The Adventure Games thread

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Call of the Elder Gods - Final Thoughts

TL;DR - same thoughts as the first impression

If I liked the puzzles in this game, I think I'd highly rate it as a whole. I think I rate the puzzles from decent to tedious - and I just used the hint system for the ones I found tedious. Without the puzzles, the aesthetics and the story aren't enough to carry this game as an experience. They tried for a big emotional hit for the ending and it just landed flat. If you said "who?" when seeing the ending, it's not your fault. Some characters you only see and the very beginning and ending of the game. The game is fine, but it's also 20+ bucks. That's pricey for a game that's just "fine".

It's certainly playable in the release state, but it doesn't have good flow in the puzzle design. In its current form, the game just feels like it needed 1 or 2 more rounds of quality assurance. There's even a section that felt like they copied a design from Riven and expected you to learn a new numbering system. It just felt out of place from the rest of the game. If it wasn't for the in-game hint system, I'd probably stop playing. Me not having to stop for long periods of time and look up videos/guides did make for a better experience.

If you liked Call of the Sea, you'll probably also like this game. There's some neat call-backs to the original. If you weren't a fan of the puzzle design, you'll probably not like the puzzles in this game either.

 

[Frosty Grin]

I liked Call of the Sea, liked the puzzles too. But the demo for the sequel lost me with the book puzzle. If that's the kind of thing that persists throughout the game... yeah, I'm probably out. And it's rather murky in that... it's not like you can blame the puzzles for being puzzling. But at the same time if they're going to rely on the hint system to cover up the more elaborate and less fun puzzles - like, what's the point of playing it then?

This is where maybe there's some wisdom in puzzle games just taking one mechanic and focusing on it (e.g. The Witness).

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

I liked Call of the Sea, liked the puzzles too. But the demo for the sequel lost me with the book puzzle.

If you're talking about the locked diary, that's really the only puzzle like that. That wasn't a logic puzzle, just a common spatial puzzle. The puzzles I complained about aren't really present in the demo. I think the puzzles in the demo section are the better puzzles in the game. So, if you played the full demo and it didn't grab you, I doubt the rest of the game will be much different.

There is one chapter that basically just has one giant puzzle. You have to go to several different rooms to figure out which room belongs to which person and their profession, position, code name, etc. This is the stuff I find tedious. It would have been fine if you could get confirmation for completing one part of the task, but the puzzle is designed to be all-or-none.

As a side note, Call of the Elder Gods is on Gamepass. So, I'd say it's worth checking out for sure if you have Gamepass.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

"FREE" FYI:

60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room

... is yours to claim if you have Amazon Prime. I highly recommend it. This is an m2cgame's game, one of my favorite indie devs. My only complaint about this game was the price for a game designed to maybe be finished in an hour.

NOTE: This is a GoG code for the game.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

The Amusement (VR Only) - initial/final thoughts

TL;DR - It's fine for an interactive story, the reliance on large gestures for movement sucks

This is a game about exploring and old broken down amusement park. While doing this, you're guided by the voice of the ghost(?) of your father. Between levels, you get assignments on the telephone from your mother for the next task. During the exploration, you'll see shadow puppet cinematics to fill you in on the story - it's your own memories from your childhood.

There are puzzles, but it very light on the puzzling. It's mostly about dropping ladders, getting keys, and opening doors. You'll find tools along the way to help you. At first, it's a Yo Yo used to hit targets. Then, it's a Batman-like grapple gun - which doesn't fit the theme or time period of the game. Then, it's a magnet used to manipulate metal items you can't reach.

There's climbing in this game - a lot of climbing. It's the kind of interactions you'd expect from an early VR game. It's all about pulling ropes, grabbing pipes and bricks, and moving carts. If you've a fear of heights, Chapter 3 will trigger it for sure. I thought that getting the grapple gun would have been a progression so you didn't need to climb anymore. The game, however, just kinda forgets about this less tedious form of movement and forces you to continue to climb.

So, I stopped playing after the first 3 chapters - about the half-way point. If the traversal wasn't so annoying, I might have continued. For me, all the continued climbing was a deal-breaker. A scan through a playthrough showed me it was just a lot more of the same thing.

