Modern Gamer columnist Marie Brownhill was a member of the original Oregon Trail gaming generation. This week, she steps back into her wagon to see if the new remake lives up to that classic or dies of dysentery along the dusty trail.
Garden In is a relaxing simulation where players grow amazing plants to decorate their virtual homes. Advanced gardeners can even crossbreed their plants to create never before seen shrubbery for their serene and green homes.
GeoMag toy sets are amazingly well constructed, and they’re great at teaching critical STEM and science-related topics. The new Mechanics Challenge Goal set tasks young builders with constructing a magnetic machine that can launch a small metal ball into a goal.
Catmaze is a really interesting mashup of genres that combine into a delightful game. It’s partially a Metroidvania type platformer. It’s steeped in Slavic myths. And it has a really cool witch and two very cute cats with mythical powers. You don’t want to miss this one.
Modern Gamer Marie Brownhill is a LEGO fanatic who always has a few unfinished LEGO projects scattered around her office. So, she was very happy with LEGO Bricktales, which ditches the traditional action LEGO RPG format for one that focuses on building and creativity.
At its heart, Jade Order is a puzzler where players need to figure out how to best clear a board of bad guys as they fight the Ashen Plague through the ruins of a scorched land. You do this in tactical combat, which makes Jade Order both fast-paced and exciting.
Just in time for the fall season, the cozy and relaxing visual novel/witchcraft simulator Witchy Life Story has arrived on Steam. A young witch has been exiled to a town by her grandmother, and you as the player must help her make the town’s harvest festival a success in order for her to be allowed to continue with her witch’s training.
Mixing elements of traditional golf games with horror, miniature golf, rogue-likes and even a bit of Dark Souls, Cursed to Golf may be one of the strangest and most difficult golf titles to master. But it’s very fun to try.
ZooKeeper is a low-pressure simulation that allows players to sit back and relax while building their own ultimate zoo in a delightful low-polygon world. This title also has the player manage all the operations within their zoo. Players must keep their animals happy and content, and also must appease the frenzied public that comes to visit their park.
City building games are all the rage these days, but they can sometimes become just as stressful as wargames. That won’t happen with Dorfromantik, a board game like experience which offers one of the most relaxing builders around.
