Nov 10, 2019
What I’ve seen from the developers of Planet Zoo, Frontier Developments, leading up to the Best Simulation Game‘s release, has been very impressive! From the very specific needs and behaviors of all animals to the challenging new modes, you can tell they really put a lot of love into this game! There’s so much more emphasis on animal care and education, including conservation efforts, that has me so excited to be a zoo keeper. I’d like to thank the developers for supplying me with a Steam Key so that I could put my tycoon skills to the test and show you all what you can expect before playing.
Zoo Tycoon Vs Planet Zoo
I’ve been a huge fan of creating habitats and taking care of my animals, all while making sure the guests are happy, for quite some time. I’ve put several hours into Zoo Tycoon back in 2001, which was developed by Blue Fang Games and published by Microsoft. They also went on to make a sequel and several amazing expansion packs. There was just the perfect balance of making the zoo your own and having some guidance with several tools at your disposal.
In 2013, Microsoft, along with Frontier Developments, released a Zoo Tycoon game for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I found that game to be hugely disappointing with the lack of animal variety, and almost no layout and design choices for habitats or facilities. For example, you had to place food and water bowls in pre-selected zones. It scaled way too far back on the creative freedom that it became real boring, real fast. However, I could already tell by the Developer Journals that Planet Zoo was going to be a huge improvement and was excited to try my hand at another zoo management game.
When I started to play Planet Zoo, I was already excited at the fact that I could customize my own avatar. Then, I decided to go for Career Mode first as I know I should get some tips before I go off on my own and start from scratch in Sandbox Mode. I could not believe how beautiful the parks were and was eager to build some of my own. It was a little intimidating in fact because there was so much to work with, more than I have ever seen.
Now, not only can you place whatever you want, wherever you want in your habitats, but you can also make everything from scratch. This might make the game harder to get used to at first, if you’ve watched my Planet Zoo Gameplay Bloopers you’ll know what I’m talking about, but it becomes very addictive if you stick with it. Sure the paths and fences are harder to use then they have to be but little changes, such as adding digital boards and speakers for your guests to learn about your animals, makes it worth it.
It is worth mentioning that I lightly touched on the fact that you have to have available power for all of your facilities during my first couple of levels of gameplay, which is also a new feature. Meaning, there’s a bit more to do this time around, similar to Sim City. I’ll be continuing to play Planet Zoo and will write updated articles when I find out how it all goes together! If this already sounds like fun to you, you can buy the basic Planet Zoo game and/or the Deluxe Edition on Steam right here.
- Nov 9, 2019
Little Witch in the Woods is one of the cutest and most whimsical indie games currently on the horizons. Today the tiny development team released a magical new trailer.
Little Witch in the Woods is a fantasy role playing game where you get to live the life of a witch. The ability to use magic always adds such a special component to any game, especially adorable sim-life games like this one.
You play as Ellie, a little witch that has just come to a new town, and you are set to be a part of a “witch’s house”. Only, when you arrive, it appears that the town is near empty, and the witch’s house is in disrepair.
Everything you need to know about Little Witch in the Woods
For more information on this adorable game, check out my interview with the amazing development team behind this game!
You can follow Sunnyside Up the development team behind Little Witch in the Woods on Twitter right here.
More adorable magic games!
If you enjoy magic and also happen to love Stardew Valley you can take a look at Witchbrook an upcoming game that focuses on Magic school life, gardening and more!
- Nov 9, 2019
Donut County, devoloped by Ben Esposito and published by Annapurna Interactive (What Remains of Edith Finch), released on Steam, PS4, GOG, the App Store, and the Mac App Store in 2018. Thanks to the awesome Steam’s Halloween Sale, I was able to play this hilarious physics-based puzzle game. It is indeed reverse-Katamari from the gameplay mechanics and premise, to the colorful and whimsical world of strange characters. In Donut County, you control a hole and put everything and anything in it! My only complaint is that I wish the game was longer because I enjoyed it so much. You can check out my full gameplay of 2 hours below!
The idea of starting with consuming smaller objects so that you can grow-in-size and move on to larger ones, had me sold. But the game goes even further by adding a fully-formed and ridiculous plot about raccoons building a bigger trash empire through use of their technology. Apparently that includes this remote-controlled hole that brings what it swallows 999 feet underground. So don’t worry, no animals were harmed during your enjoyment of total destruction.
To shake things up a little, certain levels require a tad more strategy like with hard-to-reach objects. For example, you can upgrade the hole to have a launcher to shoot things upward, such as a frog to catch the flies. You can’t die and you can’t really mess up so you can just keep trying different things until they work! Eventually our friend the raccoon, BK, gets stuck down under with the entire town and helps to come up with a plan to send everyone back.
To check out the official website of Donut County, click here!
- Nov 9, 2019
Neon Noodles is a simulation and management game created by Vivid Helix. Much like Automachef, you’ll need to put together an efficient food factory, with a cyberpunk atmosphere, so that your robot chefs can get to work! Neon Noodles will be available on Steam Early Access here on November 29th, 2019. Furthermore, you can try out the free demo/open beta on Steam (Windows only) and expect regular updates to the game!
About Neon Noodles
Set in a dark and mysterious cyberpunk world, you are put in charge of the futuristic food factory known as Neon Noodles. Inspired by the open-ended machine-building puzzle games of Zachtronics such as Opus Magnum and Infinifactory, you design and build your own fully automated kitchen to prepare meals using robot chefs. Guacamole, bibimbap, ramen, spaetzle, paella and many more recipes are waiting for you to be optimized.
Key Features
- Automate your robot chefs through an intuitive replay and record system where you control the robot that creates the program, then edit it later if needed.
