Hogtie (Switch, PC)
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Posted on August 13th, 2025 by
I’ve reviewed lots of “Sokoban” style puzzle games where you push blocks around to solve puzzles. But the problem is that they may have different coats of paint, they’re still mostly all the same. So it’s nice and refreshing to play one that has new ideas. In Hogtie, you play as a cowboy who must rope pigs and drag them to their pen. But you’ll have to deal with aspects like the placement of the pig, avoiding mud (pigs won’t go in their pen dirty), barrels that block your way and how you can use your rope to move them around, and much more. Hogtie is available on Switch and PC but reviewed on Switch here.
Cottonville (Switch, PC)
Posted on August 11th, 2025 by
If you want a game that combines farming with fashion, then Cottonville is for you. Create a character and move into a farm where you’ll grow crops. But these crops aren’t for eating. You’ll use them to make fabric and dyes, and then sew them to make all sorts of clothes. Your house also doubles as a shop, and when you have enough, you can sell your clothes to customers to buy more seeds so you can grow crops and make more clothes, and repeat the process indefinitely. Cottonville is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Regina & Mac (Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on August 6th, 2025 by
This game is obviously trying to imitate Banjo-Kazooie. Your characters are a lizard who doesn’t talk (Mac), and a wisecracking parrot who rides on him (Regina). You travel across 3D platforming worlds collecting stuff, but instead of notes and jigsaw piece “Jiggies,” you are collecting cubes and golden “Floppies” (disks). Even the music uses the same kinds of instruments (meaning lots of bari saxophone and xylophone). Regina & Mac is available on some consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Neon Noodles (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
Posted on August 4th, 2025 by
This one claims to be a cooking game, but I think it’s more an exercise in visual programming using STEM skills and such. The story is that in a dystopian future, most folks can’t afford real food and just eat some kind of synthetic nutrition paste. But rich people can afford real food, so you are a chef and prepare food for the rich by arranging neon colored icons to perform actions. Neon Noodles is available on all current consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Stuff It! (Switch)
Posted on July 30th, 2025 by
Man these games where you fit things inside a box must be pretty popular, or easy to make. Because in the past year, I’ve reviewed these types of games where you fit cats into boxes, zoo animals on a pool float, dogs on a bed, lunch in a bento box, and pastries in a breadbasket. Now we’ve got one a bit more mundane as you fit kitchen utensils into plastic drawer organizers. Hey at least there are 3D graphics in this one, called Stuff It! for Switch.
Flora and Fang: Guardians of the Vampire Garden (Switch, PC)
Posted on July 28th, 2025 by
When game makers want to imitate a classic from the arcade, they’ll usually go with something popular and familiar, like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Tetris, etc. But I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen a game try and imitate Donkey Kong 3. Probably because that game wasn’t as popular, since it was more of a shooter than a platformer. It was also the one and only appearance of Stanley the Bugman. But here comes Flora and Fang, which is very much like Donkey Kong 3. Dracula has to go away on a trip, and leaves two young vampire siblings Flora and Fang in charge of protecting his pumpkin patches from bugs. Flora and Fang: Guardians of the Vampire Garden is available on Switch and PC but reviewed on Switch here.
Tiny Pixels vol. 2: Stormy Knights (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 23rd, 2025 by
The Tiny Pixels series seems to feature simple graphics and gameplay, and I’ve already reviewed the first one, a vertically scrolling shooter. The second one is a beat ‘em up where you play as a knight out to save princesses from goblins and such, and you fight one enemy at a time until you reach a boss, and when your game is over you can use the coins you’ve earned to upgrade your skills Stormy Knights is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
100 in 1 Games Collection (Switch)
Posted on July 21st, 2025 by
Play 100 different mini-games on your Switch with 100 in 1 Games Collection. You can only play Story Mode where you challenge each game one at a time. Depending on how well you score, you can earn up to three stars in each game. You must get at least one star to progress to the next game. Each group of games is categorized on certain islands, but they don’t really have much rhyme or reason. In order to unlock the next set of mini games on an island, you must have a certain number of stars collected.
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 16th, 2025 by
The 16-bit Super Nintendo is my favorite home game console, but my favorite handheld is the Game Boy Advance (it was pretty much a souped up SNES, so that’s why). So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this game tries to imitate that GBA style. When you first turn on the game, it even shows a mock GBA handheld system with a cartridge entering it! Anyway. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo is a top down viewed action adventure game. You play as Pippit, a bat who lives in the big city and is the nephew of the biggest mafia leader in town. But Pippit has no interest in that. He just wants to enter yo-yo competitions. But one night on the way home, Pippit finds his aunt, the leader of the Pipistrello mafia family, trapped by four other mafia bosses. Turns out they want revenge for her running the city’s power unfairly, so they try to trap her soul into four batteries using a machine. Luckily Pippit appears in time and tosses his yo-yo into the soul stealing beam. Now his aunt is trapped inside the yo-yo and they must work together to get the batteries back. This game is a lot like a 2D Zelda title, except the overworld is the city streets, and the dungeons are sewers, shopping malls, construction sites, and soccer stadiums! And because of the emphasis on top down platforming and yo-yo mechanics, this game also makes me think of Startropics as well! The very definition of a “hidden gem,” the game is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Exo-Calibre (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 14th, 2025 by
Save the world and play as one of three anime ladies with flying suits in this 16-bit styled 2D vertically scrolling bullet hell shooter. Exo-Calibre is available on most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
