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Amanda the Adventurer is just a normal, run of the mill kids game where a cutesy lead character teaches you spelling and how to follow orders; just like the old school little kids TV shows, this game has nothing that anyone over the age of 12 would find interesting at all.

***Spoilers***
With that being said, this point and click adventure is nothing short of the type of shared nightmare everyone thinks they saw growing up late at night; while the premise of the game is simple, each tape further develops Amanda from a Dora clone to something straight out of the SCP universe, so much so that she's able to break the forth wall. Including the secret tapes, the game presents itself as a possible ARG with each tape showing either a location, IRL locations, and an ominous map with a location.
***End Spoilers***

In terms of glitches or bugs, the game follows are very strict and linear path for story telling with your decisions only really affecting one section of the game; while there's nothing wrong with this, the game is more reminiscent of the old style horror flash games where you just click the right sequence of things on screen.

All in all, Amanda the Adventurer is a fun little horror game that really leans on the Found Footage trope that seems like the start of something bigger by this developer!

My playthrough:

Even knowing what this game is about going in, it still manages to just hit you like a train; for being a simple puzzle game about a beloved dog who passed away, it conveys the grief of each of the family members in such a way that makes sense and is relatable. From helping with word puzzles, making food, licking the plates clean, and just giving each family a nostalgic memory to leave off on, Goodbye Doggy just knows the right buttons to push for each stage of sadness that anyone in life will experience from a passing.

There really isn't much to say about this game other than that; it's a simple point and click puzzle that has you, Doggy, do a few things for you family before passing onto the next life. The puzzles seem to be doable in a very open manner as you have the freedom to collect and give items as you please. I couldn't find any bugs or glitches on my two playthroughs, and for the message that this game is trying to convey, the length is just right to make the player feel

All in all, if you're looking for a trip down grief and acceptance, you should 100% play this game. It's a really short one, but one you'll remember

My playthrough:

Ever wondered what it'd be like to give up the Cookie Clicking business and push a square in your living room for money? How about the feeling of a dance party as people push a square for you while you take over the world? Well, if the answer to either of those was yes, you've come to the right place!

Push The Square is a semi-idle game where you start off as a lonely square pusher and businessperson and slowly build up your money and prestige by going to work and investing your money in pushing a square. Why? We don't know either, but as you push the square more and more, people will become interested in you as a person and allow you to unlock things like a party, becoming the president, and a rug for your house (finally).

(A third paragraph is usually added here to talk about bugs/glitches/dislikes, but this was just an honest idle game that you can beat pretty quickly)

All in all, this game was a great example of an idle/clicker game not needing to be overly expansive in order to be fun or entertaining. With a run time of about 10 minutes (some people have beaten it under 5), you'll get a good laugh out of pushing a square :)

My playthrough:

It's always a breath of fresh air when there's a game that takes advantage of being able to set/disable keys on a keyboard and uses that as a workable gimmick for the player to play with! Out of Ctrl is a puzzle game where you have to move your keyboard keys around the screen in order to use them with most levels being about getting your ctrl key in the right spot in order to continue to the next level. Added to this is the ability to wrap around the screen in order to traverse walls placed in order to add more difficulty to the levels. While I felt that the general pace of the game was nice, the difficulty in it never really got to a point where the puzzles became too challenging

There weren't any bugs or glitches that I could find playing this; that being said, it would've been nice to be allowed more freedom on which keys can be used to continue, as well as which keys were used for movement (WASD is fun, but imagine something really quirky like TAVL).

All in all, I will always love games with this gimmick regardless of genre, and it just instills hope in me that there will always be new and interesting mechanics to be added in the future. Definitely check this game out!

My playthrough:

Going into this game, I was expecting it to be some kind of over the top exaggeration about the troubles of every day life, but I can gladly say that I was pleasantly surprised. Paper Cages show us the horrors of every day life as experienced by the normal person; the normal routines, the normal conversations, the normal thought process of things just not going your way and life really being a struggle to just go through. What kind of gets me is that this is marked as a horror game when in reality, this is what it's like to go into the real world regardless of where you are in the totem pole of life. Even without looking at it from the POV of mental illness, the existential dread that looms over everyone is really looked into in this game.

My only real gripe with this game is in the middle section where the game turns into a keyboard typing test, there isn't any indication on which word your spelling out or if you've typed everything right until the word/s just vanish. It was a fun section to play as it's the player trying to focus on things in their mind as their world looks to be falling apart, but better indication would've made that section feel better to play out.

All in all, it's nice to find a short story game that doesn't outright feel like it's only talking about mental illness, but really about feelings that the normal adult can go through in their daily lives.
The most important part of this game is that yes, you can pet the cat :)

My playthrough:

Wow, usually I end up reviewing games that are just games for fun, but this survey will accurately tell you the kind of lover you are! From how well you are at seduction, down to your very shoe size, this quiz has it all!

