Recent reviews by Shmitz

Pros:
- Deck Builder! There are lots of really great combinations and strategies available for deck composition.
- Tower Defense! There're also a lot of interesting and unique towers and abilities beyond the basics of what you'd expect in a TD.
- Roguelike! This one excites me less, but it works really well with the deck building.
- Absolutely amazing final boss music. Seriously, I sometimes do a run just so I can listen to it at the end.

Cons:
- Tower upgrade mechanic is limiting. For the most part, killzones are necessary. If you try to space out your towers to accommodate faster moving enemies, big clumps of enemies, or evasive enemies, you will be very sad when some of those towers vanish because you upgraded something.
- No initial deck customization options. I don't even know if there are any because I haven't quite hit max level yet and seen what happens. I'd really like to try certain card combos as a starter deck but there's nothing for that, you just have to keep leveling up and hope there's an existing deck like it. Which brings me to:
- Pretty grindy. I really like this game but even I'm having trouble sometimes finding something interesting and new to try just so I can get enough experience to open up new options. If the first few decks don't grab you, you're probably going to get bored and uninstall.

Overall, for me the pros far outweigh the cons. Deck builders and tower defense are two of my favorite types of games and it's weird I don't see them combined like this more often.

There's a lot I would normally love about this game, but the way it handles power generation and infrastructure is a deal breaker for me. Too many things you won't learn until later in the game that you need to know sooner or you'll build your base in a way that becomes unfixable.

If you like games, you should play this game. If you have played games for a long time, you should definitely play this game. If you are a game developer you should definitely *definitely* play this game. If you are a game publisher you should play this game and then send these guys some work.

Not only is this game hilarious, but many of the puzzles have solutions that subvert tropes and expectations in the most wonderful ways.

It's a fun game, so it gets a thumbs up. However, I'd like to manage some expectations.

Playing it, it's hard not to draw comparisons to The Witness, but this is not that. The presentation is more straightforward and compartmentalized, and there's little in the way of the puzzles and solutions impacting the environment you find them in. This is fine, because I think this is more meant to be the sort of thing you play casually, one puzzle at a time.

If I had any real complaint, it's that the "advanced" puzzles in any given area don't make me feel clever for solving them. They're just larger, rather than more sophisticated, so it ends up feeling more like I've just moved a pile of sand one grain at a time.

I really wish I could say this was a great game. A great game is *there*, so I have to give it a thumbs up, but... it's trapped behind the bars of poor UX/UI decisions and competing gameplay loops that never sync together. And it definitely never gets enough enrichment.

If you're reading this while trying to decide whether to get the game, I'd say give it half a year and see if there've been any QoL updates.

Edit: The developers are aware of the need for a manual save (or at least a "skip to the end of the day" option), so hopefully the problems that arise from that will be resolved sometime soon.

This is a good game, but it would be easy to go in with the wrong expectations. The majority of platformers are aimed at an audience that wants some sort of challenge, whether that be technical execution or puzzle solving or what have you. This is not one of those games.

GRIS's visuals are gorgeous. The music is evocative. After finishing it, I think I can say it is meant to be an emotional experience. As such, instead of being filled with obstacles and opponents, it's filled with long corridors and other linear segments that focus on the atmosphere and mood.

The story is vague, so it doesn't offer much of a hook either, but at least it is clear that there is strife and the stakes are significant.

This game wasn't really what I personally want from a platformer (when I reached a point where I said "hey this is finally getting interesting!" I then found out it was basically the final area), but I think it's a good game for the right audience. I know this might seem like a slightly negative review, but as I said at the start, I think it's important for people to play this knowing what to expect.

This game is my happy place. It's nonstressful, casual play, but keeps me interested with environments to explore and slimes to mix together and manage.

And sometimes I just fire it up and let it sit at the loading screen so I can listen to the happy music and the happy slimes cooing.

In the best way possible, Snakebird does not pull its punches.

Snakebird has one tutorial level. It does teach you how to play the game, but that's not its main purpose. Its main purpose is to grab you by both shoulders, stare you in the eyes, and say, firmly, "You are going to have to rewire your brain."

I am continually flabbergasted that a game this intelligent is only seven bucks.

Every moment of delight that I have experienced with this game is overshadowed by how terrible the Neuron boss fight is. I *think* it's about halfway through the game. It is the most mechanically broken (but working as intended) boss I've ever encountered. It has single handedly broken any desire I had to try to continue and experience the rest of the game. I am now sad that I spent money on this game.

I really can't remember the last time I played a puzzle game that so perfectly married its mechanics with its narrative.