Reviewing 200 Random Buy-to-Play Steam Games [Part X: 33–21]

#33 Golf with Your Friends

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/431240/Golf_With_Your_Friends/

Mini golf games have been on the market for nearly four decades and have progressed substantially from the crude, nearly indecipherable and horrifically awkward-to-control early 80s titles. Mini golf titles often lack the polish and presentation of the big dogs of the professional golf games (i.e. PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, etc). Golf With Your Friends looks the part but with each update, somehow manages to become increasingly more bug-ridden and frustrating.

Golf With Your Friends has some stunning courses. However, it’s quite easy to get stuck on level geometry or end up having to take a shot from out-of-bounds. Playing with your friends can be frustrating as well, especially online play due to network issues.

At the time of this review, it was discovered that a recent patch incorporated spyware that when blocked, breaks the game. It definitely communicates something back to ads.t17service.com even if you opt-out of data collection. Unfortunately, I’ve already written up through #34, so we’ll place this one at #33. It’s a real shame because the underlying game is actually pretty fun!

#32 Arcane Waters

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1266340/Arcane_Waters/

It is uncertain whether this is going to be a paid or free-to-play title. When I selected it for the list, I was under the likely incorrect assumption that it would be buy-to-play. Oh well.

Arcane Waters is a pixel art MMORPG with land and sea exploration and combat, PvE and PvP activities, crafting and a variety of relaxing activities like fishing, farming, and more! I originally signed up to alpha test this game back in mid-2020 and by the timeI was finally selected to join a playtest in mid-2021, I had already assumed the game was abandoned. There’s a lot of time being put into this MMORPG and while it lacks the advanced graphics and plethora of content of larger studios, it definitely has a lot of charm and potential.

#31 Streets of Fury EX

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/350910/Streets_of_Fury_EX/

There are quite a few 2D side-scrolling beat ’em ups released over the past decade, attempting to capitalize on nostalgia and serve as homages to classic games of the childhoods of today’s senior developers. This is one of those games and despite having an art style that isn’t really my personal preference, the gameplay is actually pretty solid.

It does occasionally border into “meme game” territory, with the inclusion of certain YouTubers and professional gamers, but it’s a fairly good beat ’em up. Definitely worth the sub-$10 price tag!

#30 Poggers

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1039200/Poggers/

ZaxtorGameS is at it again, using his knowledge obtained through years of gaming and commentary, coupled with a bit of computing talent, to create a quality 2D title. It feels like a GameMaker Studio title, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The UI and art is mostly of an amateurish variety, but it’s packaged in such a way as to be cute and humorous.

The timer does seem a bit too fast on the lowest levels, but it’s possible I missed a configuration setting somewhere. Movement can be a bit awkward at times. Otherwise, this is a quality title that demonstrates what is reasonable for a new developer to create with not a lot of resources.

In a world full of sub-standard Frogger clones, this one is actually pretty good! Definitely check it out!

#29&28 3079 Block Action RPG / 5089

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/259620/3079__Block_Action_RPG/

Do you enjoy roleplaying games with procedural generation? Where it’s possible that the NPC and building placements, landmarks, and other objects are in rather unbelievable locations? This game uses procedural generation and it’s basically a crap shoot whether or not the world that’s constructed is anywhere near one that is worth exploring and roleplaying in.

However, if you do win the procedural generation lottery, the game is quite immersive. The creatures and landscape mesh together well, fitting the overall theme of a futuristic war zone of sorts. There’s a lot to explore, lots to collect, lots to build, and you improve at skills by doing instead of just applying points to a variable.

While the lack of strong lore is definitely a negative for me personally, and procedurally generated RPGs are typically uninteresting to me, this game was actually quite a bit of fun. This developer shows clear improvement from title to title and at less than $2, this is a definite bargain!

5089 is mostly just an upgraded, more polished, version of 3079. It’s the better purchase of the two titles but if you didn’t enjoy 3079, you’ll probably also not enjoy 5089.

#27 Victory Heat Rally

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1594060/Victory_Heat_Rally/

Super-scaler racing titles haven’t aged all that well, in my opinion. Pole Position still has it’s fans, as does Outrun and numerous other titles of the era. However, it definitely feels quite awkward trying to drive around a course once you’ve become accustomed to 3D racing titles.

Victory Heat Rally, at least based on the available demo, plays like a modern take on a classic racing title. It moves at a quick pace and smoothly, so corners don’t feel as artificial as numerous titles of the 80s and 90s. It’s not planned for release until “when the green flag drops” (or 2022-ish) but if the additional content is as good as what is presented here, it’s a definite hidden gem!