Jokes aside, 10 Questions will make you feel like you're talking to that ex-lover of yours that you had to leave because things weren't right, and while it may have been sometime that you two have spoke, their feelings for you never really left; it's as unexpected as it is strangely sentimental, and the whole concept of reminiscing a life long left behind will leave you sad and nostalgic for times you didn't actually live (or maybe you did).  To quote another comment  that summarizes this game perfectly: "I left my love wandering if I really love them, if only I could've showed my love better"

All in all, this game will kick you in the gut, but you should still try it because it does turn out to be a 10 Questions survey on what kind of lover you are :D

My playthrough:

The norm of the horror genre these days is to have something follow you; an evil spirit, a monster, or some other thing that wants you dead will roam the same halls as you while you try to escape. No Way Out scraps this idea in favor of allowing the atmosphere of the area be what really messes with your mind. While this may sound like the game will just feel like a walking simulator, it surprisingly takes it's sound and location to an unsettling level as every little noise and new item in your peripherals become something akin to the dark figure in the corner of your eye.

Even though I praise the game for it's atmosphere and the fact that it basically makes the player their own worst enemy, it does have places where it falls short: first off, the notes menu system will glitch on itself and not allow the player to read certain things at random, and it feels like it could've also been used to show the inventory of the player. Second, when picking up and equipping items, there's no indication of what the player has is or holding, so you'll find yourself spamming the item button on doors or places of interest hoping for things to happen. My last (and biggest) gripe with the game is the build up of and the ending itself: for all the exploration done, there weren't enough notes to really explain what's going on except for something along the lines of "we're here together"-cliché note you can find, and once you get to the ending, it just sort of ends with you semi-seeing your captor. This is probably the biggest thing I've noticed with indie horror where devs just don't know how to end their game in a satisfying way.

All in all, I'd say give this game a try; while you may end up being disappointed by the ending, it'll definitely get you paranoid as you progress through the normal stages of the game

My playthrough:

Red Handed is a game that I've already witnessed people compare to Super Hot; while it shares in the idea of slowed down time in order to plan your next route of attack against your enemies, Red Handed focuses more on the puzzle aspect of having a limited amount of slow down per level making it more relatable to puzzlers rather than FPS games. Each level will either throw you immediately into the slowed state as enemies are aware of your presence or give you time to invisibly stealth your way into a favorable position; on top of this, you are given limited bullets with which to clear levels of all enemies while also being able to kick and grab on to them (among being able to break doors and windows). This game leans pretty heavily on having the player plan out each level as once you run out of slowed time or bullets, you immediately fail.

In terms of gameplay and level design, the game feels really well put together with each of the levels, while being linear, present a couple of options and creativity in order to progress. Although I couldn't find any glitches in my two playthroughs of the game, the lack of content (2 enemy types, 1 player gun type, about 10-ish levels) is really the only thing holding this game back (it's usually the big thing with fun indie games).

All in all, this FPS puzzler is a nice and easy game that doesn't rely too heavily on aiming but on critical thinking; with a run time of about 6 minutes, I'd highly recommend trying it out!

My playthrough:

Baba Is You is an indie puzzle game where you control a cute little rabbit thing in order to move blocks that make sentences which allow you to beat levels; the Xtreme version is the same, except someone slipped something into Baba's drink and now you must do everything while you and the rest of the world slip, slide, and rotate in all the wrong directions.

While this spinoff follows the same rules in terms of what sentences do (thing is thing), the fact that there the tile system for movement was replaced with ice-y floor and rotation physics makes the game difficult not because of the puzzle (all of the puzzles are basically the first world of the original game) but because of the fact that things will move wildly depending on the orientation of the text and of what you're controlling; one moment, you can have Baba completely horizontal, and with a slight bump on anything at all, Baba will now be at a 45 degree angle (or better yet, completely upside down). It's definitely the type of silly game mode that would've been a nice unlockable in the base game, so seeing this become it's own spinoff for others to enjoy is really considerate of the developers.

***SPOILERS***
Even though all levels are beatable with enough patience and trying out different combinations, I have to stress how bad level 7 feels to play because of the established movement; you have to make a rock bridge for a key in order to open a door, but the key will constantly move downwards with a gap being between it and the door. Now, this wouldn't have been such an issue if the rocks you use to make the bridge would reliably hold the key up, but both objects interact with each other in a way that allows the key to slide off the rocks really easily. While I was lucky to have been able to balance the key on a rock, this level felt way more tedious than it should've been because you had to have the objects in just the right spot for the bridge to actually work (by far the most difficult level simply because of this interaction).
***END SPOILERS***

All in all, this was a silly little spinoff from the original series that I neither expected nor realized I would enjoy. Definitely give this a try, but keep in mind you're bound to get mad at the physics while you're getting use to them :D

My playthrough:

Shrine Of Cards was a nice change of pace from the usually rogue-like card games that have popped up the past couple of months; while it follows the standard "do actions, get different cards per run" formula, the game has a different end-goal: instead of actively trying to defeat enemies to get to some special ending, the ending comes from building a shrine that you must also occasionally defend. As you use cards to get materials to build your shrine, each new turn adds either enemies or special events that can both hinder and help you. Neither of these two obstacles pose a huge threat unless you don't manage your cards right (or if you're just really unlucky with the special events), and as mentioned by the creator, some of the cards really aren't balanced.

While the enemies range from humans that steal your materials or do damage to you to spirits that can steal your life, MP, or materials, the cards completely overpower them in terms of sheer utility; you start off with one damage card, a few healing cards, and material cards. Every 7 days, you'll have a pick of 3 cards. The cards range from more materials and healing to really overpowered things like clear all spirits enemies and gain 3 materials at a time (you need 5 to build a piece of your shrine). Of course, these cards come with MP costs or health costs, but the game feels overly generous at times with how much you have to work with.

All in all, for a game made on a time-frame that was a day shorter than expected, it was done really well! An average playthrough would be around 10 minutes, and I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a laid back, rogue-like card game

My playthrough:

I've heard of bad trips, and to be genuinely honest, this game hits that nail so hard that you have to do second guess whether or not you've taken actual drugs.

TOXX1 is an escape game where you are given almost no information or direction except for escaping your cell. Once you figure out that the interaction button is E, you're able to go on a mighty quest which involves digging in a poop bucket, finding money to buy a gun, and retrieving your next door cellmate's kidney in order to escape captivity. There isn't much more to say about the game; yes, this is the story of the game; yes, this makes as much sense read as it did playing the actual game.

The game felt genuinely fun to play, but it could benefit from two things:

- Allow the player to be able to adjust the mouse sensitivity
- Tell the player that the interaction button is E

All in all, this is usually where I write a nice outro paragraph neatly tying in the good and bad of this game, but instead, just go play this game and enjoy the wtf trip that is TOXX1

My playthrough:

After School is a horror game where you're the last one at school, so you decide to take the stairs because it's leg day.  While the first half of the game sees you exploring one of the floors of the school for a few minutes, the game really picks up doing the middle stairs section. Akin to something straight out of an SCP fiction, the farther down the stairs you go, the more intense the sounds get, the lights go off, your breathing gets louder, the stairs seem to just never end, all culminating to the monster of the game scaring you back up the way you came. Upon escaping, you find out that you never really escaped.

This game was deceptively scary; it builds upon the atmosphere of just walking downstairs that it lulls you deeper and deeper into anticipation until playing off of that. While the chase may seem cliché, the first playthrough will definitely be enough to have you shaken for a bit. The beauty of it is that, because of it's length, the time investment compared to the reward feels justified entirely. For those astute players that take time to search the environment while being chased, you may even find some more of a puzzle to be uncovered through this game (and future games by SirCartaux!)

All in all, for a short horror game, After School does just enough to do what it wanted to do in its short runtime. The game doesn't overstay its welcome, and leaves breadcrumbs for the player to continue an ARG after it's completed

My playthrough:

This game is one of those rare short games that prove that cute art styles and amazing 8-bit tracks can indeed lead to some thought provoking, dark situations.

To Do List is a game where you wake up each day and, well, do your to do list. It's premise is really simple: go around your tiny island and just do simple tasks from chores to entertaining yourself to making food. The game starts taking a turn near the halfway point as you start hearing things from your radio and giant worms start to appear all over your lawn (not to mention you dig up your friend to have a nice, cozy chat with them). In terms of music, the game has a really awesome soundtrack that goes well with its old flash style artwork and just the overall tone as the days progress. The ending is left pretty open as you end up harvesting your crops, masses of flesh that (with a little speculation) were what grew from the corpses you created along the way.

Gameplay-wise, there weren't any sections that had bugs or any glitches (that I could find). The only sore spot that I would be able to see people talk about is that, while the game gives you objectives, some objectives have multiple steps that the player must figure out on their own; with this being said, the game is so short and straightforward that it's very simple to find what's required to do next.

All in all, this game will draw you in with it's visuals and killer music, only to leave you questioning what you've been actually doing in your to do list

My playthrough:

There's no real way to start this review without saying this: Yes! Only a few months after having played the demo for this game (a demo that was a couple of years old and had barely any updates), this game got a full release and I'm beyond happy because of it! 

Rota is a puzzle platformer that has your rotate your gravity and position boxes (also with changeable gravities) in order to collect gems and exits from each level. This simple concept lends itself beautifully to the game as there were a total of 50 unique levels; each level builds upon past levels in order to both be challenging while also making sure that the player has the strategies and techniques in order to progress through the game. The artwork is very springy and light which adds a nice feeling of warmth to the game while the music is chill and non-invasive; both of these honestly add to the atmosphere of the game in the way of allowing the player to just relax as they progress through the levels.

All in all, this was an amazing platformer that I wasn't too sure would ever see the light of day; it's a game that really understands how to teach the player new things, while continuously throwing obstacles at them that requires planning and past techniques!

My playthrough (this is version 1.0; some puzzles and techniques I used in here have probably been patched as of the newest versions :D):

No problem, and I hadn't even checked when this was initially released when I first played it; I'll have to check out some of your more recent titles in that case! 

For such a short 2D metroidvania game, the developers really knew how to pack in a nice difficulty curve, platforming, and surprisingly non-standard tech into this game!

CaveBuster might seem like your standard metroidvania (shoot, platform, gain upgrades), but it's beauty lies in the fact that it's both well-crafted, punishing, and employs the use of something that has always been a form of cheese for me: damage boosting. The controls feel really well put together, and the graphics are very reminiscent of something you'd find on a handheld console. While the ability to use your laser and double jump is received later in the game, the developers made sure that each section felt like the progression was required and didn't fall into the issue of upgrades being useless. I know I've mentioned this before, but the fact that there are sections in the game that require damage boosting to progress is amazing; damage boosting is typically reserved in platformers as a means of cheesing through areas by either using i-frames to bypass enemies or to gain extra height in unintended ways, so the fact that this game has that as an actual tech that's required to progress speaks volumes of the developer's knowledge on these types of games.

