Recent reviews by Snicker

Good nostalgia in the form of an old-school grid-based dungeon crawl (despite the tags, it is NOT turn-based). It's fairly short (with only 8 floors) and there is little-to-no plot or logical level design beyond "hey, this is a cool prop / mob / wall texture." No hunger mechanic. Plenty of loot for all classes (though more than 2 of one type - heavy, light or mage - will leave you wanting more of one type of gear and carrying around a lot of junk for the others.) A few interesting puzzles, and some tough challenges. On regular difficulty, all the classes feel pretty well balanced and playable in any combination (so long as someone can heal) and the loot comes at appropriate times to keep the challenge going.
Hard mode is definitely for gluttons. Mobs' attacks target the entire party, so be prepared for a LOT of healing on any difficulty, especially when surrounded.
Anytime the price is under $5, I'd recommend this for a single-day's entertainment.

No Place Like Home is the sort of game that looks great on paper, but the more you play it, the more it looks like they used toilet paper.
On the surface, NPLH looks like your typical, casual farming sim: planting, watering and harvesting crops, managing domesticated livestock, collecting resources, placing buildings, etc. The story even starts out kind of interesting: Everyone is leaving Earth for Mars because the planet is covered in garbage. Like, literally covered. Miles and miles of piles and piles of garbage. Your character loses contact with her grandfather, who remained behind, so she decides to take her trusty super vacuum cleaner and gigantic drill and pop down to the surface to find dear old gramps. And thus begins the cleaning sim.
I'll admit, this aspect of the game certainly scratches a fine itch: Clean and rebuild all the things! It is quite satisfying to see chunks of garbage whisked away, leaving large, open swathes of land for you to later fill up with more garbage, like comically over-sized tea sets and ridiculously tiny paintings. So far, so good. There are even some cute touches like being able to name each individual animal AND place comical hats on their heads!
But, that's where the fun ends, and the frustration starts.
From the moment you land, it's apparent the developers couldn't decide what kind of game they wanted this to be: is it a farm-sim? Is it an open-world exploration? Is it a combat game? Is it a puzzle game? Are robots good guys or bad guys? At least one thing it is not: a Romance sim. There are absolutely no social aspects in this game: No romance plots, no birthdays to track, no gifts to give. Sorry Portia and Stardew lovers, this game is NOT for you.
The very first character you encounter is a talking chicken. No explanation of why it talks, but you have no choice but to start following its instructions in rebuilding the farm, rather than immediately seeking your missing grandfather. Which pretty much sets the theme for the rest of the game: Meet someone, do a large series of unreasonable tasks, only for them to tell you "sorry, your grandfather is in another castle," go to the next zone, lather, rinse, repeat. Once you finally do find him, the game inexplicably changes into a shooter game powered by... the talking chicken from chapter one, who is now a super chicken that you can launch (Ooooh... Chicken Launcher.... NOW I get it), destroying everything in its path, making that final level utterly pointless in the first place. I'd spoil the ending for you... except there really isn't one. Much like the rest of the game, it doesn't appear that the developers were able to figure out where they wanted to go, so they just kind of... stopped writing. I've seen better plots in triple-x movies. More satisfying, too. Still a better love story than Twilight, though.
The entire game is plagued with more typos than I've seen since the first Pokemon article appeared on Wikipedia. I get that the developers are Polish and English isn't their native language, but if they paid for localization, the least they could have done was paid someone literate to do it. Even using Google translate would have worked better than whatever they did.
While the bugs in the game are few (beyond the typos), those that exist are pretty nasty, and potentially, could destroy your hardware. Simple things like duplication bugs (which sometimes overwrite existing items), or accidental destruction of mandatory quest items exist, as well as the more serious achievements-running-backwards, and let's not forget the tiny "If you set your graphics too high, your video card might burst into flames" problem. That these bugs and typos still exist months after release while the developers are pushing out new games is exceedingly disappointing.
While not bugs, per se, the inconsistencies of the game magnify that frustration considerably: Why do characters and quest items change names with no explanation? Why can I stack 50 jars of preserved fruit, but only 10 stacks of the fruit I'm preserving it from? And why is it that pet food can be carried in any amount? Why can't I make an omelet with a duck egg? Why can't I make cheese and goat cheese in the same device? If jars of food are the currency(?!), why aren't fruit preserves considered jars of food?!?!
Is the game playable? Yes, I managed to complete it, as well as all 158 achievements. Was it enjoyable? At first, but that dropped off faster than a roller coaster. This is a game that had immense amounts of potential, but was failed by developers who didn't take the time to polish(heh) this very rough stone.
2.5 out of 5 stacks of garbage. In this case, fewer would be better.

