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Dawnfolk

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Game Title: Dawnfolk Released: February 13, 2025 Game Length: N/A Grade: B+ Menu Achievements: When you are first starting, almost every feature of the game comes with a cost. You can play through the first few levels of the story and earn more of this currency. Once you unlock more levels, you can choose to unlock various scenarios that add unusual restrictions and rules to the game. There are a number of puzzles that test your knowledge on how to build resources or make progress before a day passes. There is a sandbox and endless mode if you want to customize your experience. Though, you are always allowed to continue after reaching your goal in a level.  Options: The currency you earn from performing activities can also unlock a number of modifiers. These include Easter Eggs where you can evolve a building or structure into a weird soundtrack tile. Cheats, as well as maluses that hinder your game, are available but expensive to unlock. There is a creator's codex that spells...
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Planet of Lana

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Game Title: Planet of Lana Released: November 14, 2022 Game Length: 4 Hours Grade: A  Story Overview: The game revolves around a little girl who finds her village being taken away by giant robots. After seeing her older sister inside a cage, the protagonist decides to chase after the robots to an unknown location. On the way, she discovers a black critter inside a trap. After freeing the little guy, this cat that jumps around like a monkey decides to follow you. What transpires is an adventure through parts of the planet, traveling through the forest and desert while learning about your history in old ruins.  Interpretation: Unless you read about the game before playing, there is a lot that is left to your imagination. There is a little bit of dialogue where characters shout out to each other. If you listen carefully, this helps identify the main characters: Lana the younger sister, Elo the older sister, and Mui the cat. The language itself isn't recognizable and there i...
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Somerville

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Game Title: Somerville Released: November 14, 2022 Game Length: 3 Hours Grade: B-  Gameplay   Route: The game could be defined as a walking simulator with some intermittent puzzle obstacles placed in your way. There will be no button prompts other than a few interactions when you are first introduced to a new mechanic. There are a number of visual clues that will show you where to go next such as orange paint on objects, characters pointing you in a certain direction, animals that show you where you need to hide, or graffiti that highlights a main route. Unless you are keeping to a steady pace and learn on what the game wants you to do during a chase, your experience can quickly devolve and cause frustration. Mechanics: There are two main things you need to learn when playing the game. The first is to always stay out of the light. These can consist of purple lights that evaporate you, red lights from dogs trying to shoot at you, and lit areas of a dark room where enemies...
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Crypt Custodian

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Game Title: Crypt Custodian Released: August 27, 2024 Game Length: 11 Hours Grade: B- Setting Design: What if the developer of Islets decided to create a metroidvania game from an isometric point-of-view instead of a side-scroller? That's exactly what you get with Crypt Custodian . This time you are a cat that is given a body after being thrown into an odd place after your death. Unfortunately, you are judged for your actions to be a janitor for all eternity. As you explore the various regions, you realize that a number of other characters were similarly destined with the same role. You gradually learn that these folk have long left their responsibilities behind, lost their bodies, and lived on as spirits taking on a hobby or two. Collectibles: What is drastically different than the previous game are the number of things you can find in the wild. You can find discs in each region that you can load into the jukebox at the bar. There are jars you can break open to find 20 spir...
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Islets

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Game Title: Islets Released: August 24, 2022 Game Length: 7 Hours Grade: B Setting Design: You are a mouse going on an adventure. You hear about these five islands that have been broken apart. After some mishap, you crash on one of the islands until someone lends you their ship to take off again. Conceptually, the artist drew the characters and enemies to be very simplistic. Half of them appear as moving blobs while the other half might appear as some odd beast or critter. This actually relates to the story somewhat and makes it easy on the eyes. They all have their own set of unique attack patterns that doesn't take too much effort to learn. There are a number of fantastical characters that will change-up the gameplay with their hobbies or activities.  Environment: While there is a map that updates with each room and interconnection with the islands, there isn't any form of mini-map that you can glance at while exploring. There are two types of rest areas marked - a save...
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Sanabi

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Game Title: Sanabi Released: November 8, 2023 Game Length: 9 Hours Grade: A- Story Gut-Punch: Sanabi is sort of an enigma where telling you what happens will spoil the whole point of playing the game. The very beginning of the game starts you off playing some make-believe with your daughter. After a fun and loving tutorial out in the middle of nowhere, something tragic happens. Some of you will be appalled by the depressing introduction while others will question what really happened. As the story unfolds, you realize how important those feelings from the beginning are as you discover the truth behind an evil mastermind that has infiltrated a city. I'll let you know ahead of time that while the denouement is beautifully done, the bittersweet ending doesn't leave on a cheery note. Breadcrumbs: While a lot of the game is built around a ridiculous future where there is an enormous city the size of an entire country that requires transportation to travel vertically just to ...
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Skul: The Hero Slayer

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Game Title: Skul: The Hero Slayer Released: January 20, 2021 Game Length: N/A Grade: B   Development Patches: This might seem rather weird to hear but the game is somehow still receiving updates after all these years.  What seemed like minor additions to the base game actually came way later in patches. A number of characters, tweaks, and adjustments were implemented. Little things like looting adventurers and being able to choose from several different types of rewards after defeating a boss came in a couple of updates after release. January 2023 brought along the Dark Mirror update which is sort of a hardmode extension with a couple more chapters related to that mysterious cliffhanger you never did get answers for in the base game. There was one character added as tribute to a patron in April 2024 and some more general adjustments made on June 26, 2024. DLC: In November 2023, the developers added a free " Demon King's Castle Defense" patch in addition to their Myt...
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