Unoriginal and Uncreative【Game Log: Mid-August 2025】
Mostly a lot of Automobilista 2 and non-game stuff.
Major Timesinks and Finished Games
I spent a lot of time with Automobilista 2. It really needs some sort of cohesive career mode. But I have had fun trying to generate the perfect multiclass set up of disparate cars.
The final version of Squiggle Football was released. It's a simple Australian Rules Football based deckbuilding game that works well at its core. The entire shell around it is bland and uninteresting, and the many AI generated horrors within give it a quality of a half-arsed bigger game, rather than a tight focused simple game. There are occasional hints of more in-depth gameplay, but only enough to frustrate the player wanting more.
I'm also playing the OFF Remaster (about 50% through currently). I never played the original, despite intending to, but I am enjoying this version. The visuals are dated, but effective, and I like the new soundtrack. The surreal script and vibe are the games main selling point though, and the game and its weird world ooze with quality.
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken is the latest Scriptwelder game. Just as Don't Escape - 4 Days to Survive is a "real game" successor to the Don't Escape flash games, this is similar for Deep Sleep games. It's a horror-themed point and click adventure game, that is blended with turn-based survival horror combat, and quite effectively so. I have played a few hours now and find the game mechanics satisfying, and the narrative and aesthetics impeccable. A few of the puzzles have caused me excessive grief, but I'm generally enjoying the game a lot.
Tried Out or Revisited Briefly
I find the later puzzles of Is This Seat Taken? to be slightly more satisfying. Unfortunately the "Amount that I want to play in one sitting" is less than half of "Minimum time between opportunities to save." So I guess I'm never playing it again.
Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is a colony-management/narrative-event game. I played its predecessor and appreciated it, without fully getting it. I had a pretty similar experience this time. I felt like there were systematic parts of the game that did not follow the information printed on the screen.
An early access version of Jupiter Hell Classic was released. It's an adaptation of Jupiter Hell to the original DoomRL/DRL mechanics. I played a bit of it and enjoyed it, largely because it's the combination of too incredible games. Equally though, it felt like a bit of a shadow of both. Will wait for a more complete version.
Star Scum is a space battle deckbuilding game that is in very early access. Too early access. Almost as if the actual game has been updated to a new system, but the UI and tutorial hadn't. Way too early to judge, but I'll need big improvements to recommend it.
Classic Recommendation
Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive
Ostensibly a point and click game. It's actually a sequence of anti-escape room (locking up a location to stay secure) puzzles, interspersed with character interaction and a completely unhinged plot about the destruction of the moon and the end of the world.
All Games Played
OpenTTD: GREAT
Automobilista 2: GREAT
Is This Seat Taken?: OK
Squiggle Football: OK
OFF: GREAT (Notable)
Deep Sleep - Labyrinth of the Forsaken: GREAT (Notable)
Six Ages 2 - Lights Going Out: Good
Jupiter Hell Classic: Good
Star Scum: OK
Mostly a lot of Automobilista 2 and non-game stuff.
Major Timesinks and Finished Games
I spent a lot of time with Automobilista 2. It really needs some sort of cohesive career mode. But I have had fun trying to generate the perfect multiclass set up of disparate cars.
The final version of Squiggle Football was released. It's a simple Australian Rules Football based deckbuilding game that works well at its core. The entire shell around it is bland and uninteresting, and the many AI generated horrors within give it a quality of a half-arsed bigger game, rather than a tight focused simple game. There are occasional hints of more in-depth gameplay, but only enough to frustrate the player wanting more.
I'm also playing the OFF Remaster (about 50% through currently). I never played the original, despite intending to, but I am enjoying this version. The visuals are dated, but effective, and I like the new soundtrack. The surreal script and vibe are the games main selling point though, and the game and its weird world ooze with quality.
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken is the latest Scriptwelder game. Just as Don't Escape - 4 Days to Survive is a "real game" successor to the Don't Escape flash games, this is similar for Deep Sleep games. It's a horror-themed point and click adventure game, that is blended with turn-based survival horror combat, and quite effectively so. I have played a few hours now and find the game mechanics satisfying, and the narrative and aesthetics impeccable. A few of the puzzles have caused me excessive grief, but I'm generally enjoying the game a lot.
Tried Out or Revisited Briefly
I find the later puzzles of Is This Seat Taken? to be slightly more satisfying. Unfortunately the "Amount that I want to play in one sitting" is less than half of "Minimum time between opportunities to save." So I guess I'm never playing it again.
Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is a colony-management/narrative-event game. I played its predecessor and appreciated it, without fully getting it. I had a pretty similar experience this time. I felt like there were systematic parts of the game that did not follow the information printed on the screen.
An early access version of Jupiter Hell Classic was released. It's an adaptation of Jupiter Hell to the original DoomRL/DRL mechanics. I played a bit of it and enjoyed it, largely because it's the combination of too incredible games. Equally though, it felt like a bit of a shadow of both. Will wait for a more complete version.
Star Scum is a space battle deckbuilding game that is in very early access. Too early access. Almost as if the actual game has been updated to a new system, but the UI and tutorial hadn't. Way too early to judge, but I'll need big improvements to recommend it.
Classic Recommendation
Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive
Ostensibly a point and click game. It's actually a sequence of anti-escape room (locking up a location to stay secure) puzzles, interspersed with character interaction and a completely unhinged plot about the destruction of the moon and the end of the world.
All Games Played
OpenTTD: GREAT
Automobilista 2: GREAT
Is This Seat Taken?: OK
Squiggle Football: OK
OFF: GREAT (Notable)
Deep Sleep - Labyrinth of the Forsaken: GREAT (Notable)
Six Ages 2 - Lights Going Out: Good
Jupiter Hell Classic: Good
Star Scum: OK
Rock Paper Shotgun
Jan Pospisil
