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Assemble with Care is a beautifully crafted picture book with some puzzle elements within. The gameplay is easy, the story is lovely, and playing through the game just gives me warm and fuzzy feelings. If you own this game but have not yet played it, just set aside a couple of hours and go through it. It's totally worth your time.

The story is chapter-based with excellent narrations. The story progresses at the beginning and end of each chapter, with a small fixer-upper puzzle in the middle. Many of the little items that you "fix" are bound to bring back some childhood memories, at least for folks around my age (born in the 80s!).

The game is definitely a very easy game. The puzzles are all very straight forward. I got stuck only on one of them for a little bit before I realized what was the big hold-up. There's no time limit and the game just offers pleasant background music as you fiddle your way through the fix.

The game is played with the mouse. The controls are slightly finicky at times, but it's not difficult to figure out. There's basically a foreground where you can place any item to look at or mess with. You can click and drag to move it around, and there's a background panel of objects that you can try to interact with.

The artwork is lovely, very beautiful colors and it's really fun seeing some of these items from my childhood days.

I really enjoyed playing the game for the soundtrack as well. The composition is fantastic and it's free for those who own the game! The vocalized English narrative is also excellent.

Can be played by anyone, though if you do not care to sit through a visual novel/picture book, the game will definitely be boring for you. Just the simplistic puzzles alone will not hold the game together on their own.

The game is valued at $7.99 USD, though the gameplay will likely take you about 2 hours or even fewer. It's a great experience to have, but I wish it were a big longer. It is totally reasonable to obtain the game on sale or within a bundle.

Assemble with Care is just a pleasant experience. I enjoyed every aspect of the story and also the little puzzles. I do wish it were longer and perhaps with slightly more refined controls. If you already own this game, definitely set some time aside to play soon. If not, I would definitely recommend getting it when you think the price is right.

My score: 9/10.

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The Journey of AutUmn is a point-and-click game set in an exotic world completely hand-painted and crafted by an indie team of two, with full audio in German. The puzzles are well-made and not too easy, with a skip function that shows up in a handful of them as well. There is a hint system that aids the player along if needed for adventure progress.

The premise of the game is interesting, as not is only the world wildly imaginative, the inhabitants are as well, including android characters who have set missions and purpose. Time and interactions with nature have brought about new meaning for these otherwise lifeless AI bots. Existential purpose and the forever elusive human concept of a soul is explored in this game as well.

The artwork is absolutely stunning, and certainly some bizarre scenic screenshots can be found on the store page to browse. Everything was hand-painted on wood and further digitized for use in game. You can see all of the physical brush strokes and the integration into the game was done really well.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3285262365

While the game is not perfect, as some of the interactive pieces seem somewhat finicky and the game did crash on me twice, I did have a great time and the game seems to offer a bit more that I have yet to explore. Fortunately there are manual save slots and I have a few segmental backups to be able to go dig around other options without too much ado.

Classic P&C adventure. You can press space or corresponding controller button to toggle the interactive pieces of the scene, so as to not need to click everyone just to try to find out.

You can play the game using just the mouse. There may be a couple of buttons to use on the keyboard but they are optional. The game does support controller, which I did not test out.

Amazing artwork, very original and creative, grotesque at times. An amalgam of bizarre art that fascinates the mind.

The music does phase in and out (especially if you get stuck in a particular area or puzzle). The sound effects are appropriate. Almost every animated action and reaction has proper association. Not "out-of-this-world" like the rest of the game, but also not unpleasant.

This game does require a decent amount of reading through the dialogue if you are playing in English. If you are playing in German, I suppose the audio adaptation may provide an more immersive experience. If you are requiring another language, then you are SOL (as of July 2024).

Game's set price of $15.99 US is not unreasonable for a game of this magnitude that certainly took countless hours to put together. It's a true indie project done by a team of two. The gameplay is fairly standard and while a skilled puzzle solver may take not very long to run through the game, it took me almost 10 hours for my first play through. (Game's own estimate is 6-8 hours).

