Made as a promotion for this studio's (already released) title, Skystead Christmas introduces cute creatures you'll meet in its fantasy farming world. Your task is to find them all... but not all of them are readily visible. Hiding behind trees, bushes, and rocks are most of your query; A few require collectibles (mushrooms, lanterns, fireplaces) to appear. Many of these aren't in plain sight, rather, you'll need to break, smash, and chop obstacles to find where they're hiding.

The caveat to this is that you can't just click on what you see--you have to snowball them. Where do you get snowballs? Why, by collecting snowflakes, of course. Snowflakes flutter down your screen at regular intervals, and you have to roll your mouse over them to fill up your snowball meter. You can stock up snowballs, but they take quite a few flakes per shot, which means that you'll be spending a lot of your time in this game shaking your cursor back and forth trying to stock up ammo. A strange design choice, because it feels more like a constant interruption rather than a fun task.

Snowballs aside, the game is great. It isn't hard, and even contains hints at the bottom of the screen if you're really stuck. Recommended for HOG enthusiasts.

Achievement Hunters: Find everything and click the menu button that links to their new game. Fully guided, but you probably won't need it. ~30 mins to 100%

TTB is a cozy multiplayer combat game that scores points for being accessible, intuitive, and generally briskly paced (short respawn timer). You've got three main machines: a traditional panzer, a missile launcher, and a hover-tank, each with specific pros and cons. Tank controls + point and shoot mechanics are easy for any skill level to internalize, making matches fairly matched right out the gate.

But your interest may be challenged by a few issues: It only has one map, of which a corner is blocked off if you have less players. Tanks all too easily clip against terrain and environmental edges, leading to awkward maneuvers to make your tank go where you need. And then there's the issue of balance. The default tank may be strong, but fires and moves slowly, leaving it a sitting duck for the rapid fire rates of the other two. The hover tank in particular has the advantage of mid-air carpet bombing, and can confuse enemy player aim as they flail to shoot at the sky. Don't be surprised if your lobby turns out to be all blue tanks.

That said, it's tough to fault a free product. My verdict: It's worth a shot, even if it's a one time experience.

Achievement Hunters: Come in 1st/2nd/3rd place, play a full round, pop a tank from behind. Pretty self-explanatory. The rest? Not so much:

Parking ticket - there's a sign by one of the houses (easily discoverable in the small version of the map) that says no parking. Idle there to get -1 point. Then, you need to lose the game by one point to lose because of that ticket. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen organically, and will require boosting with a friend.

No more updates - Eliminate the dev. You'll have to visit his discord to coordinate this, since he's only online select times. This could potentially hinder your completion.

~1hr to 100%

• High contrast visibility
  
• Single-screen stages (don't have to worry about zoom and scroll searching)
  
• Easy achievements

• Distracting animated background that can't be disabled
  
• A single royalty-free audio track that endlessly loops (mute it)
  
• No interesting mechanics or powerups
  
• No replay value, repetitive, too easy

While I respect the right for developers to produce and distribute whatever they please on Steam's laissez-faire storefront, it unfortunately opens the door to a glut of shovelware. To its credit, the Sweet Hannah games bear a vibrant, clean presentation that set it apart from much lower effort attempts. At the end of the day, however, a spade is still a spade: Reskinned versions of the same core game now made even easier by A.I. generation... where do we draw the line?

The game isn't fun, isn't challenging, and isn't memorable. It's what you do when waiting in line in another game. And without going too off topic, cute hannah's game keys are part of a larger grift: the vehicle to bribe engagement (wishlist, follows, joins) for steam groups and other new titles. I wouldn't be surprised if Hannah was a shell account for the owner of those platforms, generating the needed 5k keys which, after depletion, are repeated on another barely-different clone of a game. It's an ecosystem that is actively fueling the propagation of shovelware... and a topic for another time.

Verdict: Pass

Achievement Hunters: Complete all stages. AFAIK there's no skip. ~1hr to 100%

Thank you bron for the donation.

Born of a meme or standup routine? Whichever the case, a pinecone a day doesn't do much to keep boredom away, as you quickly discover there's little to interact with. You have a radio (which plays royalty-free tunes), a few throwables, and... nothing much else.

The neighboring island does hold a secret: A small passcode puzzle. To get there, you'll have to clip around the fence via the park bench and trace out an invisible path that zigzags across. It's an exercise in tedium, using loose stones to tap out the edges lest you fall off and have to start from the beginning. Fun times, let me tell you. The item it enshrines is a blue pinecone... a magical item that awards you with 30(!) days progress towards your annual prison sentence. Rejoice!

At the conclusion of this journey, a new pinecone appears... across another invisible path... but should you traverse it, are greeted by a series of rather entertaining puzzles. I won't spoil this part, but it seems to serve as an advertisement for the developer's next project. Certainly better than anything else in the game so far. Sadly it's locked behind a year's worth of manual labor... a prize not worth the cost to acquire.

Undoubtedly this pet project was good coding practice for a fledgling dev, and as far as meme games go, there are far worse ones on Steam. Still, a couple of cosmetics (reskins of the well, bench, radio etc) hardly justify your time or financial support, for something you'll probably uninstall and easily forget.

I almost forgot... the most important detail in all of this: The pinecone spawn is based on a remote server. That's right, this is a live-service pinecone game. I have experienced days, even a full week, of no pinecone spawn due to server disruptions. Be warned that should this support end in the future, you might not even get to finish your epic quest, unless the dev codes an offline version.

I wish I could choose a neutral option and provide an informational summary, but since Steam forces me to take a side, my vote is not to bother - your time is better spent elsewhere.

Achievement Hunters: Toss the pinecone into the well, 365 (or 335 if you get the blue cone) times. No need to complete the ending sequence, the achievement pops immediately. Have fun.

• Crisp visuals, lo-fi soundtrack
  
• Simple 4 input controls: Crouch, grind, steering, and directional tricks
  
• Optional hard mode (removes landing angle snapping to prevent wipeout)

• It's a sandbox: No score attack, leaderboards, collectibles, or campaign
  
• Limited tutorial: Teaches you the basics but requires trial and error to master
  
• A controller is practically mandatory in order to reach the peak achievements

Ramp's visual presentation is excellent: Good use of color contrast and minimalistic style. No clutter or distracting UI. It's sleek, polished, and honed in on a plug-and-play experience.

As for gameplay, it really couldn't be simpler: Crouch to pick up speed, tilt the left analog to steer and spin, tap a shoulder button to grind, and tilt the right analog to add aerial tricks. You'll wipe out many times as you slowly master these, but soon enough will be spinning through the air like a helicopter. By default, the game is forgiving in how you land, allowing your avatar to come off the perpendicular and still keep their balance. If you enable hard mode, you have the extra challenge of being sure you revert to 90 before touching back down... or you'll eat concrete.

While simplicity and minimal UI is great for this type of experience, it comes at a cost: The game doesn't really teach its physics to the player very well. The tutorial reveals that timed presses are key to gain velocity, around the time you land and right before you start going up a surface, but lacks any way to tell if you're doing this optimally.

When you try to go for progressively harder tricks, you'll realize speed is key, and visually, it's really hard to tell how fast you're going. The key to pulling off the game's hardest achievements require you to get that timing perfect... so if you're stuck in the wrong rhythm, it may be pretty hard to figure out where you're going wrong. Additionally, there seems to be more angular momentum from doing tricks, something that isn't entirely intuitive. Even when I realized this in my own playthrough, I was spinning my right analog stick, which turned out to be worse than simply holding one position the whole way through. Thank goodness for the forums...

As the game lacks any kind of scoring, the only thing that'll keep you playing is trying to pull off a massive aerial combo. Getting that maximum air and tornado spin is alluring, but once you do... then what? There really isn't any end goal here other than to noodle around until you lose interest.

