New Ice York
This game is so much more than I expected it to be. At first, playing it- I was charmed by how weird it was but after playing through it, I found myself feeling connected to this universe and the characters within it. It’s intuitive- familiar, but totally different. Refreshingly fun, and an overall great release by magicdweedo, an artist I’ve really enjoyed since Mealmate™. Make sure to check out the soundtrack, too- it’s really catchy!
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Dark Comedy Games.
New Ice York has deceptively good writing. The first chapter is unfortunately slow, which is a bad problem for a game of this length to have, but that slowness does its job of lulling you into a familiarity with the characters that it uses as a platform to build off of. NIY unfurls in a way similar to Frog Fractions or magicdweedoo’s last major game, Ticket: breaking its own rules and shuffling weird mechanics around. Where the former games engage themselves in a game of zany one-upsmanship, though, New Ice York’s treatment of mechanics is much more narrative and constrained. Detective has an oblique resemblance to Deadly Premonition’s Francis York Morgan / Twin Peak’s Dale Cooper, and similar to those stories New Ice York’s descent into surrealism takes on a personal significance in the quest of the protagonist.
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
GRUNND
GRUNND is a 100% handcrafted, fully voiced adventure game about travelling to a seemingly ordinary place right next to you that slowly introduces itself as surreal and twisted world and has it’s own invisible gods, agendas, and order. You - tired after a dull day at your 9to5 job - fall asleep at the train on the way home. Next thing you do is jump out of that train into unknown station, and now need to plan your way back home. Surely enough, it’s not so easy?
People you meet are slightly weird, and in the air there’s an ethereal, omnipotent power floating just beyond your senses…
A bit of a different take on the point-and-click genre, with platformer-style built locations, fast travel, and multiple choice events introduced early on. This is not a puzzle heavy adventure and all puzzles are made without any nonsense or moon-logic. There is a rich story background for you to unravel; that is not only about you and the world - the people around you have their own thing and they are not here to help you.
The world is inspired by the works of Franz Kafka and David Lynch, and the setting has those taste droplets of Southern Gothic. This is not only the Protagonist’s journey - it’s yours as well.
Please enjoy the Demo, and let us know about your experience!
Read More: Best Mystery Atmospheric Games.
EPONYMOUS
DISCLAIMER: This is a first impressions review, and NOT a full review
EPONYMOUS is a game developed and published by Minor Key Games
The game offers some nice graphics, although some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same
The game does suffer with some repetitiveness at certain areas of the game but a fun game nonetheless
EPONYMOUS overall, however, is a fun game to play, yet sometimes repetitive and it does get boring and tedious if being played for a long time, but is a great little horror game to play in short bursts!
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Atmospheric Games.
Not really sure what or even if there was a story or message, but as a visual experience I enjoyed this. Plenty of options for sound controls fov to make it a comfortable experience and really let you get lost in the game for a bit. Levels aren’t too confusing, but the dialog is. Maybe it’s because I haven’t put in the time to read the footnoted content in the credits before playing to understand the placement of quotes and such, or maybe it’s just simply meant to be confusing as part of the experience. Also Found a potato so that was the most rewarding thing I got from this game lol. I appreciated the potato. I played through it a second time to look at the things I missed which was nothing major, just a few quotes as far as I can tell. Anyways, it’s cheap, takes a few minutes give it a try if the screenshots look appealing to you.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Henosis™
Introduction
While 2D platformer and puzzle games are not something I play often, Henosis managed to catch my eye because of its visuals. And even though this game is not something I would remember for a long time, it still delivers a decent amount of entertainment.
Story
You play as a cute, small, blue blob who collects water tokens so it could restore the vitality of its homeworld. And that is it, nothing more, nothing less. To be precise, the game does not have any form of storytelling, and this might be the only information about the story you can get. However, this game does not need any, and I did not miss it.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
What’s a blob gotta do to get some service around here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjBh01sZQek
If you want to see Henosis in action, watch my video. It’s a blob’s life and your goal is to find water to survive. Jumping from platform to platform is satisfying and a bit surreal, and timing your jumps and movement is both joyful and rage-inducing. To assist you, you’ve got a time slowing effect that is required in some parts and makes others easier. Henosis isn’t difficult, per se, except when it is.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Our Secret Below
Curator page here -- [url] DaRevieweD #30[/url] -- [i]New review every Sunday[/i]
Brian Clarke of DarkStone Digital makes a comeback with his second major game! This time it’s a mystery-thriller with some psychological elements and a lot of challenging puzzles. If you’ve read my previous review of Inner, you’d know I was quite taken by his work thus far and his fresh set of eyes in the horror genre. He has a certain charm in creating smaller scale projects but still promising spacious room for players to ponder upon and enjoy.
– Real player with 19.7 hrs in game
Alright strap yourselves in because I’m about to go on a whole rant of details that are probably going to make me sound like a madman hunting for Pepe Silvia but here goes…
This game is absolutely delightful across the board. It’s definitely not for everyone, but as someone who is REAL dumb at puzzles and has the memory of a PS2 memory card, this game makes me feel like mf Sherlock Holmes. A lot of “hrmm….hrm….no that doesn’t make sense….wait…A HAH!”
