Alien: Blackout By: D3PA I really wanted to like Alien: Blackout, even if just to prove to all the naysayers that a mobile Alien game can be truly fun and well-designed -- especially one without any ads or in-app purchases. And at first, it seemed like that would actually happen. The overall concept sounds like a perfect fit for the both the franchise and touchscreens -- monitoring the xenomorph through different camera…
BLASK By: Pawel Delimata / SmallBigSquare I've always been a big fan of laser reflecting puzzles, as they often meet that sweet spot between logic and trial-and-error. You can get pretty far just fiddling with the pieces and adjusting them until you achieve the goal, but you get farther if you also have a bit of a plan. I also love when games innovate, bringing something completely new to the table, and…
Barbearian By: Kimmo Lahtinen (GIMBLLL) Someone out there might remember that last year, I played The Witness for months and then finally reviewed it right before the year ended. Well, it looks like GIMBLLL's hectic hack-n-slash, Barbearian, is this year's The Witness. I loved it from the very start, with its fast-paced mayhem and charming hand-drawn art style. But every time I'd get stuck on a boss, I'd take a break for…
Gone Home By: Annapurna Interactive / Fullbright Company Gone Home released on PC in 2013 to critical acclaim, won a bunch of awards and, along with it, a ton of controversy. Dubbed the original Γò¼├┤Γö£├ºΓö¼├║walking simulator,Γò¼├┤Γö£├ºΓö¼├æ the lack of any meaningful challenge prompted questions on whether itΓò¼├┤Γö£├ºΓö£├╗s even a game. Basically, you walk around an empty house, picking up objects and reading notes left around by the family. There arenΓò¼├┤Γö£├ºΓö£├╗t really any…
Twinfold By: Kenny Sun I'm a big fan of swipe-based roguelikes and high-score chasers that feel perfectly designed to play on an iPhone. It's amazing how innovative mobile developers can get using swipes as the primary input from a player. I don't know if Threes! was the first game to have the whole board shift with each swipe, all pieces moving in the same direction. But since then, many developers have incorporated…
CHUCHEL By: Amanita Design Amanita Design's Samorost 3 was one of my favorite games of 2016, and it's still one of my favorite point-and-click adventures ever. One thing that stood out to me was the number of little details in each scene and objects to interact with that weren't necessarily related to the puzzles. For instance, in a forest scene, there were three cicadas that you can tap on to get them…
Kingdom Rush Vengeance By: Ironhide S.A. Sometimes it's fun to play the villain. That's the idea behind Kingdom Rush Vengeance, the latest tower defense (TD) game from Ironhide. This time, you're controlling an army of monsters instead of goody-two-shoes heroes. It's not the first time a series has done this. In fact, one of my favorite TD games, Legendary Wars, got a sequel that did the exact same thing. Monster Wars flipped…
A Mortician's Tale By: Laundry Bear Games Inc. Three months ago, the only grandparent I ever knew passed away and, even though she lived close to me, she was buried abroad. As someone who's bad at taking spontaneous trips, I made the poor decision not to attend her funeral. Without that closure, my brain hasn't fully acknowledged her passing and I also haven't truly mourned. So I understand firsthand how important it…
