The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!
The Steam Autumn Sale is upon us, and I got the biggest amount of games I’ve ever bought in a single sale: 50!
Let’s discuss UFO 50. What is your favorite game in the collection? What game did you spend most of your time on? What do you like about it? What doesn’t work for you? Feel free to share anything that comes up and react to other comments. Let’s get the conversation going!
If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).
Previous entries: Platformers, Uplifting Games, Final Fantasy, Visual Novels, Hollow Knight, Nintendo DS, Monster Hunter, Persona, Monkey Island, 8 Bit Era, Animal Crossing, Age of Empires, Super Mario, Deus Ex, Stardew Valley, The Sims, Half-Life, Earthbound / Mother, Mass Effect, Metroid, Journey, Resident Evil, Polybius, Tetris, Telltale Games, Kirby, LEGO Games, DOOM, Ori, Metal Gear, Slay the Spire
I’ve only just started today, so these are my first impressions of the initial 10 games:
- Barbuta: such a strange little game! First impression is very hostile and strange, but it keeps luring me in with it’s puzzle-like complexity. Discovering new stuff in this one is super satisfying.
- Bug Hunter: seems interesting, but did not want to hurt my brain with the strategy aspect, so on hold for now
- Ninpek: precision platformer auto-scroller, I am really bad at this so not really for me
- Paint Chase: amazing little game, really fun paint battler with cool powerups
- Magic Garden: this one got its hooks in me, a great twist on snake and pacman with a risk-reward mechanic. Highly recommend!
- Mortol: this is so creative! Still at the start, but using your own body as a tool to be used by your next “lives” is amazing.
- Velgress: made me think of playing Doodle Jump on my Nokia Slider phone, good times.
- Planet Zoldath: spend literally 1 minute in this, something on a planet, then my brain wanted another impulse :)
- Attactics: really cool, sort of real time strategy game. I really like it, but feel like I need to play it more to understand the strategies better.
- Devilition: chain reactions of blowing up demons! Quite a head-scratcher, but really satisfying when you start your demolition and everything goes as planned!
(edit: formatting)
Barbuta took a lot of restarts but was extremely satisfying to beat.
I read a lot about it and sounded like it would be very good stuff Bought it and played for just under 2 hours. Some games I played for quite a bit and others I just quit after like 5 minutes. Refunded.
I grew up with a NES and have played games since I was 4 so I have had my fair share of games like this but I just can’t stand these old games any more. There is nothing fun for me in them as I think they are just tedious. I don’t know, it feels like I am the only person not liking this game but that is okay. I gave it a try and really looked for something that would catch me by nope. Afterwards I have watched some streams of it and just concluded that no, even if I would have given it more time I would not have found it fun.
Nah I feel you. Grew up with the NES as well. I played for a few hours and then I bounced off it. I think I’ll play it some more at one point. I love that it exists, I love the idea of it, but playing it leaves me pretty neutral.
Exactly this. I love that it exists, that someone took a chance in making it and that it is successful. Just not for me :)
It’s a ludicrously good value, even if only half the collection lands for you. It’s awesome for the steam deck too. I’ve beaten a good chunk of the games and cherried several. While there are a handful that I would consider underwhelming, the vast majority are clever takes on one or more genres which would be standout hits if they were actually released in the 80s.
This is the only game that stood out to me in this sale, sounds like i should get it.
My goty and one of my new all time favorites. It’s the best bundle since the orange box. Every game is unique and awesome and very well thought out. These are not mini games, they are well well thought out, clever, and fun games.
Not all are for me, but I’ve had fun stumbling around each game and figuring them out. Favorites include:
-
Mini and Max
-
Party house
-
Rail heist
-
Night manor
-
Overbold
-
Warp tank
-
Mortol
Mini and Max is so strangely awesome! It didn’t have to have nearly as much content as it does. It’s huge!
-
Mortol stole my puzzle platformer idea and did a better job than I ever would have done with it. I am livid.
This post was finally the push that made me buy it, having been interested since I first heard about it. Only checked out Barbuta and Bug Hunt so far.
I’m loving Barbuta. It’s scratching that itch that only Tomb Raider 1 and Dark Souls 1 have scratched before. There’s something so weirdly cozy about this air of open hostility where the individual challenges aren’t actually hard to execute. I haven’t made it very far in yet, only found/bought three items, but I’m already in the headspace where I wanna push myself to keep replaying it until I can beat it without using any eggs and I’m not one to normally care about that sort of thing.
Bug Hunt is okay but, in terms of the framing device that this is a compilation of old games, I’m not buying it. Its mechanics and writing and tutorial pop-up windows feel distinctly like a modern indie game. Barbuta only slipped once that I’ve seen so far, with that I Wanna Be the Guy trap on the first screen.
I think that is a bit the conceit of the collection: classic games in looks / features, but taking into account the progress that has been made in game design and mechanics. I actually prefer it this way, like an alternate timeline in which computers didn’t get more powerful and people were forced to iterate on ideas within these constraints.
From the UFO 50 website:
AUTHENTIC BUT ALSO MODERN - We carefully chose what elements to modernize. Every game shares a unique 32-color palette and we took great efforts to make them look and sound like actual 8-bit titles from the 80s. On the other hand, it was important to us that UFO 50 was fun and surprising for modern players, so we chose not to limit ourselves to the genres and design conventions of the past.
They’ve said in interviews as well that they choose to view UFO soft as a game company that was very ahead of its time
Love it, would recommend to anybody. It’s got so much variety, I think anyone could find a game or two they love. I’ve got almost 150 hours in it, mostly on Party House and Campanella 2, which I’ve cherried but keep coming back to.
Absolutely the game(s) of the year for me. Some games are surprisingly long with hours of gameplay, but most are short, and with the ability to jump in and out of games at will my ADHD brain is very happy. Some games I would never have bought on their own, and them being in this little bundle means it’s easy for me to give them a chance.
I really do recommend ufo 50 to anyone who likes retro games. It’s like having a nes emulator with all the games, but with the added benefit of modern game design and a minimum standard of goodness.
Also, playing the bundle at the same time as a friend is a nice experience! You start talking about what games you’ve tried and give each other hints and stuff.
Fav games: Porgy, Avianos, Rock On! Island, Pilot Quest (time in this game passes when you play other games btw!), Grimstone (get a bank account if you get stuck), Mini & Max
Something I haven’t seen talked about too much is that there is a hidden meta-puzzle involving a hidden 51st game, and one of the fictional in-universe devs trying to catalog what happened to/at the company.
It’s not relevant to enjoying the game as a whole, but it’s interesting how deeply some of it is hidden. The official discord has folks running it all down, and FuryForged on youtube has made a 48 minute video walking through everything that’s been discovered so far.
I don’t recall the names of them all. There were a couple I bounced off of like the House Party one and the platformer with insane controls.
There were a couple that stuck with me like the Bubble Bobble soccer one, the paint racer, Bushido Ball, and the one where you make a chain reaction to blow up demons and save pilgrims.
Camouflage/Chameleon got its hooks in me though and I cherried it in just a few sessions.
Camouflage/Chameleon
yes! It’s surprisingly difficult for being such a simple concept
Ooooooo!!
I’ve never heard of this but I definitely want it now. I used to love retro game crunch. Similar idea but only 7 games. UFO 50 is right up my alley
Been taking it slow, a game a week along with the https://eggplant.show/ podcast. Up to Devilition. Very interesting take on old school games with tech limitations with a more modern sense is design. Clearly lots of inspiration from classics
if games like this are something you folks are a fan of, i guess i know where to post my next belt competition
Could you elaborate? I have no idea what you are talking about.
dm’d
