Murder is Game Over XSX Review 7.5 / 10 "Pocket-sized Pixel Pondering" 🔪 #IndieGame #GameDev @HitherYonGames @RatalaikaGames

A budget title from Ratalaika, Murder is Game Over is a short and fun narrative horror made in RPG Maker, full of jaunty music and pixel detective action.

As detective Guy and his crime-solving dog Chloe, you’ll roam a mansion and the surrounding grounds in a bid to solve the murder of a world-renowned game designer.

There are eight suspects, and thirty bags of dog treats to find as you try to solve this dastardly crime, as well as a treasure-hunting side quest!

A game that cosily leads you through the mystery as opposed to getting your grey cells pulsating, Murder is Game Over is a fun and light-hearted way to spend an evening, satisfactorily wrapping up its plot in an hour or two, and a big high five for the awesome music, which I would quite happily purchase on vinyl, awesome stuff!

Beyond Sunset Ten Minute Taster PC Gameplay "Where Is The man In The Pink Suit?" ⚔️🌇 @sunset_city_rpg #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich has a go at Beyond Sunset while trying to get to grips with Keyboard Controls and his lack of skill.

Beyond Sunset is a Cyberpunk first-person shooter with a rich story and RPG elements. You are Lucy, an enhanced street samurai searching for lost memories. Fight in large, open, interactive levels overtaken by yakuza, zombies, robots and bosses!

Strike Force Heroes PC Ten Minute Taster "Loads Of Fun To Run N Gun!" 💥 @Sky9Games #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich jumps into the remake of the Flash Game, Strike Force Heroes and has a whale of a time running and gunning through the story mode (mainly running and respawning)

"Strike Force Heroes is an oldschool arena shooter rebuilt with modern mechanics with full co-operative and PvP online multiplayer. It melds over the top action with epic story-telling in this intense remake of the hit Flash game."

Salt & Sacrifice Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "Rubbing Salt Into My Wounds!" ⚔️ @skastudios #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich has a go at Salt & Sacrifice on the Nintendo Switch and gets beat down by this cracking follow up to Salt & Sanctuary.

The Crew Motorfest XSX Review 7.5/10 "Hawaii Five Oh!" 🌴🏎️🌴

The newest entry in The Crew franchise, The Crew Motorfest plonks drivers down in the paradise of Hawaii and lets them loose across the many locations of the island, from volcanos and mountain roads through dense foliage, absurd, spiralling racetracks, suburban areas and more.

After creating your driver and choosing your starting vehicle, you are free to roam around the island as you see fit. You can free roam or enter one of the myriad of ‘playlists’ (races) available, these range from drag races in highly-tuned performance cars to old camper vans, monster trucks, motorcycles and even planes.

There are currently well over 600 vehicles across these styles available, and each completed race will see you earning XP, unlocking extra vehicles and parts to replace and improve your various rides, in terms of both performance and vanity items.

There really is a huge amount of customisation available – as well as other micro-transactions that you can pay for to speed the process along, should you wish to do so …I personally avoid these like the plague, although it didn’t impinge on my enjoyment of the game as I was constantly unlocking and upgrading my garage of cars through normal play.

My Time At Sandrock Rich's Rapid Nintendo Switch Review 🪨⛏️ @MTaSandrock @PatheaGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich jumps into My Time At Sandrock on the Nintendo Switch and has a good old dig around the town to get a view on this cool, cozy, farming crafting sim. 

Check Out Rich's Rapid Review Below:

Broforce Forever Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "MR T Says GO Go GO!" 💥 @freelives #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich jumps head first into Broforce Forever on the Nintendo Switch to sample some of that that sweet sweet runnin' n gunnin' pixelated action!

Fun fact - getting this update out the door took longer than the entire rest of the game took to make. When the devs started they thought it would be funny to call it 

"BROFORCE Forever"

, but nobody is laughing now 😁

Video Game Lo-Fi: A Winter’s Tale (Vinyl & Cassette) Review 📀💿 @CuragaRecords @BrittRecluseuk #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl #VGM

Here in Wales, as the weather takes a colder turn, A Winter’s Tale arrived at the perfect time! 14 tracks of low-end, heavy, lo-fi warmth, this is an album that takes a trip-hop look at some of those seminal, snow-laden gaming moments through the years, taking us from Donkey Kong Country, past Mario Kart 64, through Stardew Valley, and the coast of Fable – alongside many others.

