Escaping the Underworld || Hades [PC]

 "I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows." -- Plato

    First, an apology. I had promised to write every Wednesday, but since this game came out it has eaten up the majority of my gaming time. Rogue-like games are not really my forte, but something about this game mixing with my love of Greek mythology really drew me in. I have recommended this game to everyone. I got my husband addicted to it, I've gotten my friend to start playing it... and I'm going to recommend you play it too, but I guess I'm putting my cart before the horse here. I haven't even said  what game I am talking about. Let's start over.

    We're talking of course, about Hades. Hades is a rogue-like game by SuperGiant where you see yourself as Zagreus, son of Hades who wishes to leave the deep depths of Tartarus and find his mother on the surface. This is no easy task. Hades refuses to let you leave, and will do everything in his power to stop you, including giving you a smack down himself. I have yet to make it past Hades yet, the two times I have made it there, but I continue to try. As you make your way through the reaches of the Underworld, the other Greek Gods will offer you boons and power ups to aid in your escape. There's a lot of variety so you can power up Zag to suit whatever your play style is. 

Don't tell me what to do, DAD! 

    One of the biggest pluses of this game for me is the style. The artwork is beautiful, the environments are lush and vibrant, and the characters are nice to look at too. The game is full voiced, and all of the voices really fit the characters that have them. My friend TK who started playing said she "could listen to Zagreus talk all day" which I have to agree with. The music is also wonderful, and I don't mind re-listening to it all every time I die and have to start over (about 15 times so far).

    Every time to die, you lose your boons and gold, but you get to keep the darkness gems you earn to power up Zagreus's base stats a bit, including a skill that revives you so you can continue your run. There are many different variants of bosses, so you never know what you're going to end up with. Except Theseus and the Minotaur. It's always them, and I HATE Theseus and the Minotaur. It's such a relief when I beat them though, like an adrenaline high. Now if I could just get past both of Hades phases..

Elysium is so pretty, this is even the background on my PC.

    As I mentioned before, rogue-like games are not my forte. Hades, however, with the variety of weapons and the boons that you can gain from the gods, really helps to level the playing field and lower the skill ceiling so that winning ti attainable even for weaklings like me. I think this is a great way to help get players into a game, and build skill. Not every run is going to be great. Sometime you can't get the boons you really want and it means trying a little harder to get through those rooms. This will inevitably help build some skill for this type of game. 

    Overall, I feel like this game can appeal to a wide variety of people for a variety of reasons, and would highly recommend giving it a try for yourself. You can get Hades on Steam HERE for 24.99, and I believe it's also available on the Switch. If you have played Hades, what do you think of it? Have you made it through Hades himself yet?

Aw, thanks Dad. 

    Thank you, as always, for spending some time with me. I hope you're staying safe and healthy, and if you live in the North East of the US like I do, I hope you're staying warm because it's getting chilly. The leaves are changing and it's absolutely gorgeous out here in the country. Grab a cup of hot coffee or hot cocoa and take a breather. I'll see you all next week! 

Bell

Parkour! || Stumblehill (PC)

“You don’t just stumble into the future. You create your own future.” -Roger Smith

Title

Stumblehill is an adorable, if frustration inducing, platformer adventure created by Hempuli. You play as a penguin named Ecki who wakes up alone in his nest and begins a journey to the tallest mountain. Ecki travels through fields, caves, windmills and faces all kinds of danger to reach his destination, but Ecki’s biggest danger is you.

The controls are the biggest obstacle in this game, and I struggled to get through. There are times where you have to be more precise in your jumps and the way poor Ecki stumbles, rotates in the air or launches himself off cliffs even can result in a lot of trial and error to get through some areas. Admittedly, platformers are not really my strong suit. I did appreciate the amount of checkpoint flags that were provided, so that if you fall a long way or get stuck you can just hit “Z” and restart at the last flag you touched.

I love the windmills

The art style for this game is adorable. Ecki is the cutest penguin I have ever seen, and despite the times I sighed in exasperation and resented him, I still wanted to give him a hug. The environments are vibrant, the colors are beautiful, and the levels are well crafted and thoughtfully put together. The Windmill area was my favorite, I think, although the caves were really beautiful as well.

