Monkey sees numbers go up, monkey happy. That’s Balatro in a nutshell. It has an incredibly addictive gameplay loop that manages to activate the same neurons that predatory gambling games and mobile trash love to prey on. The thing is, there’s nothing remotely predatory about Balatro. It’s just a rogue-lite card game with absolutely no stakes. Well, except for the sleep you might lose by playing it well past bedtime.
Uncle Chops Rocket Shop is a game that will make you sweat. It applies a type of pressure I’ve rarely encountered in a video game. Other games will challenge your reflexes, your ability to adapt, and even your ability to think strategically. Uncle Chops Rocket Shop, however, challenges your ability to learn, and apply that learning in various scenarios under the threat of death.
These Doomed Isles identifies as a roguelike city-building deck builder, but I don’t quite agree with it. These Doomed Isles isn’t much of a city builder at all. The buildings you place and the lives of your little citizens mostly boil down to boosting or altering numbers that bear very little resemblance to running any kind of city or village. There’s no simulation going on under the hood.
Ways of War is the fifth expansion for Age of Wonders 4 and brings a touch of Eastern mythology to the game with Chinese Dragons, Jade Lions, and a new Oathsworn culture that devotes themselves to one of three decrees.