As it says in the title, My Fantastic Ranch is fantastic. A management simulation game, with a graphical style and subject matter that would appeal to younger players, but not to the exclusion of others. Although you can only have a limited number of creatures on your ranch, there is still plenty to do and keep you entertained. The festivals and some of the achievements are particularly challenging and require more thought than you imagine. I’m looking forward to continuing my adventures in My Fantastic Ranch.
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster. At times, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing it – galloping around the wide and varied landscape (the scenery is stunning), planning and building my estate. At other times, I’ve plummeted into an abyss of despair, dangling in mid-air with no option but to reset, and losing hours of gameplay as the autosave didn’t work properly. This is a brilliant game but it needs a lot of improvement to reach its potential. The publishers said that all versions are going to receive additional development to improve quality and fix some bugs. However, at the time of publishing this review, it’s not clear when that content will be released and what will be fixed. So until then, I can’t give this game any thumbs up.
Although the game is aimed at fans of the HORSE CLUB brand, Horse Club Adventures 2: Hazelwood Stories is a delightful adventure simulation game which will appeal to many younger gamers. I’ve never had a great passion for horse riding, but I thoroughly enjoyed galloping around and participating in virtual horse events. The main quests are not overly challenging, but the mini games do get harder as you progress through the various levels.
TEMPUS has moments of brilliance, some of the puzzles are cleverly constructed and satisfying to complete. However, the console controls for moving the on-screen cursor are too frustrating to make the overall experience pleasurable.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a delicious party game, without the need for a party. Making it ideal for younger players and offline play. The controls are simple and the graphics mouthwatering. It is unlikely to keep you consumed for hours, but definitely one to have a nibble with and would be entertaining with online or local friends. Do watch out on your next shopping trip though, a rather large, gooey, chocolate cake somehow made its way into my trolley!
For some, the game might be a bit prescriptive. But it’s based on an animated children’s TV programme, so it needs to be playable and enjoyable for that audience. This would be a great introduction to the adventure puzzle genre for younger players. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. I didn’t need to know anything about the TV series to engage fully with Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova.
I really wanted to like Yum Yum Cookstar. I enjoyed the bright colours, some of the recipes were inspiring and the music was fun, but overall the game failed to keep me engaged. Learning the techniques was repetitive and took the joy out of making the recipes. There was a distinct lack of balance between the number of actions per mini-game and number of mini-games per recipe. The long loading time between each recipe step just made the whole process tedious. This was a game that promised so much but failed to deliver
If you like the slight off hand of a magician or the artistic brilliance of trompe l’oeil, then Moncage will not only be a visual delight but will truly engage those little grey cells in puzzle solving. Without the little frustrations around the collectables and the small bomb glitch, it would have scored our highest rating