Telling Lies
It pains me to write a negative review for this game. I loved Her Story for it’s story and Viva Seifert’s incredible performance, even though the game play (you are a cop working with the world’s worst video archiving software) was maddening.
Telling Lies has much of the same strengths and weaknesses. The cast is terrific and the writing gives them a lot of meaty, emotional moments to work with. The plot is diverting, with multiple characters and scenarios popping up that you’ll want to spend time disentangling everything.
– Real player with 42.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Thriller Games.
Telling the truth about Telling lies
I have a problem and I’m not alone. The whole game industry has the same problem: how to tell stories with games? A good story has its own laws. Ask any writer other than your 8-year-old little sister. The story has a build, thought out ups and downs, twists and turns, beginnings and endings. The game follows different rules. The player has to be an active doer, not just a listener, reader or a watcher. The players’ choices and actions will have to have an impact on the game, otherwise the experience is flat. Unfortunately these two collide. Where a good story demands a pre-defined route to work, a good game wants freedom and choices. It’s like marrying a feminist to a chauvinist. It simply does not work or at least has not worked so far and it’s not from the lack of trying. Sam Barlow’s Telling lies is another effort to marry the unwanting partners.
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
Detective Butler: Maiden Voyage Murder
Nice detective kinetic novel for one or two afternoons I guess (yeah, there are actually no choices at all) and one that is completely FREE at that. It’s full of overused tropes and it doesn’t take itself seriously at times but I certainly wouldn’t call it bad either as it leaves some food for the thought in the end, so it’s probably somewhere in between.
So yeah - it was enjoyable yet also flawed experience for me. Women characters here are mostly likeable and detailed but all man except captain and protagonist father would benefited from more developement. The pacing was actually pretty good but the mystery was maybe way too easy for me as I guessed the culprit and how everything happend right after the murder happened. Which is good and bad at the same time but thankfully the rest of the story was interesting to follow at least. But the main flaws were probably both main characters - detective Butler and main character (Golder’s son) unfortunately.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Text-Based Games.
Excellent! A free murder mystery visual novel. It’s apparently the first part of Misadventures of Detective Butler series. Originally released in 2013 and then got onto Steam in 2017 with some edits and improvements. I liked this a lot. Has a lot of personal moments and mystery itself is fairly interesting. Albeit I really would like to force detective to grow some beard first. You don’t get to choose anything in a game, which is shame, as I think they could at least test us with picking a suspect at the end of a game. But hey, at least it gives enough clues to solve it fairly before the murderer is revealed.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Matter
Matter is an awesome, but also very short virtual trip.
You play in first-person view and jump through dynamically forming levels that give an organic and psychedelic feeling. The sound and music seems to react to your movement as well. Where are you? Who are you? Looks like you are in some kind of organism. Or is it space? Who cares, it’s trippy as hell!
There are some slower parts where you run around little planets and search for artifacts, but the main part is “just” running and jumping. You can reverse time a bit if you miss a jump. Gravity seems to be all over the place and changes, so some of the jumps can be a little tricky, but if you just push on, you will be able to get into a flow state and enjoy the game to its fullest.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery First-Person Games.
Ok, I know well the devs, but they didn’t ask me to recommend the game. Take it as it is, but I will try to be as objective as I can.
I just finished the game. What I could say is that it was a delightful dreamlike trip, with very special attention to the ears and feeling of gravity. It’s the kind of game you can’t forget after playing to it. It makes bubbles in the stomach.
Except for the jump, which is sometimes a little bit harsh for me (no air control, but it doesn’t block me), I did not have much frustrations.
– Real player with 2.5 hrs in game
Of Bird and Cage
After waiting patiently for this game to release, I can firmly say the end product being so much more than I expected. The game plays on some very intense situations as you join Gitta on her downward spiral into addiction. You’re placed in scenarios where bad decisions can cost you your sanity and really throws out the question of how far are you willing to go for your next fix. One thing I absolutely loved about this game is that you can choose to not partake in Gitta’s vices, but will equally struggle with getting by. Indulging in her addiction will lead you down a broken path, but choosing to stay sober will give you a chance to experience the mind-numbing struggle of needing to take one more hit, but refusing to do so. That is really well done in this game.
– Real player with 10.5 hrs in game
Of Bird and Cage doesn’t really start until you approach the sound guy and ask to have your demo CD played. It is this very CD that provides the non-stop musical engine that drives the rest of this two-hour experience divided across three multi-part Acts and a summary credit sequence and epilogue. Once the music starts to play each and every scene in the game will unfold at the pace and length of each song, as displayed by the track progression meter at the bottom. When the music stops, the level ends regardless of what you have or haven’t done. You could simply stand there and do nothing for the duration of the song and the story will continue, albeit taking the failure path vs. a potentially different path if you were to accomplish the listed objectives. A list of tasks and sometimes collectibles will tell you what needs done before the music stops.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Titan Chaser
A mechanically rough Early Access with a great concept and surreal mood about finding and rescuing giant titans roaming the land using all kinds of bright lights.
