Dave the Diver

Difficulty: Pretty easy! I think there was only one boss fight that gave me some trouble the but the main boss at the end was doable in one try. I think it was a little difficult to get away from some of the larger sea creatures like the sharks, but still pretty doable to get away from them. 

How long to beat the game: If I were to sit down and play the whole thing through this game could be done in a couple weeks for me. It is really not a long game (the main story at least) and the bosses are not hard to beat. 

Best parts about the game: I mean I worked in aquariums for 10 years, so it was really cool to see all the different types of fish/invertebrates/mammals in the game. I also enjoyed the collaboration with Balatro for that part in the Sea People challenge. This was a super cute game that has a lot of components to it. You've got the farming stuff, restaurant management stuff, then some action with catching all the fish. There was a nice mix of activities to do in the game while still sticking to the story. I've mentioned this before with this game, but I really enjoy how much the developers seem to enjoy making the game. I didn't know if I was gonna like it because there are a lot of parts that are technically timed (like how much air is in your tank) but there were a ton of areas where you could replenish your air supply. The sea people quests were probably the most annoying part of the game, but honestly, the little sea people village was super cute. I could see people continuing to play after the main story is completed to just focus on the sushi part of the game. I feel like people are selling all their upgraded sushi for like a million dollars or something which would be fun to continue, but I have too many damn games to play. The animation style is what drew me to the game. I am such a sucker for pixel graphs with a hint of modernness lol. 

Fire Emblem Engage

Difficulty: Not tooooo difficult, however, there was a little grinding required to beat some of the later levels. 

How long to beat the game: Ok, I played this game on and off for over a year so...ignore me lol. This game prob only takes like a month to beat at most if you are on top of it. Probably even less. 

Best parts about the game: I have been playing Fire Emblem since I was like a kid but have only beaten 2 of the games fully (this one and one other one that is on the 3DS). I really love the tactics of this game, and I play where if your characters die, they can still come back in another battle. This is a pretty cozy tactical game I feel, and it was exactly what I was looking for in a game at the time. I like the art buttttt I think it was a little "cheaply" made like the new Pokemon graphics on the Switch. Good, but did not have an authentic feel if that makes sense. I also didn't like that you couldn't really customize your character too much. You can have your character wear different things in the "town" part but couldn't wear anything different into battle. You also cannot purchase more than a few elixirs?? I def had to rely on staffs to use physic, mend, and heal which was a little annoying. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the game for the game or enjoyed the little bit of nostalgia I got from playing. I remember playing Fire Emblem on a Gameboy back in the day and to play it as a rebooted game on the Switch was pretty neat. Phew, I think I got my FE fill for a good year. I think they are making a new one for the Switch though which I may check out in the future, but for now, I'm going to take a break!

Tails Noir

Difficulty: Easy? Maybe moderate? There are some puzzles to do but this is a very story-driven game. 

How long to beat the game: I think I played this game on and off for like a few days. It really didn't take long at all. In fact, I think I streamed this game and that usually makes me finish a game faster than usual. 

Best parts about the game: The story got way darker than I thought it was going to get! I love the sci-fi elements with the old school detective vibes. The game itself is really beautiful, and everyone knows I am a huge sucker for pixel graphics. I also like the different animals and how they play into class and power in the story. We play as the racoon detective who is (at first) trying to find a missing animal. There are actually multiple missing animal reports that have been coming up around the city. As we dive deeper into the story, we find that the "missing" animals have been harvested for their meat. We see that animals like the apes are quite affluent in the city and want to dine on this delicacy. Then things take a really funky turn...we learn about this parasitic substance called "The Artifact". Our little racoon detective gets himself exposed because dumbass pressed his hand against the containment and got it all over him. He is banished to the outskirts of town where we learn about the lives of those who don't reside in the main city. Ngl the ending was a tad bit confusing. The game ultimately ends with the artifact taking over and killing our protagonist racoon. In my opinion, I think they should have just left the artifact part out and just focused on the classism and cannibalism. Maybe my tiny little brain couldn't grasp it all! Either way, this is such a well-done game. I love the dialogue, gameplay, art...etc. I highly recommend for those who love little indie games with dark elements. 

  

Undertale

Difficulty: Medium...harder than I thought! (That's what she said)

How long to beat the game: I can't remember if it took me just a week or I set it down a few times and it took a couple weeks. I remember streaming this on Twitch, so I probably played it pretty consistently. Either way, does not take long to play the game!

