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Growing up in the 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were my everything. I collected all the toys we could afford, wore shirts, and read books and comics that featured the shelled heroes. My love of the turtles became almost a running joke among my family, with many of the more unkind  members using that to belittle or demean me in one way or another. But it didn’t really matter to me so long as I got to spend my time with the four brothers.  Publisher: Super Evil Megacorp Developer: Super Evil Megacorp Platform:  Played on Windows PC (Steam) Availability: Released on May 4, 2023 for Mac and iOS, July 17, 2024 on Nintendo Switch, November 6, 2024 for Windows, May 20, 2025 for PS4/5, and June 24, 2025 for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Perhaps my two greatest obsessions within the TMNT universe were the 1990 film (where I learned my first swear word, gleefully screaming “Damn!” to any and all who would listen), and the NES games. For me, it wasn’t just that I thought the games were good — it was a bonding experience between myself and my father. My father is an outdoorsman; he’s the type of man that would much rather feel blades of grass entwined between his toes than hold a controller in his hand. Me? Not so much. Where his favorite activities were fishing and hunting, I spent my days on the floor drawing pictures or playing video games. But dad always made time to do things that I liked, and he would seat himself next to me in front of that old, knobbed CRTV and join me in defeating the foot clan. Of course, most of those attempts ended in failure. I was a young child and my dad was not a gamer, but just being there with him and trying to work through it together meant the world to me. I still remember the first time we beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project . I had lost all of my lives just before the final fight with Super Shredder, and my dad was on his last legs, but through sheer force of will (or perhaps divine providence) he came through and beat him. Crying from joy, I leapt into the air and hugged my dad, his prickly stubble poking me as I squeezed him. Those are the type of moments I’ll always remember with my father — spending time together (doing things perhaps one of us didn’t necessarily love) just to feel joy and closeness, to make one another happy and whole. The art design is stellar and there are a ton of different systems to play around with. While a title like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge  may better replicate or advance the specific gameplay elements that those older titles developed, in many respects I feel more at home in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate . This title could best be described as a Hades -like, a roguelike action game with quick, reflexive combat, varied areas that culminate in large boss battles, and all of the power-ups and progression systems that come along with the type of game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate  is attempting to replicate — something it does perhaps better than any other Hades -like I've ever played. I have no real issue with the closeness of this game to its inspiration, as I find it hard to fault a game for doing something that works really well and making it their own. Though the counter-argument that it is not  its own could be made in this case, I find it does enough to mechanically differentiate itself. It’s true that many titles have attempted to mimic or cash-in on the success of Hades , but few have managed to actually nail the non-combat aspects that made it great. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate  fulfills this by leaning into the bonds of the family throughout the story, and to some extent in the gameplay as well, with the turtles being able to take inspiration from their brothers in the form of abilities or tools. The story begins by seeing your father, the rat-ninja Master Splinter, abducted by the Foot Clan. As the titular reptilian brothers, your goal is to get him back through a series of combat trials. What stuck with me most throughout all of the game was not so much the combat, but how well they nailed that familial aspect of the core group. Throughout the game, the turtles express fear, worry, and sorrow for their missing father; they doubt that they’ll be able to save him. And while you get glimpses of Splinter as you finish a run, he is frequently torn away from the turtles again and again by a mysterious man in a portal, who only presents the ninjas with keepsakes of their father upon a victory. It is in these moments that you are shown what each member means to their family. With every keepsake, the boys are reminded of how their father loved to spend his time — what his favorite foods are, and what he does for them. Their love is expressed through these bursts of dialogue with one another, supporting and uplifting one another throughout the process. Super Evil Megacorp has done such a phenomenal job of faithfully representing the characters in this title, with each not only retaining their notable personality quirks, but translating how special they are together. All of which is supported by stellar character portraits and voice acting throughout. Super Evil Megacorp has done such a phenomenal job of faithfully representing the characters in this title, with each not only retaining their notable personality quirks, but translating how special they are together. A mirror to my own family, the brothers may not always get along and they may squabble, but there is a deep love between them. The turtles’ desire to help their father at any cost speaks to me, and while the exact scenario is never one I could experience in real life, the pain of that loss resonates within me all the same. Every scene with Splinter and the TMNT left me thinking about my own father, and just how much I love him. How every time I fell down he was there for me — a man who did his best to prepare me for a world that is often unforgiving, but made sure I knew that I was loved and appreciated. And for that, I am eternally grateful. Verdict Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate manages to not only be a fantastic action roguelike, but also an excellent vignette of what makes these characters so special to millions of people worldwide. The beautiful artwork, great voice acting, and excellent sound design do the game a great service in creating the atmosphere necessary to tell a tale like this one — one that is both light-hearted at times, and at others a powerful portrayal of what it means to be family. Image credits: Taylor Rioux

A dating simulator unlike any I have ever seen, Date Everything!  brings any dreams you have about dating inanimate objects to life. Set within your own home, Date Everything! allows you to date over 100 objects and concepts with the help of a pair of aviators cleverly dubbed Dateviators. Equal parts absurd, unhinged, hilarious, and somewhat touching, Date Everything!  delivers a unique experience that you won’t want to miss.  Publisher: Team17 Developer:   Sassy Chap Games Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability:  Releases on June 17, 2025 for Xbox X/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The story begins with your new job being made redundant with the introduction of AI, a reality many in the workforce face today. You receive a package delivered by drone straight to your front door. Upon opening the package, you discover you have been sent a pair of aviators. Although you are unsure of the gift’s origin, you don the aviators. The environment takes on a rose-coloured hue and that’s how you meet the very first Dateable, Skylar Specs. Voiced by Felicia Day, Skylar tells you that your new purpose — as someone chronically alone and lonely — is to use the Dateviators to interact with the objects in your home to find something to date. Though called Dateables, you have the option to date, befriend, or become enemies with any of the 100 characters. You are free to interact with a maximum of 5 objects a day, at which point you run out of Dateviator charges. Sleeping restores your charges and you are free to romance each character again. Date Everything!  is fully voice acted with recognizable voice actors like Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, and literally almost 100 more. Each of the Dateables has a unique character design and personality and all of them have their own back story, which you will learn as you speak with them. You can even help them with their unfinished business (referred to as unfurnished business within the game), if you so desire. As you complete an ending, you fill up your S.P.E.C.S meter, which stands for Smarts, Poise, Empathy, Charm, and Sass. Filling these stats unlock special dialogue you can select when interacting with a Dateable. You receive the same S.P.E.C.S points regardless of your ending, so there’s really no downside to accidentally (or intentionally) making a character hate you. ...your new purpose — as someone chronically alone and lonely — is to use the Dateviators to interact with the objects in your home to find something to date. As a people pleaser at heart, I made it my mission to either befriend or date each object. Despite my best efforts, my stairs have decided that they hate me for putting an end to their multi-level marketing scheme. Unfortunately, my sink also hates me for telling him that he is, in fact, a sink and not an insurance adjuster cursed to become a sink. However, I am proud to say that I have successfully romanced (and slept with) my breaker box, my bed, and my vacuum cleaner. Luckily, there appears to be no limit to how many characters you can date concurrently, at the very least, none of the objects expressed concern at my many relationships. On top of my many in-game successful relationships, I was also able to woo my silverware: an overworked man named Daisuke. Daisuke’s storyline revolves around you accidentally hurting him and forcing him to take a step back from work. He learns to rely on those around him and realizes it is ok to ask for help. While most Dateables appear to be fairly humanoid, you do have a few oddballs here and there, like Dishy, your dishwasher, who is shaped more like the real appliance rather than a human person.  The Bright, poppy artstyle gives everything a fresh look. There is a main storyline which is generally not something you can directly guide along. As far as I could tell, the events do not happen due to your input, happening instead at either random intervals or set days (unknown which). To avoid spoilers, I will omit the specifics of the plot from this review. However, there is no quest log in the traditional sense, as your smartphone, named Phoenicia, contains only a few apps which expand when you interact with it while wearing the Dateviators. There is an app that allows you to view what the game calls Roomers, which gives you hints or clues as to where you can find Dateables, while another app, the Date-A-Dex, gives you an index of every Dateable you have met and have yet to meet — along with your relationship status with each.  Since each Dateable has a unique storyline, it can be difficult to follow through with each character’s requests, especially when you are first starting out — It is very easy to get lost in the excitement of meeting new characters and seeing what the game has in store for you. If you’re the type of player that prefers structure and a little more guidance, you may struggle to find a good starting point. However, if you enjoy games with non-consequential actions, general shenanigans, and overall tomfoolery, you’d likely enjoy Date Everything  as much as I did. Dishy does not like being disconnected from the internet. Verdict Date Everything! is a hilarious and endearing dating sim that’s packed full of great performances and memorable character designs. Sporting 100 romanceable objects, you’re never short on Dateables to fall in love (or hate) with. The loose story structure offers a lot of freedom in how you approach each day, placing the player in the driver’s seat in advancing each individual plotline, but also means players looking for a bit of guidance may be put off. If you’re looking for a light-hearted take on the genre, Date Everything! could be just what you need. Image Credits: Eloise Crawford and Sassy Chap Games Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

The world in Children of Morta is corrupted, with a blight spreading across the land that infects all living creatures it comes into contact with. Left unchecked, this Corruption will eventually consume the world and all who live in it. And while fighting the Corruption is the primary driver of the plot, that’s not really what the game is about. No, Children of Morta  is about family. It’s about sticking close in the face of adversity, supporting each other and becoming stronger through all of your trials, together. Publisher: Playdigious, 11 Bit Studios Developer:   Dead Mage Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Released on September 3, 2019 for Windows PC, and October 15, 2019 for PS4 and Xbox One. Released on November 20, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, and October 7, 2024 for iOS and Android. Taking control of the Bergson family, you must navigate the perils of corrupted dungeons and ferocious enemies to save three trapped spirits in order to stop the mountain god, Ou. Your first moments are spent controlling John Bergson, a very typical sword and shield archetype character who works best at close range and can block many blows with his gigantic shield. At the behest of your mother, the matriarch of the Bergson family, you are sent to investigate the corruption. This short section serves as the tutorial for many of the gameplay systems, but also sets the scene for the characters and their relationships, showing you a bit about the characters’ personalities and abilities without the characters themselves ever speaking a word. The story is presented by an omniscient voice, who narrates the events but does so with a gentle touch. Rather than getting into the weeds by using descriptive language to elaborate on character feelings or specific dialogues, the narration mostly focuses on the overarching events or actions taking place, and while this may at first come off as a bit redundant, I felt that it was more complimentary. As the narrator delivers the exposition, you can see the characters and their relationships shine through via the well-crafted sprites during any scene. The characters themselves do not have any spoken lines of dialogue (at least not in the story scenes), instead communicating their emotions, intentions, and personality through their animations — both alone and among the other characters. All of these scenes are beautifully crafted, utilizing the exquisite pixel art to deliver some truly phenomenal moments. Dead Mage has had some practice with this in other titles, such as Wizard of Legend , but here they have managed some really powerful emotional storytelling through the artwork alone. That spritework doesn’t just come in handy in the story moments, though. Dazzling effects in combat and enticing landscapes all serve to keep your eyes in a state of wonderment, even if it can get a bit messy in high octane environments. Late game combat is especially hard to parse when too many foes arrive on-screen, each with their own abilities and animations vying for your attention. Children of Morta sports absolutely stunning pixel art graphics. Of course, that may be part of the intentional