Every December since 2011, The Yogscast have organised the “Jingle Jam”, a collection of streams with an associated bundle with £1100+ of great games to raise money for charity. I’m reviewing all 75+ of them, hopefully finding a few new favourites! Here’s part 2 with games 31-60.

Rating system

As a reminder, I’ll be using the same rating system as last year, essentially it’s purely how much I personally enjoy the game, not whether it’s good or not. As such, a great game might get a 1/5 if it’s not a genre I enjoy, and vice versa. It’s the only way to give an honest review!

  • 5/5: I had to stop myself playing this game, I’m very likely to replay this later and complete it.
  • 4/5: This was a good experience, but maybe had problems. I’ll likely play it again for a little bit eventually.
  • 3/5: The game was OK. Maybe it was a bit flawed, or just obviously bad game design decisions. I’m unlikely to play it again, but didn’t actively dislike it.
  • 2/5: This was not fun. Maybe it has some positive parts, but overall I didn’t enjoy my time playing.
  • 1/5: The game experience was actively unpleasant. I had to force myself to play more than a few minutes of it, and was relieved when I finally closed the game.

I played most games for at least an hour, but some are pretty small and understood / completed after 15-20 minutes. Information on peak player count are from SteamDB.info.

This is part 2 of a 3 part series: Games 1-30, 31-60, and 61-75+.

5/5 Games

Make Way

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
82.80% - Store page £12.99 Chaotic Creative Racing December 2023 139 (December 2023)

A multiplayer only game that… I enjoy!?

Make Way is a racing game where you create the track between each round. The controls are super simple (accelerate, steer!), the balance between chaos and control is perfect, and the track pieces are unique.

I was concerned that I’d be unable to play Make Way without friends, but the queuing system found me a match within a couple of seconds. We both readied up, and played a complete game with zero issues throughout. I assume the other player was quite new too, since it was a pretty close battle.

Points are rewards just for finishing a section, with a bonus for first place. Whilst this seems like it might encourage safe and boring driving, it is countered by any slow players being killed until the next checkpoint. This means everyone has to keep up to earn any points, and there is a strong incentive to barge the other drivers whenever possible!

During my online match, we both won a few rounds, and there’s not much opportunity to properly screw each other over, since what’s more important is keeping yourself on the track. As such, if you try to do more than a gentle nudge down the straight you’ll find yourself spinning out and losing points.

I absolutely loved Make Way, and the progression system (play more = unlock more track pieces) and challenges (play with a specific car, do jumps, etc) ensure I’ll definitely be coming back after Jingle Jam. I really hope the multiplayer community survives, since the game would lose a lot of its appeal if the races were against AI. Pushing a player off the track is far more fun!

Racing Unlocks Building a track

Repella Fella

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
88.72% - Store page £14.99 Australian Apocalypse Adventure June 2023 55 (June 2023)

I did not expect to like Repella Fella, and certainly not to love it!

What starts off as a pretty standard point and click (unlock a drain, fetch someone’s car keys, etc), quickly… devolves into madness. Without too many spoilers, within the first chapter or two you’re disarming Viet Cong booby traps, decapitating wild pigs, and causing a nuclear apocalypse. Madness.

The game is paced extremely quickly, marking a sharp contrast to most point and click games I’ve played. An environment will typically have a couple of things to interact with, all with multiple voiced responses, then you’re off in a totally new place. There is no inventory, no travel, you are relentlessly flung forward.

Ever play those old “choose your own adventure” RPG books? That’s exactly how Repella Fella felt: rapidly progressing through a linear, yet branching, storyline. You’ll absolutely die through your own stupidity, but you’ll more frequently disarm a trap or poison a drink due to your own cunning.

For the first ~10 minutes of the game, the story is somewhat based in reality. However, the quality of writing, animation, and responses to every interaction led me to believe this was the entire game. When the credits played at the end of this, I assumed I’d completed a short, quirky adventure. Nope, this was just the very first level!

