Bought in 2018, I played it a bit but was put off by the creepiness. I was pretty early in the game, walking around getting suprised and smacking everything with a wrench. I tried it again this month and had no idea what was going on at my save point, so I restarted. This time I persevered a bit more and was pleasantly surprised when I found a tool to let me identify mimics pretty quickly.

Not the easiest game to get a lot of achievements on. Some require full playthroughs (killing everyone, killing nobody, linked to alien enhancements, linked to no enhancements). I played being a nice guy and grabbed a couple of extra at the end but still only managed about 30% :( So, it's into the beaten pile and onto the next game.

Bought in 2017, I got pretty far in this and then got stuck. I think I was 3-4 levels from the final boss. Took me a long time to get past that part and I struggled with the controls a lot. Initially I couldn't work out how to use Relics, then I was using them accidentally all the time. Total amount of time in the game is pretty low and It's a terrible achievement rate, but there's no way I'm playing through that again as other characters or trying to get more collectibles. I'm just too bad at it!

A pretty embarrassing 9% of achievements dragging down my average, but it's heading to the beaten pile so I can forget about it!

I had the original Dead Island already and beat it way back in 2013, so why did I pick up the definitive edition? Well, to be honest I only wanted a DLC which isn't available separately anymore. I bought the definitive edition hoping it would just add the DLC to my existing game, but it created a completely separate entry in my library. So, anyway, I beat the game again, got a few extra achivements and played the DLC that I wanted. So, beaten again!

The impetus for all of this was a kind of challenge. I'm in a Discord group that has 'bounties' posted. which are basically game achievements. If you get the achievement and prove it with screenshots and the achievement on your account, you get xp in the channel. There's no real tangible reward for all this, but it's fun. When I first joined the server, they were all bounties for games I didn't have and wasn't intersted in but recently more interesting ones have appeared. I got a few for games I own and missed out on a couple as other peopler picked them up. It got a bit addictive and while this wouldn't get me to play a lot of games and I certainly won't suddenly become a better player and magically get difficult achievements, it is an incentive to play games I already own and sometimes pick up other games if I can find them cheap. Which leads me on to...

In a Humble Choice recently that I didn't get but there was an achievement posted on the bounty board (see Dead Island post above) that looked doable and the game was reasonably interesting to me. I did a trade and picked it up without having to buy it.

Not really a difficult game. I only have one other racing game in my library (Wreckfest) but still managed to win most races on my first try with the standard car at intermediate level. There were some tricky tracks and as I got further in the game I found myself buying some cars just for variety and to get past a few races I struggled with. Overall pretty repetitive. There are a limited number of tracks that keep coming up. The achievement I was going for was to race every event, not necessary win or get on the podium. Seemed a bit strange, so I added the additional element of getting on the podium or the equivalent for time trials. Took me 16 hours overall, but it was pretty fun. I should add that it got quite mixed reviews. I'm not sure how many of those were from people who played earlier Dirt games, but this was my first game in the franchise and while I might not buy any more soon It wasn't a bad game. 45% of achievements (could probably get 2 more if I did some grinding and got better at one of the events) but the majority of those remaining are related to DLC. Into the Beaten pile it goes!

In a Humble Choice recently that I didn't get but there was an achievement posted on the bounty board (see Dead Island post above) that looked doable and the game was reasonably interesting to me. I did a trade and picked it up without having to buy it.

Had this on my wishlist for a while and managed to get it for a good deal. I haven't played any of the other Desperados games, it reminded me of the old game Commandos a little. Not really a story-driven game but the story was more prominant that I thought it would be. I also quite liked the different skills that the characters brought to the game, although to be honest I tended top use the same one or two characters for most of the levels as I found them easier to use. Beat the game and managed to get 63% of achievements in the process too. Beaten and onto the next game!

Another Humble Choice game that I skipped over then picked up later. The main thing that put me off was the setting, the same thing that put me off Skyrim for a long time. When I first started playing, I thought I'd made a pretty big mistake actually. Controls were very difficult with mouse and keyboard and the start of the game was 90% cut scenes. After switching to a controller for 90% of the game (still used the mouse for a few parts) things improved a little.

The next issue was combat. No guns (as expected) and the only ranged weapon is a bow and arrow - no crosshairs, hand wobble and the arrow dips. All very accurate, but difficult to use. The majority of combat was hand to hand, also very difficult. It did make my improvements in combat more satisfying, but even by the end of the game I felt like I didn't really have a good command of it. One more criticism - bugs and glitches. I redid one quest 4-5 times because it didn't go the way I expected for no apparent reason. Then there were a few quests that seemingly stopped working. There was no dialogue or warning to say that the quest couldn't be done, I did what was asked but the quest giver wouldn't take the goods after I'd got them. Very annoying!