All in all, this is a by-the-book, short metroidvania game that ticks all the right boxes and gives veterans of the genre a nice smile and nod. Runtime is about 10 minutes, so I'd highly recommend checking this out :)

My playthrough:

Why Is The Sky Red is a walking simulator that's based around the idea of only having 10 minutes before the world ends. This concept can be a very thought provoking one, however the execution of it within this game leaves much to be desired as most of the NPCs you can interact with will only give you one-liners that, while definitely things that normal humans would ask, feel very shallow due to the fact that there are never any answers; most NPCs will just ask questions, but there's never any interactions between them and your character. Even if there are two NPCs near each other, there isn't any dialogue between them that feels human. The more you run into NPCs, the more you realize that what's missing is the response to the call that is being made.

The visuals of the game are very basic, but strangely enough, that adds to the weight of the end of the world and the question of "does anything matter at this point". Even walking around the city as the sun slowly sets and nothing but darkness remains felt really impactful, however the 10 minute timer ends up being a detriment (you can talk to all NPCs and walk around the city multiple times in 7 minutes)

All in all, this game is thought provoking in the fact that you must ask yourself difficult questions at the end of time, and while it does have the atmosphere to accent that, the lack of humanity in the NPCs' interactions leaves this game feeling like it was half-baked.

My playthrough:

When it comes to games of this style, I usually enjoy a good story telling and the interactions with others that come with it; this game had a good pace at the beginning with each of the interactable characters, but ended up failing to give a satisfying ending that coherently added everything together. 

*SPOILERS*
The first half of this game sees you running around, talking to each of the other passengers of the train. There's a homeless man, a retiring detective, a little girl, a sickly woman, and an older man. At first glance, the game seems to play out as a euphemism for passing on to the afterlife. The issue with this is that as you progress through the game, you end up almost falling victim to a spider monster in one of the train carts. You escape with the help of the sickly woman, and the game ends with you waking up in another train (presumably in the real world). While this strange story might've ended neatly in the written version, this game seems to miss that mark and just kind of ends.
*END SPOILERS*

All in all, this is an open-ended game that leaves a little too much to interpretation with too much going on in the game that it's tough to really say what the point of it was. I'd recommend checking it out (about a 5 minute runtime) and see what kind of interpretation others come up with

My playthrough:

Imagine opening up your game just to be greeted by glitchy music, a bugged title screen, and your character having the self-awareness to know that something is wrong.....

Adventures In In In In is a simple RPG maker game that takes all the RPG elements you know and love (turn-based combat) as well as story-telling elements in order to allow the player a glimpse into what NPCs go through when their world is ruined. You're placed in the shoes of an unnamed mouse who, while burdened by the voice of the narrator, must traverse their world in order to discover the cause of the errors in order to save their friend FLUFFY and figure out how to defeat the dreaded G.js. In terms of mechanics, this is more on the story driven side where you walk from place to place interacting with different people and objects; while there is a use of the fighting mechanics, it's used more to further emphasize how badly corrupted the game has gotten.

This is usually the section where I talk about bugs and glitches in the game, but (surprise surprise) the game is a giant glitch fest purposefully. There weren't any sticking points to the games mechanics or collision anywhere I could find either.

All in all, this is a nice RPG maker game that doesn't try to be overly scary with it's theme and uses all that is at it's disposal to tell a story about saving your reality and friends. At a runtime of about 10 minutes, this game doesn't ever feel like it's too long or overbearing while also getting it's point across (the ending was a nice twist as well)

My playthrough:

Fresh off of his adventures escaping Bikini Bottom after evading taxes, Mr. Krabs is back for one last mission: committing arson so that he can get insurance money from the Krusty Krab!

Coming from Mr. Krabs Evades Taxes, this sequel in the trilogy of the Krabs brings new and improved playability and UI; starting off, you'll be now using a flamethrower over the AR from the last game, as well as have access to throwable Molotovs in order to light your enemies and establishment on fire (under water fires exist, look it up!). In order to achieve your mission, you must fight throw hordes of police, brutes, civilians, and big-chested Anime girls (poor anime girls); right before you think you're out, you must also face one last (extremely difficult) enemy!

This game also has no bugs! It's hit boxes are perfect, the way Molotovs are thrown is just right, and the jiggle physics are ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

All in all, this series is just going to keep going. We'll get to Mr. Krabs blows up the moon eventually, and it'll be an amazing journey that everyone should be forced to play

My playthrough:

Being a part of the Ketamine universe, I had high hopes for how this game was going to play out; even without using the exact layout of the "first" game in this series, I can say I was still pleasantly surprised with how this game turned out.

 Tax Evasion takes place after Overdoses on Ketamine, and while this seems like this game would follow the same open world format of its predecessor, the developer of this game decided that a more linear storyline would play out better. In this game, you take the role of Mr. Krabs once again; this time, he's out to escape Bikini Bottom after having evaded his taxes (probably due to all the Ketamine he bought), and he must fight through hordes of tax collectors in order to arrive on his plane. The combat in this game, while still in third person, now has you make use of an AR to dispatch foes and eventually has you return to your roots with a driving sequence.

This game clearly has no bugs, and if it wasn't for the third game in this series, I would recommend this game for an award! The roads are perfectly fine, collision works *exactly* how it should (meaning your car won't flip randomly, probably), and your hitscan weapon will 100% hit every shot!

