October2021

May2021

  • Review Before I Forget - A Poignant Portrayal Of Dementia

    Full of colour and emotion

    It's not often that a game with a high profile tackles a particularly difficult and emotive illness, though when they get it right they're rightly lauded for bringing these topics into the gaming medium. Before I Forget earned attention and headlines - with some notable award nominations - for its portrayal of dementia,...

February2021

October2020

August2020

July2019

February2019

September2018

  • Review Hover - The Closest You'll Get To Jet Set Radio On Switch

    Jet, Set, go!

    It’s telling that French indie studios Fusty Game and Midgard dropped the Revolt of Gamers subtitle for Hover. For all its attempts at coolness and swaggery, nothing screams ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ like the use of the word ‘gamer’. It’s a term this game uses a lot in its story to denote a team of young rebels hoping...

May2018

  • Review White Night (Switch eShop)

    Are you afraid of the dark?

    The year is 1938; the economic tsunami that is the Great Depression is sweeping over America and late one night a man finds himself driving home from a local bar, located on the outskirts of Boston. As he crosses over a bridge at a steady pace in his automobile, a ghostly silhouette of a girl walks out, leaving the man...

April2018

  • Review BAFL - Brakes Are For Losers (Switch eShop)

    "You ain’t outta control, you ain’t in control"

    Picture the nightmarish scenes on a race track if the cars didn’t have brakes. Chaos would most certainly ensue. This is the basis of the Switch eShop title, Brakes Are For Losers. It’s a classic top-down arcade racer for up to eight people featuring cars that obviously don’t have any brakes...

  • Review Burly Men at Sea (Switch eShop)

    Tales don’t tell themselves

    Burly Men at Sea wants to tell you a story. Well, actually, it wants you to tell its story, guiding three sea-faring brothers as they sail the sea in search of adventures worthy of the telling. You’ll encounter all sorts of weird and wonderful characters as your turn its virtual pages, plotting points on a...

  • Review Bombslinger (Switch eShop)

    Bombing the Wild West

    We were big fans of Super Bomberman R upon the launch of Nintendo Switch. Its continued focus on multiplayer brought players together to enjoy a franchise that had laid dormant on Nintendo hardware for nearly ten years. However, its single-player campaign that left a little bit to be desired, and it’s here where developer...

  • Review Super Rocket Shootout (Switch eShop)

    Oh no no no, I'm a rocket man… with a shotgun.

    Nintendo Switch certainly isn't lacking when it comes to multiplayer-focused games. It's already becoming a bit of a hassle to distinguish between great party games and cheap cash-ins trying to ride Switch's popularity wave. So which category does Super Rocket Shootout land in? Strap on your...

March2018

  • Review Steredenn: Binary Stars (Switch eShop)

    My god, it's full of stars!

    In October of 2015, a French studio called Pixelnest released a space shooter arcade game called Steredenn, which blended classic shmup action with roguelike elements. The final product received high praise across the board, but Pixelnest wasn’t content to simply stop there. Over the last year, the studio has been...

February2018

  • Review A Normal Lost Phone (Switch eShop)

    No signal

    There’s something to be said about the power of telling a story through the environment, utilising details and objects to portray a simple narrative in a more tactile way than simple text or dialogue. What would it be like, then, if this kind of storytelling was attempted in a digital environment? Using pictures and smartphone apps to...

December2017

  • Review The Next Penelope (Switch eShop)

    Hit or myth?

    One of the most famous Greek myths of all time might not seem like an ideal starting point for an intense, top-down combat racer, but the setup for The Next Penelope feels perfect. You assume the role of the titular heroine, wife of the long-absent Odysseus who is famed for her undying loyalty despite the advances of many persistent...

  • Review Transcripted (Switch eShop)

    Fusing genres

    Transcripted, developed by Alkemi, is a new take on two well established game types: the twin stick shooter and the match three puzzle game. Both have seen much popularity recently amongst indie game developers. However, Transcripted has managed to take these elements and blend them together into a thoroughly enjoyable experience...

November2017

  • Review Splasher (Switch eShop)

    Stay fresh!

    There’s no shortage of platformers on the Switch eShop nowadays, but that certainly hasn’t done anything to deter Splasher from carving out its own niche in the library. Created by some staff that worked on the likes Rayman Legends and Rayman Origins, Splasher works as a brilliant callback to that style of twitch platforming while...

October2017

  • Review Yono And The Celestial Elephants (Switch eShop)

    An Elephant's Solstice

    Yono and the Celestial Elephants is an intriguing game from a design standpoint. While it looks the part of an educational cartoon meant for toddlers, within it hides a tale with a deep context meant for adults. The action feels like it belongs somewhere in-between these conflicting ideals. But does it work as a whole? Yono...

  • Review Pankapu (Switch eShop)

    Dream on

    If you could only pick one genre that Nintendo systems have nailed down during their history, it would probably be the platformer. With the hat flinging, overall wearing mascot going on his own three dimensional odyssey at the end of this month, the Nintendo Switch has had a slew of top drawer 2D side scrollers to keep fans jumping for joy,...

September2017

  • Review NeuroVoider (Switch eShop)

    Bye, robot

    For all the genre tags liberally flung at the influx of indie games over the last few years, it could be assumed that a select few terms might have become faux pas, or even derogatory. Despite splintering off into many branches of sub category since its inception, uttering words like 'roguelike' or 'permadeath' can immediately engage as...