Addictive action roguelike spaceship customization madness… That’s how I can best describe Space Scavenger. This game is about survival... but more so, it is about customizing your spaceship with salvaged parts to defeat enemy aliens and reaching your home planet!

The story:
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There is no story in this game, and that is fine because the game doesn’t need one.

Gameplay:
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The on-the-fly build mode is what excites me the most about Space Scavenger and what gives it the amazing replayability it has.

How it works:
You start your run with a simple one block ship and a zapper weapon. During a run you will scavenge parts to attach to your ship. There is an extensive number of parts (range and melee weapons, shields, different types of drones, batteries, energy generators, extra body-parts to extend your ship, boosters, etc.). These are random drops making each run unique. At any point during gameplay you can enter “Build Mode” to configure your ship. And this is where the strategy starts.

You have a limited number of slots to fill and every part has its pros and cons. You choose how to build your ship based on your play style and what resources you have available. The longer you survive, the more parts you’ll have to transform your ship into whatever shape you want with whatever weapons you like. Swords, catapults, lasers, stink bombs, sure, why not!

You’re not completely limited to the parts you scavenge. There are shops where you can spend crystals scavenged in levels for parts. When you reach a shop there are four(4) random items available. You can buy whatever you can afford or reset the shop to get a new set of items. You can recycle parts for crystals too. So, no part should be left behind. Can’t attach it, recycle it! You also have two(2) slots to store unused parts.

EU eShop code: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (Redeemed!)

Now that our ship is all sorted out… To complete a level you must eliminate all enemies and scan all the planets. There is a good variety of enemies with different attack patterns and strategies for defeating. After scanning all planets in a level, enemy positions are shown on the mini-map. Talking about the mini-map, you want to search every corner of the map for crystals and salvage parts in order to increase your chances to build a killer ship.

The game has three game modes (Normal, Hard, and Swarm). In the Normal and Hard modes, you go through levels trying to survive until reaching your home planet. Hard mode is unlocked by completing the game in Normal mode. In Swarm mode, you battle endless waves of enemies for as long as you can survive.

There is also a daily challenge available to complete for a spot on the daily challenge leader board.

Graphics
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The game is not a graphical showcase. It has simple polygonal 3D models with vibrant colors. But even with Its simple graphics the game manages to look and feel modern. I think the style goes well with the kind of game it is.

Performance
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The performance is flawless on the Nintendo Switch. No slowdowns or stutter.

Conclusion
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I’m glad I was able to experience this game. It has been a while since I’ve played an indie game that is as engaging and entertaining as Space Scavenger is. I want to congratulate the developers for a job well done! And thanks for providing the download code for this review and for the lucky person who got the EU code.

Super Magbot is a precision platformer with a magnetic twist. Starting with the story... Something about magnetic forces aligning and a star forming… Meteor magnets being ejected to near planets and some even reaching the planets cores... becoming powerful planet fragments. Then, the antagonist, the evil Magsteroid who wants to consume all planet fragments and the star. Then comes our magnetic hero, Super Magbot, sent to collect all planet fragments to alter Magsteroid’s course. The story is given to you before starting the game and has little impact on the gameplay.

Gameplay
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Just like other precision platformers Super Magbot has short levels with dangerous obstacles and small room for errors. But in this game platforming is different. Instead of jump, dash, wall-jumps or slide, you have the magnetic powers of attraction and repulsion. Different poles attract, same poles repel.

The Controls - Blue is the right trigger, red is the left trigger. Move your character with the left stick and control the directionality of your magnetic power with the right stick.

You can move freely while on the ground and in the air. Jumping is not as straightforward though. Press on the opposite color to repel and produce a jump. Press on the same color to attract and pull yourself. Your magnetic power can only reach so far, so you have to be at a reaching distance and making contact with a magnetic area for it to work. Time slows down briefly while holding on the triggers giving you a chance to adjust the direction and angle to pull or push to.

It takes time getting used to the controls and in my opinion this can be the main reason most players either stick with the game or drop it.

The learning curve is high and the level of difficulty varies from level to level… sometimes too much. This is where the game falters a bit in my opinion. Some levels you can get through in two or three attempts. But many levels never feel like you can pass in the first or second attempt. These levels will test your patience having to retry over and over to memorize every button press and every stick angle to get a perfect run.

But the satisfaction of passing a level… getting that perfect run after so many attempts is really worth it. And levels are cleverly designed for the game mechanics. You’ll be surprised at what you can do when putting some effort into it!