The music was relaxing and enjoyable, and the sound effects were fitting, even if I got sick of hearing Ecki fall on the ground (I guess I just shouldn’t have fallen so much). Poor Ecki cries every time he gets up after he falls, the poor guy. He was crying the whole adventure for me, but he made it!

My daughter was sitting with me while I played through some of the levels. There are signs that sort of show a picture and a key as a helpful aide for controls. Though, they weren’t always clear what was being asked of us, so my daughter interjected, “I don’t understand SIGN language (paused for laugh).” There is a way to check the controls on the opening screen of the game, so it wasn’t hard to figure the controls out, but I wanted to share that story anyway because I love my daughter and it was cute.

Ecki continues on...

Over all I enjoyed the adventure. There were times I got frustrated, but thanks to the abundance of checkpoints I never had to redo a large amount of work to get back to where I was. The game isn’t long either, so it doesn’t become repetitive or boring. You can check the game out for yourself, it’s free from Itch.io HERE. Be sure to leave some feedback for Hempuli and let them know how you liked it.

As always, thank you for stopping in today. Have you played games where the controls are purposely(or unintentionally) frustrating? Do you think a little penguin could really make such a long journey? Let me know what you thought in the comments below. Have a great day everyone, see you next time!

Silence! The Elder Speaks (PC)

“The world is merely as you perceive it, so shape it into what you want to see.” --Shaman, Silence! The Elder Speaks

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Silence! The Elder Speaks is a retro RPG style game created by First Fossil Press. You play as the shaman of a small forest village, and in your old age it has become time for you to choose a successor to train as the next shaman. It will be up to you to make choices in how you plan to inform the villagers (to tell the truth, or a more pleasing lie), as well as choices of how to treat the villagers, including the possibility of saving one of their lives or allowing them to die.

There are 3 different apprentices for you to choose from, 2 boys and 1 girl. One of the boys is energetic and talkative, although he seems a bit scatterbrained. The second boy is more neurotic, and a perfectionist. The girl is a bit of a wild card. She seems smart and reliable, but also strange. I chose the girl as my apprentice in my play through (girl power!), so I am unsure if the other apprentices yield different events.  

Source: Screen Capture from Game

You choose your apprentice at a ceremony, and you are asked to tell everyone a story. You get to create this story Mad Libs style—a story of creation. As such, you are naming your own god and telling how your world was created. My story was gross—oceans of saliva? Yuck. My God’s name was also named Grant. Grant the Giant. This led to me laughing out loud when a villager exclaimed, “GRANT DAMMIT!” in anger.

I really liked the graphics of the game. The sprites are cute, with enough detail to give each character their own identifiable appearance. The environments are colorful and cute, I particularly like the appearance of the trees. The animations were all smooth, as were the controls. The controls can be personalized, which is always a plus as well. The music seems minimal, and has a tribal feel to it, which isn’t bad. The music seems to fit well with the game.

The game is entertaining, and even humorous. There are many joke lines in reference to pop culture, although one of my favorite joke references can be found on a tombstone, as seen below:

Source: Screen Captures from Game

Overall, I did like the game. In my playthrough, I missed a few quests. I got the rating of “You did alright.” So, I have that going for me. It’s better than I expected, considering I killed a villager (inadvertently, mind you). I do wish the game had been longer. At the end you are left as the successor that you chose, and you go out to be shaman on your own. I felt it could have been tied up in a better way, perhaps.

The two issues I had were that, in dialogue boxes, there were no names for the NPCs, so sometimes I had no idea who was talking. I mean, obviously I was talking to them, but without knowing their names the characters felt less memorable. 

The game was pretty short, about a half an hour long for me. The game is free to download and play from Itch.io *here*. Please give it a play and let me know how you did! As always, be sure to leave comments of encouragement, or helpful criticism, to help the developers improve their skills and future releases.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

Free Itch.io Games #8

Hello, Friends! Welcome once again to “What Can We Find on Itch.io!” Where we dig deep into the free games catalog on Itch.io to find, hopefully, some hidden gems around them. Let’s get down to business! (To defeat <dun dun> the Huns….)

1. Kaiju Dating Simulator

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Kaiju Dating Simulator is a dating simulation game(duh) created by Chaheezor. You play as a normal human having a stroll in the park, when you encounter a monstrous creature—Godxena. Godxena is a large lizard like the more familiar Godzilla.  You can end up with 3 different endings depending on the choices you make.