Whilst my decisions absolutely influenced the story, I have no idea how unique each playthrough will be. The game takes the genius approach of making every Steam achievement hidden until unlocked, so it’s genuinely a mystery what will happen during gameplay. As an example, I gave a homeless guy a beer instead of money and got an achievement. Later on I think I decided whether a nuclear bomb was dropped, and have no idea what would happen if I chose differently!

I played for an hour or so, and am absolutely in love with the story. The writing is genuinely funny, there’s zero frustration, and I need to know how this chaos ends. Perfect.

Decisions Exploring Cutscene

Space Gladiators

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
84.33% - Store page £12.99 Gory Chaotic Roguelike March 2021 68 (March 2021)

Remember Spelunky, and how natural the movement felt? Remember Binding of Isaac, and how interesting all the item combinations were? Well, Space Gladiators is a fusion of these two.

You are a… space potato(?), charging through rooms trying to fight your way to an arena. There’ll be combat rooms, rooms with obstacles to dodge, and rooms with NPCs. Eventually you’ll end up at the Arena, and have to choose who you want to fight, for which reward.

I only did a couple of runs, but will absolutely be coming back to Space Gladiators. I’ve only unlocked a fraction of the 300+ items, and already made the classic mistake of picking a weapon that doesn’t suit my playstyle!

In addition to item unlocks, there are 8 characters and 50 enemies with unique attacks, each drastically affecting how a room needs to be played.

As a counter, the hand-drawn enemies do make it tricky to know where the hitbox is. Spelunky was generally pixel perfect, Space Pirates requires a bit of trial and error to learn where is safe to stand.

Combat Room Arena Agility Room

SUPERHOT

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
89.11% - Store page £5.39 Time Slowing Shootouts February 2016 5,584 (February 2016)

I funded SUPERHOT on Kickstarter in May 2014 as backer number 2,686 after playing the short demo, and was absolutely obsessed with it for many months. It is easily one of my favourite games of all time, and I’m extremely grateful that its inclusion in the Jingle Jam collection gave me a great excuse to play it again!

In SUPERHOT, time moves when you do. This lets you dodge bullets, throw objects for astounding combos, approach shootouts in novel ways, all combining to form the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years. Storytelling is disturbing yet enthralling, there are plenty of challenge modes (e.g. katana only), you will die often, and it’s even available in VR. Here’s the launch trailer, and here’s Jerma playing it.

Every single second in the game looks like a staged screenshot, it is relentlessly perfect. The slow motion strategy lets you use intelligent plays, perform amazing takedowns, and then get instantly killed by a random bullet from across the map. Whilst looking at my old screenshots for SUPERHOT, I discovered I found all the secrets, and completed the “IMPOSSIBLE” challenge way back in 2016, it’s pretty rare that I do that for an FPS!

I could spend weeks professing my love for SUPERHOT, suffice to say it’s my favourite game in the bundle. It is the FPS genre distilled to the very core essence. It is SUPERHOT.

Storytelling Headshot Environment Kill

4/5 Games

Ikonei Island

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
78.97% - Store page £20.99 Cozy Island Crafting November 2023 140 (November 2023)

This is one of those games that I just know I could get totally sucked into. In Ikonei Island, you’re exploring an island, and doing all the crafting, exploring, and combat you’d expect.

The characters weren’t very relatable (alien children?), but the overall aesthetic reminded me a bit of games like Slime Rancher. You’re given a decent degree of freedom, whilst still having guidance on what you need to do to progress. I started upgrading my house, and it provides a hint towards what items you’ll eventually need.

Whilst I played single player (as usual), the store page lists an amazing feature where friends can play for free so long as one of you owns the game! This even applies to the 2 hour demo, a great way to get new groups of friends signed up.

Night exploring Map Inventory

LOUD

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
83.41% - Store page £3.40 Teenage Rhythm Story February 2023 28 (April 2023)

I was sure I was going to hate this. The intro was very teenage girl angst, and I’m neither of those things!