#26 Utopos

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1560330/Utopos/

The general consensus regarding a particular game can vary widely depending on the platform for which it was released, even if everything else is held constant. Utopos is a fine example of this: a game loved by much of the Atari VCS community, that has a small but passionate fanbase on another console yet is barely treading above 50% positive on Steam. Given other titles that are more highly rated but of lower quality, it’s somewhat baffling. However, if a multiplayer title has no human players (or not many, at least), it’s unlikely to be rated well.

The game itself is a solid top-down competitive shooter with responsive controls. It’s developed by Jani Penttinen, an industry veteran born out of the early 90s Finnish demoscene. Jani’s prior works include Utopos [Atari ST] (later released as GunTech), Supreme Snowboarding (the first snowboarding game to take full advantage of 3d graphics cards of the late 90s), The Reap, URG, and more. Jani is very approachable and discussed his history and answered a few questions of mine on Discord.

Great developer and quite a bit of fun to play, but the low population on Steam is definitely something to consider before dropping $10 on the title.

#25 Islet Online

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/428180/Islet_Online/

Islet Online is a sandbox MMORPG focused primarily on building / crafting and secondarily on exploration. It has a cute, voxel-style art direction and controls well. It has quite a bit of potential and meets most of the base requirements of what I look for in an MMORPG. If I had the time to invest in an MMORPG, this would definitely be one that I haven’t played to death that I would be willing to consider investing time into.

However, it’s a bit directionless which causes lots of players to drop out of playing and potentially leave a negative review. Having lore and a core storyline that’s optional definitely wouldn’t hurt this game. It’s also one of those “level skill X by creating tons of worthless item A, then tons of worthless item B, etc until you get to the item yoiu want” style of leveling systems. You can at least attempt to craft items you are severely under-leveled for, but your chances of failure are very high.

It has single player, so there’s some security if you want a playable game and the centralized servers go offline. The $16.99 price tag is a bit much, but the game is still regularly updated, has a small but passionate community, is quite relaxing.

#24 BROKE PROTOCOL: Online City RPG

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/696370/BROKE_PROTOCOL_Online_City_RPG/

Two open world sandbox multiplayer RPGs in a row! This one is more of a cross between Grand Theft Auto 5 multiplayer and Unturned, with quite a few impressive features. There’s are custom servers with lots of scripting, so you can customize the world and features to quite an impressive degree. For those seeking an RP-heavy experience in a GTA-style setting, this game might be for you!

However, the game is still quite bug-ridden, especially on custom servers that aren’t designed well. Official servers occasionally have unclear rules that cause issues for new players. When you have kidnapping and jail as potential outcomes, there’s the potential for player harassment.

If you can find the right group of players and enjoy scripting / designing your own maps, this might be a great purchase for you! At $4.99, it’s feature-packed and quite a bargain.

#23 Nerm the Worm

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1440780/Nerm_the_Worm/

Admittedly, I’m fairly biased when it comes to the ZaxtorGames offerings, given I know him from his YouTube channel and talking with him quite a few times. However, I’m willing to give his games the benefit of the doubt and a bump for his willingness to offer help to new indie developers and the passion for game design displayed within his titles. They are definitely unique takes on existing concepts, and Nerm the Worm is no different. It even has an elevated pitch Zaxtor voice for the voice of the worm, which is quite charming.

As far as snake games go, this is one of the better buy-to-play ones, and at a current price of $1.97 (regular price is $2.99), it’s quite a bargain. His games are always receiving updates and improve significantly over time, with new content being added regularly. It’s a shame this game hasn’t taken off more, given if 50 positive reviews are left, he’s willing to devote the extra time to add multiplayer to the game.

Quality businessman + quality game = quality purchase!

#22 Rogue Party 2

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1274980/Rogue_Party_2/

Sometimes a sequel is not an improvement, even if it’s technically superior in many areas. Rogue Party 2 has improved graphics, with considerably more definition provided to each of the creatures, landscape assets, and player character. However, the free range of moment for aiming is seemingly ditched for a more fixed camera, creating some awkwardness not experienced since playing Quake 3 Arena and returning to Doom and prior FPS titles immediately afterwards. It’s not all bad, though.

Rogue Party 2 is yet another hit by Xbox Live Indie Arcade veteran Chris Antoni, even if it fails to live up to the original. It’s another solo or co-op adventure with interesting areas to explore, challenging combat, and a story that is interesting enough to drive the content along. Definitely worth the $2.99 price tag!

#21 Bottom of the 9th

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/705020/Bottom_of_the_9th/

I know essentially nothing about the board game this is based off of, so it’s quite possible it’s a poor representation of that experience. As a game in it’s own right, it’s quite an enjoyable take on baseball, especially for those who love the mechanics and strategy of baseball but hate the actual gameplay elements of traditional video game baseball.

For 99 cents, it’s a steal! Especially if you have friends to play against!