Itch.io have made a little bundle of games for Halloween, giving you the chance to purchase 5 different games for the cheap price of $11.00 — a total 74% off discount on the games. They have hand selected this bundle, and below I am going to talk about each of the games.
WitchWay by Andrew Gleeson, Henri Rochefort, Niilo Takalainen, & Nathan Antony
WitchWay is an adorable puzzle platformer where you play as a little witch, looking to find your way and explore through this strange dungeon. With your wand you are able to cast spells, explore dark places, and move various different parts of the world around.
Around this world, there are rabbits that need saving, as well as numerous rooms to explore. You start off by simply pushing blocks onto buttons, but the game is so much more than that. Once you have found your wand you are able to cast spells which bring with them more complex puzzles. You are suddenly able to move blocks around by casting a spell on them, making them jump almost as if they are a character themselves.
You can even find blocks that don’t have gravity forced onto them, allowing you to fly around as if they were a magic carpet. With such a large world to explore, and so many puzzles, WitchWay is a really lovely platformer.
Helping Hand by Ben Crooks
Helping Hand is a super funny game where you control just a hand. You are able to move your fingers and make various different gestures in response to the world around you. The rest of your body is completely paralyzed. Despite not actually being able to verbally to communicate, you do have a range of emotions that can be told with your hand.
As you communicate and react to various people visiting you at the hospital, you will start to branch the story. From calling the nurse in over and over for no real reason, to reacting to a preacher trying to save your soul, everything you do is very meaningful.
Helping Hand does have a lot of different directions you can end up going in, all while being a strange-to-control hand in the corner of the screen.
The Shrouded Isle by Kitfox Games
The Shrouded Isle is a text-based ‘sacrifice cult simulator’ that puts you in the position of the High Priest! As the high priest, you must look into the people of each house. You need to spend your limited points to understand other people’s ideas and virtues, before appointing one to be the leader of each clan.
These leaders then make up a group of advisors. You can highlight one to three of these advisors to rule the land each month, but you cannot choose new ones. Their actions, which you cannot stop once put in motion, will change the way the town feels about you. Some actions they agree with, while others they find to be bad. Once a few months have passed, you might need to pick someone to sacrifice for the good of the people.
Every member of the village has different hidden traits and it takes some time to find them out. Your focus is killing the heretics but you must do so while maintaining the loyalty of the aristocratic families — so killing off their children can do harm to how you are seen.
Monolith by Team D-13
Monolith is a top down, action shooter where you must explore procedurally generated levels full of enemies. It almost becomes a bullet hell, as you must avoid loads of oncoming bullets in a very small room on the screen all while fighting back and destroying those who face you.
Along the way, you do get to experience epic weapons, upgrades to your ship, and choices that can result in greater power. There are bosses looking to put you back into your place, levels where destroying your environment will change what is around you, and lots of challenge to be had.
Destroying everyone in these dungeon-esque rooms will unlock new doors, allowing you to continue to travel. There are also shops to help with upgrades, if you have enough to purchase what you want.
The Darkside Detective by The Darkside Detective?
In it you play as Detective McQueen, part of Twin Lake City’s Darkside Division, alongside your sidekick Officer Dooley. This pair of underfunded plods is tasked with protecting the city from supernatural beings and occurrences, from the accidental occult to the unsavoury undead. It’s amazing how well The Darkside Detective manages to build such a vibrant world around it in such a short space of time.
The spooky theme and setting tie in perfectly with its ever-present sense of humour, with every pixel and side-character adding its own contribution to the whole. Even the most minor characters have distinct personalities and it really is a true joy to explore.
We have a full review of The Darkside Detective by Katherine Franklin which you can read.