design behind the game. As a roguelite dungeon crawler, the point is to make a run at a dungeon a few times, gathering resources to be spent back at home to upgrade your equipment and abilities, dying, and then doing it all again until you finally succeed. That visual clutter certainly adds to the difficulty, but I fear the game would not be particularly challenging without it. Personally, I don’t mind if a game is hard or easy — I can take it one way or another and it’s not something I’ve ever worried about carrying as a badge of honor. That said, when the crux of your balance is whether or not you can see , I do take umbrage to the idea. Despite the large number of playable characters, and seemingly vast amount of relics or usable items available to you in any given run, none of those runs ever really felt unique. Yes, John may use a sword while Lucy slings fireballs, but encounters are still largely approached in the same way, and the controls for combat may be a bit too simple to support the slower paced action of this title. Consequently, almost nothing ever feels threatening past the first zone. The exceptions to this would be bosses on first pass (only if you don’t have great gear, at which point they just melt anyway) and late in the third zone, where enemies have so much health it becomes a bit of a war of attrition to wade through them all as an unstoppable, zone-specific AOE constantly tracks you and attempts to ruin your day. The sort of closeness in gameplay between members is a bit disheartening, but that closeness does manifest in other ways. As you level a character and learn new abilities, they gain passive effects which can be applied when you play as other characters. For example, Lucy gains the ability to set a decoy down when one of her family members takes a large blow, distracting and damaging foes in the process. In this case, if you played as a character like John, Lucy’s presence and bond with her family could still be felt and provide tangible benefits, even if she’s not there physically. I love the way the gameplay and narrative intertwine in this way, as it does wonders in showcasing the bond between the Bergsons throughout the adventure. In this case, if you played as a character like John, Lucy’s presence and bond with her family could still be felt and provide tangible benefits, even if she’s not there physically. While disparate elements such as the combat, music, and level design are all fine in their own right, I can’t help but look back on the bond of the family as the high-point of the experience. Through their excellent spritework, Dead Mage communicates these relationships so well, making you feel each and every bit of pain or joy the Bergsons face (individually and collectively). Coupled with the inventive ways that these bonds are implemented mechanically in the form of support actions in combat, it becomes the most interesting aspect of the game. It has been said that familiarity breeds contempt, but I’ve found there’s no place like home. Verdict While the combat may not be the most exciting offering in the roguelite genre, there’s still a lot to love in Children of Morta . Beautiful pixel artwork keeps things visually interesting, and is especially well done in touching family moments. The visual flare of many of the special abilities and attacks is also another positive, though the screen can get a bit too busy in large group fights. Children of Morta  manages to tell an emotionally resonant story, perhaps in spite of its simplicity, relying on the power of family to drive things home. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Smoldering embers, but no true flame. Following up the massive success of Metroid Dread , MercurySteam looks to be going in another direction, opting for an unexpected turn by creating a more action-oriented title that is reminiscent of their Xbox 360 era Castlevania titles. In fact, Blades of Fire is somewhat a game out of time — It does not rely upon more modern quality of life design trappings like mini-maps or objective markers to guide the player from point to point — but that doesn't necessarily mean the game is dated. Rather, the intent is to make you more mindful of your actions and discovery. How successfully the game does so is a bit up in the air. Publisher: 505 Games Developer:   MercurySteam Platform:  Played on PC (Epic Games Store) Availability: Released on May 22, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S The real star of this show is its primary focus — the weapon crafting system. While weapon degradation or crafting mechanics are not novel, the way Blades of Fire  has implemented it is at least interesting. For starters, your weapon degrades in durability after use, but this also decreases its effectiveness as it loses some armor penetration properties. Eventually you will need to repair the weapons you use, and ultimately, as you run out of repairs, you will need to replace them. Naturally, as you advance through the story, more crafting materials for upgrading your weaponry are unlocked. The really interesting part is that you have a lot of input on how those weapons are made. As a blacksmith, Aran must forge the weapons himself, with the player doing so through him in a mini-game where you mold the steel to the weapon shape. Additionally, the number of unique weapon designs and crafting materials at your disposal opens up a lot in the way of customizability of each weapon type, making each blade or hammer feel unique. Unfortunately, beyond this crafting, the game lacks any real bright spots, especially in the opening hours of the game. While there is a complete and competent story, it's quite rushed early on, with the character Aran vowing to kill the queen with no real indication of who that is or why she, specifically, must die. The soldiers you fight are hers, of course, and they are killing people, but there's no introduction into the overarching ‘why’ of anything going on. And that’s mostly fine — not every story needs to be something deeper, I suppose. But the game does examine these things later, diving into character backstories and relationships. Which brings me back to wondering why a small blurb or line of dialogue couldn’t have been placed somewhere in the first thirty hours to help set the scene for those later, more impactful moments.  This is doubly frustrating because the performances from the voice cast are excellent, and the animation work in the scenes you do get are stellar. But in the first half of the game, the areas and exploration just smother everything else, so those scenes are few and far between. The back half of the game sees this flipped on its head, with more story and cutscenes making their way up and the areas becoming a bit more easily navigable.  Bright spots such as the story and weapon crafting are often bogged down by the lackluster combat and exploration. The lack of mini-map, layered large map, or objective markers is a detriment to the overall game, due to the overall verticality and interconnectedness of the zones you explore. The first few areas especially are massive, winding zones, with many paths crossing back and forth. It becomes quite easy to get lost. While in the beginning I was content to explore every nook and cranny to gather collectibles and upgrades, doing so comes at the cost of any interesting gameplay. Enemies are all over, and respawn when you rest or die, which forces you to face them ad nauseum unless you opt to try and escape. However, due to the mechanics necessary to advance through many puzzles or rooms, this is not always possible. Many enemies are also present throughout the entire game, and their movesets never change. It's not as if you can just mash your way through the encounters, either, as the combat actively punishes doing so with the stamina and counter systems in play.  