Candy magnate mystery, mouse-core throwback, dev life, and Tetris but sand
Hello! Well it’s been another few weeks. You know, those kinda weeks. Where you’re like hey are things going well? And life says: no, absolutely not you idiot, how dare you think so?! But that’s how life goes. It’s ups and downs forever and ever, you just gotta try and keep perspective and keep doing things that make you feel good. Which leads me back to writing about games! So here I am. Enjoy!
The Roottrees are Dead by jjohnstongames
The Roottrees are Dead is a sleuthing game set in the late 90s where you’re hired by an unknown person to trace the vast family tree of the Roottrees and identify all the blood relatives of Elias Roottree, founder of the Roottree candy empire. The game starts with the sudden death of the current Roottree president and his family, kicking off some complex legal implications for the Roottree fortune. Modeled mechanically after Return of the Obra Dinn, you use your investigative powers and a dial up modem to research a vast family tree of over 60 people. Clues are everywhere! There’s an in game notebook - I had every page full of notes! I absolutely loved this game, I played the entire thing in one day and stayed up late to finish it. It completely absorbed me and is perfectly executed. I’m just dying for more games like this.
Play time: ~9-10 hours
Cost: free
Just why? by Donitz
Just why? is a brutal classic mouse maze game, a genre of old computer games I had completely forgotten existed and feel almost like a dream from my childhood. If you’re not familiar, you just move your mouse cursor through one large maze attempting to make it all the way through without touching a wall, getting crushed, hit by flying objects, etc. They’re SUPER fun and this one was really well made and challenging. Had a total blast with it and was committed to beating it the second I turned it on.
Play time: ~30 minutes, less if you have a really steady hand, more if you’re really struggling
Cost: free
Making the Game by kindanice
I like this developer a lot so actually playing a game as them making a game was really cool! Making the Game is that, you’re the developer making a game for a game jam, you see some basic code on how games are made, make choices about what you want to add in, and playtest the level over and over. It’s a really simple concept that is very well executed, has some funny moments, and was a lot of fun to play.
Play time: 5 minutes
Cost: free
Sandtrix by mslivo
Sandtrix is Tetris! But with sand! There’s been a lot of games playing with the Tetris formula for years and this is definitely one of my favorites. You get rid of ‘lines’ by matching the layered colors of the sand because, of course, sand can not actually retain the shape you drop it in. The pixelated colorful sand makes Sandtrix really aesthetically pretty which adds a lot to the feel of the game. It’s also got some really great Tetris-y music.
Play time: unlimited! it’s Tetris!
Cost: free