However, once the game actually started up… I really liked it? The controls were one of the most intuitive I’ve seen in a rhythm game, with D-pad up/left/down being the 3 bars on the left, and Y/B/A being the 3 bars on the right. Things are arranged on-screen how they are on my controller, perfect!

The songs are very nostalgic if you’re in your 20s / early 30s, it’s essentially Blink-182 without any vocals. I’ve got a soft spot for the post-punk style songs, and they work really well with the “hit the button at the right time” gameplay. There’s pretty standard variations (hold and mash), and they all have distinct colours and styles.

I completed the “bedroom” set of levels, and on the easiest difficulty it was definitely getting towards the limits of my own ability. Concentrating on 6 areas of the screen at once is tricky, and I’m terrified of how the difficulty will ramp up later on.

This would have been a 5/5 game if it wasn’t for the cutscenes & overall story that are very teenage focussed. Unfortunately it’s hard to love a game where I can’t relate to the story at all.

Level select Gameplay Level complete

Imp of the Sun

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
70.64% - Store page £15.99 Incan Puzzles & Brawling March 2022 20 (March 2022)

This was a fun little puzzler! The puzzles in the first couple of areas were pretty simple, consisting of basic platforming and target hunting. Movement is pretty fluid, although the hitboxes of enemies and bosses can be a bit unclear. This led to quite a few accidental hits when I was standing too close to a boss.

The dialog is a bit slow to get through, but it does help build up the overall Amazonian atmosphere.

Overall I’d like to come back and spend more time working through the puzzles, although I do wonder whether it can continue to build on the basic foundations so far.

Cutscene Dialog Puzzle solving

Rusty Lake Hotel

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
92.83% - Store page £1.99 Bizarre Murderous Puzzles January 2016 5,038 (April 2021)

It’s really, really hard to explain why I enjoyed Rusty Lake Hotel.

On the surface, it seems like a typical point and click based around feeding guests. However, there’s a dark undercurrent of malice and subtle storytelling that makes the game stand out. Each puzzle feels solvable, and instead of blundering around blindly, I’ve got a target for my problem-solving.

Admittedly, I had to look up a tutorial for… every room I solved, but these are luckily linked in-game! The solutions felt like a thing I could have solved eventually, and I’m intrigued to see how the story develops.

This almost felt like a short art film, totally worth the very cheap price tag!

The Woods Mealtime Drink

Patch Quest

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
89.93% - Store page £5.49 Bullet Hell Taming March 2023 2,356 (March 2023)

This game was on my wishlist for over a year, and I never got round to buying it!

Now I wish I had, it’s a chaotic, amazing adventure. Your job is to wander through a maze of areas, taming & killing monsters along the way. Once a monster is tamed you can ride it, and gain its abilities and attacks.

Since I’m pretty new to the game, for me this ended up in a constantly changing bullet hell, where my attacks, ammo, and enemies changed almost every room! I can definitely see how more experience at the game would let me figure out what all the status effects and perks actually do.

Every level felt very beatable, and all the damage I received was a result of screwing up and not using an ability in time, accidentally using an unhelpful ability (e.g. dash), or just walking into a projectile. Oops.

There’s also a whole mechanic around building up your home base, collecting plants, and levelling up your equipment. Lots of depth, lots of chaos!

Discoveries Combat 1 Combat 2

Signs of the Sojourner

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
79.47% - Store page £15.49 Conversational Combat Deck-builder May 2020 29 (May 2020)

In terms of gameplay alone, Signs of the Sojourner didn’t blow me away. You’re essentially just matching symbols, and trying to avoid mismatches by building a deck that can handle most scenarios.

What gives the game depth is the framing: every “battle” is a conversation, where you and the other person are both trying to make long chains. A long chain progresses the conversation, a mismatch derails the conversation.