Poppy Playtime is not even a playable demo. From broken intro movies, to horrible loading speeds, to a simply broken game (I fell out of the world in the first 5 minutes and had to restart), this is the worst example of a social-media cash-grab I've ever seen, preying on the younger audience it targets to purchase their chapter two (assuming they can even play chapter 1).

Don't even install, it's just one step short of malware.

This is a great game to play with friends. Or frenemies. Easy to learn, difficult to master. The only complaint is that, since going free-to-play, kudos are almost worthless, crowns are almost pointless and most costumes are now purchased with real money instead.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like a delivery game designed with the visuals of Space Minecraft, but once I got over the blockiness, the story, gameplay and characters really stood out. There are a few small flaws - hard missions that appear a bit too early in my opinion, lack of any meaningful choices in all but a few missions, and inconsistent vocal dialogue; but despite those flaws, this little game stands up. I look forward to playing the DLC at some point.

Recommendation to Ion Lands: Hire someone to double check the pronunciations your actors are using. They should be consistent and not grating to the modern player (unless you explain why in the game).

4/5 HOVAs.

Eastshade is a great casual game among casual games. A walking and painting simulator, this game has no pressures beyond finding a good coat and selecting the best view for your paintings. Although the graphic technology is a little out-dated, and the voice work is rather flat, the storylines are interesting and the primary mechanic, making paintings from the landscapes, is both intuitive and functional.

4 Monets out of 5!

Special tip: When playing this game for the first time, be sure to check the graphics settings and push everything as high as your video card will allow.

I had the opportunity to beta-test this, and I'm glad I did. Even from early beta it was clear that this game had the heart and charm the promotional screenshots and videos promised. In the same vein as Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other similar semi-casual games, Grow: Song of the Evertree is a story about rebuilding the world from an environmental catastrophe. Full of cute characters, beautiful vistas and a robust story, this game has the makings of an amazingly addictive experience.

The basic gameplay follows the story of the last Tree-tender, an Alchemist who is assisted by a sentient alembic named Coppertop and a sentient book named, well, Book. To restore life to the world-creating Evertree that is being destroyed by some mysterious blight called the Withering, the three have discovered how to make World Seeds - seeds which, when planted in the boughs of the Evertree, will grow small, encapsulated worlds, which, when tended to properly, can grow into great big worlds complete with their own ecosystem of plants, bugs, fish and creatures, which can then be released to float amongst the stars to repopulate the universe with new habitable worlds.

But this is only a portion of the game. Another large chunk is dedicated to building and customizing your own world, with villages full of buildings to attract population and keep them happy. Customization here includes not only free-form placement of buildings, but colouring and decorating them and even micromanaging the inhabitants!

Meanwhile, you're also exploring, opening up new areas, cleansing withering, clearing ruins, discovering secrets, taming creatures, farming... the list goes on and on...

If there's any complaint to be made about this game, it might be that there's almost TOO much to do. With a built-in day/night cycle constraining the available time for doing all of these tasks, it's very easy to get involved in one thing, to let another falter. Fortunately, there's no real penalty for ignoring any aspect of your world(s) for a day or two, so other than pinging the OCD of completionists, this limit only really serves to keep the player moving.

There are a number of games out there that have tried to capitalize on the cute factor in world-management games, most do it with built-in mini dating-sims. Many also penalize you for neglecting to pay attention to your people for a day or two while you maybe focus on building. This one bypasses the relationship aspect almost completely and focuses instead on balancing work/life instead. Gender is almost completely ignored (with an option for a third gender for your own character, and little beyond names suggesting gender of any other characters), and while the voice acting is minimal (limited to grunts and "oohs!"), the dialogue is still interesting. The story is often locked by a complex dialogue tree, but I have yet to find any 'wrong' decisions in this game, certainly nothing that has kept me from learning the entire story.

Overall, though the time constraint makes it feel less casual, it truly is a casual gamer's delight, especially for those who like to create and tend worlds.

I give this game 5 world seeds out of 5!

I'm not sure why there are so many positive reviews for this game. It's a very standard point-and-click, with a lot of "use everything in your inventory until you figure out what works". The story is okay, but very disjointed, with zero character development and the dialogue is extremely stilted. It gets points for creepy and surreal, but it lacks any of the charm of other creepy adventure games. The artwork is okay, but nothing stunning. There are a few cultural references (Alice in Wonderland, The Shining), but it really has nothing else to offer besides an unusual look at mental illness without any actual concern with how mental illness really works.
I'd give this a solid C for effort, but wouldn't pay full price for it again.

