Recent reviews by foungi

13 years after playing the original game, i finally got around to play the coop.
it's as good as everyone says, just get it.

Crimes and Punishments is a fun, short detective game in the Sherlock Holmes where you solve 6 short cases. The game's chore mechanic is walking around and finding clues, interviewing people, and connecting evidence/clues to form deductions. each case ends with you naming a suspect, the method of committing the crime, and a moral choice of what to do with them.

+ nice victorian vibe
+ still looks decent
+ distinct cases
+ some cases from the books
+ well-suited for steam deck
+ no bugs (aside from being not compatible with external controllers on steam deck)
+ each case is a story in itself, running at 1-2h. perfect for an evening gaming session

~ short and easy puzzles. suited me well, but if you want a challenge, look elsewhere.
~ ok minigames. not the most innovative stuff, but not annoying either.
~ sherlock is closer to the books than in most other recent adaptions, but there is still some discrepancy

- it's a bit more railroady than i'd like a sherlock holmes game to be
- the gameplay is not all that novel, beyond the deduction (at which you can't fail)

all in all a solid game and a good choice if you're a fan of sherlock holmes, 7/10

in carry onward you follow the story of thomas who, well, without spoiling, has to carry on.
i like short, narrative games that feature emotional stories and try to support small devs, but in this case, i unfortunately can't recommend the game.

+ no bugs or technical issues
+ looks fine (with default polygon assets tho)
+ story is in itself ok

- the writing is not good enough to carry the non existant gameplay
- the voice acting is flat
- it's a 20 minute game, which makes 5 € definitely excessive

if this was a game jam entry, i'd applaud it. as a full game, it unfortunately falls short.
@ andrey: i don't mean to bash you, it's still well-made. maybe get some support on the game dev aspects that aren't your forte.

south scrimshaw is a thrilling and emotional visual-novel-style documentary following the journey of a young (fictional) brillo whale. beautiful hand-drawn images and calm narration illustrate a wonderfully alien aquatic world, that is very similar to ours but also very different. even though the gameplay consists of pretty much just clicking through the linear story, i got hooked by the great story and imaginative ocean environment.

+ fascinating, literally wonderful world
+ stunning imagery
+ very good writing, both in terms of story and the way it's narrated
+ creative concept
+ free
+ occasional meme-worthy pictures

literally no cons, definitely recommend.

in golf club nostalgia, you play a pilot living on mars returning to earth to golf through the ruins of our previous civilization.

+ the world building is great
+ it looks very nice
+ the soundtrack is dope and perfectly suited

~ the social critique is quite on the nose, but still valid and neatly framed

- oh my god the golf mechanics are horrible. how do you ♥♥♥♥ up this badly on the one ONE mechanic in the game. the charge up inconsistency is frustrating, estimating the distance is way too difficult, and the some surfaces are way too slick.

play it on eays mode (without par requirements) to avoid getting frustrated at the mechanics.
6/10

fun & cute little shooter, fast paced, super simple.
if you're not into speedrunning you probably won't replay it, so the full 10 bucks for about an hour of gameplay might be a bit much.
on the other hand the loading screens are already worth the money

surrealistic soviet simulator. fun, short, story focused game where you try to get out of a desolate town. lots of parkouring, fun vibe, very enjoyable.


also, leafblower jetpack

in subsurface circular you play a robot detective on the subway, trying to figure out what's going on by interviewing other robots.

a neat short game with a nice vibe and interesting story. good way to spend two hours if you don't mind reading and some mild puzzling.

In Horizon Zero Dawn you play as tribal huntress Aloy in a future world, in which robotic animals roam the landscape, trying to find out why the machines have suddenly become increasingly hostile.

i originally didn't want to recommend HZD after about 20 hours, because the game seemed generic and wearisome. however, i'm happy i then started to focus more on the main quest, which reinvigorated my interest. the setting and the story are clearly the forte of the game. the graphics also hold up really well, it still looks stunning. however, the side quests are, in my opinion, quite boring. i didn't vibe with the main character during those quests at all, aloy seemed a bit like the classic boring hero heroing things. that all changed when i started only playing main storyline quests, which is what i would recommend everyone to do. while the world is beautiful, nature diverse and the different tribes quite distinct, there is actually little to explore as no place has an actual backstory or meaningful quests attached to it. barely any npcs one can really talk to are around, and the towns and settlements seem repetitive.
the main story however is dope, the mechanics feel very good and the machine fights feel epic af.

7/10

in paws you play as a lynx pup trying to find its family.

as all shelter games it's a pretty (if you like the artstyle), vibey short game. the world to explore isn't large, the story is linear, and "loss and friendship as its central themes" is a bit pretentiously worded, although the story as always is quite emotional. perfect for a relaxed evening, although i personally prefer shelter 2