iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 17h

I have to say, 'salted caramel soft cheese' doesn't hugely appeal

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Next finish is Fatal Frame (or Project Zero): Mask of the Lunar Eclipse The second Fatal Frame I've finished. I liked it, though less than Maiden of Black Water. Combat might be better, but the story didn't grab me as much, and there are some awful puzzles (one in particular). Still good though

010

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Yes, I know this is because it's addressing a character whose name is Yo. But still, it's a bit... Jesse Pinkman 😂

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I bought this game basically because of the cute pieces with swappable faces (photo not mine)

110

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Meanwhile for #RandomBoardGameSaturday we get Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War Interesting 2-player game where you don't know what your own pieces are but your opponent does, so you have to try and work them out so you can move to capture the target

140

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday we pull Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call I played this for a few hours back in the day but found it too brutally unforgiving for my tastes. I've never tried another SMT, having mentally filed them as too hard

1321

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Next finish: Loan Shark I like the idea - horror fishing - and it works ok, but it ends bizarrely quickly. As in, maybe 30 mins. It's not just the brevity though, it's that it feels like it ends just as you've finished the intro section - which is the whole game. Good idea, lacking in execution.

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Next finish: Tsugunohi -The Thread That Beckons to Heaven- More a short film than a game. Unsettling mood and horror vibe are good, but gameplay is just walk to the left and tap through dialogue for ~40 mins. Decent for what it is, and seasonal, but I do like more game in my game.

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Next finish: Lumina Veil A free(!) survival horror / action horror (it goes back and forth) which, aside from some bugginess, is solidly enjoyable and could easily have sold for money. Play as a modestly popular streamer who starts to have strange experiences...

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Crucially, it also has decisions for you to make that feel like they matter. Whether they do or not, I don't know - it could be just a masquerade, ho ho - but they *feel* like they matter

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Next finish is Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York I have mixed responses to visual novels - some grab me but most bore me to tears. Coteries of New York is definitely the first type. The story is engrossing, the atmosphere is good, and it has a strong cast of characters.

210

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Started up a 'spooky', but so far not actually spooky, game

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Next finish: Hallows' Eve 199x A short (~30m) Doom mod which really embraces halloween, rather than anything actually spooky. It's one level, a street with decorated houses and 90s shops laden with zombies and demons. Not bad.

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Next finish: Hitman 3 (replay) That wraps up my replay of this trilogy. The weakest story of the 3 games, with a mixed bag of memorable and forgettable missions. Also seemed easier than the others. Still good, with plenty of disguises and shoving people in cupboards.

110

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Meanwhile for #RandomBoardGameSaturday my shelves dispense Sun Tzu. A friend introduced me to this 2-player area majority game. I don't remember exactly how it plays but I do remember that I immediately bought my own copy, so it must be good.

061

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday we pull The Orange Box! As I understand it, the draw was meant to be the Half-Life 2 chapter included, but by the time I bought it a year or two later this mini-collection was already known primarily for being the way to access surprise hit Portal

0315

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Some games I'm considering playing in October

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I mentioned this somewhere online recently, and stumbled across it again just now. Wacky events in the board game Duel of Ages II

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Next finish is Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain I first started this in around 2000 but never actually finished it. It's aged surprisingly well, wonky cutscenes and long inventory loading aside. It's a 2D action-adventure with a proto-Diablo fantasy-horror atmosphere and a surprisingly eccentric story

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Meanwhile #RandomBoardGameSaturday brings us Burano Set in Venice, Burano uses these big chunky cubes for everything. You make a pyramid of them to select your actions, and you put them on the board to make houses. Novel idea but turned out to be not very colourblind-friendly

152

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It's #RandomGameSaturday and we draw Super Smash TV on the Master System The 'super' amuses me here because it's so associated with SNES games. I don't think I've played this version but I assume it uses the same notorious two-controller setup as the NES

2211

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Played this board game tonight and I was highly amused that in place of the usual cubic resources like wood and stone we had lemons and pancakes. It wasn't even a humorous game; we were becoming pancake barons with straight faces

100

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is one of the more bullshit sections of Blood Omen

001

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Imagine how alarming it must be to wander in from the next room and see a wolf the size of a small horse sucking a stream of blood out of someone's face from 8 feet away

001

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'd forgotten about the "oh please help me, kind sir" thing

010

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It isn't October yet, but close enough I think

120

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It must be autumn if my Killer Frequency shirt is showing its face (chest?)

