Lurker > Suprak_the_Stud

Currently Playing: Nightingale

What Is It? That horror game I said I was going to play earlier even though I was pretty sure it wouldn't be that good. It wasn't that good.

Gameplay Overview: I mean, it's an indie adventure game. You play one of those before? This is that.

Here's The Game Page! https://play.date/games/nightingale/

Here's Some Pictures!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/79bde80e.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5cffeebf.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fa3c1f2e.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5c1404c9.png

Thoughts:
-Nightingale is next on my list. Im a sucker for indie horror. Sorry.
-This one is the first game Ive played for the Playdate with a content warning. And yet they didnt warn me about Boogie Loops. Curious.
-Opening scene has me being pushed in a hospital bed. I think. This is another one of those someones first attempt at art games.
-I also have a sound option to turn off the tinnitus if it bothers me. Nah. Im too tough for your tinnitus warnings!
-My character wakes up saying their hands hurt which might be a clue as to whats going on or might be a sign our protagonist likes complaining about things.
-There are little flashes in this room and Im assuming thats the stuff I can investigate.
-Elly: They say the trip only takes a few days, but they still put you to sleep for it. Hm. Wait am I on? WHERE AM I?
-Theres also something behind the bed but I cant reach it. Oh hey we found our first puzzle!
-Oh Im on a spaceship. I find a brochure that basically tells me. Beyond the Cosmic Portal Adventure Company is founded on one principal: Adventure isnt just for the brave! Thats right you dumb ugly cowards can have adventures too.
-With our proprietary space folding technology, we can bring you right to the heart of adventure and still have you home in time for your youngests birthday. Uh oh were going to have some sort of event horizon type scenario going on arent we?
-I find a hook that can theoretically close the window, I guess? But it sounds like the kind of thing I can use to grab whatever is hiding behind my bed.
-The plants name is apparently Chuck. Hiya Chuck. Please dont scare me.
-I go to wash my hands because why not? But I am told there are bits of dried blood and metal shavings. Uh. Ok. First creepy things.
-I cant wash them off. OUT. OUT DAMN SPOT AND METAL SHAVINGS.
-The door wont open and theres a computer here but I cant access it without my ID card. Time to hook behind the bed, methinks.
-Ok so I nab the ID with the hook and I can go into the computer now. It has been 78 days since my last activation, so I mustve been sleeping for that long. I can open the door from here, but theres other stuff here too so I check that first.
-One of them is urgent alerts. Uh. Ok maybe let me check that first.
-Esteemed Travelers: This message is to inform you of a malfunction within our folding drive system, which has caused us to deviate from our course and experience significant complications. UH OH. UH OH.
-They go on to promise there is no need for alarm. Mightve wanted to send this under non-urgent totally normal alerts then guys.
-I can also check the pump status and it says the central catheter line has been compromised and may result in irreversible damage and loss of vital functions in subject. I dont like any of those words.
-Ok finally I open the door. Oh no wait psyche I dont. It says thats damaged too. Damn my whole system is a mess here.
-Hm maybe I close the window? Oops cant do that either because the hook is broken. THIS WHOLE ROOM IS FAULTY AND I DEMAND A REFUND.
-My characters name is apparently Elyham. Which might be a Pokemon name I cant remember.
-Ok so the replicator thing in my room says I have five credits. A metal bar is four credits and everything else is way too many credits. Guess Im getting the metal bar.
-Ok I bust out. This looks a lot like a hospital wing, guys. I see a wheelchair over in the corner. We sure this is a spaceship and not a fever dream?
-Hm so someone smashed the control pad outside my door. I have made enemies somehow.
-Hm looks like bad stuff happened. The monitor station is abandoned, kind of a mess, and food is left behind. I cannot snatch the food no matter how many times I try.
-That better not be what I think it isYep. Thats a corpse. *Fuck* Fuck is an understatement there, Elly. Maybe try running away screaming?
-Also the elevator is radiating some weird lines. Dont want to use weird eldritch elevator.
-It looks like his head was caved in by brute force. Well at least it wasnt dull force. That slow head crushing would be so annoying.
-Ok well I can take his ID. Hes a crew member so maybe I can get in more places?
-Ohhhh I can use it to use the terminal over here. Ok, look at me, solving puzzles before they even pop up!
-Well I cant use the replicator here, so I may need to go back to my room because Raymond was rolling in credits and had 26 of them. I can read his messages though. Might want to check them and let people know he wont be responding on account of him being dead with a brute force crushed head.
-Can you check the freezie in JJ? Her vitals have been going nuts. Well, thats me. I dont appreciate being called a freezie! I do like the game came up with this bit of lore though. Like putting in a derogatory nickname for the crew members to call people theyre transporting is a fun touch games like this dont always think of.
-The messages go on with Raymond apparently complaining about noises coming from my room, but no one else (including this Tien person) can hear them. Interesting. Spooky. Or maybe I was sleep farting, who knows.
-The first five messages are pretty normal, then the sixth one is: In the primordial nothingness, an eye opens. Sees nothing. Closes. Again opens. Perceiving nothing, shuts and weeps. It wept so deeply with what it did not yet understand to be longing that white hot bitter tears pooled until they became a flaming sword, so bright and painful that it cut through noting till form and light were bo- -Hey guys can we not send chain letters through a work email or Im going to have to let HR know. Guys? Guys whats all that screaming?
-I go back to my room to use the replicator and the outside window is all smashed. Space goblins? Were you the ones making that noise?
-Oh actually my whole room is messed up. Theres blood places there wasnt blood before and the plant is leaking some sort of black ooze. Poor Chuck.
-I go to the replicator and I do not have enough credits for the next thing. A guiserme or something like that. BUT I can recycle the iron bar, which gives me four more credits and is just enough for the word I dont recognize. It prints out and is some sort of polearm with a slice tool at the end. This will help with the monsters I shall soon be facing.
-Uh oh. Raymond has an urgent message that pops up on the computer from Captain Newell.
-Okay so apparently 64 days ago they quarantined certain wings while investigating the cause of the drive malfunction for the safety of the crew. Didnt help Raymond or his brute force caved in head any.
-More blood in the hallways now. I still cant use the thing I have to open the room next to me. JK. Ill have to wait until I get some even more insane weapon, I guess.
-Ok, this elevator is definitely radiating even bigger lines now. I do not want to go in but Im assuming I have to. Stupid eldritch elevator.
-The weird lines have started covering the body. Im guessing undead zombies are soon to be on their way.

Game #20 Complete! The Fall of Elena Temple

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: "There are some bits here I liked!"

Final Thoughts:
The good news is this is definitely the best of the catalogue games I've played so far. The bad news is that's like winning a race at the retirement home. Not exactly stiff competition here and my overall assessment of this game is definitely in the bottom half of puzzle platformer (movement puzzler?) games I've played. Like, it is good for a Playdate catalogue game but pretty meh for a game in general.

