Tag game review

Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story is a side-scrolling aerial combat game by Houndpicked Games and is a pun filled battle full of food.

Do you like puns? Do you like fast paced action? Do you like food based jokes? Do you enjoy explosions? If you said yes to any of those questions then you should take a look at the latest game we had the pleasure to review from Houndpicked Games– Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story. The game is a pun filled side scroller full of over the top bosses and weapons. The enemies range from single shot jets to massive tanks full of turrets and many variations in between.

Visually the game is crisp with each sprite hand drawn and it really shows. Controls are quite simple to learn but as the screen gets closer to being overwhelmed panic may ensure which results in the wrong attack button being hit on occasion. Myself and my family are connoisseurs of puns and loved the abundance contained within the game. Overall we had a great time and look forward to trying some of the levels again to try to score the full five stars on them.

Ultra Pixel Survive is a two dimensional side scroller that looks and plays more like Minecraft than it does Terraria.

Ratalaika Games brings us Ultra Pixel Survive, a game about crafting and survival. When most people think of games like Minecraft they typically think of Terraria. Terraria is also two dimensional but has always felt like it was more about the survival aspect than the building a world. This game is more of a happy medium between the two. Unlike these two titles though your tools never break.

Players choose between one of close to two dozen characters, each with their own abilities. You must unlock almost all of these characters though. You unlock them by purchasing them with red gems which are earned by opening chests. Chests in this game were the bane of my existence, at first. You see, there is an achievement related to opening one that I was trying to get since the beginning. The trick here lies in the house you have. STAY OUT of the house. This resets the period of time you must survive to earn the daily chest. That means you have to stay outside and remain there for 24 in game hours straight to have the chest appear. When it does appear though it is almost always offscreen.

Graphically the game is quite simple, leaning into the traditional 8-bit look and feel. Controls are quite simple and feel organic. I loved the simplicity of the game and had an absolute blast playing. I want to see what some of these other characters are capable of too. My only complaint is on the chest mechanic; I feel that going into the house should only pause the time and not reset it, other than that, the game was great.

HEROish is a tower defense game from Sunblink Entertainment that features six epic heroes and card that summon troops to defeat your foes.

In the world of HEROish players control a champion and a handful of cards. Each card holds a power or a troop unit and can be upgraded to make them more effective. Sunblink Entertainment are the masterminds behind this tower defense game and were kind enough to share it with us. You start the game with a set number of points and each card you use is worth a set number of points. The main objective of the game is to save the kingdom and defeat enemy heroes. Each hero has a deck of cards to use and depending on how many points they save then put them into sending waves of troops at the other.

Multiplayer can be done with with bots and gets quite hectic as your opponents send waves after waves of troops after you. You will still earn rewards for your fight if it’s only against the bots but that doesn’t mean they are going to go easy on you. They made me work hard for that win.

The graphics are crisp and look like a very similar style to either the Skylanders games or Disney Infinity. The controls are quite simple to learn and feel natural. The game is full of jokes and over the top characters making this perfect for me. I had a great time playing it and spent many more hours than I expected killing everything I could. If you like a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and art that pops like a comic book then you’ll find something to like with this game.

Atari has given another classic the Recharged treatment with Caverns of Mars where you fly ever deeper into the core of the red planet.

Originally developed by Greg Christensen, Caverns of Mars was the first vertical scrolling game and a smash hit on Atari. Prior to receiving the Recharged treatment I had only heard of the title but never played. The concept of the game is that you are rapidly flying towards the center of Mars and ammo is limited. You must defeat your foes and reach the reactor before your fuel and ammo run out. Conceptually it’s quite simple. The gameplay is less so.

While it is a vertical scrolling game you don’t have much control on the vertical movement other than slowing it with firing your guns. You do have control over your horizontal movement though. As you descend further in to the planet there are more and more enemies and obstacles to avoid. In short time it will become quite chaotic.

