A Fold Apart

A Fold Apart

Interesting puzzle concept. I got stuck in a few but never enough to look up a solution. Some puzzles (especially early ones, but also some later ones) are very easy. Feels like the game is trying to make you feel frustration and release in sympathy with the characters instead of ramping up difficulty just because it’s a game.

Presentation is impressive. Transitions, multi-view shots, and walking over folds are done seamlessly.

Dialogue (text messages) between the characters is generally pretty good. Some a bit too cheesy/sappy but some felt genuine. The puzzle thought text is usually too melodramatic.

Real player with 4.3 hrs in game


Read More: Best Romance Drama Games.


VEREDICT: 8/10.

A Fold Apart is a sweet puzzle game with its mechanics and visuals well tied to its themes. The game could use some quality of life improvements and a smoother learning curve, but it’s worth it.

MECHANICS: Positive. The folding paper puzzles manage to match the allegorical emotional landscapes of a long-distance relationship cleverly. Some of the mechanics didn’t click for me and I think it could use a few extra steps to ease you into new stage gimmicks. At least the game has a solid hint system.

Real player with 4.1 hrs in game

A Fold Apart on Steam

Dear Althea

Dear Althea

About this game

This visual novel, full of decisions and repercussions, is a fun reinterpretation of the novel “Dear Faustina” (1897) by British author Rhoda Broughton. Each chapter is filled with beautiful, high quality artwork that illustrates all the situations and moments you will experience alongside the charismatic characters. The art that you will be able to see has been made with special care in the representation of the British Victorian era as well as taking into account the class difference that is present at all times. The entire video game has 51 chapters that you will only be able to see if you play all the routes and enjoy the nine endings of the video game.

Story

In Dear Althea, you play as Althea Vane; a young upper class British woman whose life is turned upside down after the death of her father which causes her family to fall apart along with her future. She will be forced to choose a new future, a place to call home and a group to belong to. To get there she will have to face all sorts of situations in Victorian London, but love and romance will fortunately abound and make her quest more enjoyable.

Choices matter

You will find that the choices you make will change the story from the very first chapter, even if they change there will be many of them that will affect the story in the long run. In Dear Althea, your choices can affect not only your fate, but also the fate of other people. They can also change your relationship with other characters and open up new routes of dialogue that will change the dynamics of relationships.

Diverse relationships

You don’t have to fall in love with anyone or enter into any kind of romantic or sexual relationship in the game, but depending on your choices you can enter into a relationship with up to four characters that fall within the LGBT spectrum, however you don’t have to choose just one relationship; you can enter into a variety of polyamorous relationships.

In this video game, consent is discussed and encouraged in all aspects of relationships between characters. In romantic relationships there is no obligation to have sex, and refusing to have sex has no negative repercussions.

Characters

There is a great diversity of charismatic characters in “Dear Althea” but there is a clear division between upper class and working class characters. As a protagonist you can decide from the first chapter and throughout the story which group you are more sympathetic to. Defending characters from one class or the other can have repercussions.

Puzzles

If puzzles are not your thing you can skip them without missing any important plot points; however, there has been a lot of effort in the creation of the puzzles to make them all diverse. They have been integrated in the best possible way into the storyline as well as being completely set in the era in which the story takes place.

Typography

The typography has been created to help people with dyslexia to identify letters more easily. It is based on the typeface that appears in the original 1897 book.

Endings

There are a total of nine completely different final chapters, many of which are the result of decisions that took place several chapters earlier.Due to the branching of the story, finishing a single route can cause you to miss even twenty whole chapters that belong to the other routes, so the title invites replayability. Also, as a final surprise, there are some small post-credits scenes that will change depending on the decisions made throughout the story.

Duration and text

Counting all possible decisions, the game has 112408 words and (although it is not finished yet) I estimate that approximately and depending on the decisions chosen, the game can last about 5 hours.


Read More: Best Romance Visual Novel Games.