Best parts about the game: I fell victim to yet another game with retro graphics and funky storyline. I also wanted to try the unique game play and see how weird it was. It is def different than any game I've played before. You kind of expect the game to be basic because it looks so simple, but it incorporates a lot of action in various forms. A lot of the gameplay when you fight is dogging items in the little box that comes up. I also like how weird this game is (have I mentioned that I like weird games?) The characters of this game are a big reason there is such a massive cult following for this game. They all have such funny personalities and are actually pretty deep. The whole premise of this game is that you are a human who has appeared in the monster realm. Asgore (I think that's his name?) wants to close the "portal" between the two worlds so the monsters and humans are forever segregated. As you proceed through the game, you will find out the characters' involvement and opinion on the "portal" being closed. I'll admit, I am not a huge geek over this game where I remember all the characters and all the little endings, however, this game was super fun to play (although frustrating at times with some of the fighting sequences). I would recommend this game for someone looking for an indie, retro, short game with funny character dialogue. If I were to replay this game to see if I could get a different ending, I would def pay more attention to the characters and what they say.   

Thimbleweed Park

Difficulty: Medium. A pretty average difficulty for a point and click game. There were some parts that were tricky, but overall, not too bad. 

How long to beat the game: I think it took me a few weeks or a month because I didn't play it consistently. If I were to sit down and play this all the way through, it would probably take a few days. 

Best parts about the game: What really drew me to this game was the pixel graphics and retro gameplay. It really is like an old point and click game which I am a sucker for. I also like the weirdness of the game and some of the humor speckled throughout. I think the main complaint about the game is that the murder is never reallllly solved (unless I am not remembering correctly) and the players in the game realize they are in a video game. The ending is basically the characters becoming self-aware and needing to destroy the game so they could escape the weird little town of Thimbleweed Park. I also liked that we could alternate between the characters as the game progresses. The characters in this game really made it. From the clown to Dolores (who got her own game and I'm pretty sure I didn't spell that name correctly), these characters were memorable. This was a pretty simple game with elements that made the success it was. I feel like this game was sort of a big game when it was released and I'm really glad I played. I do NOT recommend playing on the Switch though. Point and click games should def be played on a PC (and I know this but still played on my Switch lol). 

 

Mouthwashing

Difficulty: Easy? It's a lot of story but some parts are a little tricky.  

How long to beat the game: A few days. It's a pretty short game. A pretty weird game...but pretty short. I was satisfied with the length though lol that's what she said. 

Best parts about the game: How freaking weird it is! I thought the intentional glitches were so creative and the plot was so much deeper than I thought it was going to be. The whole game puts you in the shoes of one of the main characters who purposely sets the crew's ship to doom. This was all due to his girlfriend being on board and admitting that she was pregnant was getting (or got?) and pretty much went crazy. Throughout the game the player is told to "Take Responsibility" as it flashes across the screen multiple times. Dang, I should have written a review as soon as I finished the game because I am having a hard time remembering what happened. Parts of this game were very emotional, and some parts were hilarious. I had a great time playing this game and streaming it (with pretty much no one watching lollll). Those will be fun clips to look back at! Also, the graphics of this game was the main draw for me. I love PlayStation looking graphics especially if it's for some obscure game. 

Spiritfarer

Difficulty: Easy but need patience to gather materials. 

How long to beat the game: It took me like 4-5 months, but I think I was super busy or depressed when I was playing??

Best parts about the game: Well, if you love crying this game if for you. I think this game made me cry more than any game I've ever played in my life. My grandma also had recently passed when I was playing this game, so grief was on the forefront already. I think the art style and animation make this game beautifully done. It has a lot of fun little elements such as farming, modifying your ship, recipes to cook and other stuff to make this game really variable in its gameplay. I think everyone can agree that the very best part of the game is the cat that follows you around! So freaking adorable. This is definitely a cozy game, but as I said, be careful, it's heartbreaking when one of the characters finally departs after you've given them all those hugs throughout the game. I think I just have attachment issues though. I cried almost every time one of them left lollll I think the game is meant to maybe confront grief though? Like it made it a celebration in a way, and it was like a healthy goodbye each time? Whatever it was, this game really made me feel things. 

Home Safety Hotline

Difficulty: Surprisingly more difficult than I thought! I'd say on the high side of moderate. 

How long to beat the game: A few days to a week. You could easily beat this game in a single day though. 

Best parts about the game: This game is freaking weird! How weird it is along with all the retro interface elements make this game unique and fun to play. Of course, Supervisor Carol is increasingly off-putting throughout the game which adds to the wtfness of the entirety. As I mentioned above, this game is more difficult than I thought it would be. I guess I haven't really explained the premise of you are playing as a crisis responder and you get all these weird calls you have to figure who/what the culprits are. There is list provided with audio clips and descriptions, but make sure you look through allllll of them because there are points in the game where the software "glitches" and you have to use your memory to guess the culprit at that point. I really love this little gem. I also played the Seasonal Worker expansion and that was super fun. I liked that they let you know when an answer was wrong. The first one you didn't even know so you had to keep going back and guessing! My friend and I played the first one together and man, there were times we were like this hassss to be the answer just to go through the whole round again not really knowing if the answer was correct. This game gained a lot of publicity when it came out and for good reason!

 

Life is Strange

 Difficulty: Easy-Moderate

How long to beat the game: a few weeks, I think?

