Tag: No Combat Games

Times & Galaxy – Demo Impressions

It is a pleasure to report that this game is stellar.

Times & Galaxy

Developer: Copychaser Games

Release Date: 2024

Embark on an interplanetary adventure as the first robo reporter for the Times & Galaxy, the solar system’s most trusted holopaper. You’re just an intern, but if you can get the scoop, write great stories, and impress your colleagues, maybe you’ll get to keep your job!

I am having a blast with all of the new ideas on display at LudoNarraCon 2024 and Times & Galaxy is no exception. In this demo we are an intern robo reporter, given the opportunity to take on 2 very different cases and explore our central hub.

I am not a stranger to adventure style games, particularly enjoying the detective type. In those games you generally hunt for clues, trying to get to the bottom of a mystery in order to deliver justice. Times & Galaxy takes that general concept but adds its own entirely new spin on it. We do get to inspect scenes, snooping around as we see fit and interviewing witnesses, professionals and suspects alike, but delivering justice isn’t necesserily the end goal, unless you want it to be.

Our actual goal is storytelling. Just because we have figured out the culprit of a crime it doesn’t mean we actually have to tell anyone, especially if it aligns with our own morals or interests (how morally right or wrong that is is a whole other discussion). It is up to us to choose the angle of the story that we present to our readers based on the information that we have collected. Writing about a spaceship crash.. Do we implicate the police, do we play it down due to the fact that it is not an infrequent occurrence in this area, or do we expose a huge scandal that we may or may not have discovered based on how much digging we did. Do we respect a persons wishes for anonymity at the cost of our reputability, or do we break their trust and tell everyone exactly who the are for our gain. We get to shape the identity of our cosmic newspaper one story at a time.

I already applauded the whole twist on the detective genre, but there was a second stroke of genius here – setting the game in space. I would have been happy enough trekking around our world reporting on global events, but the extra terrestrial setting allows for anything to happen. Anything. What a choice this was. You can give me the most mundane scoop to chase and there will be fun in it due to this funky universe we are scrutinizing. Of course, the cases available so far are anything but mundane. When my colleague scoffs at me for being delegated menial cases like the intergalactic cat show, all I can do is scoff back about the things I saw.

The excitement of space shines through the entire style of the game. Colourful, cute and creative, it is almost comic like which makes sense in this world because we are literally making holopapers. This runs through everything from the UI to the environments we are scouring. It is all so bold, smooth, and it just fits. The puzzle isn’t only about finding as much information as possible, but asking the right questions to get responses that fit your narrative.

If you are looking for a new take on the adventure genre where you value being learning about and being within a world as much as the play, then I do recommend checking this one out. It is charming, it is cosy as heck and it gave me a good laugh.

Demo Length – 1 hour 30mins+
At a glance
+ New take on detective genre.
+ Player has a lot of agency.
+ The reward for exploring is getting more data for you to decide how to use.
+ Creative cases.
+ The reveal in Chapter 2 got me good.
+ I really appreciate the commitment to the jokes.
+ Feels it will be easy to pick up and play a story at a time.
+ The bold and colourful aesthetic is energizing.
+ Only being able to ask a limited amount of questions makes you think about which questions are worth asking.
+/- Has a familiar, comfortable structure of hub, story, hub, story.

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Rusty’s Retirement – Demo Impressions

Not so rusty after all.

Rusty’s Retirement

Developer: Mister Morris Games

Release Date: Q2 2024

Plant crops, produce biofuel, and automate! A relaxing idle-farming simulator that sits at the bottom of your screen while you do other things.

Rusty’s Retirement is an innovative idle game that I imagine we will see inspiring other games of its kind in the years to come.

What makes Rusty’s Retirement stand out from the rest is that it is designed to be accessible when you are doing other things on your PC, whether that is watching YouTube or Twitch, working, or even playing another game. This game sits at the bottom of your screen taking up maybe a quarter of your monitor, allowing you to flick your eyes down to check on your little working farm at any time you please.

