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 time — way more than I should have! — playing Balatro, but I also finished two games I was in middle of and started another. At some point I’ll probably have to stop playing Balatro because it’s consuming my life, but that day has not come yet. Anyway, there’s a fair amount to discuss, so let’s get started.
Justin Wack & the Big Time Hack
Justin Wack & the Big Time Hack got ported to mobile recently and, since I just finished two other point-and-click adventures, it seemed like a good time to give it a try. I’m a big fan of time travel games, and I do like what the developers have going here. You play as both Justin Wack, who goes back in time to when dinosaurs roam the earth, and as a caveman who jumps through the portal back to Justin’s time and takes his place. The puzzles have been straightforward and logical so far, but I only spent around a half hour with it. My main complaint is that everything feels very slow. Coming off of Unforeseen Incidents, where the dialogue was all very natural and well-paced, I find myself getting impatient with Justin Wack. The jokes don’t always land for me, and the voice acting doesn’t sound as good and feels a bit sluggish. The characters will also often pause to stare at the camera before continuing to speak. It made that first half hour feel longer than it should have. I’m not sure yet if I’ll continue with it, but if I do there might come a point where the pacing becomes enough of a problem to make me quit. I recommend watching some of my gameplay video to see if you have the same issues with it that I do.
Balatro
I was addicted to Balatro last week and I’m still addicted to Balatro this week. I’ve beaten the game with most decks now and some with “red stake,” which means you don’t earn coins from small blinds. Some decks are a lot easier to win with than others, but I’ve noticed that if I don’t earn coins and get some decent jokers early on, it all goes south later. And that has led me to restarting the game over and over until I get better results in the early part of the game. I kind of wish there was a way to prioritize certain jokers appearing in the shop. But that’s still not enough to turn me off from the game yet. I’m going to try “green stake” soon, but I’m a bit scared. I may first try beating the decks I haven’t won at all with yet. But anyway, this is the kind of game that consumes your life and has you dreaming about jokers. I know it’s a premium price compared to most other iOS games, but it really is worth the money. Or, if you have an Apple Arcade subscription already, try it on there and your progress will carry over to the paid version if you decide to buy it later. I have more videos on my YouTube channel if you’re interested. There were just too many to embed them all here.
Unforeseen Incidents
I started Unforeseen Incidents a few weeks ago and was immediately pulled in by the compelling story, humor and voice acting. I’ve stuck with it since and finally finished it. It held my attention to the end, as I grew to care about both the characters and the plot. I wanted to see where it would lead and it didn’t disappoint. The only place it faltered a bit, in my opinion, was with some of the puzzles. Especially near the end, some of them seemed illogical and I resorted to looking up a guide. But there weren’t too many like that and overall, it was a positive experience. I would highly recommend it to any point-and-click fans out there.
Midnight Girl
I also started Midnight Girl last week and, while it was not quite as engrossing as Unforeseen Incidents, I still played through to the end and enjoyed my time with it. The music, atmosphere and art style are all superb. The only area where I felt it was a bit lacking was the puzzles. Pretty much everything was just fetching items from different rooms to use them in others. I think it could have used a bit of variety, but for what it is I think it’s still worth playing. The ending left it open for a sequel and I would happily play it if they make one.
Adventure Escape Mysteries – Framed
Again, this is just an old game that was re-released and broken into more chapters, so I’m busy remaking my walkthrough for it.
Genshin Impact
And last, I’m still exploring Natlan in Genshin Impact. I did some interesting quests this week, but I spent less time with the game because of Balatro. There’s also a new update coming in a few days that I’m looking forward to.
And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I also finished Mr. & Mrs. Smith and am a little annoyed at the cliffhanger it ended on. I watched all of How to Die Alone and am now in middle of Little Fires Everywhere, which I’m liking a lot more than I expected to. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying and I’ll see you back her next time for more of My Week Unwrapped!
I just finished Thimbleweed Park. It was a little harder than I expected. I got confused with having to switch between characters in order to accomplish certain tasks. I really like games where you find objects and use logic how to use them or figure out puzzles. I also like games with a good plot to them. I enjoyed Thimbleweed Park but it definitely made me think and I did have to use some guides.