January 8 – January 14

Section: 

IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/picture-111373-1511547841.jpg)   Chris "C" Cesarano

Okay just looked at the list and maybe I'll somehow feel less exhausted later but right now holy f*ck there's nothing. —Chris, drunkenly checking in during the a.m. while in the middle of a convention (He did not feel less exhausted later.)

IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Ho hum” Threepaper

This week’s list feels like when you used to go to the video rental store for that one hot new release, which was all out, then you walk the aisles looking for a second option and all you can see is a bunch of Adam Sandler movies and American Pie ripoffs, and you begin to despair of the entire medium and resolve to do something more productive with your life.

Even the names this week feel spewed from a Random Game Name Generator. Swords of Fortress The Onomuzim‘s most distinguishing feature is the total lack of information about what it is.

A week like this, I’d end up picking something I don’t really want, and am unlikely to play. Little Red Lie is an indie adventure game based on lying to people. The 2 playable characters are a rich Boomer businessman and a struggling Millennial woman. It’s the gaming equivalent of “old media vs new media” op-eds. Only in January.

IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-5877.jpg)   Greg “DoubtingThomas396” Decker

There are those who might look at this list and say there’s nothing to see. There are those who might look at this list and say “Call me in March when they start making games again.” There are those who are wrong about Adam Sandler movies.

To them I say: Challenge accepted. I bet I can find at least five games worth telling you about.

Royal Tumble, for example, is Angry Birds in reverse. Instead of trying to knock down an unnecessarily elaborate tower of physics-governed bricks, you’re building an unnecessarily elaborate tower of physics-governed bricks in an attempt to, literally, support the monarchy. Is it probably an iPhone port? Sure, but it might still be good. I mean, there’s a first time for everything, right?

Banyu Lintar Angin: Little Storm is an experimental “slice of life” game about a family of three siblings as they try to get by in rural Indonesia. It’s got nice art, and as far as I can tell nothing blows up except for maybe our preconceptions about what constitutes a video game, so I expect it will be popular for certain definitions of the term. Also, it’s free to play, so have at it.

Till the Dawn, Waiting is a game from a new genre that I’ll call “weeping simulator.” You play as an abandoned dog learning to trust again. It will be interesting to see if the developers understand how dog psychology is different from people psychology, or even how that will be implemented. One thing’s for sure, if you like Ugly Crying, then the YouTuber reaction videos of this will be gold, baby.

Sink or Skim is a game where you play as a skipping stone. Bounce along the water as you look for ways to keep your speed up long enough to make it to the next island. It has an interesting mechanic and the sort of adorable art direction that I’ve come to love. If you’re looking for a quick palette-cleanser of a game to play while you’re waiting for the next open-world game to download, this might be a good place to start.

For my Game of the Week, though, I’ve got to go with A Collection of Bad Moments. It’s an adventure puzzle game stripped of any context or story, leaving just the puzzles. You might be trying to survive a meteor shower in a space station, or battling hostile airships, or just trying to escape a virtual reality simulation. (One suspects the solution to that last one is a bit more complicated than “take the helmet off, genius.”) You know how sometimes you tell the folks at Tim Hortons you want a dozen donuts, but that you don’t care what kind? You might get eleven Boston creams before you get to something a sane person would want to eat, but that last one might be the best donut you’ve ever had. Or it might be another Boston cream. Sky Trail’s escape-the-room blind box gets my pick for this week.

Here's the list, now in release-date order!

