Análises recentes de aquatorrent

My Playtime: 1.4h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): No.
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Quadrata is a puzzle game where you have two sets of puzzles in each level. You need to guide 2 squares to get the blue diamonds in both sets of puzzles, with a limited number of moves that is predetermined in each level.

Pros:
- 90 levels
- Quick restart if you fail
- Simple and easy-to-understand mechanics

Cons:
- The new mechanic just make the game easier

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like a puzzle game that is not too hard and too easy, buy it on a sale.

---

Quadrata uses geometry and shapes for its visuals. They are mostly in black and white, although some mechanics are colored to make it easier to distinguish. The UI was made without words, although it's simple enough to navigate.

Gameplay
Quadrata is a puzzle game at its core. There are 2 sets of puzzles on the screen with different layouts and positioning. Your task is to guide both squares to the blue diamonds. Despite having two sets of puzzles, the squares located in each puzzle move together. This makes the game challenging, especially since you are forced to finish the game in a limited number of moves. The number of moves will be different based on the difficulty.

New mechanics are added after 10 levels. However, I found that the mechanics only make the game either easier or more annoying. The new mechanics reduced the options that I need to consider to finish the level since I know that I must pass through all mechanics to do that.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038203042

Two mechanics gave me annoyance, though. The red triangle was hard to predict since you won't know its position when you are moving towards it unless you try it beforehand, and the reverse mechanic just makes me waste more time in each level since I keep on mistaking left and right. Luckily, all levels are short, so it won't be long before the mechanic is replaced by the new one.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 1.4h. The game is pretty short - each level can be completed quickly and it restarts each level quite fast whenever you fail. Moreover, there is also a hotkey to restart manually by pressing R. It's not told in the game, but I'm glad it was there.

I found the game was more difficult in the first few levels. Since there weren't any mechanics added in, the options where I had to move my position were increased, and there is just a lot to choose from. However, the game becomes easier as you progress with the added mechanics. The early levels when the new mechanic was introduced were very easy, and it's still easy enough to figure out the solution in the levels after that because you can just craft your solution based on the mechanic's position. Some levels will take a few tries to beat, but it's nothing that will give you trouble.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2875588842

Quadrata is a simple, fun puzzle game that won't force your brain to think too hard. It can be challenging in the early game, but most of the levels are easy enough to beat since you just need to ensure that all mechanics are used to finish the level. However, since it's very short, I would recommend buying it at a sale.

My Playtime: 47.3h (based on the in-game clock, 100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (8 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Grow: Song of the Evertree is a game where you build a village and restore a world. You'll have to plant and water trees to turn barren lands into lush greenery.

Pros:
- A lot of activities to do
- Freedom to build the village however you want

Cons:
- The gameplay cycle is too repetitive with nothing new to add
- Animation cutscenes are too long, especially when petting animals

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

No.
It's just too repetitive and boring.

---

Grow: Song of the Evertree has great-looking visuals. It's always nice to see how the land that you tend to be something beautiful after you are done with it. The change was done little by little as you tend to it daily, making you appreciate it more, especially when you do it for the first time.

There isn't much to the story. You'll get a piece of a story of what happened after you collect the fragment in each region, where you'll get a few sentences about it. You already know what you must do at the beginning of the game, though, and your objective won't change from there. That being said, the storytelling was done well. I like the artwork displayed during the cutscene, and the words that were used at that time were brief and easy to understand.

Gameplay
The game was divided into two regions: the world seed areas and the town areas. In the town areas, you explore the island to find some puzzles or points of interest. The world seed areas are the area where you can gather the essences needed to build buildings for the town and restore the barren lands into greeneries.

Town Areas
The town areas are divided into several districts. You can only explore the first district and the area surrounding it at first. That being said, there are still a lot of areas to cover to explore, with some optional secrets here and there.

One thing that you must explore in the town areas is the vault, where you must solve some puzzles to receive a fragment. The puzzles are very easy to solve - you mostly just have to walk. However, reaching them might be another matter. Some vaults can be tricky to reach, although it won't give you issues as long as you explore everything that the game has to offer.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3269057666

You can build anything in the town. You'll be given a plot of land and it's up to you how to design the town. You can put on decorations, place some buildings, and even customize the walls and add decorations to that same building. The latter makes it easier to distinguish one building from the other. Some buildings will give you additional items that you can buy, although money can be an issue at the beginning.

It's hard to get money at the beginning. The same goes for essences, the currency you use to build buildings, actually. However, you'll be able to easily get more as you progress - I even got more money than I needed by the time I finished the game. The essences are another thing since you still need to work for them - you can only get them by harvesting items in the world seed areas, but luckily, you won't need them that much.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2713000489

Residents are lifeless. Some residents will come to live in the districts, and you can tend to their issues. Sometimes, they will ask you to finish a quest, sometimes they want you to talk to them. I find tending to their needs to be useless. The quests are recycled from a list, and finding them can be problematic - sometimes they won't even appear in the area that the game points to. It's just a waste of time.