Farming and automation feel like a perfect fit for the idle genre, I am surprised I haven’t played this mixture before but I am glad that this one was my first. Growing crops in this game is simultaneously faster and slower than in a regular farming sim. Faster in the sense that you don’t have to wait for in-game days to pass, but slower in the sense that all you have to do is wait, at least early on. As you progress though you can turn your attention to other things such as upgrading your machines for better productivity and decorating your little slice of agricultural heaven.

I had the game running in the background for quite a lot of time during the Steam Next Fest. It is very refreshing to have it sat at the bottom of a second monitor, just checking in every now and again to plant new seeds and checking what I needed to produce in order to unlock the next type of vegetable. The progression doesn’t require a lot of focus but I personally found it nice to take a minute whenever there was a halt in my work and be distracted, ready to focus again once I had planted my seeds.

One thing to note – I wouldn’t really recommend Rusty’s Retirement as a first Idle Game, or at least the version of the demo that I played. This is simply due to the lack of tutorial. I have played a couple of idle games and various automation games but I still wasn’t 100% certain what to do at first glance. Of course, some of the fun for some folk may be figuring that out, but I feel previous familiarity would be very beneficial.

Overall, I honestly think Mister Morris Games are onto something here. I would not at all be surprised to see this concept take off with all sorts of other ideas that I can’t even imagine yet. It is a companion game that doesn’t demand your constant attention all of the time, just being there for you when you have a moment. The way that the larger games industry leans more and more towards live service and monetization every passing year, demanding full attention, daily logins or thousands of hours, Rusty’s Retirement feels humble, elegant and for the player. I wish them all of the success.

Demo Length – 8+ hours
At a glance
+ A genius innovative idea.
+ Cozy vibes.
+ ‘Always on top’ option allows me to interact with other windows without hiding or affecting the game.
+/- Only as engaging as it needs to be (allowing you to get back to work between planting sessions)
– Could use a small tutorial

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Duck Detective: The Secret Salami – Demo Impressions

A quacking time.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami – Demo Impressions

Developer: Happy Broccoli Games

Release Date: 2024

Solving crime is no walk in the pond. You are a down-on-his-luck detective who also happens to be a duck. Use your powers of de-duck-tion to inspect evidence, fill in the blanks, and bust the case wide open, in a narrative mystery adventure where nothing is quite as it seems.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami leaves an immediate impression. Within the first 30 seconds of the demo I was staring at the screen, slack-jawed, processing what I was experiencing with amused delight.

In Duck Detective we scour environments, taking clues both officially and through context. We chat to friends, strangers and presumably suspects. The goal is to fill in the de-duck-tion sheet, placing the correct clue into the correct place in the story. Only then do we solve the immediate mystery and move onto the next, learning about our main chacter as we go. It is simple but fun as there are multiple solutions that will make sense. It is up to the player to fill in the gaps with the background knowledge that you will find via snooping.

While Duck Detective may feel like a light hearted comedy, there is more to it than that. It has a tragic side as it oozes noir, with the voice over dialogue and soft jazz. The game presents its dad puns openly, but between the lines, dark humour and satire are equally present.

I was overjoyed to discover the game is fully voiced. It is like a multiplier on an already atmospheric and charismatic game, not only making it more streamable for creators like me, but allowing the jokes to land in the way that the writers intended.

Finally, the full demo was short and sweet, showing everything it needed to and nothing more. At a time where demos seem to become increasingly more lengthy, it was a refreshing treat to be able to jump in and be sold within 20 minutes.

Demo Length – 20 mins
At a glance
+ Noir atmosphere.
+ Voice acting.
+ Logic puzzles requiring you to pay attention to context.
+ Funny puns and satire.
+ Attention to detail.
+/- The puzzles were quite simple.

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Paper Trail – Demo Impressions

No ripping or tearing here.

Paper Trail

Developer: Newfangled Games

Release Date: 2024

Paper Trail is a top-down puzzle adventure about leaving home, set in a foldable, paper world.

Paper Trail is an artful, puzzle game. I recommend turning the lights out, having no other distractions and getting absorbed in the atmosphere provided by the stunning colour palettes and understated but beautiful soundtrack.