It's 20 bucks, a short experience, and you exhaust all the game's mechanics in the first half of the game. The story presentation was good, but the story itself interesting enough to overcome the flaws. It pretentiously attached itself to WW1 for gravitas, but the story is a bit silly and the ending was eyerollingly bad. This is a skip - unless you really like an interactive story with a bunch of climbing.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

FYI, A Planet Full of Cats v2.0 was released (on the 11th). This contains fixes for all the issues I had with the game. If you were waiting for the polished experience, now would be the time. Reminder, this is a hidden-object game with a lot of Metroidvania elements added and a lot of Metroid references. It's way more involved that the average hidden-object game, but it's still a game about "finding" cats at heart.

 

[Ryan B.]

Looking forward to your thoughts. Every once in a while I hop onto the homestarrunnerdotcom YouTube channel to see what's new instead of re-uploads. One of the months from 10 months ago was a fake video game, and it wasn't the first time. This was a follow up for a 2 year old video. I watched the Flash stuff in the early 2000s and showed everyone I knew "The System Is Down". I remember when they put up a fake 404 page because people were guessing the next URL for early access (there was a pattern).

I'm expecting "style over gameplay" in the new game. As a fan, I'd be happy with that. Some of the Steam reviews mentioned a few moon logic puzzles, but most of the reviews were about the style/humor.

~ Insert 3 years later meme ~

(This was re: Homestarrunner's The Roomisode Triangulate).

I can't believe I let this game sit unplayed for 3 years. I finally did the thing! And now I have thoughts!

According to Steam I took 2.6 hours to complete the three roomisodes, plus the bonus post-ending content. In absolute terms, 2.6 hours for an $8 game isn't a super strong value. I don't care. I had a blast with this game, and consider it money well spent. I think any fan of the flash cartoons will get their money's worth here.

Could anyone who likes point-and-click adventures get their money's worth? Well, the inside jokes and references would fly over their head, but I think the foundation of humor is solid. And the game itself is a fun retro throwback to old point'n'clickers with chunky pixels, where you collected random inventory items and used them in amusing ways.

Those games infamously could devolve into nonsensical trial and error, and while I personally didn't find any of the puzzles and item uses nonsensical, I also was playing the game with the mindset of wanting to try everything just to see all the jokes. So by the time I hit a puzzle, I almost always had already done the prerequisite steps for solving it.

Surprisingly, you can fail in this game. I did not expect that. Screw up and you get a game over cutscene. Fortunately, unlike in the classic games that this is satirizing, getting a game over doesn't mean losing any progress. You just get sent back to the moment right before you did the game-ending action. It's worth deliberately failing just to see the various game over cutscenes (every roomisode has several), which were generally pretty funny.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Palindrome Syndrome: Escape Room - FYI, this is "FREE" to claim on Amazon Prime Gaming (aka Luna Gaming > Claim). This is an early m2cgames' game. It's a little rough, but still worth playing. At the price of "you're already paying for it", I highly recommend it.

NOTE: This is a GoG key to redeem.

 

[macosandlinux]

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire - A "boomer shooter" with lots of story beats, stellar voice cast (fit for a great noir movie) and amazing B/W rubber hose animation and game art. I'm currently into the last 2-4 hours of the game, taking my time exploring and finding some of the secrets and hidden collectables, and it's taken me so far maybe 15 hours.

There is currently no way to backtrack on most parts of the missions (locked out after you pass a checkpoint/gate) or replay finished missions to find what you missed in the first run. And that's my biggest gripe with the game - you want to find the collectables and get achievements you'll have a hard time. Otherwise I am playing on normal difficulty (not an expert by a long shot in FPS) and doing fine, dying mostly in some of the boss battles (or being hit with TNT/bombs that will literally end you in one go) where you don't know what to do to land a hit/know the mechanics. There's a story mode with less combat focus which you can enable anytime during play, like when you failed a boss encouter repeatably (you can also save before bosses).

The weapons are all fun, but I ended up literally playing only with the James Gun (stuns enemies while being hit, so you won't take damage and there's an alt fire-mode that is just right out of Dick Tracy) and the Devarnisher (that melts enemies - so you pop a shot/blob at them, back off and let it do its thing). The gun animations are also very satisfying to look at - there's even one with a brain inside ("High On Life" madness).
Between missions you can restock ammo in a gun store near your office, so you will always have enough ammo, plus missions are littered with it. Therefore I never ran out and needed to resort to fist fights.

