Recent reviews by steffire3

A cute little Hack-n-Slash that is a surprisingly satisfying arcade sized and very small game where searching for "Favors" (special modifiers that can be selected to shake up the game rules in the corner at the Hub), challenging oneself to continue the "Loops" where enemies get more numerous and the Boss gets more twins (up to 4) to assist in combat at the end of every loop, and generally learning enemy movements to make the most of cycling through skill cool-downs does have a satisfying feel getting as much high score as possible.

I'm writing an early review and partially a quick advice guide in case anyone selects the Frog as their starter.

Yes, I'm 11 hours into the game (spending those hours comparing skills after hatching eggs) and have explored almost all of what is available in the Blue Caves that is the 2nd major area in the game and already I'm seeing that Frog needs team members with Shields, Buffs, and Crit-Damage.

Yes, people are free to plan ahead and form any team they want; however in the very early game - those options are limited as fighting Grummys and Tengus (much more the Champions and Keepers) is a slog if you don't support the Frog with necessary gap fillers.

Yes, the Frog is very good at support and tanking however since this is a team-role game; it's very important to fill your team's gaps with specialists or all-around solid members who can fill multiple roles.
Reason is that there's elemental weaknesses and strengths and it's good to have two of every role option.
Magmapillar and Grummy as shield / support (attack if shields are healthy). Vaero and Tanuki (buff damage once then attack). Vaero (again) with Catzerker (big damage). The Frog likes these early options.

Once the Player breaks out of the early game is when you're more free to explore more team options and styles however until then - make sure to select your early team wisely because the game is hardest at the very beginning when the options are very limited and skills are few until overall level 10 is reached.

Also feed your team the food that boosts a stat that their skills depend on like most Shielders draw from Defense so feed that. If food variety is limited then feed them the next best stat (usually Mana).
Give Catzerker plenty of Crit-Chance gear. Don't be afraid to upgrade equips at the Blacksmith because that extra boost makes a huge difference early game.

Use your Shields first and keep using them first on later turns, Heal when safe (if the skill is available) yet attack if an enemy team member can be defeated on a turn (best defense is offense if opponent is near defeat), then follow with a buff (once) then have the buff-role member attack after that unless they have support options, end with Catzerker striking hard on weaknesses and it's worth noting that even Neutral attacks are sufficient to bring down big health-bars early game with a properly supported Catzerker.

I actually got frustrated the first time I played and quit the game... then I returned after I spent some hours pondering if Catzerker (who I foolishly skipped) could solve my problem unable to defeat enemy health bars quickly. Best decision I ever made when corrected. Hopefully this will encourage other players if they get stuck like I did in the very early game of what is otherwise a very well-designed system to customize teams and is surprisingly well balanced (just lacking in early game options).

Don't worry about getting 5-star ratings on Champions; the Player can get their eggs later in the Keeper's Area once the team is stronger.

For those who choose the Eagle-Starter; this becomes your 2nd Vaero ("Might" for the entire team is a very rare damage-support skill in the early game and is worth investing before "Glory").

Lion and Wolf-Starters are like a 2nd Catzerker (benefits from Crit-Chance). Wolf is limited until level 10 (early attacks don't offer extra crit-bonus damage unlike the Lion or Catzerker).

The Frog-Starter has good stuff later in the game hence Magmapillar, Grummy, and Tanuki will outpace the Frog as dedicated interchangeable Support-roles (all of them as Shielder, Buffer, and Attacker) until level 10. However the Frog makes a good tank as the Water / Earth attacks make a good gap filler on the team.

Hopefully this vital early info helps new players who want to enjoy this game and need to make sense of what early roles these starters are most parallel to.

Because once you get access beyond the Blue Caves (2nd Area) is when you get more viable options to begin expanding your team especially once the Player reaches beyond the Sun Palace.

