Ammossum is a demo sent to me by West Glade, and I have to be honest: I’m not sure I will ever forgive them for that. Don’t get me wrong; the game is perfectly functional. It looks pretty decent, and while the controls are way too slow for this type of game, they work.
I use the term works very vaguely. The demo does a very bad job of explaining what anything does. Does anything carry over from one run to another? What do weapon upgrades do? Why do they suddenly split off but don’t seem to do anything new? It doesn’t really say, and trial and error doesn’t do much when you die and get tossed new stuff to try to figure out every five minutes.
Eventually, you will figure it out, but that doesn’t really change how you end up feeling once you do. There is no sense of achievement since all you did was figure out a basic game function.
The game looks fun, and it sounds fun, but truthfully, it ends up just being an overall frustrating experience. At no point did I enjoy my time with this demo, but the potential is there, and with a few months before release, I am hoping it turns it around. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Cargo! is the last of the games sent to me by Ultimate Games and is probably the most difficult to play but the easiest to review. If you ever played games like Order Up! or any of the similar games where you simply run around a kitchen making stuff or fixing cars with a little person and multiple stations you will feel right at home here.
Pick up stuff in one spot, drop it in another, get paid
You quite literally just pick up something from one spot in your truck, drop it in another, and get paid. In later levels, you have multiple stops to make. Sometimes, there are bridges or road blocks in the way. Of course, there is multiplayer (couch co-op).
Honestly, there isn’t much to say here. The game just is what it is. If you like games like this, there are hours of enjoyment here for you and your friends, and you definitely want to play with friends. If you don’t like games like this, this won’t be the one that changes your mind. It is another 7/10 game from Ultimate Games and to me, that’s a solid record to have. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Pets Hotel is the next game that Ultimate Games sent me to check out, and it might be the one I enjoyed the least. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it is a bad game; it isn’t. The animals in the game are damned adorable. Running a pet hotel is pretty simple; you just build a room, decorate it the way you like, add items to it for the pets you want, and wait for the phone to ring.
Once the phone rings, you type in ( yes, literally ) the name of the pet, click some options for any special treatment they want and you wait for them to check in. From there, you do things like give them baths, trim their nails, take them for walks, feed them, pet them, and otherwise care for them.
Honestly, my lack of enjoyment with this game is on me and me alone. if you have followed this blog for any real amount of time, you know I don’t really care for decorating stuff. With a big part of this game being building rooms and decorating them, it was bound to limit how much I liked it. I also don’t care for having to type in the name of each pet coming into the hotel. Neither of these things are major issues or even issues at all for most people. The game is still a solid 7/10 and worth playing for $22. It just isn’t for me, personally. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Police Shootout was recently released on PS5 and Ultimate Games was kind enough to send me a review copy. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. As you will see in the coming days, they sent me several games. (all of which I enjoyed on some level for what they are)
Police Shootout puts you in the role of an officer who, for his own reasons, just transferred into the station. So, after a quick but extensive tutorial that will introduce you to the world of this turned-based first-person shooter, you are off on your first mission, a call to a grocery store parking lot.
Mom of the year
Soon after getting here, you will discover the store is being robbed, and mom of the hear ditched her kid when the shooting started. Your job, is to be a cop. Talk to witnesses, call a medic for the guy that was shot and made it outside, or be like me and never find him so he dies and you get bitched at for it later. The choice is yours. Eventually, you can make your way inside and use your stealth training to arrest people. Or just shoot everyone, like I did. I am not a very good cop. I did save the little girl however, unlike the mother that abandoned her.
Every mission is full of choices like this. Call in each step of the way so dispatch knows what is going on, call in ambulances if need be, gather up evidence like guns and drugs, and use a stun gun instead of the lethal option. These are all choices you will have to make.
The game is far from perfect. It looks like an old PS4 game so don’t expect to see some high-quality graphics, and while the sound could be worse, it certainly could be better. The voice acting is nice; I will admit to that. For $20 there is plenty of fun to be had, 7/10. We have all spent more money on worse games. best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Vanguard Exiles was sent to me by The Tea Division, which I always appreciate. Vanguard Exiles is a rather easy game to explain and learn to play. You pick an army, start a match, and set your troops down into a zone. Your opponent does the same thing. If your opponent doesn’t set a troop down in the same zone, you score points after a set amount of time. If they do, an auto battle will commence, and the winner will get the zone. After you conquer a zone, your troops will move to an adjacent zone. The process continues until all the zones are taken or until nobody can move to a new zone.
This is very simple to learn, and in between each round, you will get the opportunity to recruit new troops with your old troops being returned to you. At no point do you have to worry about having no troops. This is a game based on strategy, not raw power,
This game disappointed me a bit and took so long for me to review because I didn’t want to review it until I played with some real people, and I spent the first couple of hours playing bots. Thankfully, it is becoming easier to play with real people as more people have bought the game. This game should be far more popular than it is. Coming from the mind of Richard Garfield, yes, one of the minds behind Magic The Gathering, and being as simple to learn and hard to master as it is, the game is in the perfect position to be the next big thing. And at the low price of $15, this 8/10 is absolutely worth checking out. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
The pixel adventure RPG, follows the humble fisherman Baelin, from the hit series Epic NPC Man. He becomes the last Adventurer left in the town of Honeywood following a disastrous accident involving muggers and the High Sorcerer and must save the town from the evils unleashed in the world.
As Baelin travels throughout the lands, he will engage in fearsome battles against fish, where players must use a combination of casting powerful spells whilst timing their attacks and blocks properly, rescue NPCs in need and dredge useful materials to bring the destroyed village to its former glory. Along the way he will discover powerful spells and upgrades to become a formidable fisherman and ultimately defeat the final boss, save the world and return the Adventurers once more.
Key features:
Explore the enchanting lands of Azerim
Journey from Honeywood Forest to the Azerim coast, where you’ll be tasked with quests fit for an Adventurer, meet characters straight from the Epic NPC Man series, and find new fish to catch.
Epic RPG fishing battles
Engage in fearless fishing battles to increase your strength and unlock spells to use against your aquatic adversaries.
Engage in the Ultimate Hero Experience
His rod is his weapon; his boat is his steed, and his hat is his armour. Every Adventurer deserves powerful tools for their quest! Rebuild Honeywood from materials dredged up from the seas and unlock merchants to upgrade your gear.
Complete your fishing collection.
Prove yourself worthy to the mighty fishing God by offering completed collections from each region at his statue and receive your blessings of powerful spells.
Chupacabra, of which there is, despite popular belief, more than one, lives across North and South America. The name literal means goat sucker in Spanish and is called this because of how they hunt and kill animals, which would be predominatly farm animals. They do this the same way as vampires, by attacking and sucking the blood of creatures.
A number of them have been supposedly found, but they are always later discovered to be a known animal, usually a coyote with mange or something similar.
That being said, it would be wild of some guy on a blog to say it doesn’t exist. I have clearly not traveled the continents doing research or memorized any sort of animal codex and cross-referenced anything. It does happen to be one of the few cryptids that I do believe has been pretty debunked at this point. Either way, it is a rather interesting one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Video game publisher tinyBuild (Graveyard Keeper, Potion Craft, Kingmakers) and developer All Parts Connected are thrilled to unveil a new gameplay trailer for ALL WILL FALL, the innovative new city builder launching in 2025 on PC via Steam. A new demois also out now as part of Steam’s City Builder Fest featuring updated gameplay, improved physics, new buildings, overhauled activities like leisure and nightlife, and the addition of red barrels…you can guess what they do.
In a flooded, post-apocalyptic world, you’ll construct and govern humanity’s last bastion the only way that remains: up! Stack buildings carefully while balancing real-world physics, manage the needs of your people, and make tough decisions to keep your society and city from collapsing. With various unique maps, objectives, and challenges to discover, there are always new heights to be reached and new disasters to avoid.
Key Features
Master 3D Physics-Based Construction: Land is limited in this oceanic world. Stack buildings and create optimized production chains to grow your city to new heights in all three dimensions, but be mindful of real-world construction forces to ensure your precious structures don’t come tumbling down!
Lead Your Colony: Manage the needs and wants of different factions in your city like Sailors, Engineers and Workers, each with their own unique traits. Maintain balance between the factions – or pick your favorites to unlock their true potential at the cost of goodwill from the others.
Make Tough Decisions: Will you shepherd humanity for the greater good, or rule in terror as a tyrant? Be benevolent and try to care for everyone, or be strict and punish dissent forcefully. The choices – and the consequences – are yours.
A New Dawn for Humanity: Send out expeditions, face unique threats with each play session, unlock a variety of scenarios and challenges, and create new colonies to establish humanity’s new home above the seas.
Check out ALL WILL FALL’s new demoon Steam now and wishlist today ahead of the game’s release on PC later this year.
About All Parts Connected
All Parts Connected is a new indie studio from Lithuania with a goal to put both the dev team and their country on the global gaming radar with a strong creative vision, deeply engaging gameplay mechanics, and the ability to connect all those parts into truly unique experiences.
About tinyBuild
tinyBuild started as an indie game developer and morphed into a developer-publisher you can’t miss. The company’s dedication to creating long-term partnerships and elevating recognizable franchises has resulted in many successful collaborations with talented developers from all over the world. The company has released dozens of games, including the Hello Neighbor series, Graveyard Keeper, SpeedRunners, DUCKSIDE and more. Although headquartered in the Seattle Area, USA, the company has established a strong global presence with studios across the US, Netherlands, and Eastern Europe. https://www.tinybuild.com
The Darkest Files, the spiritual successor to the award-winning Nazi resistance game Through The Darkest of Times from award-winning German indie studio Paintbucket Games, was released today on Steam for PC and Mac. The game is available for a suggested retail price of €19.99 / £16.99 / US$19.99. To celebrate the launch, there is a 10% discount!
