Recent reviews by VividlyASMR

CatBox is everything Cats Organized Neatly is, except with CatBox you get 150 levels as opposed to Cats Organized Neatly's 80 levels. So, technically, better value!

The art style is cute and cozy, and the menu/level navigation offers a cute "plot progression", showing a little girl grow up, surrounded by cats, but also VERY SAD when you get to the last set of levels, where she is an old woman who is implied to have steadily worsening memory problems, and can no longer remember much of her life anymore. Ouch, my heart. 😢 It's VERY subtle, but can make your comfy puzzle-game experience become tinged with sadness.

Cats might require being placed carefully or they won't snap to the grid first try, but otherwise the game plays well and straightforward. The hint system is helpful is you're stuck, and the achievements are very forgiving.

If you enjoyed Cats Organized Neatly and want more cat-puzzle action like it, play CatBox!

Get Goobered.

Gooba Ball is a fantastic free Suika-like. The physics for the smaller orbs are quite heavy and there is minimal bounce, which can help for strategic placement/movement. You can briefly go over the limit line, which is a plus for those who hate the automatic failure ending of OG Suika should you accidentally/temporarily stack over it.
The graphics and sounds are cute, although I wish there was a way to turn off the horns that play to celebrate combos, while still being able to enjoy the little "boop" noises of the orbs dropping, as the combo horns can get a bit obnoxious during casual sessions.

The best feature that sets it apart from other Suika-likes is definitely the leaderboards: by connecting your Twitch you can compare your score to everyone you follow on Twitch who has also played Gooba Ball. As of writing I am 14th overall on the leaderboard, and have surpassed all of VchiBan's members' scores, thus beating them at their own game.

So. Your move, VchiBan. 💅

Suika: bigger and bouncier than ever! 🍈👙✨

Horny Suika: Wet Watermelon is the NSFW version of Cute Suika: Big Watermelon. If you want to see NSFW art and scenes (as well as be able to lift up the skirt of the girls on the main menu), this is the version you want. If for some reason you don't want those things, you can buy the other version.
The only exclusive content that Cute Suika has over Horny Suika is the inclusion of different VTubers as option skins for the "watermelon" orb. You can still play with the SFW skin in this version, just uncheck the "naked" option in the menu and you're good to go.

Everything in my review of Cute Suika: Big Watermelon's mechanics applies to Horny Suika: the physics are the same, the extra mechanics are the same, and there are the same challenge modes. The only difference is the orbs can be "naked", and at a glance it can be hard to differentiate orbs from one another, so it's easier to play faster with the naked toggle off.

Raising the affection of the menu girls now not only removes their clothing, but unlocks NSFW CG scenes with them in the gallery. The NSFW content is acceptable but nothing to write home about. The VA work is a little lackluster in terms of acting ability, but the art and the Live2D is competent.

You can also play with the girls in the menu now; lifting their skirts or snapping their suspenders, etc. It's a cute little gimmick which I mostly used as a fidget toy between games.

Recommended.

PS. why is the tiniest orb green? Is it gangrenous??? huh...?

Suika: but it's (tastefully) bouncy in two ways! 🍈👙✨

Cute Suika: Big Watermelon is the SFW version of Horny Suika: Wet Watermelon. If you're looking to play one-handed, that's the version you want, not this one. You can also play the SFW version on Wet Watermelon, so this version is a little obsolete other than the inclusion of different VTubers being optional skins for the "watermelon" (Sayu Sincronisity! 🔩).

As a Suika-like, Cute Suika is fun and enjoyable to play with a variety of extra mechanics that freshen up the usual drop-and-combine gameplay. There are 3 items to use in gameplay: the "vibration" item that shakes/jostles the box around which can help make merges, the "grabber" which allows you to grab any orb and re-drop it where you'd like, and the "hammer" item which can remove any orb except the watermelon. With these it's possible to reach higher scores than other versions of Suika.
There are also two other game modes: Speed Mode, which forces drops, and Waifu Challenge mode which has mystery drops and junk orbs to complicate things. I didn't play much of either of these, and they aren't necessary for 100% achievement completion.

There is also a leaderboard, so you can see how you've fared against the other Cute Suika players! (as of writing this review I am ranked #19 overall)

The Suika gameplay is otherwise straightforward and enjoyable: there is quite a bit of bounce to the orbs (both visually and in their physics) compared to other games, and the hit-boxes aren't perfect orbs like in other games, but more oval shaped, so plan your drops accordingly.
The orbs also twitch/shudder a lot, but this has no impact on gameplay. It's a visual stylistic choice, and probably for our enjoyment??? (lol)

There is also an inventory/store mechanic where you can earn points via playing that you can spend on items for future attempts, or food for the girls on the title screen to max out their affection, which makes their outfits a little more revealing (but not naked, see "Wet Watermelon" if you want that content). They are fully voiced, but can be muted via the settings menu. The girls are also animated with Live2D, which was a nice extra touch.

