Thrifty Business is the latest title from Spellgarden Games, the developer of Sticky Business. While Sticky Business—which I loved—has you running an online sticker shop, Thrifty Business puts you in the role of a new owner of a physical thrift shop. Considering the shop-running similarities, Thrifty Business has a lot to live up to. I went into it expecting a…
Self-described “cozy” games are all the rage right now. Often they’re life sims, sometimes other genres, but there is nothing quite like Riley & Rochelle. I’d describe it as cozy because it is an intimate look at two young lives, and it creates a swirling warmth sensation around you while…
Read MoreWayward Strand is such an odd little game, but that is by no means a criticism. Despite its utterly fantastic concept, and ironically given that it takes place in a floating airship, this game is sweet, meditative, and very grounded. It’s also incredibly Australian, but not in the over-the-top, Crocodile…
Read MoreI am super into farm/life sims lately. I spend a shocking amount of time playing Disney Dreamlight Valley and Animal Crossing daily, and that’s before you even get into all the others I’ve had to enjoy. As such, I’ve been keeping an eye out for games that fall into that…
Read MoreI’m going to start this by being very upfront: before playing Wylde Flowers for PC, I played it through on Apple Arcade. Twice. I legitimately spent dozens of hours in the cozy world created by Studio Drydock. Despite that, after booting the new Switch version up and seeing the camera…
Read MoreDating is hard. First you have to meet someone you’re at least vaguely attracted to in some sense. Then there’s the awkward first date, the one where neither party knows whether or not they should kiss if it goes well so they just make weird eyes at each other before…
Read MoreThe content warnings for Immortality are plenty. It includes everything from swearing and blasphemy to incest and murder. No content warnings would scare me off this game, let alone ones that basically contain the features of any V.C. Andrews novel. Immortality may have only been announced last year, but it…
Read More“Princess Maker-likes,” like Lair Land Story, are a niche within a niche, but it’s a genre that can be oddly compelling. They’re spreadsheet simulators, in which 90 per cent of the game involves carefully managing a girl’s development by carefully selecting her daily activities. But while that might sound dull,…
Read MoreAdmittedly I wasn’t following Digimon Survive too closely in the leadup to release, however, I did know it was going to be a tactics JRPG featuring collectible monsters. That in itself was exciting given that I have fond memories of Pokémon Conquest back on the DS. What I was not…
Read MoreI’ve played a lot of restaurant sims (yes, I was obsessed with Diner Dash back in its heyday) so I was excited for the chance to play Recipe for Disaster. It’s more complex than what I’m used to: not only am I designing and running the restaurant, but I’m now…
Read MoreWhat’s the result of combining cryptids, retro graphics, and pulp fiction? Why, Mothmen 1966 of course! It is the first title in what is already being called the Pixel Pulp series, by LCB Game Studio. I feel a bit bad for those I’m close with, as I’ve been rambling about…
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