Currently during the 2024 summer sale, it's at $11.99 (25% off), and that's quite reasonable.

If you are not sure if it's truly something you want to buy, you can still try out the demo, which is the first chapter of the game. (Estimated play time is about 25-30 minutes.)

The Journey of AutUmn is a fun point-and-click adventure set in a whacky world that is completely hand-painted. This is a true indie project that deserves a bit more attention and support. The developer is very active and responsive to questions or concerns. The puzzles are interesting and well-made. Some bugs are present, but not hindering the player experience. Try the demo and experience it for yourself.

Final score: 8/10

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.

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Genopanic is a cute and short linear platformer that the developers describe as being "metroidvania-inspired." It is not a metroidvania and that's okay. It's an action platformer with elements of progressively gathering equipment and weapons as you move from one section to the next in the game, giving you better movement and access.

There's not a lot of exploration outside of the intended path, with only a few lore tidbits to find if you do look. The areas are actually well-marked and not difficult to find. The meat of the game lies in the puzzle platforming, which is incredibly easy in the beginning and progresses to some decent challenges that you can expect to take a few tries to get past.

The platforming is rather fun, in my opinion, at no point did I feel super pressured to work out solutions with minimal time to think or to act. Sure, there are some screens that are designed with time-sensitive elements, but nothing that requires super precise jumps or utilization of the final pixel. So I did not feel that there was anything that was unfair.

There are a few boss fights, they are really easy. I usually don't have a problem with boss fights that are easier, since it allows everyone who's playing to have a better chance of seeing the whole game. Despite the ease, they are still well-designed characters and provide interesting little segue into the next sequence of platforming screens.

Platforming with puzzle focus, minimal combat and some time-sensitive screens that require fast actions. The game does not require pin-point jumps. Many save areas allow for minimal progress loss in case of death.

Preset controls on the controller work well. These cannot be rebound. Rebinding optional for keyboard settings. I played with the controller for the entire game, movement flows well.

Pixel art graphics with quite interesting designs. Overall, I am a fan of the general look and feel of this game.

Music doesn't evoke any strong emotions, more like background filler. Sound effects accompany the movement and actions well.

For people looking for a short action platformer that's not too difficult. At no point is the game gated behind challenges that are frustratingly difficult.

$14.20 base price is a little high, the game only takes about 3 hours to finish. I played through the game twice. My first run took a bit of extra time, as I was taking my sweet time, trying to explore and check for unmarked secrets. Second time through everything came together very easily and there was also a lot less dying.

The asking price is a bit high due to fairly low replay value. It's definitely one of those games that once you finish, there's very little reason to play again. (I played a second time for a couple of achievements.)

Thus, I would feel more comfortable with a lower price, perhaps on sale or in a bundle, instead of the full set price.

Genopanic is fun and the platforming puzzles are well-made. The responsive controls allow for easy navigation without frustraction. The many auto-save markers minmize progress lost when dying. Howeveer, it is a bit too short, too linear and does not provide much in terms of replay value. I had fun with it, but it's definitely not worth the full asking price. My recommendation is thus a bit weaker and you can get it on a steep sale or in a future bundle perhaps and let it occupy you for a rainy afternoon.

My score: 6.5-7/10

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.

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TENSEI combines a traditional art style with an endless climbing platformer using low-gravity falls that allows the player to just relax and wander by giving you 3 jumps after every ground contact or interaction with an environmental object. The three jumps make even wider gaps fairly easy to navigate. The achievements are easily unlockable and only one takes a slight grind. After making it through the main game's first 10,000 meter climb, you also have the option of unlocking Zen mode, which allows for scoreless and deathless climb.

