Post

Was expecting a cosy game where you chill out in a national park and look out for forest fires. Instead, I got extreme guilt for abandonment and escapism.

#10 - Knuckle Sandwich Utterly absurd. Endlessly creative. I loved it. This really is a must-play for anyone who enjoys Earthbound. It oozes a similar style, humour, and unusual approaches to combat. It seems the dev (who is an Aussie!) is now working on Deltarune, and I can totally see why.

#9 - Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven With grotesque new enemies, two huge regions, and chilling winter resource management, it's is a worthy expansion to one of Australia's most successful games. I appreciated the increased combat difficulty, but the focus on wool felt like far too much of a grind.

#8 - Mixtape Exceptional style. Effortlessly cool. Mixtape is game storytelling at its best: a short, self-contained narrative that delivers more emotion in a couple hours than most games fail to achieve. Yet another notch on the belt of "games are art". Aliens will find this one day and love it.

#6 - Tetris Forever Intentionally skipped a few games that I finished while judging the New Zealand game awards. But next on the list is this Tetris compilation/interactive documentary. Exceptionally well presented. Like wandering through a digital museum. I appreciate Tetris even more now.

#5 - Mewgenics Genuinely one of the best games I've ever played. Only devs like Edmund and Tyler can take a concept as absurd as making cats bang and turn it into a polished, deep, and endlessly repayable roguelike. I've sunk 60 hours and expect several hundred more before I'm done. Play it.

#5 - Papers, Please Glory to Artotzka! 🫡 Working through my Steam backlog with another indie classic I should have played a decade ago. Such a captivating game for what is essentially glorified paperwork. Managed to get one of the best/rarest endings in the game by overthrowing the government.

#4 - 140 This game has been sitting untouched in my Steam library for over a decade. Pretty sure I initially received it through a Humble Bundle. Turns out it's an incredibly stylish, clever, and minimalist music-driven platformer. Exactly my sort of game! Finished it in a single sitting.

#3 - Nuclear Throne As a big fan of Enter the Gungeon, I'm surprised it took me this long to play the game that clearly inspired it. Nuclear Throne is punishing, brutal, and downright badass. A satisfying gameplay loop that kept me coming back again and again until my butt was on the throne.

#2 - Alba: A Wildlife Adventure Wholesome is an understatement. This is easily one of the most charming, feel-good games I've ever played. As a massive bird nerd and rookie bird photographer, Alba really was the perfect crossover of interests. If you're into birdwatching, you need to play this! 🐦

Can't weigh in - only played the flat version. But I imagine being able to traverse the environment in VR would be pretty damn awesome.

Going to try play more short, impactful indie games this year. Was a perfect way to kick things off!