Baba is You (PC) (2019)

20230319:
Whoa! This is such an awesome innovative puzzle game. I think it has a balance of difficulty with enough puzzles that can be solved to unlock new puzzles. But it also has challenging puzzles that are optional.

The general pattern is "Object has SomeProperty," e.g., "Baba is You" (the game's title). But soon the player learns how it is necessary to to think outside the box.

Steam Game Time: 2.2 hours (cumulative game time)

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20230321 (AM Hours):
This game was so fun. I would have played more but the Steam Deck ran out of battery.

Steam Game Time: 3.0 hours (cumulative game time)

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20230323 Snapshot:
This entry should cover play on the 21st and 22nd. I'm trying not to obsess over any single puzzle. To clarify, at least during these two days I switched to this mindset.

Steam Game Time: 6.0 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230322

[20230322][20231019 Edit]

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20230324:
Steam Game Time: 9.1 hours (cumulative game time)

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20230331 Snapshot:
I've been playing on and off over the last few days and decided to not submit individual entries. I'm trying to go in order of areas by number and not lingering too much when I get stuck on a level. One of the tougher mechanics for me to deal with is "shift." Meanwhile "on" is challenging but somehow logically reasonable to deal with.

Steam Game Time: 24.4 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230331

[20230331][20231020 Edit]

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20230404 Snapshot:
I'm pretty close to the point where I'm stuck on all levels which I have access to, and I'm unable to make new progress. I did, however, solve one or two difficult puzzles.

Steam Game Time: 30.6 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230402

[20230402][20231020 Edit]

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20230404 (AM Hours):
I figured out "Lovely House" (and it followed that I figured out "Skull House" which is the same). I also figured out "Lock the Door" in the Deep Forest area. I still have "Insulation" left though.

Steam Game Time: 31.6 hours (cumulative game time)

[20230404][20231020 Edit]

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20230414 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 31.9 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230406

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20230417 Snapshot:
By now I've definitely completed a number of puzzles that stumped me, only to encounter more difficult puzzles. The other day I completed the primary campaign level, but I'm far from being able to 100% the game.

I'm stuck on the following levels (though some I just open and immediately exit the level whenever I feel I've already spent an overwhelming amount of time on them):
10: (dot)
9: 04, 09, 11, (dot)
7: 05, (2 dots)
???: 04
6: 08, 12
5: E

I tried spending more time with "Insulation" (5E) but did not succeed at solving it. One interesting position was facing left above "Wall." This stacks two walls to the far left, but it doesn't make use of "up" and it doesn't really seem to give any advantages to the word "wall."

Steam Game Time: 41.0 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230417

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20230704:
I occasionally turn this game on and think about a problem or two.

Steam Game Time: 42.4 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20230702

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Rating: 5.8/5

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Is_You
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/

River City Girls (PC) (2019)

Overview: Play as Kyoko or Misako and save their boyfriends, Kunio and Riki (the protagonists in River City Ransom), in this beat 'em up.

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20230318:
Thus far this beat 'em up has straightforward beat 'em up mechanics. I do, however, find the game difficult. In particular, I'm stuck at the first boss, and I'm trying to figure out how to counter her running move.

Setup: using Proton 6.3-8 instead of the default (presumably the default is the latest release) allows for the cutscene before the first boss to play. It is weird why the opening intro is not affected by this. In any case, another problem on the Steam Deck is the game is wider than the display and there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it.

Steam Game Time: 44 minutes

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20230319:
After making my notes for 20230318, I searched how to fix the resolution problem. I found there are reviews specific to Steam Deck Verified. Reviews there confirmed the use of Proton 6.3-8 as solving the cutscene issue. One review, however, also mentioned that the default resolution has an aspect ratio of 16:10, and suggested forcing the game to use 720p, which has an spect ratio of 16:9, instead. I tried it and it worked.

Gameplay Log:
After fixing the resolution problem, I beat the first boss when I realized I could walk up and down and have the boss hit the pillars.
Later in the evening I played some more in 1080p. There were no obvious instances of text which I remember but I think it was good since 1080p has an aspect ratio of 16:9. I played up to arriving at the construction site.

Steam Game Time: 2.1 hours (cumulative game time) / 1.4 hours (session game time)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good art style
+ Fun dialogue (enjoyable-to-read)

Neutral:
~ Unlock moves by collecting coins

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Summary:
None at this time

Rating: 4.4/5

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River City Girls (PC) (2019)

Relevant Links:
River City Girls (Wikipedia.org)
River City Girls (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
River City Girls (steamdb.info)
River City Girls (Steam Store Page)

Pawnbarian (PC) (2021)

Overview: A puzzle game which uses chess-based pieces and rules as a foundation and layers on special modifiers and a card system.

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20230307:
This game is interesting with a lot of characters for replay value. I still getting used to some of the rules. I wish there was a way to preview a move.

After playing the Pawnbarian character, I tried the Knight Templar. The Knight-focused gameplay requires... unknown. It's a strategy which is likely out of my reach so early on. I'm still in the mindset of chess when this game is clearly not chess.

Steam Game Time: 91 minutes

[20230307][20231019 Edit]

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20230310:
Today I played as Pawnbarian in the second area where most enemies have a spark ability, which results in me using extra actions less frequently. I was able to complete it with about three rounds into the gauntlet. However, I'm thinking maybe I should ignore the gauntlet until I play through the game with all the characters first.

Steam Game Time: 2.7 hours (cumulative game time)

[20230307][20231019 Edit]

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20230311:
Today I completed the second and third rooms as Pawnbarian. Then I decided to move onto the Golem Fortress as Knight Templar. Later in the evening I completed Golem Fortress and the third room as Knight Templar.

Steam Game Time: 4.4 hours (cumulative game time)

[20230307][20231019 Edit]

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Rating: 4.0/5

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1142080/Pawnbarian/

Hexologic (PC) (2018)

Overview: A puzzle game where the goal is to fill tiles with values so that their sums match the target values.

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20230304:
The goal of the game is to fill spaces with values 1, 2, or 3 so that the sum of the tiles matches those indicated along the edges. In the default mode, the game will indicate if the sum of the tiles exactly matches the value indicated. In hard mode, the game does not provide this indication. Unfortunately, I did not know about hard mode and played through the first 90 basic levels in default mode. I would have easily played the entire game in hard mode.
Steam Game Time: 2.0 hours (total game time)

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20230305:
Today I completed the game: 90 basic levels and 21 bonus levels in hard mode. It was tedious replaying the 90 basic levels in hard mode, because I didn't need to play them in the default mode to begin with. Anyways, the game is fairly easy - I don't recall any puzzles that stumped me. In general, every puzzle required finding the key, which is the part(s) of the puzzle which forced specific values. For example, a "6" which is the sum of two tiles implies that each of the two tiles is a "3". As such, this game belongs to the set of easy puzzle games where tediously make my way through the levels until I reach the end. With that being said, I like how puzzle solving in Hexologic is more rooted in logic and less in guess-and-check (e.g., Lyne is a puzzle game which heavily relies on guess-and-check, because logic can only get one so far).

While most of the puzzles were easy, there were one or two special puzzles towards the very end which I enjoyed solving due to the challenged they pose.

Steam Game Time: 4.9 hours (total game time) / 2.9 hours (session game time)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+Great sound effects

Neutral:
~The game was mildly challenging at times

Cons:
-The UI is full of symbols and no words.

Rating: 3.6/5

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Summary:
None at this time

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Hexologic (PC) (2018)

Relevant Links:
Hexologic (Wikipedia.org)
Hexologic (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Hexologic (steamdb.info)
Hexologic (Steam Store Page)