Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @HapPie @DimensionLord @xalezar @Stopsignal @JamesChapp @Criobite @Pachachos @ThePeterson @svaerth @waffrus @Junjo @ninjamuffin99 @adgard @trixelbit @ByEthanFox @VasantJ @SubinAnimation @Krystman @Rob1221 @GuyUngerNL @KJScott @MoeAnguish @hairy-viking

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF NOVEMBER

My top 10 was (in sort-of ranked order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

With an honorable mention to:

Cheers to all the game devs this month: even if you weren't listed above, I still love playing all of the games made (and hopefully, my bumbling can help make even better ones)!

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @RainbowCemetery @AndrewPixel @IdanRooze @plufmot @JulienLussiez @Marckel @InitialPosition @Yword @xWILKINx @ejbarreto @GuyUngerNL @mmattugh @bokononyossarian @Trent-Sama @sarnyoger @milkbarjack @keybol @DrGeraud @aeveis @MayChant @NastyOldWizard @LeviRamirez @Retro-Gears @sweatersjpg @HealliesGames @DavidMarchand @Rob1221 @dietzribi @IndieGO-Studios @StuffedWombat @larrynachos @Raeino @smartcode @Butzbo @OwlyCode @TinyHat-Studios

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF OCTOBER

My top 10 was (in sort-of ranked order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

With some honorable mentions to:

Cheers to all the game devs this month: even if you weren't listed above, I still love playing all of the games made (and hopefully, my bumbling can help make even better ones)!

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @Franuka @fullmetalchaz @gamemakertim @FluffyLotus @VasantJ @e1sif @thesteamknight @TheEnkian @anvhadrian @starBlinky @Omael @larrynachos @xinelu @MKMaffo @RunningZombie @Butzbo @Mig-Moog @Pastruvium @orange08 @CarsonKompon @NastyOldWizard @bokononyossarian

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF SEPTEMBER

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

With some honorable mentions to:

Cheers to all the game devs this month: even if you weren't listed above, I still love playing all of the games made (and hopefully, my bumbling can help make even better ones)!

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @orange08 @OneThatEatYou @milkbarjack @morazor @Little-Rena @sixtharchitect @larrynachos @catbrush @CarsonKompon @Prox276 @FlowVix @Primajin @Chdonga @SominStudios @Patacorow @Rob1221 @Noeloskar @Pachachos @GuyUngerNL @OtroWeonMas @Gypopothomas @Fiercetempest92 @kikill @VasantJ @CosmicCrystal

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF AUGUST

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

Honorable mentions are mentioned at the end of the video, but remember, all of these games were already nominated as the best of the month for a good reason and I had a great time with each of 'em, so don't worry about my opinion so much, haha! Cheers all!

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @JelleVermandere @MrNannings @adgard @Curruff @Gypopothomas @NicedenGames @mmattugh @Spagato @LeviRamirez @Kiddow @KeithGarces @CosmicCrystal @Omael @plufmot @beepyeah @cp99 @gatod @Pixelulsar @FM-Studio @scriptwelder @TheMikirog @adriendittrick @danidre14 @JoshuaStone @GuyUngerNL @kidmarscat @MonsiStudios @BlackthornProd @HealliesGames @magudev @afk-mario @MostlyMadProductions

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF JULY

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

Some honorable mentions go out to (though honestly, I could give honorable mentions to every game this month, c'mon):

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for the first time for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @GGMagenta @LiLg @bluemath @lambdanaut @Miltage @adriendittrick @Pixelulsar @xinelu @JohnimationStudios @Rob1221 @quantizedbit @amidos2006 @OneThatEatYou @DantonSlip @MrNannings @daichifob @Prox276 @RisingPixel @LeviRamirez @Rarykos @Frenchie14 @Snackbyte @mayorDump @OddityJo @paulfromsmite @plufmot @08jack @GreenGoatGaming @Figburn @Balbazour

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF JUNE

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

And some honorable mentions:

