Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. Once again, this is actually covering two weeks, as I didn’t have enough for a full roundup last week. It also includes a game releasing in a few days, but I was too excited to play it and couldn’t wait. There’s a fair bit to discuss, so let’s get started.
LOK Digital
Draknek,, aka Alan Hazelden, is well-known for making clever, touchscreen-friendly puzzle games. His company now also publishes other developers’ games that fall into the same category, and LOK Digital is the latest one. The reason for the “digital” part of the name is because there’s also a physical puzzle book you can buy. LOK Digital released on PC back in December, but is coming to mobile on January 23rd. The way it works is that you’re given a board full of specific letters and you need to clear it by spelling out these new words you’ve just learned. The first word is LOK and after you spell it, you can then remove one other piece from the board. The catch is, the word has to be spelled in order in one line. But you’ll quickly learn that there are some tricks to this. And each world introduces a new word to learn and work with. I played through the first two worlds so far and the difficulty’s already ramping up nicely. I was stumped for a while on a couple of the more challenging puzzles in the second world. But, like all Draknek games, accessibility is a big focus and you only need to solve a few puzzles in a world to unlock the next one. There’s even an option to unlock all puzzles from the start if that’s the sort of thing you like. But it means you should never be stuck staring at a single puzzle that’s giving you trouble. I’ll definitely play more of LOK before it releases next week, but I recommend pre-ordering it now and at least playing the free demo when it’s out so you can see for yourself if you want to buy the full game.
Cassette Beasts
Cassette Beasts has been out on other platforms for some time now, and it was meant to come to mobile a while back but the release date kept getting pushed off. But good news for those who have been waiting is that it’s finally out! And it has a free demo you can try before deciding whether to spend the money to buy the full game. I played through the demo so far and I like what I’ve seen, but I’m also not really into monster catching games anymore. That said, there’s some weird stuff going on that has me intrigued and wanted to see more. It’s definitely not your average Pokémon-alike. You can watch some of my gameplay video below or play the demo for yourself while I decide I want to continue with it.
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
I think most people have heard of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion by now, but did you know there’s a new game out with the feisty little vegetable, called Turnip Boy Robs a Bank? It’s a roguelite in which you run into a bank and get as much money as you can before the cops arrive and make it a lot harder to get out alive. There are also weapons you can loot and take back to your base to use towards upgrades and unlockables. There are items you can buy to open up new areas in the bank. And there are missions you can get from different characters. All these things persist between runs, as long as you escape before dying. Otherwise you can lose some of the things you found on that run. Like all roguelites, you’re intended to keep replaying and make a bit more progress each time. It can get very hectic — and repetitive — thanks to the timer, though. I always felt like I needed to escape super early just to be safe. And that was hampering my enjoyment a bit. I don’t think I’ll continue with it, but check out my gameplay video to see if it’s something you might like.
Panel Room – Escape Game
A couple of weeks ago I played through Replay Room and liked it enough that I decided to try another game by the same developer. Panel Room has its own gimmick, which is that everything takes place inside the pages of a comic book. In Replay Room, you needed to find new film reels to be able to explore more, and here you find more pages instead. It also has the extra escape room once you complete the main one. Overall, I found it easier than Replay Room, but there were still some tricky spots. I would recommend playing it, especially since it’s completely free (with ads at the bottom). I also made a walkthrough video if you need help.
Adventure Escape Mysteries – Day 0: Beneath the Mask
I took my sweet time finishing the VIP bonus game that came with Death Dodgers, but I finally finished it, along with my walkthrough guide and video. It was short but sweet and I’m not sure that it’s worth the $9 if you didn’t buy the VIP package to play Death Dodgers early. But you can watch some of my video to decide for yourself.
Genshin Impact
And last, I’m still playing Genshin Impact every day. In the last two weeks I got Mavuika, Citlali, and both their weapons. It cost me a lot of wishes, though, so I need to go back into saving mode now. I also played through the archon quest and bother characters’ story quests. So now I’ve just been doing the limited time events until the next update comes. That’s about it.
And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I also finished all three seasons of The Mandalorian, which is surprising since I’ve never been much of a Star Wars fan. I also watched season 2 of And Just Like That…, even though the first season was so laughably bad. This one was definitely better, but I don’t know that I would actually say it’s good. It’s entertaining, at least. I saw The Last Showgirl, which was great but somewhat depressing. Anyway, let me know in the comments what games you’ve been playing and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped!