A World of Keflings Steam Demo

A World of Keflings is an old city builder from the Xbox 360, developed by Ninjabee, and they were kind enough to send me a demo of the Steam version, which is coming soon. I appreciate this because I have a lot of fond memories with this game, I played it a ton with my daughter when she was a kid, She’s now 19 and she also played the demo to see how it held up. It is live on Steam, and you should do the same.

The concept is easy: you play as a giant that helps little people known as Keflings build their city. You can pick them up to move them, and they will gather resources, move them from place to place to create new objects for you, and you use these objects to put together blueprints that turn into builds.

This can range from small things like houses or lumber mills to massive things like castles. This obviously isn’t a full review, as the game isn’t out yet. What I can say is that the demo functions great. The controls are fluid, and the sound and graphics are better than they have ever been.

The game itself does show its age in some areas, for example, it is very basic compared to many other city builders. You won’t be micromanaging any sort of trade between cities or anything like that. This isn’t a bad thing to me, though. I am excited for the full release, and you should be as well. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ship of Fools PS5 Review

Ship of Fools is a rogue-lite from Team 17 Software, and they were kind enough to send me this after they sent me Nice Day For Fishing Steam Review, which I appreciate both. They make some great games, so please go check them out.

The game starts out simple enough: you are stranded on an island thanks to some calamity, given a boat and some cannons, and you must go fight evil creatures in an attempt to collect power-ups, save new crew members, and stop the forces of evil.

I think that’s the story anyway, I wasn’t paying attention, I was killing flies, trying to sink my ship, and smacking stuff with a boat oar. It takes effort to run around loading cannons, collecting wood to fix my ship by firing harpoons, and all that jazz that keeps the game exciting. Make no mistake, playing solo, the game is fast-paced and exciting. Do not be fooled, though, while there is a trophy for playing solo, most people don’t have it for good reason. This game is made for two players, either online or couch.

With fluid controls and cute graphics, and multiple crew members known as Fools to choose from, each with different abilities that make them better at certain things, the replay value is pretty high. Even the process of unlocking them will take more than a few runs.

Which Fool to use isn’t the only choice to make; which cannon to use is also a decision. Do you want two cannons that fire slower but will auto-target enemies when you aren’t using them? Do you want one that can be charged up to unload all of its ammo? Speaking of ammo, different ships have different ammo, and different ammo can be found during a run. Some freeze enemies occasionally, for example.

Ship of Fools is an amazing game if you like multiplayer games, but it does lose something when playing alone. It is still an 8/10 game, but it is absolutely made for 2. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Windward Horizon Steam Review

Windward Horizon, over on Steam, was sent to me by the people over at Tasharen Entertainment, which I am always grateful for.

The game itself is technically just a sailing game. Your captain dies, and you are somehow voted the new captain by the crew. You return him home, the crew gives you some recommendations on what to do as sort of a tutorial, and away you go. You start off by getting some new sails and are told that a new ship would be smart. How you get there is pretty much up to you.

If you want to spend some time fishing and sell it for profit, feel free to do so. You want to hunt down pirates or work on a quest, that’s up to you. With a small sloop at your disposal, trading isn’t easy at this stage, but it can be done.

This is kind of what I enjoyed about the game the most, sure it looks nice and it plays well, the controls function great. But it is rare that a game says play it how you want and then doesn’t force you into doing what it wants you to anyway. I was never forced into fighting pirates, really, outside of certain world events, and even those, if I didn’t want to do them, I just stayed away or left that part of the map, no harm, no foul.

My only real issue with the game I came across is that once, during a sea battle, my ship and an allied ship got stuck together. It worked out well because our cannons still worked, and he kept healing me as I kept killing people. We did eventually separate, and it was a one-time occurrence. It is something to be aware of during battles that it can happen.

The game cost $20, however, and it is well worth every penny of it. It is an 8/10 experience, and it will be something I play for a long time to come. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Make dishes out of cards in a demo for Abra-Cooking-Dabra!

Hi, chef! Get ready to upgrade your culinary skills in Abra-Cooking-Dabra — a cozy cooking card game, coming in Q4 2025 with a demo available now!

After accidentally destroying a valuable cookbook you find yourself transported to Wonderland and sentenced to serve as a chef for the crime. Now you have to cook for eccentric guests and restore all the lost recipes!

The demo will include:

  • 6 levels to play, including a secret endless one — grow ingredients, prepare dishes and serve eccentric guests!
  • multiple dishes to cook — figure out every single one from hints, received from customers!
  • multiple bizarre guests — some will try to mess with you!
  • meta-progression — players can buy new appliances and utilities between levels to improve their kitchen!

[Wholesome Direct] Sequel to townbuilder hit ‘Gourdlets’ announced with multiplayer ‘Gourdlets Together’

News Summary
Solo dev AuntyGames and publisher Future Friends (SUMMERHOUSE, Exo One, The Cabin Factory) have announced Gourdlets Together, a multiplayer sequel to their hit cozy sandbox game Gourdlets, in today’s Wholesome Direct showcase.

About the game
Welcome to Gourdlets Together, a relaxing building and fishing game set in the world of Gourdlets. Design your own island in an adorable, colourful world inhabited by cute little vegetable folks, and level up your fishing skills, all while you hang out, build and chat with friends online!

Spend your earnings from fishing on extra items and accessories, tweaking and building until your island feels like home. Visit your friends’ islands, build together, get inspired by their creations, and enjoy gourd vibes. Gourdlets Together! 

Features

  • Fish on the tranquil shores of your little island home, and try and catch ‘em all!
  • Design a delightful little community for vegetable folks
  • Spend your earnings on super cute accessories
  • Invite your friends to visit your creations, build together, or go visit theirs!

About AuntyGames
AuntyGames is a solo studio founded by Preethi Vaidyanathan (she/her), a software engineer based in the United States. Her debut project, the citybuilding sandbox Gourdlets, launched on PC in 2024 to great acclaim. She’s now working on a multiplayer spinoff Gourdlets Together.

About Future Friends Games:Future Friends was founded in 2017 with a simple mission: help indie games get the love they deserve. Though initially focused on PR, the company has now branched out into publishing, publishing lovely titles like Exo One, SUMMERHOUSE, Gourdlets, The Cabin Factory, and many many more! 

Stunt Flyer Xbox and PS5 Review

Stunt Flyer on Xbox Series S/X and on PS5 (PlayStation version available June 12th) were both sent to me by the people over at Ultimate Publishing. I always like working with these guys and appreciate when they send me games to check out.

Stunt Flyer is a very basic and user-friendly game when compared to its original Nintendo Wii release. The PS5 and Xbox versions have much better graphics and contain a split-screen co-op mode and vastly better controls. The switch version, I am told, also has all this, but I haven’t played that version.

The game does show its age in some ways, the game tosses you straight into a tutorial, then just lets you free fly around. You fly through rings to start missions such as shooting targets with water balloons or flying through rings in a time attack sort of race. There are also about 50 gifts to collect. As an adult, I quickly grew tired of this.

There is a flip side to this; my 8-year-old daughter loved the game. The controls were simple, and the graphics are cute. She crashed the plane just to see the character shake his fist at the screen a few times. Most of the missions are also not very difficult, and the only punishment for taking a long time is that you have an easier time improving on the score later if you want.

This game is honestly not bad, but it very much seems to be for younger kids. If you are a parent looking for something reasonably priced to play alongside your kids, $15 is a small price to pay to see them smile. I would never buy this game for myself, but with my daughter, it was a 9/10 experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Section 13 PS5 Review

Section 13 on PlayStation 5 was sent my way by the people at Ocean Drive Studios, who have a lot of great stuff coming up, and I always appreciate getting to see it. A special shout-out to Fabi from Extra Life as well, for always being a great help.

Section 13 is a roguelite twin-stick shooter, and currently only offers a single-player experience. The story is pretty nice in the fact that it has a real one, which is rare in this genre. You start out playing as Red, a spunky girl who always seems a bit too happy for the security guard at a top-secret organization. This becomes even more true when you find out she was raised by a single dad when her mom went missing years ago.

