Gaming Furever

“Woods, snow, a warm fire, and soft critters are the definition of cozy. Developer Pine Creek Games and Publisher Noodlecake bring all of these quintessential qualities together in the woodland survival game, Winter Burrow, to make for a nicely paced, albeit short experience that is best experienced in a few comfy gaming sessions.”

“Rightfully, Beary Arms really surprised me. I legitimately had a good bit of fun with the title! Yes, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table and I get that this genre is starting to be a bit tired, but I still feel this is a fun game, especially for its low price. The fact you are playing as a bear in pajamas shooting guns should be enough of a selling point right there!”

“Even after I was done playing, I still had the urge to go back for just one more fight. To me, that’s the mark of a good fighting game, if not game in general: If you still have the urge to keep playing, even after you’re done, then you know you got a hit on your hands. While the microtransactions may turn some players off, especially that ridiculous $100 USD Arcane Skin pack, I still say give this game a shot, even if you aren’t the biggest fan of League Of Legends.”

“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in an actual fairytale? To approach the castle of your archnemesis, knock down the door and…find it converted into an office space? That’s the premise behind Escape From Ever After, a delightful rpg inspired by the classic Paper Mario games. If you needed a fun game to take you back to those days and scratch an itch you didn’t know you had, Escape From Ever After is for you.”

“If you’re like me, you probably grew up with a Game Boy Color back in the day and poured hours into 8-bit adventures. I fondly remember my time with games like Dragon Quest IV, Oracle of Ages and a few others. Back in those days, the technology wasn’t very sophisticated, so game design was much simpler and exploration wasn’t guided by nav points. It’s that kind of nostalgia that Doki Monsters Quest chooses to invoke. Memories of bygone days where game mechanics were explained in booklets rather than in the game itself. This philosophy of old meets new works to both Doki Monsters' benefit and its deficit.”

“The gameplay of Bean Beasts did a great job of ramping up the right amount of difficulty as you unlocked new beasts and traps to help complete each level. Some levels really offered a good bit of challenge, which is a breath of fresh air for Tower Defense games. Some, I feel, are more to put you to sleep while playing on your phone just before bedtime. Not Bean Beasts though.”

“If you’re looking for a game with an unsettling but charming atmosphere, while hovering over wonderful wood crafted set pieces and constructing a crew from over 30 pieces to match your theme or playstyle, you’ll enjoy this game!”

“Wildgate is tightly designed and has an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop when it “clicks” for you and your team. It’s not as easy to get into at its price point and gatekeeping of progress to PvPvE games only, but they absolutely accomplished what they set out to do, and that’s to create a unique, artistically pleasing spaceship battle extraction game that focuses on strategizing with your fellow teammates against 4 other crews trying to accomplish the same goals as you.”

“To me, this is a good representation of what a Cozy Game can be and one game I can see myself returning to here and there if I want to just relax for a bit. Yes, the waiting can get tedious and the happiness upkeep is a chore, but, hey, like Meat Loaf once said: Two out of three ain’t bad. Besides, what other game allows you to live on the back of a giant docile creature that wanders a Ghibli-like world?”

“Atomic Owl is a fun, if flawed, experience. Dashing through Bladewing City to save Judanest is cool and I appreciate that the game gives you plenty of options for doing so. There’s a cool premise behind it all, some interesting lore and lots of spectacle to look at it. As a platformer, it soars high and proud. As a roguelite, it’s still learning to flap its wings.”

“Utilizing a healthy dose of Balatro-like elements to boost your scoring power as you guide your bird along a roguelike migration path to reach their final destination, Birdigo excels at providing a simple game concept with satisfying scoring devices and a “one more round” addictiveness that makes it hard to put down.”

“Back to the Dawn is truly surprising. Its scale is much more deep than its surface appearance gives off, and you can tell how much the development team invested into the creative storytelling process. It shows in every decision you make, every animation of every animal character, and every story beat you hit. Living within and trying to make your escape from out of the prison feels important and impactful, and you really find yourself caring about (some) of the people locked inside there with you, and the people trying to help you get out (literally and figuratively) of the conflicts you find yourself wrapped up in. If you start Back to the Dawn, don’t expect to put it down until you finish it…and then finish it again.”

“If I were to describe Bunny Battle Nemesis in one sentence, I’d choose ‘Fun But Flawed’. There are many good ideas here and the gameplay is fun and engaging. I even found myself smiling throughout which, to me, means I’m really enjoying it. However, the monotony of the gameplay and some questionable choices do affect the game on a whole, though not enough to make me not want to recommend it.”

“Shuffle Tactics has some great bones and ideas. If anything, it feels like a great candidate for Early Access balancing and bug fixing. However, it is a full release and one that retails for $14.99. Because of this, it is taking a bit more scrutiny from me in its present state. I would love to be able to experience the rest of the bosses and levels, but with the level of difficulty being as it is, it’s hard for me to not want to “wait and see” for now before taking on the path to King Ogma again.”

“I highly recommend checking it out if you enjoy nature and puzzle games. It has a good unique spin with tons of originality. Definitely a fresh feel for a puzzle game.”

“Firstly, let me just say that Frog Legs is silly, short, and fun. It doesn’t take itself seriously, is meant to be completed in one play session, and is less than $3. As such, this review won’t be too long-winded and instead will focus on my overall experience with the little serving of goodness that is Frog Legs. Frog Legs focuses on a set of frogs that start off inside of the classic “Frogger” game, trying to convince a cautious fellow frog that making it across the busy street ain’t so scary. Unfortunately, that peer pressure leads to an event and adventure that will change them all…in more than a few ways. Featuring gameplay that hops from arcade to horror to boomer shooter, Frog Legs will be sure to surprise and elicit some laughs for its 30-40 minute runtime.”

“Outside of some shortcomings, I don’t think I will ever play any game that is quite like Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos and I mean that in the most positive way possible.”

“Is there anything slicker than a frog? What about a sea frog with a rocket-powered wrench expertly grinding and sliding his way around an overflowing amount of dangerous, varied, and exciting obstacles and objectives across giant sea-faring vessels? Seafrog, developed by OhMyMe Games, is all that and more.”

“Pilo and the Holobook was a delightful experience with dazzling visuals, good puzzles, and stickers around every corner...literally! I loved exploring the beautiful worlds looking for stickers to fill my holobook, while at the same time investigating the mysterious story.”

“Engaging storytelling devices paired with inventive spins on tried-and-true gameplay define Willow Guard, a new anthro character filled Medieval RPG by developer MiTale”