World Seed Areas
You can put a world seed into a seed planter to turn it into a new world. The world that comes out will be randomized, but the essences you can harvest from it will be predetermined based on the essences that you use to create the seed. In this area, your job is to turn the barren lands into lush greenery.

There will be a set of actions that you can do for the land each day. You'll clear weeds, plant seeds, water plants, and sing to make them grow. Do it for a few days, and a new area will spawn. This cycle will be repeated three times until the world is fully healed.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3004905013

You still can harvest your hard work before the world is fully healed, though. As new areas open, old areas will be healed and fully grown, allowing you to harvest anything that was in it: fruits, nuts, rocks, fish, insects - you can even chop the trees to get wood if needed. All of these resources can be converted into essences, which can be used for your town building needs.

Insects look too similar. Some insects can be rarer than others, but it's hard to spot them in the wild. It feels as if they are only different in name due to the randomization aspect. Luckily, the same doesn't happen to fish.

And that's everything that the game has to offer. Despite the randomization, I didn't find a lot of variations. In 6 world seeds that I had fully grown, I saw the same patterns used several times. Heck, I even found the same puzzles and caves in it. I'd rather have the game omit the randomization part altogether if the variation is not this many.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 47.3h. My Steam playtime was shorter because there was some offline playtime caused by my internet disconnection. I had fully grown 6 world seeds: 5 perfects, 1 not. The game can be finished faster if you don't fully grow the world seeds, though. That's where the grindy part of the game comes from.

The gameplay loop is too repetitive for my taste. It might be fun at the first few worlds, seeing the world grow with your own eyes. However, there is nothing new added to the mix, and the animation where you are taking care of the animals and flying is taking so much time.

As for the difficulty, the game isn't difficult at all. You might have issues keeping up with the daily task if you have a lot of things to do, but there isn't any deadline and you can always finish it the next day. That's if you ignore most of the residents' needs, though. It'll take forever if you decide to finish their needs and do whatever else you have to do.

Issues
I don't know why, but the game crashed a lot. Luckily, autosaves are plenty. Also, there is no bulk sell option. I had to use an auto clicker to sell 99 of my items to save my mouse from breaking.

Grow: Song of the Evertree is a good game that overstayed its welcome. It might work as a very short game, although sadly, it decided that it's a good idea to make 6 districts with nothing new to add to the gameplay, forcing you to repeat the same thing 6 times. You'll get everything that the game has to offer within the first few hours of playing the game. Since I got bored playing it, I'm afraid I couldn't recommend it.

My Playtime: 19h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~27 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a story-heavy game where you pour drinks to your customer and listen to their story. The game plays out in 19 days, telling different stories about each customer.

Pros:
- Varied music
- Nicely written fantasy story in the cyberpunk setting
- Fast-forward button

Cons:
- Sometimes you need to guess which drink to serve to the customers
- No backlog to reread
- Manual saves are placed far apart

Specs
Steam Deck: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 ♥♥♥

Yes.
If you enjoy games like Coffee Talk (my review) and want to play more but with a fantasy story in a fantasy world, get it on sale.

---

The game uses pixelated visuals with a lot of details. The background mostly shows in the front of a bartender's desk, showing the customers in front of you. Characters have a lot of facial expressions, although they only change within a fixed character set to serve certain dialogues, similar to how visual novel games are portrayed. Despite being mostly static, I also liked the background - it has many details and the change between your home and the bar was prominently displayed through the change in the background and UI.

I find the story to be decent. It might be because it was set in a fantasy setting with their problems, but I didn't get attached to the characters and their problems. The topic switch during the conversation happens a lot, although sometimes it feels odd and forced. You'll get the background story for most of the characters, but some of them are still enshrouded in mystery.

The game hints at some mysteries behind the characters, but it never goes on to explain them. The only thing that made clear after I finished the game was the background behind one character, with two more being hidden beneath hints. I thought I would be able to uncover more of their background, making it relevant to the story at some point, but it seems the "don't dwell too much on the past" part that the game keeps on mentioning for one of the characters hold true for the whole game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1244545684

The story can be hard to remember. I played the game in short sessions, making me forget about some details. There is no refreshment, backlog, or whatsoever that can remind you of the story either.

Despite all the negatives, the story is still decent. I like the worldbuilding: the world where robots are so advanced that they are hardly distinguishable from humans, and how they come up with their own set of problems. Moreover, it also shares what our world has: popular idols, a newspaper reporter who only looks for clicks and revenues, and others. It's not described as part of the character's story in detail, but it's still there.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1984224075

Gameplay
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action's gameplay is divided into two parts: talking to customers and serving drinks. You will be able to set your own jukebox track to listen to your favorite music while working, and then the customers will flood in. You'll serve 1-2 customers at most, with them talking to you and asking you to serve them drinks in between.

