Gaming Gifts for the Holidays (Part 2)
In part 2 of 3, a few more games that will entertain you during the holidays.
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The world gets a bit slower this time of the year as the majority of people go on holiday. But I want to acknowledge the ones who have to keep working, or whose jobs amplify during this period (such as service industry workers). I hope you guys get a little reprieve as well!
At least you can now take your gaming with you, thanks to the growing handheld revolution led by the Steam Deck and Switch. Here are a few games released during 2024 that you can play during your breaks.
The AIIG Gift Guide Criteria: These are all games that 1) featured as a standalone preview on AIIG, 2) were released in 2024, and 3) have a Steam rating of Positive or higher. They are ranked alphabetically.
(This is the second part of AIIG’s 2024 Gift Guide. Read Part 1 here).
Europa
For players who love low-stress exploration and Studio Ghibli movies.
Europa is one of 2024’s standout games, wooing players with its smooth platforming gameplay and lush visuals inspired by classic Japanese anime movies. Become an android boy who can fly for short distances and explore a long-lost world on the moon Europa. What happened to the people who were there before?
Most Steam reviews love the game, praising its art, design, and soundtrack. There are few negative reviews, highlighting the relative shortness and that the gameplay could use more depth.
Forgive Me Father 2
For shooter fans who want modern retro graphics in a cosmic horror world.
Nineties-era first-person shooters, also called boomer shooters, are back and better than ever. Forgive Me Father 2 is the sequel to the fan-favourite first game, and it ups the ante at every level with more levels, more enemies, crazier weapons, and a notable upgrade to the art without sacrificing the series’ retro aesthetic. If your idea of conflict resolution is shooting everything that moves, this is your game.
Rated as Very Positive, fans of the game praise its visuals and old-school gunplay. The negative reviews primarily focus on the convoluted levels and frequent enemy spawns.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain
For players who want to fly on a broom and deliver packages.
When AIIG launched in March 2023, this was the first game we covered, and it finally launched! Play as a young apprentice trying to reach the top of a mountain where she can learn to be a witch. But to get there, she must upgrade her broom, and to do that, she must deliver packages and do tasks for the area’s residents. A charming and wholesome platformer, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is the kind of relaxing game you wish they’d make more often.
Positive reviews praised the casual gameplay and colourful world. Negative reviews complain it’s too short, and there are some grumbles about bugs.
Mouthwashing
For players looking for a twisted journey into the heart of darkness.
Stranded in space and with no prospect of rescue, a crew quickly spirals into chaos when they discover they are hauling tonnes of alcoholic mouthwash. One of 2024’s cult hits, the first-person adventure Mouthwashing quickly found a lot of supporters for its dark thriller storyline, only softened slightly by the retro graphics. Strap in—this one is quite a ride.
With an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ rating, most Steam players adore this game, praising the devastating storytelling and dark moral choices. Negative reviews focus on the short playtime (around 2 hours) and elements of the story.
ODDADA
For players who want to play with whimsical toys and make music.
ODDADA is that rare type of game that follows the beat of its own drum. Musical puns aside, there’s nothing quite like this playful musical game. Create looping tracks using exotic toys and other gadgets, recording them in layers until you have a full song going. The outstanding part of this award-winning game is that you don’t need any musical knowledge or talent. Just mess around and see what your imagination comes up with!
Steam’s positive reviews love how intuitive and engaging this game is, stripping away the complexity typical of other music-generation software. Even the negative reviews like it, but some complain it can become a little repetitive.
Paper Trail
For players who love puzzles and enjoy storybook art.
Guide Paige on her adventure leaving home in this adorable storybook puzzle game. That’s a literal description: you help Paige reach new areas by folding the corners of the screen to open new pathways that let her access different parts of the screen. Paper Trail has a very tactile feeling as you pull the pages around, and it’s as open to logical thinking as just trying different things. Extra points for the lovely art style.
Rated ‘Very Positive,’ positive reviews praised the innovative page-folding system and the stunning artwork. Negative reviews didn’t enjoy the folding mechanic or expected it to be deeper.
Plank Builders
For players who want to direct toy monkeys to build walkways and reach new areas.
Something magical happens in a kid’s room crowded full of toys and furniture. A toy monkey comes to life and starts animating other toy monkeys scattered across the room. But the floor and most surfaces harm the monkeys, so you must lay boards down to create walkways. This is where Plank Builders shines: you can order your monkeys to build based on your blueprint, enabling you to create elaborate structures thanks to a forgiving physics engine. The result is a fun puzzle and exploration auto-builder where you choose how you reach new areas.
Though this game has very few reviews, the majority enjoy it, praising the cosy atmosphere and free-form exploration. The negative reviews focus on a save game bug that hopefully has been fixed.
Preserve
For players who want a relaxing match-3 style game and build natural paradises.
Preserve is not exactly a match-3 game, but it builds from that foundation. In match-3 puzzles, you must match three tiles to score. In this game, you do the same but go larger. Each round presents you with a set of cards to spread water, add biomes, and place animals. The animals only go into certain biomes, and there is limited space, so you must be tactical about how you expand different biomes. It starts off simple but can get complex. And yet, this is very relaxing, and you end up creating beautiful environments that come alive as you play more cards and expand.
Fans praise the game for its relaxing vibes and different varieties. Negative reviews complain about the lack of an endless mode and some compatibility issues.
PRIM
For players who like dark gothic comedy in a classic point-and-click adventure.
Death’s teenage daughter is tired of her dad’s overprotective rules and decides to escape and explore the world. There’s more to this cute story, but leave that to the synopsis. What you should know about PRIM is that it’s a fantastic homage to the golden age of point-and-click adventures, full of jokes, inventive puzzles, entertaining art, and many other crazy touches. Featuring professional voice acting, beautiful hand-drawn art, wacky characters, and much more, this game is a gem for genre fans and newcomers.
Steam’s positive reviews praised it as a solid, inventive, and humorous genre piece. Negative reviews feel it plays things a bit too safe, and some are not fans of the card mini-game.
Lovely list! I completely forgot about Europa! I will need to recheck it now it’s been out a little while!