This game is very short, taking me only 5 minutes to complete, but it was humorous all the same. The art is not amazing, and I did encounter a couple of issues through the game (one click skipping a few lines of dialogue, and at one point Godxena became see through). However, the game is free and was entertaining. You can try the game for yourself by downloading from Itch.io *here*.

2. Shrub Bubs

Source: Itch.io

Shrub Bubs is a simulator game where you take care of plants created by carpetbones. I’ll be perfectly honest, I didn’t get anywhere in this game. Which upset me because the trailer looked super cute. I have no idea what I am supposed to do. No matter what, my plant just sighs and seems unhappy. So I gave up(bad me), but I didn’t know what else to do.

The pixel graphics are cute, and so is the plant. You have controls for temperature, water and the sunlight. Perhaps you can fare better than I did. If you want to give it a try, you can download it for free from Itch.io *here*.

3. Something to Hide

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Something to Hide is a short action game created in a combined effort from FuryAndMadness, AcidSpaceshipp, Alex Evdokimov, and Sveta Sokolova. In Something to Hide, you play as a young lady who is left to hide her Uncle’s monsters before someone comes to take them away! I actually found this game to be pretty cute. I like the animations of the girl and the monsters, and the colors.

The issues I had with the game were the lack of hiding spaces (you seem to just hide them in the same 3 spots), and it was too easy. A challenge such as, “This monster likes darkness, hide it somewhere dark!” or something like that would have been appreciated. Still it was a cute little game to play, and it was free. You can try it for yourself for free by downloading from Itch.io *here*.

4. QUUR

Source: Screen Capture from Game

QUUR is an action adventure game created by a team of students at Supinfogame RUBIKA in France during the 2015-2016 school year. In this game, you exist in a world that is sustained by a magical liquid known as the color. You play as a strange being with the ability to manipulate the liquid. The game can be played with keyboard or a controller, but the game felt a lot better being played with a controller(to me anyway).

The most wonderful thing about this game is that it is BEAUTIFUL. The visual graphics and the vibrant colors really make this game stunning to behold. The music and the sound effects are also beautiful. The controls felt a bit slow to me, but the game also ran a bit slow for me, so I can’t say whether it was due to the control scheme or because of my computer. In any case, this game is a beautiful visual experience, and I highly recommend a play through. You can download the game for free from Itch.io *here*.

As always, be sure to leave your words of encouragement or helpful criticism so that the creators can continue to improve their skills and creations.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

See the Gaming in Pajamas Compendium *HERE*

Follow me on: Twitter @Bellannmae

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Email: bellannmae@gmail.com

Ciiko's Bridge (PC)

"I believe there is another world out there, a better word, and I'll be waiting for you there." 

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Ciiko’s Bridge is a visual novel, adventure rpg created by Skyharborr. You may remember Skyharborr from one of my demo blogs (this one *here*) where I talked about a demo for their new game “A Fox in the Hollyhocks”—which I loved. Ciiko’s Bridge is a story about an adventurous boy named Taku, and his protective older brother, Jinsuke.

On this day, Taku is preparing to go on another adventure into the forest to see what he can find. Before we go adventuring though, we need to eat some breakfast! Jinsuke sends Taku off to Kamiya general store to get some milk. Taku sets off and gets to the store. Once there, he talks with Shinji a bit. Shinji tells Taku that old man Eden is coming by and telling his famous stories today. Excited to hear old man Eden’s story, Taku takes the milk and hurries home. Sadly, it seems Taku missed his story, but Jinsuke fills Taku in:

When the fog is thick, if you take 2 and a half silver coins, hold them tightly in your hand and walk under the bridge, you’ll be transported to another dimension.

Taku is fascinated by this story, and he can’t wait to try it himself! The next day when the fog rolls in, Taku sees his chance. Jinsuke firmly protests, but after arguing, pleading and crying, Jinsuke relents, telling him to be careful. Taku agrees and off he goes to the bridge. Holding the 2 and a half silver coins in his hand, Taku prepares himself, then walks under the bridge through the fog…

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Once Taku passes under the bridge he finds himself in an unknown place. This new place is a stunning forest. As Taku tries to gain his bearings in this unknown place, he is greeted by a figure that greatly resembles Shinji. The figure tells Taku that he is the Passagekeeper, and explains a little bit about how the multiverse works. Such as, you can only travel to a world where “you” do not already exist. So Taku was able to come to this world, the forest of Caligo, because no other Taku exists here.  Caligo is also ruled by the Forest Lord.

