<h1>Inscryption</h1>
25 September 2022
👍 Recommended (5.4 hrs on record)
Er... Excellent deckbuilder here. For fans of card games. You know, Magic: The
Gathering and the like... cool retro graphics. No need to read up more about it,
if you like the genre you will love this. Good chance you will like it even if
card games are normally not your thing. (Please don't read more about it, just
go in blind. Right now.)
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/1092790/">🔗</a>

Inscryption

<h1>Dicey Dungeons</h1>
18 February 2022
👍 Recommended (3.8 hrs on record)
What a delightful roguelite with an amazing soundtrack and art direction.
Great way to make RNG fun.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/861540/">🔗</a>

Dicey Dungeons

<h1>Hitman 2</h1>
31 December 2021
👍 Recommended (135.6 hrs on record)
An excellent third-person stealthy puzzle-solving murder sandbox game, which
doesn't take itself too seriously -- 47's humorous quips are a key example. The
maps in this game are such a joy to explore, some of the best level-building in
the whole business. There's so much detail in each and every one of them, so
many different ways to approach your targets.
Supremely replayable. Eagerly waiting for Hitman 3 to hit Steam.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/863550/">🔗</a>

Hitman 2

<h1>Tetris Effect</h1>
27 November 2021
👍 Recommended (2.7 hrs on record)
Everyone knows Tetris, but many have never progressed beyond the surface level.
The skill cap in this game is absurdly high, but playing it is still strangely
relaxing rather than stressful. It's one of the best ways to &quot;get into the zone&quot;
for a bit after a workday filled with Teams meetings etc.
I originally bought this for PS4 + PSVR but I decided to double dip to get
unlocked framerates and being able to use my arcade stick controller.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/1003590/">🔗</a>

Tetris Effect

<h1>Apex Legends</h1>
19 March 2021
👍 Recommended (13.3 hrs on record)
Almost as good as Titanfall 2 in terms of movement and gunplay. Waiting for
Titanfall 3...
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/1172470/">🔗</a>

Apex Legends

<h1>EXAPUNKS</h1>
5 January 2021
👍 Recommended (78.9 hrs on record)
Just revisited this gem of a game I first played through when it launched. Yep,
it's still the best programming game from Zachtronics, among many worthy
contenders. It has the early-internet-era Cyberpunk aesthetic nailed down
perfectly, and an excellent soundtrack that keeps you in the right mental space.
The programming is real, just limited to a made-up assembly language which sets
tight boundaries to the solution space. This is both necessary and fun! The
bite-sized problems are all solvable without any real background in &quot;real&quot;
programming or computer science -- the only benefit I got was being able nod
knowingly every now and then.
The leaderboards are what makes Zachtronics' games stand out to me. Not because
I'm especially competitive, but because they let me know there was still a way
to go. Going back to a puzzle you already solved and really optimizing it to the
last cycle is something I only rarely let myself do at work.
Bottom line: automatic buy for people who love code puzzles, but they already
bought this. If you're on the fence and are even slightly curious, take the
leap.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/716490/">🔗</a>

EXAPUNKS

<h1>Gris</h1>
20 December 2020
👍 Recommended (3.5 hrs on record)
A wonderful, emotional experience. The gameplay is light platforming with some
elements of metroidvania, greatly elevated by the atmosphere presented by the
art and the soundtrack. Tells a great short story without saying a word.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/683320/">🔗</a>

Gris

<h1>Dishonored</h1>
3 December 2020
👍 Recommended (58.4 hrs on record)
Still really good after all these years. An essential purchase for any stealth
fans, absolutely can't wait to dive into the DLC and rest of the series after
finishing this.
Arkane Studios has become known for their really immersive games over the
years, and Dishonored is where they perfected their craft. The level design is
simply god-tier. There are so many ways to tackle the challenges in front of
you. Another high point is audio; you can reliably use audio cues to get a sense
of where people are. The story is gripping and you get drawn in right away. The
graphics are just a little bit dated (this game uses Unreal Engine 3), but the
art style is such that it holds up surprisingly well despite the years.
If you haven't played either Dishonored series or Prey, you owe it to yourself
to buy this and give it a shot. All the games are often on sale together. Now is
the perfect time to jump in before Arkane releases Deathloop.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/205100/">🔗</a>

