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Smashing Bottles (PC) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:16:28) |
Heard about this one recently and got stuck playing the demo on itch (though it's also available on Steam) for a few hours until I got to the final (demo) ending!
It's an incremental game with some interesting things going on - you have a bat and smash bottles, but you have a limited time to do so (in seconds, like max 25 or so after all the upgrades?). When time runs out you can go again or go to the shop to buy upgrades. As expected you want to get more money from smashing bottles and there's ways to do that - spawn golden bottles, champagne bottles (when they smash the corks fly out and can smash other things), and even molotov cocktails (that explode, smashing other things).
There's a few things I thought where nice/clever:
a. The game has two distinct phases (once you unlock molotovs, everything changes, really) - the "you smash" and the "maximize money in the time allowed". In the latter, the game mostly plays itself as the molotovs keep everything getting smashed.
b. The "you smash" has rotating bottles, and since the smashing can take a few hits, there's some interest in smashing champagne such that the cork flies in a certain direction for more damage.
c. The champagne corks are pretty clever - since it gives you a reason to, in the short time you have to smash, choose what to smash a little more carefully. Go for golden or champagne hoping for a productive chain reaction?
Of course there's also a prestige/reset mechanic - from which you can lock a separate bat that smashes.
I'm curious how far things will go once the full game is out - and what the nature of the upgrades will be. I'm really hoping for more variety in the experience beyond the simple "number go up" - in that sense the molotovs seem like they're capping the experience in a detrimental way (even as they were super fun to smash when I first unlocked them.
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Donkey Kong Bananza (NSW2) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:07:32) |
Still playing!
It has an interesting structure in terms of its levels and such - the core metaphor is that you're going deeper into the planet with each level, and they're both thematic and numbered. I got to a point where there's a bifurcation - go right into what I thought was "jungle land" or left into "snow land". I went right did a few more levels, cleared the boss (it was plant/poison land) and in order to continue going deeper I was then told to go back to "snow land"! There's a fast travel/teleport system involving giant worms that can move your around, so it was easy enough to do this, but I was surprised to learn that the fork was just a "choose what order to do these" situation... and also, the entire "fork" makes little sense thematically so I'm curious to see how it's explained and communicated in the interface - will it look like a fork in the "hole" going into the planet's core?
The titular ability (bananza mode!) was a bit underwhelming - you turn into a bigger DK and can now punch things you couldn't before - it lasts a limited amount of time. But, I've since unlocked a new one - DK-bird - where you can glide around (and after paying to unlock) and drop an egg on enemies. The gilding around was important/necessary in the plant/poison levels, and I'm expecting it to be similarly required in the snowy ones. We'll see!
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Hollow Knight: Silksong (PC) by dkirschner (May 13th, 2026 at 14:58:07) |
Kicking myself for not writing an entry when I was playing this 6 months ago. I am cleaning up my wishlist, backlog, and etc., and the FEELING I get when I see Silksong "in progress" is anxiety. I had jotted a few notes in December, as follows:
"It’s true, Silksong is hard. Like, really, frustratingly hard. Like punishingly difficult. I hit a wall at the end of Act 1 trying to beat the Last Judge. The game likes to place benches far away from boss fights, such that retrying boss fights involves slogging back through tough platforming and other sections of the map."
I did kill the Last Judge and complete Act 1. I remember that took a very long time, and that after the Last Judge, I died a few more times and, probably, with shaking hands and rapid heartbeat, said, "I can't do this anymore." Actually, it may have been in one of those rooms with waves of enemies. This innovation is new and unwelcome to Silksong, rooms that lock upon entering and spill several waves of challenging enemies at you. Yeah, I think that is what got me, just being pummeled over and over in one of those rooms, getting tired of exploring the maze-like map, tired of dying, tired of corpse runs, just exhausted. The game became a chore.
Besides that, I loved it, haha. I was definitely into it for a while. It was sublime until it wasn't.
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Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (PC) by dkirschner (May 12th, 2026 at 17:20:35) |
I meant to quickly beat this back in April so I could have a "completion" for the month, but I got really busy after spending barely an hour one afternoon with Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, a bizarre little twin-stick shooter about a turnip...who robs a bank. The game builds off previous games in the series, which I have never played, in which Turnip Boy commits tax evasion and, according to this game at least, seems to have started a war. Work has slowed down for the first time in nearly two months, and while I wait for my next contract to begin, I figured I'd knock this out.
The whole game is silly. The world is populated by sentient fruits and vegetables. You are employed by a pickle / mafia gang leader to rob a bank of a garlic bulb / bad guy / killed your dad. You have a base, where you can get new weapon loadouts by bringing weapons from the bank (always try to return with something new or high-powered!), purchase progression items from the "dark web," and upgrade stuff at another vendor. You go on "runs" to the bank, which are timed (starts at 2 or 3 minutes, goes up to 5 or 6 with upgrades). Runs are over when you die or when you exit the bank. Die and you lose half the cash you accumulated in the run. Survive and you are handsomely rewarded. Upgrade stuff. Go back to the bank. It's a roguelite too.
