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What's good in UFO 50?

Night Manor is the only point-and-click horror adventure game I ever actually liked.

Unfortunately, no one can be told what Barbuta is. You have to see it for yourself.
 
Barbuta is, perhaps, best experienced with a friend who also hasn't played or seen the game before.
 
Ok yeah, Night Manor is good fun! I'm kinda stuck, as is traditional with point n clicks, but I'll give the house another walk through before I consult a walkthrough. (eh? eh?)

EDIT: OK, I ended up needing one hint to get the gold. I hadn't thought to wrench open the garage door mechanism or the lawnmower. I'll probably need further hints to get 100%... later. On to Barbuta, for now!
 
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Barbuta is fascinating. I get why people say not to start with it, but I'm also enjoying it quite a bit! I'm writing my own walkthrough as I go because otherwise I'd waste a lot of time going off track, eheh. I've gotten far enough to obtain umbrella, necklace, pin, trash (??), rod, and candy (??). I've not yet gotten to the point where I've exhausted my exploration options, so I'm hopeful I can stumble my way to gold with a bit of persistence.

Meanwhile I continue to be baffled by Porgy. I have seven fuel tanks, four torpedo upgrades, five eggs, the super booster, and have defeated the two bosses in the upper area, and now I have no idea where to go next. Every time I think I've found a new route, it's blocked by something or other that looks like I need an item I don't have to clear it. (! blocks, bullet blocks, crunchy lookin rocks...)

EDIT: ah, one hint needed for Barbuta too. Invisible ladders? Come on ;_; Couple more tries should get gold there now, I think.
 
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It's too long since I played Porgy to help, but I did enjoy my time with it a lot. Really felt like an underwater adventure, with you having to get fresh air, semirandom bosses and other stuff that made it feel dangerous.

For Barbuta, I drew a map, at least for most of it.
 
I am not as far as Kalista in Barbuta, but I started an 8x8 table in a notes app on my phone. I’m trying to put simple notes like CHEST (for ones I can’t reach yet), or $50 in each cell. It seems helpful so far.
 
I think what helped me a lot with Porgy is that there's absolutely zero penalty for dying. Between that and the "cute 2D Subnautica" atmosphere and gameplay loop, it ended up being one of my favorites. But I can definitely understand finding it frustrating.
 
At least I managed to get enough eggs to obtain a tangible benefit from them. Defeating two bosses still only gave me +1 capacity for equipped gear, when I've only managed to get one equippable gear piece to begin with. I'm probably missing something, but it really feels like the game is trolling me.

EDIT: Once more, a single hint is what I needed to get unstuck. I had repeatedly overlooked the passage that leads to the Buster Torpedoes, and now a huge number of those blocked paths are accessible, phew. 😭
 
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Porgy was one of my favourites in the collection. I wouldn't change a thing about it. I think I was 3/4 of the way through before I did anything but run from any of the bosses, though.
 
Oh funny. I jumped straight to cherry on Barbuta! I'd thought I needed 100% collection, but my incomplete route to the end left me with just enough money to buy myself back up to full from the losses I'd taken, and I managed to no hit the boss.
 
I have indeed enjoyed Porgy better since getting that one crucial piece of gear. And knocked out one more boss along the way. I think I am going to spoil myself with a map to get it to gold+, though -- it feels like one of those games where you're expected to have a Nintendo Power at hand, or to draw your own map. And given it doesn't have the nice even screen divisions of a Barbuta or etc., I feel like letting somebody in the Steam Guides take care of that labor for me, hah.
 
I think Mini & Max is my new favorite, and I will be shocked and delighted if anything manages to unseat it. Ingenious concept and perfect execution.
 
zonetrope said:
I think Mini & Max is my new favorite, and I will be shocked and delighted if anything manages to unseat it. Ingenious concept and perfect execution.
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It's easily the best game in the collection, in my book. I'd love to see a larger-scale version of this game as a stand-alone title. Having a whole house to explore like this would be amazing. And with an even more fleshed out microscopic world, if possible. Though holy shit, I imagine it would be an absolute nightmare to hand craft microscopic areas for every possible surface in an entire house. I feel like spreading an experience this cohesive across multiple rooms in a house would be challenging enough without adding a whole other layer. Damn if it wouldn't be cool to see the attempt, though!
 
