Here we take a closer look at the Style 4 Ever Magic Clay Jewellery Maker from Canal Toys.
Create your own trendy rings, bracelets, pendants and more with the Style 4 Ever Magic Clay Jewellery Maker! This special quick-curing clay bakes in under 3 minutes using the kid-safe baking oven. Mix colours, shape your designs with the roller and tools, then add sparkle with gems! With a unique clay formula and enough materials to make up to 20 stunning pieces, it’s the ultimate DIY jewellery set for young creators.
Features
CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE: Design rings, bracelets, pendants, and more using a unique, quick-curing clay formula.
READY IN UNDER 3 MINUTES: Bake your creations in the kid-safe oven—fast, fun, and perfect for repeat play!
MIX, SHAPE & SPARKLE: Choose from 5 colours (or mix your own), shape with tools, and decorate with gems.
MAKE & SHARE: Create up to 20 stunning jewellery pieces to wear, gift, or trade with friends.
ALL-IN-ONE KIT: Comes with everything kids need for hours of fun, creative jewellery making.
What’s in the box?
1 3-in-1 Jewellery Maker
5 Bags of Magic Clay
6 Moulding tools
2 Foil Pots
3 Bags with decorations
1 Transfer sheet
2 Bags with beads
2 Threads
3 Tutorial sheets
1 Instruction
The Style 4 Ever Magic Clay Jewellery Maker from Canal Toys is available now priced around £22.99 and can be purchased from Smyths Toys and will make a great Christmas present for someone!
Fruitbus is cosy, simple, and relaxing. These are the perfect ingredients if you don’t wish to think about too much while wasting an evening at your computer. Though it lacks depth, you will not be tested, and the game does not penalise you for taking your time. Moreover, the story is wholesome, cute, and hard to ignore. However, the core concept is occasionally flawed, and this was a shame.
This cooking life sim was developed by Krillbite Studio and published by Silver Lining Interactive. It is a single-player game that encourages you to explore and make the most of your surroundings. Additionally, there are some elements of customisation, 3 large areas to explore, and plenty of locals to help and interact with. As such, though it is rudimentary, there is plenty to keep you busy.
Fruitbus tells a heartwarming tale.
Loss of a loved one is always an emotive element to any entertainment plot. Fruitbus utilises this heartstring-pulling idea at every opportunity. Cutscenes highlight how much the protagonist meant to their late grandmother. Furthermore, leaving the hero her pride and joy to honour her life is enough to bring a tear to your eye.
This is the core idea that runs through every element of the game. You must drive your grandmother’s food van to each of the key areas in the Gustum archipelago. This colourful, tropical area is filled with interesting individuals who touched your grandmother’s life. Her final wishes are for them to meet and celebrate her existence. However, things aren’t so simple, as they didn’t always see eye to eye.
Exploration is key.
Exploring the large and colourful world is key if you wish to make the most of this relaxing game. Hidden ingredients, new characters, and plenty of activities await. Additionally, there are platform-lite moments to keep things from becoming stale. As you explore the world, you’ll find new ingredients to create tasty and exciting dishes.
These dishes must be used to wow individuals and expand your arsenal of cooking utensils. On top of this, you must complete an array of quests if you are to bring everyone together and fulfil your grandmother’s wishes. Thankfully, there are no time constraints, and any quest can be completed in any order. Yes, there are certain tools that must be obtained to visit certain areas, but this is pretty self-explanatory and nothing to worry about.
Fruitbus looks simple but wholesome.
Though Fruitbus has rudimentary graphics, I liked the amusing touches and the interesting characters. Texturally, it will not blow you away, but I didn’t care. I like the vibrancy, the blend of soft and sharp tones, and the pleasant level design. Furthermore, the use of platforming moments, hidden items, and new tools adds depth and a 3D element to the action.
The audio is soft, calm, and a pleasure to listen to. Everything about this game is relaxing and easy. This is a pleasant change from aggressive racing games, OTT shooters, or never-ending sports games. As such, though it may be a break from the norm, it is a nice change of pace.
Simple controls.
The cooking elements are a little tricky to master. The game doesn’t do a great job of highlighting key instructions, and this was frustrating. Had things been clearer, the game would have flowed better. Other than this, Fruitbus is relatively straightforward and a joy to play. I like the mixture of ideas, and each core element was well-conceived.
Exploring the world and completing every task isn’t the most challenging of jobs. Additionally, once you tackle everything at hand, there is little reason to return. Luckily, the cutscenes and the story are captivating, but I can’t see myself returning once I publish this review.
Fruitbus is nice in short bursts.