Overall, I enjoyed Cute Suika: Big Watermelon, and I can say it's fun and worthwhile as a Suika-like.

Recommended.
...unless you want NSFW content. Then just go buy its NSFW counterpart instead (they cost the same).

⚠️ STREAMERS ⚠️ green ogre will reveal your PC username after asking what you'd like to be called. There is no streamer option in preferences to prevent this happening, so keep this in mind in order to protect your privacy.

So, in my play-through I got no advice, terrible or otherwise, and then green ogre died because I instinctively chose the "haha, what if I say no instead of progressing the story" options. 😔

Once green ogre dies (his death is predetermined), your files are altered in a manner similar to Undertale or DDLC, where even if you restart the game he will still be dead, and you are knocking on his door indefinitely with no option but to close the game (or seek "Donkey" in the help section for the third and final achievement.)

In order to do a second playthrough you must remove your save files, which I am too technologically inept to do, so I had to do a second playthrough on my laptop in order to view the titular "terrible advice," which was indeed terrible advice, lel.
I had some difficulty getting the game to close at times and had to close it via Task Manager.

This is what one would call a "crack" VN: it's meant to be regarded as silly or outrageous (sometimes via shock value), and green ogre gives you terrible life advice and dies lives up to that. The Windows Paint sprites are charmingly crude, all the text is in Comic Sans, but I admire the dedication to the homemade sound effects and menu music, which made me laugh when I first opened the game.
However, I will say that the writing was the most lackluster aspect of the game's experience. The humour was going for a dark humour, shock value sort of feel, but it felt flat/tired and not nearly as much fun went into the writing as all other aspects of the game.

If you are sensitive to the topic of suicide or dark humour, do not play this game, as you won't enjoy it.

While I can't honestly say I "recommend" this game, I do believe there is talent for silliness here, and I am more than happy to give the developer my dollar to encourage following that passion.

Suika but on the Billiards Table 🎱🌈

POOOOL, with 4 O's, is an incredibly cute, simple suika-like that offers more control than the original Suika through it's use of billiards-style physics! If you enjoy the general mechanics of Suika (same coloured ball join, maek bigger ball, number go up, wheeeee!), POOOOL will scratch that itch and give you that happy brain chemical! (And if you're a physics expert, you can potentially play this game forever I guess!)

The presentation is very cute, the simple music is nice, and the gameplay is simple and addictive. The UI is also straightforward: I'm very glad there is now a windowed mode, but it'd be nice to also be able to adjust the window size in the future!
I am especially a big fan of whatever foley was used for the sound of the balls clacking together. It's basically ASMR: super satisfying.

There are also achievements, so if you're an achievement hunter that's a huge plus. 🏆

The developer is lovely and responsive: when I streamed the game I requested a windowed mode and there was a windowed mode within the week! They've made an absolute little winner of a game here. Super recommend.

Kinetic Sand with none of the clean up! ...or sound variety. 🔪🟣

I'll give credit where it's due, ASMR Slicing is an interesting concept, but its execution is lackluster. To have ASMR in the game's title, but have the sounds be noticeably, awkwardly repetitive, or cut off abruptly ruins whatever auditory experience you might be hoping for.

Visually the game is simple but charming. Gameplay is repetitive but that's the point, so I won't fault that. There's a challenge mode to help mix things up a little bit beyond just cutting things over and over, and also little golden creatures hidden inside objects to uncover. However there is no way to view or keep track of these creatures, and the obnoxiously loud congratulatory noise the game makes when you find one ruins whatever enjoyment you might be getting out of the cutting sounds.

Different blades make different sounds, and moving them at different speeds prolongs/elongates the sound bite. Some, like the flaming sword and the aluminium foil, are quite good. Others, like the dollar bill or the karate chop hand, are obnoxious and hilariously embarrassing. There are chainsaws where you can hear outdoor/bird ambience, and it makes you wonder where they sourced their audio.
More audio variety for each cutting instrument (and a warning for the loud options) would help this game's ASMR ability immensely.

There are no video adjustment options; full screen only.

Level 55 bugged during my playthrough and wouldn't finish, even after exiting out to the main menu or changing cutting instruments, and required the game to be restarted in order to finish properly.

There are achievements that are very easily won, which is satisfying in and of itself I suppose.

4/10. It is somewhat satisfying as a game, and gives a few people happy brain chemicals, but the audiowork could be done a lot better.

"To be idle is sometimes an excellent way of being busy." - Thomas Carlyle ⚙️🌾

Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulator game that runs quietly on the side or bottom of your monitor while you do other things. I'd never played an Idler game before and was interested in the concept.

