Game Reviews

Game Title: Potionomics Released:  October 17, 2022 Game Length: 44 Hours Grade:  B+   Visual Novel Relationship:  One of the biggest aspects of the game revolves around building relationships with the characters that become available as you progress through the story. This is very important as each milestone provides you a new card to use in your haggling tactics or a discount through their services. It becomes clear pretty quickly that this mechanic also has a problem with how much a certain activity contributes to your relationship. The only thing that displays on the screen is whether your relationship builds by one or two stars. However in my case, gifting a character something that they like that provides two stars everyday may not be enough to reach the final milestone before the 50th day. While there are a lot of theory-crafting available online, gifting them ingredients that are better quality dictated by the color behind their name (bronze, silver, go...

Game Title: Snacko Released:  May 25, 2025 Game Length:  25+ Hours Grade:  A-  Development History:   Snacko  is one of those games where learning about the developers is probably a more fascinating tale than the content itself. Amusingly at the moment of writing this, the entire website that contained all the data expired for roughly 24 hours. The  team  consisted of a gal who handles the art, writing, and business, a guy who handles the programming, and the cats who star as the main attractions of the game. They started demonstrations of their game  back in 2018  before COVID. They shared their game at conventions, quit their job, started working on the game full time , and worked with income from their patrons  in 2019. They had a  kickstarter page  in 2020 and worked on game assets in 2021. Early Access on Steam started in 2023 when improvements were made to almost every system. The magic system was only par...

Game Title: Dinkum Released:  April 22, 2025 Game Length:  Too Long Grade:  A-  Gameplay Limits:  As a solo player, the game has a problem keeping your attention. That's because this cozy game is built with multiplayer in mind from the very beginning. The first year is designed to be gruesomely tiring in order to incentivize exploration, introduce new concepts, and upgrade mechanics overtime at a very slow pace. Almost no resources can be purchased, products can only be purchased one at a time, and there are restrictions to what might be available at any given time. Some players immediately pull up online videos and lists to help them determine the most efficient way to make it through these hurdles. I'm here to say that my experience was completely blind to any outside sources within the first year. Around the second year, there was a need to learn specifics about certain accomplishments and activities as my frustration was reaching its peak. Modi...

Game Title: Deliver At All Costs Released:  May 22, 2025 Game Length: 12 Hours Grade:  B Story Release:  Something odd happened when this game released on Steam. It was spontaneously  made free on Epic Games Store . The  trailer  didn't really help explain what happens in the game. What it does do, however, is show the ridiculous gameplay in a beautiful fashion. You will be delivering the most unusual products across a vast landscape with very little concern to the things that get caught under the tires of your car. The deliveries will test your patience as you carry things that range from a giant fish to a ticking time bomb. Setting : The narrative is all over the place as you try to decipher the mysteries behind the protagonist. Not only can the main character be insufferable at times with his vulgar language and backtalk, but all the characters can be portrayed as somewhat cartoonish at times. The narrator himself that informs the user of current e...

Game Title: Preserve Released:  May 15, 2025 Game Length: N/A Grade:  A-   Gameplay Tile System:  There was a review that stated this game was  Terrascape  but with animals. The two games are perhaps only similar in the way that you are looking to gain points by carefully choosing which cards to play and where. In fact, its features are probably more similar to  Dorfromantik or Panorama . The concept is rather simple in nature. You place down a section of tiles, pair habitats with landscape cards, and attach animal cards as the length of those areas grow. You gain more tiles as you reach certain milestones in points. One point is awarded for each tile you rain upon or increase a habitat. Three points are awarded for groups of three.  Bonuses:  The trick is to obtain habitats large enough to hold three animals. You gain 10 points per animal placed, 30 points for three of the same animal, and 60 points for three different animals. Since you ga...

  Game Watch Explanation: Every now and then, there comes a time when the list of suggested games pile up too long. They appeal to me but there is something about them that keeps me from properly playing through the game. Consider this a lightning round post of games that I tackled through with brief summations of my experience or lack thereof. Black Skylands  - There was something special about this game with its top-down approach that's similar to  Smash TV . Add to the fact that you will be constructing your own air blimp with pirate cannon action against an armada of bugs and other foul things flying at you. Unfortunately, the concept seemed short-lived as controlling your grappling gun and ship was very robust to the fast-pace I anticipated upon first seeing the trailer to this game. Ultimately, I had to make a pass for something else that might hold my attention beyond the tutorial.  The Last Alchemist  - While digging through the bottom of the barre...