Darren Andrew

“Can a Deck-Builder really be considered a Souls-like? The short answer is yes and Death Howl is all the proof you need. It exudes confidence with a dark, gripping thirty-hour narrative, infused with tactical gameplay that felt reminiscent of Into The Breach that it doesn’t need to rely on roguelike elements, as the deckbuilding genre often does. If Death Howl must be labeled as a deckbuilder, it’s one of the best there is and belongs alongside other genre titans like Slay The Spire, Balatro and Inscryption.”

“Since 2021, there have only been a small handful of games that deserve to be in the conversation with Vampire Survivors as the best Bullet Heavens since the genre skyrocketed. With the unique fusion in what the studio calls "Tower Survivor", there is a level of depth often ignored in most bullet heavens, Monsters Are Coming! Rock and Road belongs in the conversation with the best of the genre.”

“Chip N Clawz vs The Brainioids is like pineapple on pizza. Two things that shouldn’t go together, but pair surprisingly well once you give it a chance. Gameplay is a harmonious blend of RTS and Third Person Action. It gets bundled with an aesthetic that appears to be heavily inspired by Ratchet and Clank and a tone that brings some serious 90’s Saturday morning cartoon energy. Just like Pineapple Pizza, it’s not perfect, and it’s not for everyone, but it’s a nice change of pace.”

“With the breakout success of Hades, it was an inevitability that many would try to duplicate the formula. Although plenty have tried, none have truly succeeded is emulating what made Hades special in the first place. This means more than just adding rogue-like mechanics, it means crafting an addictive gameplay loop, but equally and if not more important, pairing it with an engaging story. Hell Clock combines and executes flawlessly on two of the most addictive genres of gaming: ARPG’s and Roguelikes. However, just like Hades, the most addictive thing about Hell Clock is the story that keeps you hanging on for new morsels of narrative. If you love ARPG’s like Path of Exile or Diablo and Rogue-likes such as Hades, you are going to love Hell Clock because it combines the best of both worlds. Pillaging the dungeons, looking for loot and fine tuning your gear between runs is addictive, but just like Hades, Hell Clock strikes a perfect balance between narrative and gameplay.”

“Throes of The Watchmaker is only a few degrees away from being a stand-alone offering with its unique experience with fresh mechanics, original story and a vibrant new world to explore. Sabotage Studios sidesteps all of the common issues with DLC such as the lack of quality and value. To begin with, The Throes of The Watchmaker is completely free, if you own the base game. There is no memory needed for the existing lands of Sea of Stars because The Throes of The Watchmaker takes place in an entirely new realm. You don’t have to remember how to use any of your special skills, because each character is given completely new ones. Then you throw in all kinds of new puzzle mechanics, enemies and more of the stunning pixel art from Sabotage Studio and Throes of The Watchmaker is easily one of the best free DLC’s ever.”

“As much as Drop Duchy is inspired by the iconic Tetris formula, it forgets two of the biggest elements that made the original timeless: How simple and addictive Tetris was. However, what Drop Duchy lacks in these areas, it balances with innovation, strategic depth and variety to provide an extremely unique experience that somehow adds meaningful change to a timeless genre. While Drop Duchy likely won't win over fans of rogue-lites, fans of deck-builders and strategy games should be hooked.”

“I’m an easy mark for a good alternate history game and I thoroughly enjoy a good roguelite. Grit and Valor 1949 perfectly finds itself in the middle of this Venn diagram, but what I didn’t expect was for it to reignite my nostalgia for classic RTS as it feels like a distilled version minus the hours spent base building and collecting resources. Essentially an all killer, no filler RTS. Instead, you are constantly in the middle of a very satisfying, wave based gameplay loop that emphasizes strong strategy and quick thinking. Unfortunately, it missing the addictive hook and run variation that the best roguelites offer.”

“Precision platformers don’t necessarily need stories, but once you have experienced them with deeply engaging plots, it’s hard to fully enjoy them without. What MainFrames lacks in story and cohesion, it certainly makes up for in other areas though. On a precision platformer level, Mainframes was challenging, unique and competes with the best in the genre. The controls were spot on, the pixel aesthetic was very nice, the score was charming and there was hints of a relevant story about corporate downsizing, but unfortunately remained largely unexplored. If you are just looking for a demanding precision platformer, MainFrames is only about ten bucks and will give you those endorphins you are looking for. Unfortunately, living in a post Celeste world, just being a hard as nails precision platformer isn’t enough anymore.”

“The Mea Culpa DLC didn’t leave us as awe struck as Blasphemous 2 did in 2023, but the time was worth the wait to take on the role of the penitent one again.”