Recent reviews by Charles Nonsens

Up until the summer of 2023, Klei’s Don’t Starve had been glaring menacingly at me from my library for five years. I had been intimidated by the combination of crafting, procedurally generated worlds, and assured & permanent death, none of which are really up my alley. (Especially assured & permanent death - I’m not a fan.) But as with Mark of the Ninja, Klei has taken a concept that might sound only mildly appealing and perfected the gameplay to create a really rewarding experience. Your character wakes up in a strange land with nothing but the shirt on his back (figuratively, that is, since he is also wearing pants) and needs to start collecting food and resources to survive as many days as possible. The first craftable items are easy to make - an axe to cut down trees, for example, requires two easily found resource items: a stick and a piece of flint - whereas others requires more or rarer resources, so you start exploring to find them. You need to keep an eye on three wellness meters: hunger, health, and sanity, and not let them go too low. If this sounds a bit boring, I hear you. I’m not sure I can capture in words how fun it is to attempt to extend my last living days by one or two. Sorry, I had ChatGPT write this review three times, and it only got worse so I had to write it myself. It’s an enthusiastic recommendation from me, just be aware it will probably ruin other survival games for you.

Best way to get stabbed, blown up in a vehicle explosion, eviscerated by a grenade, or shot in the face. While wearing a Big Bird outfit.

This is number one game for people who like many DLC!!!!1!

Thought I would love this game. I expected to be challenged to design creative yet rigorous solutions to design problems somewhat gamey, but still rooted in reality. Turns out that with its arbitrary constrictions - with respect to design elements, budget, and physical requirements - the game is looking for cartoon bridges. Thumbs down from me

Wonderful big little platformer that provides a new take on the old platformer trope. I'm not typically into retro pixel graphics only for the style of it, but Fez's geometry is intimately tied to its gameplay. Great game, like Nebulus with a college degree.