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 ended up playing a lot more games than expected, due in part to a surprise Vampire Survivors update that included the much-awaited DLC. There were also some new games that caught my eye, so we have quite a bit to discuss.

Delete After Reading

I was a big fan of unmemory back when it released, due to the clever way it combines text with puzzles, so I was thrilled to see that the developers were working on a new game in the same format, called Delete After Reading. It released this week and I just finished playing through it. In some ways it’s very different — namely the story, which focuses on a group of misfits trying to steal the one copy of a video game in existence so they can share it with the world. It’s much more straightforward than the first game and also more laid back. Unmemory had a ton of hidden Easter eggs to find even after you completed it, but I don’t think there’s anything like that here, namely because the game doesn’t save any progress aside from unlocking new chapters. I enjoyed the silly story and also solving most of the puzzles. But I couldn’t help but notice how closely the format followed unmemory‘s. There’s a chapter that lets you press a button to reveal hidden text or ink, and another where you go back and forth between different rooms by tapping on words like “kitchen” or “living room” and have to make your way through the labyrinth. Even the final chapter is very similar, as it has you solving little mini games on a timer and if you mess up you have to do them all over again. As much as I enjoyed the game, it felt a little too much like deja vu. If you haven’t played unmemory you wouldn’t even notice that. But it is a bit hard to ignore if you did. Still, the puzzles were fun to solve and the final chapter annoyed me a bit but not enough to quit. I recommend at least trying the free demo to see how you like it. And if you do decide to play and get stuck, I have a complete walkthrough here.

Vlobs

Vlobs is a relaxed high-score chasing puzzler in which you connect little numbered blobs with the goal to eventually make them pop. The way it works is that each blob has a number of dots on them. That number tells you how many other blobs it can connect to. So 1 dot means it can only connect to one blob. When you do so, the dot disappears so there’s none left on it. When all blobs within a single structure have no more dots left, they’ll all pop, giving you points and clearing up some space on the board. You also level up as you earn points, which causes the board to either grow or shift. And that could also mean adding blocks that get in your way. The idea is to keep connecting and clearing blobs so you never run out of space. If the board fills up completely, it’s game over. There are also occasional power-ups you can earn to help you in a pinch. It’s a surprisingly tricky game, especially when you don’t get the numbered blobs you need for the space available. There’s also a timer mode to unlock, but I personally prefer the relaxed version. I should also mention that there was an update that added portrait mode, so it can now be played one-handed on an iPhone. I’ve been playing a lot more of it since then, as it’s easier to fit it into my day in little spurts. If you’re a fan of high score chasers without any grinding or other nonsense, Vlobs is an easy recommendation.

The Salt Keep

The Salt Keep is a stylish text adventure with excellent writing. I only played through the first chapter before I got distracted by other games, but I absolutely want to continue with it. The story follows a traveling merchant named Doyle, who sounds like he’s been sucked into a pyramid scheme in which he needs to sell a lot of ceramics in order to make his money back. But he hasn’t seen many people in a while and runs into trouble while trying yo meet up with someone who was supposed to help him. The writing is easy to read and flows well, so I got sucked in pretty easily. I also like how you find and use objects and have gamebook aspects like stats, but it seems more relaxed than most gamebooks. I can’t really say too much about the story yet, but I’ll report back once I’ve played through more of it. But based on what I’ve read so far, it seems like a pretty safe purchase if you’re looking for a good text adventure.

Vampire Survivors

I named Vampire Survivors my 2022 Game of the Year, so it should come as no surprise that I was waiting eagerly for the DLC to come to iOS. That day has finally come and at the absurdly low price of $0.99. Suffice it to say, I spent the last few days playing a LOT and already unlocked all but one of the new achievements. The new area called Mt. Moonspell really ups the ante and feels a lot harder than any other maps, even when using the most powerful weapons. There are also new characters and weapons to unlock, though some feel better to play than others. All in all, I’m just happy to have more Vampire Survivors to play, though I do wish there was more of a reason to continue past unlocking everything. Without any sort of scoring or leaderboards, there isn’t a whole lot of motivation to keep playing. But it’s fun while it lasts and I do hope we might see even more content in the future.

Genshin Impact

And last, I’m still playing Genshin Impact, but feeling some serious burnout. If not for FOMO, I’d really like to take a proper break from the game. The limited events and dailies make that difficult unless I decide I’m ok missing out on them. For now, I’m still doing the bare minimum, but it’s feeling like a chore at the moment. In any case, you can see more videos on my YouTube channel of the current event.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this past week. I also finished The Last Man on Earth and was disappointed to find out it never got a proper ending because it was canceled unexpectedly. So that sucks. But the second half of Season 4 of You is available now and it’s throwing quite a few surprises at me. I won’t spoil it, but I feel better at the direction it’s taken. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re playing and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped.