Seb Hawden

“Sunderfolk was not only what I needed right now but it executes everything with quality and precision. What it does with the app and multiplayer is sublime and everything about the gameplay experience is explained, trimmed to perfection and thoughtful. From the explanation of its keywords to its simplified systems, this is a dungeon crawler for everyone.”

“Spirit Mancer has some good ideas, I enjoyed the combat system and the card/monster collecting. I just wished a few of the extra mechanics and gameplay systems were dropped and more focus was put on the original and fun parts of the game. I do think if the reward system was tweaked and a bit more effort was made to make the sights and sounds of Spirit Mancer stand out, I would have enjoyed the game a lot more.”

“Trombone Champ: Unflattened is a great VR implementation of an already fun game. It has been translated into VR in a very loving and careful way. The tracking is superb, the menus are flawless and it has none of the VR messiness sometimes associated with the medium. Flat2VR Studios have done a magnificent job and I will certainly be keeping an eye on them in the future.”

“I have always enjoyed sports and, with it, the video game counterparts that try to emulate the intense competition and rivalry I enjoy so much. From PGA Tour to Hot Shots golf and Wii Sports to Rockstars Table Tennis, I have played many sports simulations over the years, but this is my first Quest 2 sports game review. Welcome to Tennis League VR.”

“Roguelike, you say? Card battler? Deck-builder? In the vein of Slay the Spire? Well, why didn’t you say so? I adore Slay the Spire and adore roguelikes, so surely Pirates Outlaws (which I think is a weird name) will be a surefire hit. Load your pistol, grab a parrot, and let’s sail the high seas! AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHH!”

“If you had told me a few weeks ago I would have been reviewing Just Dance, I’d have told you that you’re off your rocker. Don’t get me wrong, I did very little dancing overall but I did a lot of watching my family prance around my living room like nutters. I like to throw some shapes now and again, but others in my household love this game a lot more than I do. I can see why to be fair, if you love to groove, there’s nothing better on the market.”

“If you are as old as me and let’s be honest, you’re probably not, you would have loved thumbing through choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid. If you are a whippersnapper and have no idea what I am talking about then these were adventure books with choices. At various intervals in the book, you would be given a choice, to attack the snake turn to page 10 or to give it a wide berth, turn to page 20, those kind of free-flowing shenanigans.”

“It’s not very often I get sent physical copies of stuff, so you can imagine my joy when I was offered a physical copy of Ikai to review. Having not known anything about it, knowing nothing of its form or function, I was happy to give it a bash. Unfortunately, this is where most of my joy ended.”

“From the moment I started Mini Motorways on the Nintendo Switch, I had a nagging thought of familiarity in the back of my mind. A scratching déjà vu sensation like I had been here before. When I did some research, I quelled that feeling and realised I had played the developer Dinosaur Polo Club’s previous outing Mini Metro on my phone. They both feel similar and the mechanics are very much aligned. Phew, I am not going mad!”

“After seeing the trailer for Dungeon Munchies on the Latest Nintendo Direct Indie Showcase I thought it looked like a fun game that may be right up my street. Unfortunately, even though Dungeon Munchies does have a few things going for it, I found it hard to get through and found myself, in the end, forcing myself to play. I am, however, glad for games like this. The indie space is where the developers can push the boat out and try new things, even if sometimes they don’t quite come off.”

“Let me start this review by saying I loved the Pixel Ripped games on PSVR. They were unique, brilliantly implemented and a boatload of fun. So when the opportunity to review ARVORE’s latest foray onto PlayStation’s VR headset dropped into my inbox, I jumped at the chance. I had also heard it was a roguelike, one of my favourite genres, colour me intrigued.”

“Two of my favourite things in the world are video games and board games and when they collide, woo-hoo, exciting times ahoy! I knew nothing about Dice Legacy going in but I knew it had dice and was a video game so most of the battle had already been won, let’s roll the dice and hope for an enjoyable video game board game mashup.”

“Everyone knows how much I love PSVR. It may be a bit outdated now but it is still a very enjoyable experience. The Move controllers are now three generations old but still, it was a great, affordable entry point to quality VR gaming. I used to write a monthly PSVR column and I really miss it. Anyway, enough of the pointless rambling, let’s talk about my Synth Riders PSVR review.”

“I had previously heard people talk about Monster Train First Class without really paying too much attention. Then I heard a review code was available for the Nintendo Switch version, so I gazed at it a bit closer. Deck-builder, rogue-like with a bit of tower defence sprinkled in, has someone been peeking at my Christmas list? Monster Train First Class sounds like everything I want from a portable Switch game, so, let’s get into it. All aboard!”

“What would you do if you were a sentient AI? In I, AI by Satur Entertainment and Sometimes You tries to answer that question. You play an AI that is designed to create military-grade weapons on a space station. You manage to escape in the first level, which to be honest, is one of the weirdest levels I have seen in a shoot-em-up before. After traversing a circuit board, you get in a spaceship and proceed to shoot your way to freedom.”

“We all know about games from Ratalaika; massively varied in quality, cross-buy, trophy-filled, and sometimes even enjoyable. I liked the first Destronaut, so hopefully this follow-up will not be too far away in quality and entertainment. Super Destronaut DX-2 is akin to supercharged Space Invaders. While being a fairly simple game, it has some redeemable qualities and I think the sequel does bring along a few new bells and whistles to separate it from its predecessor.”

“When I first booted up Save me Mr Tako, my brain got dragged back to my youth. Where a younger me and a friend of mine were camped on his porch playing Gameboys. Those basic, crunchy chiptunes, the muted green and black colour palette, times were a lot simpler back then. Save me Mr Tako harks back to these simpler times, with its pure gameplay and classic presentation, it’s a breath of fresh air in this trying modern era of gaming.”

“Have you ever played a game that, at times, makes you want to hit yourself in the face with a cricket bat? Think of uncanny, wonky, physics-based games like QWOP or Getting Over It. These rage-inducing, weird games are cult hits but I am not sure they are that good or even that enjoyable. Welcome to the Rapid Reviews Balancelot PlayStation 4 review, sit back and prepare for disappointment.”

“Ah, can you smell that? It smells like another Ratalika easy platinum trophy. Birthday of Midnight, which is a sequel to Midnight Deluxe, is a game about whacking a little funny shaped fellow into a hole. Think of golf but instead of a ball it is a little chap that seems to have a weird fascination with pain and holes.”

“Now and again, not too often mind, I do like a bit of a sim style management game. It has been a while since I had played one so thought I would have a bash at Buildings Have Feelings Too!. I did not know a lot about it before playing but I did love the presentation and art style I saw in the trailer. It looked very different from other games of this style. Little did I know, this was not your stereotypical management game.”