Throughout various interactions, you’ll unlock items to sell in a store in your hometown, information, new routes, and elements of story. I only got as far as unlocking the 3rd and 4th symbols, and I can already tell it’ll get much trickier later on!

Map Deck Conversation

Silicon Zeroes

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
81.83% - Store page £12.79 Retro Programming Puzzles September 2017 97 (September 2017)

Remember SpaceChem? Silicon Zeroes is that, for the origins of programming!

New concepts are introduced gradually, with a chance to understand them before combining in the next puzzle. The aesthetic is very 70s / 80s, with no time pressures or unnecessary bells and whistles.

I really, really enjoyed the first 10-15 puzzles, and felt I was gaining a genuine understanding of how the components worked, including real world concepts like memory addresses.

So, why isn’t Silicon Zeroes a 5? Well, because I’m too dumb! As with a lot of these games, they very quickly ramp up to a stage where I could solve the puzzle… but I could also just do some actual programming instead. It feels almost like doing an abstract version of my day job, with about as much dopamine for a solution, but far less tangible reward.

As such, I’d totally recommend this if you’re into logic puzzles. If you’re a programmer… well, you’ll recognise the confusion followed by a moment of inspiration. It’s a good feeling if you can get it.

Oh, and the screenshots on the store page absolutely terrify me with their complexity.

Puzzling Puzzling 2 Level Select

Super Cable Boy

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
4.73% - Store page £12.39 Retro Glitchy Platformer November 2020 17 (December 2020)

This game is not Super Meat Boy but… it could be. Identical physics, very similar instant death mechanics, and similar difficulty ramp up. There’s also sushi (plasters in SMB) that can be collected, but only if you’re absurdly skilled! I failed miserably every time I tried.

I prefer the aesthetics of Super Cable Boy, with a very convincing “glitch” appearance throughout. Different zones have different aesthetics, but the overall effect feels very Game Boy Colour-y. I didn’t get far enough in to “get” the story, and can tell from the Steam page that I’m going to find it at least as frustrating as SMB at later levels!

Glitches Level select Platforming

The Entropy Centre

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
87.59% - Store page £23.99 Portal With Time November 2022 615 (November 2022)

Did you enjoy Portal 2? Do you want to play an alternate universe version of it?

Good news, The Entropy Centre is here! Crumbling test facility, confused main character, AI voice encouraging you to perform tests, a gun with crazy scientific powers, pressure plates… welcome to Portal.

That being said, the tech is a nice idea: your gun reverses time. This means you can place a box on a pressure plate, move it off, get into a strategic position, then reverse time and put the box back on the pressure plate. The difficulty gradually increases, with the end of Act 1 still only requiring reaction speed and box time manipulation.

As with Q.U.B.E and other Portal-likes, it’s a fun aesthetic. A crumbling testing facility provides a great story framing, and explains any weirdness or gameplay tutorials perfectly.

I’m definitely going to be coming back to The Entropy Centre after Jingle Jam!

Rewinding Time Testing Centre Buttons

3/5 Games

Lacuna

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
88.41% - Store page £12.39 Pixel Noir Detective May 2021 218 (May 2022)

As with a lot of story driven games, it’s hard to review this after a short period of gameplay.

The initial intro is relatively interesting, but I found movement a bit too slow and repetitive to really get too invested. Additionally, there’s quite a few walls of text that you just have to sit through, not particularly engaging.

The pixel art is absolutely beautiful, and I suspect there’s a very, very good game inside here if you’re willing to invest the time.

Conversation Cutscene Emails

Marble World

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
84.77% - Store page £9.49 Marble Building & Watching September 2022 124 (May 2021)

The good bit of Marble World? The ability to utilise your creativity in making tracks. The bad bit of Marble World? The requirement of creativity.

Whilst Steam Workshop support gives the game potential, I’m just not sure that I’d get any enjoyment out of either making or playing tracks. It’s more of a simulator than an actual game.

