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 spent most of my week working on my walkthrough for The Squire’s Tale, but I also took some time to try some new games, as well as continue OXENFREE II. Some of the new releases are really quite good, even the ones I personally suck at playing. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s get to it.

Geo Gods

Arnold Rauers has made a name for himself with games like Card Crawl, Miracle Merchant and Maze Machina. They’re always perfect for mobile and addictive enough for long sessions but playable in short bursts, as well, if you must. His latest is called Geo Gods and has you planting a garden of gods, attempting to reach a high score. I’m not really going to try to explain all the rules because I’m still learning them myself. But the gods come in one of six elements and and you choose one of three to place on the board each turn. The cards all have abilities that affect each other and where you place them on the board also matters. There’s a lot at play here and you’re better off just trying the game for yourself than having me attempt to explain it — especially since it’s free with a one-time IAP to unlock the full game. One thing that is very unique about it, though, is its scoring. You’re not looking to simply get a high score on a game and then move on. Your previous six games are averaged to get your score. And every time you mess up and have a bad run, it affects your average score — until you either complete tasks so you can delete that score or you get better scores to push it out from your recent six. It puts a lot more weight on each run. There’s also a weekly challenge that some may enjoy, but I don’t personally like the idea of having to play every single day in order to compete. I’ll probably just stick to playing whenever the mood strikes. But this is a very addictive game with a ton of depth and I’m sure smarter people than me will blow my scores out of the water. Definitely give this one a try.

Luck be a Landlord

Luck be a Landlord was originally on other platforms, but mobile is the perfect place for it. The way it works is every few weeks you have to pay your landlord rent, but the rent increases each time. You earn your money by playing slots and you need to make enough to pay your rent or it’s game over. Each week you spin and the different symbols you get all react with each other and give you coins based on those interactions. You also earn new symbols that are added to your collection that can appear on the slots. There’s a lot of strategy involved and somehow I did better on my first game before I fully understood what was happening. Somehow I’ve been getting worse at it. But it’s very compelling and I do plan to play more and see if I can last longer. There’s plenty of information out there about this game already, so you don’t even have to take my word for it. But it’s a solid game that’s easy to play on a phone and might be your next addiction.

O-VOID

O-VOID is something those of you with fast reflexes will relish. It’s a one-touch auto-runner that takes place in a circle and reminds me of games like Super Hexagon. You play as a little square that automatically moves around the circle. You tap to jump onto or over platforms. But if you mess up and hit a wall, it’s game over — at least after you use up the one continue. It’s broken up into different levels that are all randomized, so it’s not the kind of game that you memorize in order to improve your score. Each level gets progressively harder, both by speeding things up and throwing new obstacles at you. One thing that really manages to mess me up is when the circle stops moving and my character moves instead. Normally, the world moves around you and it throws me off — intentionally — when that changes. There’s a lot to like here — especially the simplicity — but those with faster reflexes will get more out of it than I am. What it’s teaching me is that a second is a lot longer than I ever realized. O-VOID is also free to try with a one-time IAP to make it premium, so definitely give it a go.

Roto Force

It’s a bit odd, but there are actually two games that released this week that play out inside a rotating environment. Roto Force also requires fast reflexes and is more complex than O-VOID. It’s not an auto-runner. You control your movement and can run along the edges of the environment. You can also slingshot yourself across to another wall. But on top of that, you also have a weapon for attacking enemies. I enjoyed the time I spent with it — it both looks and feels great. But I also died a lot and I don’t think I have the reflexes or the perseverance to get very far in the game. I do still recommend trying it for yourself. Like the others, it’s free to download and then can be turned premium via a single in-app purchase.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals

I got further along with OXENFREE II and I’m still sucked in by the story, characters and atmosphere. I think I’m close to the end, but I’m also not sure how much hidden stuff there is, like the original had. I’m also not sure if there are multiple endings to try for and whether I’ll work towards that. But I’m enjoying my time with it and am looking forward to playing more over the weekend. Definitely play it if you have a Netflix subscription and consider getting one for it if you don’t. You can also play the original through Netflix if you haven’t yet.

Adventure Escape Mysteries – The Squire’s Tale

I spent most of the week working on my walkthrough for The Squires Tale and I now have just two of the eight chapters left. It’s definitely one of Haiku’s easier games, but I appreciate that there haven’t been any truly annoying puzzles or mini games. I also think their writing has improved a lot, as this game has a lot of genuinely funny moments. I recommend reading through all the dialogue instead of just skipping past to get to the puzzles. Again, you can find my walkthrough here if you get stuck.

Genshin Impact

And last, I only spent a little time with Genshin Impact this week because I was so busy with other games. I did start using the gadget that comes with the summer event to find chests and puzzles I missed. I’m going to have to dive into that more seriously soon since it is a limited event. I don’t want to miss out on any of the puzzles or rewards and I’m not sure just how much content there is. So next week I’ll likely dig into it more.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I also finished the first season of The Horror of Dolores Roach and was very annoyed at the huge cliffhanger. I’m now in the middle of Deadloch, which is very very Australian. Speaking of Australia — I finally tried actual TimTams and decided I like Trader Joe’s knockoffs better. What’s up with that?? Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped!