Recent reviews by lakey

perfect down to the gamemaker error messages you get when the game occasionally (as in once in 4 hours) runs into a divide by zero error and crashes.
Update: as the 1.3 patch, a lot of new content and balancing work only strengthens the confidence I have in recommending it.

I don't think this game will be for everyone, but The Banished Vault has a lot to recommend it. It is an extremely stylish affair, and mechanically quite clever, but has to be met on its own terms.
Why you might like it:
The boardgame aesthetics are extremely well-executed and the brooding score and sound design create a very compelling atmosphere. Effort has been put in to making the pieces feel very real- the sunlight emitted by the star each map is based around flickers like its a candle placed off-screen, and the pieces on the board cast shadows that dance very pleasingly in its light. The building models have wood-grain textures, and mousing over them lifts the piece up to help you see what squares of the board it is covering.The game encourages frequent reference to its manual (hotkeyed to R), which evokes Games Workshop's rulebooks from around the 2000's and the Fighting Fantasy line of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. Although reading the manual start to finish is probably the best way to learn the game, you can get by with flipping to the page on whatever game mechanic you're about to interact with, if you don't mind learning from your mistakes.

Why you might not like it:
There are two major enemies in this game: the turn counter and yourself. There are some unknowns in the early stages of each level which can vex you, and some hazards require good die-rolls to evade, but the game is mostly quite transparent about what it will throw in your way, and expects you to balance security against opportunity with the information that is available to you. Each turn, the turn counter at the top of the screen ticks down by one. After the countdown reaches 0, the board starts getting destroyed region by region, taking any of stuff you left it behind with it. Once you've completed your objectives for the level, you then have to make sure you have enough time to evacuate properly. This is where the player becomes an obstacle to their own success: if you spread out too far, you won't have enough fuel to regroup; if you overproduce a resource, you'll run short on others, and if you don't plan ahead when you send out your ships, those ships won't come back with the goods you wanted them to get (or at all). The first turn of each level turns to be fairly important, as this will often be when you choose which ships will get which supplies and crew and where they will be headed. The amount of time you can sit there figuring what to send where can get pretty long as you plan out your strategy, especially later in the run when the board layout gets more hostile and convoluted. Most roguelikes have you learn by making mistakes, but in The Banished Vault, the mistake will usually be a failure to plan far enough ahead in some way. There aren't big curveballs thrown at you to check how resilient your build is or take away your stuff unexpectedly- the endgame is getting yourself stranded and running out of time in one way or another. This isn't strictly a drawback- there's a purity to it that I came to appreciate- but won't be to everyone's taste. You have to spend a lot of time thinking about the order and arrangement of your buildings, but these can't be salvaged when you decide to head for the exit, and you'll be starting from scratch in the next solar system. If you like games where you can keep your base growing over the course of a run, this might be an issue for you.

I beat a run (which unlocks higher difficulties) after about 19 hours of attempts, and I'm a bit dense. I will likely pick it back up in the future and would recommend it to people that like things in the way I do.

Obra Dinn is a masterpiece.
Non-linear stories are hard, non-linear horror stories are especially hard, non-linear horror stories with exquisite pacing are generally unfeasible, and non-linear horror stories with exquisite pacing that nonetheless permit the player to proceed entirely at their own leisure and at no point use the threat of any danger or risk of failure to prompt them onward would seem to be impossible. Nonetheless, Obra Dinn achieves this, without being monotonously grim or mired in confronting, shock-value imagery. You are terrified and sickened by the thought of what you will learn next, almost every step of the way. You become glad the game is so sparing with visuals and dialogue. The game remains fun through to the end, and will probably take you at least 7 hours to finish. You can finish the plot without solving all the puzzles, if you really want to. Play it already

I can't recommend Cultist Simulator highly enough. It's beautiful writing and art is supported by unique and ambitious abstract gameplay. It won't be for everyone (you need to be comfortable with permadeath; this is a roguelike rather than roguelite title so nothing gets upgraded or unlocked over repeated attempts) but losing is usually as fun and frantic an experience as the rest of the game. Getting the good endings ("victory" isn't always the most apt description) requires a combination of timing-based tactical thinking, long-term strategic plans and making sense enough sense of the game's excellently-written mythos to solve lore-based puzzles. Dragging and dropping cards again and again might not sound terribly exciting but in my view the simplicity and monotonousness of the interface reinforces many of the central themes of the narrative: everyday existence is simultaneously tedious and tenuous, and we all yearn to transcend it in some way. The DLC stories (Priest, Dancer, Ghoul at the present time) are each wonderful but can be safely eschewed until you're confident that Cultist Simulator is for you.

Exploring the rooms and tunnels is fun but ultimately this game is nicer to look at than it is to play

game of the year. better than grim fandango.