Hi! I'm a web dev, game designer and writer that loves to be curious, creative and chaotic. Welcome to my place in the Web!
"Fill-in-the-blank" became a staple on mystery and detective games in recent years. In a way, it's a simple but effective interaction to ask the player if they really solved the puzzle when still giving it a little bit of help. Sometimes, you are completing a data structure - like Obra Dinn 's notebook or Roottrees ' family tree - but you can just fill in paragraphs about the plot. Probably not…
I know that the "third dimension" was a big step on videogames, but I still have a corner of my heart to keep loving 2D top-down games . There is something about how approachable and dynamic those games are that the complex 3D cameras never really got it. Maybe this is the reason I follow Elementallis since its announcement in 2020 : a 2D top-down game that is trying to bring something new to the…
Climbing was always a common verb on platformers, mostly as a goal or a challenge to be conquered. In the modern world, however, climbing became more of a system in itself . You approach a steep mountain and a small, green circle appears at the side of your character and starts decreasing: now you are on a resource management minigame. "You can climb everything...", they say, just before showing…
As a kid that actually used a lot of time on children 2000s MMO games, Neopets was a household name for a while. Even before Flash appeared in the scene - but embracing it beautifully later - the World of Neopia was part of childhoods across the globe. The Altador Plot, the Puzzle Adventure PC game, NeoQuest, the Moltara discovery, the now-defunct Key Quest... So many! But, as it would be common…
Some games need to show me something so hype can start growing — a screenshot, a cool GIF or maybe a trailer — but a privileged group of titles can make me excited just for telling me the concept. Like, how not to love the idea of being a little witch that does deliveries with her broom ? From the devs of Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara (a cool and competent 3D platformer that I liked), it comes…
I shit talked about golf so many times in this blog already, but I cannot stop myself: with all the respect for players of the sport, I think golf is really boring. But mini golf is a whole other story! Smaller, faster, funnier and crazier, this is a thing that I really wanted to try in real life, but I'm always down to try a new digital version of mini golf . It's like pizza: not always great,…
Although as an fully adult human I understand why exclusive games exist and how it still is and will always be a way of getting funding, I'm always sad when a title is behind a service or a platform , specially when it's not tied to a specific control scheme. Of all the subscriptions we have today, the one I most ignore is the Apple Arcade, because I don't have an iOS device or a Mac, so I need to…
There's a lot of ways of discovering games nowadays. Amid so many conferences, announcements and digital stores, one of my favorites is just finding a cool GIF on social media — and that's how I and half of the web came across SCHiM . Created by two Dutch developers, Ewoud van der Werf and Nils Slijkerman, reverses what you probably think about a 3D platformer: instead of the objects themselves,…
I love puzzle games, but not every puzzle game I like needs to be big and complex. Sometimes, I only need a simple jigsaw puzzle to solve when I listen to a podcast and zone out after a stressful day. Beautiful pictures, a good interface, no timers and I can chill connecting pieces as this was the only thing I have to do (it isn't). Harmony's Odyssey has almost all of that, but not in a pleasing…
It's hard to me to point out a favorite game development team, but a huge contender would be Simogo . In 2019, this Swedish team released Sayonara Wild Hearts , a pop music interactive album that was so cathartic of an experience that I couldn't get enough words to describe how much I loved (besides being the best game I played on 2022 ). Perfect aesthetics with perfect gameplay, this combination…
Although I always say that mechanics and rules are the most important part of games to me (and it's true), I never forget the power of well-done aesthetics . Sometimes, I can see a title that I probably would love to play, but I don't because of the visuals or the story not being exactly my cup of tea. Fortunately, there are also moments that I can jump over my preconceptions and try something…
When two similar things touch, they become a new one, probably bigger. There isn't any innuendo here, I'm just talking about one of the most prolific game mechanics of the casual market in the past years. I can almost remember the feeling of me as a teenager getting 2048 for the first time and just bragging with my friends, and now Suika Game is a world fever — I personally prefer the more…
