T H E D A R K S I D E D E T E C T I V E : A F U M B L E I N T H E D A R K

23/23 (100%), 7.4 hours

I had a really good time with The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark. If you liked the first game, this one feels like slipping right back into that same weird, spooky-but-goofy world. The pixel art is fantastic and full of charm, and the soundtrack fits the vibe perfectly while you run around solving supernatural nonsense.

The writing is probably the best part. The dialogue is funny and witty the whole way through, and McQueen and Dooley are still a hilarious duo. Honestly, they’re kind of couple goals in the most chaotic and silly way possible, and their back-and-forth is a big reason the game is so enjoyable.

The puzzles are mostly pretty chill and not too hard, which I liked. You can just enjoy the story and jokes without getting completely stuck. That said, there were a few puzzles where I just sat there thinking “how was I supposed to figure that out?” because they didn’t make a ton of sense.

Even though I really liked it, I still think the original game is a bit better overall. But this is still a great sequel and absolutely worth playing if you enjoyed the first one.

B R A M B L E : T H E M O U N T A I N K I N G

30/30 (100%), 4.9 hours

I played the game for Play or Pay 1st Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Bored Queen.
This game was gifted to me by lironezzz from PoP Secret Santa.

Bramble: The Mountain King was a really cool little experience for me. The game is absolutely beautiful and nails that dark Nordic fairy-tale atmosphere and aesthetic perfectly. It genuinely feels like you’re wandering through some twisted Scandinavian folk story. The soundtrack is also incredible and adds so much to the mood of the whole game.

I also liked how simple the controls were. They’re very intuitive, so you can focus on the story and the creepy moments instead of fighting with the gameplay. It also ran flawlessly for me the whole time, which was nice. And I have to mention the gnomes, They are ridiculously adorable and easily one of my favorite parts of the game.

The camera angles are a bit of a mixed bag though. Sometimes they make scenes feel way more impactful or creepy, which works really well. Other times they make platforming awkward and almost caused me to fall a few times because it was hard to judge where I was jumping.

My only real complaint is that the game felt a bit too short, and despite that some of the fights felt like they were just there to stretch the playtime rather than add to the story. Still, I had a great time with it overall. If you like folklore and atmospheric adventure games, it’s definitely worth playing.

S E N T I M E N T A L T R I C K S T E R

12/12 (100%), 12.5 hours

I played the game for Play or Pay 1st Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Bored Queen.
This game was gifted to me by Ninglor from PoP Secret Santa.

Sentimental Trickster was honestly a bit different from what I expected going in. The colorful, pretty art makes it look like a light and fluffy BL visual novel, but it actually dives into some pretty heavy and uncomfortable themes. I ended up enjoying it though, the dark themes give the story more weight and makes it stand out from a lot of other games in the genre.

The main character, Haru, is really enjoyable to follow, and the four love interests all feel distinct with their own personalities, issues, and storylines. I liked that your choices actually matter and influence which ending you get, so it feels like your decisions carry some real weight. The relationships aren’t just surface-level either, which made the routes more engaging to go through.

That said, it’s definitely not a game for everyone. There are a lot of heavy topics and trigger warnings, and the game doesn’t really list them clearly anywhere, so I’d recommend looking them up beforehand because it's quite a long list. I personally didn’t have issues with them, but I can see how others might.

There are also a few rough edges. The 18+ patch isn’t the easiest to find, and one of the newer routes (Jin) felt a bit messy with some odd pacing and transitions. The route point system can also feel a bit unclear at times, which made me second guess my choices more than I’d like.

Overall, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s a more darker take on a BL visual novel with solid characters and meaningful choices, even if it has a few bumps along the way.

T H I E F S I M U L A T O R

21/21 (44%), 25.7 hours

I played the game for Play or Pay 1st Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Aquatorrent.
I won this game through SteamGifts.

Thief Simulator is one of those games that’s really fun at first and then slowly starts to show its cracks the more you play. Sneaking around houses, scouting targets, and figuring out the best way to break in is genuinely enjoyable. There are a lot of different approaches you can take, which keeps things interesting early on, and the maps are actually pretty well designed for that kind of gameplay. The hacking minigame was also a nice little bonus that I ended up liking more than I expected.

