PixlBit

A game about busy work.

Car Quest is one of those weird experiences that isn’t particularly fun or engaging, but can tap into your OCD tendencies and keep you playing even when you’d rather not. Its design is rather mundane - you drive around a world collecting an artifact at a time, which opens up a new area of the map where you’ll collect a new artifact, which will in turn open a new area of that map where you’ll collect… well, you get the point. This cycle is only broken on occasion where you’ll gain access to a portal that requires a certain number of batteries to get into. In the portal you’ll do more of what you do in the main world, just on a smaller scale, until you earn an artifact to use back in the main world, where the cycle continues.

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If Seltzer and Friedberg made a game.

For all the retro-inspired indie titles out there, the genre seems mostly earnest, even deferent. There may be a small jab, such as Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon regulating the whip to a sub weapon, yet these are smaller details as opposed to poking fun at the original retro titles. Granted, the goofy nature of many retro games renders parody harder to accomplish, as even Shovel Knight feels like it could have once been an earnestly made game from the '80s or '90s. Enter Old School Musical, a rhythm game which pokes fun at an entire smorgasbord of games.

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For once, bards are cool!

At first pass, you may mistake Wandersong for a game about a bard who’s trying to save the world. I wouldn’t blame you, because while that is what it seems on the surface, more importantly Wandersong is a game about emotions and relationships. It’s about conquering your fears and adversity, doing what’s right even when everyone else is telling you it’s wrong. It’s about leaning on your friends when you can’t do something by yourself, and yes, it’s about singing your heart out even when nobody wants to hear you.

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Meow meow, meow, meow meow meow meow, meow meow.

MagiCat is a fascinating example of a game. While it’s not particularly great, it takes a simple concept and tries everything and anything possible with the idea to see what sticks. Oftentimes it’s frustrating and cheap, other times brilliant and fun, it all depends on what level you’re in and what gimmick is on display.

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Greetings True Believers!

Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, but his video game history has been a deep well of untapped potential. He’s had good games still worth playing today, yet he’s never had an entry on par with Batman’s excellent Arkham titles. Marvel’s Spider-Man is Insomniac’s attempt at elevating Spider-Man to the same level as Batman. While they do not quite reach that same quality standard, there is a solid foundation for Insomniac to build upon.

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