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Upon first glance I didn't think much about this game and looked like a quick port from mobile to PC. Upon purchasing the game, playing with friends, and making an effort to understand the user interface better turns out this is a pretty decent game. Astroneer will either appeal to you or won't. It's not as dangerous or hard as other survive / craft builders, but leans a little more towards casual play. Nothing will kill ya except for heights and certain plants.

Astroneer's gameplay is actually quite rock solid for what it is. The reason (for me) is that the user interface was done extremely well. Rather than encumbering the player with a loaded inventory, everything is readily available upon a click or a drag. I found this part of the game absolutely unique and an integral part in the gameplay mechanics. Items feels quick to grab and it all feels natural. That being said, the rest of the game follows any other crafter or builder. The difference here is the player is only able to make complete components rather than sections. The player is able to place where these components go, connect them to power, and rotate them in any way the player would like. Research needs to be done by the player (or by a machine) in order to gain research points. Once enough research points are earned the player can use that to unlock further structures that can refine materials, unlock new carriable or craft able items, and new vehicle unlocks like a floating surfboard or VTOL.

Exploring is interesting. At first the world is a little much to take in as its completely open and not many markers appear. Like I said prior there isn't any heads-up or much to look for or indicate as the player plays. There is a useful index that the player can pull out (and use to unlock other components) in addition to the player being able to access the mission logs through the landing pad. This sort of gives the player a little direction in what to do or where to go. There are different biomes, planets, and moons. Of course, common materials are on every planet (amounts vary), but more specific rare refining materials will vary planet to planet. Although the planets themselves are randomly seeded, there is a consistency in the solar system with the amount of planets and moons. The player is allowed to travel between the planets, but travel wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. The player casually points to a planet they want to land on (hopefully ensuring they have enough materials packaged before they leave their current planet). There is no free flying of the sort, only vehicles on the planet.

The visuals and graphics are suitable to the games atmosphere. There is absolutely no user interface either than the UI directly used in gameplay. Sort of like Hydroneer, the player has to plan their moves with their limited inventory spots. Instead of pulling up a menu to store items, items are stored right from playing. For example, if there is an item on the ground the player wants to store, they can do that either by picking it up and placing it in their backpack or simply pressing another button (in addition to grab) to quickly store it. Energy and oxygen are both displayed on the back of the backpack. The worlds don't feel too barren, but there aren't any insane views that can be found in the game. The sounds and music were also well done. Players can pick up on their surroundings by listening to the different noises that the game makes. The music was soothing and pleasant to listen to. Didn't notice too much repetitive sounds, noises, or music that some games like to do. This domain overall was done well.

Overall, I would recommend this game on sale, but I would really do my homework on it to see if this is the type of game you'd want to play. The bit of automation that is available is pretty cool, the interplanetary travel is cool, but it is all surface level and limited. I was a little disappointed in how much the player was required to jump planet to planet to get one or two bars of something to craft/create. Mind you - it is nice that not a 1000 pieces of something is required to craft. It is more towards the casual side of crafting/building/colony types, but it still offers enough challenge especially as the planets become increasingly difficult. There are objects in the world that can hurt the player, but there is no creature or storm that will pose an immediate threat to the player. The worlds could've used some sort of creatures (in my opinion) just to fill in the space, or perhaps add another layer of gameplay to the game. It's a good game, just makes me feeling like there is something or a few things missing to take it to the next level. Really sucks the surfboard is unlocked later in the game along with the VTOL. Pretty much beat the game before I unlocked these two. Fun with friends, but some friends felt the game got too repetitive or boring too fast. It was around the 30 hour mark I was like, "OK, may go back to playing something else. I've figured out the formula".

Interesting challenge concept - moderate game delivery experience. Cliff Empire is a neat city building experience. How long will that neatness last will depend on the player. Will recommend purchasing this game on sale, but very carefully depending on what you're looking for.