This is definitely one of those games where watching a streamer play an existing track with marbles named after subscribers is way more fun than actually creating or playing the tracks yourself. I’ve watched a fair bit of Wirtual playing a similar game, Marbles on Stream. Whilst that game presumably lacks some features… it looks pretty similar, is free, and has heavy Twitch integration.

Track building Racing Racing

Mars Horizon

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
81.03% - Store page £14.99 Space Program Simulator November 2020 2,525 (November 2020)

Mars Horizon is a pretty interesting space management simulator. All the typical elements are here, researching rocket parts, building your base, competing for milestones and funding.

I really appreciated the choice of starting agencies, most space games have only ever heard of NASA! However, the tutorial’s infodump was a bit relentless, and it took me a few minutes to find out what the core of the game actually was. Once I got there, I’m not sure how much I was into it.

The gameplay is more of a “pick research and wait” simulator than anything else, with no active gameplay. Whilst the lack of timers is generally a positive, making a decision or two then waiting a month doesn’t feel very satisfying.

If you want to roleplay as SpaceX, this is your game. If you want to… do some gaming, maybe not.

Planning Liftoff Space

Paradise Marsh

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
88.33% - Store page £12.79 Pixel Bug Catching October 2022 43 (October 2022)

This was a confusing experience. I wandered around, accidentally bumped into a few things that could be interacted with, found a few animals, and confused myself.

Despite spending some time with Paradise Marsh, I don’t feel like I actually understood what this game is. Perhaps I needed to spend more time with the game, but I didn’t really feel any connection as I wandered blindly around a pixelated swamp.

Looking at the reviews, it looks like there is a great story… somewhere. Perhaps I’ll revisit Paradise Marsh and find it.

Butterfly Duck Something

SILT

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
71.88% - Store page £11.99 Spooky Underwater Exploration June 2022 142 (June 2022)

Remember LIMBO? Imagine that but underwater and a slightly more creepy atmosphere.

Whilst I liked the idea of possessing creatures to use their abilities, the puzzle solving often felt somewhat arbitrary. Instead of logically working out how to beat something, I’d just try possessing everything around until something useful happened. I had similar complaints with LIMBO, the minimalist creepy visual style perhaps hinders game design.

Still, the aesthetic is fun for a bit, so worth trying!

Possession Escape Chase

Sapiens

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
81.32% - Store page £19.49 Caveman Colony Sim July 2022 1,826 (July 2022)

I didn’t actually play much of Sapiens, since I’d already seen itswill play it for a few hours (highlights linked) and I get what it’s going for.

As a sandbox-y caveman simulator, I can see the appeal in slowly building up and growing a civilisation. However, progress seems too slow and grindy to appeal to me.

Looking on the store page, there certainly seems to be some depth later on, building up entire towns. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of progress I find very interesting.

Building World generation Gathering

2/5 Games

Monster Prom

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
90.86% - Store page £9.29 Monster Dating Sim April 2018 1,510 (April 2018)

I’m not the biggest fan of dating sims. Still, if they can be “won” by picking sensible choices, they become a bit more like a logic puzzle and I can get into them.

Monster Prom is definitely not one of these. Outcomes are essentially random, with no way to tell who will be at a location or what will happen there. As such, you might be trying to date character A, but accidentally barely meet them!

The writing, art, and voice acting is undeniably interesting. It’s somewhat chaotic, with references to bitcoin, feminism, capitalism, and everything inbetween. However, the randomness of any conversation’s outcome makes it a little annoying if you’re actually trying to progress with a specific character.

There definitely seems like a lot of depth here, and I can see how this would be a cult classic. For me though? I’m just not super interested in a random dating sim, monsters or not.

Still, I appreciate the ability to choose a short or long playthrough at the start.

Potential dates Dialog Polaroids

Projections

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
84.31% - Store page £10.29 Abstract Geometric Combat July 2021 20 (July 2021)

Bizarre game. Bounce around in space, click a bit to attack some… floating eyeballs? Eventually progress to the next weird space.

There’s all sort of abstract commentary that makes as little sense as possible, this is a game where you definitely need to play the tutorial to have a clue what’s going on. For some reason my controller wasn’t picked up, I’m pretty sure Projections would have been a bit smoother using a joystick.

The trailer suggests the game gets a lot more interesting once you get further in, but first impressions are pretty rough.

Tutorial Combat? Winning?

Sephonie

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
85.20% - Store page £10.05 3D Island Explorer April 2022 36 (April 2022)

This absolutely might be a skill issue but… I struggled with Sephonie.

I followed the tutorial, I learnt how to do a wall jump and wall run, how to sprint, how to complete the Tetris-y puzzles. But then immediately got stuck. If you do play this, make sure you turn on “show text instantly”. Otherwise, waiting endlessly for dialog to end and spamming “A” will get boring very quickly.

Presumably the low poly look is intentionally retro, but it just feels outdated. Did the textures need to be low quality too?

Finally, the “puzzle grid” system that apparently is used throughout the entire game to unlock new areas etc isn’t very fun. The developers seem to know this, as they’ve provided an option to just skip the puzzle. And to skip the platforming. And to just be able to fly. I guess that’s one way of getting round awkward controls: make them optional.

Observer Puzzling Platforming

Slice of Sea

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
86.12% - Store page £19.49 Hand-drawn Point and Click November 2021 127 (November 2021)

It’s another point and click game. Slice of Sea is perhaps notable for crashing and managing to completely corrupt my save, with no action to take except deleting my save and starting again!

Unfortunately the game is one of those that can only be solved by clicking everything on the screen, collecting items, then clicking them on everything else. If you get the combination wrong? Nothing whatsoever happens.

As an example of why I don’t like the genre in general, take the second screenshot. Standing on a pressure pad opens a door, which you can’t walk through without getting off the pressure pad. My solution was to weigh down the pressure pad with a large halberd I’d just obtained. Nothing happens. I backtrack through the entire game so far, nothing. Turns out (after Googling a walkthrough) I had to use the halberd on the open door to wedge it open. So can I reach the door from the pressure pad or not? Who knows.

Slice of Sea is pretty, and I like the aesthetic, but life is too short to try and guess what a game developer is thinking. It’s OK if players have a hint system!

Corrupt save Locked door No idea

Slap City

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
90.80% - Store page £15.49 Super Smash Bros But Not September 2020 781 (June 2018)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Slap City is a clone of Super Smash Bros Brawl / Melee. It does have the addition of a story mode with some monsters and platforming, but the controls and attacks are clearly intended for multiplayer.

The problem with that? There are 0 other players online. Oops.

I’m glad Slap City has a story to give it a bit of life now the multiplayer is dead, however the controls were painfully clunky to jump around it. I’ve never played much Smash Bros, so presumably this appeals a lot more if you have.

Whilst I recognised Ittle Dew from the character roster, apparently all the characters are also from the developer’s other games. I like the idea, but unfortunately haven’t put much time into their franchises.

Character select Platforming Level select

Spirit of the Island

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
66.87% - Store page £14.99 Island Farming Sim August 2022 665 (March 2022)

It’s hard to summon any strong positive or negative feelings for Spirit of the Island. It’s a pretty generic explore / craft / build game, with fairly shallow gameplay.

I suspect it might be a bit more fun with friends, I personally found it a bit too clunky and slow, with no promise of future excitement.

Map Cutscene Crafting

The Red Lantern

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
76.96% - Store page £19.49 Dog Sledding Oregon Trail December 2021 128 (October 2023)

Dog sledding adventure, what a great idea for a survival game! Hmm, it’s been 5 minutes and I’ve only clicked a couple of times… oh it’s a narrative game.

The Red Lantern was very disappointing, although perhaps this is due to it not being the game I imagined. I wanted an open world dog sledding sim, struggling to survive, maybe crafting things to help me and my dogs survive. Instead, I got basically Oregon Trail but with dogs. Alaska Trail?

