Gaming
2023
Important note: Although I only post positive reviews, that doesn't mean every game automatically gets one. My biggest layer of quality control is that I only review games I think I'm likely to enjoy. Even then, only around 75% of games reviewed have received my recommendation. Long story short? Just making it to this list is a mark of quality.
Yeetus
24 December 2023
Yeetus is a cool twin-stick shooter where you throw the floor at the enemy. It can get pretty crazy. Game's only very short- could benefit from more variety- but a fantastic casual game. Very fun
Vagrus
23 December 2023
A dark, gripping story, accompanied by gorgeous artwork and beautiful writing. The characters are fleshed out and the management aspect very well designed. Vagrus is a work of art, I'm impressed.
George the Gentleman Frog
21 December 2023
Pug Fugly is an absolute master at nailing the retro gaming experience and he's done it again. Love the graphics, love the sound, the gameplay's frantic- challenging, 90s style! It's a crime for this game to be free. I would have jammed so many 20c pieces into this if it'd released as an arcade machine. 7 levels, each with their own new enemies, secret candy, and grading. And you know I'll be going back for those high scores.
Vampire Survivors DLC:
Emergency Meeting
Emergency Meeting
20 December 2023
This DLC is all kinds of cool. I never spent much time playing Among Us but I love the concept and it's one of my kids' favourite games. Emergency Meeting is a fantastic cross of the two games so any Among Us fans are going to love it. More importantly, it's an awesome DLC in its own right. The new Polus map (the Polus Outpost map from Among us) is decently sized and one of the more interesting maps in the game, with its own map, relic, and coffin to collect. And of course there's music from Among Us to really set the mood. What's really cool though is the 9 new characters and 15 new themed weapons. The Emergency Meeting (ultimate upgrade of Report) is particularly cool ("who is the impostor!") and having little mini crewmates and skinned hats and things flying everywhere is super fun.
Logic Escape
19 December 2023
Logic Escape could use a bit more polish but nails the real-life "escape room" experience in a genuine way. Interesting rooms, multi-layered puzzles, solid variety, A real challenge, I'm impressed.
Beach Invasion 1945: Pacific
16 December 2023
Beach Invasion is an awesome FPS/TD hybrid. In FPS, mow down waves of enemy troops as they attempt to take your beachhead. After each wave, repair or unlock new weapons. Weather adds new challenges!
Star Salvager
15 December 2023
Star Salvager is a refreshing & innovative take on the genre. Trying to build tetris combos to collect health & ammo from falling blocks while dodging bullets and asteroids is tricky! Addictive & fun.
Chromosome Evil 2
13 December 2023
Chromosome Evil 2 is both an exceptional tactical game & survival/resource management blend. Good story too. Art nails the horror vibe & provides an intense experience for veteran tactical gamers.
Crystal Comet
12 December 2023
Man, this game really needs a key art upgrade! Most of the in-game graphics are actually awesome, the music's great, and it's a fun chaotic co-op shooter with good variety & replayability
Horace Hagfish
11 December 2023
Horace Hagfish is a blast from the past. Totally nailed the retro 90s shareware EGA vibe in terms of both gameplay and graphics. Puzzles are nice & original too. Simple in concept but challenging!
Roguenarok
10 December 2023
Roguenarok is an excellent survivors-like that aims for a shorter, more focused, more interactive experience. Battle Arena mode is great! Love the dino viking vibe, great graphics, really fun to play.
Crossroad OS
09 December 2023
Crossroad OS is exceptional. Loaded with experimental puzzles, layered gameplay, and Daisy's signature huge range of mechanics. Love the eerie Win95 vibe. Really hard to put down, totally hooked.
Destroyer: U-Boat Hunter
08 December 2023
Destroyer is a challenging sim that sees you playing as a Destroyer and also controlling an escort fleet fighting off U-Boats. It's delightfully complex, although full of user-friendly features.
Stacks:Jungle
07 December 2023
Stacks:Jungle starts as a relatively generic survival game (craft tools, gather food, build a hut and boat) except with cards. However, it really opens up when you start exploring new islands. Fun!
Ultimate Solitaire Collection
06 December 2023
Ultimate Solitaire Collection is eSolution's best work yet. Huge huge huge variety of solitaire games, difficulty options, lovely UI, unlockable aesthetics and even campaign and daily challenge modes!
ZomWick
05 December 2023
“ZomWick's like a Tapper game but with only 1 bad guy, although the floor has boosts and you can install temporary turrets. Needs more variety. It's interesting but easy & slow moving. Kid friendly.
