Bouncy, Bouncy

I've reached the point in the summer where things start to feel a bit...unsettled.  It's August, so summer is starting to wane and going back to school/work is ominously lurking off in the distance.  You want to make the most of what is left, but you start to feel a bit of an anxious/sad combo.  Not to mention that the state where I live has been experiencing the worst wildfire season on record--there have been 3 different major fires in the vicinity of where I live (*fortunately, nothing too close, but it has made for some very smoky skies that have limited my outdoor time).  I don't know if all of this is impacting my gaming, but I haven't felt a strong urge to play one, single game and have been shuffling between a few.  So here's what I've had on deck.

Crime Scene Cleaner

I finished up the main storyline and all the epilogue missions and decided to check out the "challenge" modes.  Yes, I said "modes" and not "mode" because there are actually two.  The first option is called "Nightmare" and basically re-imagines all the levels from the main storyline in a different form as a version of Kovalsky's own lingering doubts about his participation in all the criminal activity taking place.  Like the main story missions there are collectibles in the form of weird, record-like items to find.  Some of the nightmare levels are pretty wild--one of them has negative gravity, so all the items you touch will float up to the ceiling.  Completing each of the nightmare levels rewards special skins that can change the look of Kovalsky's base cleaning gear.

If nightmare mode isn't enough for you, there's also the "True Cleaner" mode which challenges you to re-visit the original story missions but without "cleaning sense" (an ability that highlights any objects/blood that need to be cleaned/moved).  I completed all of nightmare mode, but haven't given the true cleaner levels a try.  (For some weird reason this game was starting to make me feel a bit motion sick so I have shelved it for the time being)

Balatro

I've won a total of four times, but I just keep going back for more punishment.  I think I'm just singularly bad at building a deck around my jokers and need to keep practicing at it.  I've gotten fairly close a couple of times, but still am just losing...and losing...and losing.  If you haven't checked out this rogue-like/poker smash up, it's a lot of fun, but will slightly crush your soul.

Vampire Survivors

When I get tired of crushing failure in Balatro, I like to switch to slightly less crushing failure at Vampire Survivors.  I bought a bunch of DLC for it awhile back and haven't checked out all the different adventure modes, so I thought I would start there.  I've managed to knock out some of it, but have come up against a wall on a few levels.  For a game with such simple mechanics (kill monsters, loot crystals, upgrade items, and survive for as long as you can), it's surprisingly difficult.  If you're looking for a cheap game that is playable on basically any platform, it is a great option.

Tiny Bookshop

An iteration of my tiny bookshop.

After all the crushing failures in Balatro and Vampire Survivors, I just want to feel less...failure-y.  So, I turn to a nice comfort game in the form of Tiny Bookshop.  You play as the owner of a towable, tiny bookshop who has settled in a new town.  Your ultimate goal is to make a living selling used books, but the friendly townsfolk quickly engage you in various pursuits.  Each day you can pick a new location for your little shop (the perks of it being portable) and learn more about the town and its residents.  Each location offers up specific quests and townsfolk who you can befriend.  Throughout the day your customers will ask for recommendations of varying difficulty--some people have very specific requests while others might just want a book from a certain genre.  Correctly fulfilling these requests will result in a temporary sales boost (and, it's satisfying to get it right).  You can also purchase (or earn/find) items to decorate your shop (this includes paint colors that can be changed every day).  These items provide buffs/debuffs that can impact the types of books customers might want to buy (or other factors like customer count or number of recommendations per day).

I haven't finished Tiny Bookshop yet, but it's a very cute game.  Running the shop is fun, but there's also a cast of townsfolk to befriend and a beautiful little city to learn about.  Not to mention the fun of decorating your shop.