As a result, I recommend The Ramp only if you can grab it on sale or in a bundle. It's neat to try, but probably not something you'll come back to often. To its credit, it's fairly priced for what it is.

Achievement Hunters: Self-explanatory. Pull off every spin trick and grind 25m. See existing video guides.

My tips: Start on the mega ramp to easily nail most of them, then switch to the pool. Knock off the grind first, then go for the 900 and 1080. The easiest way is to hold analog right and trick left. I can't be sure, but I feel like keyboard limits the angular velocity you can achieve when compared to a controller, since analog sticks have a bigger input range than a button press. But hey, I'm sure someone out there might be able to pull it off? Good luck.

~30-90 mins to 100%, based on skill

• Clean, crisp artwork - easy to distinguish, no visual confusion
  
• Unlimited hints / impossible to be stuck
  
• Animations, photo and paint mode returns, and new stamp art mode
  
• Low price: Free
  
• Purely optional DLC adds 4x the content, making it the best value yet

• No randomization, low replayability
  
• Base game is one location / lack of stages
  
• Less than 10 minutes of gameplay
  
• If you've played one game like this, you've played them all (repetitive)

Like the prior entry, I commend the developers for going above the bare minimum other find 'em all artwork games rarely do: Passive and reactive animations, additional collectibles, and extra modes. Choose your own music, color the lineart, or create original art with the new ink stamp simulator. Ideally, this is a great gift for kids if you're in the market for something family friendly.

Unsurprisingly, though, it's of limited longevity - unless you really want to set a speedrun record or like using it as a coloring book, it may only hold one's attention for about an hour. Still, it's hard not to recommend it, since it has a great presentation and it's entirely free.

Achievement Hunters: Streamlined from the last: No need to grind clicks, simply find around 90 cats without help, then use hints. Find carrot and lollipop cursor selection in main menu settings. You don't even need to complete the speedrun to credit it. ~10 mins to 100%

• Clean, crisp artwork - easy to distinguish, no visual confusion
  
• Unlimited hints / impossible to be stuck
  
• Now with animations, keys that unlock chests, photo and paint mode
  
• Low price: Free
  
• Purely optional DLC adds jigsaws and another map

• No randomization, low replayability
  
• Base game is one location / lack of stages
  
• Less than 10 minutes of gameplay
  
• If you've played one game like this, you've played them all (repetitive)

I must commend the developers for stepping their hidden object game up. A modern HOG should be animated, have a splash of color, and create an interactive environment. They did just that: A pastel background outside the artwork adds contrast, the addition of unlockable chests gives you something else to search for, and the touch of shakable trees and drifting clouds brings it a bit more to life. Other nice touches like the music selection, painting photos, and DLC-locked jigsaws gives you more to do, making this a nice parental choice for children.

Unsurprisingly, though, it's of limited longevity - unless you really want to set a speedrun record, there isn't much to do once you've experienced it all. Still, it's hard not to recommend it, since it distinguishes itself from the crowd, and it's entirely free.

Achievement Hunters: A bit more to do this time, but self explanatory. Patting cats is cumulative, so restart the stage or spam speedrun to accrue 300. Carrot is a cursor selection in settings. ~30 mins to 100%

• Clean, crisp artwork - easy to distinguish. No pixelation on zoom
  
• Unlimited hints / impossible to be stuck
  
• Low price: Free
  
• Paid DLC not required for completion, optional

• No randomization, low replayability
  
• Base game is one location, no stages
  
• Less than 10 minutes of gameplay
  
• If you've played one game like this, you've played them all (repetitive)

That about summarizes it. Since this one's free, it's hard to find fault. Recommended for kids, chill sessions, or profile numbers-go-up collectors.

Achievement Hunters: Find all the cats. You can spam hints to remove all challenge. ~5 mins to 100%

Note that this game is in early access, so contents may change and not be reflected in this review

Survivors-likes have certainly exploded in recent years, primarily because they're a fairly easy formula to emulate. GP is fundamentally one, structured around increasingly difficult foes from all directions, and a randomized upgrade choice at the end of each successful round. Your options allow for a measure of build flexibility, since you can count on, say, life upgrades if your core stats are fully offensive. Survive 25 rounds, and you'll be crowned champion.