This is one of those games where it's more enjoyable later since this design thrives on options.
Give the game what it wants early; then become more independent with options later (this is exactly what the player is required to enact by the game's current design).
Hence this is precisely where my constructive criticism for this game is located; the game controls the early team options way too much (looking at Vaero's "Might / Power" - a role that is simply too sparse and too under-skilled early game if trying to find this crucial direct damage boost in other characters outside Vaero and early since Tanuki gets this pattern 10 levels late when it's already needed before to score optimally against early bosses).

If this development team ever designs a game like this again:
Do consider providing more team member options in the very early game and more active-support-skill options because it's an unusual bottle-neck in an otherwise excellently patched game.

Although I see the intent was not to overwhelm new players; some of us who know this genre would've liked getting widely varied skill selection before level 10 and again because Type Weakness largely determines what roles (defined by this game's common pattern of several attack types, many passives, yet way too few active-support buff options per an individual character) gets limited by optimal opponent matching; Champions and Keepers being a prime example of this.

Thus ends my early-game review:
9 / 10 because it's far more balanced than Pokemon however would like to see Skill-Tree Roles more defined with actual names (sub-class definition as seen in other games) as this would help new players greatly.
Experienced players would enjoy more early skill selection and early team variety.
Also define what parallels the Starters are most similar to and are competing with (like Vaero, Catzerker, and Tanuki). This again would help new players because there's so many questions that people have regarding the early game especially the vagueness of the Starter's info. Maybe if the level 10 and level 20 skills were available earlier then that would expand Player options. Pull some of the later creatures back into the early 2 areas of the game especially those that can morph later into their 2nd forms as it already provides incentive to catch them.

Game is already great; could be even better.

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Mid-game thoughts with a level 40 team after 60 hours:

I've just barely defeated the very difficult Vodinoy and Vertaag with a 3-star rating each.
Ice Blob, Nautilus, and Rainbow Blob makes for a very good de-buff and Wind damage team.

After cycling through many options during the game - the style that I've continued to include is Ice Blob for the ability to provide a solo source of Congeal de-buff synergies.

I swapped Catzerker for Cackle-Knight and could've considered Nightwing / Molebear if I wanted to keep Catzerker although getting Shocks was useful before reaching Sun Palace.

I swapped out Cackle for Blade-Widow as I enjoyed the greater Bleed build although have since replaced Widow with Rainbow Blob as I wanted more De-Buff for the style I'm seeking.

I swapped out the Frog-Starter, Grummy, and Magmapillar although they all served their purpose early-game.

I did consider Caraglow for the heals however ended up favoring Shields much more.

Sun Palace is when I replaced most of the team as Vasuki is hard to ignore for the De-Buffs, Kame for the Shields (although lacks De-Buff), and Blade Widow is very good with Crit Builds.

Koi is for Charge teams, Thornish counters solo attacks; however I ended up with Nautilus and Ucan as Buff and Shield De-Buffers. Troll stacks de-buffs.

I haven't used Champions although I am pondering the late-game team options. I have cleared the Instructor's challenges and need to prep for harder foes.

I'm maxing my word count.
Know the game is very good. Cheers !!!!

Super Indie Karts is very much a nostalgic letter to the various older Mario Kart games within the themes of more recent indie franchise games both popular and lesser known.

This allows for some great variation between various race-track themes. Direct legal use of soundtracks from source games along with one or two related characters per franchise including the game itself makes for a good archive of art-styles.

Family-friendly on almost all tracks although the Bearhattan race-track really needs to behave itself on the background. The Knightmare race-tracks are a little freaky on the monster faces for younger ages. Other indie franchises represented fare much better on the age-rating.

There's Grand-Prix mode although all tracks are already unlocked from the beginning (much appreciated for those who struggle with difficult game unlocks) hence all race-tracks can be played individually without Grand-Prix's series-of-races rules enabling great freedom to enjoy the game the way the player wants.

Time-Trials and a short work-in-progress Mission-Mode are also available.
Having at least 2 players (2 input methods via keyboard and / or a / 2 controllers) allows access to the Battle-Mode and other Multplayer options within the game and includes optional Cpu opponents.

