The Stillness of the Wind By: Surprise Attack Games / Lambic Studios / Memory of God I always look forward to games that try to challenge the idea of what games are supposed to be. I like when they attempt to create a certain kind of experience through interactivity, worrying less about providing a challenge and more about making something that sticks with the player long after the game is over. Search-based…
Roterra - Flip the Fairytale By: Dig-It Games I'm always on the lookout for the next great puzzle game, so when I saw news of Roterra a few months back, I knew it was something I had to play. The game was created by Dig-It, a woman-owned studio, and it stars a woman named Angelica, the rightful queen of the land of Roterra. After her brother, Orlando, steals her throne and chases…
BACKFIRE By: Joel Rochon / GRYN SQYD It will probably come as no surprise to those who frequent this site that I tend to prefer my games relaxed and thoughtful instead of fast-paced and chaotic. So if I stick with one that gets my heart racing and stresses me out, you know it's something special. That's definitely the case with the hardcore arena shooter, BACKFIRE. I fell in love from the first…
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…
For the last few years, I've been selecting my favorite games of the year to allow readers to catch up on any must-haves they might have missed. 2015 was the first time I started doing it, with Her Story easily squashing all the competition. 2016 brought us the adorably brain-melting Snakebird and gorgeous Samorost 3. The insane year of 2017 was almost a tie between INSIDE, Gorogoa, Mushroom 11 and twelve other…
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…
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…