Progression unlocks three levels ahead, so you can choose to skip a level if it proves too difficult.

The game has four worlds with 20+ levels per world and a final “boss” level at the end of each world.

Performance
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The game runs smoothly on Switch. Sometimes it feels like the controls are not as responsive as they should. But I think it is more out of frustration than actual input lag lol.

Graphics
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The game has a nice retro aesthetic with bright colors and animations.

Conclusion
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Super Magbot is a punishing precision platformer that is frustrating as much as it is rewarding and never stops being fun. It is addictive and will have you coming back to it for more.

Everything that is not a platform means death. Trying to stick a landing on that far-away small platform and getting enough bounce to reach the next, even smaller, platform. Trying again and again because you know you can make it… That’s fun!

Glyph is relaxing and challenging, easy to pick-up and play, with outstanding physics, vibrant graphics, a soothing soundtrack, and a ton of platforms.

The game starts with a thorough tutorial for players to learn the game mechanics and unlock all available power-ups. There is a story behind the game; an ancient civilization used to inhabit the land and is now gone, all that is left are ruins to be explored.

Glyph, the main character, is a morphing bio-mechanical ball that can roll, jump, double-jump, jump-climb walls, and glide by morphing into a winged bug. Traversing the world is simple and satisfying, as satisfying as using the morph-ball in Metroid Prime. The controls are very responsive and the physics are superb. It just feels great rolling around and jumping and bouncing and gliding to reach hard-to-reach platforms and explore in levels.

Gameplay:
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Everything that is not a platform means death. Trying to stick a landing on that far-away small platform and getting enough bounce to reach the next, even smaller, platform. Trying again and again because you know you can make it… That’s fun! Some levels can be outright frustrating but exiting a level without collecting ALL collectibles is not acceptable, right…. Right!

There are three main collectibles in each level coins, diamonds, and relics. Diamonds are used to unlock new areas in the hub world and coins and relics are used to unlock levels within those areas. There are also keys in each level that must be collected to unlock the exit portal and secrets to unlock cosmetics.

There are two game modes adventure and time-trial. Adventure mode levels have all collectible types, are grand and expansive, and the player has full freedom in how to explore. Time-trial levels award players with up to three diamonds depending on how fast the level is completed. And you know it is unacceptable to continue past a level without collecting all three diamonds, right…. Right!

The game’s length will vary depending on how acceptable/unacceptable players find to move on from levels without all collectibles. Personally, this game will take some time to beat and that makes me happy!

Graphics:
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The graphics in this game are simplistic but sharp with vibrant colors and beautiful landscapes. Nothing groundbreaking but pleasing to the eye. Kind of the perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch.

Performance:
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Feels perfectly smooth with no slowdowns. Image quality is constant throughout gameplay.

Conclusion:
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Glyph is a lovely game that can be as relaxing as it can be frustrating but always a fun time. It’s easy to get into and spend an hour on a couple of levels. This game is definitely easy to recommend even at the indie premium price of $20.

Fun Fact: This game was released as a VR game on Steam in 2018… which makes so much sense.

At it's core, Endurance - space action, is a twin-stick dungeon crawler with RPG elements.

The Story:
You are a scientist in a space ship where various science experiments are taking place, the Endurance. A group of crew members and security bots are attacking everyone in their path. Your goal is to make it out of the ship alive, and while at it, try to find out what really happened that drove everyone mad.

Gameplay:
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You start with no weapons, bare knuckle swinging at enemies whom are attacking you and everyone who hasn't turned. It being a dungeon crawler, you go around the space ship from room to room killing baddies and looting crates and lockers for health, shields, stat upgrades, credits, and weapons. Eventually you find a weapon... and the enemies do too. Initially, levels are smaller with few rooms to explore. As the game progresses, levels become more complex with more rooms to explore and harder enemies to kill. Each level has an exit that may required unlocking a door or completing a task to reach it. Some levels also have a "boss" battle.

Weapons:
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This game has a large variety of weapons (pistols, machine guns, ray guns, rocket launchers, a flame thrower and more...) You find weapons in loot crates and lockers. Once you find a weapon, it becomes available in the weapons shop. Weapons in this game have unlimited ammo and a health bar. As you use them their health decreases. If the health bar goes all the way down the weapon breaks and you lose it. Otherwise, all weapons carry over from level to level. This adds a layer to strategy to the combat. You can find weapon repair kits and fire-rate buffs from looting. These buffs are temporary and reset each level.