PC
1/8

  • Hitori
  • Math RTS
  • Medieval Real Estate
  • Sky Is Arrows
  • The Evil Party

1/9

  • Beach Restaurant
  • Cally's Caves 4
  • Hangover
  • Light in the dark
  • Memento of Spring
  • My Coloring Book: Professions
  • Neckbeards: Cuck Invaders
  • Royal Tumble
  • Swords and Sandals 5 Redux

1/10

  • A Raven Monologue
  • Among the Dead
  • Animals Memory: Birds
  • Banyu Lintar Angin: Little Storm
  • Deck Casters
  • Fantasy Quest Solitiare
  • Golf Extreme
  • Hero Plus
  • Sister's Love
  • Transition to adulthood
  • Wauies: The Pet Shop Game
  • You Will Never Get This Achievement

1/11

  • Abasralsa
  • aMAZE Untouchable
  • Bouncers
  • Chinese inn
  • Flipped On
  • Galactic Battles
  • Heads Run
  • Labirinto
  • Nekomew's Potty Trouble
  • Only One
  • Sit on bottle
  • Till the dawn, waiting

1/12

  • !4RC4N01D!
  • A Collection of Bad Moments
  • Animals Memory: Underwater Kingdom
  • Captured King
  • COSMONAUT
  • Creatio Ex Nihilo: Aition
  • JUMP STOP
  • LOGistICAL: USA - Wisconsin
  • Mind Twins
  • Mortal Manor
  • Sink or Skim
  • Snares of Ruin
  • Super Star Panda
  • Talk to Saki
  • TheNightfall
  • We Walked In Darkness

1/13

  • Stickman Race Draw
  • SuperTrucks Offroad

PS4

  • Energy Invasion
  • Happy Drummer
  • Little Red Lie
  • Planetbase
  • Plox Neon
  • Swords of Fortress The Onomuzim

Xbox One

  • Albert & Otto: The Adventure Begins
  • Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China

Switch

  • The Escapists 2
  • Super Meat Boy
  • Furi
  • Of Mice and Sand: Revised
  • Moorhuhn Knights & Castles
  • Energy Invasion
  • ACA NeoGeo: Art of Fighting 2
  • Arcade Archives: Crazy Climber
  • Draw a Stickman: EPIC 2
  • Azkend 2: The World Beneath

Vita

  • The Count Lucanor
  • Energy Invasion
  • Little Red Lie

RIFT

  • Internal Light VR
  • Namaste Virtual Yoga Retreat
  • Kamikazo VR
  • BlackShield: Upora Story

Vive

  • DynamixVR: D.R.I.L.L.
  • Ship Ahoy
  • Kamikazo VR
  • BlackShield: Upora Story

Comments

Check out that new list format!

wordsmythe wrote:

Check out that new list format!

The spacing is wrong, and the first group of games is missing a date above it.

I bet guessing what games are behind some of those titles are way more fun than the actual games behind those titles.

MeatMan wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Check out that new list format!

The spacing is wrong, and the first group of games is missing a date above it.

Fixed

Thank you writers! We are all deeply in debt for your playing of games we would like to hear about but probably not play. My hat is off to you!

For my part, I'm diving into Endless Space 2. I'm coming up for Rise and Fall sometime February. I might make a few more HZD videos before then.

From which game came the (undoctored) header image?

muraii wrote:

From which game came the (undoctored) header image?

The background was from A Collection of Bad Moments.

The woman driving the wheel is from Little Red Lies.

Props on trying to make the PC list legible. Kinda hilarious that it's an even longer read now though.

I'm actually curious in some of the Switch titles, especially The Escapists 2. I believe I own the original and its many spinoffs on PC but haven't gotten around to them yet. The second game wasn't quite as well received as it appears it's meant for veteran players and has a mp focus. Bummer since I'd likely be playing it solo, but otherwise sounds perfect for the Switch.

Of Mice and Sand looks interesting:

Is there really a game called Neckbeards: Cuck Invaders?

Get me off this planet, please.

BadKen wrote:

Is there really a game called Neckbeards: Cuck Invaders?

Get me off this planet, please.

LAWL. I agree that the name is ridiculous, but the actual game is just a Space Invaders clone.

MeatMan wrote:
BadKen wrote:

Is there really a game called Neckbeards: Cuck Invaders?

Get me off this planet, please.

LAWL. I agree that the name is ridiculous, but the actual game is just a Space Invaders clone.

The devs have made other Neckbeard games. Thankfully it appears that no one is buying them as there's barely any reviews.