tea-time-games

[tea-time-games]

Murder By Numbers: In Tea’s Words

Ever played a game of Minesweeper and thought to yourself, “I wish this game had some plot”? No? Just me, perhaps. Still, you have to admit it's an interesting concept, and one that Mediatronic explores in Murder by Numbers.

Playing as amateur detective Honor Mizrahi, you navigate through cases, uncovering clues through nonograms. Painting pictures pixel by pixel, you’ll unearth the secrets behind each case and venture to the discovery of the culprit! This is a game that’ll test your brains and tug on your heart strings, with its cast of characters that you’d love to invite round for a coffee.

Let’s begin this review like any good detective: by examining all the evidence. Yes, I know I’m a barista, but that’s besides the point. Murder by Numbers is a simple game that doesn’t try to push itself beyond what it does best — story and puzzles — and gives those elements its focus. To gather clues you have to complete progressively more and more detailed nonograms: number-based grid puzzles which colour some squares in and leave others blank. Besides the detailed nonograms, there are also timed segments where you complete a selection of smaller grids before time runs out, which gives a bit of variety to the gameplay. The concept is sound, though quite repetitive. It feels like being handed a book of puzzles and having to complete the entire thing in one sitting; I often found myself burnt out on completing puzzle after puzzle. Similarly, as the nonograms form images, some were significantly harder than others. Any image that required more blank space immediately made the puzzle more difficult, and got in the way of the story. 

Speaking of which, the story in Murder by Numbers ramps up significantly over the course of the episodes. The first episode is complex enough to draw you in, though a lot of the twists are predictable (this does not get any better until episode 4). Episode 2 was by far the weakest in terms of plot-to-puzzle ratio. It took me multiple sittings — and, I am unashamed to admit, some time on Google — to get through. The game makes up for slower story moments with decent character growth and exploration, though some characters end up falling to the wayside. In spite of its pitfalls, it still held up well enough to stop me skipping through dialogue, and there were characters who I feared for as the stakes grew. 

The game’s artstyle is the only thing which I can have no complaints about. The character sprites, background art, and even the pixelated drawings of clues are all beautiful. Characters are varied and diverse, backgrounds all look new and interesting, and even without a huge variety of locations to visit, the world feels whole. The only thing missing, in my opinion, was a good café… 

If you’re looking for a compelling fusion between visual novels and puzzle games, then look no further! 

[tea-time-games]

Dicey Dungeons: In Tea’s Words

Indie games have a special place in my heart, and there’s nothing quite as indie as a game produced by a single person working to achieve their vision, which is exactly the case for Dicey Dungeons…

A stylistic dungeon crawler, Dicey Dungeons is a game from Terry Cavanagh which adds a dash of fate to the classic battle system in the way I may add a dash of lemon juice to my green tea. Or my iced black tea…or maybe more than a dash to someone else’s tea when they’re getting on my nerves. With fun and unique mechanics for each character, as well as an underlying narrative that unfurls the more you win, this game gives you many reasons to keep coming back.

I love a turn-based strategy game, so the combat system in Dicey Dungeons immediately drew my eye. Many dungeon crawlers have found ways to spice up the classic combat mechanics — think the deck of cards from Slay the Spire — but Dicey Dungeons’ use of…well…dice, is a fresh take on the idea. At the beginning of the game, you play as the trusty Warrior (who Cavanagh has deemed the simplest to play) who fights with his sword. Simply place a rolled die into the Sword equipment and you’ll deal damage equal to the number you rolled. It is a very clean way to introduce a new player to the mechanics; everything hangs on a roll of the dice.

As you play, and win, you’ll begin to unlock new characters. The Thief’s starting equipment, the Dagger, requires a roll of less than 3 to be able to use it, though it has infinite uses per turn. Other characters’ unique play styles include the Inventor, who will turn a piece of equipment into a gadget at the end of every battle, and the Witch, who prepares different spells that can only be accessed with a certain roll. Every run requires a different type of strategy and really challenge the player to think outside the box. 

Then we come onto the plot. Dicey Dungeons frames itself as a dungeon game show, run by Lady Luck. Each of our competitors enters the dungeon and is transformed from their usual self into dice! If things go her way, Lady Luck plans to see that none of our characters ever succeed. The game itself sometimes plays up to that concept, as you fail to roll anything that you need for your equipment. Some turns, you may not be able to do anything with your rolled dice. 

Of course, this causes its fair share of aggravation. The idea is intriguing, and in many games, RNG can be what makes or breaks your chances of winning. But there is something about the “dice rolling” mechanic that can make a failed roll even more annoying. If you’re like me and enjoy a little bit of Dungeons and Dragons, however, you’re probably used to the feeling of the dice letting you down. 

