Another PC-locked, Steam Deck-freed game! Who knows, one day my huge Steam backlog may finally be dented. (Narrator: it never was) The Norwood Suite is one of a series of first person narrative discovery games set in the same universe. I don’t know the order they’re in (if indeed they are), but I think this is the first one? It doesn’t really matter though, as it’s utterly mental so even if I did get some references, the rest is nuts …
In which you run a launderette, put washing on, tumble dry, collect it up, and pick up rubbish. Only! In the back room of the launderette is a mostly forgotten and unloved video game arcade with a handful of machines! So when you make laundry money, you buy more arcade machines, and then they make you money, and then they start to make so much money that, actually, the laundrette starts to just get in the way so you oust …
One of those games from ages ago that I was really looking forward to, but it took forever to come out and when it did, I’d sort of stopped caring. At least, enough to pay for it anyway. But for free, on my Steam Deck? Ah, gwan then. Yes, it’s Advance Wars. Graphically and mechanically, anyway. In fact, in those respects, it’s so close to Advance Wars that I’m amazed the normally trigger-happy Nintendo Fun Lawyers didn’t set upon it …
Another random game from my previously inaccessible PC game library, liberated thanks to the Steam Deck! And I’m glad I took a punt on this one, because even though I had no idea what it was like (I was sold purely on the aesthetic) it turns out it’s wonderful. Imagine a cross between Cannon Fodder and Pikmin, where all your little people are various animals that want to Smash The System. The more you enlist, the more powerful the group …
I’ve been eyeing this up for ages but it never really went cheap enough. Sure, I’m a fan of the series (although THPS3 is the best one), but I couldn’t bring myself to pay more than £20 for it. Then PS+ gave it away as a free rental, finally, so here we are. It’s a remake of the first two THPS games, mostly as I remember them, only in much higher resolution and with some of the music missing because …
I aborted an attempt to play Pony Island on my Mac a few years ago, as you have to press the left and right mouse buttons at the same time at some point, and with a Mac mouse you can’t do that. I had a PC mouse I could have plugged in instead, but I also had eleventybillion other games that didn’t require that sort of effort, so it got shelved. Until now! Sure, the Steam Deck actually has no …
No, I have no idea why I downloaded this, but then I discovered it was multiplayer co-op so played through it with my family. It’s a cute, relatively simple, platform puzzle game. Most of the puzzles relate to the height or distance you can jump, and manoeuvring or stacking objects (or your co-op partners) to reach buttons and switches and so on. There are springy things and floaty things, fans, fences you can burn, other characters you need to help, …
You know those silly “Mon Hid My Game!” games I played a while back? This is one of them, only with a slight difference. Each level, you have to hide from your sister. The first few are easy – behind a curtain, or in a cupboard – but they soon get more complicated. The gameplay, such that it is, is almost exactly like the other games and it has some similar 4th wall breaking “surprises” later on, but it’s a …
Now this game I have heard of. It’s one of those single screen, clear out all the baddies games like Parasol Stars and Snow Bros, only in this one you grab them with your rod and then bash their brains out on the floor. As you do. I had forgotten, however, that there were bosses! But, and like most of the rest of the game actually, they were surprisingly easy to beat. A very happy jolly platformer with cute graphics. …
Despite the name, there’s no actual detectiving in 64th Street. Sure, at the end of each level a wall of text comes up to say you found a clue to, uh, whatever the thing you’re supposed to be doing is, but actually, the game is 100% punching and kicking people. Because, it’s a Final Fight type game after all. I’d never heard of it before, and, when I came to write this I’d already forgotten what game it was. But …
A point and click murder mystery adventure game where all the people are actually animals? Why yes, yes I do believe I will buy and play that. It’s really very good too. The puzzles are neither too easy nor too obscure, and the whodunnit (and, after that, the whydunnit) were both surprises and kept me wanting to play to get the resolution. The graphics are amazing, and the voice acting really something special. My only issue is the pacing is …
What an unusual game. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just not really like anything I’ve played before. Heaven’s Vault has the feel of a point and click adventure game (albeit with direct control of your character), but it’s also mostly a visual novel. Except, it has “driving” sections. And, perhaps most interesting and unusual, there’s an entire language you have to slowly translate as the game progresses. Then there’s the animation style, which is like a …
This is one of those intentionally obstructive co-op arcade games like Overcooked, and it has a similar art style and sense of humour to that game too. But, it’s a lot easier and I (well, we – daughter was on controller 2) had more fun with it. The aim is to clear a house of (mostly) furniture, by carrying it to the waiting lorry and packing it all in so it fits. Smaller items, like toasters and boxes, can be …
The first game to be “free” with the new higher tiers of PlayStation Plus on the day of release, Stray was a lovely surprise. I knew it existed, so I don’t mean like that, and it was announced to be coming to the service a while back. No, what I’m referring to is the gameplay, the setting, and just how good it is. Until downloading it, my interested was “ooh, a cat game? That might be fun”. But it’s so …
I’ve played and completed this before, but whereas previously I played it on a Mac, this time I played it on a Steam Deck. Yes, it’s still the same game, but now I have poop in my hands! As before, I got all the goals and achievements and stuff, and it was a silly diversion for a while.
