Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. I’ve been mostly catching up on games from last week since there were so many I liked and therefor didn’t get to give any of them my full attention. There’s still some new ones, but mostly I’ll be giving further impressions on games I’ve already discussed here. I especially want to talk about SNKRX, as I gave it another go and am now completely addicted. Anyway, there’s a lot to discuss, so let’s get to it!

Bomb Club

Bomb Club is an explosive new puzzle game with a shockingly huge amount of free content. You can over 100 levels for free and then if you haven’t had enough, there are four level packs available to purchase for $0.99 each. I’m not sure why the developer is being so generous, but take advantage of it if you like puzzlers. It may not look like much on the surface, but there’s a really solid game here. Each level has you placing a few bombs strategically and then choosing which one to set off first, with the goal to cause a chain reaction that reaches all the bombs with that one move. As you progress, you’ll unlock new bombs with different properties, as well as hats that can be added to any type of bomb. So far, it hasn’t been too difficult, but a few levels did trip me up for a bit. There’s also a very tongue-in-cheek story that takes place between levels that I’m enjoying quite a bit. I definitely plant to play more of Bomb Club and recommend at least giving it a try to see if it’s something you might like. I also started a walkthrough guide here if you get stuck.

Froglike: The Frog Roguelike

Froglike is what you get if you cross Frogger with a roguelike. You need to jump across lily pads and floating logs, avoiding flies and other creatures that will kill you. Some can be knocked out if you jump on them, while others need to be killed by bombs. There are also power-ups to unlock like shields and life rafts. The game feels very natural on a touchscreen and is in portrait mode, making it a perfect one-handed game. The only thing I don’t like about it is that there are opt-in ads for everything. You can revive if you watch an ad, double your score if you watch an ad, and earn more crowns by watching an ad. The crowns are used to unlock new frogs, but since I haven’t played long enough to unlock any, I can’t say whether they have special skills or are just cosmetic. Anyway, I’m leaving the game alone for now because I’m not interested in watching ads to improve my score. But the developer told me that he’s working on adding an ad-removal IAP. So I’ll keep an eye out for that and give it another try when that’s available. I still recommend checking the game out, but be aware that a lot of it revolves around opt-in ads at the moment.

Tales of the Neon Sea

I missed Tales of the Neon Sea back when it originally released, but it it was free this past week so I grabbed it and played some. It’s a side-scrolling adventure game that feels right at home on mobile, even though it originally released on other platforms. You simply drag the left side of the screen left and right to move, then tap on the right side to interact with objects in your environment. The pixel art looks great, and I love the neon-soaked color palette. The soundtrack is fantastic, as well, and I enjoyed the time I spent with it, for the most part. What’s turning me off is the sheer amount of running back and forth to look for things you might have missed. This guy has a huge house with at least three floors, and I’m tired of running up and down those stairs. I’ll probably continue playing at some point, but there are other games just in this one roundup that I’m enjoying far more and rather spend my time with. But if it’s still free, definitely grab it and give it a try.

SNKRX

I covered SNKRX last week and loved the general idea, but the controls weren’t clicking for me and some rules about the game were a bit vague, so I had a bit of a hard time getting into it. I would always die at level 15. But I gave it another shot this week and discovered the re-roll option. It costs only 2 coins and lets you change the three classes available in the shop. I was ignoring it before and only choosing from what I was offered. This was a bad idea, as it makes it a lot harder to upgrade soldiers, since multiples of the same class are used to do that. Once I started taking advantage of the re-roll, I was able to build a team that could beat the game, or at least the original 25 levels. A bug prevented me from continuing with that same team, but that bug has since been fixed. I then went in for another run on NG+1 and got all the way to level 74 before dying. That game took me about 1.5 hours, so this isn’t exactly a game for short play sessions. But I can’t deny at this point that it’s addictive and hard to put down. I’m already itching to get back to it to experiment with a new team. I have certain classes I always look for, but still have plenty to experiment with to find the perfect unstoppable build. Anyway, for just $2.99 you’re getting a game with pretty much endless replay value. So if you’re at all interested in this genre, just go for it.

Chicken Police: Paint it RED!

I started playing Chicken Police last week and was really impressed. I meant to play a lot more since, but sadly only played about another hour. I also have been trying to get as much dialogue as possible out of each interaction, since that sometimes unlocks new information about different characters. So I’ve been making very SEO progress. I’m still enjoying it, though, and plan to play more this week. If you like detective games, point-and-click adventures or visual novels, you’ll want to check out Chicken Police. You can also watch some of my video below to see how I’ve progressed so far.

