games i've played recently
Recently, I tried out a bunch of new games, or at least new to me. Some I bought in that time, some have been in my library unplayed for a while. I'll tell you all about it. All games were running on my Linux laptop.
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
This is a game about creating a little sanctuary for frogs. It has some Neko Atsume vibes, if you remember that cat collection mobile game. It has a similar, beautifully hand drawn style. You buy furniture to attract different frogs, take pictures of them to "collect" them all, and you can tame them by giving them their loved foods. The more rare and special a frog is, the more rare or difficult their food choices are to fulfill. When tamed, you can breed them to unlock more color variants and frogs, so even if you don't catch them in the wild, you can breed it to unlock it. Aside from the area where your shop and breeding building is, you also have a second area, the wetlands, where you are creating little lakes and swamps. Frogs show up there, too, but it's mainly to generate food for the frogs; the better your ecosystem is in that area, the more flies and bugs can be caught, which are needed to feed and tame the frogs. You can also plant bushes and other plants and harvest their fruits to make jam or lollipops, create paper etc. to sell and generate money for buying new furniture.
All in all, I enjoy the game, but while it looks very cozy and chill, it's actually kind of stressful hahaha. The frogs show up and only stay for like, 10 seconds or so before leaving again. This isn't your only chance, of course, they'll return; but some frogs are very rare. And oftentimes, there are multiple on screen, so you're frantically taking pictures with the in-game camera to collect them, then hope you can click on them on time to feed them, but at the same time, you should also go to the other area off-screen and collect enough bugs and flies, and harvest the other stuff to turn into money. It feels like you always have to click somewhere to collect something or get a process started, and sometimes there's character dialogue while the background keeps continuing, so you'll see rare frogs you don't have yet arrive and disappear while clicking through the convo. I guess if you don't care about missing out on frogs, this is chill, but otherwise it can be very fast paced.
Kind Words 2
I have played Kind Words 1 for around 250 hours, and I've been very happy with the second game. Kind Words was initially a chill game where a figure sits in a room in an empty space, and you see paper planes flying around that you can click to show player-written encouraging and sweet messages. It let you write and answer requests by people, usually requests around needing advice or something uplifting. You could respond with a sticker and they could send you one in return. That way, you slowly unlocked all stickers, and they represented stuff to decorate your room with. It was all anonymous, aside from the first letter of your name. Later, more and more rooms and stickers got added, and a screen saver mode, but that was it.
Now with Kind Words 2, we have character customization, the ability to go outside of the room and visit certain areas that focus on specific types of requests or things people wanna write (a library for media recommendations, a void to write a message that never gets sent or seen to get it off your chest, a poetry cafe, a section for life advice, a sky filled with stars where you can voice your wishes, and more). There are also people walking around that are stand-ins for real players, so you can chat with them (still anonymously, and with certain conversation presets, and only for a few exchanges).
Both 1 & 2 are interoperable, so both have the same requests stack, stickers and paper planes. KW2 can also detect your KW1 save and import it. I am super happy with it and very glad it exists; KW1 has helped me a lot and I think I must have written at least over a 100 responses to people's questions and situations. I intend to do the same in KW2. For anyone thinking of getting into it: The topics discussed in Kind Words can sometimes be harsh, since it is people in need of help. Oftentimes it is something easy, like being sad about a bad grade or a fight with a friend, but sometimes it is about depression or death, so be careful if these topics are difficult for you. But with KW2 at least, you have the ability to avoid the general request stack which can be depressing, and just focus on the recommendation library or the poetry cafe and other stuff, if you wish.
When The Past Was Around
I am a big fan of Toge Productions and Mojiken; they make amazing games like Coffee Talk or A Space For The Unbound (highly recommended). For a while now, I've had When The Past Was Around in my library, and I finally got around to it. It's also in a beautiful hand drawn style, just like Kamaeru. The story has no text or voice, it is just conveyed by what's happening on the screen. You point and click, opening drawers and cupboards, collecting items, and combining them by drag and drop to reveal other things to solve little puzzles. The puzzles were pretty difficult for me at some point, but the solutions are available online and in the Steam Guides for the game. The story was very beautiful and touching; I can't tell you too much to not spoil it, but the store page says it is a game about "love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between", which I find very fitting. It's a short game, lasting around 2 hours, and I enjoyed it (even though the puzzles made me curse).
The Beginner's Guide
This is a game by Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. It is a bit older and pretty short (88 minutes for me), but definitely worth it. A voice-over from Davey will comment on what you're seeing while you walk through game environments. It's a "walking simulator", if you will, while someone tells you about the design choices for certain game levels and mechanics. Slowly, a story will be revealed to you as you walk through it all. I think it's definitely worth your time, maybe get it on sale, because the price is a bit steep for what you get, maybe. I think it helps getting inspired about using games as art and as a way to express yourself, not just to create something people will wanna play all the time or with an amazing story. Maybe sometimes it is cool and enough to just make a game visualizing how you feel about your body, your mind, your mental health, your job, life under capitalism, or as a way to express love. It doesn't have to be beautiful and realistic looking, maybe some Source Engine corridors are enough, you know?
TCG Card Shop Simulator
This game is everywhere right now, and it's deserved. It is still Early Access and there's lots to be ironed out and added still, but the dev is passionate and active and has already busted his ass the past few days working on it, delivering patch after patch. Basically, as the name suggests, this is about owning a Trading Card Game Shop; think Pokemon, Yugioh, Magic The Gathering. The original in-game cards and items are very obviously inspired by Pokemon. There's good mods out there on Nexus Mods to fully turn everything into Pokemon, which I am using (Pokemod). Basically, your job is to sell cards, unlock more and more card packs to sell, buy furniture to display it all, and offer tables for your players to play at. You order via your phone, unwrap the boxes and stock the shelves, and you play cashier as well with handling credit cards or giving out individual coins and bills from the cash register (my lack of math skills was devastating). You can also expand the store size, open a second store, and hire employees. You can also open the card packs for yourself, hoping for some rare cards for your collection, or to sell on their own or display in a glass case. In your own card album, you can always see what you have and sell the duplicates on the solo display or later, with a work bench, create card packs.
I enjoy it so far, but it can be a bit grindy after a while when you have already unlocked everything you can for your level and store size, but haven't yet reached enough income for the next steps, and the lack of objectives after a while doesn't aid this. You seem to make the most money with the play tables, not the store sales. However, opening card packs and seeing shiny cards is so addictive, so I continue playing and selling stuff so I can buy more card packs to open, haha. I am hopelessly in love with the Simulator genre, anyway.
Life Is Strange 2
I have already played Life Is Strange 1 fully, as well as LiS: Before The Storm, and Tell Me Why (which has no direct connection to LiS, but there are hints/theories it plays in the same universe). I haven't yet played LiS: True Colors yet and I am not really interested in LiS: Double Exposure for now (that doesn't look like Max at all and the new powers and tragedy in her life don't feel fitting; just leave her be and create a new protagonist?).
I have only started this yesterday, but so far it doesn't disappoint. The usual LiS vibes are there, from the music to the art style, shading, inner monologue options by looking at stuff and the plot. It's developed by DONTNOD again, so that's promising. I'm kinda hooked and will play more in a few minutes.
Though I have to criticize Feral Interactive, which was responsible for the Mac and Linux ports. The launcher is weird, and I had to fight through a few popups to even get to start the game because I guess Linux port means supporting Ubuntu and complaining about every other distro. And I also have to roast Square Enix for putting a "By playing you agree to our Privacy Policy" popup into the game that only has the option "OK". This is bullshit and explicitly against GDPR (which applies, and which they tell you in that PP) and some case rulings that make it clear any preemptive agreement like that (similar to privacy-unfriendly settings enabled by default, or pre-activated checkboxes) is a violation of GDPR. They mention their data protection officer contact details in the PP, so maybe I will complain, lol. Feral Interactive's own linked PP in the launcher is actually so lazily done, I don't even wanna waste my time talking about it.
Published 10 Oct, 2024, edited 7 months, 2 weeks ago