Another Saturday is upon us so it must be time for My Week Unwrapped! It’s been a pretty busy week for me, catching up on some games from a few weeks back, some new ones, as well as some upcoming ones.
First off, I finished my walkthrough guide for Hidden Folks. If you’re playing it and are having trouble wi a few of the trickier folks or objects, give it a go. I did something a little different than usual, as I gave hints and a small area where you can find each item instead of just outright circling them. But if you still want that, I made quick videos for each area as well.
I finished my walkthrough for Link Twin, which shows you how to get through levels 81 – 100. There’s some pretty tricky puzzles in that last chapter, so hopefully this will help anyone who felt hopelessly stuck.
Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet made its way over to iOS a week or so ago and I finally had a chance to start it. I have mixed feelings so far. I love the voice acting. I don’t find the humor as funny as others seem to, but it’s serviceable. What has been making it hard to truly enjoy it, though, is the slow pace at which Nelly moves and the loading times between screens. On PC you can double-tap to make her warp to an exit, but that’s not possible on the mobile version. The developer did tell me that Chapter 2 introduces a map that makes it quicker to get around. So I’ll report back next week after I’ve gotten to Chapter 2. Hopefully things will speed up there, as I get turned off easily by slow movement in games. They make it tedious to look around for what you might have missed, and unless a game really grabs me, it’s unlikely I’ll have patience for that. You can check the game out in my video below and see if it’s something that would bother you or you can overlook and still enjoy the game. Otherwise, I’ll hopefully have an update on my experience next week. However, I should also mention that the user interface feels very clunky to me, so that’s also been hampering my experience.
Wadjet Eye Games’ Shardlight is finally coming to iOS on March 9th, a year after it released on PC. I got an advanced copy and started playing it and am really enjoying it so far. It’s a dark game, not lighthearted like Nelly Cootalot. But it had a strong opening and I’m looking forward to diving back in. I’ll have more to say about it next week, but you can check out my first gameplay video until then.
I’m not sure if I’m worse at playing or pronouncing the name of Riverman Media’s latest game, MUL.MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL. I bought it because it sounded like a fun idea — single-player underwater pong with each thumb controlling a paddle. You need to hit enemies with the balls, keeping them from swimming to the top of the screen. The graphics also caught my attention, and I was eager to play it. Unfortunately, I really suck at it. Part of the problem is that it’s level-based but when you die, you start back at the very beginning. The only things you keep are your coins and any paddles you unlocked. It took me many tries just to beat the second stage and then I died on the third, not really all that eager to start over again. I think I would have stuck with it longer if it let you pick back up on the stage where you died, and then offering a second endless mode for those who already mastered the game. Perhaps something more casual like that will be offered in an update. But if the game remains as is, I think I’ve gotten as much as I will out of it. You can see what it’s like in my video below. If you think you’d have an easier time with it than I did, check it out!
I was surprised how quickly Scott Mulligan’s NoStranger sucked me in. I meant to play just a bit before bed, but an hour later I had to force myself to stop playing so I wouldn’t be completely dead the next day. It’s a text messaging game that feels like you’re just chatting with a person. They bring up philosophical questions and both their responses and your options rarely feel forced. There is much more going on under the surface that it seems, though. If you answer certain ways and dig enough, you’ll come to that realization sooner than if you just go along with everything as though nothing is wrong. I can’t really say much more than that without spoiling it. But the game has you looking up address on Google Maps, reading through personal blogs, watching YouTube videos and solving riddles. It’s pretty insane how much work must have gone into this. And I’ve been having fun replaying the game, trying new dialogue options. Since you can revisit any of the four chapters separately, it makes it easier to try other answers. I’m amazed at how much extra dialogue they added that isn’t absolutely necessary but that helps bring the character to life. If you like text adventures, I highly recommend downloading NoStranger. It’s free to play completely, but you can watch video ads to fast forward through waiting times. I also have a walkthrough guide here if you get stuck.
And last, as a big fan of premium match-three games, I grabbed Wombo Combo’s Tavern Guardians the second I heard about it. It’s a rogue-like in which you match different resources to damage enemies while at the same time replenishing your health, rebuilding your defenses, or powering up the archers. There are four different playable characters with their own skills and abilities that make playing them feel unique. You can also use coins you earn to buy items between levels. I’m really enjoying the game, but it’s a high-score chaser at its core and a very time-consuming one. My best game so far is with the mage and I made it to tavern 16 so far. You can see my play-through in the video below. I still need to complete that game, and it’s already taken over 1.5 hours to get to that point. So while I have been enjoying it, I don’t know that I’ll want to put in hours for each game to try and improve my score. Even so, I haven’t spent much time with the gunner or berserker yet, so there’s still plenty for me to do even if I don’t spend my entire life trying for a higher and higher score. In any case, it’s always nice to see a match-three that isn’t skewed to try and get you to buy IAPs. Since everything is bought with in-game currency, any challenge part of the game and not just a way to get you to empty your wallet. There are some balancing issues I have with it that I hope can be ironed out — mainly, that you can coins are accumulated, so you can save up by not spending and then use them all to have one overpowered game. Since item storage appears to be unlimited, you can potentially save up and buy everything in a game. I think it would have felt more balanced if coins you can use in a game were limited to the coins you earned in that one game. Still, ff you’re a match-three fan, you should definitely get at least a few hours of entertainment out of this one, even if it doesn’t end up having lasting power.
And that’s it for this unnaturally warm February’s My Week Unwrapped! I’ll see you back here in March, which is already looking to be a strong month for iOS games. Until then, let me know what games you’re playing!