I now feel that the bar for this genre has been set INCREDIBLY high.

You start off with Rusty, an empty field for crops, and a single Biofuel Converter. You start off with only a few different crops to plant. Once planted, Rusty will water them, and after a few minutes they will be fully grown, and Rusty will harvest them to his house, then take them to the converter, which creates Biofuel, which you can spend or convert to spare parts. With Biofuel and spare parts you can buy things to help automate the process—robots to water, harvest, fill the converter, as well as other robots who will join Rusty to bring new functions to your farm, like berry bushes, animals, decorations, and more.

As time passes your farm grows with more ease, as does the satisfaction and the happy brain chemicals. And all of this is just on the side or bottom of your monitor, working away. Eventually you can automate the entire farming process. If you enjoy achievement hunting you can feel the enjoyment of slowly unlocking achievements throughout the day (or as you sleep if you left Rusty on overnight as I did).

For streamers there is also Twitch integration, so your viewers can help out Rusty with his watering duties (particularly handy on the Sandy Desert farm).

The pixel art is beyond charming, and all the designs are fantastic. I grew to love the l'il characters keeping me company every day. It's clear that there was an extraordinary amount of love put into this game, and falling in love with it was inevitable.

Rusty's Retirement is a quiet, cute, wonderful game. If you need something to keep you company and make you smile throughout the day, then I cannot recommend this enough.

"Let's Big Eater Fight!" 🍬🥞🍪

KASIORI is a PC port of a sweets-themed falling block puzzle originally on the Nintendo Switch in 2021, then available in arcades later that same year. It also has had basically NO marketing from what I have seen.

The gameplay is similar to Puyo Puyo in that it's also a falling block puzzle where you can attack your opponent with junk blocks by setting up combos. Each character has a different set of blocks, or "sweets." Unlike Puyo, KASIORI is a literal Match-3 game where you only need to match 3 blocks, not 4.
KASIORI has a "jar" mechanic to shake up gameplay: to break jars and unlock the sweet-block inside, you must drop them on top of each other to "break" them. Sealed Jars require being broken twice. When a jar breaks, it creates a wave that affects all surrounding jars, allowing you to set up some pretty cool combos.
There is also a mechanic where you can raise the barrier between you and your opponent and steal their sweets, or trick them into removing some of your junk blocks. You can do this up to two times per match.

This game is ADORABLE. The character designs are super cute, the alternative outfits are cute, the voices are cute, the Live2D rigging is cute, and the overall theme is cute! This is a VERY cute game! I also love the music, especially the "danger" music when your blocks start climbing too high.

The character "Cotton" of Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams also makes an appearance in the game as part of her 30th anniversary, so if you're a fan of Cotton, you can enjoy playing as her.

The enemy AI is a little brutal and there are no difficulty options: I have yet to finish any of the vs. routes because the AI in the final challenge moves too quickly for me to keep up. It's still a fun game however, and I'm somewhat motivated to do my best to try and "get good."

There is solo play, versus mode, as well as the option for online play. There is also a passcode function you can use to only play with a friend you give the passcode to. I tested it out on stream and it worked perfectly and it was really fun to play with together.

KASIORI's English translation is TERRIBLE.

And I LOVE IT.

It has HILARIOUSLY bad translation that I have to assume was run through Google translate once and then they called it a day. However, the story is so simple and straight forward that you'll still know what is going on, the translation just makes things unintentionally funny as you play through the versus mode and see the characters interact and say things like, "I'm pissed off that you rejected me. Let me beat you." and, Meru's simple, "Revenge."

7/10. a fun, unintentionally hilarious, "refreshy" cute game.

PS. Komugi is my daughter. 🥞

There are two ways to play Alchemy Unbound. One is with the knowledge that InfiniteCraft exists, and the other is without the knowledge that InfiniteCraft exists.

If you are aware of InfiniteCraft, you will be found wanting: Alchemy Unbound is rigid in its crafting, and lacks a lot of the "aha!" moments that InfiniteCraft has. This is an Early Access version, which they cite as the reason for the lack of content.

If you are not aware that InfiniteCraft exists, you are still met with a weird grind of a game that requires very specific answers to generate what you want to make.

The implementation of AI to generate results is stupid: it will literally just mash words together into nonsensical gibberish. I've only used it in order to get the AI-related achievements, beyond that it has served zero enjoyment.

Some of the achievements are also pointlessly grindy, especially with how rigid the game is in its Early Access state.

I am a little interested to see what the final product is, an InfiniteCraft knock-off but on Steam feels appealing, but as the game is right now I cannot recommend it.

3/10. The AI is pointless, the achievements are a grind, and overall lacks a lot of the discovery fun that the game it is mimicking offers.