Sometimes the game mixes it up where your hand becomes your gun for a pew-pew short skirmish, or you need to fist fight in a ring, for example. The boss fights also are very creative and always have gimmicks.

Scenery settings of the missions also vary significantly, lots of graphic assets it each. I especially loved the bog and graveyard. There's even an underwater stage near the end of the game (where I'm currently at). One section takes you to hell, and it's the 1920s version of modern Doom. And one segment in a late stage switches it up and has a room that is in full color. So after playing for over an hour in the dark, you stumble into this vibrant room and the colors just pop like you're on drugs - what a cool effect. I wish they would have used it a few more times in the game. The jazzy music ramps up, drumrolls, when you're getting youself into a new skirmish, loved that.

One thing to point out is that you shoot/kill dogs (they look very Disney Pluto-like) and I did not like that at all. There's currently no way to swich this out to another enemy, like the gators that are basically the same enemy in other areas of the game. It runs surprisingly well in 720p on my Ryzen iGPU laptop, and the art style makes 720p look authenthic for the lower-res cartoons it's trying to emulate - a win-win. Therefore I bet it runs very well on Steam Deck, too. I encountered a few softlock bugs (where an area is not accessible or an enemy is stuck without movement in the air) that a reload of the last savegame solved.

Overall a deeply satisfying, fun game that brings some fresh air to the boomer-shooter genre, with a long campaign for $30. It's already one of my top contenders for GOTY.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Phonopolis - initial impression

TL;DR - play the demo, it's an Amanita Design game

This is a creative game that I don't like. It's a fiddle-puzzle point-and-click game. You mess with stuff until something happens so you can progress. You drop something once, nothing happens. Drop it twice, nothing happens. Drop it a third time and it just breaks. You can't exactly use logic. You can devise the purpose of a scene, but the path to get to the goal is just trial an error.

This is a dystopian game and the allegory isn't exactly subtle. The game has its charm and has very striking aesthetic. If you know this dev, you'll know the humor of this game. Most of their games have this feel - dark and silly at the same time. It's the Samarost/Chuchel devs. While they make diverse games, the trend for the latest games is less about logic puzzles.

I can see people loving this game, but I just can't get passed the puzzle style. And a lot of the time of this game is spent on the puzzles. Like Chuchel, this is a collection of scenes/screens. It's not an exploration/backtracking game. Unlike Chuchel, the puzzles aren't casual in Phonopolis. I'd say they're involved, but not difficult. This is why I say play the demo to see how it feels for you.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Steam Sale FYI,
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CerebralPuzzleShowcase

There are a lot of cheap / favorite games in this sale. A handful are about a dollar, many are about 5 bucks.


Notable on the "Home" tab (most of which I've reviewed here):
Can of Wormholes is 60% off (and a favorite game of that year)
Cocoon is 50% off
Call of the Sea is 70% off
Phonopolis is in a bundle with Machinarium for 43% off (there's also a massive dev bundle for 69% off [but still 50 bucks])
Paper Trail is 75% off
Cipher Zero is 34% off (and a favorite game of that year)
A Little to the Left is 60% off
Linelith is 40% off (and about a dollar)
Storyteller is 50% off
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is 50% off
Blue Prince is 40% off
Botany Manor is 35% off
Gorogoa is 75% off (and a favorite game of that year)

(from the full sale list)
Superliminal is 60% off (and a favorite game of that year)
Heavy Rain is 90% off (and a favorite interactive story game)
Solas 128 is 75% off (and I love and hate this game)
Regular Factor is 50% off (an m2cgames game / plus there are 2 m2cagmes bundles / plus many of the single games are 50% off)
Patrick's Parabox is 50% off (and a favorite game of that year)
House of Davinci 3 is 50% off
Space Chem is 50% off (Zachtronics)
The Entropy Center is 70% off (a Portal-like, well made)
The Room 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 is 70% off (a favorite)
Shrink Rooms is 50% off (an honorable mention(?) for that year)
Viewfinder is 65% off (likely on the favorite game of that year list)
Golf Peaks is 80% off (good for a buck)
Please Touch the Artwork is 70% off (a favorite game of that year)
Hexcells 1 and the full Hexcells bundle is 70% off (highly recommended and about a dollar each!)
The Pedestrian is 75% off (a favorite game of that year)
Agent A is 95% off (highly recommended for less than a buck)
Mind Over Magnet is 60% off (highly recommended at that price)
Samarost 3 is 80% off (my favorite game from this dev [see Phonopolis above])
Tametsi is 60% off (and recommended at that less than a dollar)
Escape Academy is 75% off
The Case of the Golden Idol is 50% off (a favorite game of that year)



NOTE: The "Thinky Direct" tab is list of upcoming games shown on their gaming showcase stream.

