I have a list of games.
It is a list of games that I have not played. There is no guarantee that I will ever play these games. There is no guarantee any of these games are good. But maybe someone else will play them. Maybe someone else will discover they are good.
In this episode, eleven more games are added to the Crashbook.
119/ Hardspace: Shipbreaker
Equipped with cutting-edge salvaging tech, carve & slice spaceships to recover valuable materials. Upgrade your gear to take on more lucrative contracts and pay your billion credits debt to LYNX Corp!
Crash notes: It was the first-person aspect of this outer space salvage game that reeled me in. I’m hoping it won’t throw out the occasional “use your laser welder against alien infestation” level.
Windows | Steam Link | Released May 2022
120/ Aircar
A simple immersive flying game built for VR. Pilot an aircar through a futuristic cityscape.
Crash notes: I was sad to discover this was a VR title, but I’d love to give this a go. A lot of motion sickness complaints on this one in the Steam reviews though…
Windows | Steam Link | Released 2017
121/ Neon White
Neon White is a single-player speedrunning FPS where you can sacrifice your guns for godlike parkour moves.
Crash notes: Hearing good things about this. Although I’m not sure I’m up for the challenge; I wonder if there are difficulty setgitgud gitgud
Windows | Steam Link | Released Jun 2022
122/ Visage
Visage is a first-person psychological horror game. Explore a mysterious ever-changing house in a slow-paced, atmospheric world that combines both uncannily comforting and horrifyingly realistic environments, and enjoy a genuinely terrifying experience.
Crash notes: Welcome to the Amnesia of the Month award where I feature a horror game that looks interesting although have no idea when I’ll be strong enough to download and play it.
Windows | Steam Link | Released Oct 2020
123/ Visionarium 2: The Descent
Visionarium 2 is a psychedelic audio-visualizer. Enter this artistic VR experience that takes you on an immersive journey through the underworld. Come out on the other side transformed, in awe.
Crash notes: I know, I know, it’s another VR title. But these are the kind of VR titles that are more likely to nudge me into picking up visor than Half-Life: Alyx.
Windows | Steam Link | Released Jun 2022
124/ Last Call BBS
Boot up your Z5 Powerlance and dial into Last Call BBS, the last game from Zachtronics! The Barkeep’s loaded up his retro computer with a full set of puzzle games for you to download and play. No need to worry about copy protection, they’re all fully cracked and ready to enjoy!
Crash notes: Stunning that this is Zachtronics’ “final game”. It’s all my fault, you know. I might have pre-ordered SpaceChem but I only ever played it for ten minutes 🙁
Windows, Mac | Steam Link | Released Jul 2022
125/ The Quarry
When the sun goes down on the last night of summer camp, nine teenage counselors are plunged into an unpredictable night of horror. The only thing worse than the blood-drenched locals and creatures hunting them are the unimaginable choices you must make to help them survive.
Crash notes: Alexander Chatziioannou seemed to give this a thumbs-up on Wireframe and that’s enough for me. From the developers of Until Dawn.
Windows | Steam Link | Released Jun 2022
126/ Recursive Ruin
A story rich narrative puzzle game in which an artist comes to terms with their grief. Explore an infinitely recursive world of strange fractal beauty and solve mind-bending puzzles. Confront the ineffable and chat with your cat in a search for meaning and hope.
Crash notes: Could be absolute pants but looks nice.
Windows | Steam Link | Released May 2022
127/ MOTHERED – A ROLE-PLAYING HORROR GAME
An immersive first-person horror adventure where you play the role of LIANA – a young girl who arrives home after major surgery and is met with a strange mannequin claiming to be her mother.
Crash notes: From the folks who made The Enigma Machine.
Windows | Steam Link | Released Dec 2021
128/ Marpi ᵒˢ
An interactive, generative artwork. Play with an infinite collection of abstract simulated arthropods.
Crash notes: Also check out Marpi Studio’s Paleoalto public artwork.
Windows | Steam Link | Early Access
129/ CYCLE
Help Lana find the truth about her mother’s death in this exploration-based platformer game!
