Recent reviews by ARollingWalrus

I was able to 100% this game after 6 hours of game play. I highly recommend this game and will probably continue to play it for fun despite having all the achievements (normally when I stop returning to a game).

Pros: It is simple to learn, the music is soothing and pleasant, the game-play is straightforward.

Cons: Learning the terrain is sometimes trial and error (for example: if farms are viable on snow islands).

I started writing a review before getting all the endings/achievements but I decided to wait until I had 100% completion. I am very glad that I did.

I still would have recommended the game, mind you. But my reasons would have been vastly different.

Before: This is a cute and fun game that gives a fun spin on dating sim tropes by adding pigeons.

After: I am crying. This story is beautiful. This is now one of my favorite games.

TLDR; Buy it. Play it. Fun if you don't get all endings. Amazing if you 100%/get all endings.

This game was described to me as "the Dark Souls of Virtual Novels." After 100% the game, I thoroughly agree. It took me 11 hours and all the available community walkthroughs to get all the achievements. I had a lot of fun playing it.

However, every time I tried to play without a walkthrough, the game was very punishing. I will attribute this to my lack of understanding of the mood/skill interactions, so other players might not have this problem.

Even after playing through the game over a dozen times, I am still impressed with the amount of complexity the game possesses. Every skill choice and every decision influenced the world and the endings (yes, multiple epilogues per ending!).

I would recommend this game to other players.

I was able to 100% the game after about 5 hours of game play. This game is very straightforward in what it is (a time/resource management game) and executes that mechanic very well. I really enjoyed playing it.

I had bought this game with a coupon and upon reading other reviews that said this was "more of the same" as a game development sim, I almost did not buy it. I am glad I did not listen. There is a difference in being a copy cat game that is a boring trudge to play and making a often visited concept fun to play. This game is the latter.

I would recommend this game to other players.

This game is best described as Lovecraft-inspired. The game-play is based entirely around the choices that you make as the main character of the story and how you allot skill points. If you dislike reading and clicking buttons, you will not like this game. If you like plot-driven games, welcome home!

Personally, I went into the game completely blind after buying it on sale and seeing mostly positive reviews. I finished my first play through within four or five hours and was very impressed. I immediately looked up a walk through for the achievements I missed and zoomed through another play through today. I still missed branches of the story. Even the walk through I found and those helping the writing are still figuring out exactly how to get all the endings. So, I will probably play through the game again soon.

Pros: Intriguing story, Strategy, Relaxing (in terms of game play).
Cons: Not much game play (could be a pro for some people), some spelling and grammatical errors (it's going to bug someone), Not much in the way of graphics.

I would recommend this game to other players.

I completed this completed this game in 35 minutes or so with 100% achievements (all 3 out of 3! Fancy, eh?). I purchased it for a little less than $1.33 after receiving a coupon from a random badge drop. I hemmed and hawed after reading the mixed reviews. I added it to my cart and removed it several times on different days. Then I called myself silly for making a big fuss over a game that was less than $2 to begin with and finally bought it.

I found myself playing a strangely relaxing game with beautiful graphics for the next forty minutes. It was not difficult, since the puzzles have an audio queue (spelling?) to let you know when things are right. The mini-collection game allowed a bit of snow-hiking. I took lots of pictures since things were rather pretty. There was a giant wolf. The end made me wonder if my rice cereal was spiked with something hallucinogenic, which makes life interesting.

tldr: If you like pretty graphics and a nice game to relax to for cheap, this is it. Don't buy if you want advanced puzzle solving or an involved plot.

I would not recommend this game to other players.

Given how small the pool of feedback is and how mixed the feedback was when I bought the game, I figured I would give it a fair shot. So I played it for the full 5 hours and completed it (100% achievements). I really wanted to like it and I kept waiting to see what everyone found so charming about it. If the combat had been simplified or shortened dramatically and a mini-map had been provided, a 5 hour trudge could have been a fun 1 hour journey. However, the developer could not charge you for a 1 hour journey.

Pros: It's an indie game. It's kinda cute. It has a simple plot.

Cons: No volume controls at all. I had to go to my volume mixer to mute the game. I did not realize there was controller support until 2 hours in when I noticed the icon on the steam page in my library during a break. There is not a mini map, compass or any other guide through the monster areas and I often wasted a great deal of time walking in the wrong direction. The lack of any tutorial or explanation of controls was extremely frustrating. I was very nervous hitting "esc" to see if it would pull up a menu or close the game (I had not figured out how to save yet).

Final thoughts: I really wanted to like this game (hence the 5 hours and 100% completion). I think I bought it on sale for less than a dollar. However, I have played and enjoyed free flash games that were more complete in at least one aspect (game-play, combat, story, design). I would not recommend this game.

After completing the game, I would recommend it to other players.

Pros: It is fun, but still requires exploration and strategy. The achievements are attainable in a single play through (minus the one where you have to play the game on Christmas day). The quick time events are very forgiving (to someone who played this while sick and has snail reflexes anyway, that was appreciated). The plot is entertaining. You have a surprising degree of control over combat style between the different costumes and battle stickers (skills). You can use a controller for all in game play and navigation.

Cons: Quick time events are the main combat strategy, so if you hate those, you will not enjoy this. Two of the costume ingredients are very tricky to find without looking up a walk through. One of the cave puzzles in "Grubbins on Ice", is less than intuitive and starts to get frustrating, but since that is in the expansion game and not the main game, I would just look up a walk through at that part. A mouse is required to navigate the menu, but once you are in game you can use a controller exclusively.

Overall impression: I really enjoyed this game. It is definitely casual and a great deal of fun. I played it while not feeling well and it kept me happily distracted for 8 hours (the main game and mini-sequel).

If you like randomly generated levels and strategic combat, this is your game.

As you can see, I have spent 410 hours of my life trying to Slay the Spire. I have built decks, fought enemies with them, tried different strategies and I have yet to be bored. The three main characters offer different play styles, as well as change the reward items in the game. While you eventually memorize the enemies and boss patterns, your ability to handle those patterns varies wildly from game to game.

There is an option to exponentially increase the difficulty of the game after each victory. Personally, I found this ridiculously hard and not at all fun, but if someone enjoys pushing themselves to the brink of insanity-- you have found your new favorite game!

If you do not like luck playing a part in your game play, this is not a game you would enjoy.