Recent reviews by OL3

I bought Slay the Spire 2 thinking:

"Nice, more cards."

I was wrong.



They didn’t just add stuff.
They changed the game.

New mechanics don’t reinvent everything.
They refine it.

Which is… surprisingly great.



You can play with friends.



Yes.
The game where you normally sit alone, suffering in silence…
Now lets you suffer together.

You:
"I have the perfect build."

Friend:
"Trust me, take this."

You take it.

Your run is now ruined.



Your friend makes a terrible decision.
You watch it happen.
Slowly.
Powerlessly.

And somehow that makes it even better.



Every fight becomes:

• arguing
  
• blaming
  
• pretending you knew the outcome

It’s no longer just strategy.

It’s:
"Who do we blame when this goes wrong?"

And it will go wrong.



The new systems + multiplayer = chaos.

Good chaos.

The kind where:

• runs feel fresh
  
• decisions matter more
  
• and losing is actually funny

Old game:
You vs the Spire

New game:
You + friends vs the Spire
(and also vs each other)



They didn’t just make more Slay the Spire.
They made it social.

Which somehow makes the suffering… better.


10/10
Bring friends.
Blame them later.

ROCK AND STONE?
More like: work overtime in a cave, get drunk, shoot bugs, repeat.

You are a space dwarf.
Your job: mine rocks, survive insects the size of cars, and listen to a company that definitely does not care about you.

Pros:
• Shooting bugs feels amazing
• Random teammates instantly become brothers
• Procedural caves = chaos every mission
• Pressing V fixes morale
• Best co-op etiquette on Steam

Cons:
• Management is evil
• Gravity hates you
• You will ping gold like an idiot
• One more mission turns into four

Gameplay loop:
“I’ll play 20 minutes” → it’s 03:00 → ROCK AND STONE.

Verdict:
If you like co-op, chaos, and shouting at minerals: buy it.
If you don’t like teamwork: the bugs will eat you.

Rating:
10/10 dwarves
Would mine again

ROCK. AND. STONE.

Valheim is a peaceful Viking survival game the same way drowning is a peaceful swimming activity.

This is accidentally one of the best designed survival games ever made, which is frustrating because now every other game just looks lazy.

• One of the best structured progressions in the genre
  
• One of the cleanest and most addictive gameplay loops
  
• Proof that simple systems layered properly beat bloated overdesigned trash every time

The brilliance is sneaky. Nothing is complicated on its own — food, stamina, weather, building stability, sailing, enemy AI — all simple. But together? Suddenly you're running Nordic logistics while being emotionally abused by nature.

You don’t notice the depth. You just notice that you’re cold, wet, underfed, overencumbered, hunted, and your house collapsed because realism.

Nordic Suffering Tycoon features include:

• Chop wood
  
• Die to wood
  
• Eat food
  
• Still die
  
• Craft armor
  
• Die slower
  
• Sail confidently
  
• Sea serpent says absolutely not
  
• Lose everything
  
• Walk home across three countries barefoot like a disgraced mailman

Game says "You feel rested."
Incorrect. I feel threatened by trees and judged by the wind.

---

IMPORTANT: I heavily DO NOT recommend reading the wiki or looking up strategies.
This game is meant to be explored, discovered, suffered through, and learned naturally.
Spoilers strip the magic and reduce everything to a checklist.

---

10/10 game design.
0/10 mental stability.

Gotta rephrase antumarin’s
review — and keep it, because it nails the game:

“Scary until it isn’t, then it’s just a fun challenge. Kinda works for the plot, too. Desensitizing you to all the horrible stuff happening.
And now you have human impostors. Fun times.”

This is basically the core loop of The Outlast Trials.

You start terrified.
Then you learn the systems.
Then the fear fades — not because the game softens, but because you do.

The violence becomes routine.
The chaos becomes a puzzle.
And when human impostors show up, it’s just another mechanic to solve.

You don’t just play the therapy.
You get conditioned by it.

Scary → manageable → normalized.
Congrats. The experiment worked.

10/10 – Great game with great replayability.

Plan B: Terraform.

As an autistic man myself, it is perfect if:

- You are autistic as hell
- You are autistic, and are autistic
- You enjoy planet-terraforming concepts, and are autistic
- You want a “realistic” story where Earth basically bullies you into compliance
(full USA diplomacy: bomb, threaten, demand, demand harder… then bomb again)
- You like planning, optimizing, scheduling, and being autistic

(as a proper autistic man, this game hits embarrassingly hard)

A calm, clean, addictive planetary logistics simulator where your brain goes
“one more supply chain” at 03:00.

Recommended.
Peak chill if you like planning.
Peak obsession if you *are* planning.

Town of Salem.

Fantastic concept: lie, accuse, betray, gaslight your friends — peak entertainment.
Shame the moderation team plays the game on Hard Mode.

The issues:
- Bans so inconsistent they feel RNG-based
- Censorship that hits harmless jokes harder than actual toxicity
- Appeals system that might as well be a decorative button
- Dev energy spent lecturing players instead of fixing things

If you enjoy playing Russian roulette with your account status every time you hit Enter, you’ll thrive here.

Still…
Underneath the overzealous moderation, the core gameplay is great.
When the match flows, it’s chaotic, creative, and stupidly fun.

Recommendation:
Play for the concept.
Avoid if you enjoy free speech, clarity, or jokes that won’t get you smited by the report hammer.

THE FINALS.

Sniper main here.
Yes, I hate myself.
My aim oscillates between “Olympic precision” and “did a toddler grab my mouse?”

Tip for your mental health:
If you want calm comms and somewhat functional teammates: turn off crossplay.

If you want to witness peak degeneracy, zero IQ decision-making, and gameplay that actively lowers your lifespan:
turn ON crossplay.
I genuinely didn’t know a playerbase could mutate THIS hard just by changing platforms.
It’s the “what’s going on inside their head?” meme — except the answer is: absolutely nothing.

Fast, chaotic fun — in ranked AND casual.
Even when your team is emoting, parkouring across the map, and doing everything except touching the objective.

10/10 would get headshot by a controller player again.

Peak.
Peak deez nuts.

Solo: OK alone — we don’t all have friends and are forever lonely
Duo: Good with a partner… if you enjoy arguments and sleeping on the couch
3–4 Players: Recommended — maximum chaos, minimum cooperation, peak entertainment

Great, simple, fun concept.
A new challenge every 24 hours.
Perfect for a casual break — relaxing with friends… or creating future enemies depending on how you play.

Frostpunk 2.

I read the reviews and almost didn’t buy it. With all the complaints, I expected a disaster.
I’m glad I ignored them.

Do NOT expect a “better Frostpunk 1.”
This is important.

This is a new game with a completely different loop, structure, and goal.
It’s set long after the first game — not about surviving a blizzard, but managing a fractured society of thousands after the storm.

It’s about ideology, conflict, and trying to hold a city together as communities clash and the future refuses to cooperate.
Less micromanaging heat vents — more steering a civilization on the edge.

Barotrauma.

A co-op submarine survival game where everything is trying to kill you — the ocean, the aliens, the hull, your reactor… and occasionally your friends.

Player count reality check:
- 3+ players: Ideal. Chaos, screaming, panic — peak gameplay.
- 2 players: Works only if one of you has WAY too much confidence as an engineer.
- Solo: Only if you hate yourself and trust bots (why would you?).

Gameplay vibe:
A social game at heart.
You can play “Normal Mode,” where teamwork saves the mission…
Or turn on Traitor Mode and watch your friend “accidentally” open every airlock while you’re repairing the reactor.

Why it slaps:
- Deep systems (reactor, wiring, leaks, monsters)
- Amazing co-op moments
- Constant “fix this or we die” emergencies
- Perfect mix of panic and laughter

If you want a game where friendships are stress-tested at 3,000 meters below sea level — this is it.

Recommended.
Great with friends; unforgettable with the right amount of stupidity.