Played entirely with the mouse, Paper Trail feels silky smooth to control. Every location that you enter is a piece of paper that can be folded from any of its edges. What is on the back of the paper is different to what is on the front, providing new paths for Paige to bypass the obstacles in her way should they be folded correctly.

The game gives you the ability to view what is on the back of the page, and doing so felt like a glimpse into another world. While the function of this is for puzzle solving purposes, I liked to imagine that what we see on the flip side is a view of the same location in times long gone. Seeing where our character stands now through the page, encouraged by the melancholic music evoked feelings of a history lost to time, a sad but inevitable thing that thoroughly captures my imagination.

The closest game that I have played to Paper Trail is Gorogoa, a puzzle game taking place on panels. While they play differently and each have their own unique mechanics, if you like one there is a big chance you will like the other too for the ingenuity, commitment to the idea of their craft and a roundabout exploration of a fantasy world a little different to our own.

Demo Length – 40 mins

At a glance
+ Art direction.
+ Soundtrack.
+ Colour palettes.
+ Checking the back of the papers.
+ Played entirely with mouse.
+ Unique idea implemented perfectly.
+/- Not too difficult (so far). I managed to get through the puzzles through experimentation rather than figuring it out with logic.

More demo impressions here…
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Été – Demo Impressions

Colour me in love.

Été

Developer: Impossible

Release Date: Q1 2024

Été is a relaxing painting game where you freely explore a city in the summer, collecting ideas in your album, creating artworks on canvas, and decorating your studio by selling your art to your neighbours.

The tagline for this post was going to be ‘Colour me impressed’, but some how that is not enough to do my feelings towards Été justice. This game is outstanding.

Été is an art game for both artists and none artists alike. If you love the idea of creating art but the idea of picking up a paintbrush fills you with dread, this game solves that in impressive ways.

Gameplay is split into two main parts. The first part is exploring the city, meeting the folks that inhabit it and seeking out opportunities as you go. The second part is creating your own art.

You are a watercolour artist that has just moved into the area. Everywhere you go starts off as, well, a blank canvas. But this isn’t your canvas, you have an easel for that. This is instead, your inspiration that will expand the more time you spend exploring it. As you take in your environment, colour enters the world, building a catalogue of references that you can use in your own art.

Not only is this effect striking on the eyes, the entire art direction of this game is a visual metaphor about inspiration, perspective and seeing the world in a different way. It encourages you to not only absorb the scene around you, but every little mundane object within, as it could be the subject of your next masterpiece.

In the second part of the gameplay, it is your turn to create some art. Using colours that you have unlocked and the objects from the world around you, it is time to add them to your canvas and create some magic. You can move them, scale them, re-order them, re-colour them and for live subjects, choose exactly which frame of their animation you would like to use. Commisions will give you a brief to fulfil, or you can make whatever your heart desires to fill the walls of your own apartment.

Through these modes of gameplay you are free to use your time as you see fit with no pressure other than the end of the day, and all that does is refreshes your energy, readying you for more collection and creating. The world is your oyster and the possibilities are endless.

The first time I saw the trailer I was reminded of The Unfinished Swan but after playing, they are barely comparable at all. Using colour to reveal the environment is the only similarity. Été is way more akin to Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist, but of course with its own look, feel and mechanics. I was completely blown away by this demo, this is a must play for me and I urge anyone to give it a go.

Demo Length – The demo lasts for 7 in-game days. I played for over 2 hours which was 5 in-game days. Progress will not transfer to the full game.

At a glance
+ The game is completely stunning.
+ You do not need to be good at art (particularly drawing or painting) to express yourself or get a lot out of this game.
+ Freedom to focus on commisions or take as much time as you like exploring, discovering new things, collecting subjects and decorating your apartment.
+ Optional collectathon.
+ The purpose of exploration may make you see the world differently.
+ Exploration is rewarded by expanding your creative options.
+ I didn’t encounter a single bug.
+ Never once felt limited by my options on the canvas (in fact kept being blown away).
+ It is fun to see your art fill the world as you hand in commisions.

More demo impressions here…
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Nom Nom Cozy Forest Café – Demo Impressions

I’ve never been cozier.

