Arietta of Spirits is a New Cozy Game I Played

Arietta, a young lady camping at grandma's cabin along with Arietta's mom and dad. Arietta meets a spirit named Arco during their first night. After Arietta's departed grandmother greets her on the cabin pier and sends her on a quest to retrieve a silver ring, things take a major turn. With some authentic metaphysical storytelling involving realms, ghosts, and spirits, the integrity of the spiritual aspect of this game is solid. In reward, it creates a game with a story with countless possibilities and storytelling. Let's take a look.

Continue ReadingArietta of Spirits is a New Cozy Game I Played

Raptor Boyfriend is A Game About Love Unlike Any Other

Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance is an ambitious and masterfully crafted visual novel/dating sim that takes place in small-town Ontario. With fun cryptid characters and absolutely stunning illustrations, its gameplay value is probably some of the best I've seen for this genre. I have been excited to play this for some time, as a general fan of visual novels and cryptid fantasy games. You don't have to worry about anxiety-driven creature interaction though, because this game is safe and accessible across diverse players. Shortly after the day began, I got started on this dive into the world of Ladle, Ontario. Scene one, which is what I played for you, took around roughly an hour. Some players on Steam had a playtime of over 20 hours! So, there is a lot of content here, and many different ways to play. Let's take a look!

Continue ReadingRaptor Boyfriend is A Game About Love Unlike Any Other

Neo Cab is an Open Minded Futuristic Visual Novel

Neo Cab is an award-winning visual novel released in 2019 somewhere within the future echoes of driver automation and the course of smart services. It involves themes of corporate monopolization, intimate driver/passenger simulations, and the management of being a business in the contemporary market. The story features Lina, an empathic cab driver new in Los Ojos, where being an actual cab driver is a rare occupation. There are many nuances to Neo Cab. Let me take you through each one.

Continue ReadingNeo Cab is an Open Minded Futuristic Visual Novel

My Cup Of Coffee: The Trouble With Earl Grey (Review)

My Cup of Coffee: The Trouble with Earl Grey is a visual novel that takes place in a very imaginative turn of the century coffee shop presumably somewhere within Victorian society. You play as a family apprentice of the coffee trade and you more or less are plonked right into days as a barista. The story revolves around a casual plot involving a group of customers known as the Grey family. Using clues from casual conversation, you are tasked to unravel the feeling of tension between Mrs. Grey and Mr. Grey and their maid as well.

Continue ReadingMy Cup Of Coffee: The Trouble With Earl Grey (Review)

Universe for Sale Looks Like a Good Sci-Fi Game

Universe for Sale is an upcoming title that combines sci-fi themes and metaphysical themes into a quirky and compelling visual novel/interactive fiction. I already do not recall the main character's name, and neither will you, as the shroud of mystery is an important part of this introduction. He is a self-described "cultist" with a floating head who drops into a tea shop on Jupiter to meet with a young lady named Lila. The prologue sets up a story involving Lila's special gift to create mini-universes! Hence the game title.

Continue ReadingUniverse for Sale Looks Like a Good Sci-Fi Game

What Comes After is A Pandemic Era Interactive Fiction

What Comes After is an interactive fiction from the creator Coffee Talk in collaboration with the Rolly Glory Jam. This story-rich game takes place on a pandemic era commuter train that transforms into a ferry for souls to the afterlife after Vivi falls asleep. There's so set directive, but the game is experienced through interacting with souls on the train. This ranges from average folks to owls and trees! It is a highly creative and somewhat mystical story that explores deep concepts of purpose and life as well as what comes after.

Continue ReadingWhat Comes After is A Pandemic Era Interactive Fiction

Monster Pub is a Hidden Gem I Will Always Love

Monster Pub is a neat and funny narrative wrapped up in a nice isometric, pixel art game that is ultra-casual. You're whoever you want to be, a shadow-cloaked being, approached on a dark rainy street by a bright pink monster named Pfeffer. She leads you to a mysterious location that turns out to be a public house, for monsters, apparently based on the set for 80's TV show Cheers. Only here, it's where every *monster* knows your name. Let's play some sandwiches!

Continue ReadingMonster Pub is a Hidden Gem I Will Always Love

Wheels of Aurelia 1978 is a Free Hidden Gem

Wheels of Aurelia is an interactive-fiction-style racing game set in Italy in 1978. The left-hand steers the wheel of a gritty game that is full of themes of crime, punk, and danger. While the themes are a bit serious, its thematic integrity is in check by fun, innovative game design, and a serious historical snapshot. Drive through the coastlines in low-polygon graphics and talk to your passengers about anything.

Continue ReadingWheels of Aurelia 1978 is a Free Hidden Gem

Forgotten Fields is a New Indie About a Young Man’s Private Life

Forgotten FIelds is an indie-developed story-rich interact game about a young Indian author seeking inspiration for his next book in the midst of a major family transition at his childhood home. The character, Siddharth, visits home which at first seems a distraction but may help him re-think his writing completely. The game design is aesthetically pleasing low-poly 3D modeling combined with interactive puzzles and visual novel style dialogue. It recently released on Steam, and is available to download.

Continue ReadingForgotten Fields is a New Indie About a Young Man’s Private Life

Nyaa-Kuza!! is a Freebie Indie Student Game

Nyaa-Kuza is an illustrated half-action interactive fiction title from the self-dubbed Catzooka Studios out of the University of Utah's EAE program. Play as Mochi, an ex Nyaa-Kuza brawler cat, whose cat wife, Hime, has been "catnapped" by the syndicate. You'll traverse the outskirts of a Japanese city interacting with leads and allies in a conventional visual novel style to find Hime. At other times, the game is highly interactive with button-mashing fight scenes with cat gangsters. The game is free on Steam, and I sincerely suspect you've never seen a game like this.

Continue ReadingNyaa-Kuza!! is a Freebie Indie Student Game