Recent reviews by miss_slaughter

A faster-paced and more straightforward version of DBD, this game is great. Gameplay is addicting and the developers seem committed to continually improving the game overall. Try it out!

Oh, where to start with 'Still Not Dead'?

I love this game. I really do. So much in fact that I've had 3 consecutive lucid dreams about it in the weeks since I started playing it. It's straight up haunting me to where I'm seeing and feeling myself playing it in my sleep. I play 100s of games and this is the first one I've seen vividly in my dreams. Make of that what you will! Anyway...first, lets go over some of what makes this game unique, fun and worth purchasing.

1.) Non-stop & fast-paced action, the likes of which can be found in any retro 90's FPS, but with a twist! You stop moving, you're dead in most cases. Each stage is about 2 minutes long so you only have that much time to meet your kill quota to unlock an Exit and get there before Death itself shows up and destroys everything in its way to get to you if you have not made it out of the stage yet.

2.) Strategizing is a main component of this game. It's not optional unless you want to play poorly.

3.) Lots of challenge. And as you progress, you continue to unlock even more ways to make the game harder! Which are also not optional if you want to keep advancing through each run. -devilish grin-

4.) The unique Blessing/Curse mechanic. The game is centered around "runs" (1 run = 6 stages each) and upon completing each stage in a run, the game will alternate between prompting you to choose between a "Blessing" and a "Curse". Blessings are like buffs to some of your existing abilities or they are ways to help you make the game work more in your favor. Curses are the opposite. The Curses can really turn the tide of your run depending on which random Curses you're prompted with since some suck waaayyyy more than others. The game also gives you an option to re-roll your Blessings/Curses at the expense of 5 HP taken from your health or if you allow the game to choose for you, you can earn some free in-game gold to spend on weapons, ammo and other pick-ups. In one run, you will have to amass 3 Blessings and 3 Curses to aid and ail you throughout.

5.) Cool pixel art and design within simple levels. The aesthetic could be summed up by saying it looks like DOOM and Minecraft had a baby.

6.) The game is designed in a way that incentivizes you to seek out and collect stronger weapons/pick-ups in order to have a more robust gold inventory for in-game purchases. Stronger weapons eliminate larger enemies (who tend to leave behind stacks of gold) and destroy buildings faster, which gives you a lot more access to gold during the short time span you have for each stage. You can play the game Pistol-Only if you wish (I do it a lot), but you will be collecting only a fraction of the gold and resources in each level that you would be collecting if you were using stronger weapons. This design choice allows players to play in a way that gets them the most out of the game.

7.) The soundtrack is fun!! I personally dig it. I'd classify it as "whimsical EDM" and it definitely does its job of keeping you pumped up during each run.

8.) This is a game you can get lost in while the hours fly by because you're having a lot of fun and each time you die, you are just itching to start the run over again to learn from your mistakes and re-strategize for a possibly better outcome next time.

And now...for the (1) glaring CON:

- This game is pretty buggy, even for an Early Access game. I've put about 14 hours into this game so far and from the get go I started grinding my total kills to unlock the kill-centric achievements 'Baby's First Killing Spree' - 500, 'Blood Soaked' - 3,000 and 'Rip and Tear' - 10,000. I recently hit over 10,000 total kills and neither Blood Soaked or Rip and Tear unlocked for me. Upon browsing the Discussion board for bug reports, I found out that currently the only way to fix this achievement bug is to wipe your data and start over, then supposedly the achievements would unlock correctly. This is a massive bummer and a pretty big bug for players who care about achievements and their data. As a working adult, I don't have the time to grind in games like I used to so to have to grind over 10,000 kills again just for these achievements is not worth it especially when my previous time and effort went straight out the window.

- Another notable bug is the finickiness of picking up items/ammo in game, the button inputs are hardly responsive at all in most cases. You get chased throughout this game and need to be able to reliably run and scoop up resources with a single button press in one swift move. I've died so many times due to this bug which forces me to stop running to frantically button mash until the game registers my input - all while being smacked around by monsters.

- There are also smaller but still noticeable bugs regarding the Blessings/Curses and sometimes Exits can spawn in confusing places in the levels that seem impossible to find or reach just by looking at the mini-map.

^ This all may not seem like much but for the small scope of the game, these bugs significantly impact gameplay when they occur. BUT if you are willing to overlook the bugginess, Still Not Dead is a fresh and very fun take on the roguelite FPS with just the right amount of challenge to keep you coming back for more. And bugs can always be fixed. c;

Another great Indie game for the books!

Donuts'n'Justice is one of the best 2D arcade shmups I've ever played. Looking for a real challenge? This game is for you. Its standard difficulty is so hard that even though the game only has 6 short stages/bosses, it took me around 5-6 hours to beat it. Your reflexes will be tested constantly while playing this game and you will die....a lot. So much in fact that the game tips on each loading screen will encourage you to demote your difficulty down to "Thumbsucker" mode. There is also an even harder mode available within the settings but beware - I'm sure it can't be good for your blood pressure, lol. I'm convinced that the overall difficulty of this game was balanced a certain way to encourage co-op play, which is a big feature of this game. Vibrant, silly, action-packed and extremely fast-paced, the game is centered around two Super Cops in the 80s who are on a mission to eat donuts and kick ass. Fighting through droves of laser-wielding criminal gangs, gun-toting punks, katana-swinging ninjas, molotov-chucking thugs and even alien donuts, you start the game with a pretty useful sidearm (good firing speed and decent damage) + infinite ammo and the unlockable arsenal is generous considering the small scope of this game. It contains about 10 unique weapons, but you don't have each weapon on hand at all times - you must pick up boxes that are dropped by slain enemies in order to obtain a random weapon out of the 10. Picking up these boxes can either work in your favor or not, depending on what weapon you end up with since some are weaker/slower than others and some are situational at best. Some weapon examples include grenades, powerful pistols, shotguns, uzis, flamethrower, rocket launcher, sniper rifle, freeze gun, kitty gun, DNA swapping gun, etc. Slain enemies will also sometimes drop other pick-ups to turn the tide of battle such as bulletproof vests to protect you and magic mushrooms (tripping on these slows everything around you down so you can take a breather if you're getting swarmed). The controls are super simple and easy to use - arrow keys to move and the X/C keys to fire left and right. The sound design is high-energy, catchy and repetitive, but no matter how long you stay trying to pass a level, the music never gets annoying. Customization is also available after collecting enough wads of cash dropped by dead guys - you can purchase different kinds of fun hats to wear in game (some even have useful gameplay perks that activate when they are worn). Additionally, the pixel art and retro design for this game is gorgeous and performance is extremely smooth, I was very impressed upon finding out that this was a completely homemade indie game crafted with total love by just one dev. He nailed it all. In conclusion, Donuts'n'Justice is a highly enjoyable experience packed full of challenge and you genuinely feel rewarded upon beating it. Buy this game and support awesome indie devs!

A casual, short puzzle game with a beautifully crafted narrative.
As someone who grew up with an abusive parent, I took solace in playing this game.
Fun, cute and emotional at times, even the average person who has not experienced abuse by a parent in their life and cannot directly relate will appreciate the message this game conveys.
The soundtrack is beautiful as well.
Would definitely recommend.