Here Be Dragons

Here Be Dragons is another game I started last week and enjoyed enough to continue playing. The next chapter gave me some difficulty due to the Megalodons, which are basically giant sharks. They heal with each attack, so I was having a really hard time killing them before they killed me. I nearly turned on the “cheat” that gives you more ink bottles per round, but I held firm and just kept trying again and again until I beat them. There is some luck involved since there are dice rolls, but strategy is a huge part of the game and the reason I’ve been sticking with it. I’m still enjoying it and will definitely play some more this coming week. Again, check out my video below to see what it’s like.

Genshin Impact

This week has been pretty busy in Genshin Impact. I decided to use my guaranteed banner character to get Kazuha instead of waiting a year for Zhongli to return. I don’t regret it, as he’s a ton of fun to play. I’ve literally been logging on just to jump up and down with him. He’s fast, he’s pretty, and just probably the most fun I’ve had with the game so far. And I’ve played for over 300 hours. I just can’t get enough of him. But at the same time, I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Zhongli next time a character comes around that I desperately wanted. So I finally made the decision to buy the Welkin Moon, which is a monthly pass for $5 that gives you bones primogems every day you log in. It’s the cheapest way to both support a game I’ve been getting a ton of enjoyment out of and also give myself a much better chance to get the characters I want. I think I’ll enjoy the game more this way without having to feel like I’m outright buying currency. I still don’t like supporting gacha mechanics and wish Genshin wasn’t a gacha game, but this felt like the right decision to me. At least there’s a guarantee of getting the character you want if you spend 180 fates on their banner. So this will allow me to save up and get a guaranteed character instead of always having to rely on my really bad luck. I don’t know how long I’ll continue paying for it, but right now I’m still getting a ton of enjoyment out of the game and willingly playing every day, so it seems worth it to me. That doesn’t mean everyone should spend money on the game, but this was more palatable to me than outright buying currency. Aside from that, there’s a new event that started today in which you try to beat as many monsters as possible before the timer runs out. It sounds great in theory, but while you’re fighting you also need to use the harpastum to hit bullseyes. It’s extremely awkward to stop fighting and equip the ball in order to throw it. This seems like the most poorly designed event yet. I was going to try and get all the rewards from it, but I gave up trying to get a score of 2000 when my best efforts only got me 1755. I still love the game but could have done without this particular event.

Sky: Children of the Light

This week, the new season started in Sky, called the Season of the Little Prince. It’s their first collaborative event and it loosely follows the events in the book and movie. You can also earn cosmetics like the rose and the Prince’s pajamas, though some cosmetics cost real money. I already covered the season extensively while it was in beta, so I’m not sure there’s much more for me to say. The new Starlight Desert area is beautiful and definitely worth exploring. You should also collect all the spirits and do the first seasonal quest. I have guides for the spirits here and the quests here. I also have my seasonal candles guide here.

Solitaire Stories

And last, I tried out the new Apple Arcade game that was released last week, Solitaire Stories. I’m not sure why another solitaire game was needed, but I was willing to give this one a shot because I liked the presentation. It does feel slick and the story mode has some nice voice acting and even a bit of humor. Unfortunately, it overcomplicates what should be a very simple game. There are timers, scores, rewards and unlockables. I played through most of the first story and then got stuck on the final level because the game kept giving me nearly impossible layouts. Even the hints couldn’t get me to a winnable state. It also doesn’t tell you if you’ve hit a point with no possible moves, so you just have to guess and restart if it seems like it. There was an update and I was able to pass that level since. But I’m still not sure how the game decides the difficulty level. I played through another story and it was much easier from beginning to end. I also noticed that some of the stories require 50 coins to unlock, which is pretty annoying for a game that isn’t F2P but rather part of a paid subscription. If I want to play through all the stories, I should be allowed to without having to grind out currency through other modes. Still, I’m not sure I care enough about playing them and will probably just forget about them. If you’re a Solitaire fan it might be worth checking out the game, but I’m not sure it does anything different that makes it worth playing over other apps.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week! I’ve also been playing Baba Is You in between other games, but my progress has slowed. Hopefully I’ll be able to get further on a quieter week. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying and I’ll see you back here next week with more of My Week Unwrapped!