Tag steam

Space Gladiators from Thomas Gervraud was first released on Steam in 2021 and has finally been released on consoles!

Space Gladiators is a side scrolling game where you must run through a gauntlet to reach an arena where you fight a boss wave. Each wave gives you options of prizes like extra gold or new abilities to choose to determine what foe or foes you’ll face. The tutorial you start with covers the full range of controls quite thoroughly and does it in a way that is simple to follow without neglecting any of them. The only thing missed is to tell you what the importance of the blue butterflies are- I still haven’t figured that out for myself. My guess is that they feed some of your abilities and help you charge them up faster.

The art style reminds me of the early works from The Behemoth and their later Battle Block Theater but without the chicken they are so fond of. Thomas Gervraud is known for Brotato, Space Gladiators, Lost Potato and Potato Tactics. This game includes a space potato as well. I feel like there is an underlying obsession with potatoes going on here. Thanks to a well made tutorial and smooth controls the game is easy to play but due to my own panic I still died. A lot. Overall I found the game chaotic, but in a fair amount of challenge kind of way, and a great deal of fun. The $14.99 price tag is a little on the steep side but not unreasonable either.

Mode 7 and Ground Shatter are behind Fights in Tight Spaces, a game where you use cards to determine your actions in a brawl.

The folks at Mode 7 and Ground Shatter were kind enough to share a copy of Fights in Tight Spaces with us so we could share our thoughts. The game follows Agent 11 as he/she completes training and then works to take down various groups that are deemed too dangerous, starting with the Deaths Head biker gang. Each turn players are given a hand of cards, each card has an action that allows them to combat their opponents. While travelling across the campaign map you must balance your damage output with your total health.

Overall the gameplay is simple to play but hard to master. Much comes down to luck of your draw and energy conservation to execute the combos you need to win. Through the map you will find locations to improve either your deck or your health. Improving either requires money earned by completing each location within a certain number of turns. Meaning the faster you defeat the enemies the more money you make. For new players this game is really difficult but as you earn more cards and money it becomes a bit easier in that regard. The difficulty quickly climbs to meet your improved skills though.

Controls are quit simple with just a simple click of the mouse or using Q and E to rotate your screen. Graphics are simple but crisp, allowing the combat to be fluid. Overall we found the game to be a solid worth the play. We’d even love to see it translated as it is into an actual tabletop game as well.

Faraday Protocol is a puzzle-centric first person shooter and platformer by Red Koi Box and available on Xbox One and Steam.

In Faraday Protocol you play as Raug Zeekon, an explorer/adventurer, landing your spaceship on Opis. As you leave your ship you are greet by a voice that puts you through a series of trials to test your mettle. Do you have what it takes? The AI is going to find out. Each chamber in the Ziggurats pose puzzles and challenges that increase in difficulty as you progress. Some allow you convert energy types, while others transport it from one chamber to another. Some will even power elevators.

The puzzles themselves, for the most part, are quite easy, they just require some out of the box thinking at times. There are a couple that seem much more difficult. These rare puzzles, at least to the point I’ve completed so far, offer easy solutions that require a bit of creativity. The story is a bit lackluster but the ingenuity of the puzzles more than makes up for it. If you enjoy creative puzzles that require some critical thinking to solve the $25 price tag may be appropriate but I feel it is just too high for what you get out of the game.

In Save Your Nuts players control various animals in search of hording all of the nuts. Will your animal come out as king?

Have you ever wondered which animal can horde the most nuts? Traditionally you would think the squirrels would be masters of their nuts but Save Your Nuts, from Triple Scale Games, puts players in command of various creatures to steal all of the nuts. Each animal has it’s own boosts like stronger hits, more durability or more speed.

Each game my son would insist on changing animal types to keep the game fresh along with new maps to enjoy the full experience. There are dogs, wolves, turtles, raccoons, squirrels and armadillos. Wolves are the quicker option that is more durable and because I’ve always had an affinity for wolves so they were my go to. Each map offered new obstacles and new ways to screw over the competition. The power ups can be quite entertaining as well- its hilarious to watch a 12 year old fall over laughing when dropping toxic poop piles all over the ground.

Overall I found the game to be great fun when playing as a family but against the AI it is more frustrating than enjoyable.