Linn: Path of Orchards By: Crescent Moon Games Linn: Path of Orchards is a game I wish I was better at playing. I love the art style that's reminiscent of classics like Monument Valley and Alto's Adventure, from the color palette to the weather effects. It has a calm and relaxing soundtrack that makes me want to keep playing even when I'm frustrated. I'm also a big fan of games that have…
Knights of the Card Table By: Iron Horse Games LLC / Ponywolf Who can resist a cartoony hand-drawn dungeon crawler with puntastic humor and a simple control scheme that's a perfect fit for mobile? I know I can't, which is why I was so excited to play Ponywolf's Knights of the Card Table. Meteorfall was one of my most-played games of 2018, so I was hoping it might scratch a similar itch…
Dragons: Titan Uprising By: Ludia I don't normally play or review free-to-play match-three games, as I know that they're almost always going to be pure garbage, with progress linked to how much real world money you're able and willing to spend. But I like dragons, and I like the How to Train Your Dragon franchise and am looking forward to the upcoming movie The Hidden World. I also like match-three games when…
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…
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…
