My Week Unwrapped: December 11, 2017 – Reigns Her Majesty, QB, Getting Over It, Escape Hunt, Agent A and More

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Hi everyone, and welcome back to another exhausting week of games. The App Store is just relentless lately, throwing quality game after quality game at us. There’s so many games I wanted to play and haven’t because I’m only one person. And no one will share their cloning machine with me because they’re mean. But let me take you through the games I did manage to play in the latest installment of My Week Unwrapped.

Reigns: Her Majesty

Without a doubt, Reigns: Her Majesty was the biggest release this week. I had a lot of great things to say about it in my review, but just like the first game, it isn’t without its flaws. Namely, it gets tedious once new cards start trickling in and you’re mostly seeing the same cards over and over. But I loved the “girl power” theme in this one. Anyway, just read my review for more. I also have a walkthrough guide for the different endings, an objectives guide, an items guide, and finally, a deaths guide. That should all be enough to help you get through the game if you’re stuck.

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

The premise of Bennett Foddy’s Getting Over It is absolutely bonkers. It’s also a torture simulator. You are a man in a cauldron, wielding a hammer. Or is it a pickaxe? Either way, you’re swinging this tool to try and swing yourself up and over obstacles. You’re often climbing mountains this way. It’s painful and it’s meant to be painful. And yet, I keep wanting to go back for more. One of the main reasons is the narration. I’ve stopped to listen to it at times, because he talks about why he made this game. I also love how when I fall, the developer’s voice commiserates with me. And he’ll even offer some playful music to lighten the mood when I’m feeling really down about the whole ordeal. I mean, my entire time with the game so far has gone like this: fifteen minutes of small victories, just to keep falling, finally making it over an evil slippery rooftop onto a small outcropping under a larger outcropping. I was excited about my progress but also could tell the next part of the journey would be much harder. So I took a break and just stayed there. I came back the next day and tried to get farther. What actually happened is that I spent the longest fifteen minutes ever falling and getting back up to where I started that day. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get past that spot. It’s hard and it’s discouraging to keep falling. And yet, I’m not angry enough at the game to want to quit completely. I want to hear more of the narration. And I want to get past that hurdle! So I don’t know if or when it will happen, but I’m not done with this game yet. Even if I have to play no more than five minutes a day to keep myself sane, I still want to work at it. Like the developer says in the trailer, he made this game for a certain kind of person, to hurt them. I don’t think I’m that type of person. But if you are, give it a try. If you’re not and you have $5 to burn, there’s some entertainment to be had even if you don’t get very far. Beware, though, my iPad gets very warm when I play and I haven’t figured out yet how to to relax so I don’t rub my finger through my iPad screen. It physically hurts to play, so I’m going to need to work on my technique. Ha, I say that like I have one!

QB – a cube’s tale

Stephan Goebel’s QB came out of nowhere, but I liked the look of it and it was cheap enough for me to take a chance on it. I’ve been playing it all day, unable to put it down. There’s sixty hand-crafted levels and I’ve played about forty of them. But every single one has felt unique and clever and super satisfying to solve. The way it works is you move the black cube by swiping in any direction. You need to get it to the goal, but there are obstacles in your way. Everything is done through swiping. But the cubes you land on each react differently, so you have to plan things out. For instance, if you land on a red cube, the cube directly in front of you will be destroyed. So you need to be careful how you land on the red cubes. A yellow cube shoots a laser at any yellow pillar in its line of sight, destroying it. Blue cubes send your black cube flying over the cube in front of you. And there’s new elements added every few levels, making for some really tricky puzzles. I didn’t know what to expect from the game, but it certainly wasn’t this. I’m absolutely blown away. It even plays in portrait on iPhone, landscape on iPad, and has iCloud sync so you can play on either device. The only thing that’s missing is an undo button, and it can get frustrating in later, longer levels when you make a mistake. But I like the game so much, I’ve been able to overlook that. It’s just such a well-crafted game. If you like puzzle games, don’t even hesitate. Just grab it. I also started a walkthrough here, but bear with me, as I’m first playing through the game.

Agent A: A puzzle in disguise

It’s been a long wait, but Chapter 4, A Narrow Escape, of the stylish point-and-click Adventure, Agent A by Yak & Co, finally released! If you recall, Chapter 3 was more of a room escape game, all taking place in one spot. It was still great, with hidden switches and lasers and all sorts of spy gadgets. But Chapter 4 is the opposite, spreading out among several different areas. Because of this, there’s a lot of backtracking, but they added a two-finger tap for zooming out and it makes the traveling around much quicker. There’s also more story revealed through some cutscenes, and a really nice touch is that you revisit Ruby’s home from Chapter 1. It gives the game a more seamless feel, as you’re seeing the damage you did to her place, instead of just moving on to another area and being done with it. Her cat also makes a reappearance, along with Trevor the mouse. The groundwork is also laid for the final chapter that we still have to wait for. Some puzzles and areas you can see are inaccessible in Chapter 4, whetting your appetite for Chapter 5. Overall, I was very impressed with the new content and can’t wait to see the final showdown between Ruby and Agent A! Definitely pick up the game if you haven’t yet. And I made a thorough step-by-step walkthrough if you need help.

Escape Hunt: The Lost Temples

Neon Play’s Escape Hunt: The Lost Temples is a 3D first-person adventure game with some impressive visuals. So far, I’ve played through about five rooms and, although each one is fairly small, there’s been a lot of variety to the puzzles. I like what I’ve seen so far, but unfortunately I hit a game-breaking bug and I’m waiting to see if the developers can fix it before I restart. Still, the first two rooms are free, so give it a try. If you like it enough to buy the rest, just be aware of the potential bug, although there are plenty of people who have gotten farther than me without any problems. I also have a walkthrough in progress if you need help.

Legacy 2 – The Ancient Curse

And last, David Adrian’s Legacy 2 – The Ancient Curse was free for the weekend, so I decided to check it out. Despite the controls being a little clunky at times, it’s been a great experience so far. Unlike Escape Hunt, where you complete a room and move on, this is more like a point-and-click adventure in that you can open doors before completing all the puzzles in a room. So you end up with puzzles spread out through several rooms. I think there’s something unique and more realistic about that, but at the same time it means you’ll be running around a lot to see what you still have to solve. And since everything’s in 3D instead of 2D, it can be a bit cumbersome to move around. But the puzzles have been interesting so far and the visuals look great, too. I’d recommend checking out some of my video below to see what it’s like and if it’s something you’d enjoy.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week! Excuse me while I get back to playing QB and catching up on season 2 of The Magicians! Let me know what you’ve been playing, and I’ll see you back here next week for another insane group of games like Inside, Gorogoa, Life is Strange, and Bridge Constructor Portal. Until next time, that’s My Week Unwrapped!

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Leen

    Is there a second lost temple coming out first one said to be continued

  2. Bill

    Do you have a walkthrough for Escape Legacy, Ancient Scrolls?
    Thank you,
    Bill

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