Overview: Short free-to-play platformer.
20250523:
A person on my Steam friends list completed this game so I decided to play it myself.
Setup: Controller
Steam Game Time: 1.1 hours
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Free
+ Atmospheric
+ Mysterious, intriguing story
Summary:
While not amazing, it was an enjoyable free experience.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5
MANDAGON (PC) (2016)
Relevant Links:
MANDAGON (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
MANDAGON (steamdb.info)
MANDAGON (Steam Store Page)
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Friday, May 23, 2025
Saturday, May 17, 2025
We Were Here (PC) (2017)
Overview: A fre to play, escape room. Your partner is separated from you. But with a walkie talkie available to communicate with them, communicate to escape.
20250517:
Sathwik and I play the first few rooms of the game.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse. In-game communication. Note that in-game communication is a must, because it works walkie-talkie style.
Gameplay Log:
We were previously on Discord while playing Path of Exile 2. As the game connected us in-game, we disconnected that.
I think there was a sort of tension as I'm initially trying to contact him and not knowing if he knew how to work the walkie talkie. Or in fact if I knew how to work the walkie talkie. Perhaps he hadn't even found the walkie talkie. I was tempted to send a message over Discord. Which in hindsight was interesting, because we were able to hear each other in the lobby prior to starting the game.
The first puzzle ended up reminding me of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. And possibly subsequent puzzles as well but less straightforward as Keep Talking
In the room where the room starts flooding, I remember feeling perhaps like they did in Star Wars: Episode IV trapped in the garbage compactor and Luke calls frantically to C-3PO to turn it off.
We spent some time in the next room in which I had to navigate a series of rooms, perhaps I could have written it down. And he had some information that likely would help. However, it was getting late for Sathwik as he was in Central Time (so hitting 2 AM CT), so we called it a night before solving what he saw were three books of one color and two books of another color.
Steam Game Time: 40 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Atmospheric and tension, there were moments where the music alone kind of spooked me out. And at one point I thought I saw something pass in the hallways that gave me a mini-jumpscare
+ Puzzles require teamwork and thought (should only play with someone who you think would be equally capable of escaping an escape room)
Neutral:
~ Simpler graphics (the focus on gameplay makes this not so important). It can be considered a pro in the sense that it lowers the bar on what systems are capable of running the game (e.g., can run the game on a Surface Pro)
Summary:
As far as I can recall, this would be the first video game that I've played in the escape room genre, specifically in the full spirit of an escape room. I've only ever done one escape room in real life. While this game fills a niche, I'd much rather play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, which I would give a higher rating than this game. I would, regardless, be likely to complete this game and other games in the series.
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
We Were Here (PC) (2017)
Relevant Links:
We Were Here (series) (Wikipedia.org)
We Were Here (steamdb.info)
We Were Here (Steam Store Page)
20250517:
Sathwik and I play the first few rooms of the game.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse. In-game communication. Note that in-game communication is a must, because it works walkie-talkie style.
Gameplay Log:
We were previously on Discord while playing Path of Exile 2. As the game connected us in-game, we disconnected that.
I think there was a sort of tension as I'm initially trying to contact him and not knowing if he knew how to work the walkie talkie. Or in fact if I knew how to work the walkie talkie. Perhaps he hadn't even found the walkie talkie. I was tempted to send a message over Discord. Which in hindsight was interesting, because we were able to hear each other in the lobby prior to starting the game.
The first puzzle ended up reminding me of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. And possibly subsequent puzzles as well but less straightforward as Keep Talking
In the room where the room starts flooding, I remember feeling perhaps like they did in Star Wars: Episode IV trapped in the garbage compactor and Luke calls frantically to C-3PO to turn it off.
We spent some time in the next room in which I had to navigate a series of rooms, perhaps I could have written it down. And he had some information that likely would help. However, it was getting late for Sathwik as he was in Central Time (so hitting 2 AM CT), so we called it a night before solving what he saw were three books of one color and two books of another color.