But what sets GP apart from the numerous other wave defender games is its crafting system. One that, at the time of review, honestly isn't explained well. You're shown that you can buy two sticks from the shop and drag-and-drop them to form a pointed spear, after which you're pretty much left to your own devices. My second act was to buy a stone and, surely enough, was able to upgrade its offensive power by giving it a bladed tip. From there, you'll find that two leaves craft rope, and rope plus stick equals bow. Being a sucker for ranged weapons, my bow carried me from start to finish. But little did I know, I missed out on all the fun.

You see, the shop is apparently gated by your luck stat. If you don't upgrade luck, you won't find all the cool toys: Shurikens, (homing) bats, fire spells, ice potions, power stones... and maybe other things I never discovered... because I didn't upgrade luck. Everything that I describe here was discovered after i completed the arena, making me wonder what other crazy combinations I could have enjoyed instead of smashing endless sticks and stones into my bow. You can, for example, drag an ice potion onto the bow to give it frost element, slowing enemies. Or you can craft multiple bows and combine them to upgrade rarity.

The skill trees open up important tactical options, like shields, healing potions, and the absolutely mandatory dash. Upgrades not only improve their hit points, but also add perks like bonus damage, collateral attacks, and round regeneration. You really will become invincible if you earn them all, which could be a flaw if you want more challenge.

Two other features worth mentioning are the challenge mode, where you essentially fight special bosses (for fun, no real reward), and objectives, which are in-game achievements of sorts that award extra cash to spend on gear. I've been through a lot of cheap indies with my time on Steam, so I'm impressed to see so many layers to a casual game like this one.

It wouldn't be a fair critique without mentioning demerits: Too many dead bodies in the arena become hazards, blocking shots, trapping your escape, inhibiting dash. The physics can be wonky - ranged weapons like bow don't always hit unless you can figure out where to aim your mouse, dependent on the range stat and the fact that it has an incredibly narrow hitbox. Speaking of hitboxes, crafting can be annoying because slender objects have to nearly kiss to combine, and I had a number of irritating moments trying to upgrade my bow by sliding it around the screen. Movement is "slippery," like mario on ice, but you'll only ever really need dash so it's easy to overlook.

For its price, I feel it delivers more than many others in its category, and scratches that one-more-round itch. For that, I can recommend it. But keep in mind it's early access, so the roadmap of features still remains to be seen.

Achievement Hunters: Straightforward - kill bosses, complete the arena. Everything else will be earned along the way. If you can manage to get a high rarity or luck-gated weapon like bats, it's a breeze. Possibly ~2hrs to 100% at fastest, upgrades and skill dependent.

As this is your garden variety hidden object app, I'll briefly mention what makes it unique:

• Multiple save slots, in case friends or family share one account
  
• A restore feature that adds random frogs and flies back into the completed level (as many as you like) to attempt to rediscover
  
• A helpful warning to content creators and a convenient mute button to avoid copyright strikes on licensed music
  
• Unlimited hints with a very savvy arrow that always points you in the right direction without giving away the exact spot

And that's about it. Point, click, and unlock all achievements. It's cozy and quaint, but raises a few questions: Could it have included more content? Does it need five dozen sister apps that are nearly identical? Will you ever play it again after you finish it?

I'm always looking for a game that goes beyond the well-trodden path. Add puzzles, perspective, animation, layers... so many possibilities. Steam is starting to get a little too crowded with look-alikes.

IMHO: Wait for sale, and/or bundle deal. The "All Hidden Object Games" set is priced at nearly 150$ USD, money that could easily get you hundreds of hours more playtime invested elsewhere.

Achievement Hunters: Complete all stages. Spamming hints will net a sub-15 minute time. But you do you.

Thank you to Gelweo for the donation.