Recent reviews by Toddly Enough

Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is one of those "Well of course Strange Scaffold made this" projects in the best way. It is, at its core, a very solid Match 3 game with lots of interesting puzzles, plenty of tools for the player to use, and myriad ways to progress your abilities leading up to some solid, challenging end-game puzzles. Wrapped around ALL THAT... is one of the funniest, and most consistent meta humor stories I've ever encountered in gaming.

For indie lovers and especially folks who appreciate the culture of game development (not just gaming) this game will have you rolling, both in joy and in pain, with its painfully accurate (but carefully and respectfully handled) commentary on the state of things in game dev, such as they are. Even if you're NOT a big game dev person, all you lose is the eldritch knowledge that the jokes aren't even that farsical, and so you just get absurd comedy that is *ALSO* funny!

You get a solid match 3 game with bizzarely excellent music, plenty of secrets to explore for replayability, and a charming funny story to carry you through. What's not to love?

Blue Prince is a fascinating game and the shortest review I can say is if you'd like to play a modern take on Myst but you've got to random-tile-placement boardgame your way to clues, as well as to implementing solutions, this IS that game, you WILL enjoy it.

The broader picture is muddier, and far less consistent, than "what is this game" though. The randomness of the game is appealing, and even dozens of hours in while my runs were getting destroyed by simply being refused a handful of tiles needed to accomplish my goals, I still am excited to try a new run and see what I can get to coalesce. However, I only say that now that I'm over the hump.

At first, when talking with a friend maybe 10-ish hours into the game, we agreed the game was "too hostile" to the player; it seemed like the game did not WANT you to succeed, like it deliberately torpedoed your chances, hamstrung your efforts to play intelligently, to say nothing of actually solving puzzles (that part of the game is excellent). What I've realized now almost 50 hours in is the game is "too indifferent" to the player. The meta progression and roguelike elements are amazing to discover, and even better to implement! However, there is absolutely zero guarantee how long either will take. Almost 50 hours in, after FORTY RUNS, I discovered a room which may hold the hardest single-room puzzle in the game, and what a mixed bag of emotions! Yay a new puzzle, how have I not seen this yet, oh no I can't SAVE MY PROGRESS and GO TO BED, so eff it I have to look it up because I'm not waiting FIFTY MORE HOURS to see this room. The player, even after many permanent upgrades, takes far too long (I'd say about 15 hours, 20-ish runs) to get some meaningful ability to guide or influence the board in a meaningful way beyond "Draw any new tile you see because your run is already screwed."

Once you crest that early-mid game where very little is progressing (probably, again you can just... win through sheer luck and a small handful of puzzles), the game really hits its stride. You're completing meta puzzles, you're cross-referencing your notes, you're seeing the value in every tile you draw and likely more consistently can change in some way those tiles, be it their placement, or learning how to influence which you have in the first place, and THAT is when Blue Prince HITS! The nickle and dime of one puzzle here, one clue there, is supremely dwarfed by a run where a cavalcade of solutions appear opening new rooms, new functions of the house, new understanding of the plot, all at once, and you simply have to enjoy the fluctuation there or you won't enjoy the game at its best *or* worst.

So for me whether or not you'll enjoy this game comes down to can you hang with the RNG until it starts to click and let you pursue your goals purposefully and with reasonable expectation of *some* payoff, and relish in the BIG payoffs. Can the draw and novelty of new tiles, new clues, and new threads to follow hold your attention until the MASSIVE doors start opening? I think the BONES of this game accomplish that, I certainly would have abandoned it 30 hours ago if it couldn't, so I confidently recommend it. However! Even if you think you'll love this game, find a support group to vent to. You will need it.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector joins its predecessor in my hall of fame, without question. The adventure to their life simulator, while the original splays life out along Erlin's Eye, splattered with choice and hope, vignetted by danger, Starward Vector takes off into that darkness and carves light out of it. Though the two games are fairly different mechanically, here things are more stressful, with more failure states (on Risky or higher difficulty), and more of a dance with the dice than with time management, they share one soul. There is no misstep in either game, for me, in any sense, other than perhaps if you come from 1 to 2, you might not be ready (or interested) in its tougher exterior. Multiple endings for Sleeper in 1 are replaced with multiple endings for your crew in 2, and that sense of imagining how life will be different after each one in 1 manifests instead as a cathartic exhale at the end of 2 when everything you've gone through (certainly more STRESS) is released into the belt.

I just finished the game and I'm emotional-- anyway! To stop with comparisons, CS2 is filled with curiosities, filled with potential, and constantly challenges you to make choices and think through the processes required to see what's on the other side of that curiosity, that potential. And yes of course we want our RPG choices to "matter" and they do have plenty of gameplay impact, but what this game achieves so beautifully is the feeling and fallout of every choice hits with appropriate magnitude and satisfaction (or pain). I'm sure there are ways to RPG-out the fun here, but the stress and the consequence are part of the journey and at no point did I feel like things were artificial or overly brutal. CS2 is a hefty game and you feel that weight throughout the story, especially as its systems promote a strong, adventure narrative to go with its scores of beautiful and tragic stories attached to the spine.

I won't go into the thematics too hard because experiencing what this game is about is essentially *the point* but this (and its predecessor) are the kind of games a lot of folks need right now. It has a lot to say, and there's a lot to feel, and all of that is extremely worth the price of admission. I look forward to the next if there is one~

... See you, Citizen Sleeper

VHR is primarily a game about turning/drifting well. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, "you get what it says on the tin" and all that, like you really won't be surprised by this game if you've watched any of the gameplay trailers. So, if you like what you've seen, tight drifting, poppin' pixel art, fun tracks with saturated colors and a throwback (but not fully retro) vibe, then you'll be happy to know that's on offer. In particular the mid-and-later levels are fun and challenging with solid music to keep the vibes up which carried me through the whole campaign. It's clear what VHR wanted to get right, and it got those things right.

While I do recommend the game for those reasons, overall, I was let down by VHR. It nails that stuff, yes, but only that. The minigames aren't fun enough to be worth the distraction, there's not much nuance to the car control despite a few tuning settings (if you have low speed, you'll lose, end of story), and most of the charm ends at the levels. There's maybe 3 standout designs and beyond that it's a wasteland for diversity both in characters and cars. Obvs that's not what most people are here for, but it left me feeling like VHR didn't reach its potential. The rally levels in particular were a sore spot as they're basically circuit races without a map. Without strong theming, characterization (all the non-rivals racers are literally DRIVER # etc.), or interesting road/car mechanics, it's just fun driving and I wish it could've been more than that.

This gameeeee is excellent. The "game soup" of it is 50% Hotline Miami 50% Neon White, which makes for a frenetic and challenging soup which champions quick decisions, spacial awareness, and y'know... doing dope ♥♥♥♥. I Am Your Beast is very TIGHT, it has a lot of verbs and they all connect to each other in fun and dynamic ways. While there aren't Leaderboards for now (the devs said maybe if everyone buys this game which they should hehe) with some levels being locked behind S ranks there's plenty of built-in reasons to put in the planning and attempts required to hit reach an S rank.

Surprisingly for this genre, less surprising if you know Strange Scaffold, the story is excellent (and again, very tight). Charming, a little bit serious but also small enough in scope to not be *too* serious, and well acted, when its moments come together they hit and work as framing for why each level is the way it is.

All that to say, if this looks like a game you'd like, you'll like it. It's what it looks like, it does it extremely well, and there's plenty to justify the price (especially if we get leaderboards down the line).

The Crush House nails everything it's shown off: the believable-yet-satirical procedural conversations and subsequent relationships, the silly filming challenges which can be at times fairly difficult, and the task-oriented gameplay of combining a diverse cast of attention-seekers in order to illicit the widest variety of interactions from them. It's only unfortunate the game doesn't evolve much beyond those things.

