Recent reviews by Starfinder

This game is so compelling that it should come with a warning label.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: Luck Be A Landlord is a pure dopamine drip feed. If you
have an ADHD brain, you will delight in surfing the meta layer of this
well-crafted game and also wonder how the last 12 hours evaporated.

Proceed with caution.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mew! Mrrrr. Miao? Miao. Rrrrrr."

;lkadsfygyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

abfatrrujk,.ooooooooooooooooooooooo

I can't stand bullet hell games - I find them too stressful.

In spite of that, this game is so amazingly well done and I'm totally hooked - that's how good it is. Get it.

A surprising amount of fun. I love it when a plan comes together.

In short: a competent, fantasy-themed Panzer General. Full disclosure: I actually bought this on physical media in a bargain bin years ago. Picked it up again during a Steam sale.

Pros:
- solid turn-based strategy experience
- choose new abilities for your troops to match your playstyle as they level up
- core army carries through a given campaign

Cons:
- hamfisted voice acting
- cliche plot
- dated graphics, but I prefer the 3d animations to the 2d sprites of something like Battle for Wesnoth

If you're old enough to remember Fantasy General, this will scratch that itch. The series certainly worth $5 for turn-based fans during a steeply discounted Steam sale.

If the video game FTL and the boardgame Descent got together and had babies? You'd get this game.

Referring to it as a roguelike/tower defense doesn't do it justice. As an afficionado of turn-based games, I was concerned that this would be too 'realtime' for me. Not to worry. The developers refer to it as 'door-based', and only when you open a door does it shift to a quasi-realtime game. Very similar to FTL when choosing to jump to a new sector.

Also similar to FTL in the sense that you want as much of the primary currency as possible but never ever seem to have enough (scrap in FTL is roughly analagous to dust in DotE).

The player is still subject to the whims of the RNG in terms of dungeon layout, shops, item availability, etc., but never punitively so. Clever play almost always compensates for any randomness in a given run.

Dungeon levels take about 30-45 minutes of thoughtful play, which is a bonus for those with real-life time constraints.


If you're a fan of roguelike and turn-based games in general, and enjoyed FTL - I heartily recommend this title.

First-person puzzler with intriguing philosophical underpinnings. One might be inclined to see it as an homage to Portal, I think it harkens back to the eerie feeling of Myst - the feeling of exploring a very mysterious world that slowly peels back layer after layer of secrets, drawing you in deeper each time.

Sound, voice acting, and production values are all top notch - I felt completely immersed in the world of The Talos Principle. Although I'm not keen on puzzle games in general and often prefer other genres, but this feels like a standout effort. Do yourself a favor and play through the public test while it's available.

Would have probably passed on this if it weren't for the public test. Was just enough of a taste to put the hooks in me.

A thoughtful and well-paced city building simulation heartily recommended to fans of the genre. As a Dwarf Fortress player, I've found it moderately challenging but not frustratingly so. An entirely acceptable 1.0 release.

Pros:
- Complete lack of a clumsy RTS combat element bolted on to a perfectly good city builder.
- Music and ambient sound are quite enjoyable over long gaming sessions.
- Challenging without being overwhelming, careful planning is your only weapon against scarcity. Be patient.
- A building can be sited without spending resources, which makes long-term planning a breeze.

Cons
- Stockpiles lack fine-grained controls to manage which resources get stored where. Your blacksmith may be in for a hike.
- Some mechanics are non-intuitive, and you may scrap a few towns as you discover them (e.g. dont' run out of tools).
- A very minor bug with road removal next to farms/orchards in the 1.0 release is annoying, but not game breaking.

Banished is an outstanding effort by a single developer, not to be missed if you need to scratch that sim itch.