Serving drinks is simple. You just need to check the recipe and follow the instructions. The issue lies in guessing what the customer wants. "Something sweet" can refer to 4+ drinks to choose from, while more vague ones can make it even harder to choose, especially if it is not listed in the filter in the recipe book. A lot of customers will ask for drinks in this fashion, forcing you to guess if you don't know the right answer.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1242373587

The customer reaction will change based on the drink you gave - whether you serve the correct drink or not. I believe this will also lead to different endings, although the endings only differ by a few words. It only focuses on the conclusion of the relationship between the main character and the other customers.

Length and Replayability
I finished the game in 19h. There is no replayability apart from getting the other endings, which I don't find to be worthy for a new playthrough. If you miss it somehow, it is better to watch them on YouTube. There are two endings, but you can save before the branching path happens to get both at once.

Issues
The touchscreen in Steam Deck is inaccurate. You need to use your controller to click on the mix button to make your drink, especially if you ice and/or age them. Moreover, there is no default layout for the game. Look up my VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action Controller layout to find the one I used.

Lastly, the game only has a manual save, but you can only access it either at home or during your break. The game had a lot of dialogue in one day, especially in the early days, and I had to replay it because I had to turn the game off before I could reach the save point.

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action does the mixing drinks well, but not so much on the dialogues. I don't feel attached to the story - it feels mediocre. However, it is still a nice game with a lot of other features to make it stand out, although I would only recommend buying it on a sale.

My Playtime: 12.6h (100% achievement, finished the game)
My First Playthrough: 8.1h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (15 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Closer the Distance is a story-driven game focusing on the lives of the residents in a small village. You'll be able to control some of the residents and make their life choices while trying to cope with the loss of a village member.

Pros:
- Story that was told from a different point of view, focusing on each person's interest and goals
- It's up to you to control the characters to finish their quests or not

Cons:
- It can be hard to listen to two conversations that happen at the same time
- No fast-forward support for the second playthrough

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like story-driven games with a soft-voiced narrative, buy it on sale.

---

Closer the Distance's environment is drawn in 3D, with low-poly characters and little details. This works well since you mostly see the characters in a top-down format, and you can see their expression through the portrait in their profile. The UI was similar to The Sims™ with you controlling the characters, with a focus on the quests. Instead of clicking on any object to assign the characters, you'll click on the part of their profile - whether their needs or goal - and instruct the character from there.

Despite the slice-of-life theme, I didn't find the story to be particularly boring. The soft voiceover does a good job of portraying the atmosphere, and the interactions between the characters are short. Moreover, most conversations will lead to another objective that will be summarized in your profile.

The story is mostly task-driven, with hardly any conflict with each other. Characters mostly deal with the grief of the loss of a village member, and the tasks will mostly focus on grieving and moving on. Some will be affected greatly, while some will get back stronger. It's a story of how the villagers move on.

Despite that, I found the change to be too subtle. It might be because it was hard to keep tabs on all characters at once, but I wasn't particularly attached to a character. The ones who grieve mostly take a lot of time being alone with you having to direct some characters to help them... or not, your choice. Eventually, they'll back up on their own even if you don't do anything.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302263544

I still like the ending, though. The game does a good job in its presentation. The scene where a light that moves throughout the village, accompanied by touching music sets up a nice atmosphere for the ending. However, since I didn't feel attached to the characters, it had less impact on me.

The game has an illusion of choice. Throughout the game, you'll be tasked to do some quests, choosing between several options. Most of them lead to the same result, while the ones that matter mostly won't affect much on the overall story. It'll only make a change for the ending of the character, which wasn't much highlighted in the story.

Gameplay
Closer the Distance was played in a top-down view, in an interface similar to The Sims™. You can move between the areas, rotate the camera, and assign a character to do something. The only difference is that the actions that you can do are mostly limited. I like the limitation since it means I don't have to be overwhelmed micromanaging the characters later on.

You'll start controlling one character. As you progress, you'll control more characters, totaling 5 characters. This might make the gameplay hectic, but luckily, some characters have fewer tasks to do than the rest, so you only have to focus on 3 characters at once most of the time.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303855238

That being said, it still can be pretty hectic. Characters will talk to each other sometimes, and when there is more than one conversation going on at once, you'll face two options: 1) Make all conversations run at the same time, which obviously can be hard to focus or 2) Wait until the conversation finish before starting the other, which will make other character to stop doing anything until the conversation finishes. Imagine if you have 3 conversations going on at the same time. The last conversation might start 2-3 hours later, even though you need them to do a lot of things. Moreover, you need to make sure that you are not moving your screen to where the conversation that you want to pause is since that's how you trigger the conversation.

