[index] Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

[tozka]

These are reviews, mini-reviews, and thoughts/impressions for games I bought in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality in June 2020.

There are 1,704 items total in the bundle. According to the RandomBundleGame website, there are 584 Mac OS compatible video games. I have reviewed 37 games so far.

Reviews

Items with a ♥ are highly recommended.

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Non-Compatible

Games that either aren't compatible with Mac OS Catalina (e.g. what I'm playing on) despite having Mac files, or whose Mac files don't work for whatever reason and devs can't fix it. Will have to play on another system.

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Arcade Spirits (2019) ♥

[tozka]

Arcade Spirits (2019) is a LOVELY game, one I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys playing romantic visual novels. It's set in the near future, in an alternate timeline where video games are even more popular than they are in this timeline. You play as Ari Cader, a down-on-their-luck dreamer with no ambitions. ( More words and three images )

I definitely want to go back and play a few different choices. The nice thing is that I can do that but still maintain my Kindly personality type if I want, because not all plot choices lead to personality type choices. For instance, for this first play-through I chose to build a retro arcade. Maybe the next one I'll pick a family-friendly esports center! etc. Or I wonder what would've happened if I sold out earlier on in the game, or was harsher with some trouble-makers. That's the exciting thing about this game: it has lots of replayability!

It took me about 6? hours to play through the first time and even with the speed-run options, it'll probably still take another 3 for EACH of the different romance/plot points. And now that I've done it once, I can speed through some scenes and go back and make other choices IN the game. Nice!

Price: $19.99

Content notes: Parental abuse, depression (/disassociation?), guns/knives (teenage gangs), sexism.

Originally posted at my personal journal. Crossposted to indie_games.

Dungeons & Lesbians (2018)

[tozka]

Dungeons & Lesbians (2018) is a romantic visual novel starring a Dungeons & Dragons friend group. I played the Mac OS version.

This has cute art, a good story setting, and a diverse cast. The player character can use they/them or she/her pronouns. Three romance options plus a weird non-romance encounter which honestly sounds like sexual assault??? Also one non-romance story option (friendship only). 6 total endings, so a fair amount of story choices for a tiny game. I didn't like some of the humor but I really liked the writing for the romantic scenes.

The background music is from those free music sites, the same that a bunch of Instagram tutorials use-- I had to turn it off, ha. It's a short game, and once you finish the first time you can skip through previously-seen dialogue. Took about 45 minutes to complete everything.

Price: $4, or free if you are unable to pay and are willing to email the creator.

Content notes: One scene which (to me) read like a prelude to sexual assault.

Hidden Folks (2018)

[tozka]

Hidden Folks (2018) is a hidden object game with lack and white doodle art and lots of weird sounds ("mouth sounds" which gives me the willies) when you click on things. And EVERYTHING is clickable! Lots of little interactive things to get involved with, which is super cute.

32 huge scenes to search through, each with a list of people, animals, and objects to find. You can zoom in and move around as needed-- and it IS needed, as these scenes are dense with detail.

Honestly b&w hurts my eyes after a while but it's fun for short play. It does have "color" options e.g. brown and reverse white/black, which might help with the eye strain. A good casual game for short bursts of play.

Price: $11.99

I played the Mac OS version. Also available for Windows/mobile/Nintendo Switch. Could be a really fun iPad game!

Dusk Child (2016)

[tozka]

Dusk Child (2016) is an adventure/platformer game starring an archaeologist in search of her past.

Couldn't get Mac version to work (kept crashing), so I played the browser version.

Fun graphics, they remind me of 90s computer games like Jill of the Jungle. Good colors, and the atmosphere was to die for. Good basic game mechanics, just jumping, picking things up, and (apparently) running. It's VERY old school, to the point where you can't hold a bucket AND read a sign.

Jumping and landing on small squares takes some doing! I saw some other reviews that complained of "slippery feet," but I actually found it fairly forgiving for my skill level. Took me a while to beat the last room because I'm not that good at jumping on small squares.

A short (<2 hours) but enjoyable game!

Hint for opening the final temple door if, like me, you couldn't figure it out: Stand on the statues in the east/west temples and use the X button.

Price: Name your own price!

Crossposted to indie_games 6/20/20

Odd Realm (2018)

[tozka]

Odd Realm (2018) is a settlement simulation game in the vein of Rimworld, where you can choose from a variety of settler types, settlement locations, and other stuff. And then you grow your town! It's set on a fantasy world, so there should be some nifty elements you can add to your settlement.

I really liked the graphics on this so I wanted to try it out-- unfortunately, the screen resolution makes the font WAY too small and I literally can't read it without shoving my face two inches from the screen. I played the Mac OS version, not sure if that has something to do with it. I can't find a way to adjust it except to make it SMALLER, so I'll have to leave this unplayed for now. It's still in development, so maybe they'll fix that issue soon?

Price: $10

The Floor is Jelly (2018)

[tozka]

The Floor is Jelly (2018) is a platformer, a cute jumping game set in a jiggly and gelatinous world of brightly colored 2D art. I played the Mac OS version.

I love the look of this and if I was any better at jumping games I'm pretty sure I'd adore it. However, jumping games are my least favorite, so I quit after about 10 levels. Supposedly it gets weirder and more complex the longer you go, to the point where people were raving about the physics, but I just couldn't push myself to keep playing.

Still think it's really cute, though!

Price: $9.99

A Normal Lost Phone (2017)

[tozka]

A Normal Lost Phone (2017) is a puzzle game. I played the Mac OS version.

The story about a trans girl figuring herself out, told through phone apps, emails, and text messages. Some puzzles (mostly finding the right codes), but more just reading a lot of text. Feels a little bit like creeping on a stranger to dig so deeply into their personal stuff, but it's an interesting plot device. Good music! Good art! Really nice design for the phone. I'd call it a visual novel except there are no plot choices or options, and you can't change the outcome of anything. Does that still count? Not sure.

About an hour's worth of play, longer if you read EVERYTHING (I skipped some of the forum posts, but they had good "what does it mean to be trans" info for newbies).

Price: $2.99

Content notes: Homophobia/transphobia, suicide/self-harm, bullying.