Year Walk

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Simogo

Year Walk looked stylistic and interesting, so I gave it a shot. I guess this is the PC version of a game that was previously on iDevices and Android. If that's the case, I'll likely be getting the portable versions - I'm a pretty big  fan. Basically, Year Walk is a story about Årsgång, an old Swedish tradition, that was usually performed on New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve,  that was done in an effort to see what the coming year would bring. This ritual would involve the participant isolating themselves in a dark room for a day, while fasting and remaining silent. Then, at midnight, they would walk alone to a church or a cemetary to recieve visions of the future. This walk was considered dangerous since participants were said to encounter supernatural creatures along the way. Surviving those encounters was the key to obtaining the visions that the particpants were seeking. That should give you an idea of what you'll experience if you give Year Walk a try. With that little cultural lesson out of the way, this game is not long at all. It took me about an hour and a half to beat and depending on your puzzle solving skills it may take a little shorter or a little longer. But Year Walk is definitely worth playing through, especially if you're into adventure games with mild horror elements blended in.

Review added: 03/10/2020

YetiParty

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: MR_REVVA GAMES

YetiParty is an odd one for me to review…and not just because it attempts to be a combination of horror and comedy. I want to like this game…but MR_REVVA GAMES didn't do a great job at getting me there. My first attempt at playing this game, I spent over 20 minutes trying to figure out how to pick up the cell phone, when that part of the game triggers. I slowly moved the cursor over every inch of the phone and was unable to find a trigger point, and I tried this from various angles. Eventually, I quit. I came back a week later and started a brand new game in hopes that my first attempt just got a bug or glitch…nope. But, I had the idea to use the otherwise useless Q and E buttons, which let you lean in one direction or another, and somehow that let me get to the phone at an angle where I could trigger it to pick it up and advance the story. The story itself has humor a little too crude for my tastes…though, it did have some moments that got a chuckle out of me. Still, it felt like the developer relied a little too heavily on easy, pre-pubescent humor…since some of the jokes were well done, I think if they made an effort to make intelligent jokes, they'd be quite good at it. The humor, by the way, is essentially the whole personality of the game…take that away, and you've got a very bland, basic walking simulator. With it, though, some basic tasks (like walking to a convenience store to get beer) become way more entertaining than you'd imagine that it should be. Anyway, if you don't mind some obnoxious humor, and want a short walking simulator-type horror game, then YetiParty isn't absolutely terrible. It may not be passable, but I have to admit…the game hints at a sequel, and I'll probably be there to see what other weird stuff occurs in that game.

Review added: 10/29/2025

You Must Build a Boat

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: EightyEight Games

I built a boat! I didn't have a choice, by the sound of the game's title...but it was still enjoyable to build that floating contraption all the same. You Must Build a Boat is the sequel to 10000000, one of my favorite indie PC games that I've played, so I definitely looked forward to playing this one. I wasn't necessarily disappointed by my experience here, as this is a different game, so you need to expect some changes to be made...I just feel like some of the changes took away from the original game rather than added to it...Like you can't just continuously enter the dungeons to grind, once you beat something, you're forced to move on. There were times where I got to the next area and was completely overwhelmed because I hadn't played enough in the previous levels to get my character strong enough for the later levels. That said, this was still fun, I’m glad I played it, but I would recommend 10000000 over this.

Review added: 07/14/2020

The Youthdrainers

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Ben Aprigliano

The Youthdrainers got my attention with its b-movie looks and concept…And then fell short of my admittedly already low expectations. Basically, you play the game as a topless pregnant woman who is trying to prevent evil “midgets” (as the game calls them) from murdering her and her unborn baby…Apparently to drain their youths. Your goal is to search everything before the lights go out…and if the lights go out, you need to turn them back on…well, because little people apparently hate light of any kind. Stay in the dark for too long, then you and your unborn babe shall perish. The gameplay is already mildly annoying on its own…it’s made even worse that the game is seemingly unbeatable. Several people have attempted to play through, checking every portion of the game, and have been unsuccessful beyond the “strategy guide” provided by the game’s creator. Rumors have it that the creator just plain never completed the game to allow an ending…which is ironic, because if that’s true, then most folks playing this game will do what the creator did – give up long before the end.

Review added: 07/03/2019