As I said before, you'll be faced with some decisions in the game. Sometimes, a character will have a lot of tasks that they can't do with the given time, and you need to prioritize which one to do. Some of them will lead to the character's ending, although honestly, I don't find them to matter that much. The relationship between the characters is nice, but it wasn't highlighted enough to make you care about them.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3305370213

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in ~8.1h. I'm pretty sure there were some offline times when my internet disconnected, although I'm not sure how long. I spent the rest of my playtime sweeping the achievements that I missed. There might be a fast-forward button, but it was too slow, especially when you want to fast-forward through the night. Moreover, you can't skip the cutscenes. That cutscene where the character moved on is cool, but not when you see them more than once.

As for the difficulty, it won't be hard to finish it since it's a narrative-based game. You don't have to replay the game for the other endings either - I don't find it to be that worthy to watch.

Closer the Distance is a game with a good narrative. I know I'm complaining a lot in the review, but the game wasn't bad narrative-wise. I like that it manages to keep me busy throughout the game, and despite being focused on the daily life of the characters, the quests don't feel too monotonous. Furthermore, the game does a good job of setting up the atmosphere. If you enjoy story-based games, you'll like this one, although since the story isn't that outstanding, I suggest picking it up on a sale.

This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through Curator Connect.

Follow our curator page: IndieGems if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

My Playtime: 2.7h (100% achievement, finished the game several times)
My First Playthrough: 16 minutes
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~27 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Minit Fun Racer is a racing game where you have to drive a car to reach the goal. It has a little bit of roguelite element where you keep your gold after you die, allowing you to buy upgrades and finish the game.

Pros:
- Accessibility options to lower the difficulty
- Upgrades to make beating the game easier

Cons:
- You are forced to die several times before you can finish the game

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
The money goes to charity, so I'll recommend it. It's too short for a paid game, though.

---

Minit Fun Racer uses pixelated, black-and-white assets for the visuals. Despite being a short game, there are three biomes that you can see. Each looks great and unique, although I find it hard to figure out where the collision is on the upper and below edge in the second one. I died a lot on both sides, either because I didn't think I would crash or I didn't expect that I already reached the very far edge. The game only uses 1/3 of the screen for the game and it can be hard to notice the edges since both are black-colored.

Gameplay
Minit Fun Racer is a racing game with a twist. You have a timer on the top-left corner, and you will die if it runs out. In the beginning, it will be hard to go for a few miles since the timer you have is very short and your speed is very slow- I didn't know what happened when I died for the first time, even. Luckily, the game is easy enough to figure out. You'll learn quickly that you need to buy upgrades to find a way to extend that timer and finish the game.

The control sucks at first, which is made better after you buy an upgrade. You need to collect coins to increase your timer, dodge the obstacles, and knock trashcans to gain speed boosts. Knocking three trashcans can give you a greater speed boost, although it depends on RNG for the trashcan's placement if you want to trigger it. That being said, it can be hard to control your movement when the boost happens - it was hard to track what happened with my eye, either due to the game color or the objects that were placed too closely.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2699306105

You keep your gold after you die, which you can use to buy upgrades. These upgrades vary from the useful ones like the one that increases your timer if you pick up gold to an item that has no effect if you buy it. The game forces you to die a few times in the beginning before you can get far into the game, making sure that you have all the upgrades you need. It won't take long until you have the bare minimum upgrades to finish the game, although there are also other challenges that you can finish to extend your playtime.

Challenges are abundant. Each is tied into a specific achievement, which might or might not require a specific item to do. The rest will be the challenges themselves. You need to finish the game without accelerating, without taking damage, and so on. The list goes on. It can be tough to finish some of them - I even found some to require RNG to beat, although there are accessibility options that you can turn on if you want to make it easier.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2537568700

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 16 minutes. The challenges took most of my playtime; I had to replay the game several times for it. In the end, I had to turn on the accessibility options to get 2 of them, simply because I was bored and didn't feel like replaying it anymore.

Minit Fun Racer is an interesting short game, but it doesn't take long until you are bored with it. It was too short for a paid game, but at least it claims that every revenue goes to charity. It wasn't a bad game- it's just short, and won't be enjoyable if you play it too long since it doesn't have much to offer.

*Note that there is some offline playtime. I think it was ~5h, but since I'm not sure the exact hours, I didn't mention my playtime in the review.

Playtime Status: 100% achievement, finished the game
Grindy Achievement(s): Yes (~2 achievements).
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (27 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Strikeforce Kitty is a sidecroller platformer and puzzle game mix where you control four cats to clear the level. Each level has several paths that you can navigate that will lead to different enemies and chests. Despite offering different paths for each level, each path will still lead to the same exit.

Pros:
- A lot of costumes to choose from
- Formulate several paths at each level to reach everything it has to offer

Cons:
- It can be confusing to figure out how to play at the beginning
- Some levels can be too hard to beat without luck and/or grind

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you enjoy playing a mind-numbing game with a lot of repetition, buy it at a sale.