If the combat were more compelling, this would probably not feel like such a sin. Unfortunately, the battles are so simple it's deleterious to the experience. Face buttons target specific parts of your foe’s body, and you need to target weaker areas on each mook to do any real damage. You can also tap those face buttons for a light attack, or hold them for heavy attacks. There’s a block button, which can parry with timing, and a dash, which helps you avoid some blows — and that’s it. There’s no interesting combo system, situational movesets, or special attacks. Again, all of these middling aspects are not off-putting enough to deter me on their own. Many of my favorite games have parts that are just “ok.” However, it is unfortunate that so many core tenets of the game are melding together in ways that drag all of them down. It’s a true spiritual successor to the prosaic action-oriented 360 game that your cousin never shuts up about, but nobody else cares to play. Which is why the game became so much more enjoyable when I stopped caring about any of that anymore. There was a point near the end of the second large zone where I decided to not engage with the collectibles, random enemies, or exploration. And all of that made it immensely more satisfying to engage in the big fights when I needed to. It made the pacing of the story feel so much better. It made the game fun. I was invested in these characters and the story, I was all in on the slower-paced fights and meticulous weapon crafting — until the credits rolled and then I was hit with a joyless collect-a-thon to unlock the true ending. I did not do that, by the way. I tried, got maybe a third of the way through and then resolved to wash my hands of this entirely.  I couldn’t help but feel a real familiarity with this type of game. One that is certainly doing things well enough to be enjoyable on some level, but bloated in all the wrong ways — all without interesting support systems to keep that engaging over long periods of time. Which is when I remembered Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.  Now, I won’t say unequivocally that Blades of Fire  is a modern day Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but I’m not not  saying that, either. It’s a true spiritual successor to the prosaic action-oriented 360 game that your cousin never shuts up about, but nobody else cares to play. If that type of thing sounds appealing to you, you may want to give this a look. As for me, I’ll stand happily off in the distance, finally free of the chains this game laid upon me. Verdict Blades of Fire  is a fundamentally enjoyable game bogged down by a large number of truly uninspired aspects. Spiritless combat and exploration don’t mix well with a slow-paced story. Thankfully, there are enough bright spots to bridge the gap between early plodding moments and the endgame, such as the excellent voice performances and animation work. The weapon crafting system is actually a lot of fun on its own, as well. Leaning heavily into customizability, smithing offers some of the only means in which you have a say in the way the game plays, but it suffers under the weight of the other systems. It is the type of game that does just enough to keep you around, but never reaches the type of highs that seem within its grasp. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

A brand new phone and a 3-month-trial of Apple Arcade introduced me to the cozy world of Japanese Rural Life Adventure . From the creators of Food Truck Pup, Tiny Pixel Farm, and Tiny Island Survival, this game continues their signature style of relaxing pixel art gameplay. Publisher: Game Start LLC Developer: Game Start LLC Platform:  Played on iPhone Availability: Released on September 15, 2023 for Apple Arcade. Your journey begins with a simple character creator, followed by a scenic train ride to your new home in a mountain-side village. While your first major quest involves renovating your old, abandoned house, the game offers complete freedom in how you progress by letting you set your own pace and choose your activities. The main storyline revolves around bringing life back into your new village home, with various NPCs to meet and help along the way. To that end, completing a quest for these villagers brings in new tourists to the town, helping that revival. The mechanics of the tasks are straightforward: completing tasks consumes energy, which you can restore through eating or napping.  Navigation is intuitive, with exclamation points marking tasks and interactive items highlighted by matching bubble icons. The gameplay itself also matches that simplicity, with most activities using only tapping or light interaction to complete. Despite that, Japanese Rural Life Adventure  offers a large number of systems to engage with. Farming, fishing, cooking, and crafting are all here to toy with to varying degrees — the game is simple, not shallow. What truly captivated me was the game's charming pixel-based art style and soothing soundtrack. Japanese Rural Life Adventure  is full of Japanese architecture and cultural style, as the name would suggest. Shops, homes, and shrines all carry that visual style to great effect, granting an authenticity to the experience. The perfect blend of peaceful atmosphere and engaging content kept me playing for hours, and while it may no longer be my primary gaming focus, it will remain my go-to choice for relaxation and peaceful gaming sessions for some time.

Even growth unchecked is finite. Welcome to Rise of Industry 2 , where success is guaranteed with only 3 things: production, influence, and money. Six years after the first Rise of Industry , SomaSim has taken their bite of the industrial apple with Kasedo Games returning from the original to publish this as well. The 1980's USA is a perfect time and place for rampant industrial expansion, something you will be doing as fast as your cash flow allows in this retro industrialist paradise. Get out some spreadsheets and get ready to shift paradigms, build value chains, and globalize! Publisher: Kasedo Games Developer: SomaSim Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Releases on June 3, 2025 for Windows PC (Steam). Expand, expand, expand, the only goal in this game is ever present. With no timed objectives, the pace is left to the player to exchange imports for self-sufficiency — while expanding and diversifying exports on any of the fifteen expansive maps. Each map starts with a Headquarters Complex that acts as a pivotal thoroughfare for all of the company’s imports and exports. Complexes are the main building blocks of expansion, whether it be mining, manufacturing, generating power, or disposing of waste. Plotting out space for these will be the first step for any new complex. Having a limited space for any single complex forces some planning for logistics, but as long as every building is connected by a continuous access road, the complex will work without issue — leaving the main focus on road and utility access, space optimization, and future growth.  