Best parts about the game: Obviously the story is the main draw to the game. This game is entirely choice based, and your choices affect the direction of the plot. This game did a great job at delivering an emotional story (yes, I cried during one part) and dang...some parts got a lot darker than I was expecting. I had never played any of the other games in the series, so I didn't know what to expect. This was a good break from playing action heavy games, but after this game I was ready to play something a bit more physically engaging. The other major part of this game is time travel. Max has the ability to go back into the future and rethink some of her choices. It was really creative how they tied that part in, and you get to see the story unfold in a number of ways. Of course...I chose to save the blue haired girl I only kissed once. Please kill me. 

Amanda the Adventurer

Difficulty: Moderate (some of those clues were sort of tricky!)

How long to beat the game: I think I spent about a week or two playing it. 

Best parts about the game: The creepiness of the game for sure is the best part. There is a trend of turning childhood nostalgia into something unsettling and not quite what we remembered growing up. I didn't realize how much story was involved with this game until I looked up some of the explanations. Although it is never fully said in the game, there is high speculation that Amanda is actually Rebecca Colton who is a little girl who went missing. Her father was the creator of the show, and it is believed that Rebecca turned into this TV character. She even says in one of her VHS tapes that she is still out there somewhere. The puzzles were actually sort of difficult in this game, but once you got the hang of what to look for and get used to the attic, it gets a bit easier. There were also 5 possible endings to the game (and yes, I got them all). Some of the endings led to your death by a monster that appears in the attic while I believe there is just one true ending. One of the tapes leads to Amanda the Adventurer 2 and I can't wait to check that one out! It's currently on my Wishlist on Steam.

 

MADiSON

Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult (have to be pretty good at picking up on clues/doing puzzles)

How long to beat the game: A few months

Best parts about the game: The scare factor in this game was legit one of the best I've seen in a horror game. The use of the camera flash to cause jump scares was such a good touch. This is also one of those games that if you turn the camera around sometimes random figures/objects will appear. Not gonna lie though! Some of those clues were difficult to find and some of those puzzles were pretty tough! This is def a fun game to play with someone else so two people can work on the puzzles together. However...much scarier by yourself. I actually remember being a little intimidated to play this game by myself in the dark at my old apartment. I can prob do it now because I don't feel anything anymore and just numb lolllll. I think this had a lot of things you see in your typical horror game, but they did it with finesse? The whole game seemed to be very intentional and was very story driven so even typical horror game elements seemed to have more of a purpose in this game. This is a game I would def play again with someone who has never played (I forgot most of the clues anyways). Maybe I would pick up a bit more on the story since it was a little complex and involved multiple people and timelines. The main story is you are Luca who has been gifted a camera that was previously owned by a serial killer and spooky stuff happens. That freaking white statue got me so many times!

Coffee Talk (1 & 2)

Difficulty: Easy (it's literally just making coffee and talking to guests)

How long to beat the game: You could easily enjoy this whole game in one day, but I played it over a week or two I believe. 

Best parts about the game: This is another super cozy game and I happen to loveeee coffee and live in WA (actually about to move to Seattle!) The pixel graphics of this game is what originally drew me to the game. I think it was a beautifully done game. I love the multiple story lines you can follow throughout the game and all the different combos of drinks you can make with the ingredients. Coffee Talk 2 was equally as good as 1 and I would not be surprised at all if they made a CT 3. There is enough of a fan base, and you can def continue the story of some of the characters. In fact, a completely dialogue-based game is sort of brilliant in that sense. This is one of those games to play when you just want to just sort of zone out and take your time enjoying the characters. Plus, this game is hella inclusive. Not only are there fantasy creatures, but they include LGBTQ characters. This game will always be one of my favorites! 

Lake

Difficulty: Easy

How long to beat the game: A couple weeks?

Best parts about the game: It's super cozy and there literally no parts where you have to actually use your brain. Sometimes that is needed in a game. With that being said I think of this game as more of a palette cleanser before going into a bigger game? Also, the version they made for the Switch was so bad. I played it on my PC and it worked much better (as expected). I like the story of the game, and I like that it's one of those decision matters type of games. Not gonna lie, my little heart was torn between being queer or just having a happy, safe life with Mr. Lumberman (def don't remember his name). It was actually pretty relaxing driving the little mail truck around and looking at the scenery. I hope to one day retire in this little lake town!

 

Crown Trick

Difficulty: Medium-hard

How long to beat the game: 4 monthish? I forgot honestly lol

Best parts about the game: I liked that this game was turn-based in that even the enemies move when your player moves. Another cool thing about the game is that you can utilize certain elements to help counter your enemies. I think some of the levels would have been impossible without that help. The artwork was really adorable and idk...I think this is one of my favorite games because I am such a sucker for tactical games! I love a game where I can take a turn and walk away (although I was pretty glued the whole time). I think it's the addicting aspect of going back to do the same level with a slightly higher chance of winning that does it for people with addictive personalities like me. I'm kind of shocked that I rank this game as one of my favorite games I've ever played...like there wasn't too much story or anything and it was super repetitive, but it was super fun!