 

[MiguelMC]

The Case of the Golden Idol is 50% off (a favorite game of that year)

My father and I both enjoyed "Rise", despite its quirky UI implementation on the Switch. How does "Case" compare in retrospect? Is it worth it?

I seem to recall your review mentioned some incongruences fixed in the sequel.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

My father and I both enjoyed "Rise", despite its quirky UI implementation on the Switch. How does "Case" compare in retrospect? Is it worth it?

I seem to recall your review mentioned some incongruences fixed in the sequel.

My issues with the first game in the series was with the DLC - it went way overboard and the original UI was never designed for that much detail. I found the base game of Case superior to Rise, but the UI had a lot of QoL upgrades in Rise though.

 

[PlasticExistence]

One thing to point out is that you shoot/kill dogs (they look very Disney Pluto-like) and I did not like that at all.

I feel the same way... right up until they sink their teeth into my character and damage me. After that I'm wasting them with impunity while giving my IRL dog a scratch on the head.

 

[macosandlinux]

Gecko Gods | Explore an archipelago of mysterious ancient structures and solve environmental puzzles (levers, light beams, rolling balls to activate gates, pattern matching riddles - that sort of thing) as a gecko. Currently in the final stretch of the game, having also collected all insects and trophies (except one in the part I am right now; so far about 8.5 hours playtime; total playtime maybe 10 hours without focusing on being fast; you might be able to finish the main game in about 6-7 hours).

The islands are very reminiscent of the Mediterranean and add to the warmth and coziness when just exploring with your gecko every nook and cranny for insects to munch (finding all type of critters is one achievement; you don't gain health from eating them, there is no health bar system, it's just fun seeing your buddy chomping). There's pots to smash which can be fun at times, to collect currency to change your gecko's color/patterns (was easy to unlock all of them within the first 5 hours).

You have a map (with tasks) that shows the islands and circled areas where you need to solve puzzles. It's very basic and I mostly relied on my own instincts. The only time when I felt the map was needed, was when you try to find your boat.

Your gecko also can't die easily, I lost my tail once being attacked by the rare enemy, that you can easily take out by bumping into them. Environmental hazards like fire, thorns or being in the water too long can cause death, which resulted in a (single) respawn for me. Using your little boat to ride the waves and reaching the other islands was a nice break from the puzzle solving.

The graphics, exploration and puzzles (to some extend) reminded me very much of RiME and Sable (which I both played/beat in the past), with Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Wind Waker vibes. The ancient art/hieroglyphs reminded me of Chants of Sennaar and ABZU, although in Gecko Gods they are not needed for puzzles or tell a deeper lore - they're mostly illustrative.

I wished for a more authentic Mediterranean flora, with gnarly olive trees, lavender and cacti, but I can see why a small dev team ended up with the assets they did - and which are decent enough. I sometimes just stuck on a side of a rock wall overlooking the sea, enjoying the sound of the waves, a breeze moving through trees and patches of grass. The music adds to the serene atmosphere and is worth mentioning (you can buy it as a DLC, too).

While the size of your character makes for an even bigger feeling world, I resorted to basically always sprinting, as the base speed sometimes can feel too slow when you know where you want to go (which often causes the gecko to fall off walls when it's not flat - annoying). The camera movement is the main negative I found in the game, it's often too close to the gecko, too responsive, and therefore likes to jump around and caused me nausea at times (bad for a cozy game). And the only puzzles that frustrated me were the fiddly "kick a ball around" ones. All of these negatives are minor gripes, as this is a smaller indie game - made with love.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with Gecko Gods and I hope a sequel (that expands on puzzle mechanics, and more varied locals) is in the works. Maybe give us a first-person camera option or a zoom-out one?

EDIT: Finished the game after being stuck for a while finding a puzzle area entrance, but got it done in 10.5 hours. The final stretch involves a nerve-wrecking chase sequence, so be warned (I got it done in the first try, though). I missed the final relic which was so easily placed in an outdoor area, I overlooked it. It saved after the credits and I was able to snatch it just above said area (that was easy).

