Eternity RPC Board
For this most recent review, I was going to do a quickie for a mini game I just finished, but since there are two mini games I've completed fairly recently in the grand scheme of the space-time fabric of the universe, I figured I might as well mush them together and tackle them both in one fell swoop!
Anyway, two reviews, short 'n sweet.
First up...
Mandagon
Title: Mandagon
Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/461560/MANDAGON/
Developer: Blind Sky Studios
Initial Release Date: August 2016
Genre: platformer
Price: free
![[Image: X2Q0UBY.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/X2Q0UBY.jpg)
One of the newer games I've played (but still not new, I know; new games tend to cost additional US dollars, though), Mandagon is a pixel platformer about Tibetan temples.
Your character in Mandagon is a little totem who navigates the many levels of a dreamlike Himalayan temple, moving through mountain tunnels, fast-flowing streams, and airy stairways. Along the way, you visit shrines whose spirits share their wisdoms with you. The longer you spend on your prayer walk, the more is revealed about the difficult choice you're preparing yourself for.
I put something like 55 minutes into this. It's a really short game; once you play through once, you can probably complete the thing in 30 minutes or less. There is only one ending, and the actual challenge "game" part of the game is just finding blocks that fit into various shrines.
![[Image: uEhCze0.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/uEhCze0.jpg)
Pros: The day I don't list aesthetic appeal in the Pros section of a review is the day that I have been replaced by a doppelganger who doesn't buy games just based on their appearance. But really, it is pretty, and I think the scenery in this game, in conjunction with the decision to make this game a platformer, serves a purpose to tell your wordless character's story; you walk back and forth, back and forth along rows of prayer wheels, just like anyone with an impossible choice to make would. It's nice imagery. Being a free game is always a pro.
Cons: It's hard for me - or impossible, honestly - in dealing with free games to come up with cons and to really feel secure in pointing out the flaws in something that added zero financial burden to me. It's really one of those "well, no harm done; I'll just uninstall the game and assume I wasn't going to do anything productive with that 45 minutes, anyhow!" situations. So I'm going to pretend I paid a small amount for this. I think $2.99 seems like a pretty average price for a mini indie pixel platformer like this. Had I paid $2.99 for this, my biggest complaint would be the length. It is a very short game, even in comparison to some similar freebies I've picked up. Finding the missing shrine pieces and putting them into place is simple and doesn't really take any effort at all; adding some component of the game that makes you work for them would have been nice. My other biggest complaint would be that the entire thing takes place in one stage of platforms, and some additional variance in color gradients or something would been good for the visual appeal.
A minor issue for me is related to the studio's description of this game as being a tour of Tibetan philosophy, but I feel like they didn't do much to teach me anything about Tibetan philosophy that I didn't already know (which is one atom's width away from absolutely nothing.)
My Overall Saljective™ Rating: 5/10. It was alright, and hey, it was free! Serene, easy play. I wouldn't play it again, probably, but if you need something to do during a flight layover or between your morning and afternoon class, it's the perfect length.
--
Missing Translation
Title: Missing Translation
Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/395520...anslation/
Developer: AlPixel Games
Initial Release Date: September 2015
Genre: puzzle game
Price: free
![[Image: 6PoBvvq.png]](http://i.imgur.com/6PoBvvq.png)
GPOY.
Full disclosure, it's been a while since I played this game myself. I recently watched a playthrough of the entire thing, though, so I remember it well enough.
I'm going with the Steam description for this one, because it sums it up best:
"Lost in a weird city in the middle of the desert and surrounded by strange creatures that keep staring at you. This is a game about exploring the unknown and solving puzzles... lots of them!"
That's the gist of the game. You get slurped into an interdimensional wormhole one sleepless night and to find your way home, you try [and mostly fail] to talk to cowbow aliens and you solve lots of puzzles.
![[Image: D2f1Clx.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/D2f1Clx.jpg)
Alien school is basically like every other school, I guess. Just a
giant tapir screaming sideways Es at the kiddos.
Pros: I liked getting tossed into the A Clockwork Orange-esque situation of having no clue what anyone in the alien world is saying, but being able to use contextual clues to eventually decipher things. That was probably the most unique part of the game. The few puzzles that did present a challenge were actually pretty fun, and there was definitely a need to redo it until I could get it right. Zero moneys were spent on this. Alternate dimension cats! (Please note that immediately after saying I never play games where I don't rate highly just for looks alone, I am doing that; the game looked fine, but it was nothing special aside from the greyscale scheme maybe.)
Cons: I will also be looking at this one through the lens of it costing $2.99, because judging free stuff still just feels kinda... ehhh. The puzzles were v e r y repetitive. There are only a handful of puzzle types (three or four), and you do about 25 repetitions of each type. Supposedly, each repetition is supposed to be a more difficult variant than the previous, but I did not find that to be the case the majority of the time. I just found it redundant. I would have greatly preferred lots of different puzzles. Again, this one was short, and would have been shorter if not for so many repetitious tasks. No replay value unless you want to switch from a male avatar to a female avatar and redo the entire thing for some reason.