 Taku also learns that to return home he will need another 2 and a half silver coins, since the coins are taken as fare. Silver does not appear common in Caligo, however, so Taku will have to try to work for it. So, Taku travels into the forest to find some of the locals to see what he can do to earn some money.

There are five others to meet in Caligo Forest. Prince Ratsu, who is a faun, Tanukawa, the racoon dog, Riku and Hare, the conjoined pair, and the Forest Lord. Using a bartering system, you’ll have to find ways to make everyone happy so that they will pay you.

Source: Itch.io Page

I really appreciated the bartering system. I love a good bartering system, and Ciikos does a good job, for the most part. You CAN barter yourself into a corner, and only a certain number of items will provide the needed reactions from Ratsu. I created different saves to help protect myself, and it look me about 3 tries to get the combinations and reactions down.

The artwork in this game is super adorable, skyharborr is quite a talented artist. The music and sound effects are also fitting and well done. The colors are soft, but vibrant, and the characters are unique and interesting.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this game, despite the trouble I had a few times with the bartering system. There are a total of 5 endings, I believe, and I got two of them. Both of the endings I received were sweet and very heartwarming, so a heartwarming ending to a cute little game. The game is a bit longer, it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete the game the first time. If you would like to give this game a try for yourself, please download the game from its Itch.io page *here*.

As always, be sure to leave your words of encouragement or helpful criticism for the creator as well, to help them improve future creations.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

See the Gaming in Pajamas Compendium *HERE*

Follow me on: Twitter @bellannmae

Follow me on: Tumblr @bellannmae

Join me on: Steam

Email: bellannmae@gmail.com

The Missing Parts of Maria Gwozdek (PC)

“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”

Source: Screen Capture from Game

The Missing Parts of Maria Gwozdek is a horrifying, visual novel style game created by senokos. In this game, you play as a young woman named Maria who is down on her luck. Struggling to find work, and on the verge of being evicted, Maria is desperate for a solution. While out walking one night, Maria is confronted by a figure who introduces himself as Orin. Orin tells Maria that he can grant wishes, and that he will grant her wish and give her the job she desires in exchange for one of her organs/body parts.

Horrified, Maria flees back to her apartment for safety. Once there, she finds a piece of paper—a contract—that details the agreement. In exchange for a wish, Maria will sacrifice… and a blank space. Maria is able to fill the space with an organ to give up and get her dream job. By doing this, Maria agrees to the terms of the contract, although the extent of those terms is something Maria maybe should ask about before... oh, never mind, we're just going to sign it. Maria can choose to lose an eye or an ear. I played through multiple times to see the differences, but personally I feel I would rather give up an ear.

Source: Screen Capture from Game

When Maria goes to sleep, she dreams of a red room, named the Carmine Room, and muffled voices. The room has no exits, and the walls absorb every sound. Suddenly, a dark figure appears to, painfully, relieve Maria of her chosen body part….

In the morning, Maria receives a call, finding that she did get the job she wanted, and so desperately needed. Maybe sacrificing one body part isn’t so bad…? Things seem to be going so much better for Maria. She and her sister and getting along better, Maria has a new boyfriend, a great job…

After some time, however, Maria and her boyfriend have an altercation and her boyfriend is angry about the hours she has been working, going as far as asking if she is having an affair with her boss. He storms off and Maria laments, “I wish he understood what it was like to be missing a part of himself…” Unfortunately, Orin shows up again to tell Maria that she technically made a wish, so whether she likes it or not… it’s time to lose another body part. This time… we get to choose between an arm or a leg.

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Once again, Maria is subjected to the Carmine room and loses either an arm or a leg. Afterwards, you'll have one more choice left to make, but I won’t spoil it. Your final choice is tied more to the ending you receive.

The graphics in this game are nice. I like the minimalist backgrounds of the homes, and the pictures of the characters that show next to the dialogue boxes show only a shadow and eyes, adding to the feeling of darkness and unease.

Overall, I found this game horrifying, yet enthralling. It takes about a half an hour to complete one play through, and I played through twice to test out what losing the other body parts were like, and testing a different ending. If you enjoy psychological horror, then this is for you. You can download and play this game from free for its itch.io page *here*.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

Losing Control (PC)

"An occasional foray into negative emotions makes feeling normal that much sweeter." --Brandon Mull

Source: Itch.io Page

Losing Control is a game created by Lisa Janssens with programming help from Stef Colruyt. Losing Control is a game about the importance of negative feelings, and coming to terms with them. You play as a young lady, wrapped in winter gear, braving a snow storm. As you traverse through the storm, you will come upon small areas that almost appear as shrines. Examining these areas will provide some dialogue regarding a particular emotion and how it negatively can impact a person.

When I first started playing, I felt like we were almost going through the Kubler-Ross model for grieving. However, it soon struck me more as a piece on depression, or even many mental illnesses in general. It could apply to a myriad of conditions and circumstances. In the game you follow a circular path, similar to a cycle, and you trudge your way past each of the emotional landmarks a total of 3 times as your character comes to terms with her emotions and finally accepts them.

Source: Screen Capture from Game

I related to this game on a personal level. The feelings and emotions described are real feelings that many people experience through their lives, and it my case quite frequently when my depression flares up again. By walking a circular path, you’re going through the cycle of identifying your emotions, thinking of what those emotions mean to you, and finally accepting your emotions and using them in a positive way.

I like the graphics and imagery of the game. The void and emptiness of the snow backdrop adds to the feeling of the game, and the storm shows the struggle that the character is making to get through her feelings.

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Overall, I feel the game achieves its goal—to express the creator’s feelings and to help others who may be feeling the same. As I said before, in my struggles with depression, I recognize the cycle all too well. It’s a cycle that those who suffer with chronic depression know all too well. The game is thoughtfully written and lovingly crafted into a wonderful display.

I highly recommend playing the game for yourself, especially if you have experienced depression or other mental illnesses that involve your emotions. The game is free to download and play, and you can do so from the Itch.io page *here*.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

Maggie's Grinning Soul (PC)

Source: Itch.io Page

Maggie’s Grinning Soul is a point and click mystery game created is a collaborative effort by 8 students from the CNAM-ENJMIN and Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle. You play as Yolanda, a psychic detective who is tasked with investigating the unexplained death of a teenage girl named Maggie. You go to Maggie’s room in search of clues, and an object that will have a strong enough connection to commune with Maggie through a Ouija Board.

Once you find the correct object, you can talk with Maggie using yes and no questions. After you find the first object and establish a connection, you investigate other objects in the room to unlock more questions to ask. Be careful of the questions you ask, though. You may upset her spirit, and if you do that, it’s game over. The questioning works like a game of hangman, so you have a fair number of chances to make a mistake. I made a fair share, I assure you. If you die, you start over from the beginning of Maggie’s room. However, it doesn't seem that the order of the objects or questions change so it becomes more of a trial and error process. 

Source: Screen Capture from Game

I enjoyed the art style of the game, and I really liked Maggie’s room. It looks like what I would expect a teenager’s room to look like—for the most part. The art is detailed, and the color scheme is somewhat muted, which I also liked. The only character you really see drawn is your detective superior that gave you the job, so I kind of wish there had been more, perhaps the spirit or even Yolanda herself.

The sound effects are nice, and the music is intense and powerful. The game is fully voice acted which was a nice touch as well, and the VAs did a good job. The very beginning of the game starts like an episode of Law and Order, and made me laugh even. “The is one of their stories….” I almost expected the Law and Order sound effect to play.

The controls are nice, I didn’t have any trouble, although it did take me some time to figure out what I needed to do since I didn’t read the tutorial. I also didn’t realize that there was more to the room than the first screen, since you have to move your mouse all the way to the edge of the screen for the cursor to become the pointing hand of movement, and the hand seems so tiny that I didn’t see it at first.

I do not want to spoil the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t what I expected. After the credits, you can hear your superior calling you about another case, which hopefully means there will be a sequel! If that is the case, I certainly look forward to it.

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Considering that 8 students made this game, it is well polished and a good quality of game. The story is solid, the art is nice, the voice acting is well done, and I didn’t run into any weird bugs or glitches when I played through. Overall a very solid and well made little game. You can try the game for yourself by downloading it from Itch.io *here*. The game is free so why not?

Be sure to leave your comments of encouragement, or helpful criticism, to help the developers grow and improve their skills and content.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell