Bite Sized Reviews: Aquarist I hope everyone is enjoying a pleasant April! I’ve been inactive for the past couple of weeks to give myself a break. My toes are healing nicely but I miss going for walks. The weather is slowly improving, so once my feet have sufficiently healed, I’ll be happy to get around again. Back to the reviews! Today I feature Aquarist, a relaxing management sim that teaches players how to nurture their aquarium. We don’t get many games like this. One notable rival is the excellent Fish Game, a similar title that launched in Early Access last year. That is one game I have t ..read more

Gamedev Interview: Trainwiz So, we’ve had a bit of a dry spell on here! That’s intentional. I recently had toe surgery and while that doesn’t affect my ability to write (I do not write or type with my feet), the pain has made it difficult to concentrate on much else! However, I’ve been working on several reviews during my downtime. Don’t forget interviews! This particular interview is pretty special. One of the biggest modders in recent years has worked on his solo game for a long time, and just last week it launched on Steam and GOG.com. That game is Underspace, a love child of the brilliant ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Lightyear Frontier Usually, when I wear a gigantic robot suit, it is for conquering my enemies. Not so much in Lightyear Frontier! This new game by Amplifier Studios grabbed my attention. While unleashing my robotic hell upon the galaxy in games like Battletech and Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries, I had a little conversation with my fellow mercenaries. It went a little like this: Osprey: Hey, Boss. I’ve been thinking. What if instead of using these giant fucking mechs of death to kill all those who oppose us, we use them to create a living garden? Me: I would love to know what yo ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Let’s School I’ve loved management games since I was young. The very first ones I played were the Bullfrog sims, like Theme Park and Theme Hospital. With such a diverse pool of games in this genre, I am spoiled for choice. The last few weeks have been a wild ride, haven’t they? I’m just about on track with my writing goals, and I’ve had amazing feedback. I’m just happy that I have a circle of people who seem to enjoy my ramblings, which is great! If even one person sees my indie game coverage and buys the games featured, that makes me happy. I’ve got a bunch of reviews and ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Immortal Life Plans change a lot. I planned to include this alongside my review of Our Adventurer Guild earlier in the week. However, I’ve been following this single review per article formula for a while now, and I’m finding it easier to focus on one impressions article at a time. My big Indie Corner series will return at some point, but only when I feel up to the task. *Remember to consume copious amounts of coffee before typing up your rambles on games, Chum.* Shut up, brain. Ahem. Hopefully, this will be more coherent than a few of my last reviews. Things have been a li ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Our Adventurer Guild Time for a new review! I’ve been a little more organized than I have been lately. With plenty of games to cover, I am working on a new host of game reviews and interviews over the coming weeks. We are a small team here, but I could not be happier with the progress. It feels like we are making a difference, especially for indie developers. This is always a chill place for everyone, and I have received excellent feedback from readers and developers both. Keep it up! Today, I feature Our Adventurer’s Guild. This unique strategy RPG will leave Early Access ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Thyria I’ll be honest. When I sat down to write up my thoughts on this game, I was stumped on what to talk about. That doesn’t happen often for me. There are times when I get stuck on a video game, and then I struggle with converting my thoughts into words. For example, if I’m terrible at certain games like Armored Core 6, Amnesia the Bunker, or Elden Ring, how do I write about it? All three of those games are incredible. Monday rambles, huh? Just let me grab some coffee or as I call it ‘Anti Murder Juice.’ Still with me? Awesome. So why am I babbling about games like this ..read more

Zoria Age of Shattering Preview I’ve been looking forward to Zoria Age of Shattering. The tactical RPG genre has long been one of my favourite genres, and 2023’s unparalleled success in Baldur’s Gate 3 has inspired a whole new generation. If you haven’t played Larian’s most recent masterpiece, give it a go sometime. I’m not here to gush about Baldur’s Gate today, however, so forgive a British dude’s rambles with my morning coffee. Zoria is an intriguing fantasy RPG that blends the classic squad-based combat with base management, and as someone who loves creating deep worlds, I was curious how ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: The Thaumaturge 11 Bit Studios are one of my favourite publishers. From This War of Mine to The Invincible, this talented group have developed and published some truly inspiring games. What’s more, they usually bring something refreshing to my gaming palette. In Frostpunk, I had the joy of deciding crimes against humanity in the name of brutal survival, while Moonlighter was a flawed, yet interesting mix of dungeon crawling and shop management. This War of Mine was one particular case back in 2014 when I got my first ‘gaming’ machine after my crap university laptop finally ..read more

Bite Sized Reviews: Dungeons 4 While I play a ton of different games these days, it’s easy to get me back to the old days. Age of Empires, Dungeon Keeper, Fable, Black and White, Empire Earth, and Impossible Creatures were the games of my childhood. Dungeon Keeper’s awesome base management as an evil overlord always impressed me with its creativity. As fellow old gamers might notice, several of my childhood games were made by Bullfrog Productions and their spiritual successor, Lionhead Studios. Eight years on, I still miss Lionhead. They and their predecessors Bullfrog made some truly unique g ..read more