Nom Nom Cozy Forest Cafe

Developer: Anaïs Salla

Release Date: Coming Soon

Nom Nom: Cozy Forest Café is a cozy and relaxing decoration and rhythm game where you manage a café and befriend cute animals.

The demo for Nom Nom: Cozy Forest Café is short but sweet. I like cute things, but I have a blurry, undefined line where too much cute has the opposite effect and pushes me away. Where it begins and ends is a mystery, but I just wanted to be clear that cute on its own generally doesn’t do it for me. Nom Nom stays on exactly the right side of the line while somehow making me feel the need to squeal with delight with everything I do.

I don’t know exactly how the core gameplay loop is going to go just from playing the demo, but meeting characters, creating designs for products such as cookies, drinks and t-shirts, and decorating your café are certainly a large part of it. Something else that I know for certain is that I want to meet every one of the characters that were teased so that I can marvel at their impossibly adorable character design.

This game is actually providing a service that I have wanted for a long time. Every so often I get the urge to decorate food. Cakes, cookies, either works. The only thing is, it never turns out great and I end up ‘decorating’ the entire kitchen in the process. I don’t know how I do it, but it happens often enough that I know better than to divulge in these urges, lest I be cleaning chocolate from the walls and my hair. Then, I end up with a tonne of sweet treats that I WILL eat in two days because splitting them between two days is the best my self control can do.

I know I am not the only one out there like this, and I am honestly excited at the prospect of this game taking those urges away by making some digital delights instead. These, as well as taking place in an aesthetically pleasing, well polished, user friendly environment that is clearly made by someone very passionate and talented at what they do, is why I wanted to highlight this game!

Demo Length – It depends how much time you want to spend designing cookies. The demo only contains one design slot. I played for 30 mins.

At a glance
+ Difficulty options for the rhythm game so you can customise your experience.
+ Soo many options for decorating the cookies, I wanted to make so many different types.
+ Love the pixel drawing, it is simple enough while also being precise.
+ Character designs are ADORABLE.
+ Furniture is stylish and customisable.
+ Full game features listed at the end of the demo sound fun.
+ Everything works so smoothly
+ It’s just so cute.
+/- Since this demo felt like a teaser, I am unsure on what the gameplay loop of the full game is going to be.

More demo impressions here…
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Jusant – Demo Impressions

Where did the tide go?

Jusant

Developer: DON’T NOD

Release Date: 31 October 2023

Jusant(n.): a French nautical term for a receding tide

Enjoy meditative vibes in Jusant, an action-puzzle climbing game. Scale an immeasurably tall tower and ascend to new heights alongside your watery companion. Master your climbing tools, find your way up through diverse biomes, and piece together the tower’s past

Jusant opens with an understated screen. It reads ‘Jusant(n.): a French nautical term for a receding tide’. This is followed by a wordless cutscene, setting the scene of a sprawling wasteland, a mass grave littered with the remains of sea vessels as far as the eye can see. Not a word was spoken, and it didn’t need to be.

Our protagonist appears over the horizon, seemingly not of our world, carrying what can only be presumed to be precious cargo. They approach a towering cliff, a grand spectacle so tall that it fades into the clouds above, and thus begins Jusant.

There is no shortage of wildlife, contrasting the eerie stillness of the abandoned cliff village with the bustle of nature, bringing the environment to life. But a question remains, where are the people? and that is just one question of many that I have from playing this stunning demo.

Was the receding tide expected in this clearly nautical nation, did it used to be stable, where did it go and who are we? These are things that I hope that we will find out along the way. All that we know about the world are the items surrounding us left behind by the former inhabitents, and the letters that we find along the way offering a window into a past life.

It may be clear that the world enraptured me so much that the gameplay felt secondary to me. So far it is simple and forgiving, and while that might not be up everyone’s alley, I personally find it complements the pensive tone by giving us the ability to keep pressing forward on our journey for answers.

I dont know whether the full game will deliver on the Journey or Brothers: Tale of Two Sons-esque feelings that I am getting, whether the difficulty will ramp up or whether all of my questions will be answered. But one thing that is for sure is that I am really looking forward to finding out.

