Tag: gameplay

Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective (IGC)

Dave Pizza

It’s been some time since a game like this has been featured on MrDavePizza, but Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective absolutely belongs. As a game that originated in a book series, the game takes many cues from the visual classics of growing up. Incidentally, I was a big fan of books like Where’s Waldo? and Eye Spy, which are similar in scope and content as Pierre the Maze Detective–perhaps you remember too. So, let’s get into this, what is Labyrinth City? It’s a top-down puzzle game with hand-drawn characters in a visual feast of eccentric characters and scenes, through which you must navigate through a maze of people to track down the devious “Mr. X.” I spent some time playing it so you can know what to expect from this delightful indie with a charming and surprising origin to a perfectly playable game form. Okay, let’s have a look.

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owlboy pixel art metroidvania switch review gameplay

Owlboy – A Fine Indie Owlish Adventure

Dave Pizza

Sometime about 100,000 years ago Owls became all the rage. I joke, since owl knickknacks and stories have surged in popularity over the past couple of decades. But they’ve long symbolized intelligence, wisdom, and ability. Which is good, because those are common themes in Owlboy. I tested this game on Nintendo Switch, but it is a cross-platform Metroidvania, an acceptable umbrella term for a whole ton of games out there.

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Wild Dive: Indie Game: Quick Review

Dave Pizza

Hello friends. Today I’m reviewing a really brief but beautiful and fun game called Wild Dive. You may have noticed some changes around here in content and how often I’m posting. No worries, this is still a regular blog, only I’ve been spending a little more of the time I allot for it on cosmetic aspects of the site and refining older posts. I’m not done yet, but it’s getting there. I also am working on some new topics such as my Movies & TV section. It’s not all about being popular for me, but I know most of you are here for the games, so let’s go for it. Wild Dive is a well-received free runner game recently released on Steam that is making people wonder if there’s more of this very brisk but super fun game.

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why pizza game

Because It’s Hot! – Why Pizza? Impressions

Dave Pizza

I’m back, reviewing a game. An indie game. A very indie game. An indie game prologue. Because it’s hot! – Why Pizza? Freeze frame. But seriously, I am in recovery from an intense year of reviews. So, when I saw this perfectly amusing stylized demo on Steam with a radical pizza theme, I narrowed in on it. I only played for about 7 minutes or so, because platformers make my head explode. (Real reason: I suck at them.) But since I’ve added the Dave Pizza Promise, which is sifting out the rather uneventful, it was more like 30 minutes. Right? Right. Here we go. Have no worries, this is a positivity filled review.

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the last act visual novel

The Last Act: A Visual Novel: Impressions

Dave Pizza

The Last Act is a visual novel with a theatric theme about an actress in a lead play character. Interact with a social group of charismatic characters, while find yourself getting more and more into the script as the serious drama unfolds. The choices you make unfold the story in different ways, but ultimately you’ll find yourself interacting with supernatural characters that seek to interact in your fate. Will you continue on with the play? Or is it too much? Or do people just need to mind their own business? It’s up to you.

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Arcade Spirits – New Challengers Review

Dave Pizza

I keep an eye on Steam’s demo listings on a daily basis. I’ve been really into visual novels for some time now. I like the way they hit my writer’s palette when it comes to emotionally charged game content. The game Arcade Spirits: New Challengers is a sequel to a 2017 visual novel named Arcade Spirits. The story takes place in an alternate history, the year 20XX, where arcades have not seen deprecation or obsoleteness. As such, the arcade is quite an interesting place to run into quirky characters and get into all sorts of gaming fun not quite afforded by the modern console/PC era.

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Drawing + “Patchless” PizzaPost 🍕

Dave Pizza

Patchless is about how I feel when I play any game that frustrates oneself to no end because of inconsistent mechanics. Fortunately, this is intentional in this game. I don’t really have much to say on it; the 8-bit music is good although a little wonky, glowy black screen background which reminds me of level 5 in Super Mario Bros, which is enchanting in its own right. This is kind of what you might expect from a game jam in some experiences. It’s pretty good. Simple, but satisfactory. Unfortunately, it wasn’t simple enough for me because I got really confused after about 5 minutes.

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coffee talk visual novel

Coffee Talk: Demo Impressions

Dave Pizza

Coffee Talk is an interactive visual novel released in the pumpkin spice season of 2020. You play a barista in Seattle in a futuristic/alternate-universe. Your customers range from human to succubus, and it is your job not only to make them coffee in your coffee shop but also to help talk them through their personal problems. The gameplay is interspersed with actual barista beverage making with various ingredients and you can even make latte art. The game art is also enjoyable and has a high-quality direction in design.