Fruitbus is fun, relaxing, and nice in short bursts. Although some of the controls were a bit confusing, I think this will appeal to fans of the life simulation genre. The action is calm, and the wholesome story and pleasant visuals are safe for younger players. Furthermore, there are some hidden elements, interesting characters, and a relatively large world to explore. Therefore, I recommend buying it here! Can you fulfil your grandmother’s wishes? Explore the island, bring together the locals, and breathe life into the Fruitbus.
Mastering intricate skills requires more than raw talent or endless practice sessions. Success comes from understanding how to present new information in ways that align with natural brain function. When students tackle complex gaming systems, their minds work best with structured progression rather than information overload. Training professionals have documented that learners who build solid foundations show remarkable improvement compared to those who attempt comprehensive mastery immediately.
Online gaming platforms that have been tested by Card Player demonstrate this principle perfectly. These platforms guide new players through basic rules initially, then systematically introduce more sophisticated strategies. This methodology reflects how professional card players built their expertise through structured, methodical progression rather than attempting to absorb overwhelming information volumes simultaneously.
Working Memory and Limited Information
The human mind possesses a finite capacity for processing new information simultaneously. Attempting to learn multiple rules concurrently overwhelms our working memory systems, resulting in confusion and diminished retention capabilities. This represents normal cognitive functioning rather than any intellectual limitation.
Students who receive bite-sized rule portions show measurably better performance than those who face comprehensive rule sets immediately. The brain allocates its processing resources more effectively when concentrating on mastering individual concepts before introducing additional elements. This concentrated attention strengthens neural pathway formation, which translates into more dependable recall during actual gameplay or performance scenarios.
Complex rule interactions become clearer when students understand individual components first. Rather than trying to comprehend how multiple rules affect each other simultaneously, learners can build these connections gradually as their foundational knowledge solidifies. This sequential building prevents the mental fog that often accompanies information overload.
Foundation Skills and Advanced Concepts
Basic rule mastery operates almost like muscle memory. When these fundamentals reach automatic levels, they liberate mental resources for higher-level strategic thinking. Professional players across various fields exemplify this phenomenon consistently. Their foundational skills run so smoothly that they can dedicate full attention to strategy, adaptation, and complex decision-making.
Students who struggle with basics cannot focus properly on advanced techniques because their minds remain occupied with elementary concerns. Conversely, those who have internalized fundamental rules can engage with sophisticated concepts immediately. This creates a compounding effect where learning accelerates as foundational skills strengthen.
Fluency with basic elements correlates directly with advanced performance capabilities. Research demonstrates that students who achieve automatic recall of fundamental rules progress through advanced material considerably faster than peers who continue processing basic information consciously.
Structured Learning Builds Confidence
Gradual rule introduction creates multiple opportunities for learner success, which builds sustained confidence. Early victories establish positive learning patterns and encourage continued engagement. Students experiencing frequent success maintain higher motivation levels and show greater persistence when facing challenging material.
Error prevention becomes much easier when rules are introduced systematically. Students make fewer fundamental mistakes because they have solid grounding in each concept before moving forward. Correcting errors becomes simpler too. Instructors can identify precisely where understanding falters and address specific knowledge gaps. Sequential learning additionally prevents the development of counterproductive habits or misinterpreted rule applications.
When students receive too much information simultaneously, they often develop workarounds or shortcuts that seem logical initially but create problems later. Systematic introduction helps students develop proper understanding from the beginning.
Implementation Strategies
Effective rule breakdown follows dependency patterns. Simpler rules that form the foundation for more complex ones come first. Each learning segment remains small enough for students to master within a reasonable timeframe, typically requiring multiple practice sessions before introducing new elements.
Feedback becomes crucial at every stage. Students need clear indicators that they have truly grasped each rule before advancing. This might involve demonstration, testing, or practical application under supervision. Without this verification step, gaps can develop that undermine later learning.
Support systems work best when they gradually decrease. Initial learning might include extensive examples, guided practice, and instructor assistance. As competence grows, this scaffolding gets removed systematically, helping students develop independence while maintaining confidence. This transition from supported to autonomous learning mirrors how professionals develop expertise in their respective fields.
Blockchain games (also known as crypto games or Web3 games) are a fairly recent gaming innovation. Rather than rewarding players with in-game currencies and items, these games reward players with actual cryptocurrency and NFTs. This essentially allows players to earn money by playing games!
There are already quite a few different blockchain games for players to choose from. This post takes a look at five of the most popular titles in the genre (the ‘blockbusters’ of blockchain gaming) and what these games involve.
