Recent reviews by Thomas R.E.

Faithful 95's- to early 2000's themed computer banhammer sim, pizzaz'd with everything you remember when you were (probably) just a kid, surfing on the web for the first time.
Navigating old websites just like when the web was at it's infancy was fun enough in itself for me to explore, but with an unexpectedly good story (no spoilers) coming out of the blue, this game went from a great purchase to a personal favorite.

With future workshop content currently in development, you'll be happy to know you can continue exploring the web with "infinite" user generated content, mainly other cheesy websites.

While the game has a lot of traditional RPG elements, it's far too barren and void of good content.
Core functionalities such as combat, fishing and harvesting are extremely simplistic, and very quickly gets boring.
I've only played the game for about 5 hours now, and I definitely regret not being able to refund it.

39,99€ is an insult for what you get, €9,99 is a far more appropriate price for the game as of now.
Eventually, you can pick it up on a sale.

Vastly underrated Spelunkylike with a surprisingly great OST (from the composer of a few Hotline Miami hits), and a pretty interesting story to accompany the dungeneering.
A great and lush artstyle makes the visual a feast for the eyes, too.
What the ending unfortunately lacks, it makes up for everything else.

With the addition of the final act, I can finally give this game the full review that it deserves.

This is the single most entertaining rogue-like game I've had the pleasure of playing.

I was actually hesitant due to the Early Access tag this game got when it was available at the store (as it isn't exactly seen as quality control these days), but I do take a lot of chances when it comes to buying games that has questionable price tags.

It's very much like digging through the random games bin you'll find at Gamestop and local computer shops.
Sometimes you find some random games that wasn't actually that bad, sometimes you find a horrible unfinished piece of ♥♥♥♥ you'll regret very quickly buying (looking at you DayZ).

Other times you find a diamond in the rough, and oh boy is it worth the effort when you find a game like this.

While turn-based card games are a thing that I'm fond of, it surprised me how completely fluid the card based gameplay works with relics, curses, and other massive gamechangers.

Much like items in the Binding of Isaac games, you pick up relics that changes your gameplay, and the game usually nudges you to go for a certain build.
However, you are never forced to. You can change up your build as you please as you progress.
You might find yourself leaning towards a strength build, but slowly you find yourself overwhelmed with great berserker cards, and you slowly grow into that deck.

RNG is a factor in this game when it comes to treasure, enemies and events.
While it can hit you hard, it is very much possible to prevail through strategy regardless of whatever you face.

On occasion, you will find elites that completely hardcounter your build.
This does not mean you WILL lose, but it means you have to play around that enemy, and in a run where you get the perfect combination of relics and cards, it's very refreshing to know that your immediate death can be around the corner.

Risk and reward is seen throughout the entire game.
Will you cut your health in half at the start to receive more gold for the shop?
Do you want to trade your baseline relic for a random boss relic, possibly completely changing everything about the run?
Maybe you want to pick a rare card, but with the nasty addition of a curse?
It's really up to you how you want to play.

When all is said and done, and you have beaten the spire, you unlock Ascension.
It's a NG+ mechanic that challenges you even further on each individual character.
Ascension can stack all the way up to 15, and getting there progressively gets harder, as every ascension level gives you a separate consequence.
These can be having a permanent curse in your deck, slightly more damaging bosses, starting the game wounded and so on.

But the variation of all this is what truly shines through the game.

Every build is always fun to play. It satisfies all your playstyle needs frequently, such as spamming storms of daggers at an enemy, using overwhelming demonic power to crush foes, and building a massive mechanical powerhouse.

I will probably never run out of praise to give this game, especially as additional content is actively and regularly being worked on.

So, from a rogue-lovers perspective:

This is an absolute no-brainer, and I hope you will have as much fun as I have had playing this game for 200+ hours now.

(FAIR WARNING BEFORE YOU START: The english version currently has some sound effects missing. It's up to you to decide whether to wait for a hotfix or go on playing it!


A true and timeless classic, Yume Nikki sparked a cult fanbase that I happily have been a member of almost since it came out in 2004.

