Xbox Game Pass Is a Casual Gamer’s Paradise

I’m not attempting to upsell you the service–although I’d certainly take credit, simply because it’s truly one of the best gaming services out there and sells itself. You need Game Pass if you play major game titles or even indies, it’s just a must to keep up. You can play day-one releases as well as past releases from Bethesda, EA, as well as tons of mid-tier indies. The setup is easy so I’ll just make a quick reference here if you’re wishing to try it out. Xbox Game Pass is a service from Microsoft’s Xbox that makes available 100+ video… Read the rest

Still Dropping into Minecraft to Check on my Farm

Ah, yes, a glorious sunrise in Minecraft valley amongst the idling cattle, rolling waters, and orange pattern of rain among my hermitic existence in the randomly generated terrain. For the record, I don’t totally remember exactly what it was that I set out to do to do with all this stuff. There is definitely stuff in this game though–glorious stuff! First off, relax. Also, if you need to relax you might want to try creative mode when you first start the game. There are two modes, survival, and creativity. Survival includes fleeing and thumping creatures with sticks of all sorts,… Read the rest

If You Like Starship Troopers and Anime, Check out Stories From Sol

Stories From Sol: Part 1 Gun-Dog is a new game entering onto the scene. It’s a hard space sci-fi story, a genre not without a plentiful fandom, although this sneak peek led me mostly through sharp comedic timing and even a romantic interest? Looks pretty cool. Please note that not only is this a demo, but it also’s part one of the whole story, so if you enjoy it, make the dev know so with a comment on their ItchIO. Or drop by our tweet on Twitter as well. Let’s take a look.This game is available on Itch.IO Genre: Visual… Read the rest

Rotund Zero is a Super Cheap Preview of the Rotund Franchise

Back with another Indie Game Collective showcase for Rotund Zero. It’s a precision platformer with a Game Boy monochrome style that uses directional keys only to solve puzzle levels made of bouncing blocks. It’s only $1.99 on Steam at the moment and encourages problem-solving in timed runs. You have 5 minutes to complete as many levels as possible, and there are 26 levels, 1 for every letter of the alphabet! You’ll be on your toes to speedrun all of those levels, but the pressure is mild. Watch the YouTube video at the top of this article to see me run,… Read the rest

Moonlighter is a Much Better Game Than I Thought

The game Moonlighter is a combination of rogue-lite dungeon-crawler mixed with trade simulation and story-rich RPG elements. This timeless, beautifully rendered pixel top-down was released by Digital Sun in 2018, and the game is available on most platforms like PC & Nintendo Switch.Moonlighter is a story about hopeful adventurer Will, a shopkeeper in the small commercial town of Rynoka. Although his family’s shop offers stability and prosperity, it is sustained by the materials found deep in dungeons accessed through gates outside the village. Every night after the shop closes, Will skulks into the darkness to descend into the dungeons before… Read the rest

The Gunk is Simply a Kinda Random 3D World Game on Game Pass, But I Enjoyed It

Discovered through Game Pass, I’m rather fond of this new title, The Gunk, from Image and Form/Thunderful Development, which 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. The Gunk: The Funk… Read the rest

Fugl is a VERY Colorful Little Indie That I Played

The word Fugl means bird in Norwegian. Fugl is a casual sandbox indie game created by a small group of dedicated developers. Its story is whatever you make it, and the gameplay is most certainly endorsed by all birds. I started as a colorful neutral voxel bird in a voxel world and glide through the treetops and oceans, plus more. Interact with your environment to test new experiences. Transform into other birds, try neat stunts, and listen to the pleasant music that guides you through the map. To the skies! Fugl Tugl Mugl Bugl Gugl Rugl The Initial Bird A… Read the rest

Space Mechanic Simulator is a Really Terrific Game I Tried

Let’s talk about an upcoming space game! Space Mechanic Simulator is a 3D space-sim in outer space. So far, this game is still in development, but that may have changed by the time you read this. It is currently in development with a demo on steam that I am reviewing here. Your job is to repair space stations, spaceships, and presumably other space vehicles with a sophisticated drill and a meter. Obtain parts from drones or 3D print them. Once you have detected the malfunctioning equipment, remove it and replace it with a new part. Space Mechanic Simulator: First Impressions… Read the rest

Lab Rags is a Freebie Hidden Gem By Students With a Unique Feature

Lab Rags is an upcoming title from the student project studio Salt Mine Studios. It is an art-deco-era puzzle-level game that shares mechanics with games like Portal and its descendants. Start solving puzzles right away as a mechanical android with a neat gun similar to the classic gravity gun. You can advance within the game by respawning and then grabbing your previous housing to fling at door-opening buttons, traverse over spike pits, and even build structures like stairs out of crushed cubes made from your metal leftovers. The environments and music are very charming, and it is an appropriate level… Read the rest

Double Cheeseburger, Medium Fries – Why Do I Love This?

Double Cheeseburger, Medium Fries is surprisingly delightful. When I was looking at the ItchIO page for this game, I wondered if it would throw me into flashbacks as a teen, where I worked a few jobs here and there in kitchens and at counters. It managed to perfectly capture that experience–without all the real-life boredom–and add some entertaining gameplay, for what is actually a pretty simple but good game concept. If you’ve ever worked in fast food, food service, or really any customer service, you’ll probably find this game highly relatable, especially if you’ve had the kind of shifts where… Read the rest

Loco Motive is Coming to Nintendo Switch

UPDATE: Loco Motive is headed for full release on Switch & PC in 2023 (sorry if I don’t update this right away.) I absolutely adore it, and if you want to watch the awesome trailer for it, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFahJJOdMzII’ve spent a good amount of time my life on trains or watching, learning, and reading about trains. For my own context, it’s always been a novel way to travel, and some don’t dig it, but I do. The chic yesteryear of trains was incredibly stylish at any rate. You’ll find that aesthetic all here in Loco Motive. There’s… Read the rest

Cloudpunk is A Game That Deserves Reward For What it Has Accomplished

The way games roll out in relation to cult themes these days feel like popping a bean bag chair full of glitter. Shiny and colorful, but spreading everywhere. Cloudpunk IS DEFINITELY a cyberpunk game. Life exists in an oppressively technological Babylon run by criminal overlords and the rebellious underdogs to send it tumbling–not always in an obvious way either. Of course, Cloudpunk is massive, and I have no idea how long it takes to reach the end, how it ends, or if it ends. Hold on let me look that up. WOW, this game is massive. Get Yourself Connected I… Read the rest

Metaverse Keeper is a Little Hidden Gem on Nintendo Switch

This game has a very simple concept behind it, one that I’m not sure of the importance of really–it’s very light–but it’s good enough to kick off another exploration of the eShop and click to purchase. Metaverse Keeper seems to have been promoted really hard lately. I never really thought a whole lot about this title, but since it’s resurfacing in the real metaverse of social media, I’ll take a look here. (By the way, this has nothing to do with Meta or Cyberpunk, which is odd–but fine.) So, without any more delay, here’s Metaverse Keeper. Metaverse Keeper Has a… Read the rest

The Gardens Between is a Game That Does Some New Things

The Gardens Between is a breathtaking puzzle platformer from the indie but tremendously successful studio Voxel Agents in Australia. It was released in 2018. I played it on Switch but you can find it on many platforms. 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.… Read the rest

Knights and Bikes is the Best Game About Adventure & Imagination

I knew when I read the description of Knights and Bikes on the Nintendo eShop page, and the bounty of awards adorning it, that this was probably going to be pretty cool. It explores some great themes like imagination, curiosity, and adventure. Also, it’s about finding those adventures in a place you don’t need to journey far to find. I’ll be exploring some of these topics in my experience with Knights and Bikes, and tell you a little bit about the highlights of the game’s progression. If you’re new to this blog, this is what I do in all my… Read the rest

The Beggar’s Ride is a Terrific Old Indie You Should Know About

I did not know I would be playing, so soon, another bearded wanderer taking on deific powers again after Chronology, but here I am. What a wonderful this game is. It is so complex and challenging, yet the creative touch of the creators guide you and your bewildered hero all the way. And it looks magnificent! I think I am starting to develop a crush on beautiful 2D side-scrollers! It Begins 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… Read the rest

Chronology is an Interesting, Frugally Priced Game I Played

In the game Chronology, you start off as a short-in-stature, accented professor with gnomish qualities. Honestly, if you want to just jump in now and play that’s all you really need to know. But for the purpose of a true proper treatise on the subject, I’ll expand.  So, there’s not a ton of backstory in the beginning, not sure if there’s more later on, but you’re just this little professor dude wandering through the woods, side-scrolling through clockpunk lattices with a little invention you acquire almost straight away. When you do, you realize there’s more to this game than meets… Read the rest

The Big Journey is an Old Indie Game Involving Cats & Dumplings

Hey, when you say “roll around a dumpling-eating cat,” do you mean that literally? You do? Really? Okay, I’m in. Play The Big Journey and roll around a cat, who should be named Alpuss Dumplingdore (do not deny what a perfect name that would be.) Alright, alright. There’s nothing that bizarre about this game. Firstly, The Big Journey is unique, however, once you jump in, it’s pretty fleshed out. Secondly, despite the weird concept, it’s highly rewarding. Finally, I think we’re all a little bit used to those by now, us gamers, aren’t we? So, next up, let’s play! The… Read the rest

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is Pretty Solid, And There Are Cheat Codes

The subtitle “It’s All Here” says it all. I’ve tried a few Marvel games over the years, and I’ve seen a good handful of the movies. Never really delved into the comics, but I feel they are well represented in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. I went into this game thinking maybe it’d be isolated to Avengers characters without much divergence. There are PLENTY of Marvel Heroes in this game though, and you’ll have no trouble finding them. Within the first couple of chapters of the game, I played or interacted with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, She-Hulk, Wasp,… Read the rest

The Best Pinball Video Games For Your Budget

Remember pinball? Not only remember it but are you a “pinball wizard” as it were? Well, here we go again. Today I’m going to share a game that is available on both Mobile and PC platforms. The game is Pinball Deluxe: Reloaded. There is also apparently some background with Blackberry devices long before that for this publisher, but I don’t know much about that. Before this post, I tried to load up an Android emulator to see if I could try the Google Play version on my Windows machine, but it didn’t really work and it was easier to just… Read the rest