Recent reviews by Indie Club

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Sneakily teaching you programming basics
  
• Funny story

The not so good:

• Hand written comments

The conclusion:
Sometimes, a game appears that makes learning things fun. HRM is one of these games. It’s not for programmers, it’s for people that think they’re bad at programming, only to realise they’re 30 levels in and have learned recursivity and strings.
Most levels might seem trivial for a veteran programmer, but for the regular people, this is a very good intro to the world of programming - or at least “thinking like a programmer” world
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYeKi-us-ko

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Clean graphics
  
• Responsive controls
  
• That map

The not so good:

• A bit on the short side
  
• Generic story

The conclusion:
A very good 6dof shooter, reminds me of Descent quite a lot, but you know, with better graphics.
Flying with a controller is a bit weird, because the Roll is binded on the D-Pad and it’s very hard to get to it, but I didn’t really feel the need to use it anyway.
The map is a lifesaver, after rotating a lot you might think you’ll get lost, but the map is fabulous.
This is a must buy for any fan of 6dof shooters, but if you’re new to the genre, you might want to wait for a sale.
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaTvFxoDUic

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Awesome party game
  
• Play this now

The not so good:

• Might end relationships
  
• Took a while to understand the Simon Says game

The conclusion:
By far the best party game I’ve played thus far. The tension, the puzzles, the screaming, everything is perfect
Can also be used as a Litmus test for a relationship.
Watch me play here (in romanian) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fb3hLZpVRw

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Interesting concept
  
• Nice graphics

The not so good:

• Small community - big waits in multiplayer
  
• Playing against bots becomes repetitive fast

The conclusion:
The concept of the game is pretty solid. Build a deck, get onto a map, use your minions to capture totems and make sure you keep them as long as possible. Reach the target score first. Rejoice.
Even after just a few moments, I’ve already envisioned some specific decks based on cheesing the opponent, or creating huge creatures that are almost impossible to kill, or using spells to get my guys to the totems faster and then to protect them...the list can go on, and with new cards, new opportunities might come.
But all of this is in vain if there is no opponent to play against. The bots get tiring pretty fast and due to the small size of the community, the matchmaking takes ages. Maybe a free to play model with decks or expansions for pay would’ve been a better idea for a game that absolutely needs a community to take off.
For now, I can’t recommend a game in which the main part of it is practically unplayable (and I mean the multiplayer)
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyIw3xdEaLQ

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Addictive gameplay
  
• Nice pixel art

The not so good:

• Brings nothing new

The conclusion:
This is a very addicting picross/nonogram game. If you’re into these kinds of puzzlers, be prepared to sink hundreds of hours into it. Getting perfect on every level is a challenge, but you’ll be extremely proud of yourself when you manage it.
One thing I’ve especially liked was the fact that this game can be played with a controller. Points for that.
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgZhlm6n2Bw

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Awesome graphic style
  
• Interesting story theme

The not so good:

• Somewhat short

The conclusion:
If you look at this as a game, you might find some faults - repetitive gameplay, small map, intricate story, no tutorial.
But I feel that this game should be treated as an artwork, where the message and the medium are the most important parts, and the gameplay is there just to advance the two. I would call it a patience platformer - if you take everything slow and methodic, you could, theoretically, finish the game without dying.
It’s an experience, exploring every nook and cranny for pieces of diary that tie together the story, trying to understand what allegory is the game trying to present to the player - my bet is on the aztecs and their rather unfortunate meeting with the europeans.
I understand the feelings of the people that gave this game a negative review, but I think they went into playing it with the wrong expectations. You wouldn’t complain that an art movie has no explosions and lens flare, would you?
Watch me play here : https://youtu.be/052y_51NOz4

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Nice graphics
  
• A lot of levels

The not so good:

• Bad PC port - No graphics options, weird physics

The conclusion:
I have nothing against mobile to PC ports, if they bring something new to the table. This port is not one of those.
It completely lacks any graphics options or other PC centric settings. You also need to press quit twice for the game to exit.
The most important issue with this game is the fact that the physics are not the same with two restarts of the same puzzle. You can see in the video below, at minute 50, that the coconut on the right bounces in different directions without moving anything near it. For a game based 90% on physics, this is unforgivable.
I don’t know if this happens on mobile also, but that’s the main reason this gets a negative review.
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KqkE036J58

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Cool graphics
  
• Virtually never ending replayability
  
• Good bullet-hell gameplay

The not so good:

• The price might be a bit too high for some.

The conclusion:
As far as I can tell, this is a perfect shmup/bullet-hell game. The procedural generation gives the game endless replayability and the controls are tight enough to be able to pull crazy escapes and avoid obstacles.
One small ♥♥♥♥♥♥ would be the fact that the power-ups are random and you might find yourself in a situation where your weapons are useless against the boss, but that requires a huge amount of bad luck and bad decisions on your part.
If it were 10 $, this would be a must buy for every fan of the genre.
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MD-Gjg0G1s

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Nice 8 bit graphics
  
• Solid platforming

The not so good:

• Some small control issues

The conclusion:
This game is a beautiful example of a nice indie game. Made by one person, with nice 8 bit graphics and good platforming gameplay.
There are some small issues with the fact that the jump sometimes seems floaty, but after you’re getting used to it, it’s not a problem anymore.
If you want a dose of nostalgia or just a great example of what a man can do when he sets its mind to it, try this game.
Watch me play here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izpSDXxHyBE

[Disclamer - I was provided a copy of by the publisher for review purposes]

The good

• Very nice graphics
  
• Intriguing story

The not so good:

• No save points and the progress is pretty tedious
  
• The controls are a bit iffy, at least when playing with a controller. Most of the time I’ve prefered baiting the robot into a trap rather than using the drone.

The conclusion:
Keep in mind, the game is in early access, so a lot can change until release.
What got me interested in the game was the story. I instantly wanted to know what made people go underwater, how the society works and why is the protagonist addicted to a game that is the same as real life? I never got the answers to this, because it got hard and tedious for me after going into to the second area, dieing and having to start everything over again.
I’m not very proficient in the twin stick controls, so maybe it was just my inability to play that reduced the enjoyment level of the game.
For a game in early access, I didn’t notice any important bugs and it can only get better, so I have no qualms recommending it.
You can see me playing it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5-238A4IE