Music

Ten Best Inexpensive Steam Games, 2024

March 28, 2024 Guides

The gaming landscape, now more than ever with the modern proliferation of indie games, has shown that great games can come in all sizes. There are low quality AAA games that cost millions of dollars to make, and there are fantastic games from one-man studios that were crowdfunded, and some not even that. Further, while all of us wish we had the kind of money in real life as we tend to end up with in our favorite video games, that’s not always the case. And even for those who do, there is no income limit where you are required to stop being careful with how you spend your money. So, why pay a lot for a bad experience when you can pay a little for a great one? For someone with a computer, there is a vast, wide sea of Steam games that are both high quality and wallet-friendly.…

10 Indie Games with Mind-Blowing Soundtracks

February 29, 2024 Guides

Soundtracks significantly contribute to the immersive experiences indie games provide. This post highlights 10 indie games with exceptional scores, from Celeste’s emotional melodies to Hollow Knight’s haunting themes. Accompanying vinyl collections are available at iam8bit and Fangamer. These games exemplify indie titles’ ability to deliver soundscapes rivaling AAA productions.

Pixel Cafe Review

December 28, 2023 Reviews

Pixel Cafe has a smooth lo-fi vibe with some of the best music I’ve heard this year. Released early October, we finally got a chance to sit down with what can be considered revolutionary in its own genre. You’ve got gorgeous pixel-art style beats, a soundtrack that kicks off from the start and doesn’t stop and a hypnotic gameplay loop that’s as mediative or brow-sweating as you want it to be. Quick note: The developers have been active in updating the game. A mid-December 2023 update introduced difficulty modes, giving the game more depth from the challenging kitchen manager that it was to a zen like rhythm game to the challenging kitchen manager that many loved as is. Let’s dig into what separates this game from others. Running the Pixel Cafe The game starts off with a cup and a coffee machine and simple instructions. The game’s complexities slowly unveil…

Secret Vanny Ending Explained in FNAF Help Wanted 2

December 19, 2023 Guides

In Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted 2, there are two endings. The first ending occurs once you finish the mini-games within the game. The second ending requires finding a variety of secrets within the game world and then being able to witness some additional lore in the game. Original Ending The original ending has you take the Vanny Mask and end up, somehow, handing it to Cassidy at the start of Ruin via the mask bot. Secret Ending Explained In this ending, you go into Princess Quest 4 and continue the “quest” which has you wandering around the game. Eventually there’s a perception change and you’re now within the Princess Quest 4 game, following along in the quest. At the very end, you trade the “Vanny Mask” for a “Glitchtrap Plushie” and then go into the elevator from the trailer. The elevator reveals a large claw machine with the…

Beyond Sunset Review

November 26, 2023 Reviews

Beyond Sunset is a fairly decent retro cyberpunk shooter and a fantastical journey through the story and sound, provided by Karl Vincent of a wild cyberpunk world. The world is bleak but so full of character, embodying the idea of synthwave / cyberpunk aesthetics weaved with a lot of DOOM. This review covers the November 2023 Early Access Build. This is one of the few games where the smooth door animations actually impress me. A world built around a strong cyberpunk theme waits for players to jump and slide their way through its streets and towering mega-skyscrapers. If you’re at all into the music or the gameplay of DOOM, this is a definite purchase. If you need some more details, let’s dig in. What is Beyond Sunset? Built on GZDOOM, Beyond Sunset is a retro DOOM-like FPS with multiple hub maps, a full story driven campaign, inventory, RPG elements, side…

Archetype Arcadia Review (PS5 & PC)

November 27, 2023 Reviews

Archetype Arcadia is an Isekai (Wikipedia) visual novel with an exceptional amount of content focused and a very deep story. The game has more content than the larger novels out there and it’s presented beautifully beside great backdrops and rather kicking music as you make your way through 50+ hours of gameplay. If you’re looking for a very long visual novel then the Archetype Arcadia is the hidden gem you’ve been missing. It has a story that is unique (as much as the genres and tropes it plays with allows) and the gameplay that is more than read and choose which is nice. The Story The world has fallen to a disease known as “Peccatomania” which has wiped out most of humanity. Rust, the protagonist, is immune from the disease but his sister suddenly falls ill. The only way to slow the progression of the disease is to spend time…

Warframe Tier List (Pros/Cons & Best Warframe) 2024

January 11, 2024 Tier Lists

Warframe has a lot of Warframes and some of them are free, some are expensive and a lot can be received via the Twitch Prime rewards (i.e. Amazon Prime members on Twitch). The question a lot of players have is what are the best Warframes. For me it’s clearly Octavia, the ball that rolls around and the damage and the buffs are just so powerful and the music is very fun. For many others, it’s going to be something like Gauss or Wisp. We’ve put together a tier list of the best (highest damage / survivability / team play) all the way down to the Warframes that may sometimes look cool but won’t have that output you want. Remember if you have Amazon Prime you can get the Prime sets via Twitch, which can help build out your portfolio of Warframes. Really cool! Often times you’ll hear play what you…

Boti: Byteland Overclocked Review

October 1, 2023 Reviews

Boti: Byteland Overclocked is a 3D platformer that satisfies every itch that 3D platformers have to scratch. There’s collectables, challenging platforming, an easier linear path where you can avoid the optional challenging content. The controls are tight, the power-ups are fun and the level designs are very cheery and positive. Humor-wise the game lands its jokes softly as you run through a cybernetic future. It’s about 10-14 hours of platforming joy, if you absolutely love games like Astro’s Playroom or Tinykins then this game will definitely charm you. There’s a lot of negative reviews on Steam focusing on bugs, but throughout our playthrough we didn’t experience any. One big thing, if you’re looking for a game to play co-op with someone else this is definitely one of those amazing co-op games that you can pick up and just play without any frustration. If you’re looking for a new couch co-op…

Arcadegeddon Review

August 20, 2023 Reviews

Arcadegeddon is a colorful mashup of arcade nostalgia and roguelike action that mostly succeeds thanks to its vibrant style, frantic gameplay, and reverence for gaming’s past. Arcadegeddon is effectively if you took Risk of Rain 2 and removed the sadder overtones and replaced them with a Saturday morning cartoon gamer vibe aesthetic. The music is absolutely worth the price of admission alone. We recommend this game, if you’re wondering why read on below. You play alongside Gilly, a likeable underdog trying to save his retro arcade from being bulldozed by the evil Fun Fun Co corporation. To drum up interest and funds, Gilly cleverly hacks together the greatest hits of arcade gaming into one super game called Arcadegeddon. However, Fun Fun Co retaliates by injecting a virus that corrupts the creation. Now it’s up to you and friends to dive in and exterminate the bugs overrunning Gilly’s digital dream. The…