Onto the more positive parts. There were a lot of parallels to Bethesda/Fallout games, which I like a lot. Some aspects they improved a bit, like the pickpocketing and lock picking. The side-quests were much less repetitive than other similar games, and probably the most impressive part was the story and voice acting. After the initial cut-scene fest at the start of the game, there were far fewer interruptions but they were all interesting and built oin the story. A few twists and just overall really good. Graphically, the scenery looked great. Clipping in the distance was a problem and annoying, but generally the background looked great. Even down to small things like rain, thunderstorms and butterflies fluttering past looked great.

Let's start with a good one. Very simple game, but great fun. It's surprisingly relaxing too, even though I'm not very good and failed a lot it didn't make me angry. What kind of magic is this!? Basically, you design metro lines in different cities to cope with the number of people wanting to reach different destinations. The graphics are very simple, just lines and shapes really. As more people appear, you need to cope with congestion and try to see the busiest routes to alleviate them before a station becomes overcrowded and you lose the game.

I beat the main challenge on every level which is to deliver a certain number of people to their destinations. There are additional challenges for each level that add extra conditions like, only use one bridge, use 3 or fewer different lines etc. I can't do most of those, so it's just 'beaten' not 'completed' for this one. I may leave this installed and dip into it now and then as it's easy to have a quick game.

I think this was in a Humble Choice but I didn't get it, had my eye on it as a possible purchase and managed to get a good trade. Glad I didn't spend money on it! It's okay, but not great. It's a little like XCOM, but there's a timing element to it. You mapy out where your soldiers will go and get time stamps for how long each action will take. Planning effective attacks means getting your soldiers into the correct positions at the correct time.

It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it quite works. One annoying factor is that you don't seem to be able to see the time withoutactually mapping it. So, I plan out one move, see the time, plan out another move and the time is too far off for me to coordinate my attack and I need to cancel both and start again. It would be better if there was a 'live' indication of the timing as you move your mouse around. The story was okay, but didn't really grab me and I found I didn't really care what the end result was, I just wanted to finish it. It seemed to be a bit of a resource hog too, strange for what doesn't look like a particularly demanding game. There are multiple endings, but I just got one then played for a few more achievements and stopped at a respectable 62%. Beaten and moving on.

A rare completition! I only went for this as it was a pretty short game. Once I beat the main story, I had to use a guide to get the remaining achievements and it added a few hours to my playtime. Glad I did it, but there's no way I could be bothered to do this for more games. Even with a short game like this, it felt like a bit of a chore. The game itself was great. Looks beautiful, simple game at the core but it plays really well. What it's about? no idea really, but that doesn't matter too much, does it :)

One of those games that I really enjoyed but got stuck on and stopped played, then forgot about it for years. Bought in 2014, I last played this in 2017. A pixel graphics, platform shooter. On the surface, it looks a bit like Broforce, but the game mechanics are much more innovative. It's difficult to explain, but you use time travel. Each level you have a set number of time travel opportunities. Each time you use one, you can spawn a number of different characters. The simplest way to use these is to spawn again when you die, but as the original you is still running around and shooting when you travel back in time, it can help to increase your firepower. There are even opportunities to shield your past self.

Aside from that novelty, another positive point was it was funny. I guess they were puns and kind of dad jokes, but I liked them! Rare for a game to actually make me chuckle, but this one did it regularly. I found this pretty difficult, hence the years away from it. I managed to beat the main story, but I didn't get all the additional characters and couldn't do some of the puzzle/challenge stages that are also available. So, beaten for this one and another assassination.

Bought this in 2017 and liked it a lot but, as with a lot of games, I got stuck and stopped playing. It's kind of a puzzle game and reminded me a lot of Lemmings (1991 release, so a game I was playing when I was 10!). You guide zombies around a level to reach different goals. Often infecting a certain number of people, but there are other goals like escaping, destroying something, beating an enemy, or surviving hordes of enemies. There's quite a range of level types which keeps it interesting.

I managed to beat all the levels in the original game (which has an achievement) and the levels in a free expansion that was added after the main release (no achievement for that unfortunately). There are still quite a few challenges, but I'm a long way off kill 10,000 humans and I don't think I could get the extra challenges on each level so I'm sticking with what I think is a respectable 76%.