Crash notes: Old-skool Metroidvania and the 90s console era graphics looks nicely crisp, although not sure about the colour palette. Been in development for some time and there’s a demo on itch.
Windows | Steam Link | Unreleased
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Cycle looks interesting, I’ll definitely try to play it! Though after your non-recommendation of Mothmah 1966 I should be a bit more conscious about what games I play ¬_¬
Oh no. Not Mothmah, Mothman. Now my typo is forever set in stone.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is amazing. It never has you fighting off alien creatures, although some (clearly marked) ships do have some unusual hazards that feel actively malicious and require some different strategies. It has a well-written plot that lets you be part of a unionization effort.
Maurycy, I never play anything in Crashbook. Not until after it’s posted at least. I bought Marpi OS like ten seconds after I published. I bought it more for its potential to squeeze into one of my films; not sure if I want to sit in front of it for actual fun for more than a few minutes. There’s a little bit of interactivity. That’s early access for you.
I’l have you know Mothmen 1966 was published in Crashbook #2 which is why I shared the release notice on Twitter in case anyone remembered it from Crashbook. Did you try Mothmen 1966? Is it not great?
Gregory, thanks for the detail on Hardspace! You make me want to try it out but I already bought this Mothmen 1966 today…
@Joel Regarding Mothmen I wouldn’t call it bad. I started the demo and played the first chapter and liked the writing so I bought the whole game and for about the first quarter of the game I simply enjoyed it and went along with the story. Then two things happened.
One was I realized that the game is fully linear, decisions are for the most part meaningless and at best change/add one line of dialogue here and there. I know how complicated it is to make it more complex but I just expected something a bit more elaborat.
Two was I never really read any pulp story before and thus I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, but I was thoroughly mislead by the first chapter. I expected some more serious, maybe even edgy and darker writing, but ultimately what I got was a b-class 80s horror movie.
Three was the writing went kind of downhill in the second half, with sudden long expositions and explanations leaving less than I hoped for for the imagination. Though I think this was more the factor of it imitating those movies.
(I also had some issues with puzzles being not very puzzly and easily brute-forcable but I never expect a visual novel to have puzzles or good puzzles. I’ll blame those movies again. Oh and the switch version has quite a few annoying bugs)
All in all it was an interesting experience and after sitting on it for a bit longer, I think I’ll buy their next game if it’s in a similar style.
It was a bit like going to a drive-in theater but it turns out it’s actually 6D experience and you’re
watchingexperiencing crash test dummy simulation and in the end your car is broken, you have a headache but you kinda want to see what they’ll do in the sequel.Hmm. Is the palette choice in Cycle a reference to something, a particular Amiga look maybe?
Spacechem didn’t really click with me but I loved TIS-100 and some of the others. Last Call BBS looks like it has Everything, so I’d love at least some of it if I ever get a chance to play it. Hmm. Are there any good Zachlikes for Android?
Sorry for late response here. I’m not entirely sure of the origin of Cycle’s palette. It’s allegedly inspired by the Mega Man Zero series but from what I can tell those games rock the primary colours a bit more.
That’s a good question – are there any Zachlikes for Android? I guess there’s The Sequence (which I haven’t played).
Ooh, The Sequence looks promising. At £1.89 I guess I’ll give it a shot!
I can back Gregory on Hardspace: Shipbreaker being amazing. It’s a very clever game with surprising breadth and outstanding writing. The whole conceit of earning money to pay off your ballooning debt (incurred from the very mechanism by which you earn money) is great, and the story moves right along. Simple movement is one of the key challenges — you’re floating around out there, and it’s easy to lose your bearings or get moving too fast or accidentally fling yourself into the Processor. You have to be methodical if you want to safely break these ships, but you’re on a strict clock and being methodical probably won’t earn you enough money… so you take risks.
I’m not sure if it’s possible to lose the game by allowing your debt to exceed some predetermined maximum — you start off about $1,200,000,000 in the hole and it goes from there — but your debt becomes secondary as the workers’ rights story takes the fore.
Neon White is another on this list that I can heartily recommend!
Hello Steerpike! Thanks for the extra extra recommendation for Hardspace. I’m really, very, sorely tempted…