amphibious_ReViews

Sometimes I'll jump on to bandwagon games, like Fortnite or Among Us , just to see what the fuss is all about, but even at just $2.99, I wasn't fully convinced to bite the bullet on Suika Game. When it arrived as a free trial on the Nintendo Switch Online service, I finally gave it a shot, and my first thought went to how much my wife would enjoy it! She has been thoroughly addicted to both Tetris and 2048 in the past, and Suika Game feels like a blend of the two with added physics. I actually ended up really having fun with it, but my wife liked it even more; so much so that we ended up buying it for her Switch after the trial ended. It may be iterative, but this is one of the freshest-feeling arcade puzzlers that I've played in a long time. Suika Game challenges you to earn a high score by dropping as much fruit as you can into a clear container before it overflows. The trick is that when two fruits of the same variety touch, they fuse into one larger fruit and earn you

I started playing Microsoft Jewel 2 through the Xbox app because it earned me Microsoft rewards points that I could use to buy Xbox games. At first, I avoided playing it because I knew I'd have to write a review, but I obviously caved. The Microsoft Rewards program has since been seriously nerfed, so I stopped participating and no longer have much of an incentive to play this generic, yet enjoyable, puzzle game. Thus, I am now facing the consequences. I'm not actually disappointed to be writing a review, I just wish it were about something with a little more spirit. Microsoft Jewel 2 does everything it needs to in order to be a passable match-3 puzzle game, but not much more. The game starts you with a screen full of colorful jewels, a level progress bar, and a set of three challenges. Jewels can swap places with any of their adjacent, non-diagonal neighbors, as long as at least one of the jewels being swapped creates a line of three or more like-colored jewels. That line is th

When I first learned about this "game" in a Nintendo Indie World presentation, I was immediately intrigued. I downloaded the original game-jam version to my phone soon after, then proceeded to never play it. When I learned that the full game was available on Google Play Pass, I downloaded that too, and this time I was actually committed. Despite the title, there actually is a game, and it's surprisingly cute! There Is No Game is a tongue-in-cheek point-and-click puzzler with a touch of tragic romance tying it all together, but it takes a second to discern all of those pieces on a first playthrough. From as early as the title screen, the game is trying to stop you from playing. If you manage to make it past that point, you'll be greeted by a somewhat hostile AI who does his very best to keep you from finding any game-related experience within his software. With a little bit of creative puzzle-solving and a lot of determination, you can find ways past his defenses to re

I feel like Samorost 2 flew right by me. I got a free trial for Google Play Pass (like Xbox Game Pass for Android apps) and most of Amanita Designs' games are available on it, so I thought I should probably try the sequel to Samorost 1 while I had the chance. Just like with the first game, the visuals were the star of the show. Unfortunately, they ended up being the only real draw for me this time. I liked the game well enough, but I feel like it could have been more than it was. Samorost 2 follows the familiar little gnome on his journey to save his dog that got kidnapped by a group of aliens. You'll have to solve puzzles and interact with a surprising variety of characters to help him rescue his dog and get home safely. Some of those puzzles are neat, and there were a few that made me feel pretty smart for figuring them out, but there were plenty of others that didn't quite land for me. They didn't sour the experience though, as the good puzzles and bad puzzles alike

Capping off Professor Layton's original trilogy, I went into Unwound Future with expectations set higher than I ever had for the previous two entries. I anticipated there would be improvements to the puzzles and UI similar to the way Diabolical Box improved upon Curious Village , but I was more excited about the story. I had heard that this was a game that could really tug at your heartstrings, and I love it when media makes me feel, so I was more than ready. However, I was surprised when Unwound Future ended up delivering stronger-than-anticipated puzzles, but a cheesier-than-expected narrative. The result was still excellent, and it was definitely my favorite Layton game that I've played so far, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. First off, Unwound Future easily had the best puzzle variety of the whole original trilogy. I think I could count on one hand how many times I noticed a puzzle repeat concepts within both Unwound Future itself and the series as a

Pushmo was always on my radar as an interesting Eshop title, but I ultimately ended up getting both of its 3DS sequels and never actually Pushmo itself. The closure of the Eshop pushed me to finally play it, and like its successors, it's a great mix of puzzles and platforming. I like to think that Pushmo is someone's answer to the question of what would happen if a simple puzzle was made to be the size of a house? Instead of solving these brainteasers with a pencil or a stylus, our protagonist Mallo must push, pull, and climb blocks using his own raw strength. What results is a cute puzzle game that stands out in a genre mostly known for purely logical, flat experiences. Pushmo tells you right away that it isn't going to be like those other guys. Instead of a simple tutorial,  it treats players to a little story that establishes the importance of Mallo solving every puzzle. The puzzles in question are explained to be a type of theme park attraction that little children enjo