Visually the game is crisp and highly detailed for the world around you and the world can be blown away to clear you a path but a slight shift in direction can spell your doom. The game is easily played in short spurts and a hell of a lot of fun despite the frequent dying.

Wayfarers of the South Tigris is a game of discovery and trade from the minds at Renegade Game Studios and Garphill Games.

Wayfarers of the South Tigris from Renegade Game Studios and Garphill Games is a resource management game using dice and cards. Players take turns placing workers, resolving their work or resting. Points are scored based on your upgrades, card combinations made and more. The idea of the game is to travel and trade along the South Tigris, collecting resources and building your empire. As you progress you must complete journal entries. Those entries each have their own requirements in order to complete each of them.

With tales of trade from the past there are always tales of bandits and thieves plaguing the path. Not really the case with this game. Sure there are obstacles to complete requirements of but the game is virtually void of real action. For someone that prefers their games with a fast pace and conflict of some sort, this is not the game for them. This game is aimed at people that enjoy games like Solitaire where most of the work is done alone and the joy is in the completion. Maybe an expansion one day could feature a way to pillage from your fellow players. The quality of the pieces and rulebook are superb but the organization of some of the rules and the lack of clarification on others does leave something to be desired. In short it is high on quality, low on action and close to two hours for a single play through means multiple play throughs won’t be happening on the same night.

Ratalaika Games returns with Steel Defier, a game about escape from a prison ship full of traps and augmetics!

Sometimes a game comes along that sucks you in so much you can’t stop playing it. Steel Defier from Ratalaika Games was one of those titles for me! You wake up aboard a prison ship and manage to escape your cell. The security gets stronger and more aggressive as you progress through the ship. If you manage to escape then you will unlock endless mode and that’s where things get really interesting. Each room you must collect fifteen security cards to proceed to the next. The controls are easy to learn and upgrades you find add further complexity. Some upgrades make gameplay easier like double jump or slowing time. Others feel more like a novelty like the running boost. Running is already fast enough in my opinion, most deaths caused by greed and impatience more than anything else.

Overall the game is fun yet challenging, providing increasingly difficult rooms. Graphics are a blend of the retro 8Bit style we are used to from Ralaika but blended with three dimensional devices that are trying to kill you like spinning blades. At $4.99USD this game is well worth the price tag and is an enjoyable yet easy 1000 Gamerscore!

The Guise from Ratalaika Games is a game centered around the fall of the All Father and the rise of monsters and orphans!

The All Father has left his children to protect the world but like every story of old gods things eventually devolved to infighting and eventually allowing the world to fall in the process. Ratalaika Games are notorious for their retro-esque titles with a twist, each game looking and feeling like a game from my past. Like how Go! Go! Pogo Girl‘s world was reminiscent of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. The Guise is the first title I’ve played of their that feels entirely unique in terms of story and world. The controls are fluid and easy to learn for the most part. Some actions are not included in the controller settings list and you can’t replay the events where you learned how to do them. I’m specifically referring to the absorption ability which allows you to recover health, on Xbox you tap B repeatedly.

The story starts with a group of kids in an orphanage, the oldest leaves to run an errand, reminding the others to stay out of her room. See this opportunity to snoop in the normally locked room they ignore her wishes. You play as Ogden after he puts on a mask that the older girl had in her room. He is instantly transformed into a spike covered monster set on a quest to turn yourself back into a boy and destroy as many monsters along the way you can. The combat is quite simple where attacks are telegraphed making avoiding them quite easy. If you play like I do though that won’t matter and you’re going to die many times. The game has a world that is full of history and danger with an art style like no other I’ve seen. Overall I found the game to be intriguing and looking forward to the next time I load it up!

Renegade Game Studios take birdwatching to a new level with their game Birdwatcher where photographers try to lure birds to their tree to capture a photo of them.

The focus of Birdwatcher, from Renegade Game Studios, is to watch birds. You score points by collecting birds in different ways. For example there are birds that you get points on on an individual basis where MOST require being part of a set. If you have a set of two birds and then later get another of the same bird you can make the points from the first two invalid. Choosing which birds to photograph requires some thought if you want to win.