---

Despite not being made in Flash, StrikeForce Kitty still tries to give the same look as its predecessors made in that engine. Everything was made in a cartoon style, with a lot of tweaks on the characters that were meant for cameo of other media to prevent copyright infringement. You still can recognize some of them, although the ones that were heavily tweaked can be harder to recognize.

The cats, raccoons, and foxes that were in the game look cute with their deformed look and the costumes make them more unique. However, the UX needs a bit of work. I had issues in learning how the game worked at first, most likely because the game didn't do a good job with the limited information shown in the UI.

Gameplay
Strikeforce Kitty doesn't require a lot of input. Characters will automatically walk to the right side, which will only change direction if they bump into a wall. All you need to do is to help them jump through obstacles or enemies (if you don't want to fight them). However, sometimes you need to jump very accurately over a ledge with little room for error. I had to reload my run several times because I kept on falling down, and waiting until the characters reach that very same spot can take a long time due to how the character walks.

Fighting is also done automatically. Each character has an action bar and the character will hit the enemy in the very front once it filled up. You can help the fight by asking the cats to unleash a skill, which you can set before you go into the level. However, the skills have limited usage in each level. You need to manage your skill usage and use it when it counts, although it can be hard in the early game since you only have 1 skill usage.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1403939788

Each level has a different path that will lead to a different enemy. Some paths are also locked unless you bring a certain skill with you. Going to all paths is necessary to open the chests that were spread in the level, as well as some extra enemies. It's not hard to figure out the path to reach everything, but it helps to make the game not too mind-numbing.

The game encourages you to replay each level several times to get all the costumes from the enemies. You can get the whole costume by killing the same enemies 2-3 times, and you can use the costume if you want to increase your stat. Having all 4 cats use a certain costume will also trigger a team bonus, which will give various effects in your next run. However, since you need to kill the enemies 2-3 times, it also translates to 2-3 runs each level, which will be higher if you want to get other costumes in the other paths in each level. This is the main reason why the game can be grindy and mind-numbing.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1404799360

The game has 20 levels. It also has 5 boss fights after 4 levels. However, all bosses can be beaten the same way. They might have different attacks, but I don't need to change my strategy apart from the very last boss. All you need to do is mostly deal with enough DPS before you get taken out. This can be achieved by changing your skills a bit to cater for the boss fight, switching them to single targets that deal more damage from AoE attacks that deal less damage and are more effective for group fights in non-boss levels. And probably with a healing skill.

The game does a good job of forcing the players to grind. Costumes are tied into skills, and the more costumes you have, the stronger your skills will be. I don't know whether it also affects the number of skills you can use either, but my characters have 4-6 skill usage by the end of the game, as opposed to 1 skill usage in the beginning. The skills help in clearing the game, especially the last few levels.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2635903621

Length and Difficulty
Steam tells me that I had 11.5h, but I'm pretty sure it didn't count my offline playthrough. I spent ~5h yesterday playing the game, and my internet disconnected on me without me knowing it. The game isn't long if you don't want to collect all the costumes, but you might have difficulties finishing the game without grinding a bit. As for difficulties, it's quite easy to beat, and although it can be challenging to 100% the boss levels, it can be doable if you use the right setup. Plus, you also can buy food items to increase your stats.

Issues
Sometimes the level froze after I beat an enemy - my character didn't move, but I can access the menu to return to the level selection.

Strikeforce Kitty can be boring and mind-numbing to some people, but it's not necessarily bad. If you just want to relax your brain and play games that don't require much thinking, it's the perfect game to play. You need to grind and retry each level a lot. I was bored with it at the beginning, but the boredom soon disappeared as I got used to playing it. I could recommend it if you just want to play something that doesn't let you think too much, but buy it on a sale.

My Playtime: 6.3h (15/16 achievements, finished the game)
My First Playthrough:
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (12 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Adrian's Tale is an action-adventure game similar to Zelda games. It offers a lot of short dungeons to explore, unique bosses, and objects that will block you from passing an area unless you have a certain item with you.

Pros:
- A lot of short dungeons to explore
- Clever puzzles that can take some time to figure out
- Maps with point of interest

Cons:
- Too much area to cover by the slow walking speed
- Stiff controls
- Tutorial is lacking

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you enjoy playing Zelda-likes and don't mind playing a mediocre one, buy this one when it's heavily discounted.

---

Adrian's Tale is displayed in 3D visuals. The models look simplistic and cute, most of them are in a geometric shape that was expanded into a human-shaped one. The animals work well in this style, showing their cute look. The environment, however, looks like plastic with its shading, although they are not that bad once you get used to it.

The story is pretty much lacking. The game starts with a cutscene that gives no information except one picture that was shown in that said cutscene. It then proceeds with you controlling the main character with hardly any plot given, especially if you don't talk to the townsfolk. Some people will provide a rough situation of what's going on and that's the only story that you will get until you face the final boss. To be honest, I forgot that this game has a story until that point. The ending was cool, though. I like how they portray the jokes. It's not flashy, and despite the lack of dialogue, the game manages to do it well with the camera and animations.