There are some levels here I thought were pretty decent. The game is at its best where I'm sitting around looking at the layout and trying to figure out which one way through the level gets me all the coins I need. Or, better yet, when I make a move and then twenty seconds later realize "oops, the game has outsmarted me". That's what I want out of a puzzle game like this. Punch me in the face once in a while. Call me dumb and make me prove I'm not. This game doesn't ever really get to that point. There's no super challenging level here, no capstone course that really makes you feel clever for solving it. There are a handful of levels here that make good use out of the mechanics, which does definitely put it above the bottom tier of Playdate games for me.

There's also a bit of a personality here, which I appreciate. Elena Temple isn't hilarious, but the little bits of dialogue at least made me smile once in a while. It feels like its own thing, too, which is also important. I don't have a ton of close comparisons for this one. I mean, time mechanics have been done to death at this point but this one still felt fairly unique. I like that especially when it is very easy to make a derivative indie game.

Still, the problem with a lot of these Playdate games still plague this one. It feels like someone's first attempt at a game. Sort of a "hey take it easy on me - I haven't done this before!" kind of vibe to it. The game gives you a mechanic, but never really spends time exploring it like it should. Hey here's spiders ok we'll play with those for two levels and then move on forget about the spiders. This is the kind of game that feels like it needs twice the levels it has, and it is a pretty basic, bare bones puzzle platformer all things considered. Not terrible, but you're not going to miss out on skipping it.

Should You Play It? Eh. No? Probably not. It isn't terrible but I don't think that's enough to really warrant a purchase. It is only three dollars and there is some fun here, so maybe if you love puzzle platformers and don't mind a basic, one hour sort of experience.

Final Score: Solid 4. Some good ideas. Some bad ones. Some sense that the game stole your three dollars and ran off with it.

Games Completed: 20/128

Game Rankings:
20) Boogie Loops
19) Hidey Spot
18) The Lushes Land
17) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
16) Whitewater Wipeout
15) Snak
14) DYG
13) Lost Your Marbles
12) Grand Tour Legends
11) Demon Quest '85
10) The Fall of Elena Temple
9) Flipper Lifter
8) Questy Chess
7) Echoic Memory
6) Omaze
5) Sasquatchers
4) Casual Birder
3) Zipper
2) Pick Pack Pup
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure

Hey I now have a top ten and bottom ten Playdate game list that doesn't have any overlap. Congrats on Elena Temple to be the only non Season 1 game to make the top ten. Just barely though.

-I get through the twenty levels and unlock three bonus levels. Fun. Well, fun-ish, at least.
-I dont mind the puzzles in this game after they started to open things up. But it is still too easy, and a lot of these levels sort of solve themselves. As long as youre paying attention to how many moves you have left, you can sort of figure out what you need to do and when.
-Oh, and the hardest thing in this game? The dissolving platforms. Not because it makes things harder to figure out (although I suppose that is sort of true), but because the visuals in this game are so basic that it is hard to see the visual cue for where these spaces are. I lost a handful of times by accident because I didnt realize I was walking over a dissolving space until it was too late.
-They also dont quite do enough with the mechanics. I feel like they needed double the amount of puzzle rooms they have here, and this is definitely one of those hey its my first time, cut me some slack! sort of offerings.
-First bonus room introduces magnets, which pulls coins from an extra space away. I clear it on my second attempt. My first attempt? Missed a dissolving platform. Oops.
-Second room has pillars that appear when you step on certain spots. They function kind of like the dissolving platforms, but they block you from falling through as well. Pretty clever puzzle design out of this room.
-Third room uses both mechanics, plus some others, then ends. And uh thats it.
-Well, thats another one I can check off. Almost a perfectly acceptable puzzle game if they wouldve actually finished it!

Time Played: 60-90 minutes, I think
High Score: All the coins are mine the money is mine I got the money
Beaten? Yep
Grade: Um. You know, maybe a 4? Low 5, maybe? There are some decent puzzle rooms here but there are only 23 in total and you're going to fly through most of this game without really having to think all that much.
Favorite Part So Far: Definitely the troll pit at the bottom of the ladder. That made me smile.

Currently Playing: The Fall Of Elena Temple

What Is It? Indie puzzle platformer game #15162.

Gameplay Overview: So you play as a little squiggle named Elena. You need to go through 23 different rooms in this temple and grab every coin in it. There are a handful of different obstacles or mechanics (portals that teleport you, platforms that collapse, snakes), but the important one here is the rewind function. Elena can't jump but she can rewind her falls (keeping all the coins she collected regardless). She can only rewind so many times at once though, so you have to be careful or you might get stuck in a pit somewhere.

Here's The Game Page! https://play.date/games/the-fall-of-elena-temple/

Here's Some Pictures!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/433454f5.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/76d93c60.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d984b95d.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/13057d20.png

Thoughts:
-Well, moving on to The Fall of Elena Temple. I 100% picked this one next because of the title and it reminded me of The Fall of the House of Usher. It has nothing to do with that. I can tell from the screenshots it isnt anything referencing Poes work at all. But still, fun title.
-Ok title screen shows me that there are twenty rooms and the music is making me want to go deaf. There are two options at the menu screen: select your room and turn off the music. Ive never been happier to play in silence.
-Now youve done it again, Elena! Why do I always get myself in these sort of troubles? I know! Because I wanted these coins and I love exploring dungeons. Come on, girl, lets do what we do best! Get all those shiny coins! Waitso here name is Elena Temple? And she explorestemples? Hm, maybe thats why she became a temple explorer.
-Ok so if these are the levels these seem super short. You basically have one screen to look at and you need to grab all the coins to complete it, I think.
-I should be careful where I fall. I dont want to wind up somewhere I cant get back up from. Ah, ok, so it is a puzzley sort of platforming game.
-Wait can I not jump? What the hell? So this is a wander around and fall game?
-I turn the music back on out of sheer curiosity, and I swear the track for this stage sounds like someone playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a recorder and the turning the reverb all the way up.
-There are these little twinkle spots in the stage, but I dont know what they do other than serve as a warning that twinkle twinkle little star is waiting for me if I dare turn the music back on.
-Also, and this is weird as hell, once the song finishes it just goes silent. Like I didnt need to mute it again, it just ended. If I want it to start back up, I have to go to the menu, go to music, and select on. Again. I wouldnt do this if the music was something I wanted to listen to.
-Ah, ok so there are portals at some points in the stage. Step into them and they transport you to the twinkle spots.
-And I can jump, but straight up and not left or right. So I cant jump up to a platform, but I can jump up and grab a coin if it is right above my head. Does this add anything to the gameplay? No. Pushing up to make your character move up one space is no different than just walking to get it.
-Boy I love my puzzle platforming games with no platforming, I tell ya.
-First room is super straight forward and I clear it first try. At the end Elena makes a hilarious meta comment about quitting and restarting if she gets herself stuff and then is like jeez why did I say that out loud.
-Ok, the next level introduces the important mechanic in the game, which is that you can rewind time to reverse your last fall. You can do it four times, so Im guessing the game is about planning your moves ahead to make sure you dont wind up using up all your rewinds. Interesting.
-Oh wait, I misunderstood. You have unlimited rewinds, but you can only rewind four falls at max at once. So if you fall from five spots, you can only go back four and can never get back up. But you can rewind four times as many times as you want in a level. That makes things way easier and I blow through the second stage my first try once I figure that out.
-Yeah, so this is sort of a flawed concept for a puzzle game, unless they change it more. You have to get the time turn backer on each stage, so you basically need to make sure you dont fall somewhere you cant get out of before that and then just never go over that max falls unless youre sure you dont need to go back up. Its been very trivial so far, and I think Im five levels in now. I cant remember as the music is slowly killing me.
-Oh, I forgot. Now I have to turn back time midfall and theyre like ok just press the up button instead of using the crank for an instant teleport back. As long as you dont sneeze or something you should be fine because the coins you need to grab are always pretty far above of the spikes and you move slowly.
-Im six levels in and bored. Not a good sign.
-The little snarky dialogue Elena says is mildly charming. If only the rest of the game was.
-Ok, so the tenth level is finally the first one that I dont complete immediately. They introduce locked doors a couple of levels before, and this is the first one that has more doors than keys. You need to figure out which ones dont actually need to be opened by using a combination of portals and rewinds.
-I feel like that Gordon Ramsey finally some good fucking food meme. I know were only ten levels in, but theres only 20 here total so half the game has been completely brainless.
-I cannot emphasize enough how absolutely awful the music in this game is.
-Ok the game has sort of turned a corner for me. Puzzling is better now and it is easier to lose now that they have more mechanics.
-One level introduces ladders. There is a letter at the bottom of a bit below a ladder and it says something like haha yeah so uh hope you didnt drop down from the ladder because that does not count as a drop point. It is a little annoying but also a little funny in the way it is written. And also it is an important mechanic to learn because you use ladders in the next little part to save a drop down when gathering coins. Not bad design, tbqh.

