the achievements despite going back in to hunt for them. Dunno where they were?!
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game
So this is a tough one, while technically I give the game a thumbs up - you might find it not worth your time.
Quick score: music 9/10, graphics 8/10, atmosphere 9/10, gameplay 5/10, story n/a
This is supposed to be a “deep” game to make you think, reflect etc. in this for me it failed - it offers a few “contemplation points” where you sit and get 2 lines of text, this text while apparently supposed to be philosophical is rather non-sensical and does not make me find any deeper meaning in it - despite me being rather open to such ideas. What make this even worse is a rather unsatisfying ending(I am not even sure what its supposed to mean if anything).. it does have a “to be continued” so maybe in an expansion or update we will get more.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
Confessions
I really like the idea of this game, confess your deepest, darkest, or just plain secrets. I think for other peopls sake though, I saw the trigger warning in the games description. But I think it would be ideal to present that in the menu screen too. Also I think that It would be a cool add-on would be to change the font of the text, for an example, in the preview, there is an eerie font. But in the app, its an Ariel font.
Love the game, would recommend if you want to get something off your chest, our you’re just interested in what other people are doing. Just know, that If you are a bit sensative, do not buy. It 100% will make you reconsider buying. But I overall give this a 9/10.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
DISCLAIMER: This is a first impressions review, and NOT a full review
Confessions is a game developed and published by Peace & Love Games
If you’re thinking this is a game, it isn’t
What it is is a software that is trying to copy what made Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) so great and a once in a lifetime experience and change it into this platform where you can literally post your “confessions” which can be anything from harmless banter to some seriously fcked up sht
It tries to be an “interactive art installation”, but in my opinion, it’s just allowing anyone who even purchases this to write the most sadistic, twisted thoughts and views you could imagine
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
Dandelions in the Sky
i really love how this game is just a simple game.
don’t play it if you want a long visual novel with a very deep plot or deep characters , this game is just a simple with a short story about bullying with awesome Music and Artstyle nothing more , nothing less.
i really loved the story and how the choices although it’s simple is show you the different result of your decisions in a very realistic way.
good luck for the dev on their next project
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Short Summary
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Story 10/10
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Graphics 10/10
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Audio (music and CV) 10/10
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Story routes 9/10
Full Review
- A simple, yet touching story – I agree with this fully. The story is simple, it tells of a situation which happens quite often in our days. The main heroinne, Ran Xiaoyu, is so kind and gentle person that the fact she’s being bullied can’t let you feel indifferent. However, you should consider your actions too, since the protagonist, Shi Mo, is not an “usual” person… Though the POV character is male, the story itself shoudn’t feel very uncomfortable for female players.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Life Tastes Like Cardboard
TLDR
+++++sound design
++++storytelling
+++art
–-some unclear puzzles/ fuzzy sense of progression
-lots of reading if you hate reading
What I played: Life Tastes Like Cardboard
What I expected: sad man talks to a raccoon
What I got: depression
Long Version
I really wanted to do just a joke review, but it would not do this game justice.
I did not expect this game to have so much content. I found this game like everyone else, browsing games on Steam out of boredom. Especially a free game bold enough to have MS paint scrawled on its forefront, this is an unforgettable experience. I didn’t realize it was a so-called “walking simulator,” but I now realize it after finishing it. I still recommend it with complete sincerity. This game is all about putting you into moods and atmospheres. As clichés go, it really is surreal. I don’t regret the hours I’ve lost to this game.
– Real player with 12.4 hrs in game
The only way to describe this game is “human”.
Probably the only game I’ve ever played where I wanted to meet it’s maker, to talk to him and make sure everything’s alright. This game will hit everyone differently, as it should. Some people will be completely in sync with it, others will have vague memories to when their life was like this, and to other this will be a completely foreign experience. I’ve never felt so attached to a character that is practically a piece of crudely drawn printer paper. It’s a game that I wish as many people can play. But at the same time, its small audience makes it something truly special, like a small band of moths that found a lost flame that it cannot escape.It’s so weird how such a niche piece of media has made me more emotional than entire corporate AAA titles can ever achieve.
– Real player with 11.5 hrs in game
LOVE - A Puzzle Box Filled with Stories
Love is a fun, relaxing, and emotional experience. From the first moments I found myself drawn in. The first story you solve acts as a sort of tutorial for whats to come, and it also acts as a primer for the excellent storytelling you are in for. The game has no dialogue, the stories of each tenant are told through pictures and animations. The emotions and context that the game is able to convey with these two tools is stunning. As you progress through the apartment building solving stories, you will undoubtedly find one or two that speak to your specific life experience. I found several stories that I related to and they were the highlights of the game for me. I was enthralled by the emotions and situations the tenants are each going through and was driven to solve each puzzle because of the emotional attachment I felt to them. Love is a fun puzzle game, but I think for me it’s more about the story and emotions that it successfully tries to convey.
– Real player with 26.6 hrs in game
LOVE - A Puzzle Box Filled with Stories was a fun relaxing series of puzzles with a nice soundtrack. Some of the clues/puzzles you knew exactly where to go while others made you do a little more thinking and exploring. For me, made for a nice balance and leaves me looking forward to what Rocketship Park launches next.
Not a very long review, mostly just wanted to show my support with a recommend.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Memody: Sindrel Song
This is a game that grows on you… And in you, like a flower daemon.
I have to admit, I had trouble getting into this game at first. I went in expecting a rhythm game, and played it like one. But Memody: Sindrel Song isn’t a rhythm game, and in fact it’s not even really a music game - at least, not exclusively. Yes, the music is there, yes, it’s really hard when you first start out and you’ll fail a lot, yes, the songs are varied and nice to listen to (especially considering the total of 12 unique notes used over 7 songs), and yes, I did spend way too long trying to get 180% on all the songs. But under each song is also a carefully and intricately crafted character. And that’s where Memody: Sindrel Song begins to take on a new shape.
– Real player with 21.4 hrs in game
It’s hard to give this game a poor review—not so much because the game is without fault but because of the backstory behind it and the man doing the development. (Just do a little investigation into why this game was made and you’ll get the picture. Do a little more research on Toby himself, and . . . well, his mind isn’t in the best place, he reads reviews, and he doesn’t take negative ones particularly well.) I totally get the idea creating a passion project and releasing it because it’d be a shame not to—I’ve done that myself with creative writing (also about cancer, coincidentally—Google “Taialin oblivion” for that). But that makes reviewing the game by its own merits difficult. If you’re reading this, Toby, I criticize the game, not the person—it takes astounding courage to publish something like this.
– Real player with 18.1 hrs in game