Stuff I’ve Enjoyed: the Free Edition
So, I’ve been known to make posts about cheap or entirely free games. Here’s another one.
The Lion’s Song: Episode 1 - Silence by Mi'pu'mi Games is essentially an extended demo, being the first episode of a multi-part game, but it stands well on its own and functions as a closed story. It’s a fairly simple point and click styled game, but the central part of the story is the young, talented composer Wilma needing to find inspiration for a breakthrough piece of music she’s very nervous about while dealing with personal issues. Despite being a small contained story it lets you pick between plenty options, none of which are wrong, they simply give different results. Personally I found that entertaining. The sepia look works well for the main character’s setting and mood, and all in all I enjoyed it a lot. As with most of the free games I play you can find it on Steam.
Mandagon by Blind Sky Studios is a puzzle platformer with a story that’s somewhat hard to decipher, but some really really lovely settings. The puzzles are simple, most of the time I was busy trying to figure out how to get to the place I wanted to go most easily, but it’s not a hard game. I’m not a skilled platformer and I could easily enjoy this little piece of pixel eyecandy. So give it a chance, it’s not like it’s expensive, Steam has it for free.
Lastly A Date in the Park is a “short narrative experience with puzzles and weirdness” as the developer Cloak and Dagger Games describes it. That covers it pretty well, the story is slightly strange but very fun, and I had a good time going back to discover things I’d missed the first time. The setting is real and had a pixellated photo feel, which isn’t quite my taste, but it works. You can find it for the great prize of 0 at Steam if you’re curious why I’m being so cagey with the details.
