If you enjoy finding objects, Shy Dogs Hidden Orchestra is a great game to add to your collection. The cute puppies and glorious landscapes, together with no timer and all the worlds available at the start, make for an enjoyable experience. The added twist of solving a puzzle to unlock the final shy dog adds an extra challenge. If frustration sets in at finding those last few pups, conduct your collected puppies to play a pleasant tune instead!
Farm Land is a fast-paced farming sim with a focus on making money to expand. It’s repetitive: sow, water, harvest, expand; however, it’s strangely addictive. It’s a great game to play on the go, and its bright colours make it a cheerful experience.
There is no denying that Pine Hearts is a beautifully crafted narrative. There are plenty of tasks to keep any quest hunter happy, but don’t rely on the quest log to keep track. The characters are adorable, the graphics are fresh and colourful, and the music adds to the experience.
A round of ap-paws for Little Kitty, Big City. It’s the purr-fect offering of adventure, humour and collecting. There is the fun of exploring the big city and puzzling out how to get to different areas. The entertaining conversations with the various residents, coupled with the amusing actions of the adorable kitten. The plethora of quests and collectables will keep you busy for several hours.
I was delighted to find that Surmount was more than just a platforming adventure of climbing a single mountain. The side expeditions, storyline and humorous interactions with other climbers make it a joyful experience, even for those of us whose climbing skills are lacking. The coordination needed to control your little climber grabbing the rock face and flinging them in the right direction is harder than it looks and makes this a challenging adventure. The option of a local co-op is a great addition and makes Surmount a fun game to share. Unfortunately, my co-op player and I glitched a few too many times to give Surmount a Two Thumbs Up (our initial thoughts). But it made us smile and laugh, especially with low gravity, so it’s a:
There is no denying that Botany Manor transports you to a bygone era. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time digging around to find the growing conditions of the forgotten flora, ensuring my herbarium blossomed in completeness and unearthing Arabella Greene’s life.
Sharing a style similar to all the Kairosoft management simulation games, TV Studio Story is reassuringly familiar with bright colours and cute pixelated characters. However, I wish there had been more opportunity to see the adorable characters wander around, but the pop-up messages got in the way. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the same satisfaction in playing TV Studio Story as I have with similar games. The allocation of TV show stats was a bit too random for my liking, and although selecting the best genre, theme, and set combination was a fun challenge, it didn’t have the same appeal once I’d completed all the viewer requests.
Some games take you on an emotional roller-coaster. For us, PlateUp! was more of an emotional freefall. First impressions were great, it was challenging, but doable, and even failing had an element of fun to it. However the constant new options meant that practised recipes and restaurant layouts meant nothing, each attempt was totally new and this started to frustrate. However, the lack of explanation of how appliances, upgrades, speed-runs and franchises work took away the enjoyment. One of my co-oped friends would rate it as ‘I don’t like it’, bitterly disappointed to have wasted so much time. The other would rate it as ‘I like it’ but would not play it again. I know PlateUp! has a loyal following, but for us, it was undercooked
Dream Town Island is a dream come true. Watching the cute pixelated characters go about their daily lives, falling in love and starting a family is delightful. There is a great balance in progressing through the game, playing mini-games, unlocking facilities and building your dream town.
Although I enjoyed the different course locations and the concept of unicorns rather than karts or motorbikes, Wildshade: Unicorn Champions doesn’t bring anything new to the racing genre. If more could be made of the breeding option, allowing the characteristics of the horse or unicorn to have some bearing on performance, it would make Wildshade: Unicorn Champions a more exciting and memorable racing game. As it is, it seems off the pace and, for me, fell at the first hurdle.
Hamster on Rails definitely has some momentum behind it. The beautiful dioramas are a joy to look at. There is a good balance between challenging and straightforward levels, with many techniques to learn and apply. There is also the added bonus of customising your hamster explorer.
Mail Time is definitely one to write home about. The short adventure delivers you to the whimsical world of Grumblewood Grove, with its quirky houses and fascinating residents. The imagination in both the scenery and characters makes for a truly delightful experience.
The bright colours and lovely pixelated characters of Cafe Master Story fill the screen with familiarity. Designing the best trio of drinks to recommend to customers is one of the best mini-games I’ve played in a Kairosoft game. Cafe Master Story is not as complicated as some of the other Kairosoft games and with the on-screen help to get you started, it’s an ideal introduction to this type of management simulation game.
A Tiny Sticker Tale is one of the most adorable games I’ve played this year. The graphics are bold and colourful, removing and placing stickers is good fun, and the quests are satisfying. Designed to be a short adventure, A Tiny Sticker Tale packs a lot in and definitely a game to get stuck into!
Dolphin Spirit – Ocean Mission navigates the right balance between being an enjoyable game and explaining real-life ecological hazards. The accompanying music is beautiful and enhances the experience. I learnt quite a bit from my ocean adventure. So dive in, splash around and see what you discover.
Although it shares a similar style to the other Kairosoft games I’ve played, the gameplay is vastly different. It’s a coffee break game rather than a long gaming session. However, I found it just as addictive and enjoyable as the others.
Alchemy Garden is a pleasant life sim, with growing flowers and making potions as the source of income to buy decorations for your house, shop and garden. At the moment, it’s more decorating than farming, but I hope the developers continue to invest time and passion in the game to expand its repertoire. Unfortunately, the port to the Nintendo Switch isn’t as smooth as it could be, which has lowered my final verdict
Manic Mechanics is motor mayhem in every sense. In each neighbourhood, there are different vehicles and different challenges. Sometimes the levels were really enjoyable with a feel-good factor. At other points, they were too frustrating, and it took willpower to battle through. It’s a bit soulless for one to play, but it is definitely better with friends.
Side Decide is a great puzzle game. A simple concept of wooden blocks and matching shapes, but it’s not all child’s play. Trying to reach the goal is challenging, but with multiple levels to tackle in any order, it makes progress easier and not as frustrating as other games in the genre.
I don’t get the same warm, fuzzy feeling playing Zoo Park Story as I have with other Kairosoft games. It shares a similar style, and the pixelated animals are adorable especially the baby ones. I enjoyed building my zoo and collecting all the animals. However, it isn’t as addictive to watch and too time-consuming clicking through the numerous on-screen messages.