👨‍⚖️ I Am Your President: Prologue | Review | PC | 2/10 | "It’s a bargain bin experience that’s not worth the time" 👨‍⚖️ @PixelHunted #GameDev #IndieGames

If video games are about empowering the player, what better place to put them in the Oval Office? 

The potential is obvious: can a player balance idealism with pragmatic realpolitik, deal with crises, keep themselves electable, avoid scandal and above all project a firm image of confident leadership?

👒 Evan’s Remains | PC | Review by Pixel Hunted | 2/10 | "Evan’s Remains is about hitting ‘A’ over and over and over (and over) again" 👒 @PixelHunted # Evansremains #GameDev #IndieGames

Evan’s Remains is about hitting ‘A’ over and over and over (and over) again. 

The game is 80% visual novel and 20% game: a barely interactive experience in which your participation is mostly jamming a button to cue up the next bit of bad writing.

🚓 Autobahn Police Simulator 2 | Review | XBOX | "Some great ideas and moments hamstrung by severe technical issues" 🚓 @zsoftware #GameDev #IndieGames

Game Title: Autobahn Police Simulator 2

Platform reviewed: XBOX ONE

Rating 4/10

Whilst the score I’m giving Autobahn Police Simulator 2 isn’t numerically high, I want to come out of the gate by stating that I enjoyed my time with the game and really look forward to seeing where the series goes next. Under the myriad of problems that exist, there is a really tasty game here, begging to be let out.

🏔️⛺️🗻Kholat | PC | Review | “I tried so hard, and got so far, but, in the end, it doesn’t even matter.” 🏔️⛺️🗻 @PixelHunted #GameDev #IndieGame

Chester Bennington once sang: “I tried so hard, and got so far, but, in the end, it doesn’t even matter.” This could be the motto of Kholat, an indie horror title from IMGN.PRO that starts strong but gradually becomes less and less enjoyable

Kholat is inspired by the notorious Dyatlov Pass Incident in which nine Russian hikers died in Ural mountains in 1959. 

An investigation revealed that they’d frantically clawed their way out of their tents in the middle of the night, with their bodies found naked and mutilated in the mountains - some reports claiming that high levels of radiation were found on the bodies.

🏚️🏰🏚️ Westmark Manor PC | Review | "You can’t toss a stone in the horror genre without disturbing something vile..." 🏚️🏰🏚️ @PixelHunted #GameDev #IndieGames

HP Lovecraft may have been a daft turbo-racist, but man, that guy could nail creepy.

His Cthulhu Mythos has blossomed far beyond his books, spreading its tentacles into every facet of pop culture, finding a particularly sticky purchase in games.

You can’t toss a stone in the horror genre without disturbing something vile, ancient and unknowable. 

Eternal Darkness, Darkwood, World of Horror, The Sinking City, Moons of Madness, Call of Cthulhu, Sunless Sea/Skies, Bloodborne… Hell, even the venerable Quake ends with you telefragging the pulsating and veiny Shub Niggureth. 

Do we really need more Lovecraft games? 

Well, Nodbrim Interactive and Toadman Interactive think there’s room for just one more…

🌭 Teenage Blob | PC | Review | "If Sayonara Wild Hearts is The Popular Older Sister, Teenage Blob is Her Scrappy Little Brother" 🌭 @PixelHunted #IndieGames #GameDev

How do you get people to pay attention to music?

Everyone having access to the majority of all recorded music ever has turned it into background noise. 

Before the internet you might have trawled record fairs for that one bootleg album of rare cuts, going home and listening intently to the jewel you’d finally unearthed.

Now? Everything is a few clicks away. All of which makes one relatively new trend in video games very welcome: the ‘interactive album’.

The most famous example is the amazing Sayonara Wild Hearts, in which you zip through a neon-drenched virtual world to Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Engkickass’ kickass synth-pop.

The act of playing means you don’t get distracted and the rhythm of the gameplay tangibly connects you to the music. And so to Team Lazerbeam’s Teenage Blob.

🏎️🚓 Tiny Racer | Review | Nintendo Switch | "Toy Racing At Its Worst?" 🏎️🚓 #IndieGames #GameDev

Game Title: Tiny Racer

Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Switch

Rating: Melted

The toy-racing genre is one that I am always drawn to.

From the early multiplayer days of Micro Machines and even Hi-Octane - an overlooked Amiga PD classic (for me, anyway) – to what is probably the last truly great example of the genre, Mashed on Xbox and PS2 (not forgetting its spiritual successor, Wrecked. Again, an overlooked and very fun title).

It is a genre that, when everything clicks, can result in dozens of hours of fun but when the elements don’t gel, as is, unfortunately, the case here, fundamental issues can bring the game to its knees and strip out any enjoyment from the racing.

🌳⚔️ Arboria | PC | Review | "If you Go Down To The Woods Today..." 🌳⚔️ #GameDev #IndieGames

In Arboria you begin your journey in this dark fantasy rogue-lite as an ancient forest-dwelling troll-like warrior You will descend into the ever-changing forest and uncover the mysteries of your tribe. You get to use a variety of Symbiotic Weapons to fight enemies and you will get the chance to mutate to become even stronger on each run.

👨‍⚖️ FEMIDA | Review | PC | "The Gavel Will Fall On Bad Translations" 👨‍⚖️ #GameDev #IndieGames

Femida - £6.99 - Steam

In Femida you Play the role of Judge Demian Mardoch and investigate the disappearance of your father during the Last Revolution. 