How do blockchain games work
Blockchain games require you to have a crypto wallet set up. This allows you to accept crypto payments and NFTs. The games offer the option to buy tokens and NFTs – which is how they make their money. Transactions are all recorded on a super-secure digital ledger called a blockchain. By using a block explorer as a service you can check and confirm transactions.
The 5 biggest blockchain games
Axie Infinity
Inspired by Pokemon, Axie Infinity allows you to collect, breed and battle cute monsters called Axies. The thing that sets it apart is that each Axie is essentially an NFT that has real-world value. Some players have made a lot of money by breeding and selling rare Axies (although the 2022 crypto crash made this less lucrative). The updated version Axie Infinity: Origins meanwhile offers free starter Axies, so you no longer have to invest money up front to play. It is often regarded as one of the best blockchain games offering a lot of replayability and consistent updates.
Gods Unchained
Gods Unchained is a free-to-play trading card game where you build decks and duel opponents (think Heartstone, but with a blockchain twist). Every card you collect is minted as an NFT. This has created a market outside the game for buying and selling Gods Unchained cards. Winning matches in the game meanwhile earns you real crypto in the form of GODS tokens. The game has built a loyal community, however some players have criticized it for being a little clunky.
Off The Grid
Produced by Gunzilla Games, Off The Grid is a cyberpunk battle royale game that allows you to win GUNZ crypto through gameplay. NFTs are also integrated into the game in the form of weapons, skins and in-game assets. Currently the game is still in its ‘beta’ phase, and there have been concerns over whether a full version will ever be released, however in its current form it is still a very easy game to get hooked on.
Decentraland
Decentraland could be better described as a social virtual reality platform. It’s kinda what Facebook’s Metaverse was aiming for, but it’s a decentralised version that has been built by the players. Based in the fictional world of Genesis City, players have the option to buy virtual real estate, invest in virtual clothing and attend virtual events with an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency called MANA. Digital land within the game appreciates in value just like real land, while celebrities like Paris Hilton and Deadmau5 have hosted exclusive concerts and fashion shows within the game.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a voxel-based world-building game that is similar to Minecraft but powered by a blockchain. User-generated content can be created, played and monetised using SAND tokens. The game has a large engaged community and has a vibe that feels similar to old MMORPGs. Major brands and celebrities like Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead and Adidas have previously created partnerships leading to some interesting themed experiences within the game.
When I first booted up Rally Arcade Classics, I was expecting to be transported back in time. Within minutes of playing, I felt the same rush I used to get sitting cross‑legged in front of my dad’s PlayStation 1, clutching a clunky grey controller, grinding through pixelated dirt tracks in old rally games. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn Rally Arcade Classics was a remaster or remake of one of those forgotten PS1 rally titles. And I am all for it.
If someone told me it was a remake, I would believe them.
The game leans heavily into retro design. From the blocky menus to the bold fonts, from the slightly jagged car models to the exaggerated dust clouds, everything screams late ’90s. But it’s not trying to parody or make fun of that era, it embraces it. There’s a sincerity to how Rally Arcade Classics presents itself, almost like the developers dug up a half‑finished PS1 game, polished it slightly, and shipped it.
For players who grew up on Colin McRae Rally, V‑Rally, or even arcade racers like Sega Rally Championship, this game scratches an itch you probably forgot you had. The cars feel light yet grippy, the tracks have that mix of realism and arcade sensibility, and the soundtrack keeps your foot tapping even when you’re skidding into a snowbank.
On paper, Rally Arcade Classics is generous. It offers 44 cars spanning decades of rally history and 48 tracks across varied environments. You start small, racing in a little “Kopper” that’s clearly a cheeky nod to the Mini Cooper, and gradually unlock bigger, faster machines. There’s a license system that gates progression, making you prove your skills before you get access to the heavy hitters. It’s a nice throwback to when games made you earn the right to play in the big leagues.
Repetitive? Yes. Addictive? Very.
The modes are also plentiful: Tour, Rally, Arcade, Chrono, and Licenses, plus rotating weekly and monthly events. On the surface, it’s everything you could ask for. But once you’ve played a handful of events, you start to realize there isn’t much variety in how they’re structured. Most of the modes boil down to re‑running similar stages under slightly different rules. It’s the kind of grind that was common in older games, and while it feeds into the nostalgic vibe, it can also test your patience if you’re used to modern rally titles with richer career modes.
Driving feels responsive, leaning more toward the arcade end of the spectrum than full simulation. Cars are easy to pick up and drive, but hard enough to master that you’ll want to chase better times. Surfaces matter, you’ll notice the difference between dirt, tarmac, and snow. However the handling never bogs you down with punishing realism. It hits a sweet spot: challenging without being frustrating.