 

[Diabolical]

NOTE: The "Thinky Direct" tab is list of upcoming games shown on their gaming showcase stream.

Thinky Direct was put on by thinkygames.com.
https://thinkygames.com/

They’re one of the sites I cycle through every other week or so, looking for interesting things. I still need to watch their latest showcase.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Revisiting Escape Simulator 2 seven months later...

TL;DR - still highly recommended (and a favorite from last year), but wish there was more workshop content. I've about 24 hours in the game - plenty of content for the price.

This game was missing from my Steam sale list (above) because it's only 20% off, and I really only wanted to spotlight the deeper discounts. I still highly recommend it at the current price (about 16 bucks).

It's been about 7 months since the initial release. What's changed? First, they polished the hell out of it. On release, it needed quite a few hotfixes. Next, they've released 2 official new rooms and the latest release (all about illusions) is a bit easy, but still fantastic as is the first room. There's also another room currently in development.

Somnium Games is now officially part of Pine Studios. They worked with Pine on the Faraway game series (fun but mobile casual puzzle game) and built one of the best DLCs for ES1 - Magic. In theory, they should be faster at creating content - time will tell.

They already had a room competition that spurred a lot of Workshop creations. Quite a few of those winning rooms were fantastic, instead of just really creative with bad puzzles. There's a second room building competition planned for this Summer. The game does not have the same curated content listing in-game like ES1, but they did post there first community spotlight on the Steam page for May. Unfortunately, the quality of those rooms isn't great. Still, I find the amount of good content slim for that many months since release.

The first DLC for ES2 is currently being worked on, as well as DLC for ES1. They recently released another room for ES1 (that I didn't care for), but it did look rather good for the old engine.

VR support is still on the TODO list.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Gecko Gods |

You weren't kidding about the camera and controls. I played the demo and it gave me a headache - rare for a flatscreen game to have that effect on me.

It does nail that open-world Zelda feel, but with all the emphasis on exploring and puzzles. I played it on controller, and I think this would be the best way. Being able to correct the camera kinda quick is a must and it's natural on controller.

 

[JonBob]

Emuurom is really good so far. I'm only a couple hours in but really glad I'm recording it. Seems like there is a ton of depth here with some deeply layered puzzles, possibly on par with Tunic or Animal Well.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Emuurom is really good so far.

... and there's a demo that's less than 1 MB.

Did you play with controller? I tried it on the Steam Controller (old) the jump is so squirrelly that I rage quit almost instantly.

 

[JonBob]

The full game is 5 MB. It's really impressive.

I'm playing on an old Logitech USB controller, and haven't noticed any control scheme issues to speak of.

 

[macosandlinux]

Steam Sale FYI,
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CerebralPuzzleShowcase

There are a lot of cheap / favorite games in this sale. A handful are about a dollar, many are about 5 bucks.

Let me give a shoutout to these puzzlers:
Induction, Dissembler and The Catacombs of Solaris Revisited (an experimental game/art piece). Also Lightmatter and The Last Campfire for just $1 plus are steals.

I am currently playing FROGBLOCK

(also on discount now), a perspective puzzler, similar to some parts of Monument Valley or Fez, where a shift in perspective (90 degrees rotation of the playfield) allows you to step on now accessible platforms. Over 100 levels and new mechanics are added every so often.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

The Last Campfire for just $1 plus are steals.

At that price it's an easy recommend. It's a solid game, but somewhat repetitive and a bit bland.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Cracking the Cryptic DLC - The Sudoku Worm of Zetamath

TL;DR - a solid set of 6x6 Sudoku, not as hard as I expect

The puzzles I've seen featured from Zetamath have been hard and experts take quite some time to finish. This pack feature 6 puzzles (6x6 boxes) ranging from 4/10 to 7/10 difficulty - three of the set are 5 star. While I found most puzzles somewhat "easy" for this constructor, none were trivial and all were interesting. Each puzzle has at least 1 rather clever discovery.

Each puzzle showcases a single ruleset, save for the last puzzle - which features almost all of the rulesets. This worm does have a unique gimmick, but I can't describe it without spoiling it.

