Hello indie gaming friends!
It's been a while since I sent one of these! I stopped sending this newsletter because I started getting anxious about finding games with fewer than 10 reviews. Steam really makes it that hard!
I believe I have solved this issue though and am ready to get back to letting you know about the awesome indie finds I've been playing.
Recently I've been playing... Consume Me!
I found Consume Me quite challenging. Not because the gameplay is difficult, but because the content made me feel uncomfortable. But this is intentional. Jenny is under pressure to be the perfect daughter. She needs to get good grades, do chores and wants to get a boyfriend, but she believes she's too fat for that. No one will want to be with her! So, she goes on a restrictive diet and adds more exercise to her routine.
Each day you'll play many minigames to try and help Jenny reach her goal. Make a low calorie lunch, do some exercise, study and do chores. You can see all the bad decisions she's making but you can't do anything to stop it. I wanted to sabotage the diet. Eat all the cookies! But, then it's game over and you need to start the day or chapter again.
You follow Jenny from high school and into college where you get more and more activities to complete with the same or less energy to use. The game does a good job of making you feel that stress and discomfort, especially if you're someone who has been obsessed with calorie counting and food. However, it started to feel like a chore.
In the end, I didn't finish Consume Me. I failed one of the chapters and the only option is to restart the previous day or the chapter and try again. Knowing how it ended wasn't worth the time for me.
Overall, Consume Me is highly rated on Steam. There are some negative reviews and they all relate to one section of the game: where Jenny goes to church. A friend suggests coming to church because it helps her during hard times. I think these reviews are unfair. I'm not religious, but Consume Me isn't my story. It's Jenny's. I can enjoy the game even though there are aspects that I don't relate to.
I'd recommend Consume Me if you enjoy games with minigames and increasing challenge to complete quests, but would give it a skip if you find topics of dieting and disordered eating uncomfortable.
I played Consume Me on Steam, but it's also available on iOS.
Awesome August releases!
Step inside the world of Tukoni, where gentle forest spirits live alongside animals and care for the world around them.
Play as Traveller as they take a journey around the forest helping everyone prepare for winter.
I haven't played the full game yet, but really enjoyed the slow, cozy vibes of the demo!
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Have you ever wanted a rhythm game where you play as a witch and travel to the Doggy Underworld to find your dog? Well, here it is!
I'm usually not very good at rhythm games, but this one looks so cute that I might just have to give it a try!
The demo is still live too!
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Build a cozy little town for your Seedlets, fulfil their needs and watch as they populate your town.
This game ticks so many boxes for me. A cute city builder where you don't have to worry about being efficient or being invaded.
The demo is still live too!
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Less than 10 - Cozy Tide
Did you know that the majority of games released each week have less than 10 reviews? That is hundreds of games with reduced visibility on Steam! Let's change that with this featured game.
I don't usually play idle or incremental games but Cozy Tide is so cute that I needed to give it a try! It is very easy to lose hours in this game thinking you'll catch one more fish, expand one more piece of the island or unlock that outfit you want.
And there are a lot of outfits and companions to unlock. The game is very generous with them and I found myself spending a lot of time deciding how my character should look. Then unlocking a new hat and immediately changing to it!
Cozy Tide is an excellent game if you want something to wind down with or play while listening to an audiobook or podcast.
Cozy Tide is available on Steam.
Do you know a game with less than 10 reviews? Reply and tell me about it!
One last thing!
I regularly post on Bsky. Are you over there too? Be sure to follow me for even more indie gaming discussion, and check out my combat-free games starter park to find some awesome accounts to follow.
You've made it to the end of the newsletter! Have you found something excellent to play this month? Let me know what it was!
Until next time,
Sarah