Dicey Dungeons has a great core gameloop, with interesting variations coming from the different characters. The soundtrack has some amazing pieces in it that play on your head long after closing the game, and the background storyline makes you eager to win for more than just personal satisfaction.

Many things may be up to a roll of the dice, but my belief that you’re going to love this game is certain!

[tea-time-games]

Slime Rancher: In Tea’s Words

It’s always interesting to find a game that makes the mundane something new. Rearing animals is by no means a new thing, but what if instead of the usual cows, pigs and sheep, you were rearing slimes instead?

Of course, a touch of something unusual is nothing out of the ordinary for me. In fact, a good friend of mine brought their pet slime to the café just the other day! She’s barred now unfortunately (the slime ate one of the goblins and management weren’t best pleased about it). Now, I have to get my dose of slime cuteness from Slime Rancher, a game about making a life for yourself on a new planet and discovering what it means to live out our destiny. 

In this open-world farming game, you play as Beatrix LeBeau, a colonist from Earth who has been sent to the Far, Far Range to study slimes and collect their “plorts” — don’t blame me, I didn’t name them! — which can be sold to make profit. Equipped with your vacpack, you can explore the regions of this unnamed planet, scoop up slimes to add to your farm, and discover the secrets left behind by the Ranch’s previous owner, Hobson. 

My first time playing, I distinctly remember getting horribly lost and closing the game. I’ll admit, the lack of instruction the game gives you can be confusing if you’re someone like me, who likes a little bit of a push in the right direction. However, on my second attempt, I had a better grasp of the mechanics and actually paid attention to the little story beacons I uncovered. Hobson’s diary entries across the map leave you little clues to guide you, or give you ideas as to what you might do next. In fact, the story ended up being what hooked me into the game and is definitely what makes it stand out. 

When it comes to the ranching aspect of the game, it feels more like a stepping stone to unlocking new areas and upgrades for your vacpack. Though I love nothing more than to watch the slimes bounce around, they don’t need much care. By the late stage of the game, you only need to remember to fill up their feeders and empty the plort collectors and they’ll be quite happy. Some slimes require a little more care than others, for example Phosphor slimes can only survive in the dark, but this is also an easy fix. It’s not until we reach the later stages of the game that you’ll need to have a lot of types of plorts on hand, and that’s when the ranching becomes essential. 

Some of you may have seen that Monomi Park, the developers of the game, have announced a Slime Rancher sequel for 2022! I’m already excited to see where they take this new game, given the promise of the first one. With improvements to graphics already clear from the trailer, I’d love to see more focus on the story and a little more complexity to the ranching. 

And, of course, many more new, cute slime designs!

[tea-time-games]

Dorfromantik: In Tea’s Words

After a long, hard day at the café, I come home to cosy up in front of my computer. What better way to spend an evening than blankets on, brightness down, and playing my favourite simple city builder... 

Dorfromantik is an Early Access game, developed by Toukana Interactive. Much like Townscaper and ISLANDERS, it is making a name for itself in this genre of scenic, city-building strategy games. With its distinct focus on style and soundtrack, layered onto easy-to-grasp game mechanics, Dorfromantik is the perfect game to pick up and play when you want to relax.

The core premise involves building and expanding your world through the use of hexagonal tiles. Each tile can have a range of structures on it: for example, houses, trees, or fields. Rotate and place your tiles in order to construct different areas and fulfil ‘quests’, which require a certain number of these structures. For example, you may unearth a quest in your stack of tiles that needs 10+ houses to be completed. Simply join this tile to ten or more other houses to complete it, and earn yourself some points! Easy to learn, hard to master… As you become more adept at the game, you may want to work towards “perfect” tiles: tiles which are matched on all sides by the correct biomes. It’s a game that requires a lot of patience, forcing us to slow down and think carefully. 

Still being in Early Access, there are some features yet to be released; the biggest complaint of an airhead like me is the lack of an undo feature, though this is set to come out in a future update. In spite of this, the game more than delivers on what it promises. Not only is the experience relaxing, but it is incredibly rewarding. The choice of sound effects give you a rush of accomplishment when you hear the tell-tale sound of a completed quest or perfect tile. The soundtrack has enough variety that it doesn’t become boring, but each track is recognisable enough to stand apart from one another. The art style, combined with the addition of different colour palettes which appear randomly in your game, creates a great sense of scale to your world as it grows.

Dorfromantik isn’t short on achievements either, for those of you that love to achievement hunt like me! Even during development, it already has 80+ unlocks, with more likely to come with the addition of more tile types in future updates. 

Anyone looking for a way to unwind from a busy day, but not looking to escape into a story-heavy world, will no doubt find the same comfort in this game that I do!

Well, I best be off! What? No, of course I’m going to be working! Yes… definitely…