The gameplay aside from the licenses really reminded me of Trackmania. Although you won’t be racing across insane ramps in the sky you will find yourself competing with players in the leader-boards. While I was progressing through on of the events I noticed I was close to top 100 and knew exactly which corner slowed me down. After a few restarts it felt so good to get into the top 80’s. All the game modes will give you something in return such as unlocking new cars in arcade mode or earning big bucks in Rallies to buy them. But the main gameplay loop for me was the addictiveness of shaving off a few seconds of my time.
The Conclusion
Rally Arcade Classics is a love letter to a bygone era of rally games. It’s not going to compete with the likes of DiRT Rally 2.0 or WRC Generations in terms of depth, realism, or production values. But it doesn’t need to. What it offers is a trip back in time, to a period when racing games were about unlocking cars, memorizing tracks, and shaving seconds off your time rather than managing tire compounds or fine‑tuning suspension settings.
If you grew up in the PS1 era, this game will feel like coming home. The grind, the repetition, the slightly janky presentation, they’re all part of the package, for better or worse. And while those elements may frustrate newcomers, for me it only amplified the nostalgia. It really does feel like a lost classic dusted off and somehow still works.
At its asking price, you’ll want to consider how much patience you have for repetition and how much value you place on nostalgia. But for players like me, who remember sneaking in rally sessions on my dad’s PlayStation, Rally Arcade Classics is more an addicting warm feeling.
The roguelike genre has been present in video games for many years, and since 2011, its presence has become more, and in recent years, its presence has been more than ever, and wonderful games like Hades have been released in this genre and have managed to achieve success and become popular with many fans.
While this genre is more popular with more professional players, the developers have always tried to make it playable for other players while maintaining the difficulty of the genre.
Combining the anime style with roguelike is definitely interesting and exciting for many, so when they see a game like Scar-lead salvation in the store, they will definitely be curious to research it and play it.
Scar-lead salvation was developed by Compile Heart and Neilo and published by Idea Factory International, and you can call it an AA game.
STORY
The story begins when the main character wakes up in a military facility and an AI talks to her. As you move forward, you find out that you have amnesia and that this is a military facility.
The main character of the game starts asking questions to this AI, and almost all of her questions go unanswered.
Most of the dialogues in this game end with the Protagonist telling the AI that it is useless. The dialogues are very dry and bad.
After moving forward and talking, you learn about the events in the outside world, and the story progresses with the half-hearted and incomplete explanations of the AI that acts as your guide, and there is almost no other storytelling other than this.
The story is completely predictable and has no excitement or interesting twists. It takes about 7 to 8 hours to finish the main story.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is as simple as possible and there is nothing interesting or creative about it, you can pick up two weapons, upgrade them or swap them for other weapons, apart from the weapons there are also exo skills that you keep after dying.
At first you only have one exo skill and then the number of them increases they are your passive skills like increased defence increased time to dodge and many more skills that you can upgrade by picking the same skill up again.
when you dodge successfully, open boxes or kill enemies a bar will fill up and then you can activate onslaught mode which makes you invincible for a limited time.
The gameplay of the game can easily become repetitive after half an hour and makes you just skip rooms to get to the boss fights, the low variety of enemies, the unattractive loot you get from the boxes, the repetitive level design and the simplicity of the fights makes you skip non-boss fight sections.
Boss fights are the most interesting part of the game, they are challenging, well designed, and really exciting.
VISUALS
Visually, this game is a disaster. Empty rooms with no art design, poor quality textures, very similar areas, not good at all, the only difference between the rooms is the different floors, which are the same as the previous floors, only with thin layers of ice or fire on them.
There is no reload animation in a shooter game! The character just puts his hand on the gun and you wait a few seconds and the gun reloads!
Even indie games with very, very low budgets offer you visuals that are many times better than this game.
CONCLUSION
This game, priced at $60, is not even close to an indie game in terms of visuals, story, gameplay, or even story length. The only positive thing about the game is its boss fights, but it still costs $60, while maybe $10 would be a better price. I do not recommend this game at all, especially at its current price.
Dying Light: The Beast brings to mind that old debate about surviving in the zombie apocalypse. Personally, I’m always reminded of a scene from Stephen King’s The Stand, where upon the fall of the world, a man attempts to start his backup generator and is immediately fried. That’d be me. I’d spend years building the perfect underground zombie bunker, only to start Z-day by slipping on the ladder rungs and cracking my head open on the floor. Given that I’m also not very good at parkour and don’t have many heavy implements to hand, I’d say my prospects aren’t great.
