Recent reviews by Minakie

The game is buggy and it became unplayable for me after I got the bigger table update. It may be okay after some updates but the game was launched on Steam as if it was a full release and not an Early Access, so it should be a bit more polished and less buggy than it is now.

I legit blind backed this game. They already had a very earlier demo out when they launched the Kickstarter but I just watched their trailer and backed it immediately (#impulsiveShopping). I started regretting it a bit afterward because I wanted to help the devs but I was terrified that I wouldn't like the game since I haven't been able to play any game for long lately ("blame it on the ADD, baby"). But then they announced their demo had been updated and I gave it a try and absolutely loved it! I legit could've kept playing it for hours if the demo didn't come to an end at some point. And that just made me extra happy to be a backer and extra excited to play the full version of the game.

If you're looking for a relaxing casual game to play, Trash Goblin might be a good investment. However, keep in mind that, as of the time of writing this review, the game is still in Early Access and some bugs might happen. You can solve most of them by going back to the Main Menu and then back into the game or just fully closing the game and relaunching.

• The introductory tutorial will teach you all you need to know about how to play the game. You do not need to go to bed to save up your progress, as the game saves automatically after you finish the tutorial.
  
• The art style is very nice and the game is pretty relaxing to play, and the NPC dialogues are very amusing.
  
• Chiseling away the blocks to uncover the trinkets is very satisfying in terms of mechanics and sound effects and discovering new trinkets is always exciting. As you progress in the game, you'll have bigger chunks of blocks to chisel away and might need to start being a bit more strategic about how you do it, but it's also okay if you're not. The cleaning is very forgiving, as it is not pixel-perfect, and the sound effect is also really satisfying. Circular movements are your friend when cleaning smaller items. Also, as someone who is prone to having tendinitis, I am incredibly grateful for the hover options in the settings - those are a life saver.
  
• The upcycling is so much fun! It basically allows you to combine different trinkets to create something new. You can either merge trinkets that would naturally go well together (like the magnifying glass and its lens) or get creative and create your own unique trinkets. If you start upcycling a trinket and then change your mind and cancel, you won't be charged the energy for the action.
  
• Clean trinkets sell for more than dirty ones and upcycled trinkets sell for even more. You can invest your hard earned coins upgrading your tools, your workspace, or buying decorations for the different areas of the shop. You can hold a limited number of trinkets in your stash, but you can buy tables and shelves for your space to have them on display while you wait for a buyer.
  
• You can do up to 6 different actions each day but the timer doesn't have any negative consequences; if you can't fulfil a specific order on a given day and need to go rest, the customer will simply keep coming back every day until you have the trinket (s) they asked for. You can also just tell them you don't have a certain trinket to send them on their way and try to get a different customer. You are also free to play the game however you want. You can discover a trinket and immediately clean it or you can spend an entire day just uncovering multiple trinkets and then cleaning them all the next day, or only when a customer asks for a specific trinket - it's entirely up to you.
  
• You can change the dialogue speed in the settings as well.

Bear in mind that different players enjoy different types of games. Trash Goblin is supposed to a low stakes cozy game, if you prefer something a bit more challenging, this might not be the game for you - and that's okay. There is a Demo you can try for free so use it and abuse it before you decide if the full product is something you'd personally like to play.

I was a bit burned out on farming sims and really didn't think I needed another one in my life... until I tried out the demo. I was completely hooked in only a few minutes and, by the time the demo came to an end, I just knew I had to buy this game and play the rest of it. I was a bit unsure if it would be worth the investment, especially since I'm a bit tight on money right now, but I have no regrets. I was invested in this story and eager to know what would happen next like I haven't been in years - once I started playing this game, I could not put it down. Wylde Flowers has quickly became one of my favorite games ever!

The main star of this game, by far, has to be the story. The dialogues, the voice acting, and the story archs, are all beyond well executed. In similar games, I really struggle to talk to each NPC over and over and be genuinely interested in getting to know them but, in Wylde Flowers, each day I would go around talking to all the NPC, because I couldn't wait to learn more about them. It was a lot of fun to theorize who each of the coven members were but, even after I knew, I was still interested in all the dialogues, in the main quest, and in all the side quests. The side quests, much like the daily dialogues, help you learn more about each character and their personality, and they always make sense in the story. I never felt like there was a quest that had been put in the game for no reason. All the elements come together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. Elements of traditional farming games, such as farming, fishing, and mining, are also really well integrated into the main story, and you will be farming, fishing, and mining to gather the necessary materials for quests, your magic, or to upgrade stuff around your farm - this means that I always knew what I was supposed to do, and never felt lost or bored.

While at first Wylde Flowers might feel a bit claustrophobic, over time you unlock more and more areas, like the mine, the mountain pass, Ravenwood Hollow, and the Gloaming. As the story unfolds, the map keeps expanding with it, giving you more areas to explore and providing more ways for you to keep busy and entertained. The town also changes over time and you end up unlocking |a boutique| and a |hair salon|. And you'll get to know new characters over time as well. Plus, you can pet the cat!

