tldr videogame curation
melbourne, australia

Genre: Indie

Cool game, but peaks early and feels like an explosion of ideas never quite came together. Great to look at and feels quite nice, but ultimately not particularly satisfying or compelling. Brief fun.

My worries for such a fundamental shift, turning Darkest Dungeon into a roguelite, are completely quashed. Its predecessors brutal, punishing heart is still here, inside an absolute masterclass in presentation.

An atmospherically unique experience with gorgeously disgusting Giger-eque art direction. I almost wish it stuck to walking & puzzles, because everything else just gets in the way. Short but good.

Clever, unique game with lots to like. Core gameplay loop is solid & the unlocks are meaningful. Art, sound and especially music are all fantastic. All quality, but quantity may leave some wanting.

The actual gameplay is amazing; clever, frantic, elegant, demanding & creative. Unfortunately for me it was punctuated by insufferable characters and dialog (which is thankfully now skippable). Cool, but didn’t get the hype.

Great example of how to faithfully refine a predecessor. Lots of charm, tonnes to do and a sensational level of variation and dynamics. Movement still feels a bit rigid to my taste, but that’s OK.

Vampire Survivors but enemies have significantly varied attacks & the engine is 3D. It’s definitely fun (and addictive), but can be a bit hard to read with hectic FX covering incoming AOE indicators.

A roguelike which plays like a tabletop cardgame in which your inventory management itself defines how combat plays out. An interesting concept allowing for dynamic builds. Could do with some UX love.

A bit of Zelda, a bit of Pikmin and a teeny tiny bit of Souls. Gorgeous to look at and impressively polished for a first title. Not particularly challenging, but cute, fun and worth a look.

[Early Access] While feeling a bit like just Slime Rancher 1.5, it seems to improve on everything from the original, with extra delightful polish. Will depend on development, but fun so far.