Certainly couldn’t hold a candle to Kyle Crane, returning Dying Light protagonist. Kyle caused a bit of musing for me. My only previous experience with the series is the original Dying Light, and the question that hung over my time with Dying Light: The Beast was: how were they going to make it stand out? I was waiting throughout for the shoe to drop; for something big to happen to make The Beast feel original. It didn’t really come. The result being that while Dying Light: The Beast is fun, it’s much the same fun that we’ve all had before.
Run, Jump & Punch
I’m going to flip my usual review script with Dying Light: The Beast, and talk about the gameplay first before I dig into the plot. If you’ve played the original Dying Light, you’ll know what to expect. Things are roughly split between combat and parkour. Melee combat remains excellent, with blows landing with satisfying weight. There’s a big range of melee weapons of different sizes. I spent a long time using big axes, as they could satisfyingly cleave zombies in twain. Even the kicks feel powerful. You can tell Techland have had three games to refine this.
Zombies do feel a bit grabbier than before, though. I barely used the power attacks of the bigger weapons, as I’d get pulled into a toothy cuddle before Kyle had finished winding up. Still, the frantic feeling of the combat suggests that you’re mostly supposed to run away. Hence the parkour, which remains fun, and feels fluid to control. Jumping across rooftops is an absolute joy. Especially at night, where the big scary zombies come out. Flinging yourself off rooftops in the dark, while hearing zombies scrabbling after you, is exhilarating. Though I like it a lot less when the city spills out into The Beast‘s open world of forests and fields, where it dissolves into following a series of white-painted ledges.
The main addition to this gameplay is the titular beast mode. Kyle Crane’s been through some serious stuff. As a result, when a meter fills he can go nuts for a minute, massively increasing his damage. It is quite entertaining to go crazy on a horde of annoying zombies, though it does rather dent the ‘horror’ aspect of things. Another, smaller, addition I liked are the ‘Dark Zones’. Shops and other buildings that have been shuttered off, leaving them as gathering points for special zombies. They contain great loot, however, so they become mini stealth challenges, that only occasionally ended in me throwing Molotov cocktails at everything.
Built To A Blueprint
So, Dying Light: The Beast is alright. It’s good. But so are cheese sandwiches, and I don’t wake up thinking about them. By which I mean, Dying Light: The Beast is fundamentally uninteresting. Take the plot. Kyle Crane is captured and taken to Castor Woods, where he’s experimented on for years. Eventually, he breaks free and vows revenge on his captor, the Baron. The Baron is a nutcase, trying to mutate a race of super zombies. Guess what he does to himself at the end of the game? Oh, and his motivation? ‘Power’. 99% of the human race is dead, and the other 1% is hiding in cupboards eating old tins of spam, so I’m not sure what he’s trying to gain here.
It’s a tired and formulaic plot. Formulaic’s a good word, actually. The Beast doesn’t seem to want to try anything original. Take the boss fights. To power himself up, Kyle hunts out a succession of mutated zombie bosses. Three of these turn out to be big, muscly dudes who charge at you. One of which becomes a recurring enemy. Two more are nearly identical screaming women who jump at you. It’s like it’s reading straight from a ‘Zombie Game For Dummies’ book. Then the game dissolves slowly into an FPS as more of the Baron’s troops take over the land, de-emphasising the excellent melee combat.
It’s extra frustrating as there are occasional sparks of good ideas, that are quickly swept away. Kyle is said to be part zombie, and I assumed the plot would be about him wrestling with his identity, or his inner urge to act infected. But no, he feels like classic Kyle, if a little angrier. There’s even a group of people keeping the infection at bay with mushrooms, but they look (aside from spooky eyes) and act just like regular people. Except with telepathy, I guess. There are even hints of real creativity. There’s one off-hand remark about how the virus is mutating, and infecting non-human hosts. With the example being a tree. That’s fascinating, and so is quickly glossed over.
Dying Light: The Beast – Fun, But Formulaic
This formulaic feeling saturates the entirety of Dying Light: The Beast. Most sidequests, despite their potentially interesting premises, are just retrieving items from set locations, or climbing a specific thing. And, of course, we need to collect a ton of generic crafting materials to keep our gear at a high enough level. It’s at such a level that when I saw that cars were commonplace (which is used as an excuse to remove fast travel), I knew immediately that I’d be getting a racing sidequest coming in. And lo was it so.
The end result is a game that was entertaining at the time, but is already slipping out of my memory even as I go over my notes. I do like it a bit more than its contemporary, Dead Island, because the excellent melee and parkour remains fun. But it doesn’t really feel like an evolution over the first Dying Light. There are better places that the series could have gone than this, is my point. It even takes the sting out of its own scary night sections by placing a safe zone every ten feet. I don’t want Dying Light as a series to stop, as it’s still fun, but if it wants to remain in the zeitgeist then it needs to freshen up, before it rots away for good.