Once an initial supply chain of materials and finished products to sell are in motion, the game can be hard to outright fail, unless expenses are not managed and the utilities are shut off as a result of not being able to pay for basic running costs. After only a few hours of company growth, the expansive graphs and charts the game provides are invaluable. Tracking what opportunities the current infrastructure can support or where you might need more foundries to take advantage of a new mine’s output is key to increasing income to diversify your exports. Hire and direct a team of executives to fast-track research, acquire land, manage unions, and leverage influence to schmooze your way through anything without spending a dime. Rise of Industry 2 has a distinct and interesting aesthetic, replicating a distinctly 80's vibe. The live action cutscenes are funny and charming, blending the right amount of 80’s corporate sleaze with a profit at all cost mindset. Having a great actor deliver comically honest directives for the next scenario from a controllable tube television really hits the mark. Now go ahead and cut down the forest to sell paper — at least the company turns a profit when the fine for deforestation gets printed on it. Apart from the menu and HUD’s retro futurism stylings, the gameplay map’s graphics are detailed without feeling busy. Buildings are easily identifiable with customizable colors and persistent labels to always keep track of where any complex is. While camera controls are standard and easy to use, the lack of being able to zoom out very far or a map can make it harder to organize at a larger scale. The expansive gameplay is straightforward and simple to manage although some UI choices hold it back somewhat. Taking just under an hour, the tutorial is long due to having to read and manually click through every step, with no automated tracking implemented; it would be even longer if every system and mechanic was explained to the player. Although discovering and exploring the menus is part of the fun, not being able to search through the glossary for help with a specific roadblock does add an unnecessary headache when trying to find which part of what broad section the specific solution to your problem is detailed in (I still don’t know how to join a country club. I need to up my networking game and the greyed out option taunts me). Some menus become cumbersome after even moderate company expansion — for example, selecting a specific complex from a long, scrollable list is frustrating. Similar complexes share identical icons, forcing you to mouse over each one to determine which mine is for coal or slowly searching for and clicking the complex on the map. Building is very easy to use, although not being able to build a road parallel under a powerline or having to delete both power and water utilities due to their ability to occupy the same space without the option to pick only one can be frustrating. Although discovering and exploring the menus is part of the fun, not being able to search through the glossary for help with a specific roadblock does add an unnecessary headache when trying to find which part of what broad section the specific solution to your problem is detailed in. Rise of Industry 2 sits comfortably in the cozy niche of the city building and management game genre. With no timer or impending doom, the player is free to take everything at their own pace to avoid problems or plan for the future. With expansive maps and endless potential for optimization at every step in production, any scenario could easily last over 100 hours before any real constraints are met. So grab your power suit, suspenders, and freshly shined shoes and get ready to navigate the corporate landscape. Verdict Rise of Industry 2 is an unexpected sequel that captures the ambition of industrial expansionism — though it occasionally bends under the weight of that same goal. The map’s design is clean and readable, with a retro UI that feels intentionally stylized rather than outdated. With no enforced deadlines, the gameplay encourages a relaxed, player-driven pace. If you enjoy management sims and just want the time and space to grow your perfect company, this game is for you. Image Credits: Kasedo Games and Joe 'Nid' Kaiser. Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

TRON: Identity is a short, but engaging, visual novel set within Disney's TRON universe. Taking on the role of Query, your task is to uncover the mystery surrounding an explosion at the Repository. Branching dialogue and an intriguing story keep things interesting, even if the puzzle sections are quite a bore. While an individual run may take no more than an hour or two, the variability of each playthrough means there's a lot of room for discovery. Pros Really captures the TRON vibes and aesthetic. Choices in the dialogue matter. High replayability due to multiple endings and story outcomes. Cons Game ends on a big cliff-hanger. Puzzles are underwhelming. Verdict Publisher: Bithell Games Developer:   Bithell Games Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Released on April 11, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, MacOS, and Windows PC.

Disclaimer: While there are no direct spoilers beyond the prologue, this review discusses some of the themes or ideas present within the entirety of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 . If such discussion would constitute a spoiler for you, or you feel like it may clue you into the direction of the game’s story, this content should be avoided.  The opening moments of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33  are a powerful reminder of the realities of death for those of us left behind. Playing as Gustave, a brilliant inventor and mentor to many within the world, you must find your lost love Sophie and escort her to the docks of Lumière (a twisted, Belle Époque era version of Paris), where Sophie and the other 33 year-old (or older) citizens will face their final day. Across the water, in view from those same docks, sits The Paintress, a giant figure seated beneath a monolith with a large number 34 emblazoned upon the rockface. Once a year, The Paintress rises from her rest and carves a new number upon the monolith, killing everyone of or above that age. Publisher: Kepler Interactive Developer: Sandfall Interactive Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Released on April 24, 2025 for Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC. The presentation of this event in game is absolutely stunning, with the characters fading away into ash and petals, all while a beautiful score punctuates the moment. The citizens of Lumière gather together to celebrate their final moments with loved ones, saying their goodbyes while adorned with roses. It is at once beautiful and horrifying. Despite this aesthetic beauty, the moment was a bit too familiar for me. My mother died earlier this year after a short battle with terminal cancer, and much like everyone within Clair Obscur , she knew her final moments were approaching in the days leading up to her passing. We all did, really. And so, she spent her last hours on this earth among family and friends, saying goodbyes, and making sure everyone around her knew how much she loved them — just as we spent those moments telling her how much we loved her. No matter how much any of us wanted her to stay, it was her time to go.  Of course, much like in real life, the game leaves us contemplating what we would do in the face of such a certain death. Do we spend our time relaxing among friends and family, do we look for a way out, or can we balance both in a way that is both fulfilling and productive? For me, the thoughts about those questions would have to wait a bit longer. When the Gommage scene ended, I could not bear to do more than sit at my desk and cry. And cry. And cry some more. I do not know how long I cried for, but every ache of my mother’s passing and every fear of my own mortality came to a head during those opening moments. Once I collected myself again, I knew I had to fully immerse myself in Clair Obscur . I had to see it through to the end. Thankfully, Clair Obscur  doesn’t just rest on its opening moments — it never shies away from tackling (or at least touching upon) death, love, and grief through the entire experience.  