Recent reviews by mcquigan

This game sits right in the middle of point and click and narrative; it really is both, and they’ve done a great job of blending the genres. The “Casual” tag is often used in Hidden object games; this is not one, and it is not always easy.

You will click everything and watch the game open and expand just as the family tree you are recreating does.

You will solve puzzles; things do not always fly out of your inventory and solve themselves.

+Graphics, so beautiful!
+Puzzles, unique and interesting.
+Music, soothing, no rush.

You go into the attic and find a book; it is full of family mementos. Your job is to piece the family tree and mementos together.
You will do this in a variety of ways; they are so different. You learn things about each individual and arrange them in the family tree.
The music is calming, there is no rush, just a pleasant leafing through items and following the path they lead you down.
Play time has been about 2.5 hours. Some of that time was figuring out what should be done because it was not clear. I would guess I have another two hours of play; I will update.

This game should be approached from a child’s viewpoint, see something pretty? Click it.
Under options you have a bit more than the basics:
Language: Natively written in French, English and Spanish available
Sound: On/Off, global adjustment
Music: Mute
Fullscreen/Windowed
Video quality

This game runs the way a game should:

The items and characters you use are quick, there is no click and wait involved. It zips along.
There is an auto-save function that starts you off where you were when you exited the game

There will be two more chapters added as affordably priced DLC.

Subsurface Circular

A Very enjoyable text based narrative game.
+Dialogue, smart
+Story, quite interesting,
+Crisp clean graphics
+Mechanics
There is nothing lacking in this game.

You are an AI robot investigating disappearances that another robot tells you about.
You do it while interviewing other AI’s on the metro rail system.

In order to get some of them to talk you must first accomplish tasks. There is something they want; you will find out what it is and provide it. It really is an interesting story that leaves you with…options.

Some of these will be challenging. You may need a pen and paper for one puzzle.

The graphics are great. Crisp, clean, smooth cinema graphics.

You navigate with WASD or a controller.

Playtime was four hours, exhausting most dialogue trees.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster, please read the review, not just the thumbs up

Playtime was about five hours exploring everything.

You explore a dilapidated hotel where you once lived. You’ve been gone a decade and forgotten many of the hotel details. There are several floors to explore. As you explore you find things that start to jog your memory.

You are snowed in and find a satellite phone. Think Firewatch. You communicate with a stranger from the local FEMA office.

Most of the items you use are put into your inventory and automatically used. Your FEMA buddy is there to remind you what your objective is.

When you look at the map, there is a “To Do” list as well.

This game begins with a story that draws you in immediately and demands you play.

I'm left with mixed feelings about this game; I really, really liked some aspects, and really, really disliked some aspects.

Liked:
Story, there is a BIG one here!
Atmosphere, spooky, scary, hair on the back of your neck stood spooky.
Amazing hotel details. The maps are outstanding, you will not get lost and wander aimlessly
Great graphics.

Disliked:
Story. So engaging, but again, liked and disliked it. It took an unfair turn along the way. There could and should have been more of the backstory explained so the player has all the information and can deduce what is really going on.

Very linear at times. Some of time you are just along for the ride and have no control on what can be done.

Auto-save. Please let us save our games when we want to, or at the very minimum give us a chapter select option. To replay the entire game to go check out something is so tedious.

The game ran well, no crashes, controller and WASD keys for navigation are supported.

Warning on Day nine. Early on, explore every room that you’ve not seen yet. The game takes control and you are forced to follow a certain path.

Edited to add: It's hard to stay spoiler free, but this contains two subject matters that are distasteful. Things that were not that uncommon 30 or 40 years ago are now taboo and openly talked about. Back then, it did happen. Relationships like that were whispered about, but rarely out loud.

That's confusing until you play the game. Sorry.

Lost Brothers

Hesitantly recommended for the cave graphics only.

Mostly spoiler free review based on playing the entire game.