Dishonored

<h1>Hades</h1>
28 October 2020
👍 Recommended (51.3 hrs on record)
The best Diabloesque roguelike I've ever played. Seems to have used its Early
Access period really well; glad to be playing the finished product. Character
design, art, music and voice acting are all top notch, even better than in other
Supergiant games so far. Amazingly, it's also a roguelike with an actual story
in it.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/1145360/">🔗</a>

Hades

<h1>Ticket to Ride</h1>
11 April 2020
👍 Recommended (2.5 hrs on record)
This is a faithful digital version of the familiar board game. What's really
nice is cross-platform multiplayer; you can play against people who have the iOS
or Android version of the game online.
(Unfortunately the Linux version has been abandoned; you can't join online games
with it. Proton works really well, though.)
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/108200/">🔗</a>

Ticket to Ride

<h1>SOMA</h1>
9 January 2018
👍 Recommended (11.1 hrs on record)
Let's get this out of the way first: if you're here for the story, environment
and characters, play in safe mode.
SOMA was one of those games I become aware of thanks to comparisons to old
favorites. If you're currently wondering &quot;What would a modern take on System
Shock 2 look like?&quot;, SOMA definitely fits the bill, but do yourself a favor and
drop the comparison. SOMA is great on its own merits.
After the framing prologue, the game starts with a really tight horror sequence
with a suffocating atmosphere. The visual and audio effects startled me many
times here. Seeing a glimpse of the enemy here and there kept me on my toes,
while the characters introduced themselves through excellent voice acting.
Unfortunately for me, I played the game as it was originally released rather
than using the newly introduced safe mode. In hindsight, I wish I hadn't -- at
one point in the game, I couldn't run from the enemy I faced and... let's just
say that the game doesn't survive its own Game Over screen. After that point I
was no longer scared of the monsters at all, just annoyed and distracted when
they showed up. It's like a spell was broken. Don't let this happen to you. I
think it's amazing that Frictional Games went back and introduced the safe mode
option officially -- it must take guts to admit that the game might be stronger
this way.
Thankfully, at this point I was well invested into the story and really wanted
to know how it ends, so I kept pushing, and I'm really glad I did. The latter
half of the game gripped me completely and I had to pull an all-nighter to
finish it in one sitting.
This game is not afraid to pose complex philosophical and ethical questions. In
a very refreshing fashion it also boldly explores answers to these questions
right afterwards -- not something you come across often in the medium.
Definitively take your time exploring the world and characters.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/282140/">🔗</a>

SOMA

<h1>Prey</h1>
9 January 2018
👍 Recommended (53.3 hrs on record)
I went in blind and got more than I dared to hope for.
At first I thought I was playing a linear story-heavy horror game. Pretty soon
the game kindly informs you that it's a modern take on System Shock instead,
Looking Glass and all. It absolutely nails the atmosphere of panting and
sweating through the corridors of a spaceship, but instead of the overt threat
of a rogue AI you're running from something alien.
The level design is absolutely top notch. The setting is very immersive. There
is a great sense of verticality to the levels, and the game amply rewards
exploration in forms of audio logs, email &amp; visual storytelling. The feeling of
threat is constantly present in the first half, counting bullets with each and
every encounter, having to resort to wrench at times. The GLOO gun was a stroke
of genius, letting me forge my own path through the levels.
There are a few minor flaws. The hacking minigame was completely redundant, I
honestly didn't fail it once during my entire playthrough. Typhon didn't quite
reach the levels of SHODAN / The Many as the antagonist.
Arkane &amp; Bethesda have my sincere thanks for daring to release a single-player
game like this in 2017. I can only hope it did well financially and we'll see
more in the future.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/480490/">🔗</a>

Prey

<h1>Gorogoa</h1>
9 January 2018
👎 Not Recommended (1.5 hrs on record)
Gorgeous little game, which was over sooner than I thought. The 90 minutes I had
with the game were great, but I expected more for the price.
So what's the problem? At the time of writing, this game costs 14,99 € for me on
Steam. After buying and finishing the game on PC, I found out that the exact
same game is also available from App Store for 5,49 € (which honestly feels like
the more appropriate price). I can't come up with any reasonable reason for this
discrepancy. I'm not going to ask for a refund, but I can't help but feel sour.
Price is a signaling mechanism. If the publisher feels like this work of art is
worth 14,99 €, why not proudly sell it at that price point everywhere?
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/557600/">🔗</a>

Gorogoa

<h1>SHENZHEN I/O</h1>
6 November 2016
👍 Recommended (38.3 hrs on record)
SHENZHEN I/O is the latest masterpiece from Zachtronics. It builds and expands
from TIS-100 by giving you different kinds of parts to work with, with heavy
focus on the microcontroller chips in between. The familiar elements of
problem-solving, discovery and optimization define their own puzzle subgenre, a
&quot;zachlike&quot;.
The game starts with an optional real-world quest of assembling your own manual
by going to a supply store and buying a three-ring binder and a 5-part divider.
Then you print the 40+ page manual and divide the pages according to the
instructions. I absolutely loved this part, bringing back memories from my youth
when games shipped with real manuals.
The game starts with easy puzzles, which jog you through the assembly language
the game uses. Real-world programming experience helps tremendously here. As you
progress through the puzzles the difficulty curve picks up delightfully,
although I felt the suggested order was somewhat off for a few of them. Luckily
the game always offers multiple puzzle options for progression, so you can make
progress even if you get stuck on a puzzle.
I've seen some confused opinions about whether the programming in this game is
real or not, so take it from a professional software developer: this is real
low-level programming, albeit in a very limited fictional environment. This game
tickled my brain just like a good programming task does. Too bad it often
doesn't make sense to optimize my real world code to this degree!
The game is still listed as early access, although there is already tons of
puzzles to solve. I have high hopes for future content, including new chips and
parts to play with! The only thing that's sorely missing so far is an editor for
building and sharing our own puzzles. It feels like this game was tailormade for
Steam Workshop. I'd love to author a few puzzles for my programming friends!
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/504210/">🔗</a>

SHENZHEN I/O

<h1>Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition</h1>
6 November 2016
👍 Recommended (97.4 hrs on record)
Five years ago my colleagues were raving about this obscure PS3 game called
Demon's Souls, mainly about how hard it was and how rewarding it was to overcome
the challenges the game throws at you. I became interested and bought it. I
played it for 30 minutes, died a few times and left it at that, woving to return
to it to avenge myself.
That never happened. I started playing other games and soon forgot about my
revenge. The game had defeated me.
Fast forward a few years to PS4 &amp; Bloodborne release. I thought it would be a
good time to get my revenge. Bought the game, played it for 30 minutes, died a
few times, left it at that. History repeating itself. Maybe I no longer had
patience for NES-hard games like this?
It took a good amount of convincing by one of my colleagues to give the series a
third go. They suggested I start with Dark Souls: Prepare To Die edition. After
overcoming some technical hurdles with mods, I crossed my fingers and embarked
on my third journey. Turns out third time is the charm!
After dying a few more times, the game series and controls finally started to
click. The game fully expects you to die often, it's right there in the name.
Each death is more of a lesson learned than a sign of defeat. Get careless or
complacent and you will die, even to regular mobs. Approach situations
carefully, learn how the monsters move and exploit their weaknesses and you will
start to prevail.
Slowly but surely gaining in confidence, I started exploring further and further
in Lordran. Even to this date, years after the release the game is absolutely
gorgeous. Despite the minimalistic approach to lore and story the world managed
to convey a deep sense of melancholy, loss and sorrow; but also a flicker of
hope. It has been years since a game in a fantasy setting spoke to me like
this. The soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous and underlines the overall mood of
the game beautifully.
The boss fights felt epic, but sadly here the game falters a little: too many
bosses can be just circled around and stabbed in the ass at the right time,
dodging an attack or two in the process. I managed to beat many bosses on my
first try after learning this &quot;formula&quot; for defeating them, although a lucky
drop of a Black Knight Sword early on in the game definitely skews my perception
here.
The multiplayer aspect of the game is unique and so well realized. You can help
and hinder others in their journeys. The PVP &quot;scene&quot; is still active, which
speaks volumes about how varied the core gameplay becomes with different items
and builds. It is highly skill-based, and each battle really got my heart
racing. Each victory felt like a true achievement!
The only big flaw in the game is the quality of the port. We are so lucky DSfix
exists! I consider it essential, it really should be prepackaged with the
game. Consider also downloading Wulf's Dark Souls connectivity mod, as the
Steamworks integration is not the best when it comes to multiplayer; you might
not be connected to anyone without it.
All in all Dark Souls finally drew me into the series, now I can't wait for the
other games to beat my ass before I beat them!
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/211420/">🔗</a>

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

<h1>The Witness</h1>
4 September 2016
👍 Recommended (46.4 hrs on record)
This is one of the greatest games I have ever played. It's a game you can
truly get lost in, with a definitive meditational quality to it. Some of the
puzzles are really hard, and you will get stuck. Luckily the game is extremely
nonlinear: you can always move on to another puzzle and come back later with a
fresh mind.
This game teaches you how to solve puzzles without using spoken language, opting
for symbols instead. Your inner grammarian will connect the dots little by
little and by the end you can solve any puzzle using just logic and the new
language you have acquired.
The island this game takes place in is extremely beautiful and rewards
exploration. The island is divided into smaller themed areas with great variety
between them.
Most of the negative reviews seem to stem from either misplaced expectations
coming from Braid or the lack of story through dialogue. It is a solitary
experience, which works very well in a puzzle game like this. The statues around
the island tell their own kind of story, but if you just breeze past them you
might miss it completely.
Essential purchase for any puzzle game fans.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/210970/">🔗</a>

The Witness

<h1>The Turing Test</h1>
4 September 2016
👍 Recommended (5.4 hrs on record)
The Turing Test is a first-person puzzle game much like Portal and The Talos
Principle, with many of the same elements. Fans of those games should
investigate this.
The game engine being used is Unreal Engine 4. The game looks gorgeous and the
gameplay feels great. The story is conveyed through dialogue with TOM and audio
logs; very few cutscenes. Given the omnipresent cameras on Fortuna and Europa I
would've enjoyed more video logs of the characters to let them come to life.
The story revolves around Artificial Intelligence and the nature of
consciousness, with a heavy emphasis on ethics. I love both of these themes, but
the story unfortunately doesn't really dive deeply into either one. From a
veritable treasure trove of material available the game picks just commonly
repeated highlights. The most interesting material is hidden away in optional
siderooms.
Having just played The Witness as a contrast, the puzzles in this game felt
extremely simple. I expected the difficulty to pick up after the first few
chapters but it never truly did and I did not get stuck once. I guess that's
somewhat to be expected when the game is strictly linear and can't afford to let
the players fail, but I was somewhat unsatisfied nonetheless. The hardest
(optional) puzzle amounts to basic operations of boolean logic. I would have
loved to see this idea followed just a little bit further into logic gates for
instance.
All in all, the game is a good effort and was fun to play through, but misses
some of its potential. A qualified recommendation for fans of the genre.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/499520/">🔗</a>

The Turing Test

<h1>Firewatch</h1>
31 May 2016
👍 Recommended (5.1 hrs on record)
What an awesome game. Big thanks to Campo Santo for Linux support!
The first thing you'll notice when hiking to your lookout tower is that the game
looks absolutely gorgeous. I was absolutely amazed that this was done on Unity
-- I haven't seen any other Unity game look this good. The next thing you'll
experience is the awesome voice acting work that draws you into the world and
the characters. The immersion is completed with top-notch environmental audio. I
spent a long time just peacefully exploring and enjoying the world Campo Santo
has created.
It doesn't take long for the story to get started. I really enjoyed the
storytelling that flows both through radio chatter and the items you find within
the world. The only slight gripe I have with the game is that I only found the
option to hide your player marker on the map after I was halfway through the
game. It felt too easy to have a constantly updating map pointing exactly where
I need to go; just something that cracked the immersion the slightest bit. If
you enjoy a challenge do disable it before you start!
One great aspect of this game is that it is very friendly to people who are not
hardcore gamers. All the mechanics are well-explained and the controls are very
easy to pick up.
After playing this through, it was not surprising to me that this game has
received some negative reviews. From what I gather most of the negativity is
centered around its short length and its ending. I feel like this is a work of
art to get lost into rather than something you try to speed-run through. I loved
the ending.
A word of advice: this is one of those games that you can easily enjoy playing
through in one sitting, so if that's your thing do take the time for it.
Based on this debut, I can't wait to see what Campo Santo is up to next!
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/383870/">🔗</a>

