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 has been a pretty busy week, with lots of notable releases. Sole Light, which I demoed a couple of years back, is finally out. MediaCity Games also has a new game out, and this time it’s in 3D. I also continued playing some games I’d started previously, like the Kathy Rain Director’s Cut, and continued playing Genshin Impact. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s not waste any more time.
Sole Light: Cool Puzzle Game
Like I mentioned above, I played some of Sole Light two years back and was impressed with what I saw. Back then, it was subtitled Cozy Dystopian Puzzler, which I think captioned the essence of it pretty well. I’m not sure why it was changed to Cool Puzzle Game for release, but the game itself is still a relaxing puzzler with a dystopian theme. In each level, you need to walk along paths to get to the goal. But the path disappears after you step on it, so you need to think about your moves ahead of time. There are rocks you push onto buttons that move platforms, and levers that turn off electric fences. But what really makes things interesting is that that you often have “clones” you can control. You still have to be careful, because you move together with the one that you’ve selected. I just finished the fifth chapter today (there are six total) and some of these puzzles really made me work my brain. It’s a solid game with a lot to like, but I do wish it was less punishing sometimes. The undo button only works for one move and in most situations it won’t work at all. Some levels do have a checkpoint in the middle, which is appreciated, but it’s not always in a good spot. The fifth chapter got a little tedious due to all the restarting. The harder levels don’t allow much room for experimentation, so you either have to work things out in your head or keep restarting. I still hope to complete the game and possibly have a full review for you next week. At the moment, I’d recommend it with the caveat that you need some patience for its more difficult levels. I’m also working on a walkthrough here if you get stuck.
In My Shadow
In My Shadow is a puzzle platformer that first released on other platforms a few months back, but made its way over to mobile this week. The idea is that you move boxes and furniture around in the light, changing the size and shape of their shadows. For instance, if you slide a box closer to the wall, the shadow gets smaller. The goal is to arrange everything so the shadows will allow you to jump on them and reach the three collectibles in each stage. So there’s two parts to it — figuring out the arrangement and then the platforming itself. So far, I played through the first chapter and some levels seemed impossible until I managed to solve them. I’m not sure how close to the intended solutions they were or if I overthought things. It’s fun to mess around and find a solution that works, though. I also appreciate that the controls are adapted well for touchscreens. For the boxes and furniture, you just tap on one and then drag it around. If it can be rotated, you use two fingers to rotate. Then, for the platforming, you run by dragging your finger anywhere on the left side of the screen and jump by tapping anywhere on the right side of the screen. Not having to worry about onscreen buttons makes a world of a difference. I do plan to continue playing, so keep an eye out for more impressions. And if you want to see what it’s like in action, check out my gameplay video below.
Escape from Crimson Manor
Escape from Crimson Manor is the latest adventure game from MediaCity Games, the makers of The Lost Fountain and Alice Trapped in Wonderland, among others. This time, they’ve gone full 3D instead of using 2D images that you tap on to navigate. You start off in one room which you have a full 360╬ô├╢┬╝╬ô├╗├ª view of, but you eventually make it out to explore more of the manor. You also find a tool that allows you to see hidden markings, and there’s a handy journal that automatically Kees track of any clues you found. This is only the first chapter, so it leaves a lot of mysteries unanswered. But for $2 I can’t really complain. There were some bugs and other issues I encountered on the first day playing, but the developer was quick to update it and fixed the most glaring issues, as well as some smaller ones. I’ll likely replay it to get a better walkthrough, but after the update it’s pretty easy to recommend. Just be aware that it’s not the full game and ends in To Be Continued. As long as you know that going in, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I also have a walkthrough here if you get stuck.