All in all, this is a series that I'm personally glad is getting more love; it's strange, meme-y, and full of Krabs (what more could you want?)

My playthrough:

Hear me out here: a roguelike that only has detrimental upgrades? Trust me when I say, this game is surprisingly fun even if that first question leaves you scratching your head at how that could possibly be.

The premise of The Lesser Evil is really simple: survive 10 nights (levels) in a room with 10 spawning enemies a night that can be defeated with your flashlight; each night, you gain a curse ranging from decreasing your visibility on screen, making the floor slippery, messing with your controls and flashlight visibility, and even outright changing your onscreen colors. The game is simple enough in that it plays like a standard top-down run 'n gun with a couple of enemy variants and a boss; this simplicity and the variety of curses allows the game to have moderate replayability as you attempt to beat each of the 4 difficulties.

While I couldn't find any glitches on the runs I did (2 on video, 5-ish on downtime), I can say that the biggest sore spot of this game is really just the balancing of the curses. For example, there are curses that just change the color palatte of the game, while others insta-kill you if run out of battery power or mess with the aim of your flashlight. Now, this wouldn't be an issue if the curses gradually got worse as you progressed through the nights, but unfortunately you can run into the much more unforgiving curses multiple nights in a row.

All in all, this game feels nice to beat. It's short and sweet, and while the curses can definitely be a detriment, the game never feels unbeatable regardless of the difficulty you're on. If you have 7-ish minutes, give it a try :)

My playthrough:

Picture this: the world is in turmoil, there are railroad pirates all around, and you're the only person who can deliver a life saving heart to our Llord; if managing all of this and your train sounds like fun, then this short game is for you!

This game delivers a nice 10-ish minute experience where you are a trainer conductor trying to transport a literal heart some cities over. The gameplay includes switching between keeping the heart beating, adding coal to your trains engine to keep it running, shooting railroad pirates as they, and occasionally tying your shoes (as we all must do from time to time; while this sounds overwhelming, each of these actions is done with one button, and the game itself doesn't feel too overwhelming when trying to juggle everything together. Add in a nice (yet strange) storyline and good sounds, and you find yourself with a short game that is as fun as it is weird.

Over two playthroughs, I couldn't find any bugs or situations of grief even when low on supplies. The key thing to remember is that all of the things you need to worry about have a forgiving amount of time before causing you to lose, so take deep breaths and do the most pressing things first.

All in all, this game's ending is strange, but the gameplay and build up leading to that finale is really enjoyable. You'll definitely get a laugh after all the tension, and sometimes, that can be a good thing.

My playthrough:

Woodtrail is a game where you seemingly commit vehicular manslaughter, and a serial killer proceeds to take your rightful claim. Strangely enough however, things might not be what they seem...

(***SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW***)
This is one of those games where you have to speculate what is going on. After having run over someone and following their blood into the woods, you are chased by a killer and hit by a car yourself; this in it of itself is a coincidence, but you soon find out that you yourself hit yourself with the car. At least throughout two playthroughs, the only logical conclusion I could come up with is that you're in a timeloop, which is an interesting idea and one that could easily be expanded upon to be a full game honestly.

The only bug I could find in the game was that once you get hit by the car, the trigger for being able to walk towards the shed again seems to be awkwardly placed which causes you to run into an invisible wall if you move too fast (nothing that prevents you from finishing the game however).

All in all, this is a short thriller game that leaves you with more questions than answers; it'd be really nice to see the dev flesh out the story a bit more!

My playthrough:

Ever thought about how interesting it'd be to have to mash buttons in order to move a boneless human being? Ever wondered what it'd be like to play a game like I Am Bread, but it being just short enough of a game that you don't get overwhelming mad at the fact that movement is mildly annoying? Well, is this the game for you!

The Man Man is a game where you take the role of a boneless serial killer who's wearing someone else's skin (hence The "Man" Man); the premise is super simple: make your way into the kitchen of your unsuspecting victim, grab a knife, and well, do your victim in (all while flailing about doing your best Magikarp impression). It sounds like a simple premise until you realize that you'll be spamming your body around trying to figure out how to actually make yourself move all while knocking everything over in the process! The game even has extra challenges you can attempt once you get the true ending, and just learning the movement mechanics will be enough to have you going "Wow, this game is really frustrating. What am I doing with my life?"

In terms of gameplay, you will get stuck on random objects, The Man Man will randomly flip over, you'll probably want to yell at your computer screen when you can't finish the game after a few tries, but that's where the fun comes in!

All in all, don't take this game seriously. It's a semi-ragdoll simulator with funny dialogue and a nice twist that will either have you wanting to get better or deciding to watch someone else play through it! :D

My playthrough:

It's always a good day when another 2D platformer with good mechanics, tight responses, and interesting and multi-pathed screens pops up in my recommended itch page!

