I've watched films like "saw" and various other horror films that see people tortured and very gruesomely violent deaths. They have not phased me one bit. However theres something about doing the action yourself in a videogame that makes you cringe and extremely disturbed me. Masochisia does just this.

Masochisia follows the life of a mentally disturbed man. Voices are speaking to him in his head telling him to carry out the most gruesome acts. This is really the kind of stories you hear about with mentally disturbed people. It was very interesting to see inside the head of these people and see what it could really be like. A horrible thought to think about and to see but i've always been intrigued by how they might think. Obviously we can never be sure but this is as close to the experience, that I hope i'll ever get to.

It is definitely not for the faint of heart in the slightest. Scenes of horrifying violence are constant in this game. While most of the actual killing isn't scene due to having a black screen you can hear the scenes in gruesome detail. You also see the aftermath of the crimes and it's definitely not nice to see. If this is not your thing then don't even consider this game.

The story of masochisia is told very well. I don't want to go into the actual story or how it is told cause I feel this would really ruin the experience.

I am not really a fan of point and click games. I didn't particularly enjoy the actual gameplay because of this. I got bored and infuriated exploring about looking for what to do. The story was what made me throughly enjoy the experience though. The gameplay is standard point and click formula with not much different. But if your not a fan of them like me don't let this put you off.

The graphics style is also a thing of beauty. The colour pallette really catches the darkness of the game. Characters look amazing as well. Animations aren't incredible but since not many exist in this then it's not too big of a deal.

While masochisia is mostly based on the shock element of the scenes it does also feature some mild horror elements. There are a few jump scares that exist that definitely did catch me off guard. They got a bit of a reaction out of me but not much. If your purely looking for a horror game then you won't find that here.

The game also has a lot hidden behind it. When you've finished the game you won't have found out everything. There are hidden codes throughout the game that reveal a lot about the story. After completing the story I would definitely recommend you look these hidden codes up cause it really does reveal some fascinating details.

Overall masochisia was a truly horrifying but amazing experience. Definitely worth playing. It's a short experience at just over 2 hours but it's worth the small asking price. The only thing that stops me giving it "a must play" rating is i'm really not a fan of the tedious point and click game formula.


TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Not recommended
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale
  
• An average game
  
• Recommended
  
• Highly recommended
  
• A must play!

For more recommendations and reviews on our favourite up and coming quality games follow Lot's O Giveaway's group curations here!

A cautious recommendation on this one. A colourful game with good shoot em up style but I believe the games main focus, the comedy, is where it really falls down on.

Let's start with the gameplay. Shooting stars is a rather standard SHMUP as it goes. You control a character with your mouse, and can only shoot up using the left click. Enemies have standard bullet hell style patterns. Nothing out of the ordinary exists here in the simple mechanics of the game.

Power ups also exist in shooting stars. You have the simple ones, usually food of some kind, that upgrade your laser ability. They add extra beams, missiles or stronger beams and more. You can get health and armour upgrades. These are all nice but once again nothing much out of the ordinary yet. The real pleasure comes from the ultimate ability. Pressing right click on your mouse will activate this. You don't start with any but find them in powerup boxes throughout levels, There are tonnes of different abilities you can get and each are very satisfying to use.

Enemy design is a mixed bag. Some are way too simple in terms of their bullet patterns or assemblisation of enemies. It would be ok if there were just a few of these simple enemies but too many exist which can make it boring at times. There are few other more creative enemies that have unique patterns but not enough I feel. Most are just reskins using exactly the same bullet patterns which can make gameplay feel stale quickly.

The real effort has been put into the design of the bosses. These have very creative attacks and bullet patterns associated with them. Bosses are very satisfying to fight. Each are unique and I found none that were reskins. They become very difficult to fight while avoiding all the fury of bullets your presented with.

The biggest issue I found with gameplay is that i'm not positive if theres an actual end to the game. There are 5 levels in each gameplay session which each exist with there own boss. Once I completed the final boss on the 5th level I expected there to be a big ending. Instead I was presented with continued gameplay that just increased in difficulty. Needless to say I was very disappointed after all the effort I put in. So i'm not positive if an actual end exists or if it just continues increasing in difficulty.