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started playing Katamari Damacy, but I was wrong. Before I booted it up, I had the idea that this was going to be like one of those games where you eat everything smaller than yourself in order to grow and eventually be big enough that you can consume absolutely everything (which was pretty much right). I also expected that to be the game's focal point (which I'd now argue is pretty much wrong). It was once I heard the first "NAAA NA-NA-NA-NA-NA NA-NAA" of Katamari on the Rocks (the game's opening theme) that things started to shift in my brain. Now, while Katamari Damacy's gameplay is unique and quite excellent, it's clear to me that everything else, the art style, the music, and the story, is what actually makes this game as exceptional as it is. Katamari Damacy sees you taking control of the young Prince of All Cosmos as he rolls up objects around Earth into big balls using magical devices known as katamar

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an expert on video game history, but before Shovel Knight made indies mainstream, I credit games like Limbo for putting them on the radar in the first place. In an industry increasingly dominated by big-studio, big-budget, big-name titles, it was notable for a game like this to break out from the noise and find widespread acclaim. I didn't end up playing more than the first few chapters when I originally bought it on PC, but I've never had enough time to dedicate to PC gaming in the first place. Once I bought the game on my phone though, that was a different story. Thanks to the portability and generous checkpoints, I could pick up and play for minutes at a time, slowly working my way through Playdead's dark world. Limbo is a game about a boy trying to find his sister. The plot leaves a lot of room for interpretation beyond that, but to avoid giving anything else away, I'll just say that I was surprised, then confused, and fina

Brought to us by the talent behind World of Goo , Little Inferno manages to capture the same demented, yet emotionally complex, style of entertainment again. I'll be honest, it was because of that pedigree that I first bought the game for my iPod Touch , and despite going into it blind, I had a great time from start to finish! Fast forward nearly a decade and I'm starting to crave the games of my childhood again, with Little Inferno at the forefront of that nostalgia. While I could say it was to be as true to my original experience as possible, I actually whipped out an old iPhone 4S to play this because I was too cheap to buy the game again. I'll need to repurchase it eventually so I can play that awesome new Christmas DLC, but the iPhone was good enough for now. Little Inferno is a game about burning your stuff, buying new stuff, and burning that too. In an effort to throw a rug over the constantly worsening climate crisis right outside your door, you receive a Little

What do you do when one of your favorite mobile game developers releases a unique demo for their upcoming co-op-only game? You charge up one of your old phones and double-fist that sucker, obviously. At least, that's what I did. I love the Rusty Lak e series and the world it's slowly crafting l, but finding another person to play with (without committing to some stranger on Discord ) is a pretty big hurdle at this point in my life, so it was just easier for me to play both of the game roles on my own. Honestly, I might even recommend that for other introverts or lonely folks, since it makes The Past Within Lite feel just like the previous Cube Escape games, just with two screens. Keeping in line with the series motif that "the past is never dead, It's not even past," The Past Within Lite has players begin by choosing whether they will play in the past or the future. Players in a cooperating pair must choose a different time from one another, as puzzles in one t

I remember my mind being blown when Pokémon Shuffle was announced. It didn't look like anything super special, especially since I already owned Battle Trozei , which seemed very similar. However, this was the first major free title that I had heard of from the franchise, and getting a Pokémon game for free was more than enough to get me hyped. Upon release, I played the 3DS version of Shuffle until I was sick of it. I had a lot of fun at first, but it eventually got to the point that it seemed nearly impossible to progress without caving to the microtransactions, so I moved on. Now, over half a decade later, I was ready to play it again, but I took advantage of the convenience of the mobile phone version this time. Pokémon Shuffle is a pretty vanilla match-3 puzzle game. There are Pokémon elements implemented that tie it especially well to the sixth-generation games, but nothing that particularly makes it stand out. The general structure of the game is built around defeating

Pokémon Picross is a strange one. Not to be confused with the free-to-start 3DS  release of the same name, this Gameboy Color game was never actually released. It was almost entirely finished, and the leaked and translated version that I played felt like it was nearly ready to go, but it never actually made it out to the world in any official capacity. While it may have a few quirks, Pokémon Picross feels like it fills the roles of both a  Pokémon game and a  Picross game pretty well, making it a good time for fans of both franchises, such as myself. When it comes to Picross games, this is a fairly standard affair, feeling very similar to the likes of Mario's Picross , save for two Pokémon -focused features. The first is your partner Pokémon . Every few pages of puzzles, the game will show a mini interaction between you and a Pokémon  who can then appear on the puzzle screen as your partner. The difference partners don't change the gameplay at all, but it's a cute fea

I consider Puzzle & Dragons to be the grandfather of all mobile RPGs. While the game itself might feel a little dated today, its mechanics will be very familiar to anyone who has played an RPG on their phone in the past decade. Player levels and stamina, normal and premium currencies, character summoning and fusion, story and event stages, it's all here. Frankly, most of those things are designed more around a player's wallet than their enjoyment, but the addictive tendency of games like this means that people are all too happy to accept the abuse and move on. That usually applies to me too, I did just play Pokémon 's take on this formula not too long ago, but I surprisingly just wasn't hooked this time around. I was actually really excited to play Puzzle & Dragons . I was hankering for some sort of match-3 puzzle game, and P&D 's blend of a super unique matching system and RPG elements seemed perfect for me at the time. When I first opened the app, I