The front cover continues the classic lo-fi series approach of an isometric, stylised look at a certain location. Here, we are treated to a be-snowed take on Princess Peach’s castle from Mario 64, the familiar turrets poking out from underneath a blanket of deep, white snow; as light bleeds out from the entrance way, highlighting some scattered instruments outside in the snow; a piano, drums, acoustic guitar, and trumpet.

ZX Dreams The Follow Up To ZX Nightmares Is Coming Soon... SPRING 2024 🕹️ @Wizwords #Retrogaming

You’ve read about the ZX Nightmares – now sit back and re-discover your ZX Dreams, those brilliant gems we played back in the Eighties. 

From glorious 16K wonders such as Deathchase and Jet Pac to extreme-value budget releases like Booty and Rebelstar and the beautiful games of Pete Cooke and Raffaele Cecco, ZX Dreams celebrates all those games we played – and loved.

My Time At Sandrock Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Sandrock is a love letter to the life simulator genre" 🪨⛏️ @MTaSandrock #IndieGame #GameDev

My Time At Sandrock is the follow up to My time In Portia from Pathea Games

This review is for the Nintendo Switch version which we received from the developers for review purposes. I found the Switch version to have a few framerate issues but nothing that made the experience unplayable.

My time at Sandrock is a charming and engaging life simulator game that sets you down in the role of an aspiring builder tasked with rebuilding the bustling town of Sandrock. From the moment you step into the world, you're greeted by a vibrant and welcoming community filled with quirky characters, each with their own unique stories and personalities. 

The game's art style is a delightful blend of cartoon style character graphics and watercolour-inspired hues, creating a visually captivating world that's both nostalgic and refreshing.

Hero Survival PS5 Review 7/10 "a fun rogue-like game with great music and weapon/item combinations" 💥 @dev_pigeon #IndieGame #GameDev

As we all know, there are many, many rogue-like games available. The one that I am covering today is Hero Survival on PS5 (it’s also available on all other major platforms).

Hero Survival is a classic survival game featuring enemies such as ghosts, werewolves, and jack-o-lanterns, etc. The objective is to progress through the 10 levels of each stage and then defeat the boss at the end. However, each stage takes roughly 20 minutes or more and surviving for that long is not an easy feat!

FROM ANTS TO ZOMBIES: SIX DECADES OF VIDEO GAME HORROR Book Review "The Gaming Necronomicon" 🧛‍♂️ @BitmapBooks #Retrogaming

Sam Dyer – the brain behind Bitmap Books – is someone that I imagine laughing wildly in a vast, ever-growing library somewhere, surrounded by mad monks engrossed in ever-more-perfect drafts of upcoming books through which they will eventually devour the gaming world. Each time I read a book by the publisher, it always feel definitive and individually voiced. I’ve commented before on how each release doesn’t feel like a run-through of the topic at hand, moving from genre-to-genre with a  vanilla, ‘one-size-fits-all’ sensibility. From the all-encompassing JRPG book to the laser-focused CRPG tome – and the surprisingly moving release on Gremlin Graphics – these books really do each have their own approach and style. 

From the moment that I caught wind of From Ants to Zombies, the fact that it was covering video game horror – a genre incredibly dear to me – I was desperate to discover what approach this book would take - and as it turns out, it’s possibly the boldest move by Bitmap Books yet, and one that absolutely lives up to the lofty heights that author Alexander Chatziioannou sets out in the first few pages.

Mondealy XSX Review 8/10 "I completely fell under the pastel-coloured, joyous sway that it conjures" 🌻 @ValkyrieInitia1 #IndieGame #GameDev

I’m very much on board with playing a wide variety of genres, and I appreciate that sometimes you need a game like Mondealy to slow you down and allow you to take stock of your life, appreciate what you have, and perhaps take a break from blowing up demons, shooting thousands of bullets at an alien threat, or squeezing your controller in love/respect/frustration because you missed that pixel-perfect 100th jump, and how need to do the last hours’ worth of progress again.

