Recent reviews by Merciful Hacker

Beautiful game. I got frustrated with some puzzles (do I just keep clicking, or...?) but it happened so infrequently and I was so immersed in the art style that I barely noticed. If you want to play this game for puzzles, you're gonna be disappointed. But again, it's Madison Karth's (developer) art style that steals the show--it somehow manages to create a fascinating fusion of 'beautiful morbidity' with a muted color palette and simple geometric shapes. I confronted a handful of fears while playing and it somehow felt like taking a bubble bath? Pure wizardry, 10/10.

short and sweet. a more clever iteration of this genre than I often see

An actual challenge for once, good golly. Loved it!

I'd like to recommend this, but it's just not worth the current price for the amount of gameplay.
The game seems superficial, at least right now. They say you can craft "dozens of items" but, that's false advertising. Since new recipes only come when you level up (and my XP meter says "MAX" right now), my crafting menu only shows about 12 items. So, you can craft ONE dozen items.

Outstanding. I loved this so much, it's actually upsetting me.
Never thought so many different genres could mesh so beautifully, and now that I know they CAN, I have a whole new itch to scratch.
Aaaaand now I finished the game, and its one of a kind, soooo...

VERY itchy.
MAKE MORE.

Absolutely amazing game so far. Make sure you're in the mood for a LOT of reading. The setting is analogous to our current world, but has its own history and cultures, etc. so there's a LOT of world-building to read through.
I would describe it as a single-player TTRPG adventure with point-and-click elements. You are essentially combing the world for one of two things: flavor text/story progression and items to help you meet skill checks.
I would say there IS an element of replayability, but maybe give yourself a year-ish or so before replaying, as you ARE able to access a good deal of the world with the archetypes (i.e. classes) they provide you at the beginning. At least, I think? Maybe theres more under the surface than it seems...

Also, while this game doesn't seem (at least to me) to lean/preach in any particular political direction, PLEASE note that MANY of the conversations you have with NPCs will involve heavy political topics. If you're sensitive to that stuff, you might get quickly annoyed.

AMAZING.

If Picross/Nonograms scratch that number-puzzle itch for you but you want a little more of a challenge, you'd probably like this.
It definitely took me some time to stretch my brain around the 3D aspect, but it got a lot easier when I realized I could press SPACEBAR (on Windows) to isolate the puzzle one line at a time. Definitely helps me 'exhaust' my brain at the end of the day when it just wont shut up.

Tons of Dev content, some good player-made levels (some serious ball-busters, like srsly), cute graphics, and more than fair price.

The only CON is that there is no Mac OS version, so I am still forced to fight my partner for the Windows PC every night, lol.

Buy this game. Do iiiitttttt.

strange and amazing

So I've played a LOT of mystery games, and most of them have disappointed me. I hate when a game feels like it doesnt trust me to "find the fun" in solving a big mystery. I've tried a lot of Sherlock Games, and they ALMOST got it with this one. "Crimes and Punishments" gives you more options than previous titles when it comes to actually using critical thinking to solve each mystery--

--BUT--

--unfortunately, there's still an alarming amount of hand holding and clue-feeding to where I just didnt feel like I was using deduction to solve each crime. You'll get a crime scene to explore, but Sherlock (not YOU) still decides what is and is not relevant to figuring out what happened and what you should do next. The game just focuses a little too much on random fringe details (like Sherlock's costumes..?) and being nice to look at.

If you want a game that TRULY challenges your ability to solve a mystery, try "Return of the Obra Dinn" and "Unheard."

All of it is amazing. Ive been going through a hard time these last few months, and this game really helped me cope in ways I wasnt expecting.
Thank you thank you thank you!