🐶🐰 Sam & Max Save The World | Review | Nintendo Switch | Review By Dr Congo Fighting | "The World’s Best-Loved Anthropomorphic Dog and Rabbit Crime-Fighting Duo" 🐶🐰 @skunkape #IndieGames #GameDev

1993. The Midlands - a landlocked region of the UK, the historic home to heavy industry, heavy metal, and heavy accents resembling a large and very vocal cat in the throes of regret, having attempted to eat a toffee.

Zoom in to the window of a bungalow in a village on the edge of a green belt. Further, the camera in the room now as a thirteen-year-old Dr Fighting settles in front of his friend's PC.

A 486, DX2 66MHz, no less. The monitor lights his face, hair plentiful on the scalp, sparse on the chin. Time later decided that this was completely the wrong way around, and changed things accordingly.

The floppy disc is inserted. The mouse steadied. A command or two at the DOS prompt and Sam and Max Hit The Road boots up, brilliant colours filling the screen. The odyssey begins...I am in love with this game.

🎄🎅 B.R.U.C.E Saves Christmas | Review | Online Escape Room Game | "Whilst the festive period may be over, I heartily recommend recapturing some Winter magic" 🎄🎅 @bewilderbox #IndieGames #EscapeRoom

Something a bit different from GF today, as we talk about B.R.U.C.E Saves Christmas, an on-line escape room available from Bewilderbox.

🎃 Pumpkin Jack | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A treat for Halloween, Christmas and beyond" 🎃 @thepumpkinjack #GameDev #IndieGames

Pumpkin Jack is a game that’s been on my radar for a while, a 3D platformer in the vein of MediEvil – with whom it also shares a graphical style – I sadly missed the opportunity to play it around Halloween but was delighted to find, upon receiving it for review in the run-up to Christmas, that a Santa costume has been implemented for Jack to sport throughout his quest, making things festive as well as fiendish!

💙🎮💙 Gaming Your Blues Away? How It Can Help 💙🎮💙

Image source - pixabay - cco license

There is no denying that some people agree that gaming can be a form of escapism. Many people enjoy playing games, clearing their minds from stress and worries of the day and just concentrating on something else for a while.

Right now with everything that is going on in the world, gaming can be a great way to help you combat feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.

But how can it help?

Here are some of the ways gaming could help you enjoy some escapism for a while.

🐺🌳 Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A Punchy Visual Novel With Bite" 🐺🌳 @differenttales #GameDev #IndieGames

My history with visual novels is somewhat patchy and mostly linked to stories of high school anime girls bickering in glacial stories that roll on for dozens of hours.

To be honest, my interest in them was renewed only last year with Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York which, whilst flawed, told an interesting tale in a breezy manner that was rich in lore without being bogged down by it.

👍🕹️ Sore Thumb Retro Games Subscription Box | @SoreThumbRetro | "Which box would you sign up for? Me?…I’m thinking Master System" 👍🕹️ #RetroGaming #LootBox

Having followed them for a while on Twitter via my @kingdomofcarts account, I was really intrigued when I caught a sniff of their monthly subscription idea and, after receiving samples through the post recently, it’s definitely a service that would benefit a lot of people, especially those starting off a collection or perhaps fancy dipping into gaming of a more retro nature.

🌵🤠🐍 Boot Hill Heroes | Review | Nintendo Switch | "There's A Snake In My Boots!" 🌵🤠🐍 @ExpGamerStudios #GameDev #IndieGames

Let it be said that I’m a sucker for pixel art retro aesthetic graphics.

Let it also be said that I love the thought of a Wild West Fantasy RPG.

Let it be known that I think that I love Boot hill Heroes for its charm and simplicity (and it’s pixel art retro aesthetic graphics)

This is the second Boot Hill game to be released on the Nintendo Switch but in fact, it is the first game in the Boot Hill series… 

Last year my dear friend and fellow inhabitant of the Freezer took a close look at Boot hill Bounties which is, in fact, the second in the Boot hill series but appeared on the Switch before Boot Hill Heroes… STAY WITH ME…

Anyway, I’m sure you will agree that my explanation of the Switch specific order of these games has nothing to do with the game and how it plays so lets cut to the chase, shall we?

🐷🐴 Animal Farm | Review | PC | "Your worst-case scenario is mass death" 🐷🐴 @AnimalFarmGame @PixelHunted #IndieGames #GameDev

At first glance, George Orwell’s classic 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm doesn’t seem like a great candidate for a video game. 

The tale of rebellious animals seizing control of their farm, banishing humans and attempting to carve out a new society is an excellent satire but contains few action sequences, no hordes of monsters to blast your way through and, as far as I can remember from studying it in school, not a single high-octane car chase.

That’s where developer Nerial comes in. 

🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ Unturned | Review | PS4 | "a tough sell" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ @SDGNelson #IndieGames #GameDev

A free-to-play title on the PC gets a port to PS4 at a price tag of £19.99. I don’t usually tend to focus on price and when I do, it’s usually to point out that a mobile game has had a lazy Switch port and the paywall removed which massively unbalances the game (yaaaaaay) so in the case of Unturned, things are slightly different but that knowledge of it being free on a different platform does sting, especially when the game behind it feels so empty and in-progress.

⌚️🐶 Watch Dogs: Legion | Review | PS4 | "Nothing to get too hacked off about" ⌚️🐶

My history with Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs series is one of highs and lows, whilst the first game didn’t set my trousers alight and cause me to ingest it so that it remained a physical part of me forever, I enjoyed the hacking mechanics and remember the driving feeling weighty and substantial, this, combined with the functional narrative ended up being a pretty fun jaunt, overall.

The second game was a different beast, however. I really struggled to get any enjoyment out of it as it was not only riddled with busywork but I found every character unbelievably irritating. I played the game for a few hours but my patience wore thin and I moved onto other games, games in which dialogue wasn’t as infuriating as a Hermes parcel delivery.

This, the third game in the series was really, really hyped. It seemed to be everywhere in the months leading up to release and, coming off the back of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – which made my end of the year list – it was not only on my radar but also a title I was looking forward to, brushing off my experiences with the second game and instead fondly remembering the good times I spent with Aiden Pearce all those years ago. 

Alas, I just couldn’t click with this one.

🌾🍚🍛 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | Review | PS4 | "Rice has never been this much fun" 🌾🍚🍛 @XSEEDGames #IndieGames #GameDev

I dived headlong into Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin with no preconceptions of what I was about to be in for and it didn’t take long for its charms to win me over and its depth to pull me in.

A title that pulls off quite an astonishing balancing act that all holds together and feels not only rewarding but vital to the narrative.

👥 Shady Part of Me | Review | PS4 | "great puzzles, music and visuals let down by narrative and voicework" 👥 @ShadyPartOfMe #GameDev #IndieGames

A wonderfully designed puzzle game that hits real highs in terms of aesthetic, sound and mood but the whining voicework and obfuscated narrative leak through the game and wore me down to the point that I genuinely wished the game was purely music and puzzle driven with silent protagonists.

🎧 Headset review - Gioteck HC2 Decal Edition and XH100S by Lee Manuel 🎧 @GioteckArmy #GamingHeadset

Online gaming being the huge industry it is today, most people will need a headset if only to better hear what fellow COD players did with your mum last night. 

The big players in the market, like Turtle Beach, have been around for a long time and produce a staggering range of headsets, some of which cost in the hundreds. 

If you’re a pro, or stream to thousands, the feature set in that price range might be what you need. 

For most people though, a more budget solution is perfectly adequate.

Gioteck has come to market with a couple of great budget headsets – the HC2 clocks in at under £20 and the XH100S under £15.

🦹‍♂️ Kunai | Review | PC | "Kunai might win the prize for best/worst bad guy name" 🦹‍♂️ @TurtleBlaze #GameDev #IndieGames

Kunai might win the prize for best/worst bad guy name. 