Handling / Steering options (the most important aspect in this genre) are reduced by high-speed hence especially reduced on 150 and 200cc engines (and Cpu difficulty). The intended game-balance is to either: slow-down on turns (not ideal), drift into a small-turbo (lose some initial top-speed especially on Tier-2 Turbo power drifts as a strategy), or (on some tracks) purposely ram into a wall to prevent falling off the track then using that to steer into a 90-degree turn as minimal speed is lost during and after the "crash" and works surprisingly well where relevant.

The variation in Cup genres (Mario Kart inspired race-track build styles) greatly affects the strategy on turns as the "modern" larger tracks enable vast amounts of space to rarely require the ram-wall method of speed management. Retro tracks are a source of tight-turns and speed-slows to enable victory although do beware of the infamous rubber-banding that Cpus in the history of most arcade racing games are known for in order to unfairly keep up with the Player's top-speed although it is possible to defeat this on some race-tracks via clever use of short-cuts and optimal turn management.

Difficulty is high on obstacle-hazards for most casual racers and is much harder than Mario Kart on many tracks especially the franchise themes of Knightmare, Teslagrad, and Runbow that have a high hazard count or a very clever use of color-coded interactive-race-track sections including disappearing road-strips.

Most other race-tracks can be difficult due to a lack of guard-rails (looking at you Dragon-Valley!) although a simple slow-down of top-speed is actually beneficial as even the Cpus are forced to maintain a slightly-slower pace.

Occasionally; there's (sometimes larger; often smaller) race-tracks that are easy on road-clearance however require plenty of "find-the-road-turbos" to maintain a victorious top-speed hence offers a different kind of difficulty.

Ultimately; if the Player is seeking a much harder steer-tactics, 200cc intensity, and even hazard-hopping Kart-game then this is the perfect upgrade although it's still a work-in-progress after all these years as only the Super-Nintendo era race-tracks are completely finished. The Gamecube and Wii+ eras of 3d-hill-roads and gravity-tracks have only 1 or 2 cups worth of race-tracks yet are well worthwhile.

There's also an additional completed series of Retrowave tracks that are bright on neon and are an interesting challenge on track-design in some cases.

Currently there's:
16 "1990's era" tracks. 4 cups.
4 "2000's era" tracks. 1 cup.
8 + 1 "2010's era" tracks. 2 cups.
16 "Retrowave neon-grid" tracks. 4 cups.

Current Track-Cup-Total as of the date of this Review:
45 Tracks. 11 Cups.

Comparison Amount:
Mario-Karts over the years have increased in Track-Counts with more modern games hence Super-Indie-Karts is matching the modern era of Kart-games by currently offering over 32 race-tracks.

If the Player enjoys Indie franchises being featured like Freedom Planet, Teslagrad, Knightmare, Guacamelee, Runbow, or even Crosscode then this game is a great option.

In today's market - Super Indie Karts does feel dated (to it's nostalgic advantage) however I do ponder what some of the other genres in game-design could offer in the future for the Kart-Genre.

In the now; best to learn from games like these as we ponder that inevitable future as game designers continue to search for inspiration.

This is a quality game yet there's preferences that players naturally have that will affect their experience.
There are 7 types of players I'm aware of who will either enjoy or reject the design of this game:

Those who won't like this game:
Super Power types: This game doesn't aim for big commanders or skills that null the difficulty.
Large Manager types: Won't like the lack of big maps or armies and lack of holding onto upgrades.
Easy Result types: This game is not easy even on Easy mode. Unlocks with Custom Teams hide true power.

Those who will enjoy this game:
Rogue-lite types: Enjoying Failure as a learning experience towards what load-outs the game favors most.
Team Squad types: This game is perfect for testing members within teams. Difficult yet intriguing.
Card Deck types: No cards however in many ways feels parallel by using position to raise victory chances.
Puzzle Mover types: Has a war theme yet favors the awareness of the turn-order and the board-map.

