To Do List

Title: To Do List
Genre: Uh... I'm not really sure what to call this. It's one of those RPG-Maker-esque games where you walk around and interact with things. You might call it a puzzle but the interactions are more obtuse than puzzling.
Completion Time: About half an hour. I got stuck a lot and there's no walkthrough so I spent a fair amount of time just testing every object.

An interesting Ludum Dare (made in a weekend) game that really should be a prototype for a potentially much better game. I don't regret the time I spent playing it since I'm sick in bed, but I wouldn't recommend making time for it unless you're bored.

Interesting: 

The mechanics are extremely basic but I don't think I've actually seen a to-do list game like this before. It provides a nice framework for telling an atmospheric story. 3/5.

Fun: 

This would probably get a 4/5 if it were better tuned, since the format has the potential to provide a nice flow experience. Unfortunately, it's often difficult to figure out how exactly to accomplish the things on the list, so I spent a lot of time stuck and frustrated. 2/5.

Moving:

The story, character, and world are all quite weird. It hints at intriguing things, and sets up the tone nicely through art and music. Unfortunately there is no real payoff. I'd like to see this revised. 3/5.

Mimicry Man

Title: Mimicry Man

Genre: Doodle God-esque Puzzle

Completion Time: A little over an hour (for 100%).

A cute and entertaining play on RPG tropes.

Interesting:

The premise is quite clever--you're a Mimic (those awful treasure chests that attacked you instead of giving you things), and you use various items to lure people in so you can take their stuff. JayisGames compared it to Doodle God in terms of its item upgrading/combining gameplay, but it's a completely fresh take. 4/5

Fun:

You have to do some of the trade chains multiple times, which gets really repetitive. But the interface is easy to use and they included a handy guide that tracks what you've gotten and how, and also indicates whether you should bother trying to trade and/or fuse that item anymore. In short, some well-thought-out features make the slightly clunky gameplay tolerable to enjoyable. The challenges are simple but not irritatingly slow, and I got a nice flow experience. 3/5.

Moving:

None, really. It's a lighthearted game through and through. The RPG nostalgia was nice though. 1/5.

A pleasant one-hour diversion, especially if you're a fan of SNES RPGs.

Escape from the Fishing Community Island

Title: Escape from the Fishing Community Island

Genre: Survival

Completion Time: About seven minutes on small/easy

Beware of demon fish.

Interesting:

I haven't played enough survival games to know how this stacks up. I do know that the "find three items and then escape" concept is fairly typical, and combat doesn't seem to be particularly exciting. However, the flavor is unique (demon fish stalking you on land!). In addition, I think the most interesting part of this game is the companions. When you find someone hiding, you can assign them a task--as you go your party gets more effective but also more cumbersome, which makes for interesting gameplay. 3/5

Fun:

It has its exciting moments, but overall it's moderately repetitive. This is a prototype so hopefully they will shore it up (no pun intended) in the future. 2/5.

Moving:

As I mentioned in the last review, I am a huge fan of mechanics being used to reinforce mood. The fish can attack not only you but also the members of your party, who are slightly slower than you--I've spent plenty of time dashing around the island going "Run, kid, run!" I'll tell you, I felt pretty bad the first time I let a kid get eaten by a fish (I tried to run away when I should have stopped and battled) and the impact is doubled by the fact that losing a party member means losing functionality. Not the most emotionally compelling game overall, but they do a nice job of creating moments 3/5.

A short, interesting prototype--it doesn't have a ton of replayability, but it's definitely worth checking out.

The Only One

Title: The Only One

Genre: Puzzle adventure

Completion Time: Nineteen minutes

One of the best implementations I've seen of using mechanics to reinforce mood.

Interesting:

This seems to be a budding genre: games where you do the same thing repeatedly, getting further each time as you gather information and master skills. I am a huge fan. This is a fairly straightforward implementation, although it gets points for creative marriage of genre and theme. 3/5

Fun:

The action was exciting and for the most part it was smoothly designed. For a game like this, being at loose ends would be torturous, and the way the world is laid out mostly managed to avoid that. That said, I wouldn't have wanted the game to be any longer. 4/5.

Moving:

This game is short and simple, lacking the depth of my five-point games. That said, a lot of emotion is packed into the small interactions between the characters. And while I've never experienced a loss like the main character, I am familiar with the crippling depression he starts with. I thought the game did a phenomenal job capturing the experience of breaking out of apathy and re-engaging with life and the world.  4/5.

A powerful experience in a small package. Great demonstration of storytelling that can only be done via the unique medium of gaming. Highly recommended.

Densha

Title: Densha

Genre: Puzzle

Completion Time: Approximately one hour and fifteen minutes

The next time someone claims games can't be art, hit them with this.

Interesting:

The way the game plays with certain concepts is phenomenal. I don't want to spoil the sense of discovery so I will just tell you it deserves full marks. 5/5

Fun:

 Fun is not really the point of this game at all. Parts of it can get tedious, particularly carting around the stepladder. That said, it moved smoothly and I never got stuck for too long. (Take copious notes and be sure to reference the included translation file.) 3/5.

Moving:

I already gave it 5/5 for interesting, so if I could give it 6/5 for moving then I would. This game used a phenomenal blend of visuals, sound, story, character, and surrealism to pack all the emotional punch of a good short film. I may have gotten some bonus chills because of my Japanese heritage, but I imagine this will affect anybody. 5/5.

An intense experience in a beautifully crafted package. Highly, highly recommended.

Pretentious Games

Title: Pretentious Game 1, Pretentious Game 2, Pretentious Game 3

Genre: Platform

Completion Time: Five minutes for the first, seven for the second, thirteen for the third., 

Really three episodes of one game rather than three different games, the Pretentious Games riff on platforming mechanics and tropes to tell a story.

Interesting:

Each level has a goal, and the strategies or obstacles are hinted at by a line of story. It's a clever concept and should appeal to fans of wordplay. 5/5

Fun:

I thought the better levels were the ones that called for puzzle-solving rather than platform maneuvering--episode 3 got a little frustrating. But overall there tended to be a very nice "Aha!" moment as you figured out each challenge.  4/5.

Moving:

The creator was definitely onto something when he or she titled this. The story leans heavily on clichés, and the emotion feels like the creator was trying to imitate other works of art rather than pulling it from within him/herself. But it's strong enough to carry the game, and the threading of multiple storylines is nicely handled. 3/5.

If you like games that play with what games can be, this is well worth the half an hour or so that it takes to complete all three.

King's Ascent (Highly Recommended)

Title: King's Ascent

Genre: Platform

Completion Time: Forty-five minutes.

An interesting, challenging platform game that is extremely enhanced by its strong story.

Interesting:

You're being chased by a monster, and different types of platforms do various pointy things to the monster once you jump off of them. If you hit the top of the level without having killed it, you're kind of in trouble, so you have to trade off  dropping as many platforms as possible with efficient movement upwards. I'm not really familiar with vertical-climber games, but JayIsGames assures me that this is a novel twist. 5/5

Fun:

This game is loads of fun. The mechanics are exciting, the controls are pretty smooth, and the difficulty was right in the zone for me. I died a lot, but the quick and smooth level reset meant the flow was never broken. 5/5.

Moving:

The game touches on themes of guilt and responsibility that I haven't seen addressed much in a game. The story is also integrated beautifully with the gameplay. It's a little too rough around the edges to get a perfect score, but I found it extremely compelling. 4/5 

Fantastic little short short story of a game. Highly recommended.