I think Mini & Max is already the perfect size. Indeed, I feel that this is a major benefit of the anthology format: none of the games have exhibited any response to market pressure to add features or content in order to look like a better value. Nothing includes a hook whereby a finite game can take a chance to turn into a forever game; there's no post-game superbosses; nothing that isn't already about collecting gains a checklist, and nothing that isn't already about going fast gains a timer, and nothing that isn't already about remixing familiar areas goes back and puts some modulation on the early levels. The fact that all 50 games were sold as one product means that individual games can be not only confidently weird, but confidently small, with no fear of being seen as suffering from some conspicuously absent feature.

That being said, I know how you feel. I wish for 200 more levels of Camouflage, please.
 
I also feel that it's just the right size. It's just so compelling to me that this whole civilization with its own cosmology, history, and tragic rise and fall is contained entirely within this tiny storage room. But it's true that these games leave you wanting more, in a good way.

I got the cherry last night, which is my third after Ninpek and Waldorf's Journey. I had to look up a few key items, but I appreciate that the game is designed in such a way that you'll find most of the important traversal upgrades if you just wander around for long enough.
 
Yeah, I can't decide if I want more, or am satisfied with the perfect size. Like, both?

But I would really, really like more Camouflage levels.
 
Trying on Block Koala. About twenty levels in and I haven't needed a guide yet, though there was one I needed to skip for a while and come back to once I'd seen its mechanics in some other contexts. Seems like a very well tuned puzzler so far!
 
Block Koala completely lost me by having a number of early levels I could easily get through without ever learning what the actual mechanics of the game are.
 
Ha, fascinating, that hasn't been my experience at all. Early levels were simple, yes, but I didn't feel like I was solving them by random flailing.

It could use about four more music tracks, though. I play the levels with my headset volume turned all the way down, now, because I'm so tired of that level theme.
 
Cherry on Block Koala. Solidly designed, fair--I was challenged but didn't need any guides. No notes! Well, except for the aforementioned repetitive music.

Y'all are absolutely correct: Mini and Max is a delight. I needed one hint to get started (I didn't think to go under the flower pots; I blame brain fog from having the 'rona rn), but once you've got that crucial upgrade the game absolutely explodes with potential for wandering about accomplishing things. I really should have started off with a notepad open, there are a lot of side quests to keep track of. And even if most of them just yield "Shinies", it's still a joy. I hope the modders get this one randomized.
 
It isn't my favorite, I think that's either Mooncat or Valbrace, but Mini & Max is no doubt the best overall game of the lot.

I really love how it all comes together in the end with that final challenge.
 
Kalista said:
I hope the modders get this one randomized.
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It already is, to a certain extent. My understanding is that the traversal upgrades can be found in several possible locations, depending on which one you find first, and the health and damage upgrades will just show up in your path as a reward for exploring. As someone not generally in love with randomly generated content, I thought it struck a good balance.
 
I was more thinking for multiworld scramblers :3 But 'tis fair, I wonder if that inherent randomization has made it harder to come up with a shuffle design than the ones already supported (Night Manor, Porgy, Barbuta, and Vainger)
 
And gold!

I don't really know where to start on cherry, might need to look up a hint for that. There were a handful of unresolved side quests when I finished up, e.g. preventing the war between the two flowerpot cities, possibly one of those leads where I need to go? 🤔
 
The breadcrumb that leads you to the cherry can be obtained by talking to characters who appear in the vicinity of the lamp while it is turned off. You may have already spoken to them, but not understood the clue. Here is a slight clarification: When they talk about the "power behind the throne," it is not a metaphor. Here is the full explanation: shrink down and explore behind Mittens' throne.
 
And got it, thanks!
I stumbled across the solution to that other side quest while shiny hunting--the reward put me over the threshold I needed, which was quite satisfying, hah.
 
I found some time to make progress in Barbuta. The last time I played I was able to get umbrella and pin. This time I got all the way to rod. Honestly, that was a nice surprise after all my toil. I'm not sure where to go next, but I have a few ideas.
 
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