Each character is unique and, because several of the characters are native to different countries, you get to learn a tiny bit about the culture of other places, like specific expressions they use in their dialogues, and also, local dishes. I was quite impressed by the variety of foods,|clothes, and spells the game had to offer.

I wasn't going to marry one of the romanceable characters but I did end up settling down and I am really glad I did. You have adorable interactions you can do with your spouse, they can occasionally give you gifts or offer to help on the farm and you slowly unlock more and more date locations over time. They can also comment on what Tara is wearing. This makes the partners in Wylde Flowers feel more realistic than in other similar games.

As soon as I started playing Sticky Business, I was stuck to the screen (pun intended). It managed to captivate me in such a way that I ended up losing track of time and accidentally playing it until 1 am. Oops. It's impressive how efficient (and fast) I became at customizing and sending each package after only a few days.

The concept, the execution, the art, and the music are all wonderful but, to me, Sticky Business is more than just a cozy and relaxing game. As someone with aphantasia, this game allowed me to not only have fun, but to also feel creative for the first time in a long time.

The side quests and storylines are really engaging as well. It didn't matter that I knew I was just playing a game, they made me feel like I was actually making a difference in people's lives and they triggered real emotions (which is a big deal, as I struggle with alexithymia). I found myself not only having lots of fun fulfilling the custom orders of my shoppers, but also giving away the free stickers that I thought they would like.

I know this kind of game is not everyone's cup of tea, but it immediately became one of my favorite games of all time.

Everything in this game is very on point. The simple but high quality pixel art graphics, the fluid animations, the little "cutcenes", the immersive soundtrack, the very satisfying sound effects, the simple and intuitive mechanics, the story arc, and the funny achievements all make this a short but very fun and satisfying game to play.
I loved the fact you can play the piano in the begining, the notes and recordings, the mechanic of the elevators, and the fact you can spin on the chair. Those little details are everything.

I've been a fan of Freebird Games since playing "To the Moon" and the Overwhelmingly Positive reviews speak for themselves. Much like their other game,s "Impostor Factor"y is more than a game - it's a piece of art. The music, the graphics, the gameplay, the plot twitsts, the moments when the story pulls your heart strings. More than a game, "Impostor Factory" is an experience. 10/10
Highly recommend playing "To the Moon" and "Finding Paradise" before you also play this one. They are all worth it.

TW for "Impostor Factory": blood, medical trauma, terminal illness, unreality

Disclaimer: This is a review I wrote for the DEMO version. The game is now in EARLY ACCESS but I’ll still leave this here. I’ll update my review (if needed) after I play the EA version, which I can't wait to do! 😊

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Nothing against The Sims franchise, but I really need more life simulation games in my life, especially while I wait for Paralives to come out. Since Little Sim World's Early Access is not out yet, I've been playing the Tiny Life Demo for a couple days now. I tried it for TS1 nostalgia and stayed for it's unexpected (but very welcomed) complexity.

- There's an Auto-Save feature and you can choose how often you want your game to auto-save
- Choose between 12-hour clock and 24-hour clock
- An option to hide objects attached to walls/ceilings when the walls are down (still visible when the walls are up)
- You can set different Lifespans for your household and the other households
- You can set the number of random Tinies that will visit your town even if they don't live there (between 0 and 100)
- You can enable/disable your autonomy (for either a specific Tiny or the entire household)... and there's a separate option for their Skill autonomy. Which means you could have the AI turned on but still build the sills yourself
- The Hints system (and the info across the menus and UI in general) does a really great job at teaching new players how to play the game
- The game uses gender-neutral language
- Your Tinies can be asexual and/or aromantic and there are 3 diets you can choose from (pescetarian, vegetarian, vegan), as well as 15 other personality traits
- You can create multiple outfits and add categories to them but... clothes cost money! If you can't add extra outfits, it's because you don't have the funds to do so
- If you have AI autonomy turned on, you can just sit back and watch your tiny/ies go about their day. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they will automatically chose to go visit other lots. If several of their Needs are low, they will also decide to do several actions and all of them will be added to their queue.
- If your Tiny decides to do something autonomously and you want them to do something else after that, you adding extra actions for them to do will not delete the ones they decided to do on their own (which I am super grateful for because it's something that annoys me on TS)
- If you think that your Tiny is doing multiple actions at the same time... they probably are. This game has multitasking. Surprised? So was I
- There are options in game linking to all the social media pages as well as a way to give feedback/report bugs (if the game catches a bug, it will even auto-fill the form for you!)
- Mods are supported
- There are cheats[docs.tinylifegame.com]