Steam Game Time: 40 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Atmospheric and tension, there were moments where the music alone kind of spooked me out. And at one point I thought I saw something pass in the hallways that gave me a mini-jumpscare
+ Puzzles require teamwork and thought (should only play with someone who you think would be equally capable of escaping an escape room)
Neutral:
~ Simpler graphics (the focus on gameplay makes this not so important). It can be considered a pro in the sense that it lowers the bar on what systems are capable of running the game (e.g., can run the game on a Surface Pro)
Summary:
As far as I can recall, this would be the first video game that I've played in the escape room genre, specifically in the full spirit of an escape room. I've only ever done one escape room in real life. While this game fills a niche, I'd much rather play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, which I would give a higher rating than this game. I would, regardless, be likely to complete this game and other games in the series.
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
We Were Here (PC) (2017)
Relevant Links:
We Were Here (series) (Wikipedia.org)
We Were Here (steamdb.info)
We Were Here (Steam Store Page)
Friday, May 9, 2025
Human Fall Flat (PC) (2016)
Overview: Physics-based puzzle game.
20250509:
Today I played some of this game with my friend Sathwik.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse
Gameplay Log:
Complete "Mansion"
Complete "Train"
Complete "Carry"
Complete "Mountain"
Complete "Demolition"
Steam Game Time: 83 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ instructional videos
+ funny
+ multiple solutions available / promotes creativity
Neutral:
~ most puzzles can be solved with a single player, but can be solved differently or handy to have two players tackling
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
Summary:
Human Fall Flat is certainly not the best co-op I've played. I also find it lacking in the puzzle department. However, it is at times charming with it's physics-based mechanics.
Human Fall Flat (PC) (2016)
Relevant Links:
None at this time Human Fall Flat (Wikipedia.org)
Human Fall Flat (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Human Fall Flat (steamdb.info)
Human Fall Flat (Steam Store Page)
20250509:
Today I played some of this game with my friend Sathwik.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse
Gameplay Log:
Complete "Mansion"
Complete "Train"
Complete "Carry"
Complete "Mountain"
Complete "Demolition"
Steam Game Time: 83 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ instructional videos
+ funny
+ multiple solutions available / promotes creativity
Neutral:
~ most puzzles can be solved with a single player, but can be solved differently or handy to have two players tackling
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
Summary:
Human Fall Flat is certainly not the best co-op I've played. I also find it lacking in the puzzle department. However, it is at times charming with it's physics-based mechanics.
Human Fall Flat (PC) (2016)
Relevant Links:
None at this time Human Fall Flat (Wikipedia.org)
Human Fall Flat (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Human Fall Flat (steamdb.info)
Human Fall Flat (Steam Store Page)
Friday, May 2, 2025
Counter-Strike 2 (PC) (2012)
Overview: Play as either terrorists or counter-terrorists in this competitive first-person shooter.
20250502 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 2.2 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: Unknown
20250502:
Today I played some of this game with my friends. At first it was just two of us and then later we played as three. We had tried a match versus players, then played versus bots for a while. We did one round of games being on the same team, but later we rotated one person on terrorists and two on counter-terrorists. We then returned to trying a match versus players.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse.
Steam Game Time: 4.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.6 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Visual clarity
+ Nice purchase interface
Neutral:
~ Casual play doesn't seem to incorporate player skill to find match, and I want to have my friends be on my team, but doesn't seem possible
~ I'd like to be able to adjust difficult of bots in practice mode [apparently you can with the console]
Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Summary:
None at this time
Counter-Strike 2 (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Counter-Strike 2 (Wikipedia.org)
Counter-Strike 2 (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Counter-Strike 2 (steamdb.info)
Counter-Strike 2 (Steam Store Page)
20250502 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 2.2 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: Unknown
20250502:
Today I played some of this game with my friends. At first it was just two of us and then later we played as three. We had tried a match versus players, then played versus bots for a while. We did one round of games being on the same team, but later we rotated one person on terrorists and two on counter-terrorists. We then returned to trying a match versus players.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse.
Steam Game Time: 4.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.6 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Visual clarity
+ Nice purchase interface
Neutral:
~ Casual play doesn't seem to incorporate player skill to find match, and I want to have my friends be on my team, but doesn't seem possible
~ I'd like to be able to adjust difficult of bots in practice mode [apparently you can with the console]
Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Summary:
None at this time
Counter-Strike 2 (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Counter-Strike 2 (Wikipedia.org)
Counter-Strike 2 (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Counter-Strike 2 (steamdb.info)
Counter-Strike 2 (Steam Store Page)