Explore the bizarre dreams of Madotsuki, as you wander through landscapes that might drive you crazy, cheer you up, make you slightly disturbed and uncomfortable, and perhaps even witness events you shouldn't have expeRIあああああああ.

The creativity behind the game has inspired a very large amount (and more to come!) of fangames, with different aspects of Yume Nikki, and different interpretations behind the very long list of fan theories of what the original game is, and what the context means.

These themes include gore, horror, hallucinatory space trips, and the list goes on.

With no main objective in the game (aside from an achieveable ending screen), exploration and interaction is everything.
Go everywhere, interact with everything, see it all, make your own meaning of the things you find.

Just make sure you don't harass the wrong creatures, they will surely make you understand why.


Sit back, get comfortable, and get ready for a strange but intriguing journey.



Should you find yourself enjoying the game but still hunger for more, I would recommend the following fangames:

- Yume 2kki: The same game, but with a VAST amount of more things to do.
(Installing the game requires a few technical solutions as the game is made by japanese people. Expect to be patient, and be ready to google errors a lot. I couldn't get it to work personally, but it's in the horizon)

- .flow: Gory, disturbing, morbid, and a little sad.,. Excellent overall quality and pixel art.

- LCDDEM: Bright and cheery, very atmospheric, absolutely incredible music, with a tragic background. Good amount of stuff to find!
(The creator has for very curious and unknown reasons done everything he could to delete every trace of his game, citing "he's trying to forget someone in his life", but you can easily find it with google anyway)

- Yuque: Short and nice, good atmosphere. Rich and detailed events to find.

Fleshchild: Very gory, disturbing. Strong focus on manslaughter. Unfinished game, has a very sudden and abrupt ending.

- Me: Slightly amateurish, but nonetheless has a very significant amount of content to explore. Quite quirky!

There are many more fangames, but these are my favorite ones that I feel is worthwhile spending some hours in.


If you're interested in discussing theories and lore, there is a ton of videos on Youtube that can explain most of the strange findings to you.
You can also join the Yume Nikki Reddit where we fans regularly post content.


Thanks for reading, and I hope you will have as much fun as we've had through the years!

that was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ BLAST

rest in peace, brother
may you stand forever as an example

i can honestly say that out of all the games i've ever played, this one has given me the most regret.
after 3-4 hours of gameplay, it gets vastly repetitive.
spending time learning the combat reveals to you how shallow the depth of the combat is after a few hours.
you poke needlessly at the enemy, and if you get somewhere close, you guardbreak or go for a light attack. and that's all you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ do.
maybe the occasional heavy attack when they aren't looking, but that's the entire game.
servers are working fine, P2P works surprisingly well too, but even that can't make up for the rest of a game
i'm honestly having trouble even writing this review, i can't stop thinking about how i just spent 59 euros on getting sorely miserable for a few hours.
a refund is out of the question too, naturally. can't have the customers get an idea of how much of a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ scam this ♥♥♥♥ is.
would it be 30 euros, i would feel better about my purchase, or perhaps even satisfied for 20 euros, but 59 euros for this?

with this money, i could have gone to town, gone to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ restaurant, or buy something nice for myself i would like.

instead, i spent it on flipping my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥ for hours.

don't do what i did.

go buy something you know you will enjoy instead.

the reason i like StarBreak so much is because of it's fast paced metroidvania action, coupled with a seamless MMO experience. in many ways, this game is similar to the Binding of Isaac games, allowing you to pick up stat items, try different equipment combinations, see how far you can go, and inevitably die, and start the process all over again.
even though character deaths are permanent, your account level is not, and will stay with you forever.
you can gain account xp in nearly any way (boss kills, time spent, performance), but you can only increase the level cap by finishing a zone you haven't won before, forcing you always seek out harder challenges.
being F2P, the money advantage has to be here somewhere, right?
nope, you can only buy very small cosmetic items that reset with your character death, which both suck and is a reasonable way to create income in the game.

i would strongly recommend giving this game a try, however long you might want to play it!

follow a developers strange dreams as you enter a world psychadelic wonder, slowly revealing personal information as you progress through the game
the entire game has 18 total levels

has spooks, fascinating landscapes, and just straight up strange encounters

also free