You guys are tasteless and something tragic has happened.

NFUN posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/aa372fb0.jpg

This meme finally has to be retired.

I think it is an important distinction because of something that was just brought up:

Grimlyn posted...

pretty much the entire purpose of dehumanization, so people don't feel bad if things happen to people they've been made to view as vermin

If it is "Nazis weren't that bad" that just makes them dumb/laughable in a vacuum. But what they're actually saying is "you know the very worst people that everyone uses as a barometer for human evil? this group is worse." It feeds right into what Grimlyn was just talking about.

Which is why I disagree with this:

I'm sorry, but there's not much reason to distinguish between "Nazis had some redeeming features compared to irredeemable Hamas" and "Hitler wasn't so bad."

That is not even close to a "Hitler wasn't that bad" and trying to summarize it in that way is intentionally misleading. Not that the truth is any better, because what he is saying is a "Hamas is worse than Hitler". Those are two completely different sentiments and it is important to distinguish the two particularly with what Israel's current strategy is.

Game #19 Complete! Zipper

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: Not Nearly As Annoying As Bennet Foddy's Other Games!

Final Thoughts:
So I beat this one three different times now, but I'm not really getting any closer to the leaderboard. I did some checking on the Discord and I think those top times are a result of glitches, which makes chasing them sort of pointless. I think right around 250 is possible depending on layout and luck, but I don't feel like playing through again and again hoping to get a favorable set up so I'm just calling this one beat even if I usually like to try and get on a leaderboard first.

Zipper goes to near the top of the leaderboard in terms of favorites for me at least, knocking off the only catalogue game I had in the top ten out of my top ten. I am starting to get worried about the catalogue the more I explore it. The Season 1 releases have been mostly decent at least, including three games I would consider genuinely good, no qualifications or crank gimmick blindness required. But all of the catalogue games I've played have been various flavors of not good. Like, just looking at Zipper you know its going to be better than anything I've played on the catalogue so far. The visuals here aren't fantastic or anything, but it looks good for the Playdate and you can tell what things are. It looks like it was made by someone who knew what they were doing and it isn't just amorphous blobs dotting the screen.

I had fun with this, but I do wish they had built up the concepts here a bit more. Like you have those demon puzzle rooms at the end and its almost a fun enough idea to base its own game around. But you just have three and then the game moves on. Final real room introduces a completely new mechanic but you just have that one room of it and oops its over. The core mechanic here is pretty fun and I like that this game isn't afraid to punish you if you don't know what you're doing. I just wish they had told you some stuff so I wasn't bumbling around the game the first hour or so. I get they want us to discover some stuff ourselves, which is fine, but you at least have to tell me how the crank works. THAT'S THE WHOLE BASIS OF THE GAME. I found it out by accident when I was getting ready to quit and move on to something else.

But still. this is solid. This and Crankin are definitely the two most challenging games I've played so far, and I love a game that isn't afraid to be brutally hard. I did check around the Discord some and the general consensus I was getting was this is too hard (people wanted checkpoints) and too inaccessible (people wanted more of an explanation). I agree with the second point, but totally disagree with the first. Checkpoints would've ruined this game and I liked that sense of "oh no oh fuck uh I hope this move is right" when you can't quite figure how to line up a difficult group of enemies. There are some rooms I still haven't figured out, and there's one room where you can get four polearm enemies spread out super far that I just take the long way around because I got sick of dying in it.

Nice to finally play something good again. Guess this is a good time to dive back into the catalogue while I'm on a high note.

Should You Play It? Definitely. One of the better games on the system and its free.

Final Score: 7. Sort of a low seven but still a seven. Good game that's hurt a bit by not exploring the mechanics as much as I would've liked and refusing to tell you how to play it out of spite. Still, this one ranks high. Just a little below Pick Pack Pup but finally beating out Casual Birder for that bronze medal spot for now.

Games Completed: 19/128

Game Rankings:
19) Boogie Loops
18) Hidey Spot
17) The Lushes Land
16) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
15) Whitewater Wipeout
14) Snak
13) DYG
12) Lost Your Marbles
11) Grand Tour Legends
10) Demon Quest '85
9) Flipper Lifter
8) Questy Chess
7) Echoic Memory
6) Omaze
5) Sasquatchers
4) Casual Birder
3) Zipper
2) Pick Pack Pup
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure

plasmabeam posted...

With this project, every time I think I've found my #30, I find a new #30. And every time I think I've found my #1, I find a new #1. It's bizarre, and it's keeping things VERY interesting.

19/30

My number 2 was number 1 from like the fourth movie I watched until the 23rd, but my 30th was fluctuating like crazy. There was one I was like "oh yeah this is number thirty" and then the very next movie I watched beat it. Then another one like two after that, and then yet another one right after that.

Looking at what I have left, there is really only one I think can compete for that bottom spot.

Oh and 24/30 now.