The bank has a specific layout of rooms, but you'll encounter some randomized areas too, and enemies and treasure are somewhat randomized. Throughout the bank are tons of NPCs with little fetch quests that usually reward you with pictures (fun/ny to look at) or hats (fun/ny to equip). A blueberry might want you to find its wedding ring, a lime wants you to get divorce papers from her lemon husband, a scientist pineapple wants you to find a philosopher mango and ask it an ethical question about experimenting on fruits, etc. I had some good laughs.
In each corner of the bank is a boss. Boss fights were fun, but the most challenging were early on. Once you start upgrading stats, the game becomes easy. It definitely ends up being an "upgrade everything and go nuts on all the enemies!" type game, experience being overpowered.
I haven't played a twin-stick shooter in a while, and while this wasn't revolutionary or anything, it was fun and scratched the itch. I gotta get back to Divinity: Original Sin 2. I might have some extra time till my next gig, so maybe I can boot it up, remember what I was doing, and make some progress this week.
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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) by jp (Apr 27th, 2026 at 22:04:52) |
I got to that point where I hit a monster/boss that just wasn't that much fun, and then I got a bit lost in terms of where to continue making progress, and the backtracking started to get a bit tiresome...as I explored and searched for different paths. So, time to bail!
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GameLog hopes to be a site where gamers such as yourself keep track of the games that
they are currently playing. A GameLog is basically a record of a game you started playing. If it's open,
you still consider yourself to be playing the game. If it's closed, you finished playing the game. (it doesn't matter
if you got bored, frustrated,etc.) You can also attach short comments to each of your games or even maintain a diary (with more detailed entries)
for that game. Call it a weblog of game playing activity if you will.
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2323 registered gamers and 3358 games. 7895 GameLogs with 13390 journal entries. 5126 games are currently being played.
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The Legend of Zelda (NES) by reesie07 |
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most recent entry: Thursday 24 January, 2008
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Gamelog entry#1
SUMMARY
The Legend of Zelda is an adventure game that allows the player to explore a virtual world while fighting obstacles. You can go into different taverns, gain lives, and change weapons.
GAMEPLAY
At the very beginning of the game, I was uninterested until I found enemies to fight. After I started to explore around, I became aware of the map and wanted to explore every aspect of it. E wanted to partiall memorize my path and pay more attention in order to find my way and become familiar with the world.
Since you can go anywhere and there’s no direct or leading path, I was free to go anywhere. I found a special tavern that led to a dungeon. It was smaller than the big world and easy to follow with a map. I could locate where I was going and I could find a clue and a piece of the Triforce.
The game got progressively interesting as I went on. My purpose became to find the secret levels and understand their clues. While doing this, it is difficult to navigate through the world. As of now, I don’t feel fulfilled playing this game as a beginner; however, when I am playing I feel focused with a need to find all the clues and beat the game.
Gamelog entry#2
GAMEPLAY
During my second round, I was definitely more ambitious and focused. There are probably still a few more hints I need to realize like which weapon is better for an opponent and why my arrows sometimes don’t work. I felt very competitive while playing a second time. There was a need to beat the enemy swiftly and no one could stand in the way of a goal I was tring to reach.
The narrative progression still increases slightly as you find more clues. I’m still not exactly sure what to do, but my current main purpose is to find the clues and their relevance. The story is still confusing to me, but the music has an effect on my mood. The suspenseful music in the taverns makes me more cautious and focused.
Overall the game is fun to play, although I don’t feel I’ll be satisfied until I beat it. The obstacles I fight become an annoyance as they get in the way of me exploring faster.
DESIGN
The design template of this game was very simple with areas you could move and objects and creatures blocking your path. The multiple ways you could go and many different paths you could take make it one big puzzle including secret taverns, dungeons, and stairs. The game gives you the freedom of an infinite number of paths to take. With the limits of the design, you get a similar experience during the whole game.
The level design in this game varies and you have to find each level. You don’t have a direct path and you need to find a special entrance in the world to get to the dungeons. In each level you find many artifacts important for game play and that help you. There’s also an old man with a clue and each level is like a puzzle that gets progressively difficult.
The game keeps challenges of finding special taverns with levels, opponents to fight, and puzzles within the level. The game keeps these interesting by coming up with harder opponents and more difficult puzzles within the levels. Navigating through the level is a puzzle. Thgame keeps the player interested by telling clues and making levels to find them.
The game has a great space to navigate through and different paths to get to different screens. If I could change the game, I would make the goal clearer. I would also make the pathway more set and direct so the player doesn’t end up going in circles. It was frustrating because after a while you would become disoriented. This game gave me the idea of using different levels with portals or special taverns leading to them.
Note: After playing I went back and read the storyline for Zelda. This changed my views of the game in so many ways. Had I known the object I would have been much more enthusiastic about playing in the beginning like I feel now. I find the storyline very romantic and epic with adventure. The purpose is also more emotional with the goal to find Princess Zelda.
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