Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. This is going to be a short post, both because I’m under the weather and because I’ve already reviewed most of the games I played this week. But this should at least give you a quick rundown in case you missed any of them. So let’s get straight to it.

The Gardens Between

The Voxel Agents finally brought their dreamlike time-manipulating game, The Gardens Between, to iOS. I mentioned it the last couple of weeks because I got it early, but now you can play it yourself. This is a game that everyone should play. It’s an instant classic, combining gorgeous visuals, clever puzzles, and a moving story all into one neat package. I gushed about it in my review and had nothing negative to say. I only wish I could wipe it from my memory and play it again for the first time. It’s that good.

Alt-Frequencies

Accidental Queens are back with another interactive mystery that builds a story around a unique mechanic. Instead of poking through the apps in a found phone, Alt-Frequencies has you scouring the airwaves for bits of information that could help you uncover the truth. The story is a bit silly, focusing on time loops, but it embraces that silliness. Even though it doesn’t quite meet its full potential, I had a lot of fun with the game, and especially enjoyed hunting down the achievements. I have a full review here, so read that if you need more convincing. And if you’re already playing, try my walkthrough guide if you get stuck.

Luna Strange

Luna Strange is the latest game by Fantastic, yes, the makers of the Returner games. It came out of nowhere, with no announcement, but it was only $0.99 so I gave it a try. I was excited, as the graphics are gorgeous, just like their previous games. It doesn’t take place in space, but instead is in a room full of books and other mysterious items. Unfortunately, the game is extremely broken. I covered a lot of it in my review, but I even left a few things out. It’s also only the first episode and it’s very short if you don’t run into any issues. I’m hoping the developers will fix it and turn it into a worthwhile game. So I will keep an eye on it. But in its current state, it made me wary of ever buying their games in the future. If you decide to play anyway, I have a walkthrough guide here.

Durango

Durango is a new survival game where you live amongst dinosaurs. Yes, it sounds a lot like ARK: Survival Evolved. It’s less impressive graphically, but still looks pretty great. I played for about an hour and it seems well-made. There’s lots of customization options for your characters, and I even got a free dinosaur costume. There’s some voice acting and I got to follow a cute little dog during the tutorial. Honestly, I don’t really have anything against the game from what I played so far. But I also don’t have much patience these days for games where you very slowly build up your character’s skills through the same monotonous chores. These games are primarily time sinks. And if that’s what you’re looking for, this should meet that purpose. But I like my games to be more that that. In any case, it’s free to play, so there’s nothing to lose from downloading it and giving it a try.

Garbage Pail Kids: The Game

As someone who had a small collection of Garbage Pail Kids cards as a child, I was somewhat excited to see that Garbage Pail Kids: The Game released. I knew it was free-to-play, but somehow I still had hope it might be decent. Unfortunately, it’s the most soulless card battler I’ve ever seen. At least the South Park game had some strategy and humor, even if it also had all the annoying F2P trappings. This one has about as much depth as a leaf of lettuce. You slowly collect cards, which you take into battle with you. But the battles consist of choosing one of two skills for each character. That’s it. You don’t get to choose the order the go in or the enemies they attack. It’s boring and shallow and of course the first thing you’re introduced to is the in-game shop. Don’t waste your time with this one. It’s simply not worth the download.

And that’s everything I played this week! I know it’s not much, but there are two time-manipulating games and they’re both really clever, so at least play those. Hopefully next week will be busier. I know several games are releasing near the end of the month, so save some money for those. Anyway, I’m still feeling sick, so I’m gonna go try and get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you back here next week with more of My Week Unwrapped!