Another small issue I found was with certain effects obscuring gameplay vision. Some powerups had overly large areas of attack that when used would leave the almost the entirety of the gameplay area not visible. Also after certain achievements in kills you would get a large message on the screen titled "rampage" which also obscured the area for a few seconds. These effects often caused me to loose health due to being unable to see enemies or bullets. This was a minor annoyance but could definitely do with being changed.

Now that i've got all the gameplay aspects out the way i'll move onto to the comedy aspect. The way in which the developers chose to do comedy is through the bosses. Each boss of a level is a famous celebrity/ video game character. There are people such as Miley Cyrus, Gabe Newell, Chuck Norris, Daft Punk and tonnes more. They speak quotes before each level. This is the part that's meant to be funny. The issue I have is that the references are often so obscure that I don't actually find it funny. In very few of the bosses did I actually get a little giggle out of it.

The only other comedy aspects present was sometimes through pickups. These were sometimes references to internet memes. They had short quotes on them which were also meant to be funny. These two things were the only comedy aspects present. Usually the fact that a game isn't really funny wouldn't be a problem for me. But the problem I have with this game is that the steam page seems to show the game being very focused on being funny. I just found the comedy to be way too obscure and mostly just immature and unfunny.

The graphics themselves is something I found particularly satisfying. An intriging pixel design with colour thrown about everywhere. Seriously this game is one of the most colourful I have seen. It's the first thing that caught my attention towards this game. But I know it's standard of the SHMUP genre usually but a minor annoyance is the fact of the bars either side instead of being a full screen game. Although it is also clear from some other aspects that this game is a mobile port. A wonderful soundtrack is also present to go along great with the graphic choice. A nice selection of dance/ techno tracks to make fighting enemies particularly satisfying.

Overall shooting stars is a rather standard SHMUP for the most part. It's definitely not a bad game, but it really doesn't do much to build upon the already well established genre. The developers attempts at comedy didn't go down well with me but it may appeal more to other audiences. I'm also not sure on the amount of replayability. I've played 1 hour and feel like i've played enough of it now. As I said it's a very cautious recommendation but it's probably worth a try if your a big fan of shoot em up games.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Not recommended
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale
  
• An average game
  
• Recommended
  
• Highly recommended
  
• A must play!

For more recommendations and reviews on our favourite up and coming quality games follow Lot's O Giveaway's group curations here!

Tri is an underated puzzle game with a fantastically unique premise but sadly deserves a lot more attention than it is currently getting.

The games main puzzle concept relies on the use of these triangles you make called tri's. Initially these triangles have restricted use and can only be used to climb up walls. As you progress you unlock new uses for tri's. These include climbing up the sides of walls and reflecting light beams. These tri's are used to tackle every puzzle in the game.

Each level is set in a large freely explorable area. Your goal is to find three red lion statues in order to order the portal to progress to the next level. Completing various puzzles around the level will help you find your way towards these statues. Each puzzle is unique in it's own way, some involving uses of other things such as boxes, buttons or light. Each has it's own unique challenge that can prove quite diffcult.

What's even better about tri though is the way in which they create puzzles means they don't all have a single explicitly chosen solution. You can tackle many puzzles in your own unique way. Some puzzles will have only one solution possible but I found the majority to have multiple ways of doing. This personally adds highly to the user experience by not being restricted unnecessarily.

Puzzle progression in tri works almost perfectly. I could feel the difficulty rising as I progressed through levels but it was never too quick that I couldn't keep up. Earlier levels in the game I could finish in less than 15 minutes but later levels ended up taking me in excess of 1 hour to complete.

Now the reason I say the puzzle progression isn't perfect is because I believe they use the wrong premise to make the last 2 chapters the most difficult. These levels rely heavily on the reflecting light mechanic. The problem is that places tri's in the correct way to reflect light into the area you want it to is notoriously difficult. It's to the point that I almost gave up on the last 2 chapters. But I perseveared and the last chapter ended up taking me over 2 hours to complete because of this. I think the developers made the wrong choose to focus on this mechanic and it will leave a lot of people giving up out of anger.