RPG Element:
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When starting a new game, you get to select your hero from 6 characters with different stats. Available stats are speed, health regeneration, shield regeneration, and trap detection. You can find stat upgrades from looting or you can upgrade your stats by manually using credits earned from killing enemies or found in loot. Stat upgrades increase a specific stat by 5% while it takes 200 credits to upgrade a stat by 1%. .Each stat can be increased up to 101%. It is wise to start upgrading stats earlier in the game to prevent being under powered in later levels.

The Good:
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The game's difficulty curve is very gradual, giving players a chance to getting used to gameplay, options, and forming a strategy for approaching exploration and combat. Loot is very abundant throughout levels and exploration feels rewarding and is encouraged to keep up with the game's difficulty increase. I never felt like I didn't have enough weapons or health to survive. There is a good variety of enemies and enemy engagement feels natural. The main hero and NPC's have funny dialog lines, giving the game a little comic relief. Never felt boring.

The Bad:
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Even though there are many weapons to choose from, I found myself using the same weapons over and over because of their effectiveness. It's sometime hard to know which option is selected on menus. Combat music sometimes has a delay from the time an enemy is encountered, not really a bad, just something that is noticeable and can put-off some players.

Conclusion:
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Endurance - space action is not a perfect game, but it is a fun pick up and play game, with funny dialog and an entertaining game loop that doesn't feel overwhelming. It is a game that players of any skill level can conquer!

The premise is simple, you lost your pirate ship to a Kraken, now you must assemble a crew and build a ship good enough to defeat the Kraken. You start with a small crew, a small ship, and needing help. When you arrive at the first port looking for a friend, you are given your first quest, “find your friend’s brother at a nearby island”. That’s the first of a long list of main-story and side quests that are given as you go from port to port.

But this game is much more than just completing quests. The world of Under the Jolly Rogen has resource management, factions, magic, battles, and a leveling system for your crew, your ship, and you (the captain).

Traversing the map is a big part of this game and you’ll spend quite some time traveling from port to port trading goods and completing quests. You have the option to travel the open seas or quick travel using the map view. As you traverse through the three world areas you will uncover new areas on the map and you will encounter ships, pirate raids, or quest missions that you can choose to battle or ignore. I really like this mechanic since you don’t have to get into a battle if you’re not ready for it. And you can make trading runs safely.

Resource Management:
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The two(2) main resources are crew members and weaponry. Crew members: You have a set number of sailors that can be in your crew at a time. You assign your crew to man the sails, guns deck, and as fighters. The efficiency of these areas is in part determined by the crew members manning them. As you get into battles, crew members become injured or die and the stats for the areas will go down. So, it is important to manage crew members as you get into battles. You can recruit new crew members from taverns at different ports. Crew members can also level up. Weaponry: There are many types of cannon ammunition that will damage different parts of the ships that you attack with different damage rates. Just make sure you have enough ammo to get into a fight!

Factions:
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There are eight(8) factions that own different lands and roam the seas. The way you interact with each faction over time determines their attitude towards you. The more you attack and destroy a faction’s ship, the more they dislike you and will become your enemies. You can also buy faction flags that will make that faction’s ships your allies on battles.
Magic: Magic is part of your battle strategy. You can equip magic gems to your ship for attacks or defense power-ups. Once you get magic stones is when you really start shredding your enemies in battles!

Battles:
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Battles are the meat and potatoes of this game and are super fun. Initially, while you’re still building up your ship, sinking a single ship can take some time. But once you have built up your crew and have attached some power-ups to your ship, you can easily take on three or four enemy ships by yourself at once. When battling other ships, if you destroy their sails, the ship can no longer move, and you can board the ship with your crew of fighters and battle their sailors in third-person combat and loot their cargo. Battles are fun and strategic and to me what really makes this game so addictive.

Leveling System:
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You can level up crew members, the higher the sailor level, the better they are at their job. Buy better ships and buy upgrades for sails, cannons, magic stones. You can also level up your character skills with scrolls that you find when destroying enemy ships.

The Bad:
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The game crashes from time to time, at least twice in 10hrs of gameplay. I wish the tutorial was required since it gives you good tips on how to go about playing the game and it could be off-putting when you don’t know how to proceed or what all the options mean when playing the game for the first time. The graphics are not cutting edge, but most important, sea animation is good and pleasant. Third-person battles are a little clunky and sometimes you miss a hit when you feel it should have connected.

Conclusion:
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I’m really enjoying playing this game. It is not perfect but it is enjoyable and somewhat addictive. If you like strategy, RPG, open-world games you may like this one!