My Overall Saljective™ Rating: 5.5/10. It was a cute time killer. The puzzles were too easy and you had to do the same ones over and over, but deciphering the alien language was kinda neat. And it's FREE!
---
That's it! Two mini reviews done!
By the way, if you guys have ever played any of these games and want to discuss how you would have rated them differently, let me know!
Anyway, two reviews, short 'n sweet.
First up...
Mandagon
Title: Mandagon
Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/461560/MANDAGON/
Developer: Blind Sky Studios
Initial Release Date: August 2016
Genre: platformer
Price: free
One of the newer games I've played (but still not new, I know; new games tend to cost additional US dollars, though), Mandagon is a pixel platformer about Tibetan temples.
Your character in Mandagon is a little totem who navigates the many levels of a dreamlike Himalayan temple, moving through mountain tunnels, fast-flowing streams, and airy stairways. Along the way, you visit shrines whose spirits share their wisdoms with you. The longer you spend on your prayer walk, the more is revealed about the difficult choice you're preparing yourself for.
I put something like 55 minutes into this. It's a really short game; once you play through once, you can probably complete the thing in 30 minutes or less. There is only one ending, and the actual challenge "game" part of the game is just finding blocks that fit into various shrines.
Pros: The day I don't list aesthetic appeal in the Pros section of a review is the day that I have been replaced by a doppelganger who doesn't buy games just based on their appearance. But really, it is pretty, and I think the scenery in this game, in conjunction with the decision to make this game a platformer, serves a purpose to tell your wordless character's story; you walk back and forth, back and forth along rows of prayer wheels, just like anyone with an impossible choice to make would. It's nice imagery. Being a free game is always a pro.
Cons: It's hard for me - or impossible, honestly - in dealing with free games to come up with cons and to really feel secure in pointing out the flaws in something that added zero financial burden to me. It's really one of those "well, no harm done; I'll just uninstall the game and assume I wasn't going to do anything productive with that 45 minutes, anyhow!" situations. So I'm going to pretend I paid a small amount for this. I think $2.99 seems like a pretty average price for a mini indie pixel platformer like this. Had I paid $2.99 for this, my biggest complaint would be the length. It is a very short game, even in comparison to some similar freebies I've picked up. Finding the missing shrine pieces and putting them into place is simple and doesn't really take any effort at all; adding some component of the game that makes you work for them would have been nice. My other biggest complaint would be that the entire thing takes place in one stage of platforms, and some additional variance in color gradients or something would been good for the visual appeal.
Spoiler:
My Overall Saljective™ Rating: 5/10. It was alright, and hey, it was free! Serene, easy play. I wouldn't play it again, probably, but if you need something to do during a flight layover or between your morning and afternoon class, it's the perfect length.
--
Missing Translation
Title: Missing Translation
Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/395520...anslation/
Developer: AlPixel Games
Initial Release Date: September 2015
Genre: puzzle game
Price: free
GPOY.
Full disclosure, it's been a while since I played this game myself. I recently watched a playthrough of the entire thing, though, so I remember it well enough.
I'm going with the Steam description for this one, because it sums it up best:
"Lost in a weird city in the middle of the desert and surrounded by strange creatures that keep staring at you. This is a game about exploring the unknown and solving puzzles... lots of them!"
That's the gist of the game. You get slurped into an interdimensional wormhole one sleepless night and to find your way home, you try [and mostly fail] to talk to cowbow aliens and you solve lots of puzzles.
Alien school is basically like every other school, I guess. Just a
giant tapir screaming sideways Es at the kiddos.
Pros: I liked getting tossed into the A Clockwork Orange-esque situation of having no clue what anyone in the alien world is saying, but being able to use contextual clues to eventually decipher things. That was probably the most unique part of the game. The few puzzles that did present a challenge were actually pretty fun, and there was definitely a need to redo it until I could get it right. Zero moneys were spent on this. Alternate dimension cats! (Please note that immediately after saying I never play games where I don't rate highly just for looks alone, I am doing that; the game looked fine, but it was nothing special aside from the greyscale scheme maybe.)
Cons: I will also be looking at this one through the lens of it costing $2.99, because judging free stuff still just feels kinda... ehhh. The puzzles were v e r y repetitive. There are only a handful of puzzle types (three or four), and you do about 25 repetitions of each type. Supposedly, each repetition is supposed to be a more difficult variant than the previous, but I did not find that to be the case the majority of the time. I just found it redundant. I would have greatly preferred lots of different puzzles. Again, this one was short, and would have been shorter if not for so many repetitious tasks. No replay value unless you want to switch from a male avatar to a female avatar and redo the entire thing for some reason.
My Overall Saljective™ Rating: 5.5/10. It was a cute time killer. The puzzles were too easy and you had to do the same ones over and over, but deciphering the alien language was kinda neat. And it's FREE!
---
That's it! Two mini reviews done!
By the way, if you guys have ever played any of these games and want to discuss how you would have rated them differently, let me know!