Gourmet food trucks, delta force pandas, and dental hygiene

Hello friends, we meet again as the weekend peeks over the horizon to say hello. Things are stressful for a lot of people right now. You know, that whole election thing happening the States. To my American readers, keep yourselves safe this weekend, and try to carve out some time to reflect on you, and ignore the noise which I am pretty sure for a lot of people, is becoming a little unbearable at this point. For everyone else... let's hold on and see what happens I guess.

This week I surprised myself by falling into a groove with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I love the franchise, but during lockdown fever, I got caught up in doing everything as fast as possible so I could trade and keep up with friends, and honestly, that kinda soured the experience for me. I am not a fan of "cozy" games, but the AC series has always been a place for me to find some peace, and I kinda lost that in the craze.

Having a newborn has made gaming time pretty scarce. Sure, I managed to speed run through Fallout: New Vegas (what a video game, I was so wrong about it), but as the kiddo becomes more active I am finding myself in two situations.

1. Everyone is asleep and it's early. Cool, I have an hour or two so let's get into a big game.
2. Oh crap, I am so tired, but I want to play something for 10 minutes to feel like I have control of my life.

Animal Crossing has been fitting into that #2 category so perfectly. I wake up and do some fishing one day. I get some fossils dug up for old mate Blathers before bed on another. It has become a short 10-20 minute island of zen for me this past week, and I feel like I have connected with the game in a way I was simply unable to when it first released. I still maintain that it is not as good as New Leaf, but hey, maybe I judged it a little too harshly when it was new.

Suffice to say I have not been doing too much gaming, but when I get those longer chunks I am making my way through Persona 5 Royal. I really want to play Metaphor Refantazio but I swore I would not even look at buying it unless I rolled credits on P5R, and I just finished that Okumura boss fight that was the pits, so I am making some steady progress when I can.

Enough about me though, let's take a look at the games.

And what came out this week?

BEHEMOTH

Developer: The Behemoth
Steam rating: The Behemoth
Store Page

I feel like this one just kinda dropped out of another dimension, or maybe I missed some rumblings during my "oh shit I'm gonna be a Papa" phase, but The Behemoth have dropped BEHEMOTH, a new arcade game when you need to collect your flock, and eat as much candy corn as possible.

And like all games from The Behemoth, the style and zany humor is oozing out of this one. The USPs make the very real point of saying that you'll "have the most fun you've had in your entire life... as long as you manage your eggs-pectations", and you know what... I am down with that.

The Behemoth are just one of those developers who producer their own kind of thing, they seem to fly a little under the radar, but I think they seem to do ok. I know a lot of people dig their stuff, and I am intrigued to see what this chicken game is all about.

ZERO Sievert

Developer: CABO Studio
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store Page

OK, so technically I am cheating because this came out last week, but ZERO Sievert is just too good to not throw a mention out for. A lengthy Early Access period has come to an end for this hardcore wasteland extraction shooter that blends the gameplay of Escape From Tarkov with a retro top-down action game.

Don't let the crunchy pixels fool you. This is a hardcore AF extraction shooter. Each and every shot is deadly. Supplies are scarce. Quests are hard. And like all of this milsim games, it feels very Eastern European. But I totally loved the dozen or so hours that I dumped into it during Early Access, and I am very excited to see this solo-developed project to be out and getting some love. If you like hard games, this one is well worth a wishlist.

Fruitbus

Developer: Krillbite Studio
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store Page

Looking for something cozy to unwind with this weekend? Fruitbus looks absolutely delightful! Build out the best food truck, forage for fresh ingredients, develop your menu, and fill the bellies of cute animals with your best meals. It describes itself as a "journey of flavors and friendships", and that just sounds like a wholesome time.

There seems to be plenty of upgrades for the truck, but the open-world aspect where you have to forage for ingredients is what is working here for me. I definitely could do with a little more zen in my life, so I might check this one out. Getting Slime Rancher vibes, but for foos, and I dig that.