Cliff Empire's gameplay is pretty solid and straight forward for a city building game. Camera controls are simple, intuitive, and provide the player the best view possible to build. This is quite important to the game as the player will soon be able to build not only on flat land, but on cliff edges and walls. The game provides a small tutorial to provide the player with the basics of the game. The tutorial is actually useful and provides further details if the player requires. After the tutorial it seems the brunt of the game begins, which is essentially challenge after challenge. I've started a few new games and it seems the challenges are a little randomized, and even come with a small cut-scene to introduce the potential problem. Some challenges include selling a certain amount of material, surviving droughts, surviving no wind conditions (meaning no turbine power), and some neat and not-so-neat challenges. The game's difficulty can be altered before starting a map, and another interesting note, players can actually delay certain tutorials and build up their city to better prepare for the challenges.

Upon choosing a difficulty and entering the game the player has the opportunity to choose the map. Map sizes are slightly random, but have default layouts in which the player can adjust or choose accordingly depending on the land shape they want. Once in the game the player starts an empire by placing a storage building. Buildings come in different sizes: some squares, some small rectangles, some larger rectangles, and some small squares. Basic building options include power (solar, wind, nuclear), nutrition (food, water, nutritional supplements), housing, entertainment, utility buildings (such as airports, transport, and maintenance), and a few others to choose from as the player completes challenges to gain medals. The obvious challenge here is to provide for citizens while being efficient with the amount of space available to build on.

The visuals and graphics are pretty good for what the game sets out to achieve. It sort of follows a dull grayscale colour scheme, but adds little hints of colours to keep the boring completely out. Animations are more or less all there, minor ones such as watching the drones drop items off or pick them up is not completely visible. They do land, but beyond that nothing else. Wind and other effects are apparent in addition to minor animations from buildings (whether its lights or some sort of motion or movement). The user interface I felt was well done and provides the player with quick and easy to access information. The sounds and music are quite chill. The narrators voice is suitable to the game's atmosphere, but can get a little annoying repeating the same things over and over again, especially when situations or events occur back to back. The music is really nice and doesn't annoy as much as the sounds do. This domain was addressed, but nothing over the top and nothing really missing.

Overall, I will recommend this game but with a caution. The first caution is buying this on sale, personally the sticker price I don't think its worth it. Second caution is the limited gameplay loop; some players will find a challenge in how Cliff Empire sets up its game while others may find it monotonous. I enjoyed the game for the time I played. I most likely will not be coming back as a regular, but can see myself popping in once in a while... maybe. This is why I caution 🙂.

It's always awesome when there is a game that comes out and challenges the status quo of the genre. Dungeons 3 offers an interesting twist on traditional player roles by allowing players to take on the role of the villain, presenting a fresh approach to the RTS genre. Although the concept was rock solid, I felt like the delivery was a little weak as the game progressed. Went from fresh and interesting to expecting more of the same. That, and sort of expected something similar to Buggos (an auto-battler) where roles were reversed.

Dungeons 3 gameplay follows a typical RTS style of mouse and keyboard control scheme. D3 is a sequel in which an ultimate evil becomes extremely board and sets out his sights to look for new lands to conquer. The player takes on this shadow role and takes over a main character in the story. That main character then becomes a hero for the player and is a main driver in the campaign's story. The twist here is that there are two maps: dungeon and above ground. The dungeon map (or portion of the game) is where the player uses peons to dig, harvest, collect, and build. The dungeon creation happens underground in which players can create areas to accommodate 3 different types of units: horde (orcs), demons, and undead. Each have their own requirements to come into existence, and their own respective "rooms" in the dungeons to rest. Beyond that, the player can create other rooms, like a workshop, to fabricate new materials used for other aspects of the game (such as creating traps in the dungeon), treasury rooms, harvesting room, and other specific rooms like a guard post.