-I die the first run I make it to the castle thanks to fucking pikemen, aka the bane of my existence in this game.
-Next run I make it to the key, get to the castle and get in. Aw yeah.
-New enemy type. DEMONS. They sound scary but don't move or attack. So not scary at all.
-You essentially have to kill them all to open the door, but if you do not make it to the door in the next turn they respawn. Also if you don't kill a demon in a turn the ones you already did kill respawned. So you need to plan out your path to kill them all within a turn of each other, and then end your last one on a clear shot to the exit.
-Hey this is a super fun idea for a puzzle game all by itself and its thrown in as an afterthought here.
-Aw man there are only three rooms of that. Boo.
-Another new mechanic! This one each time you even look at a spot, enemies move. So if you move your cursor up one, they move, and if you select to move there, they move again. But if you move it to the spot, they move, and then you back off and don't choose anything, they don't move back. So essentially you have to be careful because they can kill you without moving at all.
-I don't know what the hell is going on in that room my first time so I die. Fun. I wonder how many rooms I had left.
-Ok, after a couple more attempts I make it back! This time I clear the room easily because I know the mechanics.
-Oh, the next room was the final boss. He taunts you but doesn't have any special skills, so I kill him and move on. Some boss!
-Well, that's the game! I get the ending and it starts over again, if you want. I'll give it a couple more goes because there is a leaderboard here and I didn't make it on. It judges your score by how many moves you have left at the end. Let me see if I can get on that leaderboard before I call it quits.

Time Played: Probably three-four hours between all my playthroughs.
High Score: 220 moves left
Beaten? Finally
Grade: This was setting up to be a three, but once I figured out how the hell to play it, it is actually like a six or a seven. It is pretty fun honestly and far and away the most challenging game on the system so far. I just wish they had 1) explained how to play it at the start and 2) made it a bit more substantial. There were mechanics here they show for just a couple of rooms before moving on and they really could've built it up more.
Favorite Part So Far: Finding out I died on the room before the final room was very much a "haha well that sucked" moment but beating the game after struggling with it for a while was pretty nice.

Currently Playing: Zipper

What Is It? Turn based strategy made by Bennet Foddy. Very Foddian. Very strategy.

Gameplay Overview: You take a turn, then bad guys take a turn. You can move to a square and before selecting it, use the crank to see how that effects enemy movement on their turn. You kill enemies by either moving directly into them (front, side, back) or by zipping past them as long as they are on a square adjacent to the path you're moving. You can blind enemies (stunning them) if you kill someone adjacent to them and spray blood on them which comes in handy in the crowded rooms. Enemies kill you in a single hit if you let them reach you first, so understanding movement is key. Speaking of keys, one will spawn in one of a handful of potential spots on the map, and you need to find it to get into the castle for the last handful of challenge rooms and the final boss.

Here's Some Pictures!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7e3dbd66.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/faca1799.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e71ffadc.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d6727e48.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/83051d10.png

Thoughts:
-Oh God not Bennet Foddy
-This is the game that specifically got me to skip doing Season 1 in order because I did not want to play a Bennet Foddy game. He's made Getting Over It and QWOP, both of which are like bottom ten games for me.
-I did try it for like ten minutes when it was next in line, died, got sent back to the start and thought "nope, not today Satan" before wandering off to try other things.
-This game does not want to explain anything to you. Games on the Playdate seem to have all been made with the mantra "figure it out yourself, idiot".
-I'm doing terribly so far. I've figured out moving past the enemies is good unless you don't kill them in which case thy immediately run down after you to kill you, which is bad.
-I thought I could leave and flee enemies, but even if you go to a space which gets you to the next room, they still get a chance to do their moves and kill you if they have enough spaces to do so. That was fun to find out eight rooms into a run and get sent back to the start.
-Does the crank do anything? It doesn't seem to do anything other than make weird noises in the game. Every game definitely needs a "make odd noises" button so I'm glad they included it.
-I feel like I'm just bumbling around and I'm not getting any further. I can handle easy rooms but then you get to one with like four pikemen and its chaos and I don't know what the hell to do.
-Ok, so you have normal enemies. They suck and are easy to kill. Then you have pikemen. They can attack form two spaces away and also block movement one square in front of them by their pike. They suck because they are hard to kill. Then there are ninjas that throw stars and you from across the screen and I have no clue how to kill them. They suck a lot. Then there are elite swordsmen. The can block your attacks from the front but are vulnerable from the sides. A strategy I've found that works is to zip one spot past them to trigger their block, then zip to the side and kill them while they are locked into their block animation. I'm ok with these guys.
-I feel like I'm never really learning what's going on. I get to a room that I can't figure out, die, get sent back to the start with no new info.
-Also enemy placement and patterns are random between runs. Sometimes I'll get to a room and its a lone goon and sometimes I get to that same room and the game goes "hey fuck you" and its four pikemen all spread out super far so I have no chance of lining them up.
-Ok, I finally figured out a strategy for the ninjas. What you have to do is zoom one square past them. They'll hop back a set. Now you move directly next to them and the do not move because they have a one frame recovery from their dodge animation BUT only if you do not trigger another dodge. You don't if you move next to them because you have to zip past to actually attack. Now when you move, you'll kill them because they apparently do not dodge if you are right next to them at the start of the attack for some reason. I find all this out through blind luck when I was trying to just trigger a dodge and escape the room (which was my previous strategy).
-Oh, also you can kill them if you attack them head on. Also, they cannot attack through other enemies, even previously defeated ones. I discover this by accident too.
-Oh, what the fuck I fucking finally figure out what the crank does, also by accident.
-I'm just goofing around with it because it made noises sometimes and other times not, and I discover that if you use the crank when you go to move but before you actually select a square to move, you see where the enemies can move.
-The game DOES NOT tell you this. It is the single most mechanic in the entire game because it makes it actually playable and they do not hint it is something you need to do.
-Like before I was moving space and hoping the enemies would move where I want them to, now I can see where my movement causes them to move. Game changer. The game is playable now! If only the game explained this to me up front.
-Ah fuck I'm actually enjoying this now. I was so ready to write up an unhinged rant about how awful Bennet Foddy was but it turns out I just didn't know how to play this game.
-Like, this is a crazy way to design your game though. It is hard, unforgiving, and also not explained at all by the creator. I guess you're supposed to just figure it out yourself (I did by messing around with things) but it would've made that first hour significantly more enjoyable if I knew what the hell I was doing.
-Yeah I can actually play the game now. It still isn't easy. You still die in a single hit but I can make it through tougher rooms because I know where they're moving instead of randomly hoping for the best.
-Like you would think that "seeing where enemies move" would make the game trivial but it doesn't. You can pretty easily get yourself locked into a "I'm going to die position" if you aren't careful.
-Oh, I think I finally figured out enemy movement after some experimentation. It looks like they always move your spaces plus one extra. Those dirty cheaters. So that's how they can pretty easily corner you if you aren't being careful, and escape isn't a possibility because they mover further than you.
-I get to a castle entrance and I'm told I need a key. I didn't even know there was a key!
-Ok, so there are also guys I can talk to by moving into them in a couple of different spots. They recover my health and tell me what direction the chest is in.
-After playing a couple of times I notice they don't always tell me the same direction, so it looks like the chest moves around on each playthrough.
-I also forgot to mention that if you don't complete the game is 250 total moves, you die. It seems like an insanely high limit though unless the castle is huge.

Root Bear looks fun for like 20 minutes tops

They dont have leaderboards on the landing page for the game, which in my experience means there are none. And if there are none then yeah, this is going to be a quick novelty and nothing else.