A recent game! Unusual for me :) I got this in 2020. Not sure if I bought or traded for it. I'm sure everyone has heard of it. Simple graphics, fairly simple concept. A good game with logical puzzles but very difficult. Did I like the idea? Yeah. Was I good at it? Hell No! Was it frustrating? Yes...very. I just don't think my brain really works in the logical way needed to do most of these puzzles. Here are my 7 stages of "Baba is You Hell":

1. Oh, I see what to do. That's pretty clever.

2. Hmmm. Not sure what to do. I'll try..oh, I get it! haha, I feel smart.

3. I'm stuck. I'll check a hint. Oh, Okay. I can do it now.

4. I'm stuck. The hint doesn't help. I'm gonna have to watch a guide. Oh, I should have guessed that. I see now.

5. I'm stuck. The hint doesn't help. I'm gonna have to watch a guide. Hmm, I guess that makes sense.

6. I'm stuck. The hint doesn't help. I'm gonna have to watch a guide. What? I don't get that at all.

7. I'm stuck. The hint doesn't help. I'm gonna have to watch a guide. I have no idea what just happened. I'm gonna have to watch that again, and again and keep pausing.

So, I beat the game (only because I had guides!). I did not get 100%. By the time I completed the main levels, I was over the game. Also, I checked and there are a LOT of extra levels. So, I have 61% of achievements thanks to other people posting help on the internet and it's going in my beaten pile.

Picked this up in 2020. It's not a full game, just a teaser for what's to come. The main appeal was the graphics and the fact that it's being developed by one person. Actually, that's kind of an appeal and a detrimental factor. Development has been very slow and there have been long periods with very little communication, leading to some people complaining in forums that it has been abandoned. When updates do appear, the developer assures people that the full game is coming and every who has bought this limited version will get the full game for free.

The appeal, to me, of a game developed by one person is that they can do exactly what they want to and take the time to make it just how they envisage it. The comments I read before getting this were generally positive and I bought it based on that (it was pretty cheap too). It looks great and it's impressive that one person has done all that work. There are problems though. The story is all over the place, the voice acting is terrible, and there are a lots of things that feel like they've been thrown in there that don't really gel very well. It's a FPS but there are additional 'powers' like throwing people into the air, hurling kind of energy blades at them, and other energy type attacks. I always play FPS with the keyboard and mouse. I find aiming an absolute nightmare with a controller. These other attacks are difficult to pull off with keys though. That's why I'm missing the final achievement. I'm not able to pull of the moves fast enough to get it. I should probably try with a controller, but after 3 playthroughs to get the other achievements I'm sick of it so it will go in the beaten rather than completed pile. I hope the full game is more of a complete package, but I'll probably still struggle with the controls.

A 2019 purchase. Not sure how to feel about this one. It was okay. I think it's primarily designed as a two player game and I imagine it would be a lot easier with another human. You fly a spaceship with different stations for guns, steering the ship, shields, and a special weapon. Character can run around and man these different stations as you work through the level. There is a single player option where the computer AI controls the other character at the station you post it at. While it's good sticking to that one station, it's up to you to move them around to different places as they're needed. Also, the AI can't fly the ship.

It didn't take me long to beat the game once I sat down and focused on it. The usual story with achievements for me, I got the low hanging fruit and I'm not motivated to try for the others in this game. I might be able to get one or two more but unlikely to 100% it. So, it's tossed onto the beaten pile and I move on!

I picked this up in 2016, but didn't really play it and it was given away free a year or two later. I put off playing it as I try to play games with sequels in the order that they were released. I had the original CoH but never really got into it. Also, it's a RTS. A genre that I was really into as a teen but these day I find a massive time sink and not very rewarding. Not sure if I bought the game based on the positive reviews, the low price, or I was trying to get back into the genre.

So, it's a good game but I still have the same RTS issue. I play for hours at a time to beat difficult levels and while there is some sense of achievement, the reward for that amount of time seems pretty small. I tried to avoid this a little by playing the game on easy difficulty. The main campaign missions weren't too bad actually. I got through a lot of them fairly steadily even with my style of play, which I think is overly cautious. The DLC missions (Theater of War) were another story though. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, these varied a lot. It took me a lot of attempts with some of them. I was checking tactics online, reading about the missions and still struggling. I had to deal with the solo missions myself and finally managed all of those, then I called on BAEuro for some help to finish off the remaining multiplayer ones that I had been using an AI companion with up until that point. So, a ridiculously low achievement percentage (103 out of a massive 452 available!), but I've beaten all the missions available to me so this gets classified as 'beaten'.