Gameplay is pretty limited, you have a few resources (meals, bullets) and a few meters (hunger, dog energy). You obviously need to try and keep you and the dogs fed, sleep when you need to, find bullets to hunt. Unfortunately this is done entirely via decision-making on random encounters along the way, such as whether to hunt a Caribou, talk to it, or ignore it.

Whilst this can be interesting the first couple of times, they’re pretty formulaic. It’s not a brutal, gory game, instead you’ll have a few wholesome encounters, unlock some journal entries, the usual. I started seeing repeating events (e.g. a squirrel alongside the path) whilst barely 15% of the way through the journey.

Interaction is very limited, you’ll just be clicking dialogue options occasionally, you could play with a scroll wheel and a left mouse button!

Map Camp Encounter

1/5 Games

Longvinter

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
67.55% - Store page £13.99 Multiplayer Crafting Islands February 2022 1,441 (January 2023)

Where’s the game?

No official servers, no unofficial servers, no modded servers, nothing seems available in my region (UK). OK, so what about single player… well, you can make a server, but the progress will be totally wiped next time you start the game.

Finally get into actual gameplay, and it’s just wandering around, collecting things, selling things, buying things. I’m guessing there’s a competent game here, but for whatever reason it totally wasn’t present for me. A very empty world, that feels lifeless despite the soft and cuddly aesthetic.

As a side note, it’s pretty sloppy that a command prompt opens up whilst starting a local server (the only way I could play), with thousands of lines of dev logs. I should not ever see these.

Early access, so hopefully it becomes an actual competent game eventually.

No servers Walking Fishing

MetaPhysical

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
78.75% - Store page £9.29 Supernatural Ghost Hunt October 2021 57 (December 2022)

What a frustrating game. The UI has never heard of information overload, happily dumping screens of buttons at you. Contrastingly, the actual game has never heard of moonlight: hope you enjoy pitch black!

Anyway, it’s a ghost hunting game. Remember Phasmophobia? It’s that but jankier.

Upon entering the tutorial house (after painfully purchasing and picking up an assortment of items), I blundered around until I found a light switch. I flicked light switches as I found them, and they seemed to turn lights on or off completely at random.

Oh, but I have a flashlight! Never mind, it seems to bug out half the time and not actually show anything. Spooky sound effects play at random and overlap, I’ve no idea what’s intentionally unsettling and what’s just poorly implemented.

Presumably there’s some fun to be had here in multiplayer, but I will not be opening it again.

Inside a house Can’t see Book

START AGAIN: a prologue

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
87.23% - Store page £8.29 Low-Res Time Travel August 2021 20 (November 2023)

On a technical level, this game isn’t good. Extremely low resolution, yet blurry. Bizarre FPS drops despite this. Screenshots open the Chrome dev console. Bits of Steam UI “stick” on the screen.

Gameplay wise, this game isn’t good. Walk about a bit, hold down the A button to get through pages of quirky introspective dialogue, walk a bit more.

I understand why some people might enjoy the game, but I’m perhaps a bit too old for it. Notice the all-lowercase reviews, and the mention of “feels”. As a summary, this is part of the official mature content description:

general “wow this sucks im just going on autopilot rn ho ho hee hee ha ha” depression feels

Obviously not for me.

Combat Characters Dialog

Thief Simulator

Steam rating Price Description Released Peak players
85.93% - Store page £1.67 Thief Life Sim November 2018 7.188 (October 2023)

Purely personal bias here, I absolutely can’t stand the glitchy asset-flip-y life sim games. There are hundreds of them, and they all feel almost identical. Yes, this seems incredibly popular (although I’m sure the bargain price helps), it’s just not for me.

To quote Sips from a couple of days ago: “Yeah, this really sucks”.

PS: No screenshots because Steam apparently didn’t save any of them, oops!