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 week is fairly light, as I spent most of it working on my walkthrough for Adventure Escape The Covenant. I was actually really impressed with it, and story-wise it might be my favorite of the series. I also got two reviews done that I’ve been working on for weeks. So this roundup about quality over quantity. Still, I have plenty to say, so let’s get to it.
Worm Jazz
Worm Jazz released nearly a month ago and I was impressed with it right from the start. Recently it got a bit of an overhaul, and since then I’d been chipping away at it until I got every last star. I also finally got my review written, so rather than repeat myself, I’ll let you read it. But the gist of it is that it’s a game that every puzzle fan should play.
Kingdom Two Crowns
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that I’ve been just a wee bit obsessed with Kingdom Two Crowns for the last few weeks. In fact, every time I sat down to work on my review, it made me want to play more. I’ve still not had my fill yet, but I did finally manage to write my review. So again, I’m going to refer you to that rather than repeat myself. You can also see all my gameplay videos here.
Adventure Escape Mysteries – The Covenant
Haiku Games released their latest Adventure Escape game, The Covenant, last week and I had just started when I wrote my roundup. I finished it a few days later, along with my walkthrough. I would say that this is actually my favorite of the series, at least when it comes to the story. I liked the cheesy horror movie vibe, and how you vote off who dies each day. I’ve also learned from other players that you get a different ending depending on who you stick with throughout the game, and you also reveal more details if you choose certain people to join you each day. So it seems there’s a lot of alternate paths you could have taken that would lead to very different endings. My only real issue with it was that the final mini game was incredibly annoying and it really had no business being in the game. The entire game was relaxed and puzzle-based and then the final battle required fast reflexes. I had a miserable time with it and really don’t know why it was in there. Also, I would love to play the game again to try and reveal more of the story, but you need to earn or buy more keys to do so. I’d be happy paying outright for the unlimited access to the game, but I refuse to pay each time I want to play. So I’m going to just live with what I got and let others fill in the pieces for me. Anyway, I highly recommend this one, even if you’ve never played an Adventure Escape game before. The developers are really coming out of their shell and revealing their sense of humor. The writing in general was a lot more entertaining for me. So go play it!
Square Worlds
Sunil Patel’s Square Worlds is a bit hard to explain. It’s a high score-chasing puzzler in which you strategically place tiles to optimize your score. You need coins to place tiles that earn you points, and you need to consider the tiles around them before placing. For instance, placing water next to a tree earns more points than just placing a tree next to another type of tile. There are animals that give you extra points for each tile that’s in their region. Then there are totems that build up more and more points for each one in a column, and flags that give bonus points for any of the same type of tiles in that row. So there’s really a lot going on and you have to think carefully through each move. I’m still practicing, so my score isn’t great, but it’s improved since I made the video below. Square Worlds is a great game for playing whenever you have a few minutes to spare, and what’s even better is that it’s free. If you like it enough, you can unlock two extra modes for just $0.99. Otherwise you can just keep playing the original for free. So definitely don’t pass this one up!
Paper Mines
There’s no shortage of endless runners on the App Store, but the two Alto games have proven that there’s still room for some quality ones to stand out and shine. Graphonium’s Paper Mines is the latest to have a go at the genre, and it does some interesting things. You ride inside a mine cart that automatically rolls. If there’s bumps in the road, you swipe to the left to hit tour breaks and slow down a bit. If there’s a narrow tunnel coming up, you swipe down to duck your head under. And if there’s a gap, you swipe up to raise your hook and grab on to a line. You also use that hook to grab crystals inside mines. All these elements come together and make for a pretty challenging game. I’m just having a hard time with the way it’s broken up into levels to teach all the mechanics. Once you reach the goal, it forces you to stop. I usually like to keep going in these games until I mess up, as it helps me get used to it and build confidence. It’s jarring to get forced out of it when I’m in the zone. From my understanding, you have to get through twenty levels and then you can access the endless mode. So I might give it another shot, but I wish the tutorial felt more natural for the type of game it is. If I do revisit it, I’ll be sure to update my impressions. Until then, you can watch some of my gameplay video to get an idea what it’s like.
Unknown Knights
Aram Seo’s Unknown Knights is a roguelite with real-time action strategy, where you control a small group of knights and instruct them how to proceed in battle. I seemed to be doing ok at first, but as soon as things ramped up, I got a little confused as to when I should be commanding them to act. I got slaughtered in the second chapter’s final battle and haven’t tried again. I am intrigued by the whole idea, so I might give it another go, but a part of me wishes it was turn-based and more about choosing the right action and less about timing. I was actually enjoying the parts between the battles more than the battles themselves. But again, I’ll update you with my impressions if I decide to revisit it. Until then, you can watch some of my gameplay video.
Sky: Children of the Light
And last, Sky got yet another colored light quest that transformed the Forgotten Ark. The green light was last week and the purple light should arrive tomorrow. You can see the purple light ahead of time if you want, as I have a video from the beta version of the game. Or just wait until tomorrow if you don’t like spoilers. There’s also a new traveling spirit that’s leaving tonight. She’s from the Season of Belonging and gives you the Sparklers expression. I didn’t make a new video of her, but you can find my original one here. There have also been some controversial changes, like the removal of the ability to see where other players are when you honk. Now it’s hard to tell if you’re alone or in a full server. I’m not a fan of it myself and hope they change it. There’s also a new Healing Pack coming tomorrow, which supports Doctors Without Borders and gives you a flower accessory, along with 75 candles. So yeah, there’s still a lot going on in Sky!
And that’s everything I’ve been up to this past week! I also got a new iPhone SE since my 8 was starting to feel its age. And I played through the latest Apple Arcade game, Winding Worlds. I enjoyed it, especially the humorous dialogue, but was a little confused about the message and the ending. But I still recommend playing it. Anyway, let me know what you’ve been playing these days, and I’ll see you back here next week with more of My Week Unwrapped!
