Cherry Tree High Girls’ Fight

Cherry Tree High Girls’ Fight

Cherry Tree High Girl’s Fight is a 2D, turn-based, girl raising simulator with a card battle system for combat, which makes it a pretty niche title. It features a varied selection of girls from which to assemble your team, but lack of animations and a rather lackluster storyline detracts from the experience. The fights are also based a lot around luck, which can further frustrate players. However, anyone who is willing to overlook these flaws will find an enjoyable game with a charming cast of characters.

Gameplay: Raise the stats of your girls and then send them into card based battles for victory.

Graphics: Great artwork, but not many animations.

Sound: The soundtrack is catchy, but the game has no voice acting

Ghost 1.0

Ghost 1.0

Play as a digital ghost with the ability to control androids in this great Metroidvania title from the maker of Unepic. The game challenges you to infiltrate the Nakamura Space Station and uncover its secrets, a quest that will take you through almost 300 rooms. Ghost 1.0 features tight controls, engaging writing, likable characters, and plenty of action, which makes it very easy to recommend to fans of the genre.

Gameplay: Ghost 1.0 is quite challenging at times, but very addictive.

Graphics: The game features detailed visuals and some very nice design elements.

Sound: The soundtrack is excellent, but the voice-acting steals the show

Stranger of Sword City

Stranger of Sword City

Stranger of Sword City is a dungeon crawler with an interesting mix of fantasy and reality. The world of Escario is an interesting, but unforgiving place to explore, so brace yourself for quite a challenge. Battles are frequent and tough, but you have total control over how you want to shape your party of monster slayers. Tracking down and killing all the Lineage type creatures will also keep players busy for ages, so don’t expect to finish this game in a day. If you are looking for an old-school dungeon crawler and can handle a challenge then Stranger of Sword City is the game to play.

Gameplay: Tough and unforgiving, but also very rewarding.

Graphics: Beautiful artwork, but the dungeon textures could have been better.

Sound: Features Japanese voice overs and some nice background music

Shmups Skill Test

Shmups Skill Test

Shmups Skill Test is a collection of mini-games that are designed to test how good you are at playing arcade and bullet hell shooters. While this means it doesn’t have as much depth as other titles in the genre, it still provides a nice diversion and a way to hone your skills. Since it is based on a rather old arcade game the visuals are far from cutting edge, but the gameplay and low price tag make up for this. If you think you have mastered the genre, then try out this game to see for sure.

Gameplay: Lots of fun in short bursts, but obviously doesn’t have as much depth as full-fledged shooters.

Graphics: The visuals are definitely showing their age.

Sound: Not your typical shooter soundtrack

Syndrome (Camel 101)

Syndrome (Camel 101)

Looking at the previous releases of developer Camel 101 reveals two things. Firstly, they are definitely not lacking in ambition when it comes to their titles and secondly, they are getting better at what they do with each release. This is very evident in their upcoming release, Syndrome. The game opens with your character waking from cryosleep aboard the exploration and science ship, the Valkenburg. In true survival horror fashion, the shift is drifting through pace with the rest of the crew all dead or insane. You are required to get your bearings, find out what happened and figure out who you can trust

Sakura Dungeon

Sakura Dungeon

Sakura Dungeon offers a nice fusion of traditional step based dungeon crawling and the manga visual style that has made developer Winged Cloud (in)famous. Despite all the erotic content (mostly censored in the Steam version) the game doesn’t skimp on the role playing elements either. It might not be as in-depth or complicated as other dungeon crawlers, but definitely offers a fun and compelling experience.

Gameplay: Explore dungeons, defeat cute monster girls and then recruit them to your party.

Graphics: The 2D visuals look great despite the lack of animations.

Sound: Great music, but limited sound effects and no voice acting

Koihime Enbu

Koihime Enbu

Join the all-female cast of fighters in Koihime Enbu for some great 2D fighting. The character roster is fairly small, but very unique and the game is designed to be accessible to newcomers. However, there is still plenty of depth and experienced players can take the fights to a whole new level. Even if you are not familiar with the source material we recommend the game to anyone looking for a fun, accessible and great looking 2D beat ‘em up.

Gameplay: Deceptively simple, but with enough depth to keep you coming back for more.

Graphics: Great character designs with plenty of detail and colors.

Sound: Full Japanese voice acting and some nice background music

Resette’s Prescription ~Book of memory, Swaying scale~

Resette’s Prescription ~Book of memory, Swaying scale~

Help the short tempered Resette and her feline companion Gaede as they enter the mind of a young boy suffering from a sleeping sickness. This point & click adventure features charming chibbi character designs and beautifull hand drawn watercolor backgrounds along with an interesting storyline. It is quite a short game though, and the puzzles pose little challenge, so it might not appeal to everyone.

Gameplay: Short and easy, but certainly very entertaining.

Graphics: We love the beautiful and unique visual style.

Sound: Unfortunately there is no speech, but the music is very good

Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride

Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride

Face dangerous creatures and evil spirits in this engaging hidden object game from Artifex Mundi. The game features their trademark polish when it comes to visuals and presentation, but the story is actually very good as well. It features 14 hidden object scenes to complete, but these can be substituted for a domino mini-game if players prefer. Add to that 24 varied mini-games and plenty of interesting locations to explore and you’ll find that this is an adventure not to be missed.

Gameplay: Nothing too out of the ordinary for the genre, but the domino mini-game is a nice touch.

Graphics: Beautiful hand-painted locations with plenty of detail and nice use of color.

Sound: Decent voice acting and a great soundtrack