The RTS part of the game is simple and straight forward. Nothing too crazy, different, or over the top in this realm. Players conjure an army by a hiring process and maintain that army with a steady flow of gold. The army is then sent to the entrance of the dungeon (by the player) and exit into daylight. The player can then manually control and select units above ground whereas in the dungeon it's a weird single-select-from-the-army-list menu. The player is then sent on missions or select quests to take down certain buildings, characters, or to take over an area. A neat feature is that the player is able to use special powers (upon unlocking them) above ground. Some powers include the ability to send a firestorm down and a boosting ability that powers up units. Beyond that there isn't much else that separates the game from other RTS genres. The computer will sometimes send waves of units to the player's dungeon to attack the core, but beyond that it doesn't go further to put the player into a role that is generally played out by the computer. Felt like this was really missed, and ultimately made another version of this game simply alright.

The visuals and graphics are appropriate to the games atmosphere. The graphics feel a little basic with some detail, shadow, and shaders, but again, do not get in the way of gameplay. In an odd sense the graphics do suit the games silly and light hearted humor. More or less all animations are included and do a decent job representing the action the characters are performing. Mining, attacking, casting spells, even some of the buildings have some decent animations. The sounds and music were alright. The dialogue might be the biggest selling point for some players. There is a quirky dialogue around two main characters, and the narrator does like to chime in with his own interactions and opinions. The game does a decent job in that realm, but felt like a little immersion was lost in the sound domain regarding unit and player interaction. The music is quite chill, calm, and relaxed most of the time which is a little ironic given what is going on in the game.

Overall, this is not a bad game for the fact its really trying something new. Problem I found was as I went further, the "something new" I was looking forward to wasn't quite delivered, or maybe delivered in the way I expected it to be. I really thought this would be more of the computer being on the defence and me, as the player, would send units to hound the computer. It's more of a base building type game, giving you space underground to build only then to send units above ground to be commanded. Definitely worth a look and purchase if on sale and if the interest is there. Again, it's a cool game but its shine wore off for me after a little while. Huge bonus to it including a multiplayer section to try and encourage players to play together. Again though, not too innovative as both players are still doing the same task as they would be doing solo. Hope communication isn't a problem! I'll recommend, but with a little asterisk attached. This is also a quite difficult game even on easy mode (skirmish), be warned!

I unfortunately haven't played Grounded, but rather jumped straight to this one. The online multiplayer aspect was alluring in addition to crafting, exploring, and building. Upon playing the game, there was much excitement that became diluted the further I got into it. It's a fun and neat game, but doesn't offer more than whatever else in this genre would contribute. Solid concept, average execution. Really made me mad when some of the key components of my base were disappearing (I'm guessing due to weather).

Smalland: Survive the Wilds (SStW) gameplay mimics similarly to the play and controls of Fortnite. Smalland's style seems to be following this very plain 3D design and controls with the last couple of years where some of these games more or less are a little mimics of themselves. Anyway, that's for another review. From what I gather the entire point of this game is to explore, survive, craft, build, combat, level up, and seek allegiances with certain factions by means of errands or favours. The game does a good job making the player feel small, especially when larger species of bugs or animals are around. The combat is okay; all basic dodge movements are there and a large part of it requires the player to recognize enemy movements. I did really appreciate them making an effort to vary attacks by adding a "hard hit" button. Be ready to either shoot from a distance and run, run around and hit, or dodge and hit.

Crafting is very simple and straight forward. This is where the Fortnite resemblance sort of hit me, but that feature doesn't take away how nice and easy it is to build and deconstruct. It can be tricky at times trying to build anywhere as the foundation placements (to build an actual place on top) are sometimes weird to place or stack, making some treehouses impossible to make. There is loads to do in the crafting menu here. Some buildings that are available are the tannery, apothecary, fire, workbench, stone workbench, cauldron, and a few others that vary the crafting options. Traps to tame new companions (some of which can be ridden on) can also be made at these stations which quickly improves the ability to traverse (or fly) around the map. Different areas provide different resources, sort of like biomes. With that comes new dangers.