Running a store for your niche hobby can be hard, but Supercar Collection Simulator captures what it would be like to run such a store. You run a small start-up business where you sell toy cars and toy car-related accessories. Much of the gameplay is managing your business by making orders on products, setting prices, and satisfying customers. Along with that, there’s also a collecting aspect to the game where you build up your car collection and use them for racing.
The Gameplay Loop
Starting out, you own a small store with nothing inside but a register and some shelves. The main tool you’ll be using for just about everything in the game is a tablet. There, you can make orders for products, check reviews, hire workers, and expand your store. The many proponents of all of those things I mentioned are, of course, money. Balancing your spending is crucial to advancing your store as well as keeping up to date on bill payments. There are many factors to take into account with spending and earning money. For one, certain products may be in more demand than others. You can find this out based on what customers are saying in your store and the market price tracker for individual items. Along with knowing the market price, it’s important to know when to when and what items should have their prices marked up or down. If items are too expensive, less people will show up or not purchase that particular item. If it’s too low, you’d be earning money at a very slow rate or even selling those items at a net loss. These factors are important to helping your store grow and keeping up on payments.
Collect n’ Battle
If you feel that the responsibilities of managing a brick and mortar store are too repetitive, this game lets you collect, sell, and race the cars that you pull. Obtaining cars is as easy as opening up a pack from your store’s inventory or going to the singles market across from your shop. Cars will be permanently marked in your collection, but if you receive a duplicate, you can either use those cars to race NPCs or players or you can sell them. As a bonus to pulling cars, there are card packs you can also open. These cards are used for racing battles as they have unique effects that can change the outcome of a race. While fun, it’s not always ideal to invest a lot of time in collecting. You still have a store to run, even when you have workers helping out.
Blandness of Visuals
Upon looking at the game’s visuals, it’s not hard to tell that it is quite rough looking. I understand that there are many games out there made by indie developers that look similar to this game. But, it’s worth pointing out those visual details as games such as this one can look like a total asset flip. It could be a stylistic choice, but a lot of the hair on the NPCs look like they mash several different hairstyles onto their models.
Just to get this out of the way, but this game uses AI-generated images for most of its 2D assets. This is also true for the cover art on the Steam page as well as for other games the devs have developed. Whether that affects how you feel about purchasing a game, but I can understand how some would turn their nose away from games that use generative AI art. I wouldn’t say this puts down the overall quality of the game, but this adds to this game’s visual blandness.
Conclusion
Playing through this game, I am reminded of a similar game that came out last year. That being TCG Card Shop Simulator. The concept of a store management game isn’t new, but both games share that similarity and that you sell items of a specific hobby. While the gameplay loop was enjoyable, it sort of wears at a certain point. Sure, I’m making a lot of progress in improving my store, but it feels like a lot of the same for each in-game day. There doesn’t seem to be any unique events or changes throughout the days. Because of this, the game loses steam and ends up being very repetitive. As of writing this, the game is still receiving updates, so there may end up being improvements to the game.
Man I love the classic Castlevania games. Sure, they’ve a bit before my time (I’m a 1999 baby), but as someone who spent a good amount of my formative years consuming retro video game reviews on YouTube and dabbling into dodgy emulators, those pixelated relics may just be as nostalgic to me as to any 80s kid. And I don’t need to tell you about the influence that Symphony of the Night had on the industry; it only had a subgenre named in its honour. Chronicles of the Wolf aims to emulate the look and feel of these classics, not only with a PSX inspired look and sound, but also they’re design and mechanics. It’s not a new concept in the indie scene, the initially crowdfunded series Bloodstained released to rave reviews from critics and Metroidvania fans alike. In this regard, Chronicles isn’t anything new or groundbreaking, but it will act as a cosy game for longtime fans of the genre.
Mateo Lombardo, an apprentice of the Knights of the Rose Cross Order, sets out with his fellowship to Southern France to slay the Beast of Gevaudan, a real life mythical creature which was apparently responsible for several grisly slaughters in the 1760s. On arrival, his fellow knights are slain, leaving Mateo stranded alone in this foreign land, the last apprentice of his order. His only objective now? Slay the Beast’s many apostles and avenge his comrades with the blood of the Wolf. It’s as simple as that, and that’s all you really need. Objective Good vs Demonic Evil; it’s delightfully tropey and faithfully echoes the Belmont’s never ending war against Count Dracula. It’s 90s dark fantasy, deadly serious and yet terribly camp.
