The Kawaii Box fairy visits our house once per month. She brings a big box of kawaii essentials delivered monthly from Tokyo. Boxes have around ten items such as kawaii squishies, Japanese candy, plushies and more! We opened up the April box and made a video so you can see what’s inside!
There are a lot of monthly box subscriptions out there. We chose Kawaii Box because it offered something a little different. It’s neat to get items from a different part of the world. Plus there’s usually lots of bunny and kitty items and that makes us all smile.
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If you’d like to pick up a box full of Kawaii goodness use our referral link here and get $5 off your first box!
*This is not an affiliate thing. We buy these for ourselves because they’re super cute and make us smile.
We are living in a golden age of indie games. Whether it is Stardew Valley, Her Story, Papers, Please or Firewatch, these are games from small production companies that have something to say. They show that it isn’t unlimited resources that make a good game but an interesting premise and good execution. That is not to say that every indie game to hit the market is a masterpiece, or even worth your time. But we now live in a world where we can buy fun, inspiring or interesting games for a reasonable price. And the list just keeps on growing.
You’re not special by Reky Studios fits itself nicely into that mold. You play a character who is not the center of the story. You are just some guy who happens to be in wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the right time, and finds himself unable to do much about it. I can’t see Ubisoft making a game like that.
The game itself is reasonably short and can be “completed” from anywhere between 5 minutes and 3 hours, with multiple endings to entice players into replying the game several times. It is primarily a puzzle game but also has action scenes that your character plays a minor role in. But it is not the puzzles that will keep you coming back for more, as good as they are. Once you’ve solved them, its just a matter of replication. It is the story that Reky has developed that keeps you intrigued enough to want find out how each ending evolves.
And how do they do that? With writing that is informative enough to give you a glimpse of what might be to come and keep you wanting to know more. The use of hearing old wives tales in front of a fireplace and the general feeling that you are jumping into someone else’s story half way through is an intriguing device and one they have developed nicely.
The other NPCs of the story have their own background, which can lead to side quests, and can often be very funny, with even some 4th wall breaking humor thrown into the mix. But they are used fleetingly, and are generally there to assist you in making or spending your money and progressing the story.
Throughout all of this there are constant reminders that this is not your adventure. You have no significant power. It takes you longer than the hero to make your way through the various mazes. You do not fight the bad guy, at least not directly. And there are items at the village market that you will never buy. Sure, you can scrounge enough silver together to buy a cloak, but it would take you a very long time to buy armor or a sword. And there is no need; you are not the hero. You are not special.
But the game is. Its fun, its interesting, and its challenging. Sometimes infuriatingly so. And sometimes I feel there should be something to point you in the right direction. Playing through, I missed that there was an extra passageway for me to use to meet the next boss and spent 30 minutes wondering why I couldn’t go any further. It took a question to the developer on their discord to know what to do. That won’t be available forever and not everyone will choose to ask.
There are also secret exits to the map, for example, that are needed to progress some of the story. That would have infuriated me if I had not been lucky enough to find it by chance. But there are also secrets I did not solve and storylines I did not complete that do make me curious to come back for more.
Ultimately, it is the fact that this game meets each of my tenants for a good indie game that makes me recommend it for your wishlist. It is fun, the fact that it was even made (and by a single game developer I might add) is inspiring and the entire concept is interesting. All this and at reasonable price. This is why indie games can be great. Welcome to the golden age.
You’re not special was developed by Reky Studios and is currently available for download for Windows on Steam.
*The Mommy Gamers received a copy of the game for review purposes.
Marcia and Mike team up for another episode of The Mommy Gamers Podcast this week! Video game chat is extra heavy with discussions about Apex Legends, Trials Legends (how many legends games are there?) Atlas, ToeJam & Earl, Fallout 76, and more. They also chat about how Bowser has taken over at Nintendo. Marcia complains about how Tetris 99 tricked her into using their online service, and Mike chats about his new gig at Microsoft!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
So, there’s a game called House Flipper that got and continues to get a fair bit of attention. It’s one of those games most people see browsing the Steam store and think, “Who the heck wants to play that?” And you would be wrong to judge this game by its seemingly stupid premise and dated graphics.
House Flipper is a simulation game where you clean up and remodel houses. In the beginning you receive work requests from clients. This part of the game helps you learn the games mechanics and get used to the controls. You’ll do client requests until your tool kit is complete. After that you’re ready to begin flipping houses on your own!
Some of these client requests sure are snarky!
During the mission phase you’ll learn to clean, paint, demolish and build. You’ll learn the cold hard truth that some people really shouldn’t be allowed to pick paint colors and be privy to some of the most nasty, dirty houses needing TLC (prepare to vacuum up roaches, ew). And there’s clearly a radiator thief at large in this game based on how many of them you’ll install.
Earning money and upgrading skills to prepare you for your adventures in trying to make potential buyers happy by taking run down homes and turning them into cold hard profit margins, I mean.. lovely places for the buyers to live in or rent out. As the developers roll out updates you’ll have more things to play around with like new paint colors, flooring, and furniture.
You’re probably still wondering about that odd tagline I gave this post (did you even notice??). Well during the mission portion of the game you’ve got a handy dandy checklist of things to do in the client’s house. Checking items off a to-do list releases dopamine, that wonderful chemical that makes us feel all YAY because we accomplished something. It’s also one half of what makes this and any quest based game addictive. The other half is expressing creativity, which also boosts those happy, happy chemicals in your brain.
House Flipper is super addictive for people like me who love sim style games and creative outlets. I played about 25 hours over a few days and went back to it after more content was added. Like many other sims, I like to play it in spurts to try out new content or come up with my own challenges, which I find particularly fun for recording or streaming. This lets me enjoy the game multiple times without ever burning out on it.
10/10 worth every penny spent! Get a copy today on Steam.
