AER Memories of Old

Anyone there?

Score: 8.0
Ages: 7+
2017

AER is a lovely, atmospheric game of exploration and mystery. The player controls a young woman on a pilgrimage through floating islands. There are some light puzzles on the way, but mostly the game is about the journey, the scenery and the history of this mystical world.

Stardew Valley

I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay.

Score: 10.0
Ages: 10+
2016

Stardew Valley was clearly the game of the year 2016 for me. I didn’t manage to finish the review on time, but now that the multiplayer beta is live, I think it’s finally time to write down my thoughts about the singleplayer mode.

This indie gem has done so many things so well, it doesn’t really matter that it basically just combines things from the earlier famous titles of the genre. There is no need to always make something huge or explosively innovative, when one can combine all of the good stuff into a package that feels like the best thing ever.

Puzzle Bots

Score: 7.5
Ages: 3+
2010

Puzzle Bots is a casual and cute adventure by Wadjet Eye Games. It’s one of their earlier titles, but all the promise can already be seen. The gameplay is fun and smooth, and the story brings out some giggles.

Herald: An Interactive Period Drama – Chapters 1 & 2

Score: 9.0
Ages: 12+
2017

Herald is an adventure/visual novel hybrid set in an alternate history of colonial times. The genres mix nicely and the story is truly engaging. It will be hard to wait for the two remaining chapters.

Demetrios – The BIG Cynical Adventure

Score: 7.5
Ages: 13+
2016

Demetrios is a heavily comedic old school adventure that was Kickstarted to existence last year. While it might not be an instant classic, it has plenty of impressive attributes.

Reus

Score: 8.0
2013

Reus is a pretty cute and interesting god simulation. The player controls four different giants that mold the world to be populated with silly humans.

Mandagon

Score: 8.0
2016

Mandagon is a short but lovely freeware game. It’s a platforming adventure about a little totem. There are no deaths or failures, only the story.

Plantera

Score: 8.0
2016

Plantera is a cute and cheap gardening clicker available on Steam. For a clicker game, I’d say it’s pretty awesome – but I’m neither an expert nor a fan of this genre. Then again I’ve clocked 11 hours in Plantera and all of it was actually fun. I think I’ll even go back to check the future updates.

Hayday (Android)

Score: 8.0
2012

Supercell’s huge farming hit is a good game – excellent even. I’d score it a bit higher if it weren’t for the usual free2play model where micro-payments add up to ridiculous amounts. But Hayday can be played purely without the extra payments. There are some minor annoyances which would be easy to bypass with money, but they aren’t something that I’d consider deal breakers.

Hero Of The Kingdom II

Score: 7.5
2015

The sequel for Hero of the Kingdom brings more of the same  – with some minor improvements – receiving the same overall score. These extremely lite RPGs are very fun and relaxing to play.