Its aesthetics and sound design are certainly on point, not just in the stellar pixel art we come to expect in projects like this, but even down to the early CD-quality compression crunch of its audio. When you land a hit on an enemy, you really feel it. Voice acting is wonderfully wooden, the opening narration sounds as if it was delivered by a guy who really wants to be anywhere else and the shopkeepers around the world utter the same slightly clipped voice line every time you visit. This is all by design of course, emulating that awkward transitional stage when games were really trying hard to be cinematic, despite the limitations. And music, man, the music; it’s awesome and exactly what you’d expect. My personal highlight; the sweet melody that plays in villages that really reminds me of the opening to Stairway to Heaven.
Y’know its strange, I have no actual memories for this era of gaming (I wasn’t even born yet), and yet playing titles such as Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy VII, both of which I only played for the first time in recent years, I am met with an intense melancholy, a twinge of longing nostalgia for a period I never even inhabited. Chronicles also evokes this in me; but there’s an even stranger degree of separation when you think about it. I am getting nostalgia for nostalgia for something I never personally experienced.
Anyway, our Belmont stand-in, Mateo, is a very obvious tribute/knock off of Richter from Dracula X, bandana and sleeveless tunic included. Personality wise, the hunk doesn’t have much going on behind the eyes; he has no spoken dialogue, no inner monologue and certainly no conflict about what he’s doing. Is he sad over the death of his fallen comrades? There’s no time, he has a foul beast to slay. If you ask any retro gamer, chances are this is the kinda protagonist they like, a macho meathead who wouldn’t look out of place in an 80s action flick. Mateo’s story is a case where gameplay speaks louder than words, his growth not broadcast through retrospection but rather his new ability to double jump and air dash.
On the topic of gameplay, it’s exactly what you’d expect, I actually don’t have a lot to say. Anyone familiar with old school ‘Vania will feel right at home from the opening level, no need to adjust to the game feel. If I had to compare it to any game, I’d say playing as Richter in Symphony of the Night. Mateo’s not as dynamic or responsive as Simon in Super Castlevania IV or quite as acrobatic as Alucard in Symphony. Mateo’s jumps are stiff, but no one near as rigid as the NES titles, with some wiggle room midair. Of course, the more you progress the more upgrades you get to your moveset, sliding, double jumping airdashing; the usual. My biggest gripe is that despite the stunning sprite work, the animation quality lags behind even the older 32 bit titles; Mateo isn’t quite as visually fluid as Alucard, emphasising the stiffness.
And with these retro throwbacks comes the annoyances of old game design ; archaic oddities like aerial enemies with wiggly movement patterns, convoluted button combinations for alternate attacks. Are they here? Of course they are. Despite every modem controller having four shoulder buttons, we’re still left dealing with combing Up and the attack button for a special attack. C’mon now. Adding to this, we also have various magic and companion attacks that require pressing Up and a different face button, that button also doing something completely different when pressed in isolation. Combined with the fact that none of the modern controllers have good D-Pads, and you’ll likely end up activating your companion ability when you’re trying to swap through. My last gripe is petty; Mateo has a sword and not a whip. That’s fine, I get it. But the whip is just way cooler, and has a much greater use case because of its range. You have some leeway with the weight of different weapons affecting the swing and range, but when you’re trying to simultaneously fight bats and jump across ropes in a narrow sewer, you get some classic old school frustration.
Uniquely, Chronicles takes inspiration from the infamous Simon’s Quest and sets a large portion of the game in the villages and countryside of the land. Don’t fret, there’s no abominably translated dialogue or inanely cryptic gameplay progression, and it provides a nice change of pace from the usual Castle Dracula/ equivalent (though if you do miss them, the latter part of the game largely has you plunging familiar labyrinths and dungeons). You can talk to literally any villager NPC as well, granted not all of them have much to say, but you can accept a few side quests; though they usually boil down to go here, kill this dude and collect a trinket.
Being an old school metroidvania, expect to do a lot of backtracking, and expect to not always know where you’re exactly supposed to be going. The map system is functional, but lacks the waypoint system you’d expect in modern titles in the genre, so maybe don’t be ashamed to look up a guide to find some of the necessary upgrades that are stored in some back corner of the map you forgot existed. You probably love these quirks, and you might even be looking for them. Rest easy, they’re all here.
Chronicles of the Wolf is a damn good time and it’s exactly what you’d expect. I’ve repeated that phrase a few times now, but only because it’s so objectively true. Like tribute bands and movie tropes, we need a touch of the old school to remind us how far we’ve come and how much fun we’ve had along the way. If you know what you’re doing, you can breeze through in 5 hours, but it’s just difficult enough to provide a decent length on a first play through, owing to some pretty tricky boss fights that just about avoid being annoying.
