It’s been a while since I made a post, though it’s also been a while since I played a really good game worthy of publicity. Kurovadis is a platformer that came really close, with its tight controls, challenging level design, and even a fairly low base price of $8.50ish. However, it has a few issues: 1) the first boss is a bit of a damage sponge, even though I put ALL of my level-up points into increasing my attack, 2) for the first two bosses, you have to backtrack through their very linear levels after beating them–and sure, there are quite a few places where it’s a genuinely different challenge to go the other way, but other times, you’re just doing the same thing again in the other direction, and 3) the final boss tosses several projectiles in random directions that bounce off of the walls of the arena while also the boss shoots at you directly, which can result in scenarios where you can’t avoid damage. Still, I could look past those issues because of all the good the game does, but what really made me hesitant to recommend it is that the final boss’s final phase has it suddenly become invincible to all your attacks…except one: a downward-stomp that is weaker than all your other attacks and is actively detrimental if you try to use it in any other circumstance, so you’ll likely forget about it by the time you get there. It honestly soured the whole experience and stands as an example of why you should beat games before recommending them, no matter how good they start off. Wait for a sale, at least.

I recently beat a game that might be a bit more worthy of a post, though:

Puzzle. Left and right move your magnet by one tile while also rotating it in that direction, and up activates said magnet.

The game starts off with only a couple different types of blocks, but as you progress, the game introduces more and more things, such as opposing polarities, items that change your own polarity, and switches that toggle blocks on/off when you use your magnet at them. In fact, there are so many different mechanics (with each one making the game lower its difficulty to introduce) that the game ends up only having a few tricky puzzles by the halfway point, after 80 levels! Plus, although the number of tricky puzzles does go up afterward, the game keeps introducing stuff, so even those tricky puzzles end up sporadically placed among several easy levels.

That said, all the mechanics make sense and are reliable, and whenever I was stumped, I was always able to figure out the solution based on what I knew about the mechanics. Zero trial and error; at worst, you just realize you overlooked a crucial block somewhere.

The only other thing to mention is its price: $5 without a sale in 4 years. Although that might be a stretch given how many of the puzzles are easy and kinda boring, I think it might still barely be worth it. Plus, maybe you already got it in that massive itch.io bunde from a while back or one of the times it went free, in which case it’s definitely worth checking out.