For me, my average was 27 minutes a puzzle with most being 14 minutes and the highest being 57 minutes - throwing off the average. In total, almost 3 hours. The 7 star puzzle was hard and the difficulty I'd expect from Zetamath. Still, I didn't have to use the Hint system for any of the puzzles - which was surprising.

I'd only recommend this Variant Sudoku for someone that's above a beginner. It's also doesn't require expert level deductions (except for maybe the hardest puzzle), so I'd rank the majority of puzzle intermediate level or less. At 2 bucks, it's a good value for the time played.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Secrets of Velendar Castle Escape Room - Initial/Final Thoughts

TL;DR - this is only published by mc2games, it's a skip

I played the demo and it was rough, so I figured I needed a bit more to make a bit more to make a decision. It's doesn't get better. If you didn't like the demo, you'll not like the full game.

What you don't see in the demo is that this is actually a "escape room" game. When you complete an area, you move to the next and the door closes behind you. I like this design choice. So, each area is self contained - but for some reason inventory carries over, yet you don't use it elsewhere.

It's often hard to tell if a puzzle is ready to start. One thing mc2games does well if show you when a puzzle is incomplete, physically locked, or logically locked. For example, you may need to bring a missing piece to start a puzzle and it tells you the puzzle is incomplete. Once you find that piece, you know the progression. In this game, solving a puzzle often shows a cinematic of an area changing. There's no logical link. Looking at the puzzle itself, there's not much to distinguish between a ready-to-start and an needs-a-clue puzzle.

The breadcrumbing sucks (as alluded to above). If it wasn't for the 90's style FPS cinematics showing what happens when you complete a task (like pulling a level in Quake and you see an offscreen door open), I'd have no idea where to go next most of the time.

There are tons of red herrings. For example, if you show a symbol and then show a segmented line that makes a shape, you automatically infer both direction and a sequence. In this case, the segments only represent a number. The shape of the line had absolutely no meaning besides sticking out like a sore thumb. The shape of another clue's line, however, had a meaning that was meant to represent a number to match to a segment. Shapes and symbols are reused in multiple rooms, but have different meanings. Lots of symbols look like runes, but in one room the symbol represents a number for a puzzle. In another room, it represents a class that's part of geographical area. In another room, the some of the same symbols are just decoration.

So, this is a skip. The puzzles range from "this is fine" to "that's bullshit". I never felt like the solution was clever or interesting. The puzzles felt like copies from other games without the details that make them work and compelling.

 

[[Ars]Hellheart]

I forgot this thread existed and that it's partly about puzzle games.

Bean and Nothingness - $5.99 (50% off) (this game is so good)
Isles of Sea and Sky (as mentioned in the deals thread) - $3.99 (80% off)
Steven's Sausage Roll - $14.99 (50% off) (you can wait until a seasonal sale to get this at 75% off. I just like mentioning this game because it should always be a game people look to play)
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows - $7.19 (only 40% off, sadly)
LOK Digital - $9.74 (30% off)
Outer Wilds - $12.49 (50% off)
Carto - $5.99 (70% off)
Tactical Breach Wizards - $11.99 (40% off)
Lorelai and the Laser Eyes - $12.49 (50% off)

Sad to see that Void Stranger is not discounted at all. It's got a lot of content for its price already, I guess.

The Farmer Was Replaced even at just 20% off is worth a look. Python is a good language to pull from for a programming puzzle game.

I also loved and hated Solas 128. I scrolled up to see if I should mention that and I was like "yeah, that sums up my feelings on its pretty well too actually"

 

[PlasticExistence]

Lorelai and the Laser Eyes

Is that Gilmore Girls spin-off?

 

[Mister E. Meat]

Looks like I was too slow to mention the sale on Storyteller. It's cute, but short for the main game. There are a bunch of challenge "stamps" afterwards to get funny things to happen and there are some definite puzzles that make you think outside the box a bit. I beat it in about 2 hours, but I also got it on sale for about $6 so the short game play didn't really bother me. I will also go back and try to get some of the silly stamps but I doubt I'm going to spend the effort to 100% it. A solid 8/10 type of game, good but not great.

 

[macosandlinux]

Stopped playing FROGBLOCK, the controls on keyboard never clicked for me, it feels like there is too many repetition in the same puzzle mechanic (at least for me), you have neither hints nor undo moves, so it's just a slow game - and I am impatient. The graphics are nice enough, music is fine, the frog shaking his head when you do a wrong move is cute (but can get annoying quickly). Maybe a game to play on an off for 30 minutes, I might come back to it later.