Demo Length – 1 hour.

At a glance
+ Fascinating world.
+ Unique setting.
+ Stunning vistas.
+ Gets the imagination going.
+ The creatures in this world.
+ I was feeling emotions without being told to feel emotions.
+/- It isn’t difficult.
+/- I looked for secrets but I didn’t really find any. May be a dissapointing thing but it is good to know early how thoroughly you have to look into every nook and cranny.
– A little buggy.

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A Noob’s [Mini] Review – Return of the Obra Dinn

A grim, old timey, maritime delight.

Do you enjoy logic puzzles? Have you ever solved the clues, filled in the grid then sat back and smiled as satisfaction washed over you? If so, then Return of the Obra Dinn could be the game for you.

Not for the faint of heart, Return of the Obra Dinn is a sprawling interactive logic puzzle, set on the ill-fated ship – the Obra Dinn – in the early 1800’s.

In this game you play as an insurance inspector, tasked with deducing what exactly happened on what is now a ghost ship that has recently drifted back to Falmouth. As you explore the grisly scenes that took place onboard and the tragedy unfolds before you, it is up to you to piece together who is who and what fate befell each of them. Armed with a crew roster, portrait, and a mystical stop watch, you will enter scenes of time past. Using your observational skills and wit, you will gather the clues available to identify all 60 souls.

This game is a triumph of not only detective work, but atmosphere. The old timey maritime aesthetic is complimented by nostalgic graphics – a subtly fantastic design choice simultaneously shielding players from the finer details of brutal scenes while also allowing the player to fill in the gaps of the horrors they are witnessing. The phenomenal sound design paired with the fitting sound track will haunt you in the best possible way, bringing the still scenes that you are inspecting to life. Every scene is filled to the brim with detail, things you may not notice at first but can lead to eureka moments down the line. Finally, the none linear nature of the game structure allows for fantastic storytelling, remaining full of surprises all of the way through.

If this has piqued your interest then I recommend that you don’t read any more about this game and instead jump straight in, knowing that you have a harrowing yet fascinating journey ahead. Also, when you bear in mind that this game was developed by the genius mind that is solo developer Lucas Pope, you may feel as much disbelief as I did that such a feat can be achieved by one individual.

Developer: Lucas Pope
Publisher: 3909
Release date: 18th October 2018
Average play time: 6 hours
Available on: PC, PlayStation (4, 5), Xbox (One, Series X/S) and Nintendo Switch

If you would like to see my live playthrough, here it is!

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A Noob’s Review – Pupperazzi

Based on what I had seen of Pupperazzi, this game wasn’t high up on my ‘to play’ priority list. I thought it was going to be a ‘meme’ game and not much more. I am very happy to report how wrong I was about that. This game is an absolute delight through and through. I expected a rough experience that would be fun for an hour, but instead it provided multiple sandboxes of endearing, silly (in a great way), exciting, shenanigans and says ‘go wild’. And wild I went.

+ Atmosphere

The atmosphere in this game is unironically electrifying. The summer vibes instantly swept over me and there was no where else I would rather be. In every direction something weird or wonderful was happening and the energy of everything going on around me was in turn feeding me and my shutter finger.

– Bugs

I was so charmed by the rest of the game that I almost forget that I got some serious bugs. I almost quit in the second area because I thought my game was completely broken. It crashed and when I came back, it had kept my ‘follower’ and ‘item’ progress, but it set me back to the beginning with requests, right back to the tutorial. Thankfully I could speed through them, but then the third time I loaded in the game all of my items were gone. Once again, thankfully I could recollect them, but it was touch and go for being game breaking for me, which would have been a travesty. I am not sure how common these issues are, but being scared to quit the game for fear your progress will be lost is always a bummer, providing a background, gnawing anxiety that I must finish the game in this session.