The graphics and visuals, again, remind me of the Fortnite scheme. The simplicity of the graphics is nice and does suit the game's atmosphere. Animations are generally on point and everything seems to have some sort of movement, graphic change, or potentially something interacting with it. Companions do pick up fallen parts of enemies to heal, but the animation is them sort of bumping in their spot mimicking an eating motion. Same with the attacking animations. They're nice and give the player indication of what's going on, but there are weird hit boxes where the enemy still somehow makes contact with the character. The environment was well designed and feels busy enough that there isn't really a barren area not worth exploring. The sounds and music were also well done. Players can quickly pick up on buzzing (or stomping), indicating some sort of alert for incoming doom. Most (if not all) objects in the game have some sort of sound associated with them, sometimes without requiring an interaction, only an observation from a distance.

Overall, the game is okay. It's fun with friends at first and then just sort of wears off. The hand holding is a little minimal and sort of confusing. I believe I've beat most of the missions and bugs on the map, however after Nok it doesn't seem like there is anything else to do. It's fun to craft, it's fun to build, it's fun to capture new companions to ride, it's nice to explore, but after you've seen it and done it there is not much else pulling the player into the game. I did like the size of the map and even with a companion things felt far, but close enough without a daunting voyage. This is why I'm not recommending it unless it's on sale and it's something that really appeals to the reader. I do have to give credit as the game was fun and felt unexpectedly intuitive in moments.

The thought of running a gas station is quite cool, but when you start sweeping a virtual floor one becomes concerned about how they're using their time. Decent game with decent features that include a few game-breaking bugs that halt progress. Luckily, there is a button to fix that... even when it happens more than expected.

Gas Station Simulator's (GSS) gameplay follows the player in inheriting and managing a gas station. The story is that the player quickly learns about a mysterious uncle and the dangers of operating a gas station in the middle of a desert (notably from other people or characters). Eventually, the player learns that they have to payback their uncle while doing their best to promote the gas station to make money. The player is allowed to roam the area in and around the gas station freely as customers pull up. The game is a game, but separated into mini-games. Cashiering, filling up gas, cleaning the station, painting the building, washing cars, fending off a graffiti artist (aka Denis), and fixing cars are most of the mini-games in GSS. These tasks can become mundane as the player first starts the game as making money can be a bit of a grind without help. The mini-games are okay, and can sometimes be a little boring and repetitive.

There is a little computer screen players interact with by the cashier stand. This interface allows the player to make many changes around the gas station, such as upgrading it, adding more parking, purchasing more shelves, purchasing more supplies (food, cigarettes, alcohol, soft drinks, ice-cream, car items, etc....), adding more trailers for employees, hiring and managing employee schedules, and other event like triggers. The biggest addition is having the ability to hire staff to take care of the gas station. This is huge when the player is able to hire someone as some of the more annoying tasks can be assigned to the employees. At this point in the game the player generally has enough cash to flex a little muscle and add more to their gas station. As the player progresses, new products become available for purchase such as more snacks, items, shelves (varying types), garage items for cars, car wash upgrades, and even landmark placements. The game does a pretty good job in including all the assumed roles that a gas station in the middle of nowhere would have circa 1970s. Players can upgrade some areas around the gas station to access mini-games. Some mini-games include RC car racing and a basketball hoop.

The visuals and graphics are okay. There is nothing extremely notable or worth mentioning either than very basic animations are included in the game. NPCs sometimes glide walk randomly and don't actively grab products off shelves (rather, they simply reach to represent something was taken). The biggest issue is that they always somehow mess up their driving paths. Even if the player uses the backhoe to clear any debris or sand in the way, somehow, eventually, always, the NPCs drive into one another and the player after a few minutes is left wondering what happened to all the customers. There is a fix where the player can press a button then an alien scoops everyone up - but the fact that this has to exist is a little ridiculous. The sounds and music are decent. The music certainly lives up to the gas station rock'n'roll vibe, however the sounds are barely present. Ultimately, the game missed its opportunity to further immerse the player into the experience. To be clear, this part of the game wasn't done so well.