The Darkest Files, the spiritual successor to the award-winning Nazi resistance game Through The Darkest of Times from award-winning German indie studio Paintbucket Games, was released today on Steam for PC and Mac. The game is available for a suggested retail price of €19.99 / £16.99 / US$19.99. To celebrate the launch, there is a 10% discount!
Watch the The Darkest Files Launch Trailer
The Darkest Filesis a historical investigation and trial game. Players take on the role of Esther Katz, a young, ambitious prosecutor in post-war Germany, as she investigates unsolved crimes from the Nazi era based on true events.To do this, they interview witnesses, search for clues, and finally bring the perpetrators to justice, where they must try to prove their theory of how the crime was committed.
On her exciting and emotional journey into the 1950s, the protagonist Esther Katz becomes part of the team of the famous historical figure Fritz Bauer, who actually investigated such cases as a public prosecutor in Frankfurt at that time.
“After nearly four years of intensive development, we are overjoyed to finally present The Darkest Files to the public. We are deeply touched by the many positive reviews from the press and they confirm our vision for the game,” said Jörg Friedrich, Game Director and CEO of Paintbucket Games. “Our greatest wish is that The Darkest Files will reach a wide audience, entertain them and make them think about the fundamental questions of what we as a society declare a crime and how we ultimately distinguish right from wrong. Fritz Bauer’s legacy deserves to be discovered by as many people as possible, and we are proud to be able to make a small contribution through our game.
Game FeaturesPlayers interview relatives, witnesses, and suspects to uncover the truth behind meticulously researched historical casesThey delve into the testimonies through Esther’s inner eye in first-person mode – they can interactively relive the events from the perspective of the person giving the testimony and understand the actions to confront suspects with contradictions and find additional clues.Conclusions must be drawn and evidence evaluated.On a drawing board, a theory of the crime is reconstructed, which players can then take to court to prove.However, the game also allows them to go to court with any theory and achieve different outcomes for each case. It is quite possible that a culprit will go unpunished.The lovingly and elaborately designed building of the prosecutor’s office can be explored. The player can discuss the case with colleagues or their boss Fritz Bauer, learn more about their backgrounds, explore the archives, or simply exchange ideas in the kitchenette.Since the successful Kickstarter in April 2024, the office cat Marlene has also moved into the prosecutor’s office.Full voice output (English)Beautiful 3D graphics with a cell shading effect that makes the game look like a walk-in pulp comic from the 1950s.
Historical Background Fritz Bauer was a German attorney. As a Jew and outspoken opponent of the Nazis, he was dismissed from his post and sent to a concentration camp. He emigrated in 1936 and continued to oppose the Nazis from exile.
After the war, he returned to Germany and worked as a public prosecutor. He is best known for being a key informant in the arrest of Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann and for initiating the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials in the 1960s.
InThrough The Darkest of Times, the spiritual predecessor to The Darkest Files, players organize the resistance in Nazi Berlin. The game has won numerous national and international awards, including the German Game Developer Award in the categories “Best Indie Game”, “Best Game Beyond Entertainment”, and “Best Story”. At the German Game Developer Award 2020 it was nominated for “Best German Game” and won in the category “Best Serious Game”. At The Game Awards 2020, it was the first German game to be nominated in the category “Games for Impact”.
Team17 Digital and Savoie based Piraknights Games, have shared a wickedly good Sintopia gameplay trailer, showing players what will be expected of them as they deal with waves of Hell-bound sentient Humus condemned for their sinful or just too damn silly actions in the Overworld.
But what better way to get to grips with the red and quite burny bureaucracy tape of Hell management than to sample your future eternal job up close with the first Sintopia demo, available as part of the City Builder & Colony Sim Fest event on Steam that’s happening right now. The demo, which is in pre-alpha stages, features all content currently created by the developers, so there’s plenty to see and do in both the Overworld and Hell.
Sintopia is a mix of builder and God game, with an asymmetrical loop. On the OVERWORLD, watch a silly civilization of chickpea people make their mark on the world and unfortunately for them, damn themselves by committing a host of sins. Punish the dead souls, keep your receipts for expenses and generate profit to help you build and sustain your Hellish empire.
Key Features:
Be A Big Bad Boss
Being the administrator of Hell comes with many perks. Some of these include the ability to wield administrative magic to influence the world above you.
Hell Your Way
Mold the caves of Hell to your own deepest and darkest desires. Yes there will be paperwork but one of the Imployees you hire will take care of it. You need more time to live out your hellish architect fantasies.
Seven Deadly Sins
Make sure your souls go through an effective “re-education” to avoid a buildup of their Sins across many lives… no one wants to face the demonic invasion that will inevitably result from having too much corruption in the world.
Wishlist Sintopia today on Steam and to stay up to date with Piraknights and Sintopia news you can follow the developers on X.
Savior Gaming 