For the first time, I dug in deep. I played over 20 demos and here are my thoughts!

Riddlewood Manor 🏆

Horror point-and-click adventure. This game is brilliant and I have zero critiques. The artstyle and setting remind my of an old Scooby Doo flash game I would play as a kid. I can’t believe how much content they packed into this demo. I am having a blast and can’t put it down. The horror elements add atmosphere and texture to the world, and the puzzles and interactions make you feel clever while not being too difficult. The mini-games are always a surprise and a delight, I can’t help but smile!

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Release Year: 2023
Reading Year: SP2025
Developer/Publisher: Bellular Studios/Fellow Travelers & Surprise Attack Games
Time to Beat: 16 Hours

Thoughts: To be honest, this was an obligatory “It’s a Humble Bundle throw-in, give it a try and probably drop after a few hours” pick. Instead, I spent double the average playtime completing the game. I had no context for the game going in, I didn’t even know the genre or narrative hook. I played fairly naively, focusing on the story and enjoying the light management sim mechanics – I’m learning how well management sims work with my brain as of late.

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Release Year: 2023
Reading Year: SP2025
Developer/Publisher: Black Salt Games/Team 17
Time to Beat: 10 Hours

Thoughts: This game is fun. I know this isn’t a surprise two years and two DLC releases later, but wow it feels good to lose the clock when you pick up a new game. I struggle with indie games like Spirit Fairer because they seem pointless. Yes, cozy is good, but it doesn’t really feel like you are progressing. It’s a me thing, I acknowledge that. Dredge solves this perfectly – there are 5 locations, you will go there and collect the things. The in between provides more than enough fun and fear to make the whole experience fly by! The art style is a lovely nod to Disco Elysium and Dishonored, the gameplay loop is so tight making that “one more run” feeling constant, it is so mechanically rich that you are never bored, the music is EXCELLENT.

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Release Year: 2014
Reading Year: SP2025
Developer/Publisher: Ustwogames
Time to Beat: 1 Hours

Thoughts: Short, fun, and free with a Netflix sub! The art is a little dated, but my how far we have come. A much more pleasurable experience than Limbo, which felt so linear and forced. Is there only one way to go in Monument Valley? For the most part yes, but how you get to solve the puzzle feels so much more fluid and as if you actually come to your own conclusions. You can finish it in a sitting and it’s worth playing for the box level alone!

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Release Year: 2012
Reading Year: FA2024
Developer/Publisher: Arkane Austin/Bethesda Softworks
Time to Beat: 17 Hours

Thoughts: This game is simply excellent. As many who have played this game have said, I do not like stealth games. Yet, I finished this. I enjoyed finishing it. Every aspect of this game felt intentional and beautiful. Even the short comings only feel as such because there are facets of this game that are 10/10 in their own right. The voice acting, the art style, the level design, the writing, the characters, the world, the mechanics, the systems. All of these are unique and well-crafted. Even if I was anxious about beating a level, the narrative and motivation would draw me in. Akin to SuperGiant Games, it feels like Dishonored is the game to recommend to your friend who doesn’t like stealth games. Because it isn’t a stealth game. Dishonored is all about what player you want to be, and how far you are willing to go to realize that vision. You can spec up into an assassin build and take the world head on. You can have fun and the plot will stay intact. Or, you can experiment with the mechanics and get out of your comfort zone with non-lethal assassinations. Most importantly, you are rewarded for the latter. You are rewarded with more of the world (you have to go to different locations), interact with more NPCs, hear more dialogue, and see clever endings with solid payoff. How they pull this off is simple in words: the game is as difficult as you want it to be. I don’t envy the engineers for the systems, but it works! This game can be really easy. You can use wallhacks as a power and teleporting. The AI have a very forgiving vision system and leave you alone pretty quickly if you disappear. It means you constantly have opportunities to change how you approach the level, or just restart it entirely. I personally save-scummed just to try new strategies over and over again. I didn’t want to be punished, so I wasn’t. As with any immersive sim, I don’t think I pushed the systems particularly far. The only critiques of this game I have concern the story. It’s fairly obvious and heavy-handed at times. It’s also quite linear and short. Each level is very fun, but very constrained, so finishing the level can feel a little unceremonious. Because you spend time in the world before the assassination encounter, and you must leave the scene of the crime, it’s a non-normative level design/pacing. It must be said, the ending leaves everything to be desired. It is shockingly quick and absent of meaning or message. Overall, I am so happy I played and finished this game.

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