Achievement hunters will love tri too. Each level has these extra secret findables called idols. To find these is entirely optional but they unlock you bonus content at the main menu. Sometimes they are hidden in obvious places such as behind some stairs or in a small whole in the wall. But more often then not they require some create puzzling to get to. Through my playthrough I didn't manage to find many of these idols and I tried to look for them in every nook and cranny I saw. So I believe these are very difficult to find and would be great to keep people occupied throughout the game.

Tri has a good amount of content contained in it. There are 15 chapters in this game. Overall it took me almost 20 hours to finish the game. This is a good amount of time and content. I believe you could finish it quicker if you were better at puzzles than me though! If you were looking to collect each idol as well I believe this could easily add in excess of 10 hours of playtime to the game.

In terms of graphic style it is very unique and stylish. Tri is one of the most colourful games I have seen in a while. They really do focus on making sure each area is as colourful and unique as possible which I applaude to. The screenshots of the game is personally what caught my attention to buy it. Along with this great graphics style is an excellent soundtrack. It is full of calming music to accompany you through your journey and captures the spirit of the game perfectly.

The story in the game is forgettable at best. Tri's story is told through after level cutscenes and the occasional speaking in game. I couldn't remember any of the story for the life of me which isn't good for a game. It doesn't help either that the vocals are terribly voice acted in a voice that I suppose the person thought would be interesting and unique but is in fact incredibly annoying. Luckily though the gameplay makes up for the boring story.

Overall tri is a puzzle game that really does deserve a lot more attention than it is currently getting. It is almost on par with other great puzzle games such as talos principle and portal. The issues I have with this game are mostly negligable. The issue with the last 2 chapters however did put my overall rating down slightly cause it annoyed me a great deal. But for a price of £12.99 it is quite reasonable for the amount of great content you'll be getting.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Not recommended
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• Recommended
  
• Highly recommended
  
• A must play!

For more recommendations and reviews on our favourite up and coming quality games follow Lot's O Giveaway's group curations here!

At first glance this game might not look like much but if you look past the graphics then behind it is a very unique and fun puzzle platformer.

What really makes the deletion great is it's very unique level design. Each level has it's own unique design premise. Some are just standard platforming but then others have a unique attribute to them that make them even funner. These include things like jetpacks, hidden platforms or enemies that moves when you do and many more. This means you have to attack levels in different ways and the gameplay never gets boring.

The platforming itself is solid. Very fluid jump motions that feel right. Movement feels good. Nothing really to compain about. Hit detection in terms of obstacles is right and is never off at any point.

The time to complete the game is relatively small though. It has 40 levels and it took me around 90 minutes to complete. I think this is a little to short personally and would have liked a lot more content.

The deletion has some great music to go along with it. A large selection of dance tracks definitely adds to the platform experience.

My biggest complaint is clearly the graphics. Very little effort has been put into them and there just way to simple. At first looks it looks like it should belong on a flash game site. But really this is only a minor problem because the gameplay itself is great. I do feel like the game is going to loose out on a lot of sales because of this factor.

The other small complaint I have is the lack of any kind of leaderboard. One good addition to give replayability would be a timing system. You could be timed on how quickly you complete the level. It would give people a lot of motivation to keep playing and try and beat there own record as well as there friends records. There could also be some kind of other scoring system introduced.

So overall I did really love the deletion. It has some very interesting unique platforming that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think ultimately if you can manage to look past the overly simple graphics you will find behind it a great enjoyable platformer. For the small price of £1.59 the lack of content no longer seems like a big problem either.


TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!

For more recommendations and reviews on our favourite up and coming quality games follow Lot's O Giveaway's group curations here!

My initial thoughts with playing devil daggers was there's no way i'm gonna enjoy this game. I thought I was going to get bored of it so quickly with the lack of content. However the lack of content strangely ends up being the games strongest selling point.

Devil daggers is an arena based survival game of ridiculously hard proportions. Only one arena is present in the game and no variations of it exist. For most games this would earn it an immediate not recommended status in my review. But devil daggers is made to perfection in a way to get you always wanting more and to never give up on trying to beat your highscore. It has a huge amount of replayability despite what initially might seem like a flaw in the design.

