Game Roundup #4
TOEM, Cocoon, Strange Antiquities
Game Roundup is a series where I briefly introduce some games that I’ve played and give my thoughts on it along with a short review.
These are some of the short games I played recently that gave me the peace of mind I needed.
TOEM
Played on: Steam Deck
Play time: 11.5 hours (4 hours on this playthrough)
Difficulty: Default
The game of the month for the Good Game Lobby Gaming Club was TOEM! I was the one who pitched in TOEM, as I had finished the game before, and I had been meaning to replay this game. Thankfully, a lot of people had it in their libraries already. And the gaming club was a great opportunity to not only replay it, but also to re-experience it along with other people and discuss it.
It’s a very cute game where you go on a little journey with your trusty camera in a black-and-white world. You are on a mission to experience TOEM, whatever that may be. As you make your way through different places, you get to interact with quirky NPCs, take photos of the tiniest corners of the world, and help people in order to get stamps. Each stamp helps you get to the next bus stop, and your goal is to reach the last stop.
The humor in this game is exactly my taste; it has just the right amount of silliness without being obtuse. The NPCs are funny, the art is charming, and the music is just amazing.
You can really tell when developers love creating their games, and this is one of those cases. The amount of love and care they put into this world is heartwarming, which is even more evident in the message at the end of the bonus area that they added after the credits as a gift to the players.
The sequel is on its way, and you can be sure that I’ll be one of the first ones to play it!
Cocoon
Played on: PlayStation 5
Play time: 4 hours
Difficulty: Default
Cocoon is a very, very interesting puzzle game. You are controlling a little moth guy and making your way through different biomes. These biomes become little spheres that you can carry on your back, and they give you specific abilities as long as you hold them.
The mechanics get more and more complex as you continue, and it becomes a bit mind-bending in a good way. The visuals are amazing, and the sound design is intricate.
I played Cocoon with my husband as my co-pilot/backseat gamer. We had to put our brains together to get past some of the puzzles, and discussing how to best proceed was really fun.
My biggest criticism of this game would be that it requires some backtracking for some of the puzzles, which I normally would not have the patience for. It was because I was playing along with my husband that I kept going, and I’m SO glad I did because it feels so satisfying to get the solution right. The backtracking was not actually too bad, but I tend to get impatient in games like these.
Strange Antiquities
Played on: Steam Deck & PC
Play time: 10 hours
Difficulty: Default
I had been waiting for this game ever since I played Strange Horticulture, which I wrote about 2 years ago. Despite its Lovecraftian vibes, it’s actually a very cozy game. It reminds me of Dredge a lot, which I also adored.
Strange Antiquities is a game where you temporarily take over a store that deals in weird occult objects and give them to your customers according to their needs. You need to consult your books and your notes to find the correct item, and you can shape the future depending on what you give them. You can also “explore” a few areas to find new objects.
After mulling it over, I realized that I enjoyed Strange Antiquities more than its predecessor. The developers learned from their experiences with the previous game and made this one a much better experience, in my opinion. I enjoyed analyzing the little trinkets more than trying to see the subtle differences between plants.
Thanks for sharing this, Strange Antiquities looks like a must play!
Great roundup! TOEM looks neat. I'm going to try that one. Cocoons been on the wishlist for awhile. I got some work to do this weekend :)