Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. Despite still having a lot of exploration left in Natlan, Genshin Impact took a back seat this week to games like Balatro, which is as addictive as everyone said. There have been some other quality games this week, too, so definitely stick around and hear what I have to say.

Balatro

So, Balatro is finally out on mobile and it is indeed very hard to put down. The hype is real! The game does a good job of explaining how things work, but it actually took me a few hours before everything gelled and I started to have a proper strategy and actually won a game. Basically, you have to fight “blinds” which are beaten by scoring a certain number of chips, or points. You do so using playing cards and poker hands, but you have a limited number of turns to do it in. You also have jokers that offer different powers, such as multipliers or extra coins or extra chips. There’s a shop to buy new jokers, as well as playing cards that have special abilities and also cards that upgrade your hands or your cards. There’s a lot going on and so many ways for cards to play off each other that makes it so compelling. The first time I reached the final boss, it had 300,000 points instead of 100,000, and I didn’t even come close. But the second time I managed to get that far, I had a voucher that allowed me to reroll the blind and I got one with 100,000. I also had a legendary joker that disabled the blind’s abilities, so it made it a lot easier to beat. The problem with Balatro is that I want to play all the time even when I can’t because I have other responsibilities. It’s a dangerous game if you don’t have a lot of self control. But seriously, you should play it. And if the $10 price tag is too high to get you to jump in, you can also play the same game through Apple Arcade and your progress will sync if you decide to buy the standalone app later. So however you decide to do it, just play it.

Midnight Girl

What struck me about Midnight Girl when I first saw the screenshots was that it looked a lot like The Silent Age that I played years ago. Well, as it turns out, that’s because both games had the same art director. I’m a big fan of the art direction, so that’s a plus in my book. So far, I’ve played through the first six chapters and I like it, but it’s very straightforward. There’s no time travel mechanic here, so it’s more traditional point-and-click and you’re just running around finding items and then using them to progress. The story is fun, about a woman who’s a thief and she teams up with a famous thief to pull off a heist. I’m enjoying it, but you shouldn’t go in expecting any head-scratchers. It’s also free to try with a one-time purchase to unlock the full game, so check it out for yourself.

Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge

The folks at Patrones y Escondites have released some fun experimental games that play around with text. I’ve liked what they released so far and was looking forward to Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge without knowing too much about it. It turned out to be a short game about getting back at a bully in high school by leaving pineapples everywhere. It’s a very absurd idea and I love how the game never acknowledges how silly it is. We’re just all going along with the idea that this is indeed a genius prank that would make someone lose their mind. But anyway, each prank involves some sort of mini game and you have a notebook and tape recorder to refer to for information. Overall, I enjoyed it, but found the touch controls a little temperamental sometimes. I also struggled with a sound-based puzzle because I have a hard time differentiating tones and ended up having to ask the developer for help. Otherwise, it was a nice game and I appreciate the message it aims to spread about bullying. I do hope they might do something about that sound puzzle to make it more accessible, though, especially since it changes every game. Anyway, check out some of my gameplay videos below if you want to see what it’s like.

Unforeseen Incidents

I’ve been playing Unforeseen Incidents for a few weeks now and am still heavily invested in finding out what happens. I just got sidetracked by other games (cough Balatro cough) so I didn’t play as much this week as I had hoped to. But I learned a lot in the bit of time I did spend with it and I’m getting closer to unraveling the mystery. I highly recommend this one to any point-and-click fans, especially if you’re looking for puzzles that take a bit of work to solve.

Adventure Escape Mysteries – Framed

Not much to say here. Haiku Games re-released one of their classics and it’s broken up into more chapters so I’m making a new walkthrough for it. I haven’t seen any other changes yet, but I’ve only replayed the first two chapters. If you’ve already played it before you can probably skip it.

Genshin Impact

And last, I spent more time with Genshin Impact and finished several story quests. I’m now mostly exploring Natlan and farming for the characters I already pulled and ones I’m planning to get on the next banner.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I’ve also been watching the Amazon Prime series Mr. and Mrs. Smith. As a spy show it’s kind of silly with lots of things left unexplained. But I think it’s meant more to be about their relationship than anything else and it’s entertaining so I’m sticking with it. 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!