Recent reviews by Mertinkle

LOVE Planet Crafter! Thank you, devs, for continuing to support this incredible game with new DLC!
My partner and I have been playing the dev branch so we already know we're going to love this! Now it's time to come over to the new planet on our main save.

BUSINESS

I would die for my bobos

Aquapark Tycoon might just be the next big "theme park" sim/tycoon game. This demo has lots of fun place-able items that NPCs actually interact with and play on. Staffing is limited to lifeguards, maintenance, janitors, and spa attendants; which feels like a nice balance of management when compared to other sims that require TONS of staff to run food stands and other less-significant buildings. Slides/"rides" are very easy to design and implement. The UI is simple to navigate and isn't overwhelming. "Guest thoughts" are straight-forward so you'll always know what you need to improve. Try it out!

Edit: Co-op in the full game?! YES, PLEASE!!

Edit for July 9th update: Devs have added a new game mode without weekly quotas and seem to be listening to player feedback regarding running a shop without the stress of roguelike elements and a eventual definite lose-condition. I am FINALLY excited to see the main game when it comes out!

However, multiplayer has been removed from the demo so, until it returns in the full release, I will still be waiting to buy GameStonk.
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Edit for June 28th update: We stayed tuned for the next update and... Wow. If I had one thumb down before, I have two thumbs down now. Devs have doubled down on the rogue-like nature of this game by adding a weekly quota system that QUICKLY becomes unachieveable. I could sit here and write a review about why this is impossible, but all you really need to know is that this game is a management sim designed for you to lose and start over. Adding more decor options in this update while also making every actual upgrade and shelf more expensive than ever is an absolutely mind-numbing decision. No one is going to want to do any decorating when money is always better used on other things and they're ESPECIALLY not going to want to decorate if they're just going to lose the store/run anyway.

The only possible way to survive is to consistently roll high value retro games AND get lucky enough to have a customer buy them (they won't though). There's not a win condition, so... Just get luckier and luckier every week or lose everything you built.

I want to stress that this isn't a rage review after losing hours of progress, this is a rage review after about half an hour of gameplay on the new build and peeking at the game's discord.

The new end of day UI looks nice, though.
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Really fun idea. Really not developed enough to be even a demo. Multiplayer has an exceptional number of bugs and, for a game with no tutorial, the difficulty is HIGH. Profit margins are extremely slim and thieves tend to steal more items than customers buy - often meaning a single thief can wipe out more than a day's worth of profits.

Great idea and honestly fantastic humor, horrible balancing and progression.

Let me begin this obligatory review by stating that the person developing this game is posting minor updates on a daily basis and major updates impressively fast. Also - upon reporting a bug in the community discord - multiple members of the community immediately began testing (for science), dev confirmed a bug in 14 minutes, and dev had a patch posted after a further 18 minutes. I think this interaction speaks for itself, so I'll just say... This game is being DEVELOPED.

Bloob. For over 3000 hours now my second monitor has been blessed with his presence. His successes, his failures, his will to survive, and his ingenious plans and inventions to do so. His sound effects and fanfares have played an innumerable amount of times; behind every stream, every main game, even into the still and quiet darkness of my empty room. When I leave I miss him, and when I come home he's excited to show me all the progress he's made. Bloob even has friends! Through the magic of Discord, Bloob and I keep up with their progress. Bloob's father, Bloobs_Dev loves to see all the s**tpost memes that Bloob makes too!

Put simply, Bloob's Adventure Idle is a game I would recommend to anyone who wants a truly idle experience that isn't displayed as infinite menus. It has a strong Runescape vibe (by which I mean many things are directly copied), and while that is what hooked me at first, I have quickly come to find Bloob uniquely simple and accessible. A game for everyone, not just a haven for people who wish they could have an ironman bot in OSRS. Bloob dares to bridge the gap between idle games like Tiny Glade - where you are simply watching something nice on a second monitor - and idle games like Melvor - where you watch xp bars go up and unlock new things. I could compare Bloob to something like The Gnorp Apologue, but there is a full-on canyon between the two games in terms of actual content provided. And to speak to the game's ease of access, piloting Bloob is as easy as 1. Opening a skill menu to see what Bloob can do at his current level, and 2. Clicking the method in the skill menu and watching Bloob get to work!

Still reading? Fantastic value, engaged community (and dev), pixel art eye candy for your second monitor, and a brand new obsession with your shiny bespoke Bloob. Go get started.

First and foremost - the devs at HalfBeard are updating Morp literally daily. They're in the game's Discord 24/7. They're implementing updates that the community is asking for ON THE VERY NEXT DAY. Seriously. If you enjoy watching EA games come together then snag yourself a copy, join the Discord, and buckle up.

The game itself is a more sandbox-y Slime Rancher with a fantastic built-in wiki/search mechanic, and plenty of automation and decorative elements. The game progresses gradually slowly but, like, you try crash landing on a planet and having a factory up and running within the week, y'know? Because of this, however, every new tech that you unlock and make proper use of feels like a MASSIVE help and, personally, I've found it satisfying to see my base develop and grow bit by handcrafted bit in my own design.

Oh, right, and there's co-op. Big-time. So maybe buy an extra copy for that one friend who just likes to decorate and make things pretty. Or if you're the design friend, go grab someone who wants to min-max the automation so you never run out of materials. Just don't forget about your other friend who "just likes to explore" which we all know is code for "I'll be lost and asking for rescue in about 10 minutes".

Fun, cute, has potential to be an absolute pillar alongside Wallpaper Engine...

Aaaaaand abandoned by the dev. The repetitive and extremely simple gameplay makes me feel like I'm flicking a fidget spinner rather than taking care of pets or making any kind of progress.

Minigames? Well, they exist. But they have no impact on the game whatsoever.
Collection log? Probably 12-15 hours of random shop rolls and you'll have everything. Not that you can feasibly use more than a couple things at a time.

I just can't give this a positive review on the merit of "Shows Massive Potential" when it's abandoned.

THIS IS A GOOD GAME, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. If your save is screwed, start a new one, don't draw it out! Learn how to play the game, and it feels quickly, greatly rewarding - but actually takes hours. Close the curtains, turn off the lights, and let the dim glow of your monitor elucidate the enigmas of... The Darkest Dungeon.

9/10

My one and only complaint is that the options are seriously lacking. A game this difficult would benefit from more complex options like enemy/player handicaps for damage, crits, healing, and everything else.