tendog
BACKER
Knocked it out of the park. Played with family and had a blast making breakthroughs and piecing together the Roottree family tree. The way it all fell into place was so so so satisfying. If this sounds interesting to you, just play it! It's free! (though you can donate to the dev if you want)
2013
Unique concept that makes for a neat short game you can beat in about ~122 years
2022
nothing against violence in video games but the realism is a bit too much for me
like, am i the only one actually experiencing major cognitive dissonance?
maybe its just being from LA but it sort of fucks with my head to run someone over with my car. or get shot. or shoot someone. at the mall i shop at. ack. i can't play this game anymore.
what does it take for something to get so real it actually feels wrong to play? why are we bothering to find out?
like, am i the only one actually experiencing major cognitive dissonance?
maybe its just being from LA but it sort of fucks with my head to run someone over with my car. or get shot. or shoot someone. at the mall i shop at. ack. i can't play this game anymore.
what does it take for something to get so real it actually feels wrong to play? why are we bothering to find out?
Incredibly detailed, and overrated
(2 months later edit)
Fine, it's really good.
(2 months later edit)
Fine, it's really good.
Do you like the Chzo Mythos? Do you like Return of the Obra Dinn? Can I interest you in the Case of the Golden Idol?
Love games with a mystical power dropping into an unready society and falling into the worst person's hands. Captures that same "holy shit that's gnarly" gruesomeness from Obra Dinn with even more initially inexplicable situations to try and piece together the meaning of. Short but not too short, happy with where it went and where it ended. And what art direction! Never seen anything like it.
Love games with a mystical power dropping into an unready society and falling into the worst person's hands. Captures that same "holy shit that's gnarly" gruesomeness from Obra Dinn with even more initially inexplicable situations to try and piece together the meaning of. Short but not too short, happy with where it went and where it ended. And what art direction! Never seen anything like it.
2021
What is TOEM?
Chill photo-taking missions in a goofy Paper Mario-esque world.
Who made TOEM? When did TOEM release?
An independent Swedish studio called Something We Made, this is their first full game. Released September 2021 for PC/Switch/PS5.
Why should you play TOEM?
Cozy locations, lots of wonderful, soothing background music, and little encapsulated moments of joy with unique characters.
Where does TOEM fail?
Not much creativity or challenge with the photo missions despite the possibilities, for the most part it is simply a game of point and shoot.
How would you rate it?
On a scale of Pass/Meh/Fine/Cool/Play It!...
TOEM is Fine.
Chill photo-taking missions in a goofy Paper Mario-esque world.
Who made TOEM? When did TOEM release?
An independent Swedish studio called Something We Made, this is their first full game. Released September 2021 for PC/Switch/PS5.
Why should you play TOEM?
Cozy locations, lots of wonderful, soothing background music, and little encapsulated moments of joy with unique characters.
Where does TOEM fail?
Not much creativity or challenge with the photo missions despite the possibilities, for the most part it is simply a game of point and shoot.
How would you rate it?
On a scale of Pass/Meh/Fine/Cool/Play It!...
TOEM is Fine.
2018
Odd, anachronistic point-n-click game from 2018, set in a broken hotel for broke people. Instead of seeing your own thoughts, you experience the world via everyone else's. The character that gets the least development is.. you. It's interesting!
It's a clever idea for a puzzle game done just well enough to be a bit of fun. I was actually surprised by the bit of depth that came from having to start consider health and ammo and how to optimally combine items. In some ways, it's great that it felt just like RE4! But also, it was a little too faithful... No undo button? Really? Especially when loading the wrong gun first and having to redo everything, that just felt annoying.
2023
Effortlessly cool, funny, and thoughtful.
A simple puzzle/battle game where the puzzle is the battle! The voice acting was all very well done, too.
A simple puzzle/battle game where the puzzle is the battle! The voice acting was all very well done, too.
2021
It's cool but it's clearly made to be addicting in that kinda way. I had fun until I realized that and then it just felt like any other loot box game. But it was fun for a while.
2018
After 35 hours of gameplay scattered across 5 months, I've taken down another Zachtronics game.
It's been a long journey, and my thoughts are not neatly collected anywhere, so I'll just be writing down the major impressions that stuck with me from March till today. These is more of a thought-dump than a review...
First of all, there are no branching paths. You either beat every level in the story or you don't complete the game. Which is pretty brutal, but if memory serves me right, somewhat typical for Zachtronics. It's not always my favorite aspect of their games, but it does force you to try a level again and again until you figure it out. It surprised me how often I would hit what felt like an unscalable wall only to climb it once I came back with a fresh mind.
I think the level descriptions that laid out the task you had to complete were generally kinda bad. On many different occasions, I wouldn't understand what I had to do to beat the level until I had already spent an hour or so making some design that has one crucial flaw, because I misunderstood the task at hand. It wasn't until the literal last level that I found out you could hold down the "Show Goal" button and scroll to the bottom of your command list to see the exact output needed to beat a level, and I'm not sure if that's entirely on me or not.
I had both of the zines for this game printed out and both were useful, but the most useful 4 pages were the instructions list. It's not really necessary to print out the rest, especially if you have a second monitor, but if you prefer physical books to digital copies, it's a really nice option to consider.
Also I never used SWIZ and I still have no idea what it is useful for even though its like the 3rd instruction listed lol. I hope I didn't miss some amazing trick that would've helped me beat some of the harder levels.
Anyway this game is fun if you like coding challenges, and I'm hungry and going to go eat some chips and salsa
It's been a long journey, and my thoughts are not neatly collected anywhere, so I'll just be writing down the major impressions that stuck with me from March till today. These is more of a thought-dump than a review...
First of all, there are no branching paths. You either beat every level in the story or you don't complete the game. Which is pretty brutal, but if memory serves me right, somewhat typical for Zachtronics. It's not always my favorite aspect of their games, but it does force you to try a level again and again until you figure it out. It surprised me how often I would hit what felt like an unscalable wall only to climb it once I came back with a fresh mind.
I think the level descriptions that laid out the task you had to complete were generally kinda bad. On many different occasions, I wouldn't understand what I had to do to beat the level until I had already spent an hour or so making some design that has one crucial flaw, because I misunderstood the task at hand. It wasn't until the literal last level that I found out you could hold down the "Show Goal" button and scroll to the bottom of your command list to see the exact output needed to beat a level, and I'm not sure if that's entirely on me or not.
I had both of the zines for this game printed out and both were useful, but the most useful 4 pages were the instructions list. It's not really necessary to print out the rest, especially if you have a second monitor, but if you prefer physical books to digital copies, it's a really nice option to consider.
Also I never used SWIZ and I still have no idea what it is useful for even though its like the 3rd instruction listed lol. I hope I didn't miss some amazing trick that would've helped me beat some of the harder levels.
Anyway this game is fun if you like coding challenges, and I'm hungry and going to go eat some chips and salsa
2022
Great fun, so well-polished and simple to understand, hard to master. I think the difficulty of the main path is good if you're okay with running into a few tough ones, but the extra puzzles are where the real nasty ones can be found (I love the real nasty ones).
Some of the tougher levels had the issue of either being too complex to reasonably understand with the tools provided (slow-mo helps, but not enough in some cases) or easy to bypass the complexity by putting all the rails down where they need to go and fiddling with a couple directions to get it working, without having really understood what you were trying to achieve.
The music and art is lovely and somehow the little postcard at the end of each world was a nice enough incentive to want to see it through.
Some of the tougher levels had the issue of either being too complex to reasonably understand with the tools provided (slow-mo helps, but not enough in some cases) or easy to bypass the complexity by putting all the rails down where they need to go and fiddling with a couple directions to get it working, without having really understood what you were trying to achieve.
The music and art is lovely and somehow the little postcard at the end of each world was a nice enough incentive to want to see it through.
What is Echoes of the Eye?
A DLC add-on to 2019's Outer Wilds, encompassing a new object found in the solar system, known only as "The Stranger".
Who made Echoes of the Eye? When did Echoes of the Eye release?
Mobius Digital, an independent game studio based in Los Angeles, notably founded by Masi Oka of Heroes fame. It was released in September 2021 for PC, Xbox, and Playstation 4.
Why should you play Echoes of the Eye?
The thrills of discovery of something tucked away in time, the horror of breaking into something not meant to be found, the satisfaction of piecing it altogether and understanding why things fell apart and how to heal what remains.
Where does Echoes of the Eye fail?
I eventually realized that everything I disliked about this game were things that were not leading me closer to solving the mystery; the things I did were me banging my head against a wall, and when I realized the solution, it always worked, or if it didn't, it helped me understand something I didn't before.
How would you rate it?
On a scale of Pass/Meh/Fine/Cool/Play It!...
Play it!
A DLC add-on to 2019's Outer Wilds, encompassing a new object found in the solar system, known only as "The Stranger".
Who made Echoes of the Eye? When did Echoes of the Eye release?
Mobius Digital, an independent game studio based in Los Angeles, notably founded by Masi Oka of Heroes fame. It was released in September 2021 for PC, Xbox, and Playstation 4.
Why should you play Echoes of the Eye?
The thrills of discovery of something tucked away in time, the horror of breaking into something not meant to be found, the satisfaction of piecing it altogether and understanding why things fell apart and how to heal what remains.
Where does Echoes of the Eye fail?
I eventually realized that everything I disliked about this game were things that were not leading me closer to solving the mystery; the things I did were me banging my head against a wall, and when I realized the solution, it always worked, or if it didn't, it helped me understand something I didn't before.
How would you rate it?
On a scale of Pass/Meh/Fine/Cool/Play It!...
Play it!
Daymare Town is still as creepy, esoteric, and mesmerizing as it was when I first played it in 2007. And just as difficult. I think Daymare Town was made with comments sections in mind. Mateusz Skutnik can be devious in how he toys with the player's expectations, and I think he found his fertile ground in the thin, complex, meandering lines that hid his relics and beings within them.
While the art and world-building just got better and better throughout the series, the new inventory system in DMT3 was frustrating to work with, and DMT4 did not do enough to ameliorate the issues that arose from it. In fact, in some ways DMT4 was worse than DMT3, having far too many items with no apparent purpose while keeping the money system for no apparent reason.
But maybe trying to make the best Daymare Town is a fool's errand. The same thing that makes the games frustrating is what makes them feel so rewarding. When you find a new area or finally find a use for an item, the game just feels so much bigger. Whenever I cheated and pulled up a walkthrough, even when the answer was so obtuse it was unfair, I lost some bit of the mystery.
How strange it is that the distorted, anguished, ruined world of Daymare Town can at the same time feel so cozy.
While the art and world-building just got better and better throughout the series, the new inventory system in DMT3 was frustrating to work with, and DMT4 did not do enough to ameliorate the issues that arose from it. In fact, in some ways DMT4 was worse than DMT3, having far too many items with no apparent purpose while keeping the money system for no apparent reason.
But maybe trying to make the best Daymare Town is a fool's errand. The same thing that makes the games frustrating is what makes them feel so rewarding. When you find a new area or finally find a use for an item, the game just feels so much bigger. Whenever I cheated and pulled up a walkthrough, even when the answer was so obtuse it was unfair, I lost some bit of the mystery.
How strange it is that the distorted, anguished, ruined world of Daymare Town can at the same time feel so cozy.
2021
I knew this was meant to be a mobile game the entire time I played it, but it was sort of entrancing so I beat the whole thing in one go. It feels like something chronologically out of time, like it would have been a hit WiiWare title, or DSi shop download, or iOS game in the early 2010s, but 2021 is surprising. Really stark hyper-minimalism and crisp sound design, but unfortunately a bit too easy at most points and kinda slow at times.