Sparklite
Sparklite is another PC port, this time a roguelite action RPG that features gorgeous pixel art. Each time you die, you wake up in bed with all your loot and can use it to buy upgrades to make you stronger. Then you head back out into the world, which is procedurally generated each time so no two runs will be the same. I was enjoying the game at first, but dying from a couple of enemy encounters started to get old. I was still making progress, though, and competed a couple of little dungeons. Then I got stuck in one where I had this exploding balloon I needed to somehow navigate to switches on another side of the room in order to unlock the door. I managed to get a couple of doors open, but I never got a handle on the controls for it. I tried controlling it with the joystick, but it rarely went in the direction I wanted. Frustrated, I thought I’d take a break and try again later. But the only option was to abandon this run and go back to base in order to keep whatever I picked up on that run. There was no way to just save my spot and come back later. That kind of ruined any enthusiasm I had for the game. As a mobile game, I would expect to be able to take breaks and have it hold my spot. Without that feature, I can’t see investing my time into it. It means I could be having a great run but be forced to quit just so I don’t lose my earnings. If this is fixed in an update, maybe I’ll revisit it and try to figure out how to control that balloon. If this doesn’t bother you, by all means try the game. Playdigious is generally very good with their mobile ports and it should hopefully get long-term support. You can also check out some of my gameplay video below if you want to see it in action.
The Ramp.
I’d been looking forward to The Ramp ever since I saw some GIFs from the developer on Twitter. It’s a chill skateboarding game with no goals, timers or scores. You get the first ramp for free to learn the ropes and if you like it, you can unlock the other three ramps through a single IAP. I love the look of the game and the fact that it’s just a toy to mess around with. But I’m struggling to get into a groove. I can’t seem to consistently gain speed and height, which means I can’t pull off that many tricks. I’m going to try and spend more time with it and see if I can get the hand of it. In any case, it’s free to try, so just see for yourself how you like it and whether you want to pay to unlock the full game.
Kathy Rain: The Director’s Cut
I found some time this week to continue playing Kathy Rain: The Director’s Cut. I made it through the second day now and started noticing some things that I don’t think were in the original. The Scrabble game seemed new to me, and makes it more explicit that Kathy had an abortion. I appreciate the simplified control scheme compared to the original, as it feels a lot easier to play on a touchscreen. I’m hoping to play through the whole game, but I’m taking my time so please bear with me.
Plan B From Outer Space
I started playing Plan B From Outer Space a couple of weeks ago and reached one of nineteen endings, so I thought I’d revisit it and try for another ending. After another hour with it I did get a completely different story, where I turned into a dog instead of a cat and then had a run-in with a hunter. I do like the idea of the game and it’s impressive that there are so many different paths you can take. But I think the humor just isn’t for me. I get a chuckle out of it sometimes but most of the time I’m just not feeling it. I enjoyed the time I spent with it but can’t see playing through it again to get more paths and endings. For someone who does like the writing, though, there seems to be some good value for your money if you try to get all the endings.
Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales
I don’t know why I’m still playing Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, but I’m now getting to the point where all my characters will be level 100 and unable to go any higher. Im encountering enemies above level 100, so im not sure how much further I’ll get with the story. I’ll stick with it for now, but if progress comes to a complete halt I’ll likely lose interest or just forget about it.
Genshin Impact
There still isn’t much going on in Genshin Impact at the moment. The Shadows of the Ancients event ended and now the Dreams of Bloom event started. What’s more exciting is that a new banner type was announced and they plan to make it easier to get characters that have already had one banner. Instead of just one at a time, they’ll have two separate banners that share pity, so it’ll take less time for your favorite characters to come around again. I’m still planning to skip the following banner so I can try to get Itto on the one after that. Not much else to say about Genshin at the moment!
And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week! I also finished watching the third season of You and started watching Maid because I didn’t feel like reading subtitles while watching Squid Game. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying and I’ll see you back here next week for more of My Week Unwrapped!
So i explored moncage with you. And we both had the sAme experience, and i was telling you what to co, and you did, so that was pretty cool. I bought it, looking forward to playing it.
Bought Escape from crimson manor, didnt know that it was incomplete, but am still playing it, working out a lot of clues myself, but still using your walkthrough thanking you. I wish five bn would make more games. I really enjoy them, thpugh i hate when you have to buy clues, so i two ipads working , one for walkthrough clues , and one to play my game, can get confusing lol..
I enjoyed squid games, very violent, but for some reason it didnt upset me.
by the way I am 80 yrs old, and have been playing these games for years…MYST was my first real game, played all of them. I probably should have kept the discs, but i moved house . so gone now. So expensive too. But i played more than once..
I watched MAID last week..Everyone should watch this, to see how hard it is for some people to do the right thing, work and family and coping with domestic violence.
Anyway keep doing what you are doing, bye for now…Bev