Amanda Tien

“I was absolutely riveted by TR-49. I played in two long sessions, finishing the game in about seven hours. However, I wanted more — and so I did something I almost never do, and spent extra time getting 100% of the achievements, discovering multiple endings. TR-49 achieves everything it sets out to do. Furthermore, for its amazingly low price point of $6.99, TR-49 is an absolute bargain for an experience this good. If you love books, weird games, games that make you think, great audio design, code-breaking, war-time stories, and/or poignant reflections on what it means to be alive in the world, then you'll love TR-49. I could hardly bear to put TR-49 down, and once you try it, neither will you.”

“The Séance of Blake Manor is the third game from developer Spooky Doorway, and it’s the small Irish studio’s most ambitious yet. My playthrough lasted about 20 hours, but I took the time to have extra conversations, finish side quests, and explore every nook and cranny. The love that has been poured into Blake Manor — literally and in-game — is apparent. I feel lucky to have entered these hallowed grounds and hope it will be made available on more platforms soon so that more people can experience it.”

“Strange Antiquities is a commendable sequel and also a great standalone game for anyone who wants a quiet but compelling title. Most “quiet” games are cutesy cozy, and so Strange Antiquities fits a very unique niche of being low-key while still interesting and spooky. All that said, the lack of a new game+ mode is a disappointment given the rich and compelling storytelling. The setting is delightful, and makes me wonder if we’ll be so lucky as to return to Undermere for a third time — but for the residents’ sake, I almost hope we don’t! I’m not sure this poor town can handle yet another curse.”

“Paper Perjury is a delightful, solid mystery game for fans of the genre and the Ace Attorney series. It’s an interactive novel with a good amount of investigating crime scenes and presenting evidence. While it doesn’t do anything ground-breaking, it’s a well-executed indie mystery.”

“My biggest problem with Rough Justice: '84 wasn’t even that it didn’t work—it’s that, even when it did, I still just wasn’t having any fun.”

“Death Trick: Double Blind, while imperfect, is colorful and engaging. Perhaps it’s just like a real day out at the circus—you see some cool tricks, but then you eat too many sweets and you get overwhelmed by the crowds. Yet, at the end of the night, you’re still delighted by what you’ve seen, and you know you’ll remember it. Death Trick: Double Blind won’t be a game everyone enjoys, but it certainly will have its audience. I imagine there will be a lot of fan art. I hope those people—romantics, thinkers, dreamers—find Death Trick: Double Blind and enjoy the ride.”

“Mail Time is one of the sweetest and most comforting experiences I’ve had in a long time. Despite its relatively short five-hour runtime, Mail Time doesn’t feel small. It’s a great example of quality over quantity. If you are remotely interested in cute forest animals and/or the mail, you’ll want to add Mail Time to your gaming route.”

“In spite of its flaws and lack of freedom, Glitchhikers is a sweet, casual game for anyone who is a little sad and in need of human connection. And really, who isn’t feeling that way these days?”

“As I sat there looking at the colorful rendering of Elk and my 100% completion save file, I wondered if my assumption was inherently American. I had these thoughts of, Give me my prize. Give me the thing again without having to work for it. Give me the chance to look at this again. I knew, looking at that menu screen, that that was not the point of Welcome to Elk. The point of Welcome to Elk is to experience a small world of stories and lives. And there’s no way to dip your toes in. Like the lovable alcoholic schoolteacher Sue, sometimes you have to just dive into those frigid waters and swim to shore.”