I still had the original Company of Heroes in my backlog with some DLC at this point. There are no achievements in the original, it's older, and all the time I spent in COH2 hasn't made me keen to go back and play that. If I was going to play it, it would be now. I don't think I'm going to do that and I can't mark it as beaten, so I've removed it from my library. A bit sad, but I bought it in 2012 and haven't put any real time into it. I'm not going to force myself to play games I don't really enjoy, life's too short!

So, initially I just planned to try this and then activate the game from the Humble Choice bundle. I got Alan Wake in the past and didn't like it at all, so wanted to check this before buying as it was from the same people. Then, I got into the story and just figured I'd finish it on gamepass. Borderline a bit creepy for me, but loved everything else. The presentation especially. It seemed like a movie to me. The storyline, the choice of shots, and even small things like the way that each chapter name came up at the bottom of the screen. No affect on my steam or BLAEO stats and no easy to see achievements, so here are a couple of slightly-too-small, non-spoiler images from near the end of the game.

Short, but very fun game. The art style is really nice and the sound effects (something I never really think about) are great. I think the minimalistic style of the game really helps you notice things like the sound of the goose's feet slapping on the floor. Got to the end of the story, then used a guide to get some of the missing achievements. There are more, time based ones but after a quick go I don't think I'm gonna try for those just yet. Not sure I can do them to be honest! So, into the 'beaten' pile it goes.

Got this in 2018, it was actually a price error in a store. The store contacted me afterwards and were supposed to be taking back the key which made me hold on playing it initially. Then, I kind of forgot about it and thought I should play Death of the Outsider first.

So, I finally played it this month. It was buggy. Had to play around a lot with settings just to get the game to run initially, then had control problems throughout and in the final few hours got graphical bugs. The most annoying was connected to the controls. At times my character would kind of get stuck in a defending pose. That meant I couldn't do any other attack actions - takedown, fire, slash. Each time this happened (which was a lot) I had to tab out of the game then tab back for it to unstick.

That took away quite a lot of the enjoyment, to be honest. I played through in low chaos mode (mainly choking people out) and got a fair few other achievements on the way. Most of the remaining achievements require playing through a full level, two levels, or for a small number - a complete playthrough again. If it wasn't for the controls sticking, I think I'd try and get the level specific ones, but I'm sick of the bugs. Beaten with 44% achievements and on to the next game.

Pretty basic. Enjoyable, but not as good as the other skeleton game I got around the same time, Skul: The Hero Slayer. I'm still chipping away at Skul, which is a much longer game. However, back to Bone Appetit. There are still quite a few achievements and areas, but I'm struggling to find them and not that motivated. The controls and movement aren't that responsive and so as well as looking like a retro game it kind of plays like one. It's okay and I may come back to it for a few more achievements when there are some hints as at the moment there are no guides. I did beat the game though, so for now it's going into the beaten pile.

Strange game. To be honest I lost the storyline a bit towards the end. Got two endings, but I'm sure there are a few more. Lots of other achievements too, but I think they require a few playthroughs or maybe using a guide on your first play. It started off well and was interesting/funny at parts, but the puzzles got a bit obscure and I felt the story went a bit off the rails. Wouldn't recommend it. Beaten.

I liked this one. Fairly simple concept and it reminded me of an old Atari (?) game where you controlled a spaceship and had to pick things up on a line. No idea what it was called and can't find it. Anyway, shooting, navigating caves, searching out people to rescue and gems, fighting bosses, dealing with liquids, gases, magma etc. Lots to do and it gets pretty challenging but I always felt like I was making progress even when stuck on a boss for a long time. Looks good, responsive controls and challenging. No surprises, if you want a video and like the look of it I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

As usual, I stopped after beating the game. Actually, I grabbed a few more smaller achievements but didn't fancy putting in the hours to get some of the more difficult ones. There are 4 multiplayer achievements and nobody seems to be online anymore so I couldn't complete it anyway.

