Simulation

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…

Railgrade Tips, Tricks and S Rank Guide

October 14, 2023 Guides

Railgrade is the latest in a short line of train simulation games that put you in the seat of managing not only the train paths but the economies of running the train system, routes and resources. You’ve got to be profitable and, on many missions, do so within a certain time to get that S rank. This guide is both for new players and to help you get S Rank on each stage. It takes a combination of the following tips to really shine in Railgrade. Understanding the Game Mechanics In Railgrade, exporting and delivering goods to a consumer yield the same money reward. You should always prioritize delivery over exporting, except in cases where you lack the funds to clear produced goods. Cities have a storage limit for growth materials, but they will continuously accept all growth quantity. If their storage is full, they will pay only half the…

Arcade Paradise Review – 90s Laundromat Perfection

October 10, 2023 Reviews

Arcade Paradise is a brilliant subversive story of growing, nostalgia, chores and arcade games. A game, somehow, that starts mostly with you doing laundry was more profound than many of the recent visual novels I’ve watched. The game is slow to start, with the primary focus on earning money and casually playing what’s available. Yet, as the game continues and more features unlock, it becomes something much more. The basic premise is that you’re working at your dad’s laundromat. You clean, handle the drop-off laundry and collect cash from the coin exchanger. In the back is an arcade, where you can also collect the cash from the coin hopper. The first haul is huge, leading to an adventure to build an arcade in the rear of the laundromat against the dad’s wishes. The game’s subversion, I’ll explain later, but first let me talk about the authenticity of the nostalgia. If…

Dave the Diver Review: A Comfy Sea Adventure

July 8, 2023 Reviews

Dave the Diver Developer: MintRocket MSRP: $19.99 – Steam Dave the Diver captivated me within the first few minutes of playing. After dinner I was on my PC exploring the Blue Hole with Dave and loving every second of it. Dave the Diver is an action 2D/3D mash-up that has you exploring the Blue Hole with Dave while running a seaside Sushi resturant. There’s so much more though jammed into this amazing must play game. Dave the Diver is definitely well put together, the pixel art is striking and the game systems are considerate and have been iterated on efficaciously through the game’s early access. We don’t give any sort of numerical or percentile ranking to games, but if anything about Dave catches your eye then I would definitely say it’s worth the full price admission. It does everything it promises and it does it well and my nights with…

Powerwash Simulator Guide

July 23, 2022 Guides

Power Wash Simulator is the latest in the niche yet ever growing mainstream of “common job simulation” games except this one is a bit more satisfying than some other titles, for sure. You’re equipped with your trusty power washer and the ability to change nozzles with a flick of your mouse wheel as you clean grim and cut away at graffiti. There is some interesting tricks to speed up your power wash, but one quick disclaimer: Power Wash Simulator is more of a relaxing jaunt through cleaning than an objective based game. You’re under no pressure to clean faster and there really isn’t anything beyond the super obvious “spray it with water” to get the most out of this game. This is a rare title I’d say it’s more fun to be slow and methodical than it would be to power through it, but we want to take a look…

Creeper World 4 Tips, Achievements and Mini-Walkthrough (Wallis)

March 24, 2023 Guides

Creeper World 4 is the latest installment in a long running series by Knuckle Cracker. It takes the traditionally “2D” top down fluid simulation and turns it into 3D which is actually pretty nice. I absolutely love the game and think it’s an improvement kind of over CW3, but that’s not what we are here for. We are here for tips! Let’s begin. Tips & Tricks Mini-Walkthrough Each of the main worlds is effectively a tutorial for the main units in the game. There’s a few additional units that you can use in custom maps (along with custom units themselves), but essentially each map is an introduction to a new tool. Each map also, surprisingly, plays out the same. One of the bigger tips is to consider the TERP more often as a great solution in stopping creeper or forcing it into choke points. While it’s slow to raise or…

Meeple Station Preview (Early Access – Sept 2019)

September 13, 2019 Reviews

Meeple Station is a space station simulator that has been in early access for awhile and I figured it’d be good to give it a look now in September of 2019. Some of the early feedback was that the game was shallow and I think, from what I’ve played, that’s not so true anymore. Once your station is launched, there is definitely some waiting time before you can do “more” and that will likely evolve over time, but there is a lot to do in the game as is. Gameplay The gameplay is very in-depth at this stage of development for a simulation game. On the surface, it seems shallow, but ultimately more layers of the game emerge as you play it for any significant amount of time. The first thing you have to do is build your station with a limited set of resources (or spawn a pre-configured “good…

Islanders – How to Score Big & Rush Achievements

August 18, 2019 Guides

Islanders requires you to place buildings in a way that builds synergy in a zen like continuous march, much like business meetings. The way you place each building is how you build your score. Certain buildings like other buildings and dislike others. As a city planner your job is to place the buildings in a please way, build enough score and move to the next island where you start all over again. The vast majority of achievements focus around building buildings & building your score and rushing to certain milestones. To move from island to the next, you’ll have to reach specific score thresholds. Once you start at a new island, you lose everything from the previous one (except the score). You can press ESC at any time to see your online ranking. You can stay on one island before moving to the next to continue score building if you’d…