Wing just hit all the right spots for me; it's very responsive with inputs (somehow a lot of platformers fail on this front), has the standard mechanics mixed with something special (more on that in a second), and for a demo, this has just enough content to whet my appetite in hopes for a full release. The mechanics are all completely simple: you can jump, perform a "double jump" like flap that can be used as many times as you want while having a cooldown, a glide feature that gives you speed in a horizontal fashion while also letting you fall slower, and a dive that, well, lets you dive directly down. It seems like the developer has experience in playing these types of platformers because of the fact that almost every screen has multiple paths to be able to complete them; some paths might require you to perform multiple jumps, while others will have you take advantage of the momentum you build up from gliding to cross obstacles. The controls on both pc and controller are really easy to use as well, and I can't stress enough how responsive the inputs are

I did play through this a few times (first time was recorded and learning the mechanics while the other times were testing out all the cool pathways and semi-pixel perfect skips available), and I can say that the only gripe I have with this game is the fact that diving doesn't really seem to have a clear purpose; from a speed-running view, it'd be a good tool to have to gain as much extra speed as possible, but for normal players, it's very hard to control and there wasn't a single instance in the game where you were required to use it at all.

All in all, this game needs to get the proper coverage and support. Again, for a demo, this developer knows what they're doing, and I highly recommend playing this demo so you can really experience it first hand!

My playthrough:

This game is relatable on so many levels; from trying to find some magical item to make yourself more attractive, to learning to accept yourself regardless of the physical things you can't change

In Short King, your objective is as a short person is to find a magical crown that will make you taller in order to gain the affection of your beloved. While there isn't much to the actual gameplay (you're mainly holding right the whole time except for a fireball dodging sequence and a slight jump you get near the end), the dialogue and interactions between all of the characters carries this game with it's funny and quirky sections

There's really nothing in the way of glitches or bugs; my only gripe is that during the fireball section, there's a chance that fireballs will spawn in a place that you can't dodge them (near floor level).

All in all, this is a short, nice, and funny story that takes a few minutes to play through. If you want a quick laugh with two endings, you should definitely give this a play.

My playthrough:

I'm genuinely surprised that this game didn't get as much attention as the first Celeste game, not just because of the fact that this has the "Celeste" name attached to it but because it was an extremely amazing platformer.

Starting off, I was originally under the impression that this game was going to have you play through parts of the Celeste game (non-pico version) as it starts you off with the tutorial level. It immediately takes a change as the bridge from Celeste breaks, and Lani ends up falling down the mountain. While you can't dash in this game, you gain access to a grappling hook that will be the main source of movement; at first, the grappling hook feels like it delivers very little in momentum other than sideways, but it very quickly becomes apparent that combining the hook with jumps allows the player to string movement combos that feel rewarding to do. Just like in the first Celeste game, each screen has been tailored to teaching the player how to string movement together, and it all comes together on the last couple of screens where, aside from knowledge, the platforming because faster paced and reactionary.

After having run through this game twice (OBS crashed my first run-through), I couldn't find any glitches, bugs, or any sore points in the game. While it did feel short (it's a pico game, wasn't expecting it to be too long), the difficulty felt balanced and progressive in a way that didn't ever feel like it was too difficult.

All in all, Celeste 2 needs a full release. Celeste is my all-time favorite platformer and knowing that there is a possibility that this game can have a continuation with newer game mechanics is the most exciting news I've had in a while (Yes, this pico game came out a year ago, but there's still a chance)

My playthrough:

(Please note that this review is based on personal experience while playing this game)

Without beating around the bush, this game has me conflicted on whether or not I enjoyed playing it. From the difficulty spike, to the RNG involved in some situations, to bosses not really being balanced in coordination with each other, there's much that can leave you polarized on this experience.

The game has a simple premise: collect dice that can attack, add defense, heal, buff other dice, copy another dice, and two secret dice (explained later). Using these, you must climb a tower while defeating enemies and deciding on what you do during special events that can have a massive impact on what they do to your run. In fights, your dice each have six sides that can yield a number based on how powered up it is, which introduces RNG to whether or not you can attack, defend, and heal while also affecting what the value of each; while this amount of RNG isn't inherently an issue depending on the deck of dice you're running or if you've been leveling up/collecting high level dice, but it becomes glaringly obvious that you'll lose more runs to this than because of preparation.

In terms of glitches and bugs, I couldn't find any after 7+ hours of doing runs to finally beat one, but I'd like to create a quick starter tip/help section for anyone having issues with the game:

1. Complete as many floors as you can; some events will allow you to skip them, but it's better to progress naturally as finishing fights gives you health/dice upgrades, allows you to discard unwanted dice, and can give you new dice (some come fully upgraded)

2. Less is more: the more dice you have in your deck, the more likely you'll have lower level dice or not pull the dice that you want (you can only have 5 dice in your hand at one time). While you can play the cards and hope RNG gives you the dice you need when you need them, some enemies can heal/give shield which can lead to softlocks because neither side can deal enough damage

3. Prioritize targets: there are some targets that can heal, give shield to others, or mimic your dice. Without giving out all the details, you should remove targets that counter your dice or that can present more of an issue

4. Experiment with the special events in your first few runs and memorize what they do/say. You'll run into the same events that have different wording, so make sure to read them thoroughly and memorize the benefits/detriments that they can present

*SPOILERS*
*Spoilers for floor 20*
5. The fight on this floor can be extremely annoying for anyone that doesn't experiment, and with it being on the 20th floor, losing here will almost assuredly cause people to give up the game. I'll spell out the trick to winning here: the honey blocks, when placed to where the honey that they spawn land on a spot that's "reserved for the boss" give a x2 bonus (up to x4 if two are stacked); because of the boss's high damage, you must use the extra buff in order to gain shield to be able to survive her damage (I've experienced hits of 30 damage on playthroughs)