Combat has so many options and abilities to work with, but the art direction elevates all facets to new heights. This title is built on homages. In the narrative, we can see how each character is reverential to those who have come before and those they have lost; how they dedicate their lives to the cause so that they may honor their sacrifice and build a better future for the ones left in Lumiere. The world itself is full of love for its real world inspirations, as well. Beyond landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe, every facet of the art direction and music leans into that French culture inspiration, including enemies dressed like mimes, stereotypically French costumes for your characters, and the occasional French phrase spoken within the English dialogue.  Likewise, the gameplay itself hits on a lot of classic notes for the “JRPG” genre. The combat uses a turn-based system that sees you navigate the encounters using menus, but adds its own twist by including real-time elements such as dodging and parrying. There is a world map that is traversable by the party akin to the older Final Fantasy titles. And so on. Many of the individual elements that make up Clair Obscur  are not necessarily unique to the title, no, but it does not feel lifted from those that came before. Instead, it comes across as reverential. By paying respect to and taking ideas from those titans of the genre, Clair Obscur  can work its own magic and paint its own picture with the materials. “ Painting isn’t about verisimilitude. It’s about essence. The truth of who they are. ” Of course, there is always a risk in formulating your game in such a way. Reverence and homage can often lead to blind worship. Rather than blazing a path forward with the work laid by predecessors, it can be all too easy to find oneself stuck in a mire, unwilling to go beyond the bounds of those creations. By avoiding the pitfalls of blind adherence to the norm, Sandfall Interactive has successfully navigated this in a way that many contemporaries do not, and they manage to do so by tying these ideas and themes to the narrative as well. It is not a mistake that the Belle Époque era aesthetic was chosen specifically for this story, and it’s not happenstance that everything within seems so eager to tickle nostalgia in our minds. The way the game has managed to tie these ideas and tackle them through the story, gameplay, and development in tandem is mesmerizing to me.  While the prologue was deeply affecting for me on a personal level, I do find myself thinking more about many of the events that transpire later in the game, and the ideas or themes surrounding those moments. What does it mean to honor someone who has been lost? How do we move on from our pain, but still respect the memories we have? I don’t know the answer to those questions, necessarily. I’m still struggling with several recent losses of my own. Perhaps it would be easier to look back and lament the days gone by. To sit and think about how good we had it in the past. That is fiction, of course. Life is never easy, and each step forward in society comes at great cost — often by those least positioned to bear it. Verso has a great quote in the later stages of the story that cuts at the heart of the game’s messaging: “Painting isn’t about verisimilitude. It’s about essence. The truth of who they are.” When we honor someone or something, it is not enough to blindly copy it. Instead, we must understand the underlying essence of the events or parties involved in order to move forward in our own ways. It can be difficult to face, but the past is gone. Instead, we must move forward with dignity of our own, trying to do right by those who paved the way. For those who come after, we continue. Verdict Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a breathtakingly beautiful examination of death, grief, loss, and love. With an obvious deep respect and reverence for the cultures, people, and video games that came before it, Clair Obscur  strikes the balance between pastiche and derivative work. While the main story is not particularly long, there is quite a bit of side content available to further explore the various characters and the world itself. Despite all of the positives, the repetitive nature of the combat did wear on me, and I found myself longing for the end. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Wizard of Legend  is a frantic and flashy take on the dungeon crawler genre. Tight controls and a dynamic spell system keep things interesting on subsequent runs, with outfits and relics spicing things up a little bit further. There are so many options in terms of spell selection and playstyle that it can feel a bit overwhelming at times, but the dungeons themselves are a bit lacking, with only a few permutations in each zone. While the game reaches exceptional highs at points, the repetitive nature of the dungeon crawling creates some wear and tear.  Pros Fast and flashy combat is a blast to play. Varied arcana (spells) and relics give you a staggering number of options. Gorgeous pixel art style with a unique flair. Cons Lack of enemy variety. A small number of permutations for room layout in each zone.

Not pur-fection, but I'm feline fine. As I lay on a pillow, curled up into a ball, a robot strums an incomprehensibly horrid tune next to me. But this stray is comfortable all the same. I arise from my rest, stretching and then making my way to a nearby doorway to sharpen my claws. Next thing you know, I am climbing conspicuously arranged air conditioners and building fans all the way to the top of a nearby abode, where I then sit neatly within a bucket on a long zipline. Suddenly, I am in a sludge-filled arena with dozens of strange creatures who are scrambling to devour me. Sprinting and weaving between dividers, jumping over railings, and scrambling beneath the pipes, I make my escape — just in time to pull a nearby lever and complete my mission. Such is the life of a stray cat in this world. Publisher: Annapurna Interactive Developer: BlueTwelve Studio Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Released on July 19, 2022 for PS4, PS5, and Windows PC ; August 10, 2023 for Xbox one and Series X/S; November 19, 2024 for Nintendo Switch. Stray is ostensibly a game about being a cat. Just a regular cat, though — no powers or special abilities; only carrying a little bot who assists you. Slinking and pawing your way through the world as you climb through the neon-lit streets of Dead City, the game nails all of the mannerisms, sounds, and animations of a typical cat. Purrs and meows are cute as heck, while ear twitches and sleeping animations feel so familiar I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to my own orange cat, Cheddar. Each little quirk and tic from the unnamed cat drew a smile from me, and I ended up calling the game a “Cheddar Simulator” when talking to my wife. I often imagined the little demon resting in my lap scurrying about a city and causing trouble in a similar way. The camera is a big part of making that work well. In keeping low and close, you see the world from the perspective of a cat, even if the actual view is not first person. The robots and environs tower over you, creating a daunting landscape that you must navigate as such a small creature. There are some issues that come with such a tight camera, of course. Narrow rooms or pathways make viewing the scenery with any sort of clarity a major struggle, and in really cramped spaces, the camera can move erratically. Most of the time, it’s not much of an issue, but those who struggle with motion sickness may find themselves grappling with it — I know I did. That perspective helps frame the narrative, as well. As you follow the story, the events become much bigger than yourself or any one character, crafting a heartwarming and moving tale in a bleak world. Gameplay revolves around exploring the walled cyberpunk city via platforming elements, and solving puzzles to enter new areas or unlock secrets. The puzzles are far too easy to call this a puzzle game by any metric, but