PROGRESS QUEST

I've only recently found out about the "idle game" genre and it only proves to me that people need to enjoy or come up with new approaches and genres. Made as a parody of a famous role-playing game, the PROGRESS QUEST sets a blueprint  for the entire genre by allowing the player to set up their character at the beginning of a session and then see the game play itself out without their further  input.Truth be told, all the character's statistics and equipment play almost no role in how the action unfolds anyway. What is magical about this gem is that the "auto-attack" combat system and item acquisitions were parodied into a whole new genre. It spawned a host of games that play themselves out in real time with or without the player actually playing them...or even without their computers turned on. Fun is fun.

TOTALLY ACCURATE BATTLE SIMULATOR

This is a tale of comedy and military tactics lumped togeter to form a unique gaming creation. You strategise and make your awkward army charge, hoping for the best.The soldiers emit strange and funny screams, run and wave their hands hillariously, reminding one of games like Humans Fall Flat or Octodad. Did the idea for this game  come while  the authors witnessed a battle recreation at some Medieval Festival and laughed at polyester ranks?

The game does offer you a chance to talk to your inner warlord and accurately think of strategies and plans you fully implement in a given battlefield,era and weapons array just like any other decent game in the genre does. But that's not the point  here- it's all about quirkiness and fun. I cannot help but think about the possible anti-war sentiment present in this game, and how disposable a soldier is in any given era. War is madness and it engulfs the cannon fodder with trembling terror, no heroes, period.

FOUR LAST THINGS

It was a brilliant idea to use Dutch and Flemmish Renaissance paintings and build an entire game around them. The Dutch were the first to base their art on the more  intimate and non-religious everyday subjects and non-generic landscapes, and  it was extremely clever that the author of the game used those to tell a tale of transgressions and absolution.
You're an everyday kinda bloke of poor physiognomy (which, by default, dooms one to a life of moral and spiritual decay) who comes to St.Paul's church to atone for his sins. But since the said sins were not committed in the parish this church is part of  he can't be pardoned by the cardinal, unless of course he committs sins in the parish  under their jurisdiction. So you set out on a journey of committing all of the seven deadly sins until you're worthy of consideration of a pardon.
This point-and-click adventure plays well, looks beautiful despite the awkward , almost Monty Pythonesque walk of the protagonist, and  the quest for each sin is  accompanied by carefully chosen paintings.Another aspect of the game I truly admired is the use of the contemporary vernacular and not the corresponding  Early Modern English variant. The end will find a believer a tad disappointed, but otherwise you'd be in for a real treat playing the game. It is a bit short, but the 2 hours you'll spend solving puzzles and communicating in the style of the best point-and-click classics of the 90s  is well worth your time.
There's also something else I noticed about the game -some paintings and music don't belong in the Renaissance. Putting Satie and other post-Renaissance/post-Baroque music alongside Bach, Dowland and others can't be a coincidence, there must be something the author wanted to say with this. Is the sin of lust you commit with Goya's Maja Desnuda t intended to be otherworldly and ahead of its time, does it transcend time and sin ?

GOAT SIMULATOR

A true ode to absurdity of today's gaming industry and a fine example of sheer brilliance this is ! Aren't we tired of playing GTAs, inflicting  pain on other human beings in our digital surroundings and having a vast terrain to indulge ourselves in some well-earned anti-social behavour , and while we're at it, playing a franchise that's almost 20 years old? The GOAT SIMULATOR laughs at the staleness of the current gaming industry that hides behind proven titles ,being too afraid to try anything new. So be a goat and do damage and hurt people , you won't feel the same as IF you lead a human protagonist. Strangely enough,  it does look like the goat is either on drugs (ragdoll physics) or being seriously affected by some airborne agents -how do we fail to perceive the same rabies in humans while we play out GTAs? It only takes a "joke prototype from an internal one-month game jam"(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_Simulator )  to show how boring and repetetive the gaming mainstream is.