Instead I devoured Forbidden Solitaire, a fun solitaire with jokers/upgrades, that is all about the fake 90s CD game you unearth and delve into its sinister secrets - with perfect graphics/sound recreation of the time period. Takes about 5-6 hours or so to beat, so it does not overstay its welcome. I like that you can unlock the two endings easily - you can replay the final choice you make (no spoilers). And now I have to try their Home Safety Hotline, too.

Any other recommendations for these type of horror games that play like FMV/on-someones-computer-discovering-stuff? I don't like the other horror games where you just walk around and bump into monsters/jumpscares (pretty much all I've found on Steam, plus the Backrooms-type stuff), I like the more narrative/story-rich/movie-like games.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

FYI - 7th Guest Remake is now on Steam

My original review of the VR edition
https://meincmagazine.com/civis/threads/the-adventure-games-thread.1257233/post-42288455

If this was 15 bucks, I'd recommend it with the disclaimer about the puzzles.

The Remake bundle is 17 bucks on sale - close enough. Originally, this game in VR was a 30 dollar game and step for the length.

NOTE: If you previously bought the VR version on Steam, this flatscreen version is free. If you buy the remake version, you'll also get the VR version. Visually, I recommend the VR version. The FMV looks really good in VR.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Color me surprised - a new The Wolf Among Us 2 trailer was on the Summer Game Fest showcase. Since the studio was gutted, I'm still not optimistic about the game - just hopeful. Also, the first game is getting a cash-grab remaster.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Tried the TOEM 2 demo and this is most likely a pass for me. Like the previous game, it's geared for a younger audience. I enjoyed the first game despite that focus.

The world is now basically an interconnected group of single rooms. They have a "Lego" feel to them (like Lego Builder's Journey). I found it quite hard to navigate because it all looked the same and it's all in black and white. Like the previous game, there's a lot of backtracking to do to finish quests.

The game mechanics are mostly scavenger hunt quests - using a camera. This is the same as the previous game. The camera now, however, is also a tool to interact with the word. In the demo, you're given a screwdriver that is used to alter pipe flow directions. You pull up the camera and focus on items to interact with. This was a nice change.

The other "new" mechanic is one I don't like - platforming. I wouldn't mind it but the controls just feel off. In the demo, you're given an item that will "drop" if you fall. I never figured out how to get down from the building without falling.

Despite this feeling like a better built game, I like it less.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Momento - initial thoughts

TL;DR - it's like Unpacking, but more guided (don't know why "Momento" is spelled like that)

This game has a lot in common with Unpacking. The story telling is environmental. You find/move/unpack items and discover "puzzles". To progress, there's a special box you need to unlock to choose a "memento" that will alter the story. Between levels, you see picture frames being filled in an branching connections between them. The branches appear to be decided from your choices, but it's not exactly clear how. There, however, is a clear progression of time between levels.

Besides the mandatory special box puzzles, there are a list of goals to achieve. The list is optional to check and each goal has a "hint" button. This button will show you an overview of the room an highlight specific items. Sometimes it just means grouping like items. Sometimes it means finding a list of seemingly unrelated items and grouping them together. Sometimes you combine items based on notes. So, there's organizing and hidden object hunting gameplay.

While I like this version of a "cozy room decorator" more than Unpacking, it's still not a a game that I'd go out of my way to play. It's more gamified, but still a very casual experience. There used to be a demo on Steam, but it was temporary. This game's not cheap (20 bucks), so I don't understand the whole "limited time demo" decision.

 

[macosandlinux]

Some currently played/playing games

Far Fishing & Far Mining | Two incremental games that take around 3-4 hours each to finish. While I liked both titles, I feel the mining game will resonate with more players. Nice to play while listening to some tunes. Another game by the same dev is the next one up.

Nebulock | Twin-stick shooter with incremental upgrade tree, no prestige system, easy/hard mode (I decided on easy, reading the Steam comments). The game reminded me of Yars' Revenge (Atari classic) in all the best ways. You target weak points of the enemies that are made out of different blocks with varying strength, firepower and more. 30 levels, 4 hours of pew-pew, no story to the game (above two have some fun story beats with a parrot) - and play it with a mouse/keyboard, if you can.