I initially played Mondealy off the back of a pretty full-on game, and switching from that to this mellow, slowly-unfolding world was initially a little jarring, but after a mental reset, I completely fell under the pastel-coloured, joyous sway that it conjures, especially enjoying the soundtrack, courtesy of the below talented composers:

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest For Balance Nintendo Switch Review 5/10 💨 @BamtangGames #IndieGames #GameDev

The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is now almost two decades old, and Avatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balance is the newest video game release and follows the epic adventures of Aang and his friends on their adventure to master all elements -water, fire, air and earth. 

Before we dive into things, I wanted to point out that this content is geared towards younger audiences. The game is designed to be easy to progress through, and the fighting mechanics are very accessible and straightforward, so you might find this slightly less enjoyable if you want to revisit the beloved story in real depth or were perhaps expecting advanced combat mechanics.

F Zero 99 Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "F Zero F*cks Given!" 💥

Rich jumps into the carnage of a 99 player F Zero Rumble and has lots of fun catching sparks and taking the elevated highway!

eShop Link:

F-ZERO 99 | Nintendo Switch download software | Games | Nintendo

Coffee Talk Double Pack Edition lands in Europe from today. ☕ "Let’s talk about it!" @SerenityForge #IndieGame #GameDev

Coffee Talk Episode 1 & 2 Physical Collection lands in Europe from today in collaboration between Serenity Forge & Numskull Games.

Serenity Forge & Numskull Games are thrilled to confirm the European Retail release of Coffee Talk: Double Pack Edition is available now at leading retailers for Nintendo Switch. The PlayStation Editions will arrive slightly later, in early December.

Haunted House Nintendo Switch Ten Minute taster "Don't Let It Grab You By The Ghoulies!" 👻 🏚️ @atari

Rich dares to enter a reimagined version of Haunted House from Atari on the Nintendo Switch and is genuinely surprised and not horrified by the experience.

For The King 2 PC Ten Minute Taster "Spiders and Goblins" 👑 @IronOakGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich gets stuck into the second For The King game and begins his adventure in this lovely game from Iron Oak Games. In For The King 2 you will Battle against Fahrul's tyrannical Queen alone or as a party of four players in the sequel to For The King, the massively popular turn-based roguelite tabletop RPG. Will you unravel the once beloved Queen's terrible secret?

PGA TOUR 2k23 PC Ten Minute Taster "Take The Driver Out The Bag" ⛳️ @PGATOUR2K

 

Rich decides to hit the links with more swagger in PGA TOUR 2K23. The game now features playable male and female pros, including Tiger Woods, new licensed courses, more control options, an authentic PGA TOUR MyCAREER, Course Designer, and new MyPLAYER Skills and Archetypes! PGA TOUR 2K23.

The 7th Guest VR Meta Quest 2 Review 9.5/10 "Feeling…looooonely?" 🏚️🩸 @the7thguestvr #IndieGame #GameDev #MetaQuest2 #VRhorror

This is probably one of only a handful of reviews that I’ll ever write with my current mindset, due to my personal history with the game in question. The 7th Guest was - and is - a constant presence in my life.

I initially played the game on the Philips CD-i back in the mid-90s (with a friend called Brett, nonetheless) and I was completely mesmerised by what was - to me at the time- absolutely the future of gaming, in that it felt like a movie that you could control yourself! Between this and Burn Cycle, my young mind was blown wide open, and although I didn’t complete the game at the time, when I managed to get hold of a PC version a while later and play it through - with headphones - The 7th Guest made me feel like no other game had before.

I was completely pulled into its atmosphere and world, full of wonder and terror at what it offered both visually and sonically.

Over the years - thanks to Games Freezer - I’ve been in the position to interview George Sanger (the esoteric and wonderful composer of the music featured in the original game) as well as cover fan versions of The 7th Guest. In fact, I’m currently waiting on the release of an industrial rock vinyl of the soundtrack, as well as (hopefully, eventually) a hinted-at vinyl release of the amazing 7/11 album by Team Fat.

The 7th Guest soundtrack still often haunts the halls of my home, and I firmly believe it to be one of the most evocative and singular soundtracks ever laid down - so, what I’m trying to get at here, is ‘I like The 7th Guest’.