+/- Jank

Sometimes the photos don’t register the ‘things’ that is in the picture you took, be it a particular breed, a number of dogs, a background element etc. I have read some frustrations from others online that couldn’t complete requests because of this finickiness. Thankfully that was not my experience. Instead, it created some fantastic comedy moments, which is why I give it a ‘+/-‘ rather than a negative. If you are going completionist then it could also be problematic because it is all about taking photos of all of the different breeds and behaviours. By the time I had finished all of the story requests my Puppypedia was pretty much full so it didn’t get in the way for me fortunately.

+ Stylistic Choices

The way the dogs move is hilarious. The lack of animation in their body is perfect. It isn’t something that I thought I would like, but when you enter an environment full of these goofy dogs, you can’t help but smile. Considering they are stiff as literal boards, they still have so much personality. Their faces and responses are animated giving them a lot of character, and each breed is instantly recognisable.

When you get photo requests from clients, each dog and/or thing that you talk to have their own little Disco Elysium style character portraits. This is another touch that didn’t have to be there but gave me a chuckle when I saw them. As much as I laugh at how silly the game is, it can also be beautiful. The art style provides for some beautiful backdrops, particularly the sunsets. It would be easy to see 5 seconds of footage and think that the lack of animation is ‘lazy’, but I disagree. It only takes playing the game for 10 minutes to feel the joy that the creators have distributed throughout so many different areas. Even the player character is an unexpected but light hearted surprise.

+ The Randomisation

The levels feature a specific kind of randomness. There are dogs in different scenareos and doing different things, but the breed that you get in each of those slots is random everytime you load up the level. The fact that the dog breeds are randomised means for more unique photo opportunities between players. Sometimes it can feel like you have hit a jackpot, having specific breeds for specific moments. Other times, loading back into the level can inspire a shot that you didn’t even consider before. This was a great decision to bring even more joy to a game already filled with it. It allows for a kind of spontaneity that you couldn’t manufacture any other way.

+ The Gameplay

This is a photography game that is actually about the photography. You arent going to be learning to use a DSLR or taking photo of the year, but everything in the gameplay loops back to it. The game is structured around taking photography requests in different areas. Doing so earns you money that you can spend on lenses, filters and other items to increase the tools available to you, allowing you to take more of a variety of photos. Exploring the environment will net you new toys, which you can then use to provide new interactions and yet more photo opportunities. A few other games feature a camera as a way of gathering collectibles, but it is often a means to an end. A way of cataloguing things as opposed to getting creative with the photos. This was the first of it’s type that really made me excited about taking good pictures, by giving me everything I needed to play.  The only thing I wish was that film wasn’t also tied to that progression. On one hand, only having limited photo slots forced me to not go overboard and keep them organised. On the other, I would have enjoyed the freedom of snapping away as much as I desired.

+ Using the Camera

I really like how easy it is to jump into the camera. Right click to open camera, left click for photo, mouse wheel for zoom, wasd to move and tab for menu. Nice and simple. If you need to open the menu right as you have got a shot lined up (for example to change your filter or lens) you can do it easily and the action freezes perfectly. You can view the scene while altering your settings and it is exactly how you left it, ready and waiting for you to close the menu to get your shot. I was very grateful for the pause as I would have missed many opportunities and it would have put me off using the filters if it wasn’t so easy.

+ The Extra Things

There are some fun surprises in the game. I am not going to spoil what they are but I appreciated the additions. The final level that I unlocked was the first level at a different time of day, and despite spending a lot of time there, when I went back there was something new that made me smile. They can be small details but they make the game feel complete.

One of my goals this year is to properly learn to use my camera. This game has genuinely made me more excited for this. I have tried having photoshoots like this with dogs in real life in the past, and I am so ready to try it again.

I want to express how sorry I am for judging a book by it’s cover, but I already feel forgiven by the warm love that I felt from all of the wonderful doggos on my screen. If you enjoy dogs, taking pictures, summer vibes, silliness and/or charm, then I recommend giving this one a go. A bite-size delight.

+ Atmosphere

– Bugs

+/- Jank

+ Stylistic Choices

+ The Randomisation

+ The Gameplay

+ Using the Camera

+ The Extra Things

If you would like to see more images check out posts Hot Diggity Dog and Gone to the Dogs in my Game Photography section!

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