Also full disclosure, I technically received one copy of the game, but I truly believed in this game for the reasons below and backed it on Kickstarter for an additional two copies to giveaway for a charity. So I’m not exactly sure if I’m supposed to claim I got this for free when I bought multiple copies? There’s the info though, you decide. But check out my other reviews, I got no problems being critical on games received for free.
– Real player with 13.5 hrs in game
The Mortuary Assistant
Having completed your degree in mortuary sciences, you have taken on an apprenticeship at River Fields Mortuary. Over the past several months you have logged many hours aiding the Mortician in daily tasks along with learning the ins and outs of the embalming process as well as how to properly handle and care for the deceased.
Over your time at River Fields, you have heard rumors of families bringing their deceased loved ones believed to be possessed or otherwise entangled with the paranormal to this specific mortuary to put to rest. But, with such a stigma around death and what happens when we die, it’s no surprise people make up stories around the dead.
Late one night, you are called into work to handle some embalmings. Death doesn’t keep day time hours. But there is something different about these bodies because there is something different about you. The phone rings with the Mortician on the other end. The rumors are true, and you can not leave.
Perform embalmings, handle the various jobs around the mortuary, and exercise demonic forces. All in a day’s work.
The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
The 25th Ward is a sequel to the previous entries in the series, The Silver Case and Flower, Sun, and Rain, and also exists in an overall bigger picture universe known as “Kill the Past”…
The 25th Ward is a visual novel with light adventure games elements, puzzles, and a few surprises…
The 25th Ward is a story about the Heinous Crimes Unit investigating “transmittable crime”…
The 25th Ward is a story about the Regional Adjustment Bureau adjusting undesirable citizens…
The 25th Ward is a story about the reporter Tokio Morishima regaining his lost memories…
– Real player with 52.1 hrs in game
I was expecting the 25th Ward (for the purpose of this review I will call this game The 25th Ward) to be way weaker story wise compared to the Silver Case, this wasn’t the case (pun intended). The 25th Ward is a disjointed sequel that takes place after the events of the Silver Case. if you want the full experience I advice you to first play The Silver Case which is a seperate game currently on Steam, then read Case 4.5 Face by Naoko Korekata, after that play Flower, Sun, and Rain for PS2 or Nintendo DS (the PS2 version is Japan Only) and after all that play this game.
– Real player with 39.7 hrs in game
Tulpa
My reviews are usually longer as I like to write more than dry facts about games, but this time I’ll make an exception, as Tulpa is so lacking in many ways that it’s just not possible to write about it as a game, without dwelving into buddhism and about tulpas.
The game technically a very simple puzzle-platformer - as you go on, you need to use the ghost-like Tulpa’s (Oliver) ability to move items to solve puzzles, and rarely to pull/push something with the main character, Ophelia. Besides the ocassional hop on the two platforms to cross the chasm parts platforming only means that game is 2D sidescroller - emphasis is on the puzzles. Which are a little too obscure, and the contols are not helping either - rotating parts are not accurate enough, a puzzle about totem parts the parts are movable sideways, while the upper downs fall down - so physics exist(falling) and don’t (just picking out a middle-bottom part) at the same time. It’s just unintuitive at many times which makes the game annoying.
– Real player with 5.9 hrs in game
Tulpa is a platformer with an amazing atmosphere kind of like Limbo and a switch between 2 characters aspect like Last Inua.
Unfortunately, other than the puzzles it’s bad:
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The ringing sound that constantly plays still hurts my head while i’m writing this.
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The game has no volume sliders or even different sound options, you can only turn all sound on and off.
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Puzzles are non-logical, for instance you have to bring a yellow ball to a ribcage to make an elevator work without any indication of any of this.
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Umbra: Journey Home
Avoid Light. Solve Puzzles. Pursue Answers.
You play a floating stone creature trying to find where your friends have gone. Along the path, entering lights will cause you to lose control. You must move objects to create shadows in order to proceed.
Light & Shadow Puzzles
If you touch light you lose control of the stone creature. Create shadows with objects to pass through.
Mysterious Story
Who are you? Where are you? What has happened? Find clues, view Memory Crystals, experience environmental storytelling and narration.
Secrets
Secret puzzles, stories, locations, and more.
Watercolour Texture
Customizable procedurally generated textures. Customize their speed, size, quality and look.
Skippable Sections
Find hidden ‘Skip Crystals’ to skip over that “one puzzle” and continue on your merry way.
Space Hole 2020
Thank god I am not epileptic
– Real player with 6.1 hrs in game
I’m trying to determine the best way to describe Space Hole 2020. Not necessarily a game, exactly. At least not in the way the equally amazing Space Hole 2016 and Space Hole 2018 were (in one opinion.) More the culmination of the reversal of everything the YEAR 2020 has turned out to be. It’s as if all the misery, pain and loss of Year 2020 was thrown into the air, but instead of falling, everything that made Year 2020 so awful converted into the various objects of their opposing beauty and wonder, music, color and art for gamers to explore and enjoy as Space Hole 2020. What you’ll quickly discover is that Space Hole 2020 is almost equally game and art installation (though not in a pretentious, scary or off-putting way,) And the music is a world of its own, and you likely find yourself as much experiencing the music as listening to it. Simply beyond description (which, I suppose, is a reasonably good description for the game in general, if “indescribable” can technically be used as a description.)
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game