Dear Althea on Steam

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Fun game. Got kinda stale toward the end so I never finished it. Maybe I’ll mess with it again some day.

Real player with 4.2 hrs in game


Read More: Best Romance Singleplayer Games.


Really unique puzzle to story interface. I really enjoyed it! I just wish that the interface wasn’t so sensitive. Sometimes when I would move a frame, it would lock in somewhere that I didn’t want it to go and I would have to restart the level. You also HAVE to play fullscreen if you want to see everything. Unfortunately the story was also pretty unsatisfactory.

Real player with 3.4 hrs in game

Elizabeth on Steam

Kombi Travels - Jigsaw Landscapes

Kombi Travels - Jigsaw Landscapes

I really enjoyed playing this game. Since jigsaw games is something I like playing that helps me feel relaxed. And very helpful when my mental health isn’t feeling good.

Real player with 9.2 hrs in game

The art of this game is very beautiful, the relaxing atmosphere is very pleasant.

Real player with 2.8 hrs in game

Kombi Travels - Jigsaw Landscapes on Steam

Love Me Forever

Love Me Forever

From Brendan’s view: The story is about how I as a brave heroic firefighter save a pretty girl inside a burning building. We start to date she suddenly becomes very clingy and druggs me. Next thing I know I wake up trapped inside her father’s basement with an electric bracelet attached to my ankle. What kind of of girl does something like that?!?

From Allison’s view: The story is about how my soulmate saves my life. We’re in love and want to get married and have babies together! We currently are living very happily at my father’s house. We’re going to have such an amazing life together!

Brendan this is you, you like to play the hero in every given situation

Allison is your girlfriend and soulmate (Alli forced us to write this..)

Jerry is your best friend, he only became a firefighter to get girls

Tori is the paramedic and only female in the firefighter crew

Maddox the driver engineer, drives the fire truck like a racecar driver

Vernon is the captain and your supervisor (he is also a moron)

A unique RPG with puzzle elements tied to the relationship of the main characters

A messed up Story that will question your relationship (if you are in one)

Original hand drawn Art created by a colorblind graphic designer that had an F in art

Curse Words like the s-word and f-word (not scumbag, not fudge,..)

Bag that you need to stash your inventory inside

Glow-in-the-Dark Stickers can only be collected during darkness (turn the light off)

Zodiac Coins exchange them for future predicts from Alli’s grandma (she is a psychic)

Video Tapes will show you intense scenes from your relationship with Allison

Sweet Minigames can be found in the game, also arcade machines

What kind of a game is this?

Love Me Forever is a puzzle and exploration RPG with an inventory system. Find tools, objects, consumables, keys and use them to unlock doors, overcome obstacles and solve puzzles. The game focuses on story and puzzling, it’s combat-free.

What is a cool feature of the game?

The game has 15 video tapes you have to find, each tape will reward you with a funny flashback scene from your relationship with Allison. In every flashback you will find a hint, that will help you to solve a puzzle in the game (so pay close attention!).

Where does the game take place?

The main part of the game takes place in the mansion of Alli’s family. The firefighter part is the prologue of the game, the game begins in the dormitory (Brendan’s room) in the fire department.

Game footage not final.

Love Me Forever on Steam

Slide Stories: Bonds & Memories

Slide Stories: Bonds & Memories

a really enjoyable slide puzzle game with a nice story to accompany it. i really loved the addition of the secret puzzle. like their other puzzle game, it has a soothing soundtrack with some really charming artwork.

Real player with 9.2 hrs in game

A Fun, Moving Collection

Slide Stories: Bonds & Memories is a collection of eight slider puzzles that tell a story and reflect on memories. There are seven standard puzzles and an eighth bonus puzzle that you can find (which was a pretty cool feature). The puzzles are available in different sizes: 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, and 9x9.

I really enjoy the hand-drawn images and the story they tell. The pictures are animated rather than still. Though I like the idea of animation (and really enjoyed it in the first collection of slide puzzles, Slide Stories: Neko’s Journey) I did find the animation to be a bit too much: it felt like each image was persistently shaking and I often found myself feeling rather nauseated. That was really unfortunate. I would suggest, in this case, to have an option to freeze the animation. Maybe in future collections revert back to the fewer animations from the other collection.