Firewatch

<h1>Deus Ex: Human Revolution</h1>
29 June 2015
👍 Recommended (59.8 hrs on record)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a much better game than I dared to hope for. As it
is Eidos Montréal's first game, I was scared they couldn't pull a new Deus Ex
off. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The first thing you'll immediately notice is how the atmosphere of the world is
just right. It is completely believeable, immersive and Deus Ex. The story pulls
you in right away and won't let go until you're finished with it. The visuals of
this game are amazing, nailing the futuristic look but with an original twist.
The worldbuilding effort has been immense: there's so much to dive into.
Next you'll notice how well the game plays. I've always loved stealth games and
this one has that down so well. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't balanced
perfectly. Some of the augmentations are worthless, whereas some are highly
useful in every encounter the game throws at you. Do some research beforehand if
you don't want to waste your points. Many people have reported that combat
playthroughs don't feel as rewarding as stealth runs, but I feel it's good that
the game rewards carefulness and a strategic approach.
Voice acting is well done. I initially thought Adam's voice actor sounded
'forced', but that's how his voice really sounds like, and now I couldn't
imagine any other voice for him.
A word of warning, though: don't chase the harder achievements like Pacifist or
Foxiest of the Hounds on your first playthrough. It will distract you from the
great storyline and take three times as long to finish the game. Finish the
story first.
In closing, this is one of those rare games I'm willing to play through more
than once. I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/238010/">🔗</a>

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

<h1>Batman: Arkham Knight</h1>
23 June 2015
👎 Not Recommended (0.7 hrs on record)
Terrible in-game performance even with GTX 980 SLI and latest drivers, despite
benchmark running well. Crashes.
Don't buy this (yet), even if you liked the previous Batman games.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/208650/">🔗</a>

Batman: Arkham Knight

<h1>SpaceChem</h1>
12 December 2014
👍 Recommended (19.7 hrs on record)
What an awesome game! This game gets very close to some problems in programming:
how to solve the puzzles in efficient way without wasting cycles or symbols and
how to coordinate and synchronize the two waldos.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/92800/">🔗</a>

SpaceChem

<h1>Borderlands 2</h1>
19 July 2013
👍 Recommended (57.2 hrs on record)
&quot;Gun Diablo&quot;. Also, some of the best writing I've ever seen in FPS. 'Nuff said?
Get it.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/49520/">🔗</a>

Borderlands 2

<h1>Batman: Arkham Asylum</h1>
27 December 2011
👍 Recommended (10.4 hrs on record)
A wonderful game. Pays great homage to Batman, striking a nice balance between
the serious tone from the movies and the more whimsical nature of the comics.
The gameplay feels great and there's tons of extra content besides the main
plot.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/35140/">🔗</a>

Batman: Arkham Asylum

<h1>Magic: the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012</h1>
7 July 2011
👍 Recommended (17.5 hrs on record)
Much better than the previous version. Lacks real deck-building, but at least
you can sideboard bad cards from the decks. The campaign is good fun for hours
and online is even better.
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/49470/">🔗</a>

Magic: the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012

<h1>Civilization V</h1>
5 July 2011
👍 Recommended (137.5 hrs on record)
A very nice modern version of an age-old classic. Completely revamped combat is
a huge improvement over the older Civ games. The game was somewhat buggy when it
was released but they've ironed out the kinks by now. Also works on OS X!
<a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/eagleflo/recommended/8930/">🔗</a>

Aku Kotkavuo

@eagleflo