Gameplay
As a Zelda-like, you play the game equipped with a sword and a large world to explore. Despite the vast world, the map helps you from getting lost, giving a marking for all points of interest that you can find. The game is mostly linear - you have to travel to each point of interest in order, getting key items along the way to progress the game. Sometimes, you'll have to enter dungeons and beat a boss. And at some occasions, this will also give you items that you can use to unlock other optional places.

The items are standard. You'll get a bow, a bomb, and a shield. Despite having to switch them over time, there doesn't seem to be a button that allows you to swap them quickly. Moreover, the game doesn't seem to tell you which button to press. The tutorial shown in the menu only tells that you need to press a button that was shown on the screen, which only applies to talking to people. The controls for using the key items or the shield are only covered in the control scheme that was shown in the main menu. I didn't even know how to use my shield until I realized that there was a button for it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302724144

The game has a lot of vast, empty places. The reason why I dislike playing open-world games in particular is because of this, and Adrian's Tale sadly gives off a similar feeling. Your walking speed is slow and there is just too much area to cover. You have to walk a very long way to reach an area, and sometimes you need to go back and forth to progress. There might be some teleportation points, but sometimes they don't help much.

It's hard to precisely control your character. I often find myself having to reposition my character to swing my sword in the direction that I want. Figuring out how to throw or place a bomb is also a nightmare for me - I had to waste a lot of bombs on it. Luckily, the game is pretty easy and it gives a lot of room for errors.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302724941

On the positive side, I liked the short dungeons. Each can be finished in a few minutes, which makes it bearable with the small HP pool. Sure, you can recover your health by using potions, but I prefer not to use them, and the short dungeons go well with this. You still need to redo most of the dungeons if you die, though. However, it won't take long if you know what to do.

Bosses are also unique. They are not challenging at all - you can even beat them without losing a lot of health if you know what to do. That's where the game shines, though. Despite them needing to be beaten in a certain way, I instinctively know what to do as soon as I step into the battle. The only exception is the final boss since their HP was buffed so much that I thought that my method wasn't working. Otherwise, most bosses can be beaten very quickly.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302724088

Puzzles are there, but they are not noticeable. The obvious one was easy to figure out, but sometimes, they will present some tricky ones. They are pretty simple once you know what to do, but I found myself getting stuck sometimes, trying to figure out how to solve them.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 6.3h. Some areas can be tricky to solve, but the developer made a walkthrough on YouTube that can help you if you are stuck. You might get hurt a lot in dungeons, but bosses are pretty easy to beat if you know what to do. Moreover, you also can stock up on health potions if you need more health. They cost some money, but I don't find myself lacking money throughout the game.

Issues
Switches are too dark. Sometimes I mistook them for stairs, which obviously doesn't exist in the game.

If you are looking for a mediocre Zelda-like game, Adrian's Tale fits the description well. There might be some cons like the lack of QoL fixes, but I don't find them hindering my experience that much. The short dungeons work well once paired with the short, unique bosses, and they can be a good time waster if you are looking for a short game. However, due to the quality, the asking price can be too much, especially since there are better Zelda-likes at this price point. I suggest buying it when it's extremely discounted - it was pretty cheap on the last summer sale, for example.

This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through Curator Connect.

Follow our curator page: IndieGems if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

*DLC is required to get 7 achievements.

My Playtime: 4.9h (29/36 achievements, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): Yes (~2 achievements that requires you to grind ~1.7h).
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (7+ achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Sticky Business is a simulation game where you run a sticker shop. The main feature lies in the sticker making from the given templates with the feature to sell them.

Pros:
- Freedom to make the sticker however you want from the given templates
- Accessibility mode to change how fast each day is in the setting

Cons:
- Repetitive gameplay
- Shallow gameplay
- Confusing UI

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

No.
It feels like the game only goes all out in the sticker making and forgets the other things. The gameplay is repetitive and shallow and there is nothing more to do except make stickers.

---

Sticky Business makes itself look cute with its presentation. The lighter colors were also done to give the same effect, along with the cute-looking sticker templates. However, the UI needs a bit more work. It took me a while to find a button to sleep and finish the day, among other things.

Gameplay
As I said before, Sticky Business is a simulation game. You ran a sticker shop, meaning that you need to make the sticker to sell first. You are given some starter stickers to start, which you can use as a base for your sticker-making. You can combine several stickers together to make one with a better meaning, or just leave it as it is. More sticker templates can be purchased as you play, giving you more creative freedom.