Overall, the game is alright if you're extremely bored. However, I wouldn't recommend a purchase unless you're seriously interested, and that its on sale. It's cool upgrading the gas station, having access to new materials, stocking shelves and what not, but at some point I feel like I should probably go clean up around my own house, stock my own dishes properly, and probably sweep my own floor. Cool that this game exists, shame it doesn't deliver a solid experience. The campaign/story is at least interesting, but then when cars start constantly glitching it becomes annoying. There is a freaking in-game bug fix button to unstuck the cars lol. It's good - and - bad, mostly bad because its there.

I feel as though this was one of this hidden gems on Steam that was a little different from the rest. Valheim is a solid single or co-op game experience in which players acquire resources to build and unlock other blueprints or items. For those seeking an open-world game where crafting is possible anywhere, along with progressive difficulty, this might be worth a second look!

Valheim's gameplay is solid. The premise is the player's customized/created character is dropped in by a giant bird somewhere on the map (the middle, always). The maps are randomly seeded and are varied game to game, depending on the seed. The map itself contains different zones that the player explores. The further out from the Meadows the player goes from, the harder the enemies. Biomes will also have "caves" or "dungeons" that the player can explore to gather resources further needed to expand their base. Some of these dungeons are decently difficult and can cause the player a headache, especially if they die in them. Players are able to pick up their items from their fallen body (and thanks to the map for marking it), but they will respawn with absolutely nothing and must go back to that location to get their items back. Again, each area that the player visits will offer different challenges, whether its the enemies or traversing the biome itself. In addition to challenges new resources are available and can be harvested with the right tools. Sometimes, a raft is needed to get to other distant lands; they can be crafted by the player.

The combat in the game was done well, but I feel it could've been better. There were a few missed opportunities (such as heavy hits or alternative dodging maneuvers) that could've taken the game to the next level, or at least some sort of alternate attacks. Same with dodging; it's included in the game with only one variation of how it works. Blocking, same idea - one action for them all. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but again feels a little limiting. I'm glad to say that the ability has been at least included, but a lot more could've been done in this realm to further immerse the player into the game, rather than move/attack/move/attack/dodge/attack/move etc... Blocking does mix that formula up a little, but would've been another reason to get the game. Combat is a little bland, but can be fun throughout different moments. The variation in enemies is certainly welcomed (randomly found a troll exploring levels), but dealing with them can sometimes be a bit of a headache. There are some areas that contain spawn points in which the player needs to destroy in order to control the amount of enemies. Wait too long and good luck taking that zone out.

The visuals and graphics were done well. They're not exactly fine or high detailed graphics, and some pixel/voxel animations seem to show up, but some parts of the levels are visually appealing. (especially from a distance). The balance between performance and visuals were well done to the point where particle effects don't necessarily slow or lag the game. There was a recent update where everything is a little smoother and particle affects have a little more sparkle to them. Zooming in closer to characters and such players will notice some Play Station 1/2 polygon graphics. The good news is - is that it doesn't impede on the gameplay or atmosphere. The sounds and music were well done, although a little more is left to be desired. The music certainly ramps up when the player nears danger and changes quite well according to whatever the player is doing. Soundtrack was pleasant to listen to and didn't feel at any point that any particular song was a nuisance. The sounds themselves were moderately well done. I feel as though this realm could've been done a little better. The monsters in the game make appropriate sounds, but it's nothing where it makes the player feel like they should be booking it away from that area.

Overall, pretty decent game. There is a LOT to explore, there is lots of room to build, and there certainly is no shortages of enemies or things to discover. Some nuances in the game can become annoying to players such as enemies spawning constantly, enemies spawning too quickly while trying to take down a spawn point, lack of specific save states (the "oh crap big enemy save now in case I die" doesn't work), and generally how the game works. The game's rating significantly rises when there are more players contributing and playing at the same time, this is where Valheim certainly shines. Players will have to eat throughout the game and food does give a bonus to characters. Farming and other sort of ventures are available later in the game as the player discovers new material. Would highly recommend a purchase on sale and for friends who enjoy crafting, exploring, and some minor combat in games.