Red is quickly sucked into Section 13, a wild ride of workplace shenanigans, mysterious monsters and weapons that would be at home in any sci fi movie or zombie movie. Fancy a shotgun? It is an option, want to swing a sledgehammer around you can, weird arc gun that I don’t think is scientifically sound, but just works, it’s yours.

All this sounds fun, and for a $20 price tag, it is, but how does it function? It functions as you would expect. Move with the left stick, aim with the right stick, and fire with the trigger. Use the D-pad to switch weapons. Circle lets you dodge, and for a time, you are invincible. Each run unlocks an assortment of different currencies you can use to unlock weapons you can start your run with, permanently upgrade your characters (each upgrade applies to all of them), or unlock character-specific backstory.

Today is June 6th, 2025, and at the time of this writing, I will admit the game is a 7/10 experience. While the story is fun, and the game is fun to play, it is really meant to be played with more than one person. I mention today’s date because later this month, online multiplayer is set to be added, and come September, couch co-op is set to be added as well. Once Online is added, it will definitely bring my score up to an 8. Couch co-op is also a great addition that I feel games ignore far too much in this day and age, and at a $20 price point, this is a hard game to pass up. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Final Fantasy Tactics Ivalice Chronicles

Honestly there isn’t a ton to say here. Fans have waited a long time,and listened to a lot of rumors. This time,it turns out it’s real. Enjoy the announcement trailer below,and join me in killing time until the release in September. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade PS5 Review

Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade on PS5 is an action RPG/rogue-like that was sent my way by the people over at 7Quark, whom I always appreciate and, admittedly, had a blast playing.

There is more than one character, and the story starts out slightly differently depending on who you choose. This doesn’t matter too much as you play through, as all of them anyway. In fact, every town’s person appears in all 3 stories but plays different roles. This was kind of interesting to me, but it isn’t for everyone. The story isn’t why most people play these types of games anyway, as it is always about that one more run.

The game did make me hate crabs though

Each run lets you collect more of several in-game currencies so you can upgrade your weapons or your character for subsequent runs. This lets you hit harder, dodge more, take more hits, or whatever, depending on what you pick or on your character.

The graphics of what is essentially the Edo period are nice, and the controls are fluid. Each time I died, I could tell what I did wrong, and I never felt it was poor game design, just poor decisions on my part. This isn’t to say the game is without issue. I wish I could choose a new character whenever I wanted, instead of having to play through the story of a character before swapping, as an example. Some of the power-ups are also far too expensive and require you to basically run through the story multiple times to afford.

But is the game worth playing? I think so. I enjoyed my time with the game and see no issue with it. I have paid more for worse games. It is a solid 7/10 experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Trident’s Tale PS5 Review

Trident’s Tale on PS5 was sent to me by the fine folks at 3DClouds, and I always like to acknowledge that up front and share my appreciation. Trident’s Tale is an adventure game first and foremost; you play as a wannabe pirate named Ocean. I say wannabe, but it isn’t long before tragedy strikes her life, and she has her own small ship, a crew, and is on her own adventure to find the Storm Trident.

No Shortage of skeletons to shoot

With a stolen sword and a gifted gun, Ocean will do what pirates do: kill more skeletons than you will bother to count. Find more treasures than you will know what to do with, and craft bigger and better weapons for yourself and your ship. This will allow you to sail the ocean, kill more enemies, destroy more ships, and collect more treasures while following a story to match any other pirate game you’ve ever played.

This sounds like a weird joke, but honestly, what you see is what you get with Trident’s Tale. If you think the combat looks basic but fun, you would be right. It is mostly slashing your sword with one button, dodging with another, and a few skills. They do quite a bit with this combination, but it isn’t anything you have never seen before. The ship combat is again a matter of sailing and shooting. It functions well, and I have no complaints about it.

Visuals and sound are once again exactly what they seem like. Both sound nice, and for a $25 price point, are downright solid. They won’t wow you, but they aren’t disappointing.

This picture serves no purpose; I just like it.

You may have noticed, all I have said about this game is that the game is very much what you see is what you get. I don’t have any complaints about it. I also don’t have any high praise for it. I would never discourage anyone from buying this game, as I have others in the past, but I also can’t recommend it. For me, this game simply exists as a 7/10 game. If it catches your eye, feel free to try it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.