43 reviews liked by gingerbeardman


Will probably use this thing for years based on this game alone

Immaculate vibes. I can't believe how "whole nine yards" this whole package is. The launch animation, all the tile types, backgrounds, and music, the zoom option for my bad eyes, all the boards, and much much more.
10/10, no notes.

Played the first 2-3 chapters but found myself reluctant to pick it up for a second play session. Visually astounding with lovely music and an intriguing story, but also frustrating controls and a lot of clunky and tedious little actions like physically turning a a key in a door. I'm partial to games that are closer to interactive novels, but those "slow-time events" and the sluggishness of moving around and picking things up really got in the way of me enjoying this otherwise gorgeous game.

I know it's a slow paced game (I went in expecting that), but everything takes just a little bit longer that it should. Things like turning keys and opening doors are a bit of a chore, and the transition delay from picking something up to be able to move again really did affect my desire to wander around what is a very beautiful world.

Narrative wise, I think the game fares a lot better in the story it sets in the past. It does wrap up quite suddenly and not entirely satisfactorily at the end but it was an engaging tale. The adult sections on the other hand are incredibly barebones and seem to exist solely as a bridge to move time forward a few days in your flashbacks.

Sparrow Solitaire is the best game on the Playdate. Chill vibes and a wonderfully presented version of mahjong solitaire. Perfect for Saturday mornings while I enjoy my coffee.

According to my own scale, this would be a 5. But I made this game, so I don't want to be too biased 🙂. Mahjong solitaire is a genre I learned to love through the creation of Sparrow Solitaire, and my time playing (and developing) this game is something I'll never forget.

In Sparrow Solitaire, I believe we've created a definitive version of the mahjong solitaire tile-matching genre. The game has hundreds of layouts, 16 beautiful tileset designs, multiple play variants, a two player mode, and my favorite feature: in-depth stat tracking including line and pie graphs! Just a few of these things would have been a good stopping point, but against our better judgement we kept polishing and polishing until we included every idea on our list and then some.

If you have never played mahjong solitaire or bounced off it before, this is a great starting point. I was a complete novice when beginning the project, so we really tried to make it as accessible as possible. It includes detailed in-game manual with examples, a small tutorial, and plenty of accessibility options like a screen zoom and blocked tile shading.

Although we did a lot to complement the Playdate's feature set, perhaps the biggest issue with the game is that it's not also on PC. The tiles are kind of small on device, and although a 2x zoom exists, I don't believe it's the optimal way to play (you really need to be able to see the whole layout at once). I've grown used to the tile size, and like many Playdate games, it shines best in bright lighting. But it could be a deal breaker for some. And although we have a high-tech cursor navigation system especially among other console solitaire games, it's still never going to be as fast as clicking with a mouse. There are a couple other missing features due to processing constraints, such as not ensuring solvable deals for shisen-sho layouts.

If you might be interested in a relaxing tile matching experience and can live with the limitations of the Playdate, I encourage you to check this game out.

You are a dog with a job, what's not to like! Actually, the core gameplay of receiving requests and flipping through a rolodex of contractors to find a match gets repetitive... And the game is also pretty easy once you get the hang of it. There's not much tension and with a few minutes of practice I was almost never making mistakes. That said, this game is super cute and I adored all the absurd requests that you get. "I'm starting a company, do you have an EXPENSIVE and UNRELIABLE attorney that might join?" I'm not sure how much of the writing or contractor profiles are randomly generated, but regardless the designers did a great job at leaning into the absurdity of the premise. Although it is easy and repetitive, it doesn't overstay its welcome as the "story" only takes around 10 minutes to beat. I probably won't play endless mode to aim for high scores, but I will boot it up occasionally to delight friends.

I only played a few levels of this when it first came out last year. It's a cool little tower defense game with the twist that your player is the objective being defended. It features several types of enemies, a lore notebook which provides helpful tips on the various tools and monsters, some nice accessibility options, and cool sound effects that are slightly rhythmic. Oh, and there's a stats screen on the pause menu! I love when games do this. This is a well put together package that is definitely worth the low asking price, but for me personally the gameplay loop wasn't strong enough for me to come back and complete the game. Even without completing the game, the levels are randomly generated so there is extra replayability there.

Skew

2023

Normally score chasing games aren't for me, but this is certainly one of the better ones. I love the diegetic UI and the transition between the menu and playing. The 3D perspective is really well-done and there are multiple control options. At first, I prefered D-pad and A/B button controls, and thought they were a bit clunky. After trying tilt controls, I found it way more fun (as long as you have good lighting). This is probably best implementation of tilt controls on Playdate.

There's not a lot of content: the game is simply a high score runner and an online leaderboard. But those two elements are so well-done that this is a must-buy if you like these kinds of games. Personally, I think the pace of the game is a bit too slow, and it takes a while to ramp up. I may play occasionally and do a run here and there, but its not something I will return to often.

Bloom

2022

I completed the main story but have yet to return for the free expansion content. This game has some fantastic things going for it: a relaxing soundtrack, great art, and a lovely phone interface in which the story is told. But ultimately I found it a struggle to remember to play every day, which is not a good sign for this kind of game. The farming-sim elements are very light, and the story was just barely interesting enough to keep me going (yet I hardly remember any of it almost a year later). But I was most disappointed by the disconnect between the story and the game mechanics, as what you are doing as a player rarely matches what Midori is describing in her life to her friends via text.

Although the game wasn't for me, I am very grateful for what this dev team was able to accomplish so early in the Playdate's life. They truly set the bar for others to match in terms of polish and quality.

2 lists liked by gingerbeardman