New Super Lucky's Tale | A 3D-collectathon platformer with some 2.5D levels (DK Country style), mini puzzles, creative level design and kid-friendly story. A gentle difficulty curve, you can skip levels and choose what you want to tackle, more experienced players can go for a 100% collection of items in each stage/world - and some are hidden pretty well behind mechanics or obstacles. Maybe help your kids with the boss fights (maze or other more complex obstacle courses) if it gets to hard. It's a remake of an "older" game by a Microsoft studio - fun, charming and does not overstay its welcome. You'll spend around 8-10 hours to beat it or double that for a full collection/achievements. The game is also often on Steam sales, so get it then.

Shadowhand Solitaire | The easier one of the two Shadowhand games without RPG mechanics and turn-based combat - if you prefer that get Shadowhand: RPG Card Game instead, both are fun solitaire games with a story set in 18th-century England. Gamers can choose between relaxed/normal/hard difficulty modes and alter these during the game (I'm playing through on hard and I'd call it 'normal'). Gameplay feels solid, game art and sounds/music are well done, 10+ hours of content, can recommend both to Solitaire players or casual puzzle fans. The same studio offered their expertise/Solitaire engine to Forbidden Solitaire (my review a few posts above), so if you want a dark/horror version of Solitaire, play it asap.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Momento - final thoughts

TL;DR - I liked it better than Unpacking, but you can finish the game in 10 minutes

I finally figured out the game loop and reached my first ending. You can accidentally complete tasks and not know how the game works (like I did for most of the game). You unlock boxes by reading certain items - I thought it was by moving and grouping them. The locked box gives you the choice of item. Then, you unpack items from highlighted containers. Between levels, you're shown all the possible branches and the path you chose via the item choice. This is the game. You're given story hints by the text of pictures, books, and notes - these items are required to progress. There are other readable items, but they're optional. There are other "puzzles" discovered by arranging items, but these are also optional.

After reaching my first ending on accident (you're not told an opening an item will end the game), you start over. So, for a test, I decided to do the bar minimum to see how long it takes to get to an ending. It was 10 minutes or less. I performed the 2 requires tasks for each level and moved on.

So, unless you really like the optional arranging and achievement hunting, there's not much to do in this game. The story is a very minimalist skeleton. Basically, it's a Rorschach test and you fill in the details yourself. You assume a relationship from hints and the environment tells you about yourself - you're job, hobbies, friends, etc.

This is a very casual puzzle game and it's very niche. If you love Unpacking, you'll likely enjoy this game. The item variety, however, is very lacking compared to Unpacking. You'll see several of the same items repeatedly (some for story reasons). There are level specific items and story branches, so there is some variety. You'll need to replay the game several times to get all the branches.

At 20 bucks, it's a hard sell. It it was 5 bucks, I'd still have to make many disclaimers to recommend it. I'm not the target audience for this type of game. I thought the game was just OK and I wasn't too interested in the decorating part. I was more interested in discovering the achievements, but this also got old quick for me.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

"FREE" FYI for Amazon Prime members

Tested on Humans: Escape Room
It's an early mc2games game. It's quite good, but a little in spots rough. At the price of you've already paid for it, it's well worth a play. I do remember the hint system was sometimes good and sometimes just spoiled the puzzles. I did review this game in this thread.

NOTE: This is the 3rd mc2games game on Prime (aka Luna) released in the past 2 months. They might be going through the catalog.


Paradise Killer
This game had a lot of flaws. You have to make deductions without enough evidence to make them - I hated this "mechanic". There's a collecting sub-mechanic that feels incredibly random and unfair at times. You can easily lock yourself out of later content early on in the game. At the price of you've already paid for it, it's worth trying but I really got tired of how unpolished this game is. I'm pretty sure I just watched a YouTube video to finish the story, but I did review the game in this thread.

---
FYI2, both are GOG keys to claim.

 

[Jackass JoeJoe]

Steam Sale FYI (all Devolver?),

Stories Untold is a buck
my original blurb here: https://meincmagazine.com/civis/threads/the-adventure-games-thread.1257233/post-37401023

Dropsy is also a buck - a dark humor p-n-c

Gris is 3 bucks and one of my favorite experience games of that year (review in this thread)

Observation is 6 bucks (80% off) and another favorite experience game of that year