SteamWorld Dig

I played it not long ago and I already completely forgot about it. In other words, it's forgettable and unremarkable. Not bad mind you, I did finish it, but certainly not one of those top 5-star games. Sorry, really can't remember anything else! A 2.50 € purchase at most, maybe a bit more if you like platformers and other 2D games. As usual, I recomment Swapper which is better at everything.

Pros: * Simplicity. You grow into your controls gradually, just at the right pace. It's very intuitive, even after you already have multiple weapon and movement alternatives (and use them all). * The final boss fight is pretty fun! The map incentivizes you to use many of your weapons and skills: jump, run, static jump, drill, steam punch etc. Some downsides are: * you don't know if you can spend gold on "unnecessary" but quality-of-life-improvement things until the end. (The answer is likely yes, you'll have quite enough gold towards the end of the game. But it's finite and you don't know the exact amounts in advance.) * the final boss is too easy. Way too easy. I've defeated it without problems on the first try. Even though the map is fun, the difficulty of the map is not. I had a bit of a sad moment when I've realized the boss got defeated without a challenge. A definition of challenge would be dying once or twice, or actually incentivizing higher-level gear, etc. The boss can actually be defeated with just a few upgrades from mid-game. Overall 4.5/5

The game is a mix of a metroidvania and Spelunky and it plays great. The gameplay itself consists of two parts: one is collecting ore which you'll use to buy upgrades, while the second, shorter part, includes light platforming needed to progress the plot. It sounds simple, but it's enough to keep you engaged and, more importantly, it stays fun and enjoyable. The graphics aren't anything to blow you away with, but the the art style is unique and well designed, which I've always found more important than hyper realistic graphics. The sound and music are a bit simple, but that's understandable from an indie game. What's there is good however. Lengthwise, the game is on the shorter side. I've managed to beat it in 4.5 hours, which might've been 6 if I went completionist. TLDR: Pick it up on sale, it goes for $1,99. At that price, I'm sure you'll get the bang for you buck.

2d platformer where you control a robot cowboy that inherits a mine below some forgotten old west town, your mission is to dig down, fing gems, fight baddies and discover the secrets below the town, very simple, and yet very well done, is very entertaing, with a good variety of hazards and a lot of digging to do, is not particularly hard and the story is bare bones, recommended as a perfect chill game to enjoy a lazy afternoon.

I'm suddenly a SteamWorld fan thanks to this game. It's short, but it's so worth it - it's a bit Minecraft and a bit Hollow Knight, but it's more relaxing and less difficult like the former; there's limited "perfect platforming" and it's mainly about following the story as you collect and sell ore to upgrade your gear. The only "real" issue you'll come across is the default control setup which is a bit... esoteric in the modern day of WASD+LMB/RMB, but you'll run into no issues rebinding the controls, the soundtrack is just amazing, and... um... yeah. Very worth the money.