When I sat down to start writing this post, my first thought was: what the hell did I play this month again?
August was a blur when it comes to games because I tried to fit playing while being a bit stretched thin, dealing with what I’ll refer as a mixed bag of life stuff (mostly appointments, social things and the blog).
This month the blog turned 1. I’ve talked about it so much at this point, but that’s just because I’m really happy with this, so sorry about sounding like a scratched record. In this post I talked about my reflections on this year.
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Now to what I played last month, and let’s all just pretend this post isn’t coming out super late.
Game from the cover: Sovereign Tower.
My August gaming log
Sovereign Tower, finished. This was a really fun game to play, I think I might have finished it in just 3 days! Sovereign Tower is a medieval choices matter, management RPG where you recruit knights to join your kingdom and assign them to quests you pick from audiences with the public. Stay tuned for a full review coming up soon.
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs, playing. One of my favorite gaming news of the month was knowing that ReStory surpassed 300.000 copies sold within the first week of release on Steam, according to the publisher tinyBuild and developer Mandragora. Seeing so much interest for a cozy game warms my heart 🫶. If you don’t know ReStory: this is a shop management sim where you take apart, clean, repair and put back together old electronic devices. It feels really relaxing to play, and I’m slowly chipping away at it.
Big Walk, playing. A massive indie success, selling 1 million copies in under a week, Big Walk was the game of the month from GGL’s game club so a lot of the community was playing it in August. This is a cooperative multiplayer game where you solve puzzles and overcome challenges with your friends. For me, it seems to have worked better to play the game with one more person, and I’m glad Margot was up for being my Big Walk buddy. And I’m kind of sad it’s coming to an end.
Consume Me, on hold. I’ll describe Consume Me as a slice-of-life game about trying to keep your shit together as a teenager. I’ve put it on hold for now as I wasn’t in the best mindset for the discomfort it causes when you’re playing it.
Letters to Arralla, finished. A cute game with delightfully quirky characters, though the puzzle aspect of finding out where to deliver each letter did frustrate me at times.
Plus: why couldn’t I use the pub or the hot springs? I’m a hard working turnip.
Florence, finished. The kind of game that belongs in a collection of short yet impactful titles, Florence is a a lovely interactive story about a woman in her early 20s rediscovering herself. With about 30 minutes playtime and being widely available (there’s even a mobile port), there’s almost no excuse not to check it out.
The Sorting Bureau, playing. I got offered a review key for the game through a creator website and I accepted it as my interest piqued due to its similarities with A Little to the Left (though much simpler).
The title pretty much gives it away: you have an office where you receive boxes from clients and need to sort out their items according to different categories. You receive a few different boxes each in-game day, and there’s some variety in what you do (like having to put together ripped-off stamps before you sort them out), albeit very little. The repetitiveness and low challenge level makes it one of those games to zone out to while you watch a TV show. The game ran well on my MacBook, and even though it can be clunky on the Steam Deck, when using the touch screen it felt pretty satisfying.
Demos I played (and recommend)
Canvas City. I’ve never played turn-based RPG tactics games and when I saw Canvas City’s trailer during a showcase, it made me feel quite eager to try it. I got the chance to play the demo a bit early (it’s also out now on Steam), and I’m sad to say it isn’t for me – though it looks and plays great.
In Canvas City, you belong to a crew of skaters and street artists that start a movement to reclaim the streets against an oppressive regime. I liked the concept and using rollerblading moves in “battle”, but I felt this type of game plays too slow for my liking.
HIPS N NOSES. I played the café management/roguelike game last month and I liked it so much I decided to write a dedicated a post on it. Check it out below if you’re interested in reading more about it.
Hips N Noses: demo impressions
Wishlists
Bad Magpie. You are a magpie with one wing, a missing flock, and an unhealthy obsession with a fallen star. Steal shiny trinkets, cause chaos, and stick your beak where it doesn’t belong. Release date: coming soon.
Everything MUST Fit! In this puzzle game, transform, combine, and break items to arrange them to fit the grid. No matter what, everything MUST fit! Release date: 2027.
This is a new game being developed by Janbeh Games, the same studio behind Love, Ghostie, which I really enjoyed playing last year.
Other than gaming
🎙️ I joined the Chillscape VGM podcast this month, hosting a block in the Rustic Resonance episode!
☕️ I still can’t believe I’ve been so lucky to meet some of my online friends in person. This month I met Sey from GoodGameLobby! He dropped by after attending Gamescom and we had some really normal conversations.
📺 Anyone here also watches Taskmaster? It has been my go-to when I don’t know what to watch. Last month I finished watching series 20, which was a truly hilarious season.
Looking forward to in September
Autumn is approaching, so that’s what I’m most excited about!
Thank you for reading,
-Luna
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