Souls Like Strings

Vacation vibes without the friction

Why

• Exactly as wholesome/cozy as it looks
• Great for short bursts of playtime
• A bunch of cool little quirky interactions

Why Not

• You're looking for action/a challenge

Impressions

TOEM is exactly what it seems; a chill, wholesome and whimsical journey which is more than the (admittedly fairly cool) destination. The gameplay loop boils down to enter biome -> help x people by taking photos of various things -> get enough stickers to move onto the next biome, which sounds simple but is carried by the sheer amount of...

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig.

Too real for my liking

An interesting premise submerged under ham-fisted writing and near constant political commentary. I agree with they guy's politics but I don't read fiction to see fictional worlds ruined by the same petty right wing bullshit the real world is, without even the benefit of any interesting changes in the setting. I did only make it a few chapters in so maybe later on there's something to make the constant commentary/events seemingly ripped straight from real life more palatable, but with so many other great things to read I...

• Usage-based billing might actually kill LLMs
  • After Copilot made the switch I burned through my limit in less than a week
  • Admittedly doing a lot of work on mobile SDKs where I used the LLM to have some idea what the code meant
  • But I think I'd definitely still burn it before the month is up
• Async code for iOS is way more complex than for Android, at least in Objective C (but tests in Swift for some reason?)
• Both our SDKs require steps before you can use their changes in the sample app
  • For...

Ballin'

Why

• Immaculate vaporwave vibes and soundtrack
• Chill but satisfyingly challenging puzzles
• Consistently introduces new mechanics with a smooth difficulty curve
• Diegetic menus and UI elements are great

Why Not

• Some levels require quickish reactions, so maybe not ideal for pure puzzle heads

Impressions

I initially picked up Axyz for my wife because she played Kula World as a kid, but ended up playing more than her and now I'm planning to 100% it. The puzzle gameplay is great, starting with a simple premise and gradually expanding it with new mechanics as...

Have you ever played a 90min music video?

Why

• Feels like one big anime finale
• Plenty of replay value with challenges/score chasing
• I replayed it immediately after my first clear
• Every level is great; some are spectacular

Why Not

• You hate music and creativity?

Impressions

Sayonara Wild Hearts is the ultimate argument for short games. The thing about rhythm games or endless runners (the closest comparisons in terms of gameplay) is their endless nature means the visuals are necessarily kinda samey and generic, so they can be reused across multiple songs/levels. Totally logical and...