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game Devs Reviewed: @adriendittrick @keybol @BillPremo @danidre14 @PurpleClam @TristanMX @PolyStation2 @SominStudios @DrGeraud @GunTurtle @TheFunAttic @drewby-games @UltimoGames @DreyLand @nickyboy602 @RyanSilberman @JauqAr @TheFerridge @josieking @KilledByAPixel @OVERBOY @Fat-Leech @LeviRamirez @Tykua @Catalystl @Rarykos @3p0ch @ToadieTechnika @CosmicCrystal @Vonka @Rob1221 @jazzDgames @FM-Studio @MrNannings

While all of these games were the best of the month...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 GAMES OF MAY

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria is some weird sense of 'memorability' for me personally and totally subject to genres I like though I try not to be too bias blah blah blah):

This marks both one year since I started this review process to both help game developers and to repay my personal debt to Newgrounds for being so great and for me never interacting and helping the community as much as I should've back in the day. In quite a karmic coincidence, this also marked the biggest amount of games reviewed with 55 submissions! Usually I only need to review around 30 or so: I guess you game developers had nothing better to do during this month, haha!

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for 10-15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game devs reviewed: @Prox276 @BookerBlueJay @HeadbanGames @DrNeroCF @b-random9 @NoodleSushi @BenedictFogwell @Benjamin-soule @Vertuga32 @StuffedWombat @fattail @voter96 @adriendittrick @Tanooki81 @Prox276 @Crede @FutureCopLGF @bontegames @filipp8 @juanfilix @Mnemusyne @GenericToast @austineast @nullBinary @SuraimuStudios @kypello @EduardoAlonso @Scorchle @HartfordGames @AllySheng @jacklehamster @JelleVermandere @NastyOldWizard @OVERBOY @bozfloat @GabeMalk @HealliesGames @GuyUngerNL @keybol @humofish @ninjamuffin99 @VascoF @BWalter @mmattugh @Sonucais @esayitch @beepyeah @Miltage @MonoFlauta @catproX

While I do love all of the games (they are the best of the month, after all)...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 OF APRIL

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is nonsensical and changes constantly, heck sometimes it's even different from what I actually voted for there were so many damn good games):

What's that? That's more than 10? Well, when you have to review 50+ games, I figure I should spread the love a bit more, and all of these games were stuck in my mind. Cheers all!

Final Fharmacy I, my new game, is out! It took about 6 months to make it. By comparison, my first game, Balls to the Brawl, took me around a decade to make. Quite the improvement in productivity! Not quite at game jam levels, but hey, it's a step forward for me and I'm looking to make more and more.

It's a little bit of a departure from the typical kind of game I would think to make: beat-em-ups, shooters, you know, action stuff. But, for my first game in a new engine, I wanted to start with something that would be simple, especially in terms of the control scheme (mouse only). Besides, I do have a fondness for these management sim games like Cook, Serve, Delicious and Trauma Center, and thought I could embrace their fast-paced frenzy fun to still have a good modicum of action and skill-based play. Combine that with my fondness for alchemy and wanting to make turn-based battles more fun and strategic, and you've got Final Fharmacy I!

I gathered a lot of nice feedback from the initial release of the arcade demo on Pixel Day 2020 and I think it helped shaped it. The number one piece of feedback I got was the tutorial, in that it needed one in the first place, haha. Even though I review a bunch of games to ensure their tutorials are great, I do find myself constantly erring on the side of not wanting to baby the player with a bunch of instructions, and end up not having enough instruction at all. For this, I doubled up the tutorial by both having an initial instruction overview, and then pertinent instructions right at the time you need them to reinforce that.

This game is a lot of firsts for me:

First time working in a new engine: Unity. Still coming to terms with it but it's working quite well and I think I have a good flow now. It's not as easy to make artistic changes on the fly like I could with Flash: I miss being able to draw directly into the game.

First time working with another person (besides my family): Vincenti Zghra made some great chiptunes for the game that really captured the RPG battle feel I was going for! It was quite the challenge to get past my anxiety to contact them, but I'm so glad I did as I think the music turned out amazing for the game and I feel like I've now improved myself by getting more comfortable communicating and collaborating!

First time constraining myself effectively: unlike Balls to the Brawl, where I was way over-ambitious and kept adding all sorts of stuff to it constantly, Final Fharmacy had a solid and minimal design concept that worked out well. There were only a few slight deviations during the work process, and it wasn't an issue since the code was written in a way that it was easily modifiable to accommodate for that.

For my next game, I'm planning on stepping up the complexity bit-by-bit. This one was a rather simple mouse game. Next, I might keep it as a mouse-based game, but have the mouse actually control a player moving around and shooting, perhaps like a Space Harrier or Wild Guns type game, so I can get some player animation practice. Then I'd want to make a game where you actually move a character around, perhaps top-down or side-scrolling, like a Contra or Metroid game. After that, I think I would be able to move to my ideal world, which would be something like a beat-em-up or character-action game like Streets of Rage and Devil May Cry. I don't want to make the same mistake I made with Balls to the Brawl which had wayyyy too many moving parts and complexities for a first game, but I do want to make a game like it again eventually by combining experience I get from games I make beforehand.

Every month I see to review all of the games that were nominated as the Best of that month, which you can view in the link above!

As a game developer myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are starting out and how tricky it can be to tell how your game will be received by users. After all, you know how your game is meant to be played, and you can't just wipe that from your memory when you're building and testing it!

Therefore, I record myself playing all of the games for 15 minutes and try to voice how I'm feeling when I'm playing it, so that developers can see how a user might experience their game for the first time, especially for things like tutorials. I also try to provide some advice as well, but it might not always be the best: what I'm really hoping is that developers can draw their own conclusions on what might need work from how I stumble through their game.

Game devs reviewed: @Maprower @DagonDev @Jasonario @Benjamin-soule @im-a-good-boye @DrNeroCF @TeamRobostar @Spider53 @RatThing @itsnotsimon @mmattugh @Dungeonation @MD-Wade @adriendittrick @moorlandgames @kypello @Hiihdev @Rob1221 @amidos2006 @jronn @jamesanimations @Cloud-yo @nullBinary @BenBonkGames @zorantronics @GameDanTeam @AmrGamerX @IFTed @JoelLikesPigs @MrNannings @Krystman @beepyeah @Thoof @bigcheez21

While I do love all of the games (they are the best of the month, after all)...

MY PERSONAL ARBITRARILY-RANKED TOP 10 OF MARCH

My top 10 was (in no particular order and based on my own criteria which is nonsensical and changes constantly, heck it's even different from what I actually voted for there were so many damn good games):

The Fancy Pants Adventures: World 4 part 1

Everything in this game is smooth like butter. When it's fun to just move around in a game by itself, you know you've got a winner. Brings me back to playing Mario 64 where jumping around in the courtyard was a blast.

Kill The Kingpin

Awesome adrenaline rush of a game! A cool fusion of Hotline Miami, Mr. Shifty and Red Faction. A little glitchy at times with walls and such, but that didn't stop me from blasting my way through it.

Robostar

A compelling, mysterious story and satisfying exploration/combat gameplay makes this a metroid-like that you can really sink your teeth into.

There is nothing here.

I could've listed the whole assortment of games from adriendittrick this month, but I decided to go with this one which was my first exposure and a damn good one at that: it may look simple but this game has such good flow and direction to it to create a solid experience, greatly helped by the dynamic use of music.

Lure: The King's Gold

An innovative ammo system, a wacky story, and cool set pieces drive this game to great heights. Reminds me of playing Jackal: it's fun bringing down fortresses and impressive bosses in this game.

Jay's Walkin'

Excellent puzzler with a unique set of mechanics that both teaches them intuitively and escalates the action with great level design, all propelled with a goofy story and art design that tells the story of the greatest man alive!

Vestavia Hills

An excellent WIP game that combines the fast-paced fun of Hotline Miami with the arcade frenzy of a zombie horde mode for excellent fun! It's a little buggy but shows a lot of promise so far: looking forward to the final version of this!

JumFly Charlie

Feels great to get into a flow state with this game where you're dancing through the air, attacking to get your momentum going: almost like a vertical Sonic game (complete with the labyrinth levels for variety)

HP Atk Def

Another solid puzzler from Rob1221 that brings in RPG mechanics to make an interesting fusion which innovates on the usual roguelike formula!

Porklike

I keep getting more and more impressed by the games released in PICO-8 nowadays, and this game is no slouch: impressive design that involves a lot of tactical decisions and a great amount of polish makes this one to look out for (too bad I suck at it though haha).