This is a walking Sim. You navigate by the usual WASD keys. There is a manual save option (thank you!), and a checkpoint auto-save. You can die (yes, we did hop off the mushrooms more than once), but you will restart where you were. The controller worked fine with it. Adjustments for audio/video are available. You have a map and a compass.

We think anyone who has played Firewatch will compare Lost Brothers to it; that sets a pretty high standard.

You are camping, you find a walkie-talkie and begin talking to someone.

You enter a cave that is psychedelic and gorgeous. There are beautiful bouncy mushrooms you can wander around on to your hearts content. We spent a lot of time playing on those mushrooms; they were the best part of the game.

The story unfolds via the walkie-talkie. You must make your way through the cave, finding bits and pieces of the story along the way.

There are two stories here. One regarding your brother that went missing a decade ago, the other is the stranger you are talking to.

The English translation needs some work. The story fell apart at the end for us; we felt one story was unresolved and the other story had a slight consistency problem.

More ambient sounds and music would have been nice.

There were areas where we fell through worlds and got stuck in walls a couple of times (we may have deserved it). We did have some machine lag and stuttering in a few spots.

Our play length was about three hours, exploring almost every nook and cranny.

Senscape recommends LUNA The Shadow Dust.

+Story, quite an accomplishment considering there is no dialogue!
+Atmosphere
+Graphics, breathtaking
+Musical Score

This is a very polished Point and Click game. It is eye-candy, surreal at times, and is backed by a heartwarming story. Who would have thought that a game with no dialogue could move you to tears? There are a few scenes where your eyes won't know where to look first.

When you first began playing, you may not know why you are doing what you are doing; you won't care; the game carries you away that much. The game will prompt you on how to play.

Sometimes you play a game that is so beautiful you want to sit back and just watch for a while; this is one of those games

It’s hard to write this without giving you a spoiler but:

Puzzles: This is the heart of the game. You and your companion will solve several puzzles on your journey. They are smart well thought out puzzles that require thinking outside the box.
Once you realize how versatile your characters and environments are you will get the hang of it. There are many visual clues for puzzle solutions in the game. Look at the walls, look at everything. Part of the fun in the game is figuring out what the puzzle is; the prompts will help you along. Some of the puzzles are challenging.

Actual play time, thus far, is six - seven hours, which includes replaying one chapter. Due to a mouse issue I've left the final puzzle undone. This review will be updated when the game is completed.

Purchased games on the release date has become dicey. So many must be patched and patched again. This game must have been well tested, it ran perfectly. No game crashes, lock ups, no errors were encountered.

LUNA is family friendly. It would be too difficult for most elementary age children to play alone but is a great game to play together.

In the menu options you have the regular audio and video features, plus, the ability to replay animations; there is also a chapter selection feature. Thank you so much for this devs!

The characters do not quickly zip round; you need to be patient and enjoy, not speed-run the game.

LUNA uses an auto-save function that allows you to continue playing the level from where you left off.

Excellent job Devs!

Senscape recommends Eliza.

Eliza is a Visual Novel, It is so polished and well done.

+ Art work
+ Characters
+ Story
+ Game length
+ Voice overs

Boy, it’s hard to write this without risking a spoiler, suffice to say that it is a great read.

This game will make you think. There are serious, meaningful situations in the game that are quite believable.

You have the main character, Evelyn's dilemmas, you also have the people that she counsels via AI prompts and their problems.

While playing, many times we stopped and considered the situation.
Could some of the scenarios happen to us, or someone we know perhaps? Yes, absolutely.

The voice acting was excellent. You can hear so much emotion in “Evelyn’s” voice.

Mechanically, there are auto-saves in the game, when you restart you will continue where you were.

You have the usual adjustments for video and audio, along with an option to slow down or increase the text speed. There is also a chapter selection option in case you replay to see the other endings.

There is an excellent solitaire game within this game, so my play hours are difficult, around seven hours I think.

Senscape recommends Some Distant Memory

+Story, love a good one, it'll move you to tears.
+Get the message folks.
+Characters

This is a Walking Sim adventure game.

You explore a post-apocalyptic home and recreate the memories of the family that lived there.

