Great indie game reviews.
Unpacking is an isometric puzzle game by Witch Beam, an Australian developer, published by our very own sponsor Humble Bundle. You are a third-person clicker, looking down into an empty room with a stack of boxes sitting in the middle of the floor. There's no direction or impetus, but as you open the box, intuition sets in, and you start to place objects from here and there. Before you know it, you're an artisanal thing mover. You may take solace in a simulation of this if you're particularly neat, or simply like no-pressure puzzles. The game starts off in the year 1997, then soon 2004. Certainly, there are enough years on the timeline to keep you busy! But no rush, nor absence of themes. When you play Unpacking, you'll have plenty of time to put things as you like.
In Fall 2020 when I was just launching the Mr. Dave Pizza concept, I played Good Pizza, Great Pizza by Tapblaze on an Android tablet, one of the many formats this game is available on. Today I played the official version released for Nintendo Switch to go back and really see what amused me about this game. Pizza, the food, has always been pretty popular, but in the last five years, it's developed a near cult status. It's kind of weird honestly, but it's spun some pretty creative and entertaining ideas. So, after so much traffic from google here by indie-game playing pizza lovers and truffle pizza fast food cravers, I am issuing an inaugural validation of Good Pizza, Great Pizza as one of the greatest pizza-themed indie games of all time. At least that I've played--I'll get to you Freddy.
Discovered through Game Pass, I'm rather fond of this new title, The Gunk, from Image and Form/Thunderful Development, just launched a few days ago. It fits neatly into the category of games I usually enjoy which are casual character development, soft sci-fi, and familiar mechanics of resource collecting games. And this version of those styles is well presented here. While the game is really very straightforward without much need for introduction, a quality I appreciate, I'll share some highlights on my experience playing through the first few areas plus what you should know about this game.
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Today's game, Loading Story, listed as developed by "potatodog" on Steam is a tad quirky but genuinely satisfying. It's a very short game about a character troubleshooting a game loading error in an imaginary video game town, where the loading…
Update: Alchemic Cutie is, once again, a game running across my desk, slated for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5 for June 2023. I really have no particular context for describing it after so long, but when I tested it on…
Spooky Station, Fifo's Night, Haunt the House, Pumpkin Jack, and Monster League. Spooky Station is actually 9 games too, I was boggling over what games to include, but I ultimately realized: how about everything? Let's go! Fifo's Night is some major deep cuttage, which we love here. And some recent covered games too! Are you ready for this frightful/thoughtful indie Halloween game list? Anything could happen…
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It did The Mash! Monster League is essentially a complete kart racing Halloween game from the makers of Medieval Dynasty. It sits on the roster of Early Access titles and has since 2019, but fans are still playing it and are still nudging the team for a full release even now. Nobody really knows what is happening, but I had a lot of fun with this game and encourage you to purchase it at its fairly modest price for your co-op party, your Twitch, or just playing something different. At the very least, why not be a bit thematic and go for the Halloween vibe this fall.
I petitioned my friends yesterday for a list of games they consider Halloween thematic for an easily spooked dude like myself. I knew of Pumpkin Jack as a backburner game that I had seen last year and lamented myself for not having my affairs in order to get it on the review list! That was during that standalone year of 2020 that had enough triggers as it is. That's why, when my peers suggested Pumpkin Jack I was excited to see it as a standing contender. And to be honest, some of the non-straight-up horror genre games this year are not the type of visual fantasticness that Pumpkin Jack is. So, after plunking down the kinda premium toll on Steam, I'm here to tell you why Pumpkin Jack is worth the cost if you are into indie platformers and want something that's bound to get you into the Halloween spirit--all-year-long!
T-Minus 30 is a top-down city sim, with an apocalyptic twist, and a rather casual, no, ultra-casual gameplay style. I know some are great fans in the apocalyptic genre, and I definitely have been before, so I was actually very surprised at the relaxing aspects of this survival sim. T-Minus 30 took care of my personal checklist for a casual game so easily that I felt essentially at peace as I played it. With a 30 minute gameplay under my belt, I have my impressions on this ultimate quick sim indie. And yes, T-Minus 30 is 30 minutes, the length of time you have to build a space fleet of survivors before well, you know. Let's get started on the review.