The images of the birds themselves are beautifully drawn and easy to differentiate between. My only complaint there is that there is only a small selection of birds to pick from. I’d have preferred a wider selection of birds, perhaps an expansion down the road will do just that. Due to the complexity the game is recommended for ages 13 and up. I feel that this entirely fair as it was way too complete complex for my seven year old to enjoy but she loved the art.

The mechanics of the game are quite simple to learn and the rulebook is well written. The examples and images in the rules make it even easier to follow and understand. One of the best things is the realism in the mechanics. Birds are constantly moving between player’s trees, possibly hindering your goals but since they’re birds they don’t care. When have you see a bird care about help a photographer get that better shot? Never. It doesn’t happen unless it’s a trained animal. Each game takes about an hour and does require patience but I feel that is intentional. The act of Birdwatching takes considerable time and patience and this game reinforces that. Overall its a great game but not my cup of tea as I prefer my games with a faster pace and more action.

Have you every played a card game full of murder that takes a classic and turns it upside down? With American Psycho A Killer Game you get to do both!

The folks at Renegade Game Studios sent us a copy of their new game American Psycho- A Killer Game to review. We are here to do just that. The game is based on the classic film of the same name staring Christian Bale. The film is based on the book and follows the story of a deranged man who is obsessed with killing and his own status. It even features an in depth analysis of business cards used by him and his peers. Who knew there were so many options with those cards? I certainly didn’t and I certainly didn’t think they mattered to anyone. The brings us to the game itself.

Each turn players play a card, similar to games of Hearts, where cards are assigned a point value. Unlike in Hearts the goal here is to get as many points as you can but there is a twist. To score most of the points you will need to complete specific goals as well like collecting points values in consecutive order (i.e. 2, 3 and 4). Like in Hearts one card reigns supreme and in this game it is the Killer Style card. You should save that for when it will make the most impact. The biggest difference though from Hearts is that you also earn points with your kills. Imagine playing a game of Hearts with Grandma where you stab a waiter and are rewarded for it! The could be a hilarious spin off game, perhaps i should make the suggestion?

The rulebook is high quality itself, using high resolution images to showcase examples and larger text to make reading easier. The art quality on the cards is right up there as well but the style isn’t for everyone. I personally liked the rough brush stroke appearance of the art where my wife did not. It made the depictions feel more chaotic and that was the right vibe for the game itself, she says I’m wrong though. Gameplay took a couple hands to get everyone on the same page but once we did it went quickly. The trick with the game though is figuring out your strategy for how you will be scoring the most points and no two games we played were ever exactly the same. This means a ton more games to be played before boredom strikes and placing the game on the shelf to collect dust.

Inkulinati is a game about ancient art styles and drawing your troops into place to defeat the foes from Yaza Games.

Yaza Games brings a truly one of a kind experience with Inkulinati. It is a game that plays like a tower defense game but on ancient scrolls with a similar art style. This is a game six hundred years in the making, supposedly. Artistically speaking it feels like I’m playing in the animations from Monty Python’s Holy Grail! That art is one of my favorite things to come from those comedic geniuses so that alone is a major selling point for me.

The controls and quite simple but not entirely intuitive, allowing you to easily control the troops and defend your position. Some of the actions are not entirely clear on what they will do without a little trial and error. Like the taps or pushes for example. You choose an object to tap or push on and depending on what it is there are different reactions. If you tap on the oil barrel you will cause it to explode, hurting everything next to it. If you push a character next to an edge they will fall to their death, even if they are at full health. These lessons are quickly learned after one use.

While the game is simple to learn with a great art style I feel like the $24.99 price tag is a bit steep. Gameplay being as simple as it is leads to boredom after a short period, it simply is TOO simple. The game is still in early demo status so there is plenty of time before we see the final build and my opinion may change in that time.