Bad 2 Bad: Apocalypse

Developer: DAWINSTONE
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store Page

Despite being the WORST titled game on the list this week, Bad 2 Bad: Apocalypse looks like a pretty fun survival game mixed in with some RPG elements as Delta Team rebuild a world devastated by humans.

It features all the staples you would expect from a survival game. There's crafting, and fishing, socializing, and a deep well of customizations. But there's also a pretty in-depth weapon customization system that looks like something pulled from Escape from Tarkov. Oh, and apparently there are sometime mechs. DID YOU HEAR THAT THERE ARE MECHS? That sounds like a pretty good time.

Apparently this a sequel to two other Bad 2 Bad games, which are not released on Steam and seemed to have been F2P mobile games. It looks like all the monetization has been stripped for the sequel, and it provides a light and fun survival game this time around. The players seam to be enjoying it, so if you want to kit up some animals and fight in the woods, this one might be for you.

The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker

Developer: Olipa Games
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store Page

Time to admit another one of my gaming sins - I have never played RuneScape. It came along at a time where internet was scarcely available in rural Australia, and by the time I did have access to a reliable internet connection, Mists of Pandaria had captured my attention and solidified itself as the canonical MMO experience for me personally. However, I know just how near and dear to people's hearts RuneScape is, and it seems like The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker is trying to capture some of that magic.

Directly calling out RuneScape and Ultima Online! as inspirations, this is a singleplayer adventure that will have you exploring an open world, completing a litany of fetch and kill quests, customizing your lodgings to your liking, and more. It also does feature what they call "social multiplayer", which allows you to meet other players in towns, and taverns. So... a little Animal Crossing in your medieval fantasy romp? I love this GIF on the Steam page that is captioned "two authentic players chatting".

This is incredibly not my thing, but the buzz on Steam seems pretty positive. So if you hold some nostalgia for the classic days of MMOs, give this one a wishlist.

Mouthwashing is so unhinged, and you should probably play it

I heard about Mouthwashing from a few podcasts that I listen to. A short and sweet 2-3 hour horror game that takes on the PSX aesthetic and delivers a tale that has no jump scares but is scary AF anyways. The runtime was immediately appealing. I could smash this out on a few lunch breaks and leave plenty of time during the week for other things. From the very first second I saw that ALIEN inspired opening and the words "I HOPE THIS HURTS", I was utterly mesmerised.

Given that the game is so short, I will not be going into the story at all, outside of saying that the game focuses on the crew of stranded space freighter. Think "Tacoma" but way more creepy, with heavy undertones of oppression and desperation. The closest piece of recent media that I could compare it to is The Terror. Much like that show (if you haven't watched it, do yourself a kindness), from the jump there the air is thick with dread, and things progressively get worse from there. By the time those credits roll, I sat back in my chair and just ruminated in the dank, sweaty feelings that permeated the rest of my day. I would not recommend playing this if you have another 5 hours of the work day ahead.

I planned to write a review, but how does one review something like Mouthwashing and give it a score? There are so many aspects to this short experience that I want to break down, but to share those details with someone who hasn't played it would literally take away so much of what I enjoyed about said experience. If you want to experience something that is pretty unique, completely unsettling, and has great writing, I highly recommend it. There were a few things that didn't work for me, but overall I wouldn't change a single thing about this madness. Go check it out.

That's a wrap

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have a nice weekend! Let me know in the comments or via a DM what you are playing this week, and give me some inspiration for what PS1 game I should revisit next.

If you like the newsletter, please share it with a friend of two. That's the only way this thing grows, and I have been told that people super enjoy it, so please help us spread the word.

If you REALLY like the newsletter, please consider throwing a few dollary-doos to our Ko-Fi account. It helps pay for our server, and some indie games for reviews and features. Admittedly those are a little slow probably for the rest of the year while I work out this Papa Gamer thing, but I am hoping to do more in the new year once things settle.

See you next week!