It’s set in the dystopian State with an overarching storyline that is initially intriguing to dig into.

🏔️🚗 Hill Climbing Mania | Nintendo Switch | Review | *A mountain I couldn’t bring myself to climb* 🏔️🚗 #IndieGames #GameDev

A mobile port to the Switch, Hill Climbing Mania makes no bones about its similarities to Fingersoft’s 2012 title, Hill Climb Racing.

Whilst this is a ‘snack’ genre that I have had a lot of fun with on mobile platforms, InLogic’s title has too many issues for it to be a recommended purchase.

⚔️♟️ Wartile | Review | PS4 | "Like Sun Tzu, The Art of War is in My Blood" ♟️⚔️ #GameDev #IndieGames

I was really excited about Wartile. I am a huge fan of strategy games like XCOM, Age of Empires, 8-Bit Armies etc. and have been since the 90s (playing Command & Conquer Red Alert over LAN was an experience).

🦀 Deadliest Catch The Game | PC | Review | "Time To Catch Crabs!" 🦀 #IndieGames #GameDev #DeadliestCatch

Based on the TV show of the same name Deadliest catch sees you enter the dangerous world of king crab fishing in the deadly Bering Sea!

You will take command of your own fishing vessel, use realistic equipment, combat hazardous Alaskan waters and become the world's best crab catcher!

🏯🏣🎎🉐 Tetsumo Party | PS4 | REVIEW | "Bring On The Wall!" 🏯🏣🎎🉐 #GameDev #IndieGame

In Tetsumo Party you’re a sumo wrestler who can contort his body into different shapes in order to match the hole in the wall that is travelling towards you at speed!

Use L1 and R1 to contort your left arm and right arm 

Use L2 and R2 to contort your left leg and right leg 

Use all the limb buttons quickly to match the shape in the wall

And repeat...

🕵️‍♂️ THE UNCLEARNESS | REVIEW | PC | "A Bad Case Of Google Translate" 🕵️‍♂️ #GameDev #IndieGames

You play the role of Stan Ingram which is a great name for the hero of a game that I feel will get a cult following for all the wrong reasons.

Stan is a private detective who is investigating a suicide case in a dystopian future which is set in 2080.

This game is hard to categorise but I’m going with Action Adventure for now until I’m proven otherwise.

The Steam listing goes with Action Indie Violent Nudity Adventure RPG!

🏐🎶 Super Dodgeball Beats - REVIEW - "To Dodge Ball or To Not Dodge Ball?" 🏐🎶 #GameDev #IndieGames

Super Dodgeball Beats is a simplistic game that, whilst having a great aesthetic, ultimately just felt too bare bones to be engaging.

🚀 🚜 JCB Pioneer Mars REVIEW - Nintendo Switch 🚜 🚀 #GameDev #IndieGame

Excited to explore Mars and build up a base camp in order to re-colonise earth I ventured into JCB Pioneer on Switch with great excitement.

It felt like this would be a perfect fit for the Switch as I could tend to my colony on Mars whilst chilling on the sofa with my wife as she watches Love Island 2019...(earphones in and eyes down)

🎭🎎 Dollhouse - PS4 - REVIEW - "A Dollhouse that needs more than a lick of paint" 🎎🎭 #GameDev #IndieGame

Game Title: Dollhouse
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Melted

I first came across Dollhouse a couple of weeks ago when Faye and I watched the trailer on YouTube, it was atmospheric, intriguing, mysterious and completely drew me. 
In short, it was everything that the actual game isn’t.

🔫 Review: Phantom Doctrine “XCOM Meets The Cold War??” 🔫 @gazchap #GameDev #IndieGame

Phantom Doctrine

Developer: Creative Forge

Platform: PC - Steam

Review by: Gareth ‘GazChap’ Griffiths

As I’m sure many people reading this can relate to, I’ve always had a fascination with spy thrillers, no doubt started by watching one too many Bond movies as a kid and marvelling at how 007 manages to save the world time and again while wisecracking, raising eyebrows and bedding every woman that walks within 15 metres of him.

🤖🔎 Review: Detective Case and Clown Bot in "The Express Killer" "A Deeply Flawed 'Comedic' Murder Mystery" 🤖🔎 #GameDev #IndieGame #PointnClick

Developer: NerdMonkeys

Platform Reviewed: PC (Steam)

Rating: Melted

"A deeply flawed comedic murder mystery"

I’ve played quite a few graphic adventure games in my time, some I’ve loved and some that had their issues but Detective Case and Clown Bot in: The Express Killer (DCCB) could well be the worst point and click game that I’ve ever played.

🧙🏻‍♀️Review:Bullet Witch "If only I could cast a spell to make this a better game"🧙🏻‍♀️

Game Title: Bullet Witch

Platform Reviewed: PC (Steam)

Developer: Cavia (original) / Marvelous, Inc (re-release)

Rating: Melted

Bullet Witch was a game released back in 2006 for the Xbox 360 to reviews that were middling at best and with good reason. Bland, buggy graphics set in tedious, linear levels that are filled with copy/paste enemies that you mow down via unsatisfying gunplay; it really wasn’t a good example of the 3rd person shooter genre. 

Upon release it was quickly forgotten by everyone except the most ardent fans of the game, fast-forward twelve years to this re-release, now playable in 60fps and 1080 resolution and we ask the question, 

“Has the game finally discovered a new lease of life, replete in re-mastered glory?”

*drum roll*