James Carr

“Don't Stop, Girlypop! is a fun and fast arena movement-shooter, at its best when you are moving fast and shooting faster. The fun pink Y2K vibes add a level of charm and humor to a well-made, if a bit standard, FPS. The platforming excels at horizontal movement, but fumbles when verticality is introduced. Ultimately, it's a great bite-sized experience and I was glad to play.”

“Morsels has an incredible look and style, but it's uneven across the board. The difficulty ranges wildly from levels to boss fights, the Morsels themselves range from utterly useless to feeling overpowered, and there aren't as many as I would want for a game where you have to do multiple runs. Interacting with items in each level is far too tedious to make them worth engaging with, even if the secrets themselves are special if you do actually find them.”

“Varlet feels like a turn-based RPG that is simultaneously doing far too much and far too little. The story is overly complex and long for the game's 16 hour run time, which also takes away from the development of its cast of characters. On the other hand, the dungeons lack personality and variety, and the combat is truly one note, leaving a ton to be desired. I cannot recommend Varlet for anyone, as it doesn't have anything it truly excels at, and far too much that it utterly fails in.”

“Snezhinka is an arcade-style 2D shooter, focused on anime girls defending against waves of mechs on behalf of their authoritarian government. It's a strange game, but the atmosphere succeeds in its oppressiveness and the fast-paced gameplay keeps its simplicity from becoming tedium. It's a small package, but it offers a ton of fun for a few hours, knowing it's just as important to leave a good final impression as it is to have a strong first impression.”

“Marvel Rivals is a refined take on the hero shooter genre that offers more than just being a comic-themed clone”

“Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is a fun take on blackjack and roguelike deck builders, using unique cards and rules to make blackjack a slightly more strategic game. It doesn't have the most engaging visual style and doesn't have the same extended sense of discovery other games in the genre have, but each run is unique enough to make you say "one more run" a few times.”

“Another Crab's Treasure blends hardcore action with 3D platforming to create a special undersea adventure.”

“How Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged brings plenty of small improvements but doesn't fundamentally change much from the original.”

“Exoprimal keeps its cards close, saving some of its best moments for later.”

“Cassette Beasts is a fresh take on the monster collecting genre, featuring both whimsical creatures and actual floating nightmares in its surreal world. A double battle system with dozens of different buffs and debuffs creates a need to be more strategic and its story goes far beyond a desire to become champion or to just catch'em all, but you can still do that too if you want to. A few shortcomings in the quest systems and platforming hold it back, but only slightly. Cassette Beasts proves itself as far more than just a knockoff, and is instead a brilliant game in its own right.”

“Classic SpongeBob humor combined with solid platforming makes for a fun nostalgia trip through the multiverse in The Cosmic Shake.”

“Hot Wheels Unleashed is an excellent arcade racing game that doesn't fully embrace some of the wackier parts of the toy brand.”