I picked this up while it was still in development as it reminded me of the Playstation 1 game from 1994 - Destruction Derby. Lots of fun, like the older game. I hadn't played it for a while and when I came back to it this month there was a lot more content. Achievements were added and when I started playing, 3-4 popped up at once which was a little strange and made my account look like it had used SAM or something. There were lots more achievements to get though and they needed a lot of work

There are different Championships in the game, each containing a number of races and challenges. You don't need to win all the races, but you do need to score enough points from them to 'complete' the championship. Some achievements were lined to this, while others were for completing the challenges, hitting certain speeds, knocking opponents out of the race etc. The challenges were the most difficult for me. There were two involving trucks that took a lot of attempts. One where you were in a tiny 3-wheeled car (like a robin reliant) and the other where you were in a truck yourself. Both were very hard to control, but I eventually got them. There are two achievements remaining - come 1st in 20 online races, and get wrecked 100 times. I tried online multiplayer - very few servers around that I could connect to. The only ones that were playable were in Australia with what seemed to be very experienced players. I did about 10 races, didn't get wrecked in any of them, but finished last out of those who survived. So, it seems I'm too bad to get the 20 wins and too good (?) to get wrecked 100 times. Well, I've no idea how many times I wrecked my car, but 100 seems a lot so I'm not gonna play just to get that. Beaten with 90% achievements and onto the next game, recommended if you like the look of it though - lots of fun.

Bought in 2016, I have no idea when I last played this. I stopped because it's difficult, very difficult.

The good news is I beat the game. The bad news is, it was on 'new school' difficulty rather than 'old school' so I don't get the achievement! It took me over 2 hours to kill the final boss, so there's no way I'm doing that again! If I had known before, I would've taken a screenshot at the end of the game or during the credits. I picked up a very low 16% of achievements, but it seems that the game is not popular or considered difficult by others too as they are very rare with the most common being 10% of players and most are under 5%. So, glad I beat it but a bit annoyed that it's not reflected in the achievements.

Another game that I enjoyed but got stuck on. Bought this in 2017 and hadn't played for a few years. I persevered this time and got past the tricky levels.

This is a bit like a cross between Hotline Miami and Gunpoint. Slower than HTM and faster than GP, I guess the gameplay is more like HTM. A side view puzzle-shooter. You can go in guns blazing or try to do things more quietly. I got stuck on a few levels and had to replay them a lot, but finally got through them all. 70% of achievements, which is pretty good for me, I think I could get 3 more if I stuck at it but no way I can get all of them so I'm marking this as beaten and moving on.

Fairly recent game for me. This was in a Humble Monthly pack in 2018, I didn't really want enough of the games to warrant buying that month, but I managed to pick this up cheap. Visually, it look great both the art and the general style of the game really appealed to me.

It's a twin-stick shooter, a genre I'm not really into. I guess the closest game I've played is something like Nuclear Throne or Enter the Gungeon, both are games I really like but I'm not very good at. How Ruiner differs is there isn't as much freedom and somehow the gameplay isn't as engrossing. A lot of the movement is down corridors and battles are in larger closed off rooms, but even in those battles there didn't feel to be space to move around. The speed of movement in the other games isn't evident in Ruiner but that's not to say it's slow as you have a 'rush' skill. There are a lot of skills that you can unlock as you work through the levels and I guess this is one of the issues I had with the game. There was too much to think about and do at once! This is probably down to my age and I don't imagine most people would have the same issues as me. You can equip a lot of these skills at once, some of them are passive but a lot are active skills mapped to keys/buttons. I got pretty far in the game (maybe 3 boss fights from the end) on medium but had to drop it down to easy at that point. Ultimately, the game just didn't grab me. The setting, story, and atmosphere of the game were great but the gameplay just didn't click with me and I was never really invested in it, rather than persevere at medium I dropped down to easy just to get it finished and wipe it off the backlog.

Got this in 2014, I'm pretty sure it was in a bundle. It's a rhythm game, but the movement isn't strictly limited by music which is why I was able to complete it (unlike Bit.trip Runner and Crypt of the Necrodancer!). The music helps you time some actions and the enemies movements are often in sync with the music, but for most of the time it's not important. .

It was okay, fairly steady progress, music was fine, enjoyable gameplay, puzzles not too difficult so fairly pleasant overall. It looked a little like a mobile game, but it would be difficult to control on a tablet or mobile, I think. Okay in a bundle, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to but it. Beaten and a fair number of achievements without really trying :).

Got this cheap in 2018 as I quite like the odd game of poker. The game is okay, but it's annoying that you can't turn the characters chatter and animations off. You see them all after an hour or two and it gets very repetitive. I got most of the achievements a year or two back, but there were two I struggled with. Total winnings of 1 million and the final prize item. I got the final prize item this week, but I don't think I'm consistent enough to get the 1 million. I hover around 5-600,000 and have never got close in 15 hours of play. It's a shame I can't get the last achievement to make it 100% but I've had enough of it now!

