I was really impressed by the game I did finish in March! Click into this comment to see my thoughts on Haven Park, Slay the Dragon!, and Vane
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
I'm popping in to share my thoughts on my April games completed before I wrap up a slow day at work and head out to grab tacos like the cliche American I am

This month was a mixed bag and it was, surprisingly, the free on Steam games that I enjoyed the most. Shoutout to all the users here who share the lists of free games they find!
Back to Bed - Free on Indiegala Client - Bob is a sleepwalker who needs a good sleep. You're his subconscious guardian, Subob, who's gotta guide him through his dreams to his bed. Poor Bob probably sleeps like shit because Subob is fuckin scary looking, but that's beside the point . In this puzzle game, you alter Bob's walking direction by placing apples in his way. The levels are surreal settings that look like M.C. Escher paintings with flying chest-gulls, door portals, hat-crows, and stairs to nowhere. As interesting as that sounds, there really isn't much visual variety to the stages. You help Bob avoid perils like whale-trains, dark doggos, and pitfalls on his way to his bed, but the levels aren't that challenging. Even "Nightmare" mode isn't difficult. The real challenge is the short amount of time before Bob starts walking in each stage and the game's annoying habit of placing the apple on a different square than you intended. Back to Bed isn't bad, but it's not very good. A solid "meh".
Beyond Blue - Was free on Epic - I was a big fan of Endless Ocean on Wii, so I was excited to play this. It was inspired by the show Blue Planet and was made in a joint effort along with James Cameron's OceanX in order to grow an appreciation for the ocean and an understanding of how we shape the world. It's a beautiful game bursting full of life to swim among - sharks, turtles, whales, fish, and more. You're a deep-sea scientist, Mirai (which means Future in Japanese - a nice nod to the hope for a better future), who is researching a Sperm Whale pod she's followed. You partake in dives to check in on them while also cataloging oceanic life you see and investigating an odd noise on scanners. The game is rooted in realism - certain species appear at certain depths, the game shows life and death, and there's even trash on the seafloor. It has some solid voice acting, but I could have done without the out of place family drama bit. Plus, over time, the scanning of creatures does get a bit tedious. The factsheets and short docu-videos you unlock via scans are informative, though. I appreciate educational experiences like this, because games are a medium that present endless opportunities to learn while having fun, and this one's not too heavy-handed.

Cave Story's Secret Santa -
Free on Steam - I loved the main Cave Story game, and this adds nothing to that story, but it's a cute treat. It's a top-down stealth puzzle game in which you're the reverse-Grinch - playing as the characters Balrog and Santa, you visit houses and return stolen gifts to the blissfully unaware Mimiga without waking them from their holiday slumbers. The game is nice and short, has a cute overworld map and pixel graphics, and is a feel-good game (with cookies!). However, the levels are kind of bland, the music gets old, and some hidden rooms frustratingly show no sign of existing, so shoutout to Steam community guides

. It's an enjoyable bite-sized adventure, but I can't think of any reason to really recommend it unless you're a Cave Story fan or hunting easy achievements.
Dawn -
Free on Steam - You're a forest nymph/spirit, Ash, who activates runes along some floating islands and brings sunlight to the central mother tree in this student-made platformer. I gotta say, I've been impressed lately with free student games on Steam. They're hardly ever groundbreaking - There are no enemies, you can't die, the load times are long, and the path is wicked linear in this game - but they always have personality. Dawn's graphics are decent, the gameplay is bolstered by some hidden flowers and vines to awaken, and the hand-drawn art is pretty. This was a peaceful game to play and I look forward to the next student gem I find.
Kami - Won via Feudalife - A very clean, colorful, minimalist origami-like puzzle game where you try to fill in/fold away areas of the paper until only one color is left within a certain number of moves. The game has satisfying paper textures, 'flip flip' sounds of the paper folding, and visuals of the transitions. The difficulty is medium to low, where if you can completely eliminate at least one color within 2-3 moves you'll usually be on pace to get a gold medal. The overarching mechanic of solving doesn't change much, so once you have your big brain moment and "get it" the game becomes pretty straightforward

. I did use the hint system for the occasional level, so I just wanna say that I really appreciate these games with hint systems that point you in the right direction but don't outright solve it for you. All in all, a good way to scratch your puzzle itch.
Pineapple on Pizza -
Free on Steam - Hell yeah I played this and you're goddamn right I loved it!

You visit an island paradise where everyone is happy and dancing. The birds are tittering, kids are playing, old couples are sitting on benches enjoying the views, turtles are chilling, and babies are smiling. Heck, I even picked up a few new dance moves to embarrass myself with. Then you go and fuck it all up by making the volcano erupt. The happy dancing music reaches a crescendo as you watch islanders flee their paradise while others succumb to lava or sharks, and you're left carrying the guilt of the destruction you've brought upon them. I'll never forget the screams.

Play this life-changing game and play it to the end... then it will all make sense.
The Uncertain: Light at the End - Bought - After a solid first game, this was a major disappointment. It felt rushed and is unpolished. The graphics somehow took a step down from the first game, the voice audio doesn't match subtitles, mouths stop moving mid-sentence, the talking animation and janky body movements continue on after dialogues, and the audio completely disappears for lengths of time. It added very little to the story - You follow a group of human survivors trying to survive in parallel to the events of the first game, but I'm still left wondering why USS is kidnapping/killing humans. If (and that's a big IF) we get a third game, I'll be wary of it. I think the largest struggle with this game compared to the first is that it's really hard to nail human emotion and drama, and almost all of the tone and expressions fell flat and stilted - something the first game full of robot characters didn't have to struggle with. I did smile at the nerdy easter eggs throughout the game, like the Doom Guy figure, Nathan Fillion's car, and Claptrap in a dumpster. But overall, this game is an off-beat mess, and I don't recommend it.