There are only two ways to die in this game, one is dropping too far from your highest climb so far in the run and the other is by touching anything that's red, described as "Worldly Desires." You can purify these by "stomping" on them from above, gaining some ink that gradually fill up the inkwell to then turn your character into a dragon that has infinite jumping ability for the duration. You can also add ink by jumping through some ink circles throughout the level.

At first I thought the game would have no thematic differences and the climb would eventually get dull from the same color-less scenery on repeat. But there are four seasonal transitions from the base, plus additional scenery changes as you go higher, even reaching into the heavens and having some additional sights that are worth exploring.

Priced at only $2.99 US with some regional differences, the game offers a relaxing endless climber experience, which is an unusual combination, given that runners and climbers are usually fast paced with potential to lose a lot of progress through an accidental misstep.

3D low-gravity platforming endless climber.

Controller recommended.

Fantastic artwork and style.

Soothing, relaxing, nothing fancy, changes with scenery/theme changes in-game.

People looking to have a nice relaxing game with the minimalistic gameplay.

$2.99 US with regional pricing.

TENSEI is absolutely worth your time and the small fee it commands.

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.

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Beautiful game, awesome sounds, mediocre story, too much dialogue that seemingly drags on and on, and on, and on, and on... Gameplay is linear in plot, with some fun gameplay when it comes to the boss fights. Much of the gameplay otherwise feels too repetitive. Game may cause mental fatigue.

Eastward is a beautifully crafted game set in a postapocalyptic world where the story takes place with progressive travels eastward. The game has a so much charm and the developers clearly put a ton of effort into making the world exactly as they envisioned it. Even the soundtrack is amazing to listen to.

However, the story drags on in many places, and the actual gameplay is severely limited by its lengthy dialogue. If you are one who likes to skip dialogues and cut scenes, then you are going to have no idea what is going on with this game. The good thing is that there is some creative humor built into the story to provide the player an occasional chuckle. Unfortunately, artwork and a fairly mediocre story with very linear gameplay isn't enough to bring me to view the game favorably overall.

I did take my time and wander about the game-world thoroughly to do as much as possible as the game progressed, trying to find joy and to lose myself in the world and its story. There's a lot to see and decent amount of small puzzles to make the gameplay not feel so straight forward. However, it never really leaves the main formula of repetitive room locks where there's a key hidden behind a puzzle, which require some additional maneuvers, often time sensitive, to complete.

The most fun I had with the game involves the boss fights, they are all unique, fit the story world very well, and definitely well designed. They are pattern based and take a few do-overs to figure out what to do before finishing them off with your trusty frying pan. (Yes, your main weapon is the frying pan that you also use to cook up your delicious meals.) But the other in-game combat felt boring and tedious in general.

For people wishing to see every aspect of the game and attain all achievements, this is a fairly tedious task. Once you complete the main game, you now can see an "Extra" menu option to select which chapter to load into using the data from a previous save. So if you are missing specific things, it's not so difficult to go back and obtain. (Now you ought to be armed with a guide, unless you truly want to do everything on your own.)

In addition, there's a separate game-in-game feature of an old-school JRPG called Earth Born that you will need to run through twice at any point during the game or afterwards. It does show up in the Extra menu as well. You can play the game with some saved progress, though mostly starting over each time you die. The game gets easier the more you spend time obtaining Pixballs from the main game that gives you extra items in your inventory in the sub-game. You only have 7 in-game days for each run of this mini-game, with time passing fairly quickly. So you will reach a reset if you run out of time or if you die.

The biggest reason for me for giving this game a thumbs down was the fact that slogging through the main plot for the first time, I felt quite a bit of mental fatigue. It's as if I worked a full week and the end was nowhere in sight. I don't remember the last time I felt burned out from playing a game, even bad ones. Those I could just quit and uninstall. Not sure why I felt the need to finish the game and even complete all of the achievements afterwards. Probably because I thought that since I was already close, might as well. Not a great way to spend my time overall.

Of note, I played through Earth Born and obtained the Pixballs after completing everything else, that was quite enjoyable. Felt like I jumped through a time warp to land in an arcade machine from the earlier times of video games.

This was a game I had been looking forward to for such a long time, I think that was part of the disappointment as well. Felt like the actual experience was a really big let down from all of my own fantastical expectations.

This short and free little puzzle game is quite creative and fun to play. None of the puzzles are long or all too difficult, but some of them will make you think a little bit. I had a great time going through and see the variety and little tweaks the developer made to the standard mazes. If you like puzzles, this is a lot of fun.

Reasonably fun game despite being 5 years old now:
Played without the DLCs. Pretty fun game overall. The movement mechanics seems a little odd at times, but once you get used to it, it doesn't feel so awkward. A lot of side missions that are not required for main story but good to do for raising "Karma" points with certain characters to alter in-game events. Also there are some end-game content that is pretty fun as well, and worth exploring and playing for after completing the main game. The game generates an easy-to-access save game keeping everything including stats at a point late in the game that allows you to get all side quests. Getting to the end twice, I managed to get a slightly different ending after getting all 100% Karma and finishing with all side-quests finished, so that's notable as well. The game is 5 years old now, feels overall like it's aging quite well. I have obtained all-but-one achievements in the main game without DLCs, with that final one just taking some real-time waiting. So I will be going in every day for the next few days just to wrap that up. The audio and animated sequences are great though brief. I only wish there were more animated sequences and that all of the lines are voiced. Nevertheless, reasonable fun especially at the current low sale price.

Just a few quick thoughts, and not a standard review.

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Interstellar Conquest is a barebones game that promises more on the store page than is actually present. The core mechanics is simple, you take over planets, build up your colony, go around and take over your enemies' territories while overpowering them with your fleet of ships.

The game has no introduction or tutorial, so you have to dive in and try to figure it all out yourself. Fortunately for the basic nature of the game and lack of content, there is only so much to do and figure out before you are on your way to completing the game.

Oh, there's also no campaign. You literally run with one from a set of pre-generated maps and populate it with other AI opponent(s) and go. There's the 3 different factions but nothing to tell you what they do or how they differ. There's nothing that gives you ideas on how to progress or advance. You just take turns accruing currency to keep building and expanding, and then engage in fights when needed.

There's no save game, you just play each map until your game is over. Or you quit and restart at a later date I guess. Not sure why this basic function is completely omitted, just like a start-up tutorial.

Skip over this game and move onto something more interesting. This is not worth your time or money. This game feels like it belongs in the late-90s, not mid-2020s as we are in now.

After a few hours, I was wondering what the heck I am doing wasting my time.

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Turnip Boy Robs a Bank follows the story of the previous Tax Evasion game with a lot more gun and melee combat based gameplay interlaced with the humor and fetch quests. If you didn't play the first game, there will be some dialogue that doesn't always make sense, but the game will still flow smoothly, and you will be enjoying the game in no time.

The game is split into multiple exploration runs from your home base, where you can purchase progressive and permanent upgrades to your armaments. Each run is limited by a fairly short timer (3 minutes) that can also be upgraded and extended by a couple of minutes. The idea is that you have that much time to explore and rob the bank and its usual customers before the law enforcement shows up.

If you wish to stay and engage with the law enforcement, they quickly show up in great numbers once your time limit is reached. After that, you slowly accumulate a series of stars, one through five, as you manage to stick around longer and longer. Once you reach 5-stars, the bank reaches an Armageddon type situation where you need to get out in a hurry or risk dying.

With the money and loot that you obtain, Turnip Boy can then use the funds to take each subsequent run deeper. The game doesn't hesitate to tell you everything you need to know or to do with a series of tasks that you can easily access from the menu should you forget. You keep all of your earnings if you return to the truck (or train) alive to make a getaway from each run. Or if you die, you lose half of your earnings from that run.

The individual rooms have the same layout each time for each individual room. However, there are elevators that take you to random rooms to make some variation from run to run. After some progression, the enemies that show up also change and give a bit more of a challenge. Some rooms are accessible gated by in-game combat progression, while others are gated by your heist funds needing to purchase specific items to gain further access.

Once again the game is designed with all possible audiences in mind. Aside from the standard difficulty, there's a casual mode, along with accessibility options that has "God Mode" and adjustable damage rates to really help facilitate the ability of each player to complete the game. Of course, the game requires the ability to read and comprehend the nature of the quests.

The boss rooms that you previously visited can be replayed, all it takes is for you to go provoke them again. Otherwise, they are optional once you beat them once.

I am reading people are finishing the game in 5-6 hours or so. I guess I am about halfway through, and so my progression is a bit slower than average. But I am having a great time enjoying the gameplay and the dialogue, along with the artwork. There are a bunch of side quests, fetch quests, and collectibles to get in this game. And just like the first game, there are a ton of hats to collect as well. So I don't mind putting a bit of extra time in. I definitely plan to play the game to 100% completion as well.

This game clearly has similar bindings on controller or KB&M for a twin-stick shooter, it's easy to adjust to either way.

It has the same goofy hand-drawn cartoon style of the characters and their movements as the previous game.

The music is fun, and the sounds work wonderfully for this game. There is a whole series of unlockable soundtracks that you can earn through one of the side quests.

Most players who want to take a stab at this game should be able to progress decently far, if not to completion. I have no idea how the "God Mode" interacts with the time-controlled doomsday situation to ensure game progression and playability. I am sure the developers conjured a viable resolution. If you want to find out, you can do so after starting the game.

The game maintains a $14.99 USD base price as the previous game. But this game is much bigger and definitely offers more content and replay value. I definitely think this game is worth the price.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is just pure joy to play, especially if you enjoyed the Tax Evasion prequel. The fundamental focus of the gameplay shifted to a more twin-stick shooter, but the rest of the charm of the game is still ever present. I do like that the developers kept the accessibility options to keep the game's plot progression within reach for almost everyone who can read the dialogue.

I can strongly recommend this game for all of my friends.

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Super BAWK BAWK Chicken is a endless runner with a good amount of variety in abilities, obstacles, status effects, level variations, and stat-modifying items to obtain to make this game rather enjoyable for an extended period of time. I have played for about 10 hours so far, and I am still having a good time. It's definitely a game that deserves some more attention and merit for its design. Reason I picked this game to try was because I had an itch for runners lately and even reinstalled Temple Run on my phone. I definitely have as much fun playing either game. It works great because I like this game on the big screen, while I prefer to play Temple Run on my phone.

There are 5 major and unique areas, each with 8 individual levels designed with the theme outlined by the level name. Each level has a different feel based on the variability of the obstacles and the ways to get through them that the game does feel very refreshing every step along the way as I played through the main campaign. Once you complete each area, a few additional bonus challenge levels unlock related to the contents from that area, so that you can try your hands at a few more levels of what you just managed to get through, but with an increase in difficulty. (There are 26 total bonus levels for all 5 areas combined.) In addition, completing an area unlocks a "Trial" mode for that area that refreshes on a daily basis, giving you new challenges daily. After completing all 5 areas, you get 3 more cross-regional mash-up levels in the Trials that really test your ability to move about all of the obstacles in the game in various occurring fashion, truly making this game chaotic.

I really enjoy the way that the levels are put onto cylindrical surfaces, reminding me of Super Mario Galaxy, with which I had spent countless hours on the Wii. This allows you to keep moving in one direction and never reach a side wall. This design allows for some fun gameplay as well, especially there are sections or special items that send you way way way high up into the air.

For each level, you can earn stars by the distance that you go. These are preset. You can earn 3 yellow stars and that constitutes "beating" the level. But then the speed goes up and you are playing for the next set of stars, which are red. 3 red stars later, you realize the game is even faster and you are going for purple stars. So far I have only managed up to 2 purple stars on a couple of easy levels, while most of them I have managed to achieve 1-2 red stars. (So I have no clue if there's anything beyond the 3 purple stars.) If you do not feel like playing with the default speed to start any level, there's an adjustment that you can make prior to starting any level. It's simple, just dial it to whichever speed you want to start and go.

In addition to avoiding the obstacles, there are some obstacles that are clearly marked for you that you can dash through. However running into them without dashing is a run-ender. If you are truly stuck on an obstacle and cannot get out of the way fast enough, you can BAWK! at it to remove a linear sequence of obstacles in front of you. This is basically a very critical life(run)-saving measure. While your dash can refresh and recharge at a much faster pace, your BAWK! ability recharges incredibly slowly, so definitely make sure that you use them wisely. Other obstacles generate different status effects that alter your ability to jump or dash, among other annoying changes. You may also find gliding as essential for certain avoidances, such as getting trailing foxes off your hind-end.

Varying movement modifiers come in the form of items that you can obtain through the in-game shop utilizing the currency that you obtain by collecting the eggs in the game. Some of the items are permanent, others may be breakable so that if you use its special effect, you will need to purchase it again. These items are only unlocked in the shop once you catch Rascal (the thieving raccoon) on each of the 40 basic levels. You only need to catch Rascal once per level to permanently unlock these items in the shop. You will have other opportunities in daily challenges to catch him for single-use cannon tickets as well. (These are used to basically be a shortcut to move ahead in the level.) I have found a few items that I enjoy using, while others I find are more of a nuisance, so definitely you will also need to explore to find out what works the best for you. Afterall, the final goal is to stay alive in each level for as long as possible. However, it goes without saying that different situations definitely call for different item combinations.

There are daily challenges to help you earn a few more eggs to speed up your purchases from the shops. Even after 10 hours, I have yet to purchase everything, still have some items to go. Then after that, the rest of the money earned will go towards cannon tickets.

One thing that I will definitely have to mention is that there are some total running distance achievements that are possible but extremely time-consuming. The longest total distance counter is for 3932 kilometers, and after playing for 10 hours, I have run about 358 kilometers. In other words, I will need about 110 hours at my current pace to reach. It's not difficult, I just cannot dedicate that much time! So if you are one of those people who must 100% every game, beware!

I used my controller to play, which is my preferred method. You can certain use the keyboard with their suggested keys.

Nothing fancy, I enjoy fundamental cylindrical level design as mentioned above.

Decent and catchy soundtrack, the sound effects are on point.

Not for everyone. Good game for those who enjoy runners.

At first glace $8.99 may seem a bit high. However, the base game has a good amount of variation and the 40 individual levels are designed to give you different feels. Not to mention the 26 additional bonus levels that unlock, along with the 8 Trials mode levels which then refresh on a daily basis with daily in-game objectives to give the game some additional longevity beyond the initial game. IMHO, the price tag is quite reasonable.

1. Biggest problem I ran into twice in the last 5 days of playing this game. I had the occasional bug where progress wasn't saving. That includes unlocking levels, catching Rascal for unlocking items, or forward progress in the main game. When I realized this, I reset the game and it was working fine.
2. Total distance objectives are a bit too far. I recommend setting goals for 100km, 250 km, 500km, and 1000km at the max. That would be almost 30 hours for me to reach, which is much more reasonable to anticipate anyone to play the game, even if they are obsessed with it. This is a game with short runs meant for short sittings, after all.

Super BAWK BAWK Chicken is my kind of game since I really enjoy runners. If you have that itch, definitely give it a go. I definitely will be coming back to this game from time to time for some challenge runs, even after having finished the main game. There is enough variety to keep it fresh and interesting, but nothing unreasonable, except for what I would consider the ridiculously time-consuming achievements.

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.