Recent reviews by rich_27

It's a really cool idea; unfortunately it's really poorly implemented, with UX that looks worse than I'd use for a mockup (funny how it's avoided in all of the screenshots). The bit that killed it for me though was not being able to move blocks to the right place because of poor piece movement controls. Such a shame

A fantastic little game. Please make the full version!

I really wanted to love Carto. It has such a gorgeous art style and the story is charming and wholesome. I loved the first half, and would have had nothing but glowing words for it if it has continued to the same standard. Overall, it's a very enjoyable game, but it feels dashed off towards the end. The quality of both the puzzles and writing declines as you go through the game. In contrast to the first half - which really shines with making the way forward intuitive and nicely flowing - the latter half has a few times where the ability to progress is gated behind a conversation that the game doesn't give the player any indication is the likely next step. The return to the island, especially, has one where you have to go to leave the island before you're allowed to complete the cartography puzzle, very strange.

The big negative for me though is the hidden achievements, some of which require you to play through a significant chunk of the game again just to trigger a tiny interaction. That kind of this is really annoying, especially with a story based game like this that has almost no replayability; not that it should, just realise that your players will not want to sit through the same unskippable conversations again. It really soured an otherwise excellent game for me.

@Flustered_Custard, @dannydannydanny, @Vorosia, @Tony_KrXe, @vratchtwagen17, @CptCuddles, get in on this!

There was a decent storyline and some interesting elements to There Is No Game, but probably only two or three of the six chapters were actually enjoyable for me. The difficulty in creating a game (uhh, uhh, I mean not game) made up of a number of small, intentionally crappy games voiced over with occasionally biting commentary is that you end up forcing the user to play through exactly the experiences you are mocking.

In general, however, the concept is quite clever and the writing is pretty good. Whilst I found the comedy often a little on the nose, there were some genuinely funny moments. The voice acting of the lead character is very good, and I found kept me from quitting during a couple of times that were a bit more of a slog.

If you're interested in experiencing the good parts of this title, power through the first three chapters; if your experience is similar to mine, you'll need some sticking power to make it, especially chapter three. I'd also suggest playing the original flash game this was an expansion of. Without having done so, I found quite a few elements to be complete non-sequiturs, which make a lot more sense having now played it.

I think overall the game doesn't really know what it is, bouncing between occasionally scathing social commentary and a surprisingly deep and genuine story, with a few buzzword references thrown in. It would have been nice to see a little more tying it all together, along with a bit more of a focus on how to keep the gameplay fun for the user whilst exploring the very unfun tropes it showcases. Still, it's far from the worst game I've bought for £5.

It's a lovely, well crafted game with a beautiful aesthetic. The story is compelling, and it does a great job of setting a mood and a tone, but leaving the final interpretation very much in the hands of the player. The sound design is phenomenal; really atmospheric and hauntingly beautiful. I liked the story a lot, but I think ideally I'd have liked it to push just a little deeper. I think I'd have liked to have seen a hard choice for the player at some point, that coloured the narrative with two very different feels, even if the end result and the gameplay was the same. This is absolutely outstanding compared to the a lot of games I've played, but for me doesn't quite make it to the same level as some of my favourite games (FEZ for instance). 8/10