Siliconera

My Little Puppy is about the journey one dog makes to finally reunite with the person he loves, and it’s filled with touching moments.

Mousebusters continues Odencat’s trend of pairing adorably detailed, charming spritework with an interesting story. It won’t last long! It’s not terribly difficult. But it’s quite entertaining while it lasts.

Lover’s Enigma is a great game for folks who are looking for a dark, unsettling mystery with a touch of romance. Especially since the artistic direction is so memorable and well-suited to the tale being told. However, I found it more thrilling than romantic, with some of the relationships feeling rushed or like they didn’t have the strongest foundation to them. It’s also still a bit buggy, though hopefully that will still be addressed in the next few weeks.

Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker is another solid installment in the drink-making visual novel genre, though I admittedly enjoyed Coffee Talk Tokyo a bit more.

Stray on Switch 2 is a step up from the adventure on the original Switch version of the game, though it probably still isn’t the ideal way to step into the cat’s paws. It does look better! It runs better! The frame rate is more stable. The mouse controls feel more like a gimmick and aside than a truly viable way to play, unfortunately. Also, it’s still not the prettiest and best way to play. But it is better than what we had, which is nice.

Momento may not be as momentous or genre-defining as Unpacking, but it is a charming organizational puzzle game.

One Move Away isn’t what I expected, as it’s more about the physics of packing and arranging things rather than the puzzle of getting items in proper spaces. I expected something along the lines of Unpacking meets Tetris. What’s here isn’t bad and can be both fun and challenging! But there are a few frustrating levels toward the ends of characters’ campaigns and needing to account for actual safe travel isn’t fun at all.

Schrodinger’s Call is an atmospheric and emotionally engulfing visual novel that lets us work out mysteries while offering closure. This is all accompanied by striking, surreal visuals. By chronicling people’s lives and last thoughts at the very end, we get opportunities to learn about who they really were and how their choices shaped the world. By listening, maybe we’ll even see how Mary being there as the last confidant influences them too.

Thrifty Business is a business management simulation that feels as relaxed as Sticky Business, though a bit less creative. You can customize your space and make it your own. Organizing it all can be soothing. Just know that it can be more repetitive than Spellgarden’s previous title, as it really does prioritize combing through inventories, getting things set up nicely, and enjoying the satisfaction of pleased customers and successful events as a result.

Q Collection is a fascinating set of scenarios and sandbox stages, though the Switch control limitations sometimes make it feel like it isn’t the ideal environment for the games. Q Remastered is great for seeing what the most basic version of the experiences should feel like. Q2 Humanity is the experimental one that almost feels a bit more forgiving due to the multiplayer element. Q with Vtubers can feel a bit weird, in a good way, due to the influence from outsiders who played the game. If you enjoy physics-based challenges that sometimes might annoy the heck out of you or make you feel like an immediate genius, it could be worth a try, but make sure you come in with a stylus at the start.