For my money, getting exactly what I expected was plenty and it all landed very well! Figuring out how to appease each audience, especially when opposing audiences like "wholesome" and "wine moms" would show up, was compelling from a social engineering meets framing puzzle perspective. Those challenges take up most of your brain after a couple seasons (when playing on Normal) 'cause you've just got a *lot* to do to hit your goals. Between trying to setup camera shots you get the bits of conversation coming through which highlight how bonkers exactly what you're filming (and why you're doing it from inside a well) is. All the characters are great and while they do seem to share dialogue along shared traits at time, I've many times seen a the same line result in different outcomes due to who was involved (or what came before it).

So, I do very much recommend this game as I had an excellent time with it! But I think the idea is so incredibly strong and trashy reality dating TV is so well-known that the shortcomings in terms of scope are apparent especially if you're really into the premise. All that to say: temper your expectations and you'll have a lovely time breaking hearts at The Crush House~

Really enjoying this game so far! It's another card in the deck of Card Roguelites like Slay the Spire, Dicey Dungeons, Wildfrost, Monster Train, etc. So the short version is: if you want a deck building roguelike with a fun twist and great art, here you are. That said, this game is more focused around the combo of your hero and their companion rather than expansive, run-destroying deckbuilding. It has more of an adventurous feel to it (the aesthetics help with that of course) where it's you against the dungeon, making the best of what you come across and less trying to big brain the whole game based off a specific combo you're banking on. To help with this, there's several heroes to pick from and thus each companion - hero combo makes for a different game experience.

I'd say so far, this game doesn't reach the heights of satisfaction the other games in this space reach, but it's also a game you can play without being so dialed in, and so it's more relaxing. Definitely a solid recommend~

An engaging mystery with an interesting central mechanic that's definitely worth its play time (around 4 hours) for mystery lovers. What you do with your own information is up to you, as the actual gameplay of This Bed We Made centers around shaping the body of evidence by throwing (or not throwing) away items found in the guests' rooms. This dynamic of piecing together everything going on at the Clarington Hotel combined with understanding how it'll be perceived by concerned parties makes for an intriguing and fairly unique mystery puzzle approach. The story's compelling but grounded and centered around a subject with a vitally important message that's handled with care and does land (if you're paying attention), but while I can't share why for spoiler reasons, I don't feel Lowbirth Games quite stuck the landing. I can't help but feel this game's narrative would've been better served in gameplay as a thriller, balancing the comings-and-goings of guests and potential murderers, but it is primarily a "look at notes" game from which you derive clues to solve the mystery. However, given that it is not, you can take your time and enjoy the detailed guest rooms while you decide how you'd like your story to end. On that note, the environments and characters are well-realized, it's only unfortunate the animations are fairly wooden. However, I've played many mysteries like this where no characters show up at all (you probably know the one if you're a fan of this genre) and their presence definitely elevated the experience.

Highly recommend for mystery folks~

A tight but charming deduction game with just the right amount of challenge for its scope. The simple system of sort of madlibbing clue words into a pre-composed logical thought balance guiding the player and distracting them with valid (and sometimes silly) options to make sure you really know the solution to a Deduc(k)tion. Duck Detective gets every element right for its premise from the crisp, inviting visuals and the tone-setting noir soundtrack, to the intriguing if ridiculous mystery premise and down-to-earth writing. The clues are carefully laid out as to not be obvious (in fact some are quite clever), but there are no leaps in logic that aren't grounded in what's presented. If you're struggling, the notebook makes it clear when there's more evidence to be found if you're missing something.

If you're looking for a fun mystery and a fair challenge, perhaps for a plane/bus/long car ride or just something for your detective brain to chew on, I'd highly recommend it!

P.S. There's a dedicated quack button, so...

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