

Minecraft Gingerbread House
When I went to the Five and Below store a while back, I saw a Minecraft Gingerbread House kit for only 4 bucks or so. I picked up a couple of them. One for my nephew and twin nieces to do, since my nephew loves Minecraft (what kid doesn’t?). And I picked up another one to do with my other brother’s stepson when we would do Christmas at my mom’s house. So I thought I’d share that with you and show you what it looked like.
Neko Bento (Switch)
A Bento Box is a Japanese style lunch box. They’re usually pretty small, so arranging the food in them to fit as much as you can, and make it still look aesthetically pleasing has become somewhat of an art form. And now you can do that with Neko Bento on Nintendo Switch. It’s pretty much exactly like some games I’ve reviewed this past year featuring cats, dogs, and zoo animals. And now it’s with food.
Taito Milestones Volume 3 (Switch)
Taito was a force to be reckoned with in arcades back in their heyday, as they are the ones who created Space Invaders after all. And now here’s another batch of their games that you can play on Nintendo Switch. Rastan fans would be especially interested in this one, as it has pretty much every game in that series on here! So let’s take a look at all the games.
Holiday Heroscape in Action
Our local high school has the occasional evening of open boardgaming in the cafeteria. Students and teachers (and select <ahem> boardgamers, such as myself) are free to drop in and play some games on hand or bring their own. There were two gaming events in November and December. The first was just a night of fun while the second was pitched as a “decompression” time just before finals hit in earnest. Attendance was pretty good on both nights and one of the main attractions was the Heroscape setup I brought along. Heroscape is an excellent miniatures combat game that is great for family play. While the name “miniatures combat game” would normally imply a rules-heavy game of thick rulebooks, slow moving, somewhat tedious combat. (A miniatures wargame player would want to defend the genre by pointing out the huge strategic depth available within a game.) In contrast, Heroscape provides a game where a wide diversity of miniatures clash together across colorful hexagonal landscape. The bad news is that the game has been out of print for years, but the great news is that Renegade Games has just rereleased a whole new line of Heroscape content so it is a great time for new gamers to jump in.
Irem Collection Volume 2 (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
Irem was a video game publisher who made a lot of arcade classics like Moon Patrol, Kid Niki: Radical Ninja, Kung Fu Master, and R-Type. They also made a lot of console games, including a couple of my favorites: Kickle Cubicle on NES and Steambot Chronicles on PS2. Sadly they went out of business in 2011, but now you can play a handful of their arcade games in this collection. This one includes a vertically scrolling shooter and a couple of run and guns, so let’s take a look at them. Irem Collection Volume 2 is available on all current consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Spellagis (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
When a game becomes popular, you’ll usually find many imitators following it. Such is the case with Vampire Survivor. I’ve never played the game myself, but I’ve reviewed a few games that copy its formula. And now there’s Spellagis, another game trying to ride the coattails of Vampire Survivor’s popularity. Play as a mage and zap waves of enemies with magic in this simple top down viewed action game. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Fantasy Friends: Dream Worlds (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Turns out that Fantasy Friends is a series of virtual pet games that I’ve never heard of, but this new entry in the series is a bit different. Play as a girl who travels to dream worlds and has her Fantasy Friend pets help her out in this 2D isometric puzzle platformer. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Mario Kart 8 Toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals
Care Bears: To the Rescue (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
There are many toy lines that came out in the 80s when I was a kid that are still popular today. Some examples would be Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, etc. Another example that I didn’t know about until now was Care Bears. That was huge when I was a kid, and they had lots of toys, plush, several cartoons, and even some movies! I think even I saw the first Care Bears movie when I was a kid (I remember it being surprisingly dark), and that movie even made more money than the Disney cartoon film it was competing against (granted that Disney movie was The Black Cauldron, but still). And now you can play a video game starring those colorful bears! Some bad guys have planted a Bad Seed in the forest where the Care Bears live, and it’s up to them to get rid of the evil purple plants that have taken over. Care Bears: To the Rescue is a four player simultaneous 2D platformer, and it’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
O.W.L Projekt (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
You’d think with a title like that, this game would have some kind of rich, involving story, but it really doesn’t. At least not in the game anyway. The character you play as holds a walking stick and looks like a cross between that thing you play as in Bit.Trip Runner and BMO from Adventure Time. You view the playfield in an isometric perspective and each level is like a little diorama. Kind of reminds me of Captain Toad or those isometric adventure games you would see a lot on British computers in the 80s (or like Solstice on the NES). Your goal is to get your little dude to the exit block in each area, and the game is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.