I know the original portal got a lot of love and kind of has a cult status. I played it, thought it was okay but wasn't that impressed. So, this is another game to remind me that I shouldn't just buy things based on good reviews because that's the only reason I bought the sequel! Is it a good game? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No, not really. I mean, it was okay. I finished it. Got through a lot of it by trial and error and checked a few parts towards the end when I got stuck. Feels good to beat another game and knock it off the list. Poor percentage, but never mind.

It's an old one! Bought this in 2012. This is another 'good game that I didn't really like' it's a bit of a theme this month. I didn't really like the art style or the constant narration. The game play was ok, but I think I got stuck and kind of gave up on it. The part I got stuck on was more where to go next rather than a difficult section. Reinstalled this month and worked out what I should do. It didn't take me long to finish actually, just a few hours, so I probably should've come back to this earlier. I did the last section twice to get both ending achievements, but won't be trying for more. A 'not particularly good' 41% achievements and it's going into the Beaten category.

I have most of the Puppygame releases but hadn't finished any of them. This is the oldest in my collection, bought in 2013, it's basically space invaders. Tried and tested game format, nothing too fancy. I got to the final stage but couldn't beat it and stopped playing. You carry through all your powerups, so this time I started the game from scratch and got better powerups to help me. As well as beating the game, I picked up quite a few achievements. I spent a few extra hours to see if I could get to 100% but it's unlikely so it'll stay in the beaten section with a respectable 82% of achievements.

Another very old game, this one was a SteamGifts win back in 2012. I think I beat the main campaign that year, but quite a lot of DLC has been added since then, so I went back to play through it. I think this was the first tower defence game I bought. I like it a lot more than other games in the genre and put quite a bit of time into it, it does feel like it's aged a bit. I've picked up a decent number of achievements and am adding this to the beaten pile.

Another puppygames title, I picked this up in 2013. I've played it before, but did not remember it at all. Like Titan Attacks, there's a final boss in this game but once you beat him the game starts again from level one with more difficult enemies. So, there isn't really an end to the game. I beat the final boss, so calling it beaten. I'm surprised I managed to do it actually, it was very difficult to see what was going on. It's a twin stick shooter with lots of neon colours and flashes, so difficult to see where your ship is with all the action on screen. Thankfully, there weren't as many levels as in Titan Attacks! I played a little longer to get a few extra achievements after beating the main boss but I'm done now.

I had a feeling that I got stuck in this game, so I reinstalled it expecting to be a bit lost. I was, and ran around the city a bit aimlessly at first. It was only after checking a guide and my achievements that I realised I had already beaten the main story. Rather than just recategorizing the game, I played through the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC mission. Didn't take very long and I picked up a few more achievements. Pretty easy assassination, there are lots more achievements there but 45% is fine for me!

Picked this up with a 2014 Humble Bundle. Simple game, but very difficult. Not one I'd recommend but playable and I'd put enough time in to want to finish it. I got stuck on the game and gave up a few years ago. Took a lot of tries to get through the final two sets of levels but I finally made it! Pretty good at 66% of achievements too. Another one for the beaten category of games.

A 2013 buy that was just based on the fact that I'd played a few other Puppygame releases and enjoyed them. Coming back to this after a few years, I didn't remember it at all. It's tagged as a tower defence, but the enemies don't stick to definite paths and it felt like a cross between TD and RTS to me. Not my favourite of the games from this developer, but it was decent. I like the style, but prefer the other game genres I played this month. I think I have two more Puppygame titles in my library to beat.

Another old game. Released in 2010 and I picked it up in 2016. This was when I decided to try some more traditional RPGs and JRPGs (I still have Ys I and Ys II to work through at some point). I played this in windowed mode as the graphics looked pretty bad in full screen. Also, once I started focusing on running the shop rather than dungeons it got repetitive and a bit boring so it was good to have a small window so I could watch something else at the same time as playing. The dungeons were okay and I guess there may be a way to finish the game by focusing on them, but for me it seemed like you got much more profit in a short space of time by focusing on the store. I had played about 7 hours and got stuck in the past as I just couldn't meet the repayments in time when doing dungeons. Spent about 10 hours on it this time, trying different techniques and saving a lot until I worked out the best way to do things. Interesting, a challenge, but a bit dated and repetitive. No achievements, so here are a couple of screenshots from the end of the main story.