Visually, it’s pretty decent too. Nothing mind-blowing, but it gets the job done and fits the vibe of the game well. The core gameplay loop of planning and pulling off a clean robbery is definitely where the game shines.

That said, it does get repetitive fairly quickly. Once you’ve done a handful of jobs, you’ve kind of seen most of what the game has to offer. Some activities, like stealing cars and taking them apart, felt more like chores than fun gameplay. The story is also pretty forgettable and doesn’t really add much to the experience.

The AI can be rough too. Tenants sometimes act in weird ways, like spotting you when they shouldn’t or doing strange things like glitching through walls. There’s also a fair bit of jank and small bugs sprinkled throughout, which can break immersion at times.

Overall, I had fun with it, especially in the beginning, but it’s definitely a game that wears out its welcome a bit too fast. Still worth checking out if the idea of being a sneaky thief sounds appealing.

I D L E C A T S D U N G E O N

3/3 (100%), 14.7 hours

Idle Cats Dungeon is one of those games that looks cute at first and pulls you in with the whole “number go bigger” vibe, but that’s kind of all there is to it. The art is nice and the cats are adorable, so it’s easy on the eyes while it runs.

Gameplay-wise though, it’s really barebones. You can automate your companions, but not your main character, which gets annoying pretty fast in what’s supposed to be an idle game. It ends up feeling more like a clicker you have to babysit than something you can just let run.

It also really lacks variety. I kept hoping for new areas or different enemies to shake things up, but it never really goes anywhere. There’s no real sense of challenge or progression either, so it doesn’t feel rewarding to keep playing.

Overall, it’s cute for a moment, but it wasn't fun at all and doesn't really grab your attention. I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you just want something super simple to click on for a bit or to have hanging on your screen.

H O W T O T R A I N Y O U R C 0 C K

18/18 (100%), 71.2 hours

How To Train Your C0ck is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and honestly, that’s kind of the charm. It’s a simple idle game where you train your c0ck to become stronger, bigger, and...cooler, I guess. My c0ck ended up being buff, black and with sunglasses, which is not something I expected to ever write down.

Gameplay-wise, it’s a pretty standard idle experience, nothing too deep, but fun enough to check in on. One weird (and hilarious) thing though: the game creates a folder on your desktop called “c0ck pictures” for screenshots. This game also led multiple friends to message me asking what on earth I was playing, which made the whole experience even funnier.

There are a few issues, like achievements unlocking later than they should, which is clearly a bug. But honestly, this isn’t the kind of game you take too seriously anyway. I got it as a gift from a friend, so technically...my friend helped me grow my c0ck. Incredible.

It’s dumb, and gave me a good laugh. Sometimes that’s all you really need.

C O F F E E T A L K 2 : H I B I S C U S & B U T T E R F L Y

36/53 (68%), 10.1 hours

I played the game for Play or Pay 1st Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Bored Queen.
This game was gifted to me by Escollo from PoP Secret Santa.

This game was such a cozy and enjoyable return to that late-night café vibes. If you liked the first game, this one feels like more of everything. There’s a huge variety of drinks this time around, which made experimenting way more fun, and the new characters really add a lot to the experience. Riona and Lucas were definite highlights for me.

The art is honestly gorgeous. The characters feel more expressive than before, and I loved that many of them have multiple outfits throughout the story. It gives everything a bit more personality. The storytelling is also really strong, with branching routes that let character stories play out differently depending on your choices, which adds a nice bit of replay value.

The soundtrack is another big step up. It was already good in the first game, but here it feels even more polished, and I really liked how some tracks change depending on the route you’re on. Also, there’s a hidden cameo from another pixel detective game series, and it was perfect, such a fun little surprise.

That said, it’s not perfect. Fast-forwarding through dialogue can feel a bit slow since it still shows all the expression changes, and some of the achievements are quite tedious.

Overall though, I had a great time with it. It’s cozy, charming, and full of heart. A really solid sequel that improves on the original in most ways.

R.I.P. Fahmi <3