*Spoilers for floors above 20*
6. Okay, from here on out, you're either going to have to rely heavily on RNG or have a small deck that is comprised of hitting hard and fast; floors 21 to 24 has only enhanced variants of the enemies that you encountered on lower floors that all hit harder, heal more, and shield more. If you have a healing/shield deck, unless you get the right enemies that you can defeat easily, you'll run into softlocks really quickly
*END OF SPOILERS*
 
The major gripes I have with this game are it's heavy RNG elements, the lack of information for the first boss fight (noted on number 5), the lack of deck depth that's viable during late game due to difficulty spike, and the underwhelming fight against the final boss. With this in mind, the game was fun to figure out, but becomes extremely tedious and borderline boring when you find out that you have to complete two runs of the game in order to get the true ending. Keep in mind, nothing changes after completing the game the first time except for one interaction at the end. With these gripes in mind, this game was fun to replay a few times as I figured out different strats that worked; once you figure out how the first boss works, you'll likely never die to it again. It's sad that it ends up feeling more of a slog with hoping you are able to build a deck fast enough that can help you survive and dying to inevitable RNG.

All in all, this is a nice turn based, deck building, roguelike that is definitely fun until it just becomes tedious. Although it feels like there's a lack of depth once you figure out what works and what doesn't, the journey is still worth giving this game some runs. Good luck, and remember that you will die in the dungeon.

My playthrough:

Okay, so, no one said that this simple game was going to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Even in a first playthrough, it feels too much of a joke to be taken seriously, and then you do everything you think the game has to offer at first and close the game and realize you've got some more exploring to do...

BitBuddy has the obvious Tamagotchi feel, allowing you to take care of your reluctant friend, all the while being reminded about one very important message: "Don't close the game". At face value, it really does feel like a demo of a game that can be released later on; you do small things like feed your buddy, play an RPG-style game with your buddy, and even take your buddy on vacation! Once all is said and done, all you can do is close the game, right? Well, that's where this game takes a turn.

***SPOILERS UNTIL THE LAST PARAGRAPH***
Upon closing the game at any point in time, you will be greeted to your Buddy having decomposed into a skeleton (presumably because the game was "programmed" to end the Buddy on close since it's a demo). While this is grim since your Buddy hinted at this multiple times during the game, the game grows a feeling of melancholy if you decide to stay with your Buddy after "completing" the demo. As the hours progress, your Buddy will recount the time they spent with you as they age quickly over the hours. They'll remember the games you played with them, and wish to relive going on vacation one more time. If you make it to the max time limit, you will reach the ending of your Buddy's life as they tell you how much you meant to them before passing away.

While I didn't take the time to attempt playing through the RPG portion of them and get as far as possible, there weren't any glitches that I could find during the mini-games or attempting to do things out of order (I did crash the game with non-stop food at one point though). The time you have to wait in-game to get the true ending is extremely long, but not really a point of gripe as it's supposed to make the Buddy more endearing and add value to having spent all that time with them.

***SPOILERS OVER***

All in all, what seemed to be a slightly funny premise turned into a rollercoaster of emotions where you learn to value life (or not, it is just a virtual Buddy after all).

My playthrough:

Somnokid brings back feelings of playing an old Game Boy Advanced mini-game. With it's Kirby-style artwork and it's very easy and simplistic platformer/shot 'em up gameplay, this game easily brings back the nostalgia of that time.

In Somnokid, you play as a dreamy goat-owl who's trying to wake up with the light of a candle. Each level follows the same premise: in your owl form, you create platforms on a limited timer that, aside from letting you stand on them, creates health, mini platforms, and enemies to fight which increase your owl timer while in your goat form, you must shoot off waves of enemies while staying within a certain distance of a candle that lets you progress to the next level. The game allows you to fly around the screen as an owl which is useful for easily staying away from enemies released from the platforms, while the goat form gives you the standard loadout for platforming (jump, movement, wall jumping). The variety in enemies adds to the gameplay as you are kept on your toes to which enemies do what; no enemy is particularly difficult, but the longer the level lasts, the more you have to shoot down or stay away from.

There was no level in this game that I felt was difficult in terms of reaction time or enemy numbers. In all honesty, this game should give the option of a one-life per level choice because many of the levels can be completed by damage boosting through enemy damage. There are even a good number of levels that can be beaten by simply just dodging enemies as the candle timer is very charitable with how fast it refills. The controls were very intuitive as well: you have your movement, your jumping, and the gun has two types of shooting styles (tap shooting so that you can face sides easier and hold to shoot which makes your character face one side and shoot in that direction while the button is held down); using both of these styles can be crucial at times to keep enemies at bay.

*For anyone who says "honestly not being able to turn while shooting is just such a bad game design descision to make" or "why can't I turn when shooting?", please realize that you can tap to shoot as well*

All in all, Somnokid is a cute shoot 'em up that presents a moderate challenge and a good amount of nostalgia. If you do decide to play this game, keep in mind that every level can be completed in different ways, and some without any combat at all. Take it slow, try new things, and eventually you can wake up from this dream :)

My playthrough:

As kids, we would run to our room and jump in bed the moment that we turned off the lights at night from fear that the unseen evil monster would snatch us away into the night if we weren't fast enough. This game shows you a glimpse of that.

