Recent reviews by Cameron

A really lovely puzzler with plenty of polish. This is absolutely more on the puzzle side than the automation side, and the levels are well designed. Each puzzle is small enough that the search space isn't overwhelming, but finding the solution is often very challenging despite this. All the solutions feel intentional and introduce fresh ideas for ways to use the mechanics.

A modern classic of the rhythm game genre. Does some really innovative and interesting things with music, presentation, and writing, taking full advantage of the medium all the while. All levels are playable with just one button. If you've ever enjoyed a rhythm game before, or think you might, this game is worth your time.

Fun and short puzzle. There's minimal hand-holding when it comes to the language, you're free to make mistakes and assumptions and then re-evaluate them later. That being said, it's not overly complex, and some of the more obscure interactions are fun and interesting.

My only criticism is that the multiple endings don't really add anything to the game, and presenting them as a checklist just adds some busywork which feels like arbitrarily padding the already-short runtime. 99% of the fun I had with this game was figuring out all the potion types on my way to the first ending.

Neat little incremental game that gets the important stuff right. The gameplay loop has been done before, but it works for a $5 game. Most of my criticisms are nitpicks - I had fun playing this!

The good:
- Tech tree is expansive and contains lots of fun sub-mechanics
- Gameplay is smooth and feels bug-free
- Music goes seriously hard, love it
- Sound design is solid
- Particle effects are appropriately flashy

The bad:
- UI is fairly unpolished. Dragging around on the tech tree is quite slippery. I wish there was more info at your character where you're looking 99% of the time, instead of tucked away in the corners. Give me a health meter there, a summary of what I've picked up, that sort of thing.
- Art varies in quality, with a mix of pixel art and vector graphics. Pixel sizes are all over the place, making everything look kind of messy at times.
- Why is there no sound or otherwise indication when you take damage?
- Why does killing an enemy cause you to pick up all the gold on screen?? Feels like this should've been an upgrade instead of an unexplained game mechanic.

A lovely twist on Shapez-style zen factory building by having it center around Lego(-esque) bricks. Being able to build in the third dimension and decide how to break up each larger build into manageable chunks adds a really interesting layer of planning to the factory design, and the absence of enemies or failure states makes the whole experience very relaxing.

An absolute masterclass in puzzle game design. This game's all about learning how its systems interact in interesting ways, and has a surprising amount of depth for a 1-hour experience. Really loved the puzzles on display here, each of them felt like a step in trying to teach you something more complex.

This game has some really good jigsaws in it. I was expecting to like it, and I liked it even more than I expected. Highly recommend for fans of enigmatic and unique puzzles, where rule discovery is part of the challenge. If you get stuck, there are hints on FLEB's website.

A really solid logic system, kind of like picross mixed with minesweeper. Very reminiscent of pencil-and-paper logic puzzles. The lack of any meta-structure beyond the 160 logic puzzles is a bit disappointing, despite the game touting it as an excuse to relax. The puzzles are very well designed, though, and a significant challenge even for experienced solvers. They're like popcorn - I can't seem to stop solving them once I start.

Really tightly designed incremental / bullet hell. Oftentimes games like this simply amount to "grind to buy everything then win for free" - this is not the case here. The bullet hell segments are challenging and creative, with lots of bullet types, enemies, bosses, and environmental hazards. The weapons you get along the way are just as varied, and by the end of the game you feel really powerful despite still needing a lot of skillful dodging to win. I enjoyed this one a lot!

Fantastic game for fans of Guitar Hero-style rhythm games, or those new to the genre. There's a wide variety of difficulties here, so something for everyone (including the truly hardcore). The soundtrack is phenomenal and learning all the enemy patterns is a ton of fun. It's not very similar to the previous NecroDancer game, but a masterpiece in its own right. I'll be playing a lot more of this going forward and you should give it a try too.