This one is certainly a doozy to review. Game's execution was done well, however there might be a crowd that doesn't like how this one played out. Hydroneer isn't for the faint hearted or lazy. In a weird way (in regards to time) every move that the player makes requires careful planning. If you're the type that likes to run back and forth between boxes this may not be the one for you. If you're looking for something that's heavier on the realistic side of crafting (in regards to carrying materials) - this might be for you! Players should be warned that the tutorial is very quick and sweet, and the game does not like holding the players hand for any reason. This game's physics is one of its biggest talking points - both good and bad.

Hydroneer's gameplay follows a creative and crafting scheme in which players use water in creative ways. Players find ways to most efficiently collect resources by digging them up from the ground in order to sell them, turn a profit, and further create more complex creations. There is automation in the game that can streamline processes for the player. Belts, melters, crushers, and a whole bunch of options are available for the player to use. The process of putting it all together is what poses the challenge, especially when each part essentially requires water to function (including conveyer belts)! The BIGGEST gameplay difference in Hydroneer (which I haven't really seen in any other game) is the fact the player's character can only hold ONE item at a time. Yes, that's right, the player can only hold one item at a time. That means every item that is harvested requires to be picked up one by one, by hand. That also means if the player misplaces a bucket or dumps ore incorrectly over an oven that these items also have to be picked up one by one. In essence, this system is beautiful as it is ugly. This is what separates this game from a lot of other crafting type games that provide inventory. Every move is calculated as forgetting something (such as a cart) may absolutely drive the player crazy. Even when something is bought the money and item cannot be carried at the same time. I loved this aspect of the game because it reminded me of working trades: don't make more trips than you need to. Same idea applies here and again, as much as players may hate this concept, it certainly a breath of fresh air because it requires the player to stay attentive and engaged at all times instead of mindlessly being able to quickly recover thanks to extra storage space. Building is very easy to do. What could potentially drive players crazy is accidently picking up the furniture/tools rather than the ore or produced materials. Luckily, it's easy to put the furniture/tool back in place. The village provides a decent amount of shops to check out and an easy to navigate village. Vehicles are available to the player to make transporting supplies easier. The player will have to manually load, one piece by one piece, even with vehicles. Vehicles do make life A LOT easier in Hydroneer!

The visuals and graphics are well suited to the environment. The graphics resemble Fortnight, but have a little smoother details and rounded graphics. All basic and required animations are included and visible. Machines move about and the player can view materials going through machines, across conveyers, or into crushers. The output on some of the machines are quite funny as they launch out from the other side, and the player has to be ready with a bucket on the other side to catch the material. The terrain graphics are again smooth and don't have too many details, but in no way interfere with the game. Village ambiance and atmosphere was well designed and there is a day and night cycle included. The sounds and music are mostly laid back and relaxed. There isn't anything over the top regarding the music scene and although it does suit the game well, don't expect any headbanging. A lot of sounds have been included and enhance the experience of play. Everything the player interacts with will make some sort of noise and informs the player with the sound that an action is completed. Both domains were done well, but I feel like a little more could've been added to further immerse the player into the game. Some missed potential here as a little more could've been done with atmospheric sounds. The village is nice to explore and look around, a little more noise would've made it a little livelier. NPC walking around doing their thing sort of helps.

Overall, I liked the game but I can see a lot of people being like "what the flipping flippers fridge firetruck fork fart did I just buy?". My immediate reaction was a little shock when I learned the character can only carry one thing at a time, but after learning the game a bit, planning my moves better, and discovering a little more useful tools around the map I was hooked. The game (and should say Dev) takes pride in not having to hand hold the player. Beyond the tutorial there isn't much help offered in the game, prompting the player to explore for themselves and discover what is possible. So, this is a difficult one to review. It has local split screen and has multiplayer online coop if one player uses Steam's Remote Play feature. Highly suggest players do their homework before purchasing, but would certainly recommend a purchase on sale. HUGE WARNING THOUGH - even to myself - the logic system has minimal instructions and can be very difficult to work with, unless you're good at basic programming.