$9 is way too much for like any game on this system I feel like

Thats the biggest problem with the system imo. So many $5-$10 games that should be maybe one or two.

The Playdate store strikes again! I was down to 100 games left but we get ten new games added to the catalogue so that milestone of mine is no more. Some highlights:

Root Bear
https://play.date/games/root-bear/
Johnbobb shared this game earlier because it went viral on social media, and it finally gets its ofificial Playdate release! You pour bears root beer using the crank. Looks like the sort of perfect goofy score chaser that uses the crank perfectly. I'll be getting this one soon.

Nightingale
https://play.date/games/nightingale/
Weird janky indie adventure horror? Yes please. I play a ton of indie horror and 95% of them are garbage. This is giving me garbage vibes from the screenshot but you know what? I'm getting this one anyway. I love horror and this is the first game on the Playdate that is really advertising itself as horror so I'm definitely nabbing this one soon too.

Chew Chew Mimic
https://play.date/games/chew-mimic/
Puzzle game where you try to lure a group of knights to a mimic chest so you can eat them. I can't quite tell what the mechanics are here from the blurb, but I'll probably check this one out on the Playdate store to see if they show off some footage. I'm interested at least and it sounds like a fun concept for a puzzle game.

Pullfrog
https://play.date/games/pullfrog/
Tetris but you're a frog that has to pull the pieces in line with your tongue as they fall.

The last movie was already pretty ruined tbqh.

Level 3
Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5)
DETROIT (-9.5)

Bonus 2

1-0
Pittsburgh
Houston
LA Chargers
WASHINGTON
Jacksonville
Detroit
Miami
Dallas
San Francisco
Seattle
Buffalo
Minnesota
Philadelphia

Game #18 Complete! The Lushes Land

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: Zelda Minus Zelda

Final Thoughts: Can you make a game for the Playdate that doesn't use the crank? Absolutely! Should you? Probably not. Because if you do and your game is just generic mush, you get this. This is absolutely the kind of game you would see on itch.io that comes bundled with 18 other games for 57 cents but here they're asking four dollars for it.

The Lushes Land is essentially an NES Zelda game for a person who's favorite part of an NES Zelda game was wandering around without a clear direction. You have a decent sized map to explore but absolutely nothing to find in it. There are three dungeons, and that's it. You don't pick up extra items you need or find secrets or Easter eggs or anything. You just wander around, fighting the same four different enemies which honestly might as well be one enemy because they're all exactly the same other than the sprite. You get no clever puzzles in the dungeons or interesting enemies to fight or whatever the hell Tingle is supposed to be. You get methodical map checking for about an hour and a half and that's it.

It just feels like one of those nothing sort of games you get from novice indie developers. "I want to make a game" "Ok what do you want to do?" "Well, I really want to make a game" "Uh huh but what are you trying to say with it or what do you want it to be?" "Well I want it to be a game that works". That's this. That was the design philosophy behind this game and hundred of others rotting in the depths of the itch.io catalogue. It is boring and generic and just generally uninteresting. I'm ranking it above Hidey Spot only because I at least sort of like wandering around a map like this, even if there's nothing to do there.

Should You Play It? No way. Play any one of 100 better games with a similar concept instead.

Final Score: 3. Just barely a 3. Functional (except for when it isn't) and short. Do you want functional and short? Aspire to more in life.

Games Completed: 18/118

Game Rankings:
18) Boogie Loops
17) Hidey Spot
16) The Lushes Land
15) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
14) Whitewater Wipeout
13) Snak
12) DYG
11) Lost Your Marbles
10) Grand Tour Legends
9) Demon Quest '85
8) Flipper Lifter
7) Questy Chess
6) Echoic Memory
5) Omaze
4) Sasquatchers
3) Casual Birder
2) Pick Pack Pup
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure

I thought that was a joke! I know someone else here who has a sig that references their other old account that's like "oh jeez I don't know who that guy is but he sounds cool". I thought this was the same thing.

One vote kill the entire way or at some point do you pause the topic and switch to 2 votes, 3 votes, etc at some point?

92. Little Nightmares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOadxZBsPiA

You've gotta love an accurate game title, because in Little Nightmares, you are very little and it is very much a nightmare. Seriously, this game manages to be creepy in every way imaginable. Creepy porcelain face lady, grotesque giant beings with body-horror distorted limbs. I'm a little iffy with survival horror games in general but I was really drawn in by just how creepy this is the whole way through.

I really liked the aesthetic of this game but didn't have nearly as high of an opinion of the gameplay. I've been meaning to play the sequel for some time now but just haven't gotten around to it.

91. Rocket League
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSX3gOrj60

Cars playing soccer is the stupidest idea for a game and it is frankly insane that it works this well. And that was before this game started partnering with every brand imaginable. We live in a timeline where Rocket League x lofi hip hop beats to relax/study to is an actual thing that exists and that's truly a blessing.

I liked how this was both immediately accessible and yet completely inaccessible at the same time. You see top level players chaining these insane aerial combos and I'm just over here like "yeah I can hit the ball like 75% of the time I'm aiming for it, so I got that going for me." Stupidly fun is a good way to put it.

22/30

I think this is the first list of these I've done where I don't have a clear sense of the what "favorites" will be just yet. I usually have a decent idea of the top five but I think this one might be a bit more muddled throughout with a handful of stinkers at the bottom.

TomNook posted...

This topic depresses me, because every time I look, it seems like you aren't valuing your own time. Suffering through all these 3/10s and 5/10s. After a while, it feels like I'm reading someone who is stuck in a sunk cost fallacy.

TomNook7 posted...

Nah tc is a hero. Hes playing all these games so we dont have to, in the hopes of helping the community find a diamond in the rough.

But I do think he owes it to himself to spend money on something good and get Gun Trails or something lol

Also play me in smash for your account

https://media.tenor.com/mg0QH3Ui9-gAAAAd/this-is-getting-out-of-hand-now-there-are-two.gif

I literally didn't know you were two different people until just now.

Also I swear I don't have Stockholm Syndrome! I've largely been enjoying myself because even if the games aren't "great" they are very unique and quirky. It really has only been thist last stretch when I've been playing a lot of catalogue games that things took a downturn.

I've been saving a couple of games for a rainy day (Gun Trails included) that I looked into a bit or that get really positive reviews as some of the top games on the system. It might be time to crack open that "in case of emergency" stockpile though.