- More color swatches (especially for some of the clothes/shoes where a bunch of the swatches are of very similar colors)
- More accessories (cap, beanie, hair bow, headband, belt, wrist watch, etc.)
- More decorations, furniture & appliances (alarm clock & wall clock, 2x1 arches & doors, bath robe, bathtub, bar stool, boardgames, bunkbed, clothes/dish washing machine, clothesline, 1x1 desk, fan, fire alarm, garden fountain, office chair, 2x1 kitchen table, laptop, luggage, microwave, outhouse, pergola, picnic basket, pool ladder & diving board, radiator, rocking horse toy, stairs, toaster, toothbrush cup, TTRPG games, slide & swing, slippers, yoga ball, etc.)
- Allowing you to pick up and move counters that have sinks, desks that have chairs/computers, TV stands that have TV's, sidetables that have lamps, etc...
- The ability to nap on the couches
- An option to change the color of any furniture you already own, without having to sell it and buy it again in the desired swatch
- The ability to build diagonal walls and half-walls
- The ability to create a Household without choosing a lot for them first
- Anything extra would always be welcome. For instance, I don’t mind the Personality traits that are already available, but I also wouldn’t mind if more were added down the line
- A search bar to look up catalogue items by name instead of by category

P.S.: You can follow TinyLife on Twitter to be notified of their updates

As soon as I got in-game, I really liked the atmosphere. The graphics and the soundtrack were nice and the adorable animals made me go "Awww!". I also really liked the way you picked up the oranges, that you plowed the land, and the way the watering system worked.

Then, the hickups began. It took me a while to figure out which key to press to make Koa get up from the rooftop, and also to learn that you can't just left-click anywhere on the screen to close pop-up messages - you need to click where it says to click. I also couldn't find a minimap (because there isn't one) or open the quest log, which complicated things because I can't remember instructions for more than a minute or so. You can check the list of Controls from the Main Menu but, once you get in game, you no longer have access to the Controls (only Resume and Exit) so it took me a while to find out that the correct key to access the quest log was CTRL and not TAB, J, K or L like I had tried.

That being said, once I did learn what the proper controls for the game were, things became a lot smoother and I was able to go back to just playing and enjoying the game, the interactions between Koa and , and the amazing cutscenes not only telling the story but also showcasing the unbelievable dinizens of the worls. But I did get stuck on a quest for lighting the fire... before getting a quest to light the fire... I was also getting a bit worried because I was chopping trees for wood and none of them would give me seeds to replant but once I noticed that you could Kick some trees and get seeds without having to chop them down, everything was back on track. The fishing minigame was also fun.

My only critique is that quests do become a bit too repetitive, which can be a bit boring if you're playing the game for long periods of time. Also, you have an option to Start (aka continue your previous save) but not one to start a New Game.

All and all, the game has cute graphics and a nice soundtrack but it's not relaxing due to how annoying the quests get. It might be a good addition to your collection if you're a fan of the genre but, if you want to invest in only a handful of tittles, this might be one of the ones that you'll skip.

As someone who only recently learned to enjoy both survival games and zombie games, I'm glad Undying was created. It brings something new to the genre, which is always refreshing.
Downloaded the Demo, played for 5 minutes, bought the full version.

First impressions:
-The graphics are amazing, the UI is very intuitive, the soundtrack is really nice. I can't wait for the rest of the cutscenes on the intro to be finished.
- The option to hold Cody's hand is adorable and I love the way you can check on him and that you can interact with him on the sofa. The whole idea of having a kid follow you around and having to teach them stuff is a take on zombie survival games I don't think I had seen before. It was a great way to bring a new vibe to the genre.
- It's nice that, when you want to craft something at a workstation, the game automatically recognizes the items you have in storage instead of forcing you to have them in your inventory.
- The food/water system feels pretty balanced.
- Having to pick a symptom for Anling's infection after a few days was definitely a big OOF moment. It definitely helped emphasize the urgency of teaching Cody how to fend for himself. The fact that different symptoms have different durations is a nice touch. Having a small print on the bottom with some positive effects for the symptoms was unexpected, but appreciated.
- I really liked the fact that the car works like a crafting station in the regards that you only need to repair it for it to work. I was expecting it to also require some gasoline but, since I'm guessing that will be needed for the generator later on, I'm guessing it's a good thing that we don't need to waste it on the car as well. Good thinking.
- Having different kinds of zombies was fun.
- It's nice to be able to interact with other survivors on the other maps. Being able to trade is also nice.
- I thought the generator was going to be a pain to keep running. It wasn't. It was actually fun.
- I like the fact that, after a "Game Over", you restart from the last checkpoint.
- I checked the roadmap and am really looking forward for the quest to adopt the cat.
- I saw people saying this game gives them Project Zomboid vibes. The vignettes each morning (saying whether or not there were zombie disturbances during the night) remind me more of This War of Mine. The faceless characters remind me of Limbo for some reason. All great games, just like this one.

It's still in Early Access so, as expected, some content is still missing (like the some images from the intro) but, if you check their playlist on YouTube, you can see how much the game has already evolved in a short period of time.

Bugs are also to be expected on EA games but you can submit any issues you find either on their Discord or directly in-game (via the bottom left button when you Pause) and the team is very responsive and promptly fixing them.

Kind Words is a one-of-a-kind game where you can give and take advice from other players, as well as write and share positive messages to brighten up someone else's day. Whether you're feeling down and need some some support or you want to spread some positivity onto the world, this is the game for you.