My Early Experience with the game was running into a brick wall on Normal Difficulty.
I had to learn what the game likes with the balanced starting team (Rift Walkers) on Easy mode.
I was able to get across the 4 major islands before choosing to face the Final Island where I failed.

My Early Failures taught me that the game does provide a large number of points to unlock teams early however many of the Elemental Teams require specialized Pilots (unlocked randomly during encounters with Pods) to function past the first island.

I can tell you that even on Easy mode; the Later Islands are significantly more difficult even when unlocked to be accessible early for a run... it's better to build up Pilot Points to empower Weapons during the First Islands. The Final Island can still be challenged after the 2nd Island and the enemy forces will match the player's power level according to the game's expectations. A clever decision to let the Player decide when the Final Island would be best to access according to the Mech Team's strength and survival especially with Random Teams that are likely to not be optimal.

I've unlocked all the early mech teams however it's clear that this game doesn't spoon-feed power at all.
The Player must face the challenge of getting more unlock-points by wielding pre-defined mech teams yet the Custom Team option is where all the unlocks truly shine once the Player is aware of certain mech styles that would fit well together.

I haven't turned on the options for Advanced Enemies, Missions, and such since this adds to the complexity of the game. If anyone is expecting the game to get easier - then only with Custom Teams and even then the enemy forces and random maps will play against the player quite often. This is a survival game.

However - the benefit of this design choice is that the game forces the player to learn the mechanisms and then explore (after much time if late-game) different combinations after aiming to complete Achievements as Unlocks to invest Points into getting new Teams (and their Mechs) accessible.

The First Team is viable at winning, the Early Teams have good utility and power Mechs, the Mid Teams require Pilots with beneficial skills, and I'm still aiming to unlock the Late Teams that were added with a recent patch. It appears that the Late Teams also add more complex play-styles to the game.

If you were looking for a game that challenges your strategies without costing too many clicks for the hands (hence avoiding fatigue) then this certainly may be a good addition for your collection... although be warned - the overall difficulty is designed to require unlocks if surviving the highest modes are desired.

and Easy mode is actually satisfying if trying to enjoy this game with unlocks without the doom of powerful or numerous enemy forces at higher difficulties or advanced options.

I've been looking recently for games that encapsulate quality game-play, possible replay-value (rogue-lite genres certainly test the limits of this trait for enjoyment), consistent game-art, feel of an overall back-story, and just a general good design plan for the pacing and momentum of game-length.
"Into-the-Breach" does fulfill those attributes... it's just difficult and requires a different angle to appreciate.

"Slay the Spire" is an important example of a well-rounded, to-the-point, cleverly-varied entry within this genre.

It's a good beginning for anyone who is new to this genre as it doesn't feature any mechanisms that are too complex nor too simplistic to enjoy.

I played Ironclad, Silent, and Watcher once. I very much enjoyed the Defect in multiple runs for the Orb mechanisms as it felt like another extension of the game-play.

As this game includes Rogue-like elements; expect to replay the Spire multiple times in order to unlock more Cards and Relics to enhance the chances of "winning" a run in the first mode.

There's more modes that are available especially after completing one run successfully.

Unlocking the Watcher was an interesting experience especially after I became more aware on how the Defect operates with Orbs. The Watcher plays on "Stances" usually hence getting the timing correct does satisfy the more tactical side of what I look for in games.

Unlocking the Custom Mode was fuflilling to play at least once after getting experienced with the game; being able to emplace modifiers that allow enemies to drop Relics instead of Cards provided a surprising challenge and change of strategy from the usual play-styles. There's also modifiers to make the game much harder and the Daily Challenge Mode does provide inspiration on possibilities within Custom Mode.

The Card Art has an interesting cartoon aesthetic and seeing the Watcher's Cards is rewarding as it's far more vibrant than the other characters - it makes me wonder if the artists involved were more experienced with palettes when the later patches were added. Every character is distinct from each other.

The game can also be modded, has a Steam Workshop, and there's mods to help load other mods.
This extends replay value as trying mod-character decks that are up-to-date with the latest patches is a pleasant experience.

Overall; it took me awhile to get into this game and study it's replay-value however the surprise in seeing how the game does reward persistence is satisfying especially when learning on what decks the game favors.

"Slay the Spire" has taught and trained me on how good this genre can be when developed and patched correctly. For that; this game is an excellent proof of design.
Congrats to the development team and everyone who was involved in the development of "Slay the Spire".

No where near as in-depth as "Minecraft" nor as easy to assemble cities as in "Voxel-Turf" and has a much smaller space to roam yet for anyone who wishes to have a customization build game that is very family-friendly and has no monsters to fight then this game is perfect for cozy relaxing hours spent building and enjoying the simple yet cute pet mechanisms this game has to offer. Almost has an "Animal-Crossing" feel to it's tasks and seasons yet with cute voxels everywhere.

Yes potentially, fun, however No on the lack of attack-cost balance with too many regressive late cards.

Better featured and more completed than "Destiny or Fate" however not on the same tactical balance level as "Monster Sanctuary". I wanted to enjoy a strategic card genre outside of "Slay the Spire" however the number of victorious options is limited by certain deficits as of the time that this review is written:

01: HighWinds faction has superiority with cost-effective attacks from 3rd-tier soldiers.
02: Rutai faction is far too expensive to launch attacks with the limited amount of space for economists.
03: Hologev faction would be amazing if their economists made sufficient funds to pay for attacks.
04: Too many late-game pointless card costs. Too many errors on higher costs not updated in the album.
05: Cost-effective card variants of HighWinds: Knife-Thrower and Camp-Defender are superior to many other cards.
06: Highwinds Commander Portack archer variant with no Action Cost is an extremely efficient attacker compared to rival options when allowed to strike if an opening is provided by the player with the space in front of him. It enables getting free (more) damage on the same turn. Counter-tactics for this are inefficient.
07: It's not obvious how to construct Buildings on the battlefield. The UI needs more signals for this.
08: Couldn't get the in-game scroll bar to function. Couldn't successfully upgrade cards. Needs fixing.
09: Potential for future fixes and updates may solve these issues. Until then; there's other options out there.

11 Hours played as of the time this is written, scored gold on all campaign races, scored all coins from the first five cups.

As someone who enjoyed Top Gear from the Super Nintendo: this game feels like a vibrant 3D call-back to that genre of racing. Customization is minimal however very important for anyone trying to complete the campaign in order to unlock cars and modes.

Steering / Handling plus Speed are very important stats to increase using Upgrade Races as early as possible in the campaign however it's sometimes best to just score gold and forget the coins with the fastest yet decently steering vehicle when the Iceland Cup is reached.

First place / Gold is important as it scores near max amount of points to unlock more of the campaign eventually reaching the Hawaii Cup and therefore all of the Upgrade Races to complete all vehicle upgrades and score all Gold in Hawaii in order to unlock a car that has a good balance of Handling and Speed. Until then there are at least two fast cars after the Greece Cup (score all Gold) that will suffice provided the player is skilled enough to score 2nd / Silver or better in races after the mid sector of the campaign at which point the opponents will be much faster requiring memorization of turns for every course. Scouting a course two times may be needed before a Gold can be scored.

For anyone looking for a Need for Speed / modern style of realistic vehicle handling: this game is not for them.

Anyone looking for a Top Gear / retro style of unrealistic rail velocity: this game is a challenging entry onto the history of this genre.

After testing various maps through a process of quality elimination - I have concluded that if a Player has the proper mod support: Garry's mod turns into an enjoyable master of none genre where driving cars, fighting armies, flying air-craft, and scene simulators somehow all work... assuming the mods are compatible.

It's good for what it offers as an incremental resource exploration roguelite however it doesn't satisfy my desire for arcade flight combat as I feel that I'm dealing with foes the same way regardless of weapon type and the speed feels slow despite the increases gained from progression.