Yep, it is time for me to wrap up another unproductive year of playing too much DotA and not enough of my backlog, which means my New Year’s resolution remains the same: play less DotA and write more.
My punishment for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is losing 1000 MMR; I dropped from as high as Ancient III to Archon V. That is nearly two whole ranked tiers over the past two months. My sharp decline in MMR should have incentivized me to find other things to do with my life and time, but I clearly have a problem.
More things for the therapist to unravel later, I suppose….
The sad part is, only eight of these games are were first-time attempts. The rest were replays for achievements and such. Better luck next year?
Apotheon
Apotheon is an example of a “hidden gem” type of indie game purchased years ago that ages as it waits its turn. Unfortunately, I may have waited too long; this is not the game’s fault. What I played of it during its opening hour is engaging enough such that I do not regret the purchase. There are just better, higher-priority games within similar genres that I would like to prioritize.
I might have stuck with Apotheon beyond the prologue if it were not for Hera wanting me wage war on Zeus. I feel like I have already played an entire franchise with a similar premise before, and would rather spend my time investing in other stories.
7
Beyond Eyes
Once upon a career ago, I experienced what it was like to be a vision-impaired person in the titular VR game, Blind. Beyond Eyes was released before Blind, and its plodding pacing and underdeveloped plot betray its age. I gave it a good hour of my time, but the game lacks pacing to keep me engaged—puzzles, compelling plot, anything really.
5
Vampire Survivors
Vampire Survivors has proven to me that when a game on Steam features thousands of reviews with an overwhelmingly positive reputation, gamers are probably on to something even if the game in question may at first appear to be outside of my preference zone. I do maintain prejudice against free games on Steam, as well as uber-cheap ones; I fancy a mental Venn diagram that a “good” game rests at the meeting point between “price,” “production quality,” and “entertainment value.” Like Loop Hero, Vampire Survivors made a blip on my radar, but I ignored it because it reminded me of an NES game.
But for less than $5 I took a risk, and Vampire Saviors checked me on my aversion to 8-bit pixel art, because the game offers far more than its graphics. It has nothing (or very little) to do with vampires, but bats and skeletons and mummies and zombies and enemies of all types. Yet, enemy variety is limited to their sprites. A bat with more HP, speed, or damage appears on the screen larger and in a different color; other enemies follow suit, yet those featuring glowing hues are what make Vampire Saviors the 10/10 game that it is: special power-ups.
The majority of the items in the game are ripped straight from 8-bit Castlevania. The starting character, Antonio swings a whip; Gennaro throws daggers; Imelda wields a magic wand, and so on. My favorites are Portia, whose lightning ring strikes down enemies randomly on the screen; Poe with his garlic aura; Celrici, whose holy water leaves AOEs of DPS; and Dommario, whose holy book revolves around him in a circle of protection. The beauty of Vampire Saviors lies in the interchangeability and upgradability of these characters and their items. Start with +1 projectiles or expanded auras or whatever; then, during the course of a level, collect all the weapons that I have mentioned (and so many passives that I do not have space for here), and survive against an infinite number of foes for thirty minutes before Death himself kills your character and ends the run.
The replay value with all of the goals and unlocks is a bonus.
10
Yoku’s Island Express
Yoku’s Island Express pleasantly reminds me of why I love indie gaming. Even the fact that its name begins with “Y” means that it would have stayed hidden at the very bottom of my Steam collection had I not begun playing one game at the beginning and end of my backlog. I am glad that I changed tactics for tackling my collection, because Yoku’s Island Express is a hidden gem.
It is an adventure platformer not unlike what one would call a Metroidvania due to how one can explore the island. At its core, it is a pinball game and a great one to such a degree that while playing, I am whisked away into my childhood when I spent hours playing the Space Cadet pinball game on Windows; I wish my memories of Sonic Spinball were as favorable (lol). Yoku the dung beetle begins his job as the island’s postmaster, yet by its conclusion, he ascends to the calling to become its savior.
One does not play Yoku’s Island Express for its story, though. Come for the cute and friendly key art, stay for the well-designed mini-pinball tables played to the tune of lo-fi beats. The game does not tally a traditional score; Yoku accumulates fruit in an upgradable wallet used to unlock bumpers that allow players to explore deeper into the island and its secrets. The game’s formula works so well that I would give it a 10/10 if not for a few tables whose objectives do not play well with the physics of Yoku’s ball, frustrating me in my attempts to achieve some tables’ objectives. Thankfully, these misalignments are rare, and the game respects the player’s time by making the true ending reasonably accessible.
9
Blerd Beats 
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