I didn't know much about this, but I'd seen good review scores and liked the visuals of the game. It was on my wish list in a lowish position but I was waiting for a big sale to take the plunge. An appearance on game pass meant I could play it without buying it (taking advantage of the cheap trial months I've amassed and rarely use). It's very, very good. The gameplay itself isn't anything particularly new or novel, but it was very well put together. The game isn't really something you play though, it's more an experience. Hard to describe. The story is basically about a 20 year old who quits college and goes back to her hometown. Everyone is familiar, but things have changed. It's like things have moved on without you. The story is mainly about that experience and the relationship between the characters. There is a 'plot' in the background too, but when you finish it's more the experience of the characters and any parallels that you may feel with your own life. A lot is covered, so I'm sure there'll be something that you can relate to a little! If you play, it's best to go in without knowing anything about it and just enjoy.

I've had this a long time and had played a little but didn't want to really try to beat it until I had finished the first in the series. I did that in August last year and felt like something simple to play so this was the month for BL2.

I know this series is held in high regard by many, but playing the first in the series, I didn't really get it. I liked the visual style and the combat, but I guess some of the negative points for me were things that appeal to other people. I didn't think much of the story in the first one, I felt like the missions were very repetitive, and I disliked the massive range of weapons (I guess the 'loot' from 'looter shooters').

I enjoyed this one far more than the first. The story and missions were better and it didn't feel as much of a grind. There are still, of course, thousands of weapons but I dealt with them by ignoring the stats for the most part and just judging them by value. Once I had a set to hand that I felt dealt with most types of enemy I didn't really bother picking any more up.

I picked up quite a lot of the DLC when it was super cheap a year or two ago. I'm not sure why I do this as I can't really remember ever playing any DLC! By the time I've finished a game, I've normally had enough of it and don't want any extra missions. I made an exception with BL2 and actually played and beat 2 of the DLC packages - Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty and Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep. Both good as they had very different styles to the main story, pretty funny too. I was pleasantly surprised. There is still more DLC to play and there may be a time that I actually come back to this, but as I also have The Pre-sequel in my backlog, I'm marking it as beaten and moving on.

Check the BL2 comments, I guess as it was more of the same really. Slightly different setting, some different characters, but aside from that there wasn't much difference to the actual gameplay.

Consequently, I don't have much to say. I didn't like it as much as BL2. The slam technique and jetpacks were fun, the story was ok, wasn't keen on the very stereotypical Australian (and one British) accents and characters.

I picked this up in 2018 and played most of it in 2019, getting to the last level. I'm not sure why I stopped, maybe I didn't realize how close to the end I was or got stuck. I wasn't really into the game that much either, if I remember correctly. I liked the first game, and guess this is more of the same but I just didn't take to it.

As I mentioned with other games, like the Hitman series, I'm not great at stealth and didn't really bother with this. Most of the time I just killed everyone I came across. I needed to use it a bit more in the final mission though, then went back to get a few more achievements and completed one level without killing anyone. I enjoyed it a bit more on this playthrough and glad I went back to it. I think I have dishonored 2 waiting for me in the backlog!

Another old game I returned to in order to finish. Bought in 2014 and last played in 2017. At a certain point I decided I'd branch out into some different kind of games that I don't usually play, this was one of those. It's looks very RPG-ish and I think that's why I bought it. At a similar time I bought Ys I and II, as well as Recettear (both still in the backlog!). However, this is a little different as it's a hack and slash too, which I'm not sure I knew about when I bought it. A little exploration and lots of button mashing! I got close to the end in 2017 but got stuck.

Quite a lot of achievements for me! I could probably grind out 2-3 more, but I can't get anywhere near the 1,000 hit combo and I won't do another run through at a higher difficulty so I'll never reach that elusive 100%. I'm happy with the 76% and this is going in my beaten pile. Although at times the animation looks a little dated, this is a beautiful game and I really liked the artwork. It's unlikely I'll come back to it but I enjoyed playing it and am pretty happy I beat the main story.

Really liked this, it's a fun game. Basic pixel graphics, but a lot of work went into the gameplay and story. There's a lot of content here. There were 100 different endings in the original game (slightly more now because of additional content). I got 40-50 of them just by exploring, but then started to get a bit stuck and needed hints. So, the next stage was checking online hints, which got me another 20 or so. I had to resort to guides after that, but even following guides it wasn't easy. Took me hours to get the last few! It's very rare for me to complete a game. If the developer adds more content, there may be more achievements and I'll drop down from 100%, so here's a screenshot to prove I did it!