The tool to modify the stickers is lacking, though. You can only make the stickers bigger or smaller to some extent, and rotating the stickers can only be done at either 15 or 45 degrees. As for the rest, anything goes. You can modify the sticker outline size and color, move it around, flip it, and do other things. I found the tool to be good enough to make the stickers that I needed.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158685461

Once you finish the stickers, you can put them on paper and print them. Since you are selling them, you need to fit as many stickers as you can on one page. The autofill does a good job of filling the blanks, although you need to position the sticker yourself if you want to fit it more efficiently. However, you can only print one paper at a time. This can be an issue if you have a lot of stickers in bulk.

That being said, sticker-making is only the game's charm, though. You can sell the stickers, but it can be hard to find the stickers that the customer wants if you make too many stickers. The game only allows you to drag horizontally from your available sticker list, and if that particular sticker runs out, you need to go to the print interface again to print it. However, you also need to find the sticker again in the selling interface after you finish printing it.

There is a story, but it barely counts as one. Customers will give some message with your order, which will tell their situation and what they are doing. Sometimes, you need to make a sticker with a certain theme to progress too. However, the dialogues are empty and boring - you can even not read them and you'll be fine, especially if you don't care about completing them. Most sticker requests done this way require you to use a certain theme, so you can certainly finish it by "accident" if you like to make a lot of stickers.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3280836866

The game gets boring as you play. There are no challenges, nothing to aim for - all you have to do is repeat the whole daily routine of printing stickers and selling them. Sometimes, you'll get a lot of customers and won't have enough time to process all of them, especially since everything that you do will cut your daily time. There is no punishment for not doing a customer's order, though. Heck, you can even not do it on the same day - I found finishing the request the next day is acceptable as well.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 3.2h. Yes, it's that short. And yes, I got bored way before I reached that time. There were 2 grindy achievements left at that point, so I spent the rest of my playtime getting them. The game isn't difficult at all - as I said, there is no punishment for not doing a customer's order, and you can change the daily speed if you find that time is moving too fast.

Sticky Business is a sticker-making game at its core. However, it seems to forget that it doesn't revolve around just that. It is severely lacking in other aspects, whether it's story or challenges - the UI was even made confusing and needs some time to get used to. During my 3h, I got severely bored halfway, so I'm afraid I can't recommend this one.

My Playtime: 7.8h (100% achievement, finished the game)
My First Playthrough: 6.4h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (4 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Detention is an atmospheric, 2D horror game set in the year 1960 in Taiwan. It tells the story of a student who explores their school and experiences strange things.

Pros:
- Creepy atmosphere
- Varied puzzles

Cons:
- You need to backtrack a lot
- Cheap jumpscare in early chapters

Specs
Steam Deck: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 ♥♥♥

Yes.
If you enjoy atmospheric horror games with a focus on puzzles, you'll like this game.

---

The game mostly uses black and white color, similar to photos in the olden times. It uses a realistic style for the characters and backgrounds; sometimes the characters even look as if they are real photos cropped into the game.

The background was mostly dark due to the horror theme, but it was done in a way to evoke the creepy atmosphere. The dim light looks natural, and the lighting sets the atmosphere of the room. Top it off with the animation and music and it will give you the creeps.

It starts off with a boy who explores the school at nighttime. If you have experienced going to school at night or close to it, you'll know that it feels different. Things that look so normal in the daytime might look scary sometimes. The game does a good job of evoking this feeling with its presentation.

If you think that this game is all about jumpscare, you are wrong. Sure, there might be that in the early game, but the game has an actual plot, and it will revolve around that starting from the middle half. The scariness will be gone and it will be replaced by curiosity, especially since the story is only told in pieces; you need to piece them together and guess what really happened.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1890688129

The story is quite a tragic one. It didn't make me emotional, but it was deep and relatable to that time. Some dialogues are also described poetically, something that is usually done in Chinese literature, making the story shine more.

Gameplay
As I said before, Detention is a horror game. You will explore a school, checking each room to find objects that can be used to explore more of it. Most areas are locked at first, which will unlock as you progress through the game. Most of the time, these areas are the ones needed to finish the chapter.

The game has 4 chapters in total with a prologue on top of it. Each chapter will bring you to a certain location in school with different objects and locations you can interact with. In the first two chapters, you will also meet some ghosts, sometimes jumpscares, which will surprise you if you are not prepared. The latter half, on the other hand, focuses more on the cutscenes, allowing you to understand the story as a whole.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2018570748

Puzzles are abundant. You'll need to solve puzzles to finish the game. They usually require you to bring objects from one place to another, although there are also some annoying ones like the piano puzzle where you need to listen and press a music sequence perfectly. I especially hate that puzzle since I am tone-deaf.

I hate backtracking. Sadly, the game seems to like it. You'll be forced to move back and forth, figuring out what the puzzle that you just solved unlocks. The thing is, the game area is huge! It can take time to check them all, especially if you need to deal with the ghosts roaming around.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1343289788

The game can be scary, especially in the first two chapters. Both the environment and sound give you the creep, and the jumpscares will really surprise you. Moreover, the realistic art style also makes the game feel real, adding more to the creepiness. However, as someone who is a scaredy-cat, I'm able to finish the game by playing mostly at night, so I don't think it is that scary, especially for those who are not easily spooked. The jumpscares are also scripted so you can be well prepared for what to expect if you are armed with a guide.

Length and Replayability
I finished the game in 6.4h. I spent the rest of my playtime getting the achievement that I missed. There is no chapter selection, so I needed to restart the game from scratch. Luckily, the game can be finished pretty quickly if you don't care about most things.

Issues
There is no auto save and the location between the manual save can be far apart sometimes.

Despite being a horror game, Detention won't just give you the creeps. It does a good job with that, but it actually has a deep story and interesting puzzles in it. If you enjoy horror games that aren't all about jumpscare, this game is for you.

My Playtime: 5.2h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (17 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a visual novel with tarot-like card-making elements in between. You'll see the day-to-day life of Fortuna, a fortune-telling witch in exile while trying to use your tarot-like cards for your fortune-telling.

Pros:
- Multiple endings
- Customize the cards however you want from the given templates
- Determine the ending you want

Cons:
- No fast-forward option for the second playthrough

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you enjoy designing cards and reading light stories, buy the game when it's extremely discounted.

---

First of all, I had to praise the cutscene that was shown at the beginning. The animation was smooth and concise, and even though the pixel looks blurry (which makes them look like 2D art being zoomed in so it looks pixelated), they still look great. The animation frames are many and they look great for the prologue.

The game itself uses pixelated art. The setting was done mostly on a 2 story house on top of an asteroid, which makes the scale of the area so small, especially since you can see everything inside from your screen. Despite the small scale, it still has a lot of details, though.

That being said, the close-up portrait doesn't disappoint. Characters that come to you will be displayed on a large screen, allowing you to see their details. Each witch gives a different vibe from them, and the variation of the witches' magic also makes them unique. I like all of their designs.

The story is a light one. As a game focused on dialogues, you'll have to read a lot of them. The dialogues are light in nature, and I never found myself being overwhelmed by the number of texts. Moreover, the game will shift its location from time to time, giving a fresh breath of scenery.

The story is about Fortuna, a witch who specializes in fortune-telling. Being a fortune-telling witch, she'll receive some guests who require her assistance with her magic. You'll draw cards, and tell what the card says. The unique thing is that there are several interpretations that you can make out of the card and this makes the fate of each character different.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3129696295

Sadly, despite the freedom of choice, the story won't change by a lot. Your fortune-telling will only affect a small part of the story of that character. Major events will always happen, and you will have a chance to change only a minor part of it. However, games with branching choices tend to feel off whenever you are in a dialogue that is different from what the game intended, but it never gets weird in this game.

That being said, the story is quite compact. As I said, there will be major events that become the theme of each chapter, and the story will progress based on that. Now that I think about it, the story is pretty empty otherwise, although the writing does it in a way that won't make you bored.

Gameplay
The game focuses on two elements: visual novel and fortune telling. The first one is straightforward, although the latter one is more unique. It's the driving force that will change the fate of most characters in the story. I like it since I can choose a good ending for everyone. There will be several results that you can select from your fortune-telling and what you choose will become the truth.

Before you do your fortune-telling, though, you need to make a deck. This is what I enjoy about the game. You are free to choose 3 bases out of several available bases to make your card, and then you are free to put the parts to make the card that you want. The customization is limited, although I found it enough to make the cards. And you can do it as many as you want, provided that you have enough resources.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049220797

The resources to make the card can take a while to gather. You can only get it by doing the fortune telling, and the resources that you get will depend on the result that you tell. Each result represents different actions, which will translate to the resources. Most results can be comprised of more than one result, although the dominant one will receive more resources. This makes it hard for me to gather the fire resources since you need to deliver bad results to your fortune-telling, and I don't really want that. On the other hand, I was overwhelmed with water resources because of the same reason.

That being said, it seems that the card that you deal with doesn't matter. They might give off different results and dialogue, but it's as if some result will always predetermined in certain events. Moreover, since you don't know what the result that your card will bring apart from their trait, it's almost useless to make new cards apart from the achievements.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3041866530

Length and Replayability
I finished the game in 5.2h. That includes the time I spent reloading my save after I finished the game to see the other ending that I could get from that playthrough. The game has several minor endings, although I won't recommend playing a new game just to see that - I don't think the story will change that much, and it can be time-consuming to replay the whole game since there is no fast-forward option.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has a unique concept, but it feels like a mediocre game. I enjoyed reading the light dialogues, and they were made well. I also liked creating the tarot-like card and doing the fortune telling. However, the story is pretty much empty for a visual novel. It's not that bad, though - that's why I'm still recommending it. However, the asking price might be too much, so buy it when it's extremely discounted.