Games I've Been Playing - January 2025
Each month, I want to share some less formal thoughts about the games I've been playing and my impressions of them. These might be game's that got reviewed for the site or not. As an individual person covering a storefront that is shoveling titles onto its store each day, I have time to dip my toes into a lot of it, but I can't always spend the time needed for a review. With recaps like this, I can give some games their due, even if I can't get a full review of them. I can also add additional thoughts to things I did decide to write about or even honor older games I just decided to back to for some reason or another. See below for what I played this past January.
RESIDENT EVIL 2 (Free)
This was the big time sink for me this month, and it felt worth it in a way that the other Resident Evil games on iOS did not. The only thing I'll say that my review doesn't cover is that you shouldn't be surprised if this game makes another appearance on one of these lists, as there's a bunch more to do and unlock and I have a desire to either do that or even go back to the original game. Click here to read our RESIDENT EVIL 2 review
Mooselutions ($5.99)
This little puzzle game was sent to me under a description of being like Baba is You. And, while Mooselutions is a top-down Sokoban-style puzzler with some clever mechanics, I'd say the comparison stops holding up right there. The idea here is that mooses (meese? moose? multiple moosi?) are dangerous animals that want to charge at you, a concept I have a great respect for in the real world, and its your job in controlling your little avatar to sort of play as a moose matador to open up paths to retrieve your axe on every level. It's really neat and a good puzzle game, but I wouldn't say it has the novelty of a Baba is You and it lacks a hint system which makes progress through it (for me, anyway) pretty slow.Click here to read more about Mooselutions on Pocket Gamer
Void Tyrant (Free)
Void Tyrant is not a new game, but it is still awesome. I picked this blackjack-based roguelite up after updating my list of the best mobile card-based roguelites. Initially I had no qualms about adding it, but I downloaded it anyway to make sure it still worked well as it's been about 6 years since release. Turns out, it does! And then when I got past the title screen I saw there was a new character class, new cards, and a bunch of other stuff and I got right back in to playing a bunch of it again. I can say without a doubt this is still one of the most original takes on deckbuilding dungeon-crawling. There's still nothing quite like it. Click here to read our Void Tyrant review
Lost For Swords (Free)
This game is on the list for sort of the same reason Void Tyrant is, though Lost For Swords is still a recent release and I just... haven't gotten tired of it yet. I am not sure I have much to say about it here that my relatively recent review has not already covered outside of perhaps underscoring that the tactile feel of the game I mention there really holds up if you hop in and out of sessions. It's so easy to tell in a blink what situation you are in thanks to all of the information surfacing, and weirdly enough that convenience has made this my go-to game when between things. Click here to read our Lost For Swords review
Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD ($4.99)
I am a Kingdom Rush enjoyer, but I think Vengeance burnt me out on trying to plough through these games for a review. In response, I have been taking Kingdom Rush: Alliance very slowly and have been enjoying it quite a bit that way. I also have the satisfaction of being able to justify this decision by comfortably saying at this point these games don't really need to be reviewed unless something about them changes dramatically. They are that formulaic at this point. Anyway, the game currently is still releasing new heroes and towers and I'm picking up a few of them here and there while still slowly working my way through the campaign and it feels nice to play a game like this. Click here to read Pocket Gamer's Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD review
LOK Digital (Free)
I've only scratched the surface of Draknek's latest puzzle game, and... it's a weird one! It's a word game where you have to clear letter tiles by spelling a specific word with them. At the start of the game, it is just "LOK," but it evolves from there. There are also mechanics about how to clear blank tiles and doing tricky things like skipping cleared tiles. I am intrigued, but I'm not sure I am really invested in it yet. Click here to read more about LOK Digital on Pocket Gamer
Super Farming Boy ($9.99)
Speaking of investment, this last game is one that is slowly but surely taking over my life. Super Farming Boy is a cyclical farming game like Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley (in structure anyway), but it has this super quick pace and goofy arcade feel that is really clicking for me. I want to make the perfect field of crops that can combo itself into my harvest, and I also want to keep checking things off the in-game to-do list that are like "meet some ghosts" and "grow a big corn." I do not see this knocking off the king of cozy games for most people, but I'd be lying to myself if I didn't say this is more my pace than a game where you give gifts to villagers and do clunky combat for hundreds of hours with a wiki open on a second screen. Click here to read more about Super Farming Boy.