they are engaging enough to keep things moving. Those light puzzles do serve as another reminder of just how cute your cat is, though. Mischievously knocking paint cans down onto unsuspecting citizens or carrying objects in your mouth as you trot away from your unsuspecting victims, this curious cat is just a joy to play. You can also talk to the robot citizens to learn more about them and the world, and there are a small number of collectibles to gather in your time here. Those small activities can really help flesh out the world around you, which then deepens your connection to both the world and those same characters. Neon-lit streets give way to desolate landscapes for your little orange avatar to navigate. Those characters are the heart of the story, in many ways. Each robot wears their emotions in quite an explicit way by showing their feelings through emoticons on their faces (screens, really). The animation work here is excellent, as well. The bots have very expressive movements and distinct body language that help the player understand the vibe of the text during the conversations. They’ve also built a living society full of love, fear, loneliness, and hope — much like our own hellscape. While I’m not sure the rabbit hole goes particularly far down, the game uses these moments to explore themes about the relationships we have with each other and our environment, and calls into question what we would do to build a better world for those who come after, even if we don’t live to see the fruits of our labors. While the moment to moment gameplay of solving puzzles and running through the streets is serviceable, I find Stray ’s biggest strengths to be the way it uses every element of its gameplay to elevate the basic premise of playing as a cat. From the way the world is put together to the camera angles and minor activities — each aspect serves a purpose. Stray never overstays its welcome, either. With chapters moving at a brisk pace, and collectibles being kept to a very manageable number, I never got the sense that I was stuck in one place for too long. After all, we know orange cats aren’t very good at sitting still. Verdict Stray  is a lovely platforming adventure game that sees you playing as a cat in a somewhat dark, but ultimately hopeful world. Much of the gameplay revolves around exploring your surroundings or solving puzzles, but the real highlight is just how well it nails its animations and tone. Playing as a cat is such a joy thanks to all of the little inconsequential ways the game lets you do it, like scratching up carpets or knocking objects down from counters. I was fond of the story, as well, and would love to see more from this team in the future. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

A new dawn would be most welcome. Have you ever thought to yourself, “man, I wish I could boot up a game and do nothing interesting while constantly and consistently being hounded to enter my credit card information”? If so, you have come to the right place. Dawn of Ages  is a vapid, highly-monetized auto-battler with little in the way of creativity. A medieval strategy game with base-building aspects that never amount to more than busywork. While the soundtrack and visuals are mostly inoffensive, the gameplay itself is highly objectionable.  Publisher: BoomBit Games Developer:   Stratosphere Games Platform:  Played on PC, Android Availability: Released on May 8, 2024 for Android and iOS; April 28, 2025 for PC (Steam). There are multiple systems in place to manage, such as crafting equipment, collecting resources, equipping your soldiers with gear, and positioning them in advantageous areas on your field. Occasionally, you may command units through a series of battles, but a hefty majority of the gameplay centers around micromanaging equipment and buildings, rather than commanding your units in any real way. Unfortunately, this micromanaging of the environs is not engaging whatsoever, with everything handled with a single click, and set on massive timers — all in the hopes you will pay real money to speed things up.  The battles themselves are quite simple — you command a squad of 5 units, and place them in positions that are most advantageous to your current scenario. There is an effectiveness matrix to keep in mind while you equip and position your units. Swords are effective against light armor, spears are great for medium armored targets, and blunt weapons handle heavy infantry well. Once you place your crew on the field, you select a tactics card (which are per-battle bonuses to give yourself an edge). The battles then play out autonomously and unceremoniously, with drab soldiers flailing around until someone’s units go down — at which point a victory or loss screen just kind of pops up. PVP is another major part of this game. Unfortunately, as Dawn of Ages  is pay-to-win, any player looking to play without additional funds is out of luck. The game has a small userbase, so you are pushed into battles with whales and higher level players occasionally. Predatory shops, timers, and battle passes are constantly pushed to the player, with failures and quest objectives pushing you to interact with the monetized elements. Prices are absurd, but that’s par for the course in this type of mobile title.  These images are functionally the entirety of the experience. If the monetization was the only issue with the game, maybe we could wave the game off as just another mobile game port hoping to cash in on a drowning market. But the game is barely functional at times. I have run into major bugs throughout my dismal time with Dawn of Ages.  UI disappearing during play, units being lost mid-battle or disappearing from the screen; freezing when accessing warehouses, participating in battles, or interacting with other menus. I have encountered disconnection issues when accessing the workshop, and experienced slowdowns during combat, as well. At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what we want to leave in this world. Are these bland, uninspired projects the type of thing we want generations to come to remember us by? The type of thing  whose only purpose is to extract dollars from unwitting or susceptible people? I understand that this is the way things are now in the industry at large. Dawn of Ages is not the first game to do its best to mine its players for money. It won’t be the last, either. But it should be. It is a monument to the type of decision-making that has poisoned the well for video games as an artform. Is this the worst game I have ever played? No, but I hope it’s the worst game I play this year. I read A Minecraft Movie review recently that lamented how often we excuse bad products through the lens of "It's just for kids." In many respects, those same sentiments extend to mobile games just like this one. Excuse after excuse is used to prop up the worst tendencies in the space. But games like Dawn of Ages don't even have the one major positive that a film like Minecraft does — an ending. Despite being another pointless checklist of references, there is a release from the experience once the credits roll. Mobile games such as this have no such catharsis as they intend to keep you in perpetuity, fully on the line with your credit card in hand. Just one small purchase and you can finish the building. Punch in your Visa and that sword could be yours. A simple donation and you can finally gather enough resources to upgrade your armor. Maybe then you could finally play and enjoy the game. Verdict Dawn of Ages  is a vapid, highly-monetized auto-battler with little in the way of creativity. A medieval strategy game with base-building aspects that never amount to more than busywork. Riddled with bugs and offensive pay-to-win monetization, it offers so little of value that I came away offended that it exists at all.

