Recent reviews by Theogrin the Eccentric

What if you wanted to put down a hole, and then dump everything into it? Well, Donut County is for you!

This is a short and sweet little game originally released for iOS and Android, and as one might expect of mobile games, there's not a _lot_ to be had, but all told, I'd say there's enough. It's largely unassuming, its cast of cute characters just gives a dollop of personality to each, and it doesn't overstay its welcome, even with the occasional secret.

Also, one of its protagonists is a raccoon, which is always a plus.

Ultimately, for $5 I'd call this nowhere near a game of the year, but certainly a nice little bagatelle you can pick up, poke at for a little while, and set down without thinking too long about it, a quiet breath of fresh air which is nothing more than, or less than, what it purports to be. Highly recommended there.

Taking its notes from SNES-era games, with its own touch and surprisingly smooth controls, CrossCode manages to pull together what feels like a retro-styled game with new features.

The 'trapped in an MMORPG' style storyline has of course been done a dozen times before, but this iteration actually manages to pull it off, with a cast of characters to which we can all relate, as well as a system which invites replays for different methods.

Sometimes the story can feel a tad sluggish, which, on reflection, feels like it fits the bill for the one area of the game which is meant to be. However, all told, it's quick-paced, and the characters all feel genuine and real.

The music also fits the bill, feeling very much like an SNES-era RPG. It certainly sounds equivalent to the chiptunes with which we grew up.

Finally, the gameplay is... well, it's solid, to be honest. There are some ways to cheese it, and some bosses _DEMAND_ that you actually cheese them, which is always concerning. (Learn to block, folks.) All told, though, it's tight, engaging, and there are a lot of enemies which will give you the beatdown before you manage to take them down in a respectable fashion, which is about all I can ask for.

Plus, you get about fifty different takedown strikes. How can you not like that?

All told, I would suggest a 9/10. Superb characterization, great combat, some minor nits to pick, but nothing really problematic, and the whole thing plays like a production made by a group with a CEO/CFO team a thousand times more well-paid.

Taking its cues from metanarrative games such as the Stanley Parable, as well as ludomorphic experiences like Thomas Was Alive and ReBoot, 'There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension' manages to provide a relatively short, and yet thoroughly enjoyable, adventure/puzzle game experience which tickles the funny bones, even if the jokes fall flat on occasion.

The visual design is fantastic; the voice acting does occasionally lag from time to time, with the characters seeming less than entirely invested, but it's mostly solid. And the puzzles do feel like they work for the most part, though they can be somewhat esoteric in places -- though, again, the metanarrative nature of the game rewards out-of-the-box thinking.

While the game does fall a little flat in the end, I could still happily recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the classic style of adventure games, as it draws heavy inspiration from the works of LucasArts/Sierra -- and uses those inspirations properly.

A Metroidvania in the classical _Symphony of the Night_ sense, Timespinner has captivated me so far. While I can't speak about the full game, it's well worth giving a try, and every aspect captures the old games perfectly, from the smooth handling of the character to the full design of the rooms. I do think it can benefit from a few more tutorial points, though, such as how to jump up walls with cracks.

All told, I'm thoroughly enjoying this so far.

If you have a few friends whom you don't mind murdering time and again (and vice versa!), Magicka is the game for you: an ostensible 'co-op' game, it shines best when a group of friends take turns blowing each other up instead of 'making progress'. While there are a cavalcade of bugs and concerns in the game, it has all the makings of a wonderful party game. That having been said, the single-player variant falls flat; this really is a multiplayer creation.

Combining the oft-grotesque dark humor of Team Meat with a frankly punishing difficulty and a Roguelike sensibility, The Binding of Isaac manages to pull off a short but sweet dungeon-delving experience. Any given game takes up to an hour, tops, but the arcade style will keep you coming back for more - especially as you unlock more and more of the simply absurd quantity of items, characters, and bosses.

A throwback to the slowly-disappearing isometric games of yore, Bastion might not be the best out there, but the solid story, beautiful world, simply brilliant narration, and reasonably complex combat make it a steal at $15.