Your only two companions are a run down, beige coloured Chrysler K platform car that’s held together by glue, droplets of constant fog and the sheer enthusiasm of the main protagonist and a mysterious, freakishly tall hotel manager named Jasper. He’s also your main contact when your car decides to bunny hop down a hill and gets stuck on the train tracks or you decide to test how far into the water you can drive.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
This modestly priced Early Access walking sim has some great ideas at its core and even though I am not huge on buying in before the product is complete, I feel like I have already got my money’s worth and could quite happily recommend this to a walking sim fan who wants something a little bit different.
PROS
- unexpected. You can almost count the versions of a walking sim on 1 or maybe 2 hands. Angsty teen, space station, psychological horror, but never have I played a walking sim where I basically have to drive around and shoo-away monsters.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
The Norwood Suite
The game was rather short, though it isn’t a bad thing. You come into the game as hotel visitor and as a gamer, you do not overstay that welcome. (The time shown was me leaving the game on while I did other things, but it’s about a couple hours of gameplay)
The characters and assets don’t look like much has been done, but the level design is interesting in a way you feel like you just started an acid trip. That sense of paranoia of people watching you; and at times there are certain figures with heads that don’t stop following you with their heads or eyes.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Overview
The Norwood Suite is a hard game to describe. It’s weird, strange, interesting, odd, confusing, quirky.
It’s also damned fun. A rather short experience at just over 2.5 hours (longer if it takes you more time to figure out some of the puzzles), but in that 150 minute timespan, you’re treated to an interesting story with a really weird but intriguing cast of characters, great level design, and fantastic music.
You play as a guest arriving at The Norwood, a weird hotel that’s known for being the home of a musician, Peter Norwood, way back. The man was as eccentric as the people you encounter and need to help out. A group of musicians working on new material, an employee who loves Blue Moose, front desk clerks who are coy about things in the hotel, and many more.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Demetrios - The BIG Cynical Adventure
Very much a mixed bag for me.
Pros:
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Nice graphics
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Good production (meaning i didn’t encounter typos or bugs)
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Fun puzzles, challenging but not frustrating or ridiculously counter-intuitive.
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Good length
Cons:
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Seemed to drag on towards the middle for me. (after the first flight)
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Odd pacing/execution at some points. ie:
! hey rando neighbor i just suddenly found out the protag actually cares about let’s go to another continent with your daughter and later let’s go to Germany for five seconds
– Real player with 15.3 hrs in game
“There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.” - Frank Zappa
Well… Demetrios is COWCAT games' first project and an adventure game that I’m sincerely on the fence with. There is a truckload of good and bad about it, just within the boundaries of a perfect balance. Considering it is the first ever game of the developer, I think congratulations are in order. Aside the questionable humor, game dynamic is more than decent for an adventure game.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game
Human Origin
What is this game? It’s you watching and listening to a guy ramble on and on incoherently about subjects.
How to get achievements? Just load up the game and minimize. Chill out on the web for a couple of hours while achievements slowly roll in.
– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game
I dont even know, what the purpose of this game is but seems funny :D mol
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Pictures of Life
An amusing puzzle game that really made me think. You have to line up pictures in a way that makes sense and some of the sequences are pretty difficult.
– Real player with 6.9 hrs in game
june 13, 2020 edit: difficulty settings have been removed, hints now happen by pressing ‘h’ instead of waiting 2/3/5 minutes.
pictures of life is basically a 1st-person picture-based trivia game. you’re in a room, have to take pictures out of a closet, put them on the wall and figure out what connects them, then re-arrange them in the correct order. pressing the big button on the desk verifies your answer and if it’s correct, you can move on to the next puzzle. you can guess as many times as you want, except in the annoying final chapter, which drops you back in the menu after every incorrect one.
– Real player with 4.7 hrs in game
Wattam
What an absolute treat of a game showing how every little thing matters and how important the people around you are and you should cherish every moment you can. Wattam starts off with a little mayor being lonely and soon off to making new friends and more on the way. The little sandbox you start out in continues to expand as you progress through the 4 seasons. The music once again never fails to amuse me, and the atmosphere gives the katamari damacy series vibes which gives a lot of childhood memories. Each character you unlock feels very unique and adorable to interact with. The story has a lot of meaning towards life and the world itself. The game roughly takes 3-4 hours long to beat but there is after game content if you haven’t unlocked all the visitors/achievements just to mess around in the sandbox. Can’t believe this adorable but absurd game managed to tear me up in the end truly a fantastic game. Will recommend this game if you are looking for a happy/peaceful time.
– Real player with 8.2 hrs in game
All my days used to feel the same, just playing a waiting game, dining at a table set for one, stuck in an endless rerun. Then one day you walked into my life, it was you I needed. I can’t wait to be comin' home to you, can’t wait to be comin' home to you, can’t wait to be comin' home to it all… Walking alone makes the world a lonely shade of blue, walking alone was a bore, until the moment I met you. All that it took was a single glance to change my point of view, with our hands tightly together, let us set off on an adventure. Along the way, things take a turn… not in a way… like we planned it. Now both of us are trav’ling all alone again, but our journey led us on two different paths, before the end. Please, don’t you leave me, without you it won’t be easy… oh no. I cannot go on alone, I’m not brave enough on my own, so… we won’t be comin', no we won’t be comin'. We won’t be comin', no we won’t be comin'. We won’t be comin', no we won’t be comin'…
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game