The antagonist is an evil AI named Lemonkus. 

I know!

Anyhow, Lemonkus has pretty much achieved Bender's dream of killing all humans, leaving the planet mostly populated by robots. 

Your character is Tabby, a robot ninja with a tablet for a face, giving him a big range of expressions, from the default cheery grin to a full-on nutcase glare.

🧭 Britt’s Brief Bulletin | Nintendo Switch | Review | ORD | 7/10 | "A stark, experimental text adventure" 🧭 #IndieGames #GameDev @RatalaikaGames

A stark, minimalist text adventure based around groups of three words, Ord is one of the more unusual takes on the genre that I’ve played in some time and, whilst almost experimental in nature, the amount it leaves to the imagination ‘works’ in how its subtle changes of font colour and ambient sounds hint as to the larger scope and deeper meanings behind your choices.

👻🧛‍♂️ Othercide | PS4 | First 30 Minutes Gameplay | No Commentary | "A Turn-Based Game Oozing With Atmosphere" 👻🧛‍♂️ @OthercideGame #IndieGames #GameDev

As Humanity’s last hope, lead your army of Daughters to combat in an intricate dance of spectacular actions and counters and face fearsome bosses in epic battles.

Othercide is dark and brooding and oozes atmosphere. I can't tell you what's going on as I haven't got a clue but its sure as hell a cool video game!

Sit back and relax for the next 30 minutes as we take you through the first 30 minutes of gameplay from this sleeper hit of 2020!

Game Link: https://www.focus-home.com/en-us/games/othercide

🏎️💨 Britts Brief Bulletin | Nintendo Switch | Review | Ramp Car Jumping | 6/10 | "Does what it says on the tin" 🏎️💨 @BoomBitGames #GameDev #IndieGames

I must admit that the title alone of this one gave me doubts about its level of quality. It sounds like how a caveman would describe a game at its most fundamental level. 

A mobile port (which supports touch-screen controls); I must admit that I actually enjoyed the game far more than I thought I would… up to a point.

👹🐉 Monster Sanctuary | Ten Minute Taster | Nintendo Switch | "Stardew Valley Meets Pokemon" 👹🐉 @moi_rai_ #GameDev #IndieGames

Monster Sanctuary is a monster-taming RPG with party-based combat and Metroidvania-like exploration. 

New monsters provide additional strategic options in combat and allow you to overcome obstacles to explore new areas and find hidden treasures. 

The turn-based combat focuses on team synergy and combos, distinguishing Monster Sanctuary from other popular monster collecting games. 

As the youngest heir of an ancient bloodline of proud Monster Keepers, you step out into the world to follow in your ancestors' footsteps. You will gather a party of monsters to grow and train. 

Meanwhile, a series of unsettling events worry the experienced Keepers of the Monster Sanctuary. 

This is the beginning of a journey to unravel the cause of a mystery that threatens the peace between humans and monsters.

http://monster-sanctuary.com/

👾🛸 Space Invaders Forever | Ten Minute Taster | Nintendo Switch | "Time To Blast Those Invaders Forever" 👾🛸 #SpaceInvaders

 

Space Invaders Forever is out on the Nintendo Switch and I have been taking a look at it for Games Freezer. 

When I first saw this I thought here we go, another attempt to cash in on one of legendary video games franchises from the history of this wonderful medium. 

After playing this collection of 3 games I'm both surprised and a little disappointed with what is on offer here on the Nintendo Switch version of Space Invaders Forever.

https://spaceinvaders.inin.games/#sector_trailer

🧶 KATAMARI DAMACY REROLL | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | "Roll Roll Roll The Boat" 🧶 #GameDev #IndieGame

Check out the remaster of the timeless roll-em-up action game and help restore all of the stars that the King of All Cosmos destroyed from the sky!

Roll the balls called Katamari, which grow by collecting a variety of items in their path, from pencils to cars, to people and much more!

Growing the Katamari will turn them back into stars and bring the night lights back. 

Affiliate Game Link: https://amzn.to/2J8lcnS