Oh my God, I forgot how packed June was for gaming announcements! Even with the death of E3, the month still is a moment when dev teams around the world, big and small, show how their projects are going (and hopeful some launch dates too). Although a lot of people is excited for new things from Xbox, Ubisoft or who just paid Geoff Keighley the most money, the indie showcases is what sells the…
I have a sweet spot in my heart for animals talking and doing crazy things (for an animal) . Like, yeah, it's just a cat, but this cat can speak with an Aussie accent and play mini golf, this cat is awesome! So, when I was looking through the demos on the last Steam Next Fest and they gave me a noir duck with a deep voice solving crimes , I knew that I could only expect a great ride. Duck…
If I had a nickel for every time I played an emotional game about climbing a mountain , I'd have three nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's really interesting that it happened other two times before I discovered Pine Hearts , the last game by Scottish team Hyper Luminal Games . That said, the only thing that those three games have in common is a big cliff, like my feelings with it: in this…
Every time I talk about bullet heaven games here, I always discuss a little about my favorite aspect of the genre: that sensation of rediscovering how much powerful you can be . It's not only because of the flashy particles, but the feeling of getting into a run without knowing what is your ability maximum is fantastic. My problem with some of the new titles that are coming out is exactly how they…
People assumes sometimes that I'm a great word game player — just because I created a popular version of Wordle in Portuguese doesn't mean that I'm good at those challenges. To be fair, I'm even worse on those games in English, and that's part of why I created a localized version of Wordle in the first place. That said, I have a lot of fun with those games and my last travel in vocabulary lane was…
"But, Gabriel, you are the most scared person that I know, how did you play AND LOVE a survival horror game?" Yeah, everyone said that to me the past week. I always loved the work of the team at SFB Games since I played Tangle Tower, and when I've seen their next game would be Crow Country , a PS1-inspired survival horror game, I got mixed feelings... On the one hand, it seemed very well made, but…
If there's one question that humanity tries to answer since the beginning, it is "Can it run DOOM?" . When people fail to answer this one, they go from a more simple one: " Where we came from? " How the universe started, how life came to be, what was the first step? Everyone believes in a different theory, but The Lullaby of Life tells us that it all started... with a particle and a sound wave .…
I'm a little ashamed to reveal this, but I had never played a Lucas Pope game until now. Yes, I know that his games are praised for years now, but it never felt the right time to do it. Papers, Please has an amazing concept, but the theme was too heavy for what was happening in my real life in the past years. And I still want some vacation days to only dedicate on solving Return of the Obra Dinn…
Bem Feito is one of those games that the less you know about it, the better your experience will be . But I still need to write a review about it, I cannot just write a single phrase and get away with it. So, without spoilers, let's talk about this mysterious small game that, although it has a lot of qualities, maybe promised too much and couldn't get me that excited for the whole ride. This title…
I believe that not every puzzle game have to be that hard , and I mean sincerely. Us thinky games fans love a challenge that make their brains boiling for hours, but every one of us started somewhere in a more simple enigma. To be fair, not only are games that doesn't are too deep on complexity good for introducing the genre to new people, but they also are the best for advanced players to just…
Experimental games are THE thing that excites me most in the entire industry . Yes, I love to play an awesome sequel from a established franchise that is perfect in every way, of course. But nothing compares of encountering a new premise and going with it until the end, even if isn't perfect like everything we try for the first time. The Scrolling Enigma , made exclusively for the Playdate by the…
People can't show me a colorful abstract puzzle game and expect me to not go completely crazy wanting to play it. In last week's Nintendo Indie World Showcase , I was presented to stitch. , a game that was going out from Apple Arcade and finally going a version to the Switch. Your goal is to fill numbered grids to make beautiful images on embroidery hoops, the perfect mix and match of mechanics…
I have a strange relationship with pure arcade games . I like playing a lot of them, but getting high scores isn't an incentive that works for me. Give me some skins to unlock, an achievement list, an upgrade shop, and I will dive hours and hours into an arcade game, but only getting a big number in the screen isn't enough to bring me back after some minutes. Why I'm saying all of this? It's…
I don't think it's a surprise for anyone how much I love escape rooms . The loop of collecting clues, trying to find patterns and solving puzzles, mixed with a good narrative and some friends, is one of the most fun activities humanity has ever created. Even then, I'm always trying to find new ways of experiencing the genre, and Botany Manor called my attention since its announcement for one…
I never believed in "love at first sight", but I know how to recognize when an idea was made for me. This feeling of yes-give-me-this-now-please was the only thing in my head when I saw the Playdate for the first time. This little gaming device created by Panic — a company who may know as the publisher of Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game — impressed me on how different it was compared to the…
Among all aspects of fantasy magic, my favorite is probably alchemy. Maybe it is just my scientific brain tickling inside the concept of mixing things and seeing a potion explode (or transform someone in a chicken), but it's just a really cool idea that is often well translated into video games. The Magical Mixture Mill , that exited early access some weeks ago, is another try of putting on the…
Yes, I like huge adventures, with a lot of systems and mechanics, and a deep story that will make me cry; there's some moments that all I want is to submerge in a big game and have fun. But, specially nowadays working 40 hours per week, I also have my time to relax, put a podcast on and just play a small and cozy puzzle game . The concept behind Storyblocks: The King was really cool, but the…
It's really fun when you start to follow the games from specific devs and see how they are improving with each new game. I discovered the work from Mexican team Ogre Pixel with their last title, A Tiny Sticker Tale — a small puzzle adventure about stickers so good that found its way to my POTY last year . But only now I could play Lonesome Village , their first non-mobile game released some years…
I wrote some weeks ago about how digital versions of board games can help to expand an already good experience now that the game can use the help of algorithms and computers. But what can be possible when a board game is digital from the ground-up? With no restrictions on physical components or human brains, designs can be even experimental and different, right? Unfortunately, Bounties of Babylon…
Puzzle design is way more complex and embracing than you might expect. There are so many ways of creating those enigmas that even puzzle masters are mostly focused on some types of challenges. That said, if you look into design classes, you will find one golden rule as an incredible and unexpected consensus between designers. There are many names used to it, but I like to call them " Eureka…
I already talked how much video game preservation is important to me when I was talking about The Making of Karateka , the first volume in Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series , a format of interactive documentaries about videogames and their stories. Having old games playable on modern systems is really important, but having the context of their creation (and also the wisdom and knowledge from…
Both as a player and a designer, I truly believe that playing a board game physically is an irreplaceable experience . Sitting with friends, laughing a lot and just having fun with some paper and well-crafted rules is one of the best things that you can have being alive. But it's so hard to find time to get everyone together nowadays that digital versions of board games became an essential part of…
I can say that one of my guilty pleasures are idle/clicker games. If you take them for face value, it's just numbers going up trying to get your money through microtransactions. But there's a little task of optimization and evolution that always catch me, at least for some weeks until I got bored. I replayed Cookie Clicker way too much in my life to get here now and deny the fun I had. Sixty Four…
Expectation can really change how you experience anything , including games. Sometimes, it's because of external factors — who didn't have a movie that a friend hyped for MONTHS and when you watched, it was just OK? The film was probably good, but you were expecting even more of it. But, sometimes, the expectations come from how a product is presented to you in official marketing material. It was…
If you know your gaming history, you remember the Philips CD-i , a commercial failure so big that it is only remembered today because of some bad The Legend of Zelda games . Yes, Nintendo can be too protective with its IPs today, but back in the 90s, they have partnered with Philips to create a never-released CD add-on to the SNES, and rights to use Mario and Zelda characters in original…