Real player with 8.1 hrs in game

Slide Stories: Bonds & Memories on Steam

After Meeting

After Meeting

It’s basically a matching game. I enjoyed going through it, but knowing what kind of game it was would have been helpful. You’re just trying to find which objects are similar or themed similarly.

Real player with 0.4 hrs in game

After Meeting on Steam

How Buddy’s parents met - a jigsaw puzzle tale

How Buddy’s parents met - a jigsaw puzzle tale

This is my first jigsaw puzzle game, but I am enjoying it a lot. There are 6 pictures to put together. The pictures are the same 6 through each level. There are five levels of difficulty (increasing the number of puzzle pieces), but you can choose which you want to do and the game saves where you are at. Cute story too! I recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a relaxing way to spend the day.

Real player with 59.8 hrs in game

Things that appeal. Minimal controls, easy snap together, bright subject matter, and a variety of puzzle sizes.

The dev of this app is very romantically minded which I found incredibly sweet considering I’m extremely jaded where this subject is concerned. I like the artwork, the music was fitting and relaxing.

[Things that did not appeal. Only one thing I found annoying was that I couldn’t change the background colour on some of the puzzles where, I had a difficult time differentiating light colours or finding the spots where they fit. An option to change to a darker colour background would have been extremely beneficial].

Real player with 47.3 hrs in game

How Buddy’s parents met - a jigsaw puzzle tale on Steam

Frincess&Cnight

Frincess&Cnight

A charming little game, it’s obvious that a lot of care has been put into it!

Interesting and fun mechanics, but don’t be fooled by its charming exterior: it does not mess around in the later levels, and requires a considerable degree of mechanical and puzzling skill.

Overall, I enjoyed it, and am glad I completed it.

Expect a few hours of playtime, a lot of fun, and many, many deaths.

Real player with 8.7 hrs in game

As I’m writing this review, I have completed this game.

In one word: wonderful. I loved this game from start to finish. The controls are very basic but don’t get me wrong! with such simple controls, you can do so much and the game is extremely complex despite being so simple… the puzzles are a huge brain teaser and I love the increasing of difficulty as you go on.

Maybe a lot won’t realize but the first few levels will teach you how to achieve certain areas and little tricks (not mentioned in the tutorials) that you can use. and again, you can do so much with so very little controls!

Real player with 8.0 hrs in game

Frincess&Cnight on Steam

Happy Guy

Happy Guy

I had been sad before I bought this game but now im happy

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⣿⣿⣿⠟⠻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠶⢴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿

⣿⣁⡀⠀⠀⢰⢠⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠀⣴⣶⣿⡄⣿

⣿⡋⠀⠀⠀⠎⢸⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠗⢘⣿⣟⠛⠿⣼

⣿⣿⠋⢀⡌⢰⣿⡿⢿⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣧⢀⣼

⣿⣿⣷⢻⠄⠘⠛⠋⠛⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣧⠈⠉⠙⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿

⣿⣿⣧⠀⠈⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠟⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⢃⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿

⣿⣿⡿⠀⠴⢗⣠⣤⣴⡶⠶⠖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡸⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿

⣿⣿⣿⡀⢠⣾⣿⠏⠀⠠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠛⠉⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿

⣿⣿⣿⣧⠈⢹⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿

Real player with 6.0 hrs in game

Too Long Didn’t Read Version

| Recommend | ✔Yes, at list price, on sale, or part of a bundle |

| Visual Novel Type | Railroad |

| Acts | Oral✔, Vaginal✔, Bondage✔, Domination✔, Spanking✔, Breast✔, Solo Female✔, Rape* / Non-Consensual✔ |

| Censorship? | No, with Free Steam patch |

| Hours of Gameplay |

Real player with 4.6 hrs in game

Happy Guy on Steam