It features some of the most satisfying combat I have seen in a video game to date. You are only presented with one weapon and no option to change. Despite the games title suggests your weapon is most definitely not a dagger. Your weapon is instead a gun that has 2 shooting abilities. The first option is a rapid fire mode that fires a barrage of bullets ahead of you. The second option is a shotgun like mode that fires a spray of bullets around the immediate area. This variation of fire modes is very useful when trying to avoid enemies and will help you get out of the worst situations.

The enemies in devil daggers is what makes it particularly difficult. Many are flying enemies that ruthessly follow you. This requires you to use expert tactics to avoid certain enemies while also shooting at others. Most enemies become faster than you as well meaning running away without killing is not an option. There is a great enemy variety in the game meaning each presents a different challenge to kill. The weak spots on each enemy are always obvious though being usually presented in a bright glowing light. The further you survive in the game the harder the enemies get.

Ruthlessly hard difficulty is what makes devil daggers particularly addicting. You will struggle to survive even 60 seconds in the arena. One hit from any enemy and you are immediately dead and you have to start again. The exact spawning locations of the enemies changes each game you play but the timing of when each enemy spawns is approximately constant thoughout each playthrough. So it is possible to learn certain patterns to help you in future playthroughs.

The games leaderboard system is what makes you want to keep playing and beat all your friends scores. Really the only score that exists is how long you manage to survive for which is given to a high precision of 4 decimal places. As of writing this review the highest scoring person survived for ~612 seconds. I have only survived a pitiful 60 seconds. The game features seperate world and friends leaderboards. So if you don't feel like your good enough to challenge the world then just challenge your own friends runs. Every leaderboard run is also saved so you can watch any run take place from start to finish. This is a fantastic extra feature to help you learn key survival techniques or just marvel at the skill of others.

Pixel art graphic styles are a personal favourite for me and I am always attracted to games featuring them when done well. Devil daggers is something of perfection in the art style. Bright colours, beautifully created unique looking characters and amazing animations really bring the game to life. Each enemy really has the devilish look that I expect. I honestly couldn't come up with a single complaint about the art style if I tried.

Sound design in devil daggers is also extremely good. Each enemy has it's own unique sound. All give off the signature devlish vibe that I expected. From squeels to screams or even the sound of spiders, the sound design is really perfect. The complaint I would have about sound though is the game has no music anywhere in it. I feel like music would make the game slightly more appealing for the long term. I mean it doesn't even have menu music which would be a very nice addition.

Overall devil daggers is a small simple game that has a suprise amount of depth and replayability to it. It is one that I will definitely be coming back to often to try and beat mine and friends times. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of score attack or survival type games. The price of £3.99 is a really reasonable price to ask for.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!

For more recommendations and reviews on our favourite up and coming quality games follow Lot's O Giveaway's group curations here!

Blood Alloy is definitely an enjoyable game, but it just doesn't have enough content to warrant a purchase. I have only played 20 minutes of the game thus far but I already feel like i've seen everything the game has to offer.

Blood Alloys combat and movement is it's biggest strength. Movement is very fluid in it's simplest state. You then also have the abilities of dashing and double jumping which make moving around the map and avoiding enemies very enjoyable. Combat involves use of the mouse to aim and shoot enemies. You also have a jump dash ability to attack enemies. These movements and combat made a very enjoyable survival experience.

Enemy variety is very good as well. They increase in difficulty to kill as you progress. It turns into a kinda bullet hell type game later as a lot of enemies and they fire in different patterns. Enemies are very enjoyable to kill and require some skill to avoid there fire while also attacking them.

Aesthetically the graphics are rather pleasing. It presents it's self in a nice looking fashion that isn't too complex graphics but is still satisfying to look at. Animations are very nice looking too. The soundtrack goes along great with the gameplay.

Blood Alloy is a survival game at it's heart. No real levels exist aside from different asthetics and slightly different layouts. So really it's a score attack game to see if you can survive as long as possible. This I would be happy with, but there is a huge problem. There is no real motivation to get a higher score. No unlocks exist as far as I can tell from my current progress. They also don't have an online leaderboard system. The game doesn't even have achievements. It feels like they rushed the release and felt this was a low priority to add. However a score attack game is not fun unless you have a reason to get a higher score.