- Customize your cooking loops to be as simple, elaborate or streamlined as you want and compare your wits with other players around the world on the global leaderboards
- Solve endlessly replayable open-ended puzzles with over 100 recipes from around the world consisting of 200 unique ingredients.
- Travel the world and master the art of cooking through technological advancement in a cyberpunk setting filled with mysteries.
It seems that the developers are planning to bring Neon Noodles to consoles, release TBD. You can check out those details, and more, on their official website here.
- Nov 9, 2019
Little Big Workshop is an adorable simulation and strategy game developed by Mirage Game Studios and Published by HandyGames (THQ Nordic division). The game released on October 17th, 2019 on Steam which you can purchase here, for PC or Mac, for only $19.99! Manage your workers, stations, machines, and create awesome toys and items to expand your factory. Moreover, it’s almost as if you get to manage little workshop elves, Santa’s helpers, which makes this the perfect game to play this holiday season!
About Little Big Workshop
Imagine a magical factory, appearing right in your living room. A carefully planned masterpiece, where diligent workers throw together anything customers want. Rubber ducks and dressers, drones and electric guitars, scooters and other wonderful goods can be created from many different materials and sold for hard cash – cash you invest right back into your factory to get more machines, more workers and grow your business. In Little Big Workshop you become a factory tycoon!
Real Factories – Made FUN
You are the Big Boss and it’s time to take charge of your very own tabletop factory. Organize the factory floor, manage your workers, purchase machinery, and design efficient production lines – all within the time-limit and to your client’s satisfaction!
An Open-Ended Sandbox-Experience
Take it easy, it’s a sandbox-experience where you think, ponder and poke at things until you get it to work the way you’d like. Supply products to clients and an ever-changing market, as you produce over 50 unique product types, built from multiple parts and pieces – all of which can be created with different materials and production methods. No two factories should ever look the same.
Tiny Hands, Big Dreams
Start out with just a small workshop and expand to a desk-filling factory. Unlock ever fancier machines, add even more production methods, and most of all, more room. Soon enough you’ll be running multiple production lines, producing hundreds of advanced products each day, and watching with joy as your cute workers do the actual work.
Key Features
- Four unique industries fully simulated
- Focus on practical problems, not on values, economics, or logistics
- Organize all steps of the production on a blueprint
- Factories grow as you unlock more desk space
- Day/Night-cycle with simulated working time
- Take care of your workers! Work them too hard and they may turn on you
- Cute model-town art-style
In the mood for more holiday shopping? Check out my article here: Nintendo Switch Perfect Gift Guide.
- Nov 9, 2019
The cutest and most whacky indie game is now on Kickstarter. See the new trailer for Guinea Pig Parkour.
For those that missed it, Guinea Pig Parkour is a whimsical hand-drawn 2D platform game with a cool 90’s flair. If you like guinea pigs, parkour, coffee or all of the above, then this is the game for you. The silly but cute art style is what drew me in, and the crazy yet cool theme is what keeps me coming back for more.
If you are as excited about this game as I am, then now is your opportunity to help this title become all that it can be. You also get the chance to earn yourself some pretty cool swag by supporting the development of Guinea Pig Parkour. If you would like to be a big part of the development of this kooky title, head on over to kickstarter.
Kickstarter Trailer
For up to date information on Guinea Pig Parkour, be sure to follow the game on Twitter.
- Nov 9, 2019
Nintendo has just surprised us with a game available now, as of November 8th, 2019, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. The Stretchers is a physics-based cooperative (1-2 players) action and puzzle game developed by Tarsier Studios (Tearaway Unfolded). You’re medics tasked with saving residents struck by the Dizzies and delicately (not really) bring them to the ambulance! There’s just something about physics-based games, such as Grabimals, that’s way too funny.
About The Stretchers
The world has a bad case of the Dizzies—residents dizzied by Captain Brains—and only you can rescue them! Work with a friend in co-op or skillfully control two medics on your own to overcome the physics-based puzzles of each madcap mission. Either way, how you go about it is totally up to you, whether you work together to transport many Dizzies at once on a stretcher or work in parallel by splitting up dragging the Dizzies to the ambulance one by one. As you play and replay missions, you’ll complete bonus objectives and uncover hidden collectibles with hilarious results!
You’ll also unlock additional hats, costume colors, and furniture for your home base by exploring mission areas and the world map. When you receive a distress call, don’t be afraid to get curious and experiment. You never know what hilarity will ensue, whether it’s the laugh-out-loud writing or yet another unexpected slapstick situation. But don’t let the levity distract you from your ultimate mission: to stop the evil mastermind Captain Brains and the spread of his chaotic Dizzies!
You can purchase the Stretchers on the Nintendo eShop here for only $25.19!
- Nov 9, 2019
Finally! After the long awaited Stardew Valley Co-Op Multiplayer update arrived on Nintendo Switch, PC and even PlayStation 4, the update is now also available on Xbox One!
The Stardew Valley Multiplayer update lets players add another cabin to their ever growing farm and invite a friend to play together. You and one other friend will enjoy the entirety of the game together that includes all farming aspects, events, mining, exploring and more!
If you are playing the game on Xbox One you can now download the update for free. Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 4 players already have the co-op mode – that is if your game is up to date!
Stardew Valley 1.4 Update Adds More Content
Eric also teased fans again with the upcoming 1.4 Update that will reportedly touch every aspect of the game and adds tons of new content such as fish ponds!
In a tweet reply to a fan who asked when the content update will be released, ConcerpedApe (Eric) answered “There’s a few final things still but it is very close to being ready”. Hopefully we will be getting some new content right in time for the holidays!
Update 1.4 is expected to enhance the entire game and add lots of new content that will breath new live into Stardew Valley.
If you need something to tied you over you should explore Witchbrook – the Stardew Valley of magic!