-I make my way into town. Time to check the first house! I think youre in the wrong house. So far the dialogue in this game is 100% people confused why I broke into their residence.
-Anything catch your eye? another slime says. Uh I dont know. Is this a shop? I have two coins (I think thats what the icon is) but I cant buy anything and it doesnt take me to a menu anywhere. I guess Ill just break your vases, too.
-I would explore the staircase near the beach, but Im too scared. You should be. There are bats in there! And vases. SO MANY VASES.
-I wonder whats on that island over there. I wonder too. I think it is a boomerang but I honestly cant tell with these visuals. A boulder smashing boomerang. Does that sound right to you? Hello? Where are you going?
-Yeah there are all these stalls in town and some of them have signs that say SALE but there isnt anything actually for SALE. Please let me spend my two coins!
-Oh an actually important house! One of the slimes is like oh youre the guy they sent from the mainland, Ive heard so much about you! Yeah, thats me world famous slime that looks exactly like all the other slimes.
-I forgot to mention up front, but on the store page the game says this is a spin-off of Tochi. What is Tochi? No clue! But maybe Im something from that game.
-The guy says that no one has seen the gems Im looking for for a long time, but I should check the ruins. Yeah, I already did that and found one.
-He gives me the fourth item! Thats all the items now!
-This one isauhmap? Maybe? I cant tell again. It doesnt do anything right now though.
-The slime says to show him the gems if I find them because he wants to see them. I talk to him again to try and show him the one I already found and hes just like good luck on your journey! Fine then. Ill keep my gems.
-Something else I didnt mention: the b button is this game is used solely for inverting the visuals. -Do you want things white with a black background or black with a white background? Why is one button set to do this when it could be doing infinitely other things? No clue.
-I have no clue what that last item does, if anything. I dont seem to be able to break apart anything I couldnt before.
-I actually dont seem to be able to break apart those bigger rocks any more. Is this a glitch?
-This whole game feels like it is hanging on by a thread. It keeps semi-freezing where it wont let me move for a second, then comes back and the music speeds up faster for the next couple of seconds like it is trying to catch up.
-Oh, did I mention this game doesnt save? You cant quit out of it or you just lose your progress entirely. Why? Why is it like this? How hard is it to put in a save state so I can go back to the menu if needed?
-I wander around a bit more and find the second dungeon. Nice.
-Pretty much the same as the first. Fight a couple of enemies, pick up a key, flip a switch, find the gem, leave.
-I finally figure out what the paper does. I think?
I can now go into a menu by flipping out my crank. The crank doesnt do anything there, it just opens it up. In the menu I can see credits, review controls (why?), and transport to campsites Ive been to. Thats the big one. Theres four campsites, three of which Ive found already and one that shows up as a ? on the fake map. So I have explored like 80% of the map, I think.
-What I cant do from this menu is leave. Like I cant just back out. I have to use a campsite or quit out of the game. I transport to the nearest one and wander back, muttering about how dumb that was.
-I find the third dungeon and, again, same thing. I beat it in maybe 5-10 minutes at most.
-THIRD GEM GET.
-Ooops turns out there were only three. The little module that holds them is a square but they form a triangle so Im assuming thats it.
I check out the last little bit of map. There is a slime who is like who came all the way up here? and another campfire. Plus another of the random dogs with music notes around it. Still dont know what that means.
-Theres a lot of decorations here that are just unfinished. Almost all the signs read these are too faded to read. I find a couple of gravestones which are a unique decoration so I was curious and checked them out and they also say you cant read these gravestones. So why include them?
-Well, thats it. I show the gems to the one guy who asked them and hes just like oh thats cool better be leaving huh? Ok, yeah, fine I can take a hint.
-You exit at the screen you start from and you get a one page ending that is basically just like yep thats it but theres more to do next time. Cant wait to find out what the next chapter of the Tochi expanded universe has in store for us.
-Well. Um. That was better than Hidey Spot. I dont know where itll rank just yet, but it is at least better than the second to worst game Ive played on this console, for sure.

Time Played: Hour and a half or so
High Score: 100% completion
Beaten? Destroyed
Grade: Yet another 3? I don't think it was terrible. But it was really, really, really bad.
Favorite Part So Far: All the confused people asking what the hell I was doing in their houses

Currently Playing: The Lushes Land

What Is It? An NES Zelda game with all the stuff you like taken out of it

Gameplay Overview: This really is just a trimmed down version of Zelda 1. You have a map to explore and the game doesn't tell you where to go so you're left to wander wherever you want. You have a sword for stabbing and you attack out right in front of you. There are three dungeons in the game, each of which has locked doors you need to open by exploring a bit and finding keys and switches. Explore, stab, repeat.

Here's Some Pictures!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f5309558.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2c8d2cd7.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e7893eaa.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/39002333.png

Thoughts:
-Time for The Lushes Land. Why? It is an action adventure game and the only genre I havent played on the Playdate yet.
-This journey is simple. Explore the Lushes Land, and try to recover the gems that still remain on the island. Assuming therere still on the island Wait does that make sense?
-I googled because I feel like Im losing my mind and therere is a contraction of there are. -Assuming there are still on the island? I feel like it is supposed to be theyre right? One sentence in and already a confusing typo. Good start.
-Oh boy. Another game where everything looks like a little blop on the screen. Really good start.
-I have no idea where I am or what Im supposed to be doing. Its felt like the game has almost crashed like four times just moving around.
-I think Im a blob? Not positive but I look blobby.
-I think I found a dungeon. Like 90% sure.
-Yeah its a dungeon. Theres keys and everything.
-I find a pickaxe. No clue how to use it. Probably not important, right?
-Oh ok I use it automatically when I get to what I assume are rocks but I thought mightve been poops. Swords break jars (which can have hearts). Pickaxe breaks rocks by walking into them.
-Combat is uh certainly a thing. My strategy has been to stand in a single spot and keep spamming attack while the enemies walk into me. Seems to be working so far.
-Ive thought this dungeon has ended like four times already but it keeps going. Samey room after samey room.
-I mean, ok, Ive been through like maybe ten rooms. But it feels longer because every single one looks identical.
-Ah ok heres the end. Big final room of a bat and a skeleton thing maybe. Same things in all the other rooms.
-I found the first gem! Based on the size of the menu, there are three more. So of the way done aw yeah.
-I feel like this is a game for people that liked the exploration in Zelda 1 but dont anything else. You dont really get puzzles here (at least so far) and the combat is several levels below even the basic combat from that game. What you do have is a map and no directions on where the hell to go.
-Im going to systematically do this just to make sure I dont miss anything.
-Theres a sign that says I can go to town one way or some island the other way. Im assuming the island has a dungeon, so I pick that.
-Nope, no dungeon. But there is another item here. It looks like uh er uh maybe a boomerang? That cant be right be I dont know how else to describe it.
-Does it cut grass? No. Cool that was the one other environment object Ive noticed so Im all out of idea.
-Ah ok it breaks the slightly bigger rocks. So pickaxe breaks small poopy looking rocks and this one breaks slightly bigger circular rocks.
-Theres a dog with music notes around it. I have no clue what it does so I just move on.
-I find a house with another little slime inside. No. No treasure for you. Fine Ill just break all your pots instead.
-There is this weird thing in this game where sometimes environment objects are right on the side of the screen. Like trees for example. You can move into them from the screen over. So, like, if there is a tree all the way on the left of one screen, if you walk into this screen from the screen to the left of it and go into where the tree is, you just get stuck. You can move back at least, but you cant move around on the screen. Seems like a dumb design choice to put objects on the edge of a screen when you can move into them.

Snake

Samus

I leave it up to Death! 2022 is ready but I am in no rush and I can wait. Also, if people wanted to I could just wait until the New Year and do Fuck 2023 Mafia at the start of January, which is also ready. Skip 2022 entirely and get things back on a normal schedule.