I really did enjoy my short time playing blood alloy. However it has very little reason to replay it. Therefore 20 minutes is as much enjoyable time I got out of it. So until there is some kind of reason for me to play more of it but into the game i'm afraid I cannot recommend you to purchase this.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free review key to write this review.

Wow, just wow! What an amazing experience.

The beginners guide hit me hard. I've seen such a tragic story told in such a creative way. Coda is a game developer. The story is told through narration over every game he has made. Link's between his games and his life are made by the narrator. The narrators just tells the story so incredibly well and it had me hooked the whole way through. I can't go into too many details about the story due to spoilers but I loved it.

There's not really a whole lot to the beginners guide aside from the storytelling. Gameplay wise there isn't really anything apart from a walking simulator. But if your looking for a game solely for the story, like me, then the beginners guide is definitely for you.

The biggest issue with the beginners guide is the game is very short taking only around 1.5 hours to complete. But I feel this length is perfect. The story is told without rushing and any longer and I would have gotten bored.

Honestly I had no idea what I was expecting when I went into the beginners guide, but i'm so glad I purchased it. It's an incredible experience that will probably go down to me as being the best storytelling in a video game.

Obviously this game isn't for everyone. If your looking for an actionpacked game with lot's of gameplay then stay well clear of this.

If your happy with a game solely based on the story then go for it. To know what it is that makes the beginners guide just so good you'd have to experience it for yourself. I also believe for the amount of content offered £6.99 is a very reasonable price.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!

Boy have I been playing some weird games recently! Pony Island just tops the weirdness off.

How to describe Pony Island is difficult. Firstly i'll state it's DEFINITELY not about happy ponies! You'll learn it soon enough and you probably already know it just from the store page. But within Pony Island you will see a brilliant array of despeption that will have you wondering what is happening and what will happen.

Two main minigames exist in this game along with tonnes of other little games. You have a runner style pony game in which you jump over fences and shoot enemies. The other game is a hacking minigame. Neither a particularly difficult at any stage but these aren't what you'll spend the majority of the game playing.

The story of the game is brillant and intiguing. You'll meet plenty of characters that have charming and creative personalilties. Humour is incorperated well in places as well.

To describe much more of what is contained within this gem of a game would spoil your potential experience. I think this game is a must play for anyone and you should get a fantastic experience to take with you.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!
  
  Disclaimer: I was provided with a free key by the developer to make this review.

I'm sat here after playing through this thing with a wide open expression on my face. Plug & play was a truly weird but mesmerizing experience.

To review Plug & Play properly would be to destroy the entire experience for anyone willing to play it. What I will say is that it is an interactive film in which you view strange imagery that all in all probably has a much deeper meaning. It really is a game that will have you thinking wtf the whole way through but I somehow thoroughly enjoyed it.

I really wish I could offer an in depth review of this game but really all it is a 20 minute experience. I would really recommend anyone to try Plug & Play and see if you'll be as mesmerized as I was, and still am!

Squarecells is the newest release from the genius behind the hexcells series. When I saw he had made a new game similar to the hexcells series I just had to pick it up.

At first sights squarecells seems like a massive step back from hexcells. It has lost it's main gimmick, being the hexagons cells. But at the core it is still the same old game that we know and love. You still have to find the squares using different techniques.

For some reason squarecells seems to be lacking many different systems of showing where the squares are. Hexcells had many different ways of indicating which places had hexes in them but squarecells seems to stick with only using a few. It introduces each of them very early on and doesn't evolve on them. For me this is very disapointing and led to a fairly lackluster experience.

The difficulty is still there in squarecells. It is a very difficult game and will take a lot of thought to solve each level without mistakes.

Don't get me wrong, dispite my complaints I did still really enjoy squarecells. However I don't think it's anywhere as good as it's predecessors. I think the developer feels that after the release of infinite he had drew the hexcells series dry, but I don't believe this is the case. I would love to see more handcrafted levels for hexcells instead of more levels for squarecells.

If you haven't yet played any game from the hexcells series I would recommend picking up all of them games and playing them first because they are definitely better. But if you have played all of the hexcells series this is definitely a game worth picking up while you wait for more content. For the cheap price £2 this game is a steal.

TheIronicGamers rating system

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!