It's not often that a sequel meets or exceeds the expectations of the original - especially when there was so much time in between the two. Psychonauts 2 definitely lives up to the hype.

A charming, fast-paced, medium-difficulty platformer (like the original), Psychonauts 2 shines in the uniqueness of the level design, game mechanics and storyline. With solid writing and acting, the characters are engaging, while the gameplay and plot keep the story from ever stagnating.

Upgrading from the older graphics without losing the charming character designs was a challenge, I'm sure, but I'm glad they did. The big-headed, spindly characters lend an almost Tim Burtonesque feel fans will remember from the first game, and it keeps the game riding in that part of the uncanny valley that keeps everything a little off-kilter. Adding an even more diverse cast of characters in the form of interns was a good design choice, though I felt it was a little pushy at times.

Bringing back all the original cast members (as well as adding some heavyweights like Jack Black), was a stroke of either luck or genius, but it paid off. Additionally, the perfectly matched music made for an incredible audio experience.

The overall feast of the senses is almost meta, given one of the primary level concepts, but regardless, it makes for a most enjoyable game.

10/10 - Solid work by the Double Fine team!

(And don't forget to play the VR game "Rhombus of Ruin" for the complete Psychonauts experience. It's a totally different kind of game, but follows immediately after the first, and is referenced several times in this game).

Horizon Zero Dawn has officially skyrocketed to the top of my favourite games list.

It has an amazingly well-developed story, jaw-droppingly beautiful graphics, with incredibly detailed models, realistic character animations and the most natural movement system since Death Stranding (unsurprising, as they use the same engine). This game has top-shelf writing, direction, art, voice acting, mocap, game design and above all, heart.

Most amazingly of all, in an era where misogyny practically designs games without human intervention at all, this game manages to present a female action hero who passes not only the Bechdel-Wallace Test, but the Mako Mori test and just about every other test about whether you can replace a woman with a sexy lamp and still accomplish the same thing. Despite the presence of dozens of nigh-universally beautiful people, romance is never a focus of the story. In fact, the question of the main character's sexuality or preferences is never even asked, and handled so naturally that you don't even realize until the end of the game that there was not one sexy cut-scene, no suggestive sex, not even a bizarrely dressed overly-sexualized dancer. The few times that romance is even mentioned the main character brushes it aside with such tact, you want to ask her out yourself just to be let down so easy.

In a similar vein, never have I seen such a spectrum of representation of race and gender in a game. As the game does not touch on romance in any significant way, the lack of many visible LBGTQIA characters is not felt at all. But to see so many people of colour in positions of power, to not use visual tropes to assign villainy by appearance - that is a feat worthy of recognition.

The story takes place in a strangely populated post-apocalyptic future, where the remnants of mankind live in scattered tribes, surrounded by few animals, but a large number of dangerous and frequently deadly machines - robots designed for terra-forming, but by who and for what reason are mysteries your primitive character must quest to solve (among many, MANY other mysteries). The world is vast, incorporating many real-world locations in the Colorado, Wyoming and Utah regions of the United States, with plenty of hidden areas, tidbits of lore and challenging climbs to tickle the fancy of every explorer and historian type gamer. The combat and non-combat portions of the game are well-balanced, and the game pacing is excellent for the type of game that it is. One can easily spend hundreds of hours playing and replaying this game, if not just for achievement hunting, then for the beauty of this nigh-perfect game.

I've gushed so much about everything that I love about this, I'm going to briefly mention the two things I didn't: The first is the grappling hook/rappelling system which always felt forced and artificial and annoyed me that I couldn't use the same rope and grappling hook to climb UP when I needed to. A minor quibble, and definitely not one that impacts the gameplay in any significant way. Likewise, the second issue: despite a robust day/night cycle, nothing in the game seems to acknowledge the difference between day and night in any way. Enemies see (or don't see) just as well during the day as at night, and no one ever gets tired, lays down or abandons the x on the ground where they stand as a merchant for all eternity. Again, a minor quibble about the realism, but nothing else.

Minor quibbles aside, when I first saw the game in pre-release ads, online videos and magazines, I was not impressed. Cavemen fighting robot dinosaurs? Please - I get enough of that in Ark. I have never been so glad to be wrong about a snap judgement in my life. Horizon Zero Dawn is the perfect blend of action, stealth and tactics to make this game fun no matter what approach you use. Seldom are you left with only a single choice of which path to follow (though when you are, it's usually to keep the plot on track)

I do not often give perfect marks in my reviews, but this one deserves it.
10/10 Blazing Suns