Up to you guys (and Death) though.

Baltimore

KamikazePotato posted...

My issue with Other Mother is that supernatural creatures harming humans never feels as evil as humans harming humans.

That's always where I fall too. Evil acts, for sure, but when you're dealing with creatures so far divorced from humanity it can start veering into "person stepping on an ant" territory.

Johan

Game #17 Complete! Hidey Spot

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: Hide and Don't Seek

Final Thoughts: My attempts to venture away from the Season 1 releases have been a disaster thus far. I've played 17 games, and of the four catalogue games I've played only one has managed to crack the top ten. And that one is only there because Snak wouldn't stop setting itself on fire when I tried to play it for too long. Hidey Spot doesn't have to worry about that though because I'd still take barely functional Snake clone over this one.

This is one of "those" indie adventure games. I've probably played more adventure games than any other genre at this point, so I can find "those" types of indie adventure games pretty quickly. You know what I'm talking about. The kind of game that is just there. Somewhere a developer is like "I want to make an adventure game" and their friends are like "oh hey that's cool - about what?" And then the developer just stares at them for a while and goes "I want to make an adventure game!" It is one of those absolute nothing adventure games that you find all over itch.io. A low effort, low interest, low creativity game that almost isn't even interesting enough to be awful.

I know you can do better adventure games than this on the Playdate, so this isn't even a system limitation. Casual Birder is a short adventure game, but it is still a game. It is a full game that proves you can do full game type stuff. This feels more like an eye test than a game. I want you to look at this picture below:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/24a79248.png

Where is the playable character? How long did it take you to find it? You shouldn't be looking at a game and questioning if you're losing your eyesight. It is a 45 minute game where you do almost nothing and it looks like this. AND THEY'RE ASKING FOR $6. SIX DOLLARS. The only way this game should cost six dollars is if it came bundled with seven dollars.

I haven't even really talked about the gameplay, which is where my main problem is. First half of the game is finding six presents and you do this just by looking around a handful of small rooms. Multiple presents aren't even hidden anywhere. They're just sitting out in the open. And then the back half is using one of these items as a key to open a door and then bringing one of five objects to one of five characters. Hey this skeleton character is hungry and one of your five items is food. Is that a puzzle? Do we consider what waiters do puzzles? Even if these were all weird esoteric solutions, there are five characters you can talk to and five items you have that you use once. You can brute force through this in two minutes.

This is just a bad, nothing adventure game that doesn't even use the crank. You can play bad adventure games on your computer for way less than $6. It wasn't Boogie Loops bad, but it was the first game that gave it a run for its money.

Should You Play It? Absolutely not. $6 for this? I feel like some sort of government agency needs to get involved.

Final Score: I'm ultimately going with a 2. Terrible. Truly terrible. There is some little bit of cuteness to the set up and I didn't completely hate the dialogue. I hated everything else though.

Games Completed: 17/118

Game Rankings:
17) Boogie Loops
16) Hidey Spot
15) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
14) Whitewater Wipeout
13) Snak
12) DYG
11) Lost Your Marbles
10) Grand Tour Legends
9) Demon Quest '85
8) Flipper Lifter
7) Questy Chess
6) Echoic Memory
5) Omaze
4) Sasquatchers
3) Casual Birder
2) Pick Pack Pup
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure

Solid Snake

OH BABY

...oh fuck.

It is bonkers to me that Pittsburgh is somehow 6-3.

Effffff.

I'm in the final three of my money survivor league. I initially picked the Bears but then chickened out at the last second and swapped to the Bills.

Just keep running Buffalo, for once, please.

Bowser

Oh interesting. Thanks for clarifying!

Yeah, this is a blowout then. Bob

trdl23 posted...

I always dock points for monsters who have to be monsters to keep existing, but jesus fucking christ

This is usually my train of thought too. Does Bob need to do what he does to survive? Is his existence dependent on doing what he does? He sounds like a significantly worse version of Pennywise.

Dancedreamer posted...

Bob

Art is usually finished with his victims quickly. With Leland, Bob stayed for years. Made him molest and murder his own daughter. While he does feed off of 'garmonbozia', even the other residents of the realm of pure evil from which he comes want him destroyed.

This is interesting though. That first part is horrific, and that second part makes it seem like he is doing something "extra". Why exactly do they want him destroyed?

-I get transported to the end and the final scene is kinda cute and has me giving the treasures from the basement to my family as a way to make up opening all my Christmas presents early. There is some charm to the game, Ill give it that. Thats basically all I give it though.
-I try to go back in and see when the game is supposed to game over. I finish at like 4 AM so presumably it is like a 5/6 AM type of thing. I dont know if I can though because I walk around until its like 9AM and Im still getting the jeez my parents should be up soon message. Im not sure if I can trigger the fail state because I already saw the ending or if it was a fake threat and there isnt one. Either way, you have a ton of time and its a short game so it ends up not mattering.
-Final thoughts coming soon!

Time Played: It was in that 45 minutes to an hour range, I think.
High Score: All puzzles solved at 4:02 in the morning. Plenty of morning left to go back and hide, if needed.
Beaten? Yep
Grade: Wow I keep repeating myself here but I think this is another 3. I'll have to think about it a bit more, but I do think it finishes above "terrible" and is merely "bad". Cute little set up but way, way too simple to be anything noteworthy.
Favorite Part So Far: Ending was cute.

Currently Playing: Hidey Spot

What Is It? An adventure game where you look for Christmas presents and then it gets weird.

Gameplay Overview: This is a pretty standard adventure game. You explore your house looking for Christmas presents and you inspect items by walking into them. On the back half of the game, there is some rudimentary puzzle solving. You can only carry one item at a time though, and you basically just need to show the right item to the right person. Your inventory can only be opened up at a mirror for some reason, so if you have the wrong item you have to go back to the mirror to swap out.

Here's Some Pictures!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b2a79ed3.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7676511d.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/24a79248.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f754cb35.png

