Minicraft Plus - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Minicraft Plus is a 2D survival crafting game updated and maintained by the community after Notch released his original version of Minicraft to the public. As such, it has a lot of Minecraft's features, but also some noticeable differences. You can find my initial thoughts on the game at 2:03:30 in the video above.

Gems of War - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Gems of War is a Match 3+ puzzle RPG game with collectible cards, quests and more. Build a team and battle through PvE content or match up against other players' defenses. While available on Steam, XBone and PS4, this is a mobile port and the game is really more suited to casual mobile play. You can find my thoughts on the game at 3:05:42 in the above video.

The Secrets of Dyrt - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

The Secrets of Dyrt is an RPG about an unlikely group of characters escaping a dungeon, with playable backstories explaining how they all ended up there. You can find my initial thoughts on the game at 2:16:18 in the above video.

Worlds Adrift - Prepare to Be Bored, Dead! - MMOMG

I began writing up this post by detailing my short time in Worlds Adrift back in early July. I fully intended to drop a laundry list of complaints I had with the game, complete with links to forum threads showing how many others were aggravated by the same things. Upon browsing the Worlds Adrift site and forums, I realized that its developer (Bossa Studios) recently addressed a number of issues I had... though others have cropped up in the meantime and some of the larger problems still exist. As usual, I'm getting ahead of myself again - let's get the basics out of the way first!

Marie's Room - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Marie's Room is an excellently written story-driven point-and-click adventure. You're tasked with collecting your friend's journal penned back in highschool some 20 years ago. Thus begins a trip down memory lane with a story of friendship, love, trust, compassion, secrets, betrayal... and much more. You can find my thoughts on the game (warning, includes spoilers) at 1:49:53 in the video above.

If you'd rather skip the spoilers, here's a brief take on the game. There's a great story here told in snippets, out of chronological order. Collecting these memories fills in the journal, which lets you understand what order all the events take place. The delivery is important, and Marie's Room does a wonderful job. Each segment is short enough to keep you from getting bored, but just long and personal enough to get you invested in the characters very quickly. If you're familiar with my thoughts on Doki Doki Literature Club, you'll understand just how much I appreciate the quality (over quantity) of writing found here. Marie's Room also has a great atmosphere for such a small area to explore - again quality over quantity - and a couple surprises as well.

Die Totenmaske - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Die Totenmaske is a gritty, post-apocalyptic RPG with turn based party combat. Your body - head, left arm, right arm, torso and legs - each act as individual party members with specific roles. You can find my initial thoughts on the game at 3:14:56 in the video above.

Just A Dream - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Just A Dream is a 2D top-down shooter/roguelike hybrid that's more like a nightmare to play, thanks to its interesting (but poorly implemented) mechanics. You can find my initial thoughts on the game at 1:51:06 in the video above.

September '18 Mighty Minis Reward - NES Controller Keychain!

In celebration of National Video Games Day this month, my Mighty Minis patrons receive an NES Controller Perler keychain!

Feel left out? Join the Mighty Minis on my Patreon page and get cool handmade stuff delivered to your door every month along with a bunch of other perks!

Minecraft Pickaxes Added to Etsy Shop!

In "it's about time!" news, I finally added the set of iconic pickaxes to my Etsy shop! I'm considering making enchanted variants of each too... but maybe later.

Towel Required, First Person Lover & Don't Shit Your Pants! - The Friday FREE GAME Feature #150: NAKED TIME!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! #150 - NAKED TIME ended up being special in several ways, so let's get started!

Inishie Dungeon - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Inishie Dungeon is a roguelike RPG with a number of surprising features. It includes party formation, account-based storage, meta progression and an unfolding storyline! There also seems to be the possibility of random events, as a rampaging monster temporarily decimated portions of town! You can hear my thoughts on the game at 2:35:48 in the video above.

Blink the Bulb - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

It's 16-bit retro platforming goodness with Blink the Bulb! Take a little bit of Megaman, add a little bit of Sonic the Hedgehog then sprinkle in some holiday magic! You can find my thoughts on the game at 2:18:06 in the video above.

A lot of people (myself included) have noted that boss difficulty seems very staggered. According to Steam reviews, the day/night variety in stages affects the entire level, including boss mechanics.

Red Rogue - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Red Rogue is a retro roguelike with action or turn-based gameplay, made with Flash. It's a fun time-waster and a decent free alternative to WazHack (though I highly recommend buying WazHack). You can find my thoughts on the game at 3:07:42 in the video above.

One thing not mentioned in the final thoughts (but definitely discussed throughout the video) is the sleeping mechanic. You can sleep to attempt healing, but there are risks. Monsters may wander by and attack, forcing you out of sleep. You might instead have a nightmare, which includes creepy in-game sounds and images. A particularly bad nightmare will even spawn an enemy that (as best as I can tell) is immune to damage and chases you for a length of time until it finally disappears.

Cuisine Royale - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

For a battle royale parody, Cuisine Royale is actually pretty good! At the time I played this, it was already running smoother than PUBG ever did. My thoughts on the game can be found in the video at 2:29:26.

I May Die - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

I May Die is a somewhat rage-inducing (yet still fair) platformer. You can find my thoughts on the game in the video starting at 1:06:54. It's worth noting that the "Free Edition" is basically just a demo allowing you to play the first few chapters.

Friday FREE GAME Formatting!

In an effort to focus a little more on streaming and my Etsy shop, I've decided to change how The Friday FREE GAME Feature! posts are going to work.

Up until now, I'd write a brief summary of the game's plot, gameplay and aesthetics. I'd spend a little more time detailing notable features, issues or glitches, then wrap it all up by recommending whether to play or pass the title and mentioning who might enjoy it the most.

I like that format, but the fact of the matter is I simply don't have time to do it that way anymore. Maybe I'm just slow at getting my thoughts into words the way I want, but after writing these for over two years now I haven't gotten much faster at it. Also, I'm often just repeating what I already said on stream in the first place (albeit with better wording).

Instead of working harder, I'm going to work smarter. I'll be embedding the entire stream VOD into the post, with the timestamp of my thoughts on the game from the stream. If there's anything I have to add beyond that (which sometimes happens once I've had time to process and reflect), it will appear below the video.

MMOMG Septmber '18 - Blade & Soul!

It's time for another MMO - this month will be Blade & Soul! I've pretty much ignored the title since its release (I had a potato PC then that probably wouldn't have run it), so I'm going in with a blank slate as far as expectations are concerned.

Also, I'll be playing past MMOs (AQ3D, Defiance 2050, etc.) as well as Minecraft immediately following The Friday FREE GAME Feature! from now on. I've been doing this the past few weeks already and everyone seems to like it, so let's make it official!