Recent reviews by Jalopy

I became a Druid with the head of a fox and antlers, quaffed a tutorial potion, and threw up a puddle of magical oil slick right at the feet of the witch who is so kind as to let me work in her potion shop. Immediately sold on the whole thing.

The writing is pretty solid so far, some good humor. I really like the art style, and the sense of movement (actual movement, but also harvesting) in the game feels really good. I'm a huge fan of the harvesting -> crafting cycle in games like this one, and so far, this seems to be checking off all the boxes for me. I never got into Factorio myself, but I'd say that if you like making many machines all nicely lined up and working efficiently, this might be one worth checking out for you as well.

I can't wait until I can turn this little alchemy shop into an industrial potion making monstrosity.

Come for the boner jokes (͡• ͜໒ ͡• ) , stay for the fantastic sense of progressing, unlocking more chaos, to perpetuate chaos, and change the color scheme of your chaos. The music is great, moving around in a little circle has never been this fun for me, help, I can't stop playing. This is one of those games that has you saying "I'll go to bed after this one" at 10pm and all of a sudden it's 2:30am.

Thou shalt enjoy the boneraising.

This might be the first game I've ever played that offered me true relief for climate grief. Yes, I know it's just a collection of pixels that I'm transforming from 'desert wasteland' to 'lush oasis', but the transformation still gives me this really cozy feeling of doing something good, even if it's just in a digital world.

If you just want to log in and expand your oasis and listen to some really chill music, you can. If you feel up to some adventure, pack along a few snacks, make sure your water bottle is filled, and go visit some ghosts, unlock the gates and natural springs you find, and continue spreading the good word of Dunegrass.

There are dangerous places, and the sun will absolutely sap your strength and kill you if you aren't prepared or aren't paying attention. But there's not this sense that you CAN'T go explore, or that it's even particularly dangerous if you're a little prepared for it. The sense of expansion through listening to ghosts tell their stories, or by making offerings to graves, really shines in the perk tree in this game.

The constant (but gentle) sense of progression, or the sense that you can log in and do nothing at all except enjoy the slow expansion and ecological growth of the oasis you're tending, both work harmoniously here to create a really lovely experience that is a must-play for anyone who likes a survival/building/crafting game... or for anyone who just needs a break from the absolute insanity of the outside world.

I'll finish by saying that this is an absolutely beautiful co-op experience, as well. In Wildmender, you can single-handedly restore a ruined world to its former glory, one plant and unblocked spring at a time... but this is a game where building an oasis with someone else feels like a warm (frog) hug and there's something extra warm about having your base expand outward in ways that feel more organic, because yours isn't the only hand shaping it.

Knit a grass cloak, feed a pangolin, plant some flowers, befriend a ghost. Your cozy break from reality is here.

The fight, die, unlock, repeat loop in this game is really hitting the spot for me. Almost every run I play gives me enough experience points to unlock some new unit to add to my group, or a new room... or I come close enough that I can play just one more game to unlock the thing.

Just one more game.

It's the kind of game that's perfect to have up while you're working and just plink away at it when you get time, and each run feels like it goes differently enough for me with the combined effects of the hero and relics rolled at the start, the first allied units you get access to, and everything you unlock from there, that I feel like this is the kind of game I'll be able to go back to just for a snack sometimes even when I get tired of playing it as a meal.

I have 4853 continuous hours of playtime left to finish the other games I've purchased on Steam.

But then I saw Siralim 3 and decided, who needs to finish Torment: Tides of Numenera or Divinity Original Sin 2 when I could play this instead? I played 1 and 2, loved them, and was excited/dismayed to see the 3rd one in Early Access on Steam.

Already a few hours in and still loving it. It's a collector's/grinder's dream!

This game is incredibly fun, and I'm very much looking forward to when it's more stable (it currently, and very randomly, causes my video card to crash). If you liked Terreria, you'll probably like this one even more. The exploration is a lot of fun, the crafting is very user friendly, and the multiplayer is great.