Thoughts:
-Hidey Spot is another catalogue game and I picked it because its about Christmas.
-I probably shouldve saved this for another month, huh? Oops.
-From the store page, you are a kid looking for hidden presents around the house. Shockingly, I played a game just like that for another forgotten handheld (PS Vita) called A Quiet Christmas! That game was really bad and lasted like ten minutes so heres hoping we can get a cool 15 out of this one.
-THE BIG DAY IS HERE! Everyone is sleeping, so I can sneak out and find the Christmas gifts theyve hidden around the house Wait, isnt the big day Christmas? Or no? If it is this kid should just wait like two hours as everyone should be up soon.
-Movement is weird. You move one block at a time in a very staggered way
-Its 1:06. I still have plenty of time before anyone wakes up. I am no worried this game is on a timer and they didnt tell me. Ill have to check this clock a couple more times to see if it keeps moving.
-Mom and dad set out the presents on Christmas Eve, so tonight is my last chance to find them before they go under the tree! Poor Santa getting no credit here.
-Its 1:07 AM. I still have plenty of time before anyone wakes up. Aw fuck I am on a timer.
-You inspect stuff by walking into it. I tear apart my bookshelf looking for presents. If mom and dad hid presents in my room behind my stuff, they are dumb people.
-I find my Christmas list on the floor and Im asking Santa for a working hoverboard. Spellings all over the place. Also, you know youre supposed to send the list, right kid? Cant just leave it on the floor and hope for the best.
-I pick up my notebook and it says I have 0/6 gifts. Good of mom and dad to have told me how many things Id need to find.
-First room I go into is mom and dads room. Jackpot.
-Dad is snoring loudly. I hope there is a cure dads sleep apnea puzzle.
-First present found! It was in the closet behind clothes. Itssocks. Hooray?
-Second present found! It is behind the shower curtain. Wait, what? Who hides presents in the shower? Do mom and dad not bathe?
-Thats all in this room, I think. Although if I go to the mirror I have an inventory I can access. I pick the battery charger (gift 2) because I feel like that could be used in a puzzle. Socks, not so much.
-Next room is sisters room. They are also snoring. No wonder no one hears me digging around.
-Third gift found! It is just sitting out in the open. Not a lot of puzzle solving so far and Ive found half the gifts.
-This one is a notebook. Im getting some awful gifts this year.
-The Magic Prince of Zuliria Mountain: A GHB Wolsterhamster Journey. I prefer nonfiction myself. Is this a reference to something?
-Sister 2 is a sci-fi nerd. I know this because her whole side of the room is nothing but sci-fi books.
-Fourth present found! It is in a little closet in the hallway. Im just cruising now. Time to go downstairs, I guess.
-My aunt and uncles mean dog is here and is blocking a door. Hello mean dog can I interest you in a battery charger?
-I guess I solve a puzzle in the kitchen? I push something a couple of blocks just because I could and the game goes eureka, now the door is unlocked! Oh. Ok. Didnt even know it was locked in the first place.
-Spoopy dark basement time.
-I found the lightswitch. Now it is less spoopy.
-I find my uncles gift! He got mea sword? Uncle is hated by mom and dad, I guarantee it.
-Theres a secret hole in the wall. If my knowledge of horror movies is correct, this is either dads torture dungeon or a gateway to hell.
-My aunts present to me is down here too for some reason. A whoppie cushion. Thats 6/6 now so good job me.
-Kid comments he thinks his adventure isnt over yet. Yeah, I was judging that based on the hidden gate down here.
-So Ive stumbled on some sort of mystical world. Weird. Theres a fairy down here and she says that the creatures down here will give us treasures if we help them out. Uh. Ok? This game definitely took a bizarre turn but I guess Ill help.
-Also I got my first trophy for using the sword to open the locked gate. 1/6 from that at the moment so lets go get the other five.
-So I can use the map to move around more quickly now to rooms I missed. Looks like the two rooms I didnt go into are a sort of living room and then a room where aunt/uncle are sleeping. -Nothing interesting in either and Ive wasted steps. Great.
-Oh. Not sure if I mentioned it yet but I found the developer posting in the Discord and he disclosed that the time in this game is tied to the steps you take. So there is some sort of time limit for a reason I cant even begin to guess at.
-Theres a maze with a unicorn. And by maze I mean some tunnels they are calling a maze because you can clearly see the entrance and exit.
-I try to give the unicorn the five items I have. None works. Steps wasted.
-One screen down is a sleeping lioness that is the ruler of this realm. The two people here talk about how cool she is and how no one has been able to wake her up for centuries. Im assuming this is hinting that I can. Time to go get the whoopie cushion.
-The whoopie cushion doesnt work but the charger does becauseI dont know, man. It just does, ok? Theyre like oh we can try why not and then she wakes up and they give me a gold bar and thats it. Alrighty then.
-I solve a couple more rudimentary puzzles and get two more trophies. Fairy food goes to the hungry skeleton and socks are used to cross the lake of fire. Two trophies left and one room left to go in, so Im guessing theyre both in there.
-This is one of those way too minimal indie adventure games that doesnt put up much resistance. The biggest challenge here is the annoying inventory system where I have to go back to a mirror to get the right item if I cant psychically divine what thing Ill need next.
-Alright, well, thats it. I get the final two trophies pretty easily. I bring the right item the first time so I dont even get the introductory dialogue telling me who the hell these people are but honestly I dont really care enough to go back and replay to find out what theyre supposed to say.

Snake

Level 5:
New York Jets (-1.5)
BUFFALO (-7.5)

Crescent-Moon posted...

Dallas is already covering the -23!

They just have to not lose the second half.

I mean Dallas should be playing their backups most of the second half.

So yeah they should definitely cover.

Poor Luca Blight is outclassed here. Yawgmoth

Yeah, I mean it is 200 dollars but you get 24 games packaged with it, some of which I quite liked, and the whole crank is so novel that even the bad games are kind of interesting.

Except Boogie Loops.

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

Carolina
Indianapolis

Baltimore
Cincinnati
Jacksonville
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Tennessee
Atlanta
Detroit
Dallas
Seattle
Las Vegas
Buffalo

Samus

Game #16 Complete! Grand Tour Legends

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: Absolutely one of the two best racing games on the Playdate at the time of this quote.

Final Thoughts: Well, I'm calling it. I managed to get the hammer on the second course but I'm like three seconds off the time to do it on the final track and I have no idea what to do to improve my time since 1) this game hates you and doesn't tell you shit and 2) no one plays this game except like six people on the Discord. That's sort of the problem with the Playdate and the community is so small that outside of the biggest games there aren't a lot of information on them.

I still haven't figured out how to boost. I'm convinced the developer lied to us and it is truly RNG because that's the only thing that makes sense at this point. Cool of them to include one mechanic beyond the standard cranking and to not explain it at all and make it super finicky to pull off.

That's not even my main issue though. There's three tracks here and none of them are that interesting. I don't know exactly how many tracks I need out of a racing game, but I know that number is above three. It is a super simple racing game if that's all you want, but you should be able to get first place on every track within ten minutes. And then another year to get that final trophy on the final track. I am in general not a huge racing game fan, so maybe I'm all wrong here. But I think you need more than three tracks and probably the ability to steer and knowing "how to play the game". That's just me though.

Should You Play It? Nah. It takes ten minutes to finish but you can find better things to do with your ten minutes.

Final Score: Yet another 3. But like a *high* three. And three that can get up on its tippy toes and see a four. I kinda like cranking and this is at least better than the dregs of the Playdate console. Like, it's pretty much a game and I didn't hate it and it isn't as annoying as Lost Your Marbles, for example. I'd give the edge of "way to short a game" to Demon Quest '85 though as that had a lot more charm than this.

Games Completed: 16/118

Game Rankings:
16) Boogie Loops
15) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
14) Whitewater Wipeout
13) Snak
12) DYG
11) Lost Your Marbles
10) Grand Tour Legends
9) Demon Quest '85
8) Flipper Lifter
7) Questy Chess
6) Echoic Memory
5) Omaze
4) Sasquatchers
3) Casual Birder
2) Pick Pack Pup
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure