Qora

I enjoyed Qora. About 3 hours of play time for one time through, but I didn't complete all the achievements so there are some things I didn't see. Qora is not a challenging game - it's a game of simply enjoying the pixel-art world (I like the look) and story that the developer crafted. The music/atmosphere is smooth. I enjoy games where I just experience a world/story, so this type of game worked for me. It's a game that at times makes you "feel good" as you play it. It has a off-balance sense of humor which made me smile several times as I progressed. The only negative was there were a few times where I wished traversing some screens might happen a little bit quicker (very minor platforming elements), but at the same time I understand the pacing of the game helps create the overall effect that the game is going for. It's not a game you want to race through, because the game uses a more laid back pacing to help creating a little bit of wonder and overall game mood that gives your mind time to mull over the story as it develops and take in the scenery. Good game. Glad I played it.

I have a lot of favorite games in the indie sector, even those that look like "squares". For example, I played Axiom Verge twice, so the graphics itself is not the cornerstone of the game for me. But the combination of extremely simple square graphics WITH absolutely primitive gameplay (going in one direction, sometimes pressing to talk or activate something) and WITH weak narration made this game uninteresting for me. I'm talking about the narration, not the story itself. Especially for its price. It is a pity, overall, but as another person wrote on Steam - a wonderful thing for collecting achievements. Nothing more.