What Makes a Hero? || A Hero and a Garden (PC)

"I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people." --Maya Angelou

Title Screen

A hero and a Garden is an adorable and slow paced game about picking berries and righting wrongs created by npckc. We played another game from npckc a while back called One Night, Hot Springs, which I loved,so I am looking forward to seeing what this game has to offer. 

In A Hero and A Garden, you play as Cyrus, a hero who attacks a village of monster folk with the aim of defeating the witch and saving the Princess of his kingdom. Unaware that his sword is magic, his sword clashes with the witch’s magic and causes a great deal of damage to the town. The witch curses Cyrus to tend the gardens and work to earn money for reparations to rebuild the town he so damaged.

A horned doctor explains to Cyrus how the garden works. We have to grow berries, and then fill orders that townspeople make for those berries. We use the money we earn to pay for the repairs in the town, and hopefully everyone is happy in the end. As Cyrus grows the berries and fills orders, he meets more of the town’s monsters and even the Princess he came to save. The monsters grow on him, and Cyrus begins to wonder if monsters are really what humans have claimed them to be. Perhaps he was truly in the wrong to begin with?

Sooty!

The artwork for this game is simple, and absolutely adorable. I love Sooty and I wanted to give him some ear scratches like I know my dogs love. All of the endings are cute, and once you finish the game there is a gallery you can access to view all of the other possible endings—which I loved because that means I didn’t have to spend an hour growing berries again to see another ending.

Speaking of berries, you are going to spend a lot of time growing berries. There are 5 different kinds of berries, each with a different timing for when the berries will appear. Some are rather slow. Towards the end when I was just trying to get my 100 scorch berries to finish the game, I was knitting stitches on my scarf while I waited for berries to grow. Just saying, if you don’t want to stare at the screen, maybe have something else to do.

All of the characters you meet in the game are unique and adorable, and I enjoyed the dialog Cyrus had with them. I didn’t run into any issues in gameplay, and the mechanics all worked as intended. The music and sound effects were nice, although the music sounds like a lullaby, and paired with the slow pace of the game it made me feel a little sleepy. You could flip that and say the game is just very relaxing, which it is.

Grow my berries, grow!

Overall I liked the game. The dialogue is cute and made me chuckle at times, and the characters were cute and fun to meet. The gameplay is repetitive, and the slow pace make it difficult to stay engaged at times. If you need a break from the fast pacing gaming world we’re in today, take a break with this game. You can download it free from Itch.io HERE. Be sure to let npckc know what you thought.

Do you like slower paced, more relaxing style games, or do you prefer the fast paced edge of your seat games? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll see you all next time!

Beauty is Only Skin Deep || Meeting in the Flesh [DEMO] (PC)

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." --Aristotle

Title

Meeting in the Flesh is a horror/romance visual novel in the works by cacoethic and inktrashing. You play as Vil, a delivery boy on a strange world that’s inhabited by a diverse number of… what you might call “monsters”. At first, I thought that we were in some sort of post-apocalyptic Earth, but then Vil described the planet’s 3 suns and I realized that we are on some strange and unknown planet. 

There is a good deal of reading, since this is a visual novel, however there is less dialogue and more descriptive writing, compared to other visual novels I have played. It’s not bad at all. I thoroughly enjoy reading, and the descriptions given made me much more curious about the world. The characters are all very different, and I’m very curious about where the story will go in the future.

In the plot of the story, an eclipse is approaching, an event that occurs only once every century or so. It’s seem as a great occasion and a day when anything can happen. Everyone seems to be making special plans, except for Vil. Perhaps someone else has plans for Vil, though?

Salt Bath... not a good time.

The demo takes you through two days of deliveries, introducing you to the major characters and giving a good bit of the lore and atmosphere of the world. I still am curious to know more, but hopefully that will come with time. Some of the characters can be rather unsettling at first sight, but half of this game’s genre is horror after all, and the artwork is very well done, regardless. 

Over all, I really enjoyed the demo. Kudos the developers for the great writing and artwork. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the finished game. As always, I encourage you to give the demo a play for yourself, you can download it free from Itch.io *here*.

Also, be sure to leave your feedback and encouragement for the developers on their page, and you can also follow the development of the game through their tumblr *here*. Until next time, happy gaming, Jammers!

Bell

A Beautiful Journey || Reditum (PC)

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” –Susan Sontag

Source: Screen Capture in Game

Reditum is a side scrolling point and click adventure game created by kvall. This game was made by 3 students as a school project, which I’ll say now, is quite ambitious with the results. You play as an unnamed character and you travel the world, enjoy the sights and the inhabitants. There is no goal, there is no endgame. Just play, relax, and enjoy.

The game has simple mechanics, though sometimes it can be difficult to get to where you want to go. I had some difficulty getting my character to walk around the giant rock in the hot springs. It took a few tries. I wish there were more characters to interact with, though. They all look so interesting that I wanted to see more. 

 Source: Screen Capture in Game

Where this game really shines for me, is the art and environments. Everything is so detailed and well crafted. This entire world is colorful, exotic, and has such variety. I was in awe with each new area we arrived at. 

The world is small, and you can traverse it in around 10 minutes and arrive back at home, but the journey is worth it. It was so enjoyable, I wanted to travel it all again. 

Source: Screen Capture in Game

It’s even got me itching to do some travelling! I cannot do this game justice in words or even the few pictures I’ve shared. It must be played to really enjoy. So please do so! You can download the game free on Itch.io *here*.  Go, play, and be happy! 

Thank you for sharing some of your time with me today. As always, be sure to leave feedback for the developers, and happy gaming!

Bell

Splish Splash! || Mermaid Splash (PC)

Hello everyone! Thanks to my birthday, and also because this is LGBTQ+ PRIDE month, we’re looking at some special LGBTQ+ friend games. Today the game we’re looking at is a sweet yuri/GxG romancey story. So without any further delay, let’s get to the cuteness!

Source: Screen Capture in Game

Mermaid Splash is an adorable visual novel romance created by Sofdelux Studio. You play as CiCi, a mermaid that dreams of entering the Passion Festival and showcasing a special talent. However, CiCi has never had the focus required to specialize in just one area. She loves all her hobbies! This time, though, CiCi is going to do it! She’s going to pick a skill and master it!

This game progresses with the use of time management. It’s up to you to help CiCi plan her weeks wisely so that she can master one of her hobbies to show off at the Passion Festival. You’ll also get to choose a friend to spend time with on the weekends. You only have 4 weeks before the festival, so choose wisely.

In my playthrough I threw my all my time at Bea, the cuttlefish. Cause she’s adorable, and the tentacles reminded me of an octopus(my favorite animal). This meant I also chose fighting as CiCi’s hobby.  I enjoyed the play through, and the characters are super adorable. 

Source: Screen Capture in Game

Besides Bea, there are 3 other characters you can also spend your time with, Angie the Angler, Delora the Sea Slug and Maka the Shark. There are also 23 endings in total, according to the Itch.io Page, so the game seems to have some replayability—especially if you’re a completionist. 

The game graphics are very nice, the characters sprites, in particular, are too cute for words X3 . The backgrounds and environments are also well done, and I love the soft look of the coloring. The music and sounds are fitting for the game, as well as the adorable story and cute dialogue. 

Source: Screen Capture in Game

Overall, I feel the game is worth the multiple playthroughs to get to know the other characters, which is what I plan to do! If you’d like to try the game for yourself, I encourage you to download the game free from Itch.io *here*. You won't be sorry.

Thanks for sharing some time with me today. Be sure to leave some feedback for the developers, and happy gaming!

Bell