There’s a few different endings (one of which is played for laughs and you can reach about 25% in) that depend on your completion status and certain choices, but it’s altogether a pretty simple and unpretentious experience. For veteran monster slayers this is good comfort food, a pork chop hidden inside a wall if you will. While it’s sitting on the store next to modern critically acclaimed ‘Vanias like the recently released Silksong, at just £16 it’s an easy recommend, and is sure to take you back to the past, but not to play the sh***y games that suck ass.
Got a need for speed? There is something so satisfying about showing off how fast your reaction time can be; and something that scratches that very part of the brain when you’re able to pull off quick maneuvers within video games. There’s nothing that combines speed and platforming quite like the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Siactro, an indie developer spearheaded by Marcus Horn, enjoys taking inspiration from classics. He has stated that he enjoys making snack-sized games that are simultaneously inexpensive yet fun and easy to play, wanting to capture the “unpolished charm” that 90s platformers typically had. His Kiwi 64 was inspired by Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie, and released on August 8th of 2025, Siactro issues another installment of their Toree series: Toree Saturn. This title is evidently influenced by the Sega Saturn. It’s a short, sweet, simple 3D-platformer that comes close to capturing the dynamism that the Sonic Adventure games had.
Toree Saturn can be played on Steam, PC, and the Nintendo Switch.
The coolest chick
Players control a little, round and yellow bird named Toree, who dotes hot pink sunglasses and a backpack. He gives off this cool, cutesy, and ultimately “good” vibe, like basic protagonist virtue signaling. He kind of reminds me of a mix between the characters Sonic and Kirby.
The plot is insanely simple and to the point. You can select the story mode to play all levels in order and watch the mini cutscenes. Once you’ve played through the levels, players have the option to freely “level select” to go back and reply certain stages at will.
The antagonist is Toree’s complete opposite: Hawkee, a pinkish bird with green shutter shades and a mohawk of the same color. He is incredibly jealous of Toree’s speed and coolness, and becomes a sore loser when Toree wins the race in the initial level. Hawkee resorts to joining a criminal organization and stealing ice cream – quite literally the worst crime ever! He then wears an evil purple cape and bears a scythe.
Oh, and at some point this shadowy, angelic humanoid of death will show up. They’re . . . a good guy.
Gotta go fast!
All 12 main levels are bite-sized and are over in a flash, unless you’re a player like me who horrifically lacks platforming precision. The goal is to make it to the end of the level as fast as you can and collect stars and ice creams along the way.
Toree can run, jump, double jump, slam downwards and briefly roll like a ball. He feels more like a bowling ball with the latter maneuver rather than the lightweight Sonic.
You are graded depending upon how fast you make it through a level and how many items are collected. Players can receive up to shiny S ranks, that is, if you are a menace. You could play like me instead and receive straight Cs on every level due to falling off the map every ten seconds!
Playing through Toree Saturn honestly takes about an hour more or less. If you collect a set amount of stars and ice creams and achieve consistently higher rankings (A or S rank), there are three bonus levels to unlock: Glamour City, Beeny World, and Kiwi World.
The Bonus Hub
A cool feature of the game is the bonus hub. There, players can do a variety of things such as the Freestyle level. In this open stage, you accrue points based on cool tricks, skateboarding-style. Players can also unlock other activities, like a Waves Race-like game and a 2D demo of a minigame featuring Pengu.
At the hub, multiple costumes for Toree can be unlocked (although changing costumes will not affect your move set). You can also roam around and talk to NPCs like Macbat.
Vaporwave manic daydream
Inspired by the 90s Sega Saturn aesthetic, Toree Saturn has a retro look and a vaporwave color palette. It is a bit much on the eyes sometimes, but very nostalgic for those 90s to early 2000s kids.
The soundtrack is phenomenal, but it can range from sounding like lounge mall music to absolute bangers. Some of the best tracks include “Blackbird Down” and “Rings of Saturn” featuring Johnny Gioeli.
Sega Saturn callback
The Bonus Hub was broken at first. When I would try to access any of the minigames, my screen would become permanently blank. As far as it goes now, the issue seems to be resolved, at least on the Nintendo Switch version.
There’s a Sega Saturn sound test machine within the hub. It does not do much, but it certainly emits blissful nostalgic feelings.
Final thoughts
I do wish that there was a bit more to this game, perhaps some more unlockable levels. It was almost too short. Otherwise, the basic nature of Toree Saturn gives off a specific charm. It is easily digestible, fun to play, cheap, and satisfying all the while. This title is definitely one of the stronger entries in Siactro’s Toree series!