The items you find are put into your inventory, they are automatically used; it is not difficult.

We love a game that has a story that draws you in immediately and demands you play; Some Distant Memory does that. Sit down, relax, and let the story unfold.

The game ran perfectly. You can opt for windowed mode or full screen.

Navigation wise, you can use a controller, WASD, or arrow keys.

We had no hardware issues.

There is an auto-save function at checkpoints in the game; you cannot save manually.

Our playtime was three hours.

This is a personal story. The devs grandmother is who is telling it and voices herself. You see the farm she was raised on.

• Story
  
• Graphics
  
• Unique Puzzles via your phone and keywords
  
• Voiced by the woman who lived through it

After finishing this I had to sit and just think about it for a while; it is a powerful story.
How many family histories are left behind that future generations will never know?
Not this families.

I started the game thinking it was rather peaceful, there is an old family farm we will explore. Then everything changes in an instant. It caught me by surprise and as the character ran, I felt as if I was running as well. the immersion was that deep.

You toggle between the past and the present as Brie tells the story of the enemy coming to their farm. I do not want to give further details about the story; you will want to unravel it yourself.

This is not an action game, though you can die. I made a couple of aggressive actions which resulted in my death. You easily click the “continue” button and behave a little better.

There is an auto-save function, and many welcome adjustments for video, audio etc.
If you exit the game mid-chapter, you will start from the last checkpoint, but the checkpoints were well placed and you will not backtrack a lot.

You navigate with the WASD keys or a controller for navigation. Both worked well.

My play time was about three hours, only attaining half of the achievements.

What a great game The Pedestrian is

+Graphics
+Play Length
+Puzzles
+Music

This game is utterly delightful!

It is eye and ear candy. You are a flat two-dimensional character that is navigating through several rich 3-D city environments.

The contrast between the two worlds is just brilliant because It is so rich and colorful between the two.

You carry keys, climb ladders, and interact with various items.

You progress by rearranging the signs, entering and exiting with ladders and other items.
You drag and drop the signs you appear in, connecting them to see what works together.

You will jump, climb ladders, ride on different mechanisms; you'll get around a lot of different ways.

Think interactive Chutes and Ladders.

The music is calming, there is no rush, just a pleasant Sunday stroll down a street in Paris.

Thus far, the game is running great, with no crashes or freezes of any kind; the game runs like a game should.

You do not need to be terribly quick or dexterous to play this game.

There is an autosave function that starts you off where you were when you exited the game, and if you accidentally run into, oh, say a table saw, you will restart there.

You can use a controller or keyboard to navigate, but I found the controller the easiest.

+Story, story, story!
+Graphics, breathtaking
+Play Length
+Replay Value
+Extra Goodies
+Music and Sound

This game involves exploration, walking, flying, swimming; It is pure eye-candy and has a great story.

This game is ultimately about forgiveness. In order to have forgiveness something had to have transpired that requires it. Your job is to find out what happened long ago.

To do this you travel back in time assuming the bodies of different animals along the way. Some animals are better suited than others in the environment you are in. You will always have an animal you need to get through that chapter.

Regardless of the world or creature you are it is an amazing experience. You soar as an eagle, swim like a trout, scale mountains as a mountain goat. I do not know the exact number of mammals, birds, etc. you can play. Perhaps 30?

The music and sounds are perfect. You hear the slosh of water as you walk through it, the rustle of bamboo as you walk through.

There is an auto-save function that works quite well. If you jump off a cliff (like me, many times) you have an instant retry.

My game length was a whopping 25 hours. At least ten of these hours were spent goofing off, enjoying the animals and exploring the nooks and crannies. I were in no rush to finish the game; I savored it.

There are 77 relics you can collect, six legendary animals, and approximately 100 mushrooms.

There is a chapter option that will tell you what you missed if you want to go back and collect them. Thank you!

There is very little violence, what violence there is, is not graphic. This is a family friendly game.

There are few games that will entertain a teen through senior; Lost Ember is one of those games.