I seem to have a thing for mobile games about cats, and I am a huge fan of Nintendo 's Picross series. Normally those two interests don't overlap, but Meow Tower changed that. Combining the fun of befriending cute cartoon cats and solving intricate number puzzles hooked me immediately. While it's technically not a Picross game, seeing as that is a Nintendo trademark, the nonogram puzzles are still the same, and I loved being able to play them on my phone. Granted, there have been plenty of options to play these kinds of puzzles on the phone for years, but Meow Tower  sets itself apart from the rabble thanks to its stellar aesthetic. The developers behind this game are true artists. While it's a solid, straightforward nonogram game at its core, Meow Tower just looks so much better to play than any of the numerous generic options that crowd the app stores. The bubbly sticker-book style used for the art and menus gives Meow Tower a lot of charm and personality from t

I wasn't always a fan of falling-block puzzle games like I am now. The stress of simultaneously planning and acting really put me off from the experience. I eventually warmed up to Tetris and its contemporaries, but I was still wary of Dr. Mario . I'm not sure what held me back, but I just had no interest in giving the game a chance. I have since come around to find that it offers a truly unique experience, and now I have a lot of fun with it. Contrary to the typical structure of a falling-block puzzle game, Dr. Mario is not endless. When you start playing, your screen already has viruses scattered around, giving you a pre-determined playing field, rather than one you make for yourself like you would in Tetris . Viruses are cleared by connecting them with pills. Four or more units (viruses or pills) of the same color in a horizontal or vertical line will automatically be cleared. If only half of a pill is cleared, the unused portion will remain on the screen and fall down if

Even though I knew this was a direct spinoff of Super Mario 3D World before I started playing, I was surprised by how familiar it felt. Obviously, the game's whole premise comes from the cute side-levels scattered throughout 3D World , but the two games have more in common than that. Sharing a soundtrack, HUD, enemy selection, and control scheme (even down to the touchscreen) made the whole experience feel very comfortable and familiar. Just like 3D World , Treasure Tracker ends up being pretty short if you just play through the levels to beat them. However, it offers a lot more to do if you tackle all of the additional challenges, making for a pretty meaty experience. Throughout this surprisingly hefty game, you'll play as Captain Toad and Captain Toadette as they hunt for treasure and repeatedly rescue each other from some pretty perilous situations. Just like the side-levels in 3D World , most of the adventure takes place in these meticulously crafted little dioramas, gi

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Samorost , but it certainly wasn't this. My understanding was that this was some sort of peculiar point-and-click title, which was somewhat correct. However, I underestimated just how bizarre the world of Samorost could be, and I was blown away at how atmospheric and engrossing its environments were. I think I came into the game expecting the puzzles to be what held my attention the most, so I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed exploring the environment more. Samorost is very short but very engrossing. It started life as a Flash game created for a college project and has since been re-released outside of Flash in order to promote its two premium sequels. This updated version supports different screen resolutions and is in high definition, but it retains everything else from the original release. Considering Samorost from the perspective of it being a Flash game, its point-and-click structure makes a lot of sense, but

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was actually my introduction to the Layton series. I beat it for the first time just recently, but I have tried to start the game at least a few times over the past decade. I was fascinated by the characters, the puzzles, the mini-games, and everything in between, but I just wasn't dedicated enough to the story or the concept when I first tried it out. However, once I had beaten Curious Village , revisiting Diabolical Box made a lot of sense. Right out of the gate, it is clear that this is a sequel done right. The foundation of the original was strong and remains relatively unaltered here, but quality-of-life changes and fixes to the repetitive nature help this game to vastly outshine its predecessor. Most of what I found charming and enjoyable about Curious Village still applies here, and practically all of my complaints have been addressed in some way. The cute story and humorous characters return, but now with a larger cast of unique p

When Dr. Mario World  was first released, I was worried that it would just be another Candy Crush with virtually endless levels and premium boosters that become a necessity in the later stages. To a degree, I was right. I chose to pass on this one for the longest time, and it wasn't until the official end-of-life date for the game was announced that I thought I should finally try it. I had a mild case of FOMO, if you will. While all of the pressure to spend money was still very much in-tact, the microtransactions themselves were permanently disabled, which made me just comfortable enough to appreciate what the game was actually offering. Dr. Mario World isn't Dr. Mario as you remember it, but the influence of the original is still clear enough. Beyond the aesthetic similarities seen in the pills and viruses, this new puzzler retains the structure of slowly whittling away at a screen full of colored blocks by color-matching three in a row. However, Dr. Mario World literally f