001

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Next finish: Hitman 2 (replay) Mechanically builds a bit on the previous game, with some new twists on the missions, but narratively it rushes along and ends up feeling a bit awkward. Still a great game, but the storytelling is clumsy.

200

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Meanwhile #RandomBoardGameSaturday gives us Tiny Stellar Empires, which sounds like it would be a compact 4X game but is more of a scrappy "try to collect cards faster than the other player can blow them up" thing. It's fine.

020

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday we get Perfect Dark Zero This game has a bad reputation but it's not actually that dreadful, it's just a mediocre game that doesn't resemble Perfect Dark at all

1221

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Next finish is Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner Mars Odd game. Decent zoomy mech combat but the story feels rushed despite how simple it is, with a lot of unearned attempts at stakes/emotion. Fun game overall but feels like it needed longer in development. Also, the last boss is annoying.

110

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

That is some Metal Gear Solid dialogue right there

220

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Happy second birthday to the most eye-scouring cookie opt-out popup I've ever seen. It's like a solar eclipse.You can't opt out of the cookies if you can't look at it!

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Speaking of Populous, the confusingly named Reprisal Universe is basically indie Populous

010

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Next finish is Match: Isekai Journey Extremely basic and charmless match-3 game. Didn't realise it used AI art until too late. Most of the stuff described on the store and even in reviews isn't in there. (Characters? Comedic interactions?) Also absurdly easy, took about 30 mins. Don't bother.

200

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Meanwhile, for #RandomBoardGameSaturday we draw Claim Reinforcements: Mercenaries, a standalone expansion for the 2-player trick-taking game Claim Trick-taking isn't often done specifically with 2 players because it's hard to pull off. Claim is a decent effort

001

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday we pull Prototype. A friend sold this to me cheap when he was offloading his 360. I never played it. Oops

072

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Genuine question for people who know: Why are some game demos on Steam listed in the middle of the page with a big green button (pic 1) while others are an easily missed grey-blue button off to one side (pic 2)?

000

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Saw this game, Balls & Gamble, on Steam and... to a UK ear it sounds like a podcast of two Eds 😂

010

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Next finish: Hitman 2016 (replay) I've been wanting to replay this since I first played it in 2020 or so. There's something so satisfying about figuring out how to blend in and using...interesting methods...to eliminate your targets. I'm surprised there haven't been more games trying to copy it.

101

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Meanwhile #RandomBoardGameSaturday gives us Taj, a game of voting on carpet positions that's more fun than it sounds. It's also part of the Pack o' Game line, designed to be the size of a pack of gum (hence the name)

1121

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This week's #RandomGameSaturday gives us Far Cry 5, which I played entirely because one of my oldest friends grew up in Montana and she said this game is a pretty accurate representation, with some of the more cartoony aspects actually being very similar to reality 😅

040

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New skircle. Inner circle is mostly no surprises, though Ziggy has got in there very quickly since her return, and Luna has slipped out into the middle circle

020

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

And for #RandomBoardGameSaturday we get Keltis: The Card Game Reiner Knizia's games have a reputation for being dry and puzzly. That's not always fair, but it does apply here. A decent card game, just not very exciting or evocative.

020

AlanWithTea || The Indie Ocean @alanwithtea.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday we draw Red Alarm, the second consecutive VB draw and the last VB game I own! Also the only one I have in its box. I don't think I've played this, so no comment 😅

0192