The premise of this game is really simple: you're home alone while your parents are out, have money to buy some pizza (this part's important), and are tasked with closing your malfunctioning garage door. While your only movements in the game are to press a button to close the garage door and look around, you can't shake the feeling that something is horribly wrong. As you keep attempting to close the garage door, it keeps reopening *just* before closing; this wouldn't be an issue, until you realize that something is keeping the door from shutting...

All in all, this short horror says a lot of things without actually saying anything and plays on the fears that most people will have had as kids. Just remember, that monster isn't harmful, it just wants some pizza

My playthrough:

Pet owners will all tell you that they would do anything for their pets. When you have one, they're part of the family, and not even death would pull you from them. This game shows us that.

You play as a granny who has just passed away, and your mission is simple: open your apartment door so that your many cats will have a chance at surviving without you. This game brings back the old feel of point and click adventures in a nice and compact story. By manipulating the environment, you can get one of your more playful and easily-spooked cats to cause a series of events that will eventually lead to the escape of most of your animals as you're able to finally move on from this world.

There weren't any bugs or glitches that I could find in this game, but just a hint for anyone that reads this review: the TV has two uses :)

All in all, I knew what to expect going into this game, and yet it still hit me like a truck. While having the nostalgia of old-timey point and clicks, this game also resonates with the fact that you should have a failsafe for your pets' safety in the event that you suddenly pass. Play it, and get the feels (also RIP to the goldfish)

My Playthrough:

It's been so long since a platformer has gotten me as excited as this game has; I usually leave the review for the second and third paragraph, but before reading on and if you're able to, play this game. Right now. (If you can't, want to read the review first, or just want to watch someone else do it, that's totally fine too)

Regular platforming movement aside, this game's gimmick is that you're able to release your "soul" in order to propel yourself in the direction that it ends facing in; the soul (which is released facing upwards upon use) can be turned left and right, and either once it reaches a certain distance from the player or if the player uses the soul button again after release, they are sent with both the momentum and angle of direction of the soul. At face value, this sounds like a more difficult to control version of double jumping and dashing, but the amount of freedom you get from choosing where and how hard you get through in certain angles makes this game feel extremely liberating. While the base game is easy enough to where you don't have to focus on micromanaging your momentum and shot angle, the 5 bonus levels make extreme use of these concepts, making even a slight angle difference cost you half a level's worth of progress. Add onto this some amazing music and pleasing visuals, and you have yourself a masterful game that will test your patience and skill.

There weren't any glitches that I could find on my two playthroughs of the game, but I will say this: the bonus stages are difficult. Really difficult. This game doesn't hold your hand in teaching how your soul can be sent vertically on release, nor about the minute angle differences. Every jump and level is possible (there are even stages that can be done a few different ways), so keep trying and experiment with aiming your soul. By far the hardest level was Bonus Stage 4, if you're curious :)

All in all, this game needs an official full release. It's a beautiful love letter to the platformer genre, and I can't wait to hopefully see it receive a massive update!

My Playthrough:

Ever wanted to wash an adorable doggo but don't have the time or a doggo? Well, for just a minute of your time, you get to experience the joys of a good dog wash!

The game is fun, cute, and overall delivers the exact thing that the title promises. While there's little in the way of game play (the game is just drag items and hold them on the dog), the devs really knew how to sell the dog's expressions which make the very minimal tasks feel extremely rewarding.

My only real gripe with the game is the fact that this could easily be added upon with a few things:

 - Have more dogs to wash
 - Make a time attack mode
 - Maybe some quick time events
 - Why does the blow dryer clean the dog that much?

All in all, this game is a nice minute long-ish game that delivers on it's promise, and yet leaves you wanting to clean more good doggos in the process!

My Playthrough:

You ever have a fear that feels so out of place that people might think you're weird if you tell them? Have you ever gone out late to get milk, only to feel like you're being watched the whole time? If either of these are true (or both, I'm not judging you), then you've come to the right simulator....

Anatidaephobia is a game where you learn the true meaning of fear; it's something we all must come to learn, whether you're ready for it or not. Take on the role of the unnamed protagonist leaving in your one bedroom/living room/kitchen apartment as you take on the daunting task of going to get milk late at night. Seems simple right? Well, you can feel those eyes crawling down your spine as the honks of the night echo in your head

All in all, it's a game that teaches us that even the silliest little fears, are really just stop reading this review and run, it's not safe and they know where you live

My playthrough:

It's always these awesome indie games that have such potential with their artwork, gameplay, and overall design that completely vanish and are never worked on again

Virtue is a 2D platformer where you play as an impulse traversing the human mind in order to become an idea. Aside from traditional platforming abilities (jumping/wall jumps), there's tons of exploration to be had as the game's own background will lead you to find secret items and hidden path ways while you use your willpower and tentacle to defeat enemies along the way. The artwork is very outlandish, being 3D models, but that being paired with the aesthetic scenery adds to the overall feeling of being inside a mind.

There wasn't much to say about the game being difficult as it allows you to keep spare health/willpower pickups as stored items, gives well placed checkpoints, and allows you to increase your overall health/willpower through secret collectibles.

All in all, I would recommend that if you find this review, definitely give this weird game a chance; it's just a shame that all indications point to the developer having abandoned the game (all links within the demo are no longer attached to anything)

My playthrough:

Thanks! I'll have to check out some of the team's other games and see what other gems y'all have in store :)