I played this years ago, in pre-Steam days, and I think I completed it then, but I'm not entirely sure. Some parts of the main story were familiar, I'd think I was into a new part that I hadn't seen before, then suddenly a certain scene would trigger memories. I remembered far less than I did of Fallout: NV which I replayed not long ago. That was my first Fallout experience. I think I spent longer in that world and the stories were more memorable. It's still a great game though. The graphics are a little rough around the edges, but I really enjoy the Fallout world and gameplay. It's a little strange that NV has achievements on Steam and Fallout 3 doesn't. It does mean, however, that I can mark this as 'completed'. I didn't clear every quest in the game, but I beat the main story and there are no achievements so I class that as 100%. Unlike most other games, this is one that I can see myself coming back to. Whether that will be possible in the future, I'm not sure. Getting this to work and run fairly reliably on a modern-ish machine took some work. Will it be possible in the next generation of CPUs and GPUS? I guess I'll just have to make do with Fallout 4 or 76 if I ever take the plunge with that mess!

I picked this up in 2014 and think I first played it in 2016. Hadn't touched it since then, so made an effort to get into it this month. I quite liked the story and the concept of real time combat combined with managing a team. I wasn't keen on the 3rd person perspective camera position and didn't find a way to adjust it. I got used to it a little as the game went on, but I guess that's just personal preference. I prefer first person or the camera much further out in 3rd person. Some parts of the game seemed a little badly designed. The sections of the game in the headquarters seemed a bit pointless. There was no real research and development like the main XCOM games and the multitude of rooms seemed a bit pointless. There are extra missions to discover, but I didn't do a lot of them as it felt like I was running around a lot in a poorly designed area just to advance the main story through dialogue. Also, there seem to be a couple of different endings to the game at least but one of them basically skips a whole mission. Not sure why. In that case, the game ends very abruptly. Overall, it was okay. Felt a bit rough around the edges and as if it could have been a good game instead of an average one. I got a decent number of achievements and as there are a lot that come from DLC, I won't be going back to try and get more. Marked as beaten, and I'm moving on :)

This was a difficult game, for me at least. It looks like a cute, simple game, but it's pretty devious. One small issue is that there isn't really an explanation of what you're doing. Some aspects are clear – making your way through levels and collecting things. However, the use of your bird call, how you interact with things and animals around you, and even what the main aim of the game are all more difficult to work out. Even after beating the main story of the game (I think!) I still have no idea why I needed to do that. There are a lot of achievements. I got a decent amount, came close to others, and nowhere near some! To beat the main quest, I did need to refer to some guides, but even then it took me hours! The timing and precision needed in some parts...wowzer! Anyway, it's beaten and another game I bought a long time ago (2014) has been assassinated.

I had this in the 'beaten' section of BLAEO and thought I remembered playing it through but I was checking games and noticed that there were achievements and I had 0%. Initially, I thought they were added after I played and decided to go through it again and get them. Playing through again, I don't think I could have finished the story before unless it was an early access game or something. Anyway, good story and fairly enjoyable for a point and click. A genre that I was into as a teen, but don't really play any more. I used a guide to get the 100%. Wouldn't normally rely on a guide so much but as I thought I'd already beaten it I wanted to make sure I got them all. I can now legitimately say it has been assassinated and can even mark it 'completed' and not just 'beaten'.

Bought in 2014, I'm guessing from a bundle. From the achievements it looks like I last played this back in 2015. It's a very simple game and looks like it could be a mobile port or even a flash game. It's pretty addictive though. You use the left and right mouse to attack people as they come close to you. It's basically a rhythm game. I actually got pretty far back in 2015 but the game progress was lost, maybe when I uninstalled. After about 7-8 hours of play this month, I finally started to get new achievements! I played on the easiest difficulty and still struggled a bit. Eventually beat the game, then got a couple more achievements in the survival mode. Marked as beaten and moving on!

Bought in 2017, I didn't touch this until this month. I enjoyed the originals (both the real old school original as a teen, and the XCOM remake more recently). I tried the game on normal difficulty, but didn't get very far. I think I had more patience when I was younger, but after 2-3 starts at that level I dropped down to easy mode. To be honest, I think something between would be ideal. Either that, or I just needed to adopt a different tactic to start off and develop tech quickly.

Pretty recent addition. I enjoyed the first game and this was more of the same core gameplay with a new story and different tools/weapons. Fun game with lots of replayability to get achievements. There are areas of the map that you need upgrades to access too (is that what a Metroidvania game is? Always unsure about that) which adds replayability too. I'm doing my usual trick and just beating it for now though. May come back to it and try to get more achievements, but it's unlikely while I have a backlog :).