The hull groans as your ship, the merchant ship HLV Herald , begins its long journey across the ocean. While the waves may be familiar to many onboard, for player character Devan Rensburg it is a new experience. As a man of mixed heritage, you are not afforded the same courtesies as those above your station. Nevertheless, you must acquaint yourself with the ship and its crew, finding your way in a hostile world, trapped by both circumstance and sea. Framed as the retelling of events that have already happened within this 19th century alternate history world, Herald: The Interactive Period Drama – Complete Edition  ( Herald )   is a tale of power; a tale of those who have and have not, a tale of those who do and those who do nothing. Outward appearances belie the true feelings or ideas harbored among your crewmates, many of whom are initially cordial or friendly. But this is a world ruled by and for white men, with The Protectorate (think British empire) standing as the only superpower after having conquered much of the lands abroad. Publisher: Wispfire Developer:   Wispfire Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability: Released on May 1, 2025 on Steam and GOG. At its core a point-and-click adventure game, Herald: The Interactive Period Drama – Complete Edition has you move across the screen by selecting points within view, and you can examine objects in the environment to learn more about the ship and the people on it. But this aspect is a much smaller part of the experience than its more visual-novel dialogue and story structure. Not only is the story and text of Herald  well written, it is also a game where your choices in those dialogues can change the course of the story and alter the fates of those within it. But as this is ultimately a story about power — or powerlessness — it is more about navigating your relationships with everyone onboard.  As a servant of the empire in low standing, Devin has very little outright say in how things go. Instead, you manage your reaction to the events and asides of the narrative, making choices here and there — often with no clear indication of what the true end will be of each choice. Chastising someone may lead them to rethink their actions, or perhaps it just makes them angry with you, leading to a lost friend; being forgiving to another person may lead to someone’s untimely death. Ultimately, I find this to be quite refreshing. There are no easy answers, no click-to-win buttons. Instead, you must use your knowledge of the characters and the world at large to guide you — how you use that is up to you. These dialogues are presented using some absolutely stunning character portraits and accentuated by a fittingly beautiful score. The character models and environments outside of the speaking moments are much more simple, but they remain well-crafted. Individual rooms are especially interesting, as the items you can find in each person’s quarters will tell you about who they are and what they think. Even without Devan, or the person themselves, explicitly telling you what each person feels or thinks, you get a sense of the people aboard — and let me tell you: the vibes are way off. Herald lives up to the "Interactive Drama" part of its name. Herald does not shy away from dark subject matter, even early on, with the most prominent of these subjects being racism, sexism, and the oppression of any non-white male. And it is pervasive. From off-hand comments to finding a human skull with measurement tools attached lying among phrenology literature — the reality is that Devan and those like him are not equals here. Every injustice and inequality is normalized, bubbling just beneath a veneer of respectability.  Devan doesn’t have to sit idly by. You may speak back or try to change the way things are in the course of the game, but you’re faced with the reality that this is fundamentally a world that does not give a shit about you beyond your usefulness and subservience to the collective aims of the empire. To that end, Herald  does manage to pack a wild variety of crewmates for these ideas to be borne by. Characters from the Netherlands, Brazil, India, and beyond all occupy the space, allowing the player to engage with their perspectives and see firsthand the effects of The Protectorate. There’s also a journal to help you along with the material. In it, you can examine documents you find or get some of the world’s history and comments from Devan on it. It’s a nice refresher tool while also adding some more flavor to both the world and Devan as a character himself. It should be pointed out that there does not seem to be anything you would only see within the journal that is necessary for advancement. You could just power through the game, but I do think it’s worth examining this for the details. With the story being broken up into four separate acts, the game starts out really strong, bringing both worldbuilding and drama in equal measure. Events at the end of Book I spur things in motion, and the game takes that momentum and runs with it. Herald  shuffles you from one scene to the next, with very little in the way of freedom of how you move about the ship, but this helps keep things focused so you’re not spending much time trying to figure out where to go. Each individual room or scene has a lot to examine already, so this prevents the player from becoming overwhelmed with items or tasks. This basic structure holds true for the first three books, but the fourth book changes things pretty dramatically in every sense of the word. As the resolution to all of those threads laid out earlier, Book IV does away with the interactive elements, functioning mostly as a story delivery sequence. Its execution mostly works but the lack of exploration does make the final book feel much shorter than the other three. While this act serves as the culmination of your choices and the events of the game, on repeated playthroughs it is my least favorite to retread. Varied camera angles and lighting choices set the scene. Generally speaking, for a visual novel or for games made on the idea of ‘choice and consequence,’ you would expect more agency or for your actions to have greater effect on the events of the game. Herald doesn’t really do that, but it’s not a mistake. There is a true marriage of the narrative structure and the themes and plot of the game. That lack of agency is key to understanding the messaging within Herald: The Interactive Period Drama , and makes all of those moments throughout the game even more powerful. In this sense, the game leverages both the video game medium and the players’ expectations to drive home its intent. The journey on the HLV Herald was a perilous one, fraught with danger and mystery. And while the journey loses a bit of the wind in its sails by the end, it was still one worth making. With absolutely stunning artwork and spectacular characterization at the helm, Herald: The Interactive Period Drama – Complete Edition  passes muster with ease. Verdict The final two books in Herald: The Interactive Period Drama – Complete Edition  stay the course, and deliver upon the promising narrative laid out when the first two books were released in 2017. The artwork, characters, and writing got their hooks into me immediately, and kept me on the line through the entire trip. While the lack of clear and distinct agency or choice may throw some overboard, the design serves the broader narrative and drives home many of the underlying themes, crafting a powerful tale about agency and oppression. Image Credits: Wispfire and Taylor Rioux Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.