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clocker chinese indie game

Clocker – Switch Review

Dave Pizza

I just saw Clocker released on Nintendo eShop this morning for a reasonable $3, so I snatched it up and gave it a go. These Switch games are kind of hard to predict sometime, but you have to pay your portion for the privilege once in a while.

I do not really know what the origins of this game are. It was listed under Indie in eshop, with no publisher info. A little research revealed that the developer Wild Kid Games, published this through a studio called Indienova in China. Are there indie studios in China? I have wondered this a few times. I really don’t know much about it, but if there are that’s pretty cool.

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Lasagna Boy – Indie Game Boy Jump Scares

Dave Pizza

HEADS UP: Moderately creepy imagery is in these games, this will be my only warning. I don’t generally review horror games, but Lasanga Boy made me laugh, and then, it intrigued me. It merits analysis based on absurdity alone but also design. I also personally understand people like illustrating and drawing creepy monsters because… well, it’s fun! Why not throw in a third or fourth eyeball here and there. We’ve been doing that for ages. Direct link to the games on Itch.IO a the bottom of this article.

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ori and the will of the wisps flying owl purple nature art popular indie game gameplay review

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Dave Pizza

For an elegantly and possibly metaphysically imagined game, try Ori and the Will of the Wisps. You’ll play as creatures that live in the purple glow of shadowed forest. With open-armed playstyle integration, you’ll be able to leap and hop through levels without too much trouble worrying about foes or obstacles. There are some bad guys, but you won’t be straight into tooth and nail combat.

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NES Nostalgia: Games From My Youth

Dave Pizza

I wanted to call this “NES Games That Influenced Me” or something like that. Honestly though, I can’t totally remember WHY I remember these games, only that they evoke some mood or emotion when I play them. I guess you could call it nostalgia. Yeah, that’s probably it. The main reason for this is I wanted to try writing about something I haven’t tried.

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yoshi's crafted world fun family friendly nintendo game

Yoshi’s Crafted World: Review

Dave Pizza

I had to remember how to play this game, but once I did I remembered how care free it is to play this game, a nice array of forgiving obstacles and a high attention to detail in its very particular artistic style. I meant to write something about it a while ago, but I kept overthinking it. Today I have some video, screenshots, and seasoned thoughts on Yoshi’s Crafted World.

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gardens between popular indie game on switch review title

The Gardens Between: Perfect Puzzles

Dave Pizza

I’m not sure if the preface of this game is an homage to any other pop culture time traveling islands, but maybe not. I had some theories while playing that maybe some kind of altered planes of existence, which had me thinking about the name. The title, The Gardens Between has a mystical ring to it, but I don’t know if that is intentional. I think it might be, but that is my own projection. There’s no dialogue or anything to reveal these things, but that’s actually okay with me because it’s super original and such an interesting gameplay experience!

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The Beggar’s Ride: Unlock the Powers of the Gods

Dave Pizza

The idea of this game is you basically start a journey in an unknown path as a quiet beggar. You soon learn that you possess the powers of a god. Clouds are shifted, vessels are filled, and the beat goes on. Players have described this game as having an emotional impact on them. I can relate. The Beggar’s Ride has some cool storytelling choices that give you some context for why this is happening. It’s also something I notice that “quality” games tend to utilize, since it gives you a reason to keep playing. This is a good move, because it’s honestly a little random otherwise. Not that I’m complaining, but I’m really grateful the narrator and gorgeous info blurbs around the edges of the platform.

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burnstar cheap switch co-op game review title screen

Burnstar: It’s Like a Sauna in Here

Dave Pizza

I got Burnstar for under $2 on eShop and it’s also on Steam for around $5. That’s not bad really. And this game is actually good fun. It is cheaper than a burrito from Chipotle too. This is one of those games that doesn’t have a sweeping lore setup for burning a bunch of junk. It’s just cool looking, fun, and the sound design is funkalicious. You can play this game either as a single-player or co-op. I think co-op would probably be easier, but I did alright on single-player. This game is $2 you have nothing to lose really.

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super mario 3d all stars title

Super Mario 3D All Stars: It’sa me! It’sa me! It’sa me! Ad Infinitum!

Dave Pizza

Super Mario 3D All Stars for all parties interested, is a special release from Nintendo this year for the Switch which contains three classic Mario games spruced up for HD and available for a limited time offer in physical as well as digital form. They’re serious about the limited time too, which has some scratching their heads but it is what it is. I don’t sign on as Dave Ubercollector Pizza instead of Dave Pizza, but I believe this is what is called a chase. Or something.

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