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.

Moon Waltz

Title: Moon Waltz

Genre: Webtoy

Completion Time: Approximately two minutes per runthrough, I went through five times.

A werewolf-themed webtoy with tons of hidden surprises.

Yes, that is a werewolf in handcuffs.

Interesting:

A simple, one-button premise--hit space to uncover the moon, which turns you into a werewolf. Extremely novel, turns out to have tons of potential. 5/5

Fun:

They put a lot of depth into this--for example, turning into a werewolf right next to someone is different from turning into one a little ways away. For such a simple concept, I kept wanting to play over and over. 5/5

Moving:

Emotional content is pretty minimal, although I am a sucker for games that let you destroy things. 2/5 

A great little webtoy, clearly demonstrating the power of attention to detail.

UnderTale (Highly recommended)

Title: UnderTale demo

Genre: RPG

Completion Time: I got ten minutes into the demo and then decided I wanted to wait for the full version. 100% will be playing.

A cute, Earthbound-esque RPG that includes the option to talk your way through fights instead of battling.

Interesting:

Combat is interesting on multiple levels. First, there is the aforementioned ability to talk instead of fighting. During the ten minutes I played, I never landed a blow. Always refreshing. Second, the enemies' attacks are little avoidance minigames that are unique to each enemy so far. This would have been engaging on story and tone alone, and they really went the extra mile. 5/5

Fun:

The combat can get a little repetitive, but the minigames do keep it exciting. The puzzles I encountered definitely could have been more engaging. I wouldn't play it just for the mechanics, but the gameplay is a perfectly serviceable complement to the engaging world and tone.. 3/5

Moving:

The characters are engaging and endearing, and I laughed out loud within the first five minutes. Great soundtrack too. I also found it surprisingly satisfying to be able to resolve combat nonviolently. Nothing weighty in the game yet, but I was drawn in emotionally just by the demo. I will be interested to see if the full version makes it up to 5/5. 4/5 

The most Earthbound-esque non-Itoi game I have ever played. I am beyond excited for the full version.

Gunpoint

Title: Gunpoint demo

Genre: Puzzle, action

Completion Time: Thirty-six minutes, which I suspect is kind of embarrassing. I got shot and found myself accidentally jumping onto the ceiling a lot.

From the website: "Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people. This video will explain it."

Interesting:

Fantastic, unique premise. You have to electronically rewire the building so the guards will accidentally do your bidding--leaving a room, opening doors for you, etc. The autosave system is pretty innovative and really reduces frustration. Also, tricking people is funny. 5/5

Fun:

I'm not particularly good at puzzles that involve planning ahead, so I suspect this could have been a lot more fun than I was having. I tended to brute-force everything--hook up all the doors to the light switch and then punch out the guards. I suspect I will enjoy it a lot more once I have gotten the hang of the nuances. 3/5

Moving:

The plot and characters are pretty light, but the music adds a lot to the atmosphere and the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny. Like Misadventure, Gunpoint accomplishes what it was aiming for. 3/5 

A light game with a clever concept, I am definitely looking forward to the full version coming out.