I'll recommend this one, but with caution. In short it is a fun third person PvE game with loads of chaos with limited replay-ability depending on whose playing.

HELLDIVERS 2 (H2) gameplay follows players first starting in their respective ship. Many options are available here from upgrades, unlock trees, loadout, and mission selection. Missions are available based on the amount of players currently active. Some missions may be available depending on differing difficulty levels. The main scheme of H2 is taking territory from enemy species. As players across the world participate in these missions, slowly overall progress is made for everyone. Not everyone gets credit - participation is important! Players can choose from fighting bugs to robots, again, with differing difficulty levels. Robots require a different loadout (and bullet type) to properly eliminate. Bugs are generally recommended for starting players. The combat in the game is good and there is a lot of environmental impact to keep the player on their toes. Dodging becomes an important trait paired with getting whatever shots off running away from enemies, sometimes in all directions. Players are equipped with special equipment that can call in for heavy reinforcement. This reinforcement will depend on what the player would like to unlock with their tokens earned through playing the game. In addition to being able to unlock new abilities, playing the game also counts for experience in leveling the player up to further unlock armour, grenade, and visual upgrades. The gameplay is certainly immersive and levels and enemies feel challenging enough to keep their players consistently scanning their surroundings.

The visuals and graphics were well done. Some levels can mesh a little in how they look, but overall impact to sort of worry or scare the player is always there. It's always a little gloomy, there might be a heavy wind storm rolling in, sometimes enemies are difficult to see, and holding off enemies while armament is falling from the sky. It's an intense scene when all players are at full capacity and everyone's special abilities are going off. Just watch out for friendly fire because it can happen often. The sounds and music also contribute to the ambience. Players will know quickly to pull the left trigger (or aim button) in anticipation something might be jumping at them. The dialogue is goofy and certainly plays up a sarcastic role in being an ever-loyal soldier. Combine all these domains in one and there is a solid gameplay experience. Players go around at their will and explore the map as much as they please. The user interface and maps were well made and make it easy for players to navigate to complete missions or explore additional objectives.

So why the weak recommended rating? This game is fun, but not endlessly fun. Between playing the game solo and online with friends provided entertainment for periods of time, however we found ourselves going back to other games after one or two games of H2. It delivers a solid gameplay experience, but it feels like a third person shooter with more or less the same action endlessly. Some players may like challenges different foes bring, some may find the gameplay loop a little too repetitive. The cooperative aspect of global players working together to beat a foe and claim territory was a cool concept, though sometimes can feel irrelevant. I received this game from a good friend - I don't think I'd own H2 otherwise.

After playing Planet Crafter I had a thirst to try some more crafting and exploring type games. Subnautica has had an amazing rating for a long time, however I ignored it for a long time thinking it was another diving type simulator game. My friend group was looking for a new cooperative to play together and somehow ended up playing this one. For a water exploration type game, I have to admit, it is pretty good.

Subnautica's gameplay is pretty solid and straight forward. The goal of the game is to survive and build enough to escape the prominently water based planet. The controls are also simple and straight forward, including all necessary movements to provide the player with maximum control. Basic controls like jumping, sprinting, interaction, and movements are included. The ability to swim and the ability to dive into the water is a pretty cool feature, and is only the start of what is in the game. As good as a swimming/diving game can get Subnautica did a good job representing that. Building in the game is simple and straight forward, and can be compared to Fallout 4's building scheme (or Raft, or Planet Crafter, etc...). The ability to rotate buildings or placing them is easy, some buildings will require a little more attention, strategy, or research to know how to properly use and place them. Building a suitable base is a bit of a challenge since most of it is designed to be underwater. The player can build up to a certain depth before the water pressure begins to close in on the structure. Again, building is relatively easy, but finding a suitable spot in addition to ensuring leaks don't occur as the base grows is an interesting challenge in itself.

Some of the basic structures include hallways, T and X hallways, glass hallways, curved glass hallways, and other structures are available upon unlocking parts found around the (sea) world. As the player explores the vast deep sea they will find parts that they are required to scan in order to acquire the blue prints. Some cool building structures include multipurpose rooms (which can house different machinery), scanner room, and something called a moonbase (which allows the player to park and charge their Seamoth - doesn't repair it for whatever reason). Materials are found all over the map, however there is generally a pattern to what the player can find. Most copper, silver, and titanium ore can be found from 0-100m depth. 100m-200m seems to house other materials depending on their biome like lead, lithium, diamond, and gold. The deeper depth sometimes have a mix of the previous two, but generally hold much more rare materials. There are different biomes within the game that host different challenges and resources. Some biomes are friendly and laid back while others are a little hostile. Some areas are extremely hostile and may have the player drop something in their pants if they're playing late at night by themselves. The dev did a solid job creating a fine balance between a mysterious and a beautiful environment.

The visuals and graphics were well done. The way the sea looks (especially while treading above water) is phenomenal. Paired with the visual of the day and night cycle makes the whole experience awesome. The water impact against structures at sea level are okay. The impact of the water itself goes up and down, but the faint splashing/mist effect after water comes into collision with something isn't quite there. Even though that particular detail is missing I have to admit even on the low graphical setting the game still looks pretty good. Every environment feels lively and as if though there is something (or maybe someone) there and going from biome to biome is made obvious not only through the environment, but the shaders and lighting. Character designs are minimal but do not in any way impede on the game. A huge addition in the visuals department is the use of beacons and being able to turn on or off any point of interest. User interface was also really well done with indicators right at the player's turn of an eye. The sounds and music were also well done. The sounds are absolutely necessary to keeping the player aware in their environment (in case they hear something odd). All required sounds are there from mining minerals to moving about in the water. The music was also really well done. Well suited to the game, to the biomes, to the atmosphere, it creates a solid mood, and most importantly it's enjoyable to listen to.

Overall, this is a pretty rock solid game whether you're into exploration and crafting type games or not. It has a bit of a learning curve at first, but once the player familiarizes themselves with the flow of the game everything becomes within reach. One small gripe I have is a lack of map (which is most likely due to almost always having one). There is something like that in the game called a scanner room, but a map would certainly help the player navigate biomes better. There is at least a compass that is available in the game. Playing this game alone can be pretty fun compared to other cooperatives. Nonetheless the cooperative feature is greatly appreciated as it adds another layer of fun into the game. Would certainly recommend purchasing the game on sale and even if its not, I'd highly suggest taking a really good look at it. For those wondering the map remains consistent and does not change every new go.

Enderwake is a roguelike 2D mini-camp to castle defender and builder type game. Very simple premise with a decent game loop. The gameplay is very simple: keep the fire alive to keep the colony alive. If the fire dies out (due to a lack of wood) then the game ends. The challenge here is to gather resources while being bombarded by an army of skeleton figures attempting to overtake the camp. There is a day and night cycle in which the player has to be aware of. A wolf sound will indicate an impending charge towards the camp from the skeleton army. The further villagers travel away from the fire during the night will also result them in acquiring fear, rendering them sort of useless (or scared) to do any errands. The player is given two characters to manage at the start and can grow the colony given circumstances in addition to acquisition of resources. The three resources are wood, stone, and food. The controls are all done by the mouse.

The graphics and visuals are suitable to the game's atmosphere. The graphics are somewhat simple and use pixel related graphics. That doesn't take away from the animations and the atmosphere the visuals create. I personally liked the water overlay and how it accentuates the day and night cycle. The user interface was also well done and makes commanding the villagers a lot easier (instead of having to move the camera so much). The sounds and music are okay. All required and included sounds are there while a better job was done on the music. Again, the tunes create a nice and relaxing atmosphere depending on what is going on in the game.

Overall, I would recommend this game if this is something that interests the viewer/player. The roguelike approach was an interesting one, being stuck to one base instead of travelling around like Regions of Ruin. There are little cool features such as a live scoreboard for who has the best score currently running in the game. This is not something I would regularly play, but it was a nice break between other games. Thank you to the Dev for the free copy of the game!