Even though we use the name "platformers" for games in 2D and 3D, and they have a lot of common, it's easy to say those two categories are essentially different genres . When looking in two dimensions, you maybe can think of more traditional level-to-level titles, like Super Mario Bros., or games with big maps and unlockables to traverse them, like early Metroid or Castlevania titles. But, in 3D,…
Although I like the name "bullet heaven" for automatic survival shooters like Vampire Survivors , I understand that people prefer other denominations, like "horde survival" or simply "survivor-likes", and it's fine. But I never understood why people call those games roguelites. Yes, you start a new build every time you play, but the goal of the game isn't finish a "complete run", but unlock all…
If you look at any page of my blog, you can see how much I love puzzle games. For some reason, the concept of solving logic conundrums is really fun to me, and it always has been. But between my bad games of Tetris and a lot of Flash escape rooms that I solved, no puzzle series had a impact on me than the one started by Professor Layton and the Curious Village . Launched in 2008 for the Nintendo…
It's fun how the internet deal with spoilers nowadays. Some people watch hours of theory videos to know as much information as possible before a thing comes out, and some believes the fifth horseman of the apocalypse is called Spoiler. I actually in the middle here: sometimes, knowing a little bit more is important to hook me up into the story, but some secrets are better hidden until it's the…
I never really was a person of downloading demonstration versions of games to be sincere. My backlog is always getting bigger, and playing an incomplete piece of a title wasn't my favorite choice. But, in those past years, because of my gaming review renaissance, I started following devs from all over the world showing their ideas and prototypes, and I finally understood the appeal of demo…
Nostalgia is an important factor to understand the game industry nowadays . Of course, new IPs and concepts get released every week, but we probably never had so much new titles looking to the past as an inspiration (or, sometimes, just as a selling point). I'm not talking only about ports, remasters or collections, but also about all the sequels and spiritual successors we see today. At this…
For a long time, 3D platformers were mostly perceived by the public through some icons from big companies, specially those that survived after the boom the genre had on the 90s. Everyone likes when Mario goes to deep space, or if Crash Bandicoot is doing his thing, but, nowadays, an amazing 3D platformer can come from anywhere, most thankfully to indie devs around the world . I'm always ready to…
I've always had a soft spot for small stories about children things . Not stories made for children, or those stories where the little girl has to save the whole universe and do all the adult things being only 8 years old. I'm talking about those intimate and sincere anecdotes about kids doing kids' things , like playing make believe, or discovering the world. They always make my heart happy and…
Simulators weren't exactly my favorite genre, but, in recent years, some of them surprised me. I like the idea of getting a mundane task and using the "power of video games" to create a digital and fun experience inspired by those occupations. Because I passed most of my childhood watching my dad fixing things (from electronics to our house's electrical wiring), I was really excited when I've…
Every now and then, the internet allows us to witness its power of getting some old thing and make it the trending topic that everyone talks about. At the risk of dating this text, I'll talk about one of the most recent "viral hits" in the gaming space: the watermelon game , or Suika Game , as it's really named. Created in 2021 as a built-in app for a Japanese digital projector, now "suika-likes"…
I'm excited to the next 3D Mario game as everyone else , you know? Mario Odyssey is one of my favorite games of all time, but it was launched in 2017! I graduated, married and created three new blogs in this time. Will the new game just be Odyssey 2, with new kingdoms and the same capture mechanic? Will Super Mario Bros. Wonder change how a Mario game is made forever? Will we see a full graphical…
Of all the recent gaming trends, the one that got me was the bullet heaven genre (or horde shooters, or survivor-likes), popularized by the crazy and deserved success of Vampire Survivors . Featuring a reverse bullet hell concept, where your character is the source of all the bullets, in timed runs with random builds, it's really fun when you understand the mechanics behind it. Since then, I'm…
I'm always fascinated by how much deep the human imagination can go when confronted by the unknown. For example, the Tron universe was always SO COOL to me . I was 12 when Tron: Legacy came out, and I didn't care much for the plot, and years later I tried to watch the original Tron and I slept through half of it. All that said, this cyberworld of neon discs and motorcycles, with heroes made of…