Astlibra Revision
04 December 2023
Astlibra's an interesting JRPG with sidescrolling action gameplay and a stack of interesting and experimental mechanics. Writing could be better but story's solid and combat is excellent. Hidden gem.
Animal Planner
02 December 2023
For a cutesy sliding tile animal puzzle game, Animal Planner actually features an impressive array of layered mechanics. Really love the egg & timebomb combo! 80 very well designed levels, its great.
Poems & Codes
30 November 2023
I found the puzzle aspect of Poems & Codes to be somewhat lacking but still relaxing. The poems, however, were a real delight to explore. The game also supports Project Gutenberg, a worthy cause!
Barton Lynch Pro Surfing
28 November 2023
Sports fans, do not miss Barton Lynch Pro Surfing. It is loaded with customisation options, exotic locations, glorious graphics, and stacks of tricks. It's the Tony Hawk of surfing games!
The Last Faith
27 November 2023
The Last Faith is a gorgeous gothic-themed metroidvania with a suitably gritty story, plenty of enemies, weapons and abilities and secrets to find, precise controls and some exceptional boss battles.
Art of Rally + Australia DLC
25 November 2023
Art of Rally's easily one of the best rally games out there. Big campaign, plenty of cars & tracks to unlock, and other game modes. Love the art style. Easy to learn, difficult to master.
Paintball 3
18 November 2023
Paintball 3 features simple gameplay compounded with a huge variety of challenge combos (time limits, broken balls, colour limits, combo limits) and other mini games. Kid friendly and multiplayer!
Star Survivor
16 November 2023
Star Survivor's an excellent scifi horde survival game. I love the in-game modular ship building and upgrade systems and the different objectives as you progress through the campaign. Very replayable!
Rogue Glitch Ultra
15 November 2023
Rogue Glitch Ultra is an awesome shooter/platform hybrid with tons of variety - loads of enemies, bosses, upgrades, levels, characters.. super replayable. Graphics are slick & movement is precise!”
The Invincible
14 November 2023
The Invincible features on point voice acting, terrific atompunk aesthetics, beautiful and dangerous alien landscapes, and a fantastic deep philosophical narrative. It's not a game, it's an experience
Ocelot Sunrise
12 November 2023
Ocelot Sunrise is a slick, modern take on the survivors-like genre. It looks & sounds great, animations and movements are really smooth, excellent upgrade/challenge curve. Polished, fun & addictive!
Zombie Admin
11 November 2023
Zombie Admin's a top-down shooter with surprisingly little focus on shooting and a great sense of humour. Easy to start but gets tense in the later levels. Small but very replayable & Features co-op!
Symmodance
10 November 2023
While Symmodance is graphically and mechanically fairly simplistic, it has a fantastic difficulty/reward curve with tons of unlocks (including weapons, upgrades, enemies, bosses, world). Addictive!
Horde Hunters
09 November 2023
Horde Hunters is quickly becoming my new favourite "survivors-like." Very different though. It's twinstick & very interactive, big focus on RPG elements, missions and interactive maps and environments
Beyond Sunset
08 November 2023
Beyond Sunset is bloody brilliant. Love the 80s cyberpunk aesthetics, love the synthwave soundtrack, love the fast-paced street samurai combat, love the level design, love everything about it.
Roboom
08 November 2023
EA Review: Roboom's like a horde survival version of Atari's Combat (1977) but with modern sleek but minimalist graphics. Fun, fast-paced & engaging. Looking forward to more variety with updates.
The Last Commander
07 November 2023
Nomad Survival is a shameless Vampire Survivors clone; very similar in both gameplay and aesthetics. Lacks some balance & polish but has tons of customisation options built in, worth the look!
The Last Commander
06 November 2023
While NNP looks like a generic rpgmaker game at first glance, it's anything but. It's a JRPG with tons of experimental mechanics and a story that you write as you go. Starts slow but gets pretty wild
Starship Troopers: Extermination
03 November 2023
EA: Some odd gameplay decisions but the overall experience is awesome. Love the objective-based missions and the combat's absolutely intense! Recreates the feeling from the movies well. I'm hooked!
The Last Commander
02 November 2023
This is a hesitant recommendation. I had fun experimenting with The Last Commander; I love the art style and concept. However, the clunky UI and lack of tutorial or tips makes it difficult to access.
At Winter's End
01 November 2023
At Winter's End is a short but absolutely charming little story about friendship, growing up, the environment... without ever coming across as preachy. A perfect little adventure for young gamers.
Thyria: Step into Dreams
31 October 2023
Thyria's a solid turn-based combat game with interesting nightmare themes, and an unusual art style which I really enjoy. Also features an unusual isometric exploration/combat phase. Solid RPG.
Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier
30 October 2023
Fun new 2d platformer that I enjoyed but your kids will love. The movement based mechanics are great (I'm a sucker for a jetpack) and I love the time challenges and boss fights. Super polished!
USC: Counterforce
28 October 2023
USC: Counterforce is not a friendly entry-level game. However, it IS a great tactical game for hardcore tactical gamers, with tons of game modes, weapons, enemies, customisation. Lots under the hood.
Elzzup
25 October 2023
Elzzup's an interesting jigsaw-based puzzle game with a surprising variety of mechanics across its 60 levels. There's no way to fail (and no time or other challenges) so it's more of a patience game.
The Foretold Exordium
24 October 2023
The gameplay's simple and solid, if a touch repetitive. Relics are interesting but system deters swapping. Would love to see more variety. Love the Egyptian cult theme and the artwork's gorgeous!
Dungeons of Mysteria
17 October 2023
Dungeons of Mysteria is a cleverly made dungeon crawler that utilises proc gen levels across a range of dungeons (and with good monster variety) for tons of replayability. It's surprisingly addictive.
Railgrade
13 October 2023
Railgrade is a superb management sim with a huge mission-based story campaign. Features upgrades, challenges, time pressure, puzzles, gorgeous environments and levels, tons of variety. Excellent
Maki's Adventure
11 October 2023
Maki's Adventure is.. everything. Primarily a 2d platformer where you switch between demon and shark, it has a 3d hub world and a stack of minigames. Unlike most hybrids, it does all these things well.
Windy Meadow
10 October 2023
Windy Meadow's a comparitively short (~3 hours) visual novel featuring lovely pixel art backgrounds, top quality writing, interesting characters, and no fluff. Any fan of Roadwarden should enjoy
Bilkin's Folly
7 October 2023
An excellent isometric point and click adventure with tons of exploration, puzzles, and treasure hunting. Looks and sounds great, excellent variety, lots of quirky characters and a fun story.
Headlong Hunt
04 October 2023
Headlong Hunt's a quality puzzle game that requires logic to solve. The mechanics are simple but encourage creativity in applying them. Whopping 100 levels (some optional), well-designed!
Death Unphased
03 October 2023
Death Unphased is a superb precisison/puzzle platformer. It's all about cleverly abusing the mechanics on each level (also has "secret" mechanics!). It's tough but I really enjoyed it.
Rheum
01 October 2023
Rheum's a superb top-scrolling shooter which quickly turns into a bullet hell. Super challenging; has secrets if you can survive long enough to find them. Love the visceral theme, great little game
Guardians of Gaia: Guardians 8
30 September 2023
Guardians 8 is the prologue to Guardians of Gaia, an introduction to the characters and combat system. It's in-depth but must be learned through trial & error. Fun - main game seems promising.
Luftrausers
29 September 2023
Luftrausers is a fun 3d high score shoot'em'up with stacks of build options. My fave feature is that the challenges are tied to your weapon/engine/body choices. Addictive but can get a touch grindy.
Slime Alchemist
28 September 2023
Slime Alchemist is a fun turn-based tactical with cards featuring exploration between battles. Needs more polish & variety but still in Early Access - I expect it to be fantastic at full release.
Knight Without Sword
27 September 2023
Knight Without Sword is NOT an RPG. It's a puzzle game. Could benefit from more polish and QoL features but the imitation mechanics are interesting and the puzzle challenging (for kids and adults).
Adventurer Farmer
26 September 2023
Adventurer Farmer could benefit from more polish but the concept's fun. Swinging around on your whip's the only movement allowed; it's hard to control at times, can be wild. Fun for kids.
Attack of the Karens
25 September 2023
Attack of the Karens is a quality scrolling shooter with a great sense of humour, decent action, lots of upgrades and memorable boss fights. Randomised levels & bosses provides tons of replayability
Dune: Spice Wars
24 September 2023
While I'm not in love with the art direction and I'm bitter & twisted about the lack of story or lore, the gameplay is solid. Exceptional mix of combat, intrigue, and deep Landsraad/CHOAM mechanics.
Billy BumBum
17 September 2023
Despite its silly theme, Billy BumBum is a solid puzzle game. The concept's simple; move a block from A to B, navigating gaps & traps while also trying to control your facing. It's challenging and fun.
Highrise City
12 September 2023
Highrise City is a good quality modern city builder with some economic juggling required but more emphasis placed on large scale expansion. Looks great, tons of attention to detail.
Byte Lynx
11 September 2023
Byte Lynx is a game unlike any I've played before. Took a while to get my head around the unique gameplay but I really liked it. I recommend easy mode to start then up difficulty for a real challenge.
Lueur and the Dim Settlers
8 September 2023
Lueur is a really cool game. "Survival builder" is an accurate description, and the genre mix makes for some really fun and innovative gameplay. Also features interesting stories that give purpose
Tiny Witch
6 September 2023
Tiny Witch is a fast-paced potion shop game that focuses on the crafting and customer service. The customers get cranky and attack you if you're too slow, so you have to think fast and be efficient.
Edge of War
3 September 2023
Early Access review: Edge of War is an ambitious CRPG featuring lovely locations, great battlefield design, and organic quests. Has a long way to go yet (2 years in EA planned) but super promising.
Woody Chopper
1 September 2023
Woody Chopper's a fun casual game that'd be perfect on tablet/steakdeck/phone. Core gameplay is addictive lacks variety - adding a high score comp & more timed mechanics would make this game amazing.
Pilfer: Story of Light
30 August 2023
Pilfer is a sweet 3d platformer that'd be perfect for kids. The worlds are huge and full of traps and monsters but nothing too nasty and it all looks great. Cute characters and story. Love the bosses.
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows
29 August 2023
Don't let the cuteness scare you off; this is a solid puzzle game. I guess it's probably sokoban-based but it doesn't feel like it. Very creative and original, nice range of mechanics, well-designed.
Local News with Cliff Rockslide
24 August 2023
Local News with Cliff Rockslide is a visual novel with plenty of interactivity as you play the cameraman investigating some manure-related hijinks in a quirky small town. Good for younger players
BloodDome 99
23 August 2023
BloodDome 99's a great minimalist arcade shooter; similar to BloodDome classic but with more enemy variety and some seriously cool weapons (go for synergy!). Addictive gameplay, go for the high score!
Above Snakes
21 August 2023
Above Snakes is a kid-friendly survival game; no real danger or pressure so resource gathering and crafting is a relaxing experience. A bit linear but fun. Really love the world-building mechanic.
BloodDome Classic
20 August 2023
BloodDome Classic's an excellent arcade shooter with randomised upgrades and a difficulty curve that starts gentle but gets frantic. Would have been a classic if released in 90s and holds up well.”
Sushi for Robots
17 August 2023
A lovable puzzle game that focuses on colour matching, symbolic tiles, and coordinated movement. Love the turn limitation as an extra challenge. Lacks aesthetic variety but plenty of puzzle mechanics!”
Orbit Zero
15 August 2023
Orbit Zero's an interesting hybrid - part management sim, part idler, part shooter. There's always something to do and your focus changes as your empire grows so it stays fresh for a long time.
Planet Barren Objective
14 August 2023
Planet Barren Objective has a steep learning curve (could benefit from improved UI or tute) but it's worth it. It's a real gem, much bigger than it looks at first glance, and gets better as you play.
Great Houses of Calderia
13 August 2023
Great Houses is a grand strategy sim you definitely need to check out. Features both intra-kingdom and foreign affairs management and stretches across generations for a full experience
Fishjong 2
12 August 2023
Fishjong 2 is a very relaxing solitaire mahjong experience. Not much challenge, just tile matching although lock/key tiles are present. Lovely music, set art, and ocean-theme patterns feature
Project Planet
11 August 2023
Project Planet's an exceptional dvd/boardgame-type experience, featuring 5 vs 1 cooperative gameplay. My family have been playing this one together in the evenings and having a great time with it.
Tide of Thieves
08 August 2023
Tide of Thieves is heavily inspired by Overboard! (1997). Very similar gameplay & weapons. Lacks multiplayer but features updated graphics & QoL features, secret areas, & campaign. Nostalgic & fun.
SokoSolitaire
02 August 2023
SokoSolitaire is one of Daisy's most challenging titles, with a heavier focus on core Sokoban mechanics and movement than usual (but still tons of unusual mechanics). Super tight level design.
Thronefall
02 August 2023
There's no idling in Thronefall! After building/upgrading, you control the character during combat and can fight directly or lead troops into battle. Plenty of variety & decision making. Addictive!
The Life of a Magical Circle
02 August 2023
While the presentation may be lacking, Life of a Magical Circle is actually fun to play. It's challenging as a scrolling evade/collect game but there's a much wider game here if you experiment.
Mega City Police
31 July 2023
Mega City Police is fast-paced and a lot of fun to play. Best mechanic is the ammo and weapon drops which encourage weapon cycling and more variety in play. Love the themed level aesthetics.<