January Games
I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible, but I make no guarantees on length because January turned out to be a pretty significant month for me in gaming.
Interactive Fiction
I played a lot of interactive fiction last month. I played so much, in fact, that I made an interactive fiction log, separate from my media log, to keep up with all of the IF I play throughout the year.
You can peruse the linked log to see my thoughts about those I played in January, but I do want to highlight one of them here, called Slated for Demolition.
I wrote a review of it on the Interactive Fiction Database because I was floored by it and wanted to share my thoughts. This might end up being my favorite game I'll play all year. It affected me deeply, and although I acknowledge that it's probably not for everyone, I found myself so wrapped up in it that I was a bit devastated when it was over.
This game felt paradoxically like a horror story and a safe place at the same time. It used my favorite genre to great effect to explore the author's personal regrets, and then it turned that soul-searching onto me as the player. I get that this might be jarring for some, but boy did it work for me.
The horror is also just fantastic, from the body horror/spaghetti monster segments to the eerie liminality of the locations you explore. It's well-written and deserves so much love. I can't and won't stop taking every opportunity I can to talk about this game.
Itch.io Games
I played several games on itch.io last month. I added two of my favorites to my Indie Recs page, but I'll go ahead and copy my thoughts on them here.
Don't Stare: An anti-dating sim where your friend signs you up for speed dating against your wishes, so you try to make everyone you meet uncomfortable and get thrown out of the bar. How do you make them uncomfortable? By figuring out which physical features they're self-conscious about and actively staring at them. Fittingly, the cursor is an eye symbol.
It's funny, the art is great, and the gameplay is really satisfying. I kept playing until I found all 67 anomalies, and after that it was fun to loop through them and try to see how many I could get in one sitting. Looking forward to seeing what this dev comes up with next!
Shaken, Not Stirred: It took me a bit to figure out exactly how this game plays, but once I did I had a blast! You run a dark tavern that gets creepy customers, and your goal is to purchase and arrange ingredients in a way that will satisfy them. You can buy new ingredients and rearrange your table after each customer visits. I love the gloomy pixel art and strategic gameplay. It's challenging but so satisfying once you finally figure out the right combinations of ingredients to win.
I also played a few Bitsy games, namely: the mountain is as it always was, Overnight, in the pines, and The Midnight Bakery. I highly recommend them all, but my favorite was in the pines because I've always loved murder ballads, and the way the horror imagery was presented was unique and effective.
I had a blast playing Bottle of Sickness as well, which I now count among my favorite horror games. You play as a robotics engineer who's involved with a shady company. The atmospheric low-poly visuals are great, and the ending had my jaw on the floor.
Physical Games
I started playing Artefact by Jack Harrison and made a lot of progress, but I'm still playing it into February, so I'll probably do a longer post about it once I've finished.
It's a meditative and creative solo TTRPG where you play as an artefact carried by heroes throughout the ages. I'm loving it so much that I'll probably turn around and play it again as a different artefact once I'm finished. In my current playthrough, I'm a sword, but I'd like to try being a tome or automaton as well.
Other Games
I finished Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken, a unique blend of point-and-click adventure and survival horror that I adored. My review of it is going up at Adventure Game Hotspot soon, so I'll be brief here. Basically, you play as a young woman named Amy who pursues her brother through a dreamworld. It's a shared consciousness, so you meet other dreamers along the way, and you solve puzzles while also fighting monsters in turn-based combat. There is a story mode if you're not interested in the combat aspect, but I found it fun and strategic, kind of like a puzzle in and of itself.
Games I have in rotation right now are Balatro and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I'm taking a break from Lord of the Rings Online and Palia because I have so many other things on my plate.
I'm currently making my way through Pathologic 3 and Creature Kitchen, both of which I'm loving so far.
Resident Evil Requiem is coming out soon, and I imagine it will take up most of my time when it does. I also saw that one of my all-time favorite games, Poker Night at the Inventory, is getting an updated re-release! It's being done by Skunkape, the team behind the recent Sam & Max remasters, which were great.
And I think that covers it all! Hopefully this wasn't too long and you found some interesting gems to check out. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the guestbook if you play any of these!