13 Yrs♥F$✓#
I finally got around to playing through all the Itchmas games, so these are my thoughts:
(ranked in order of preference (number 1 being favourite of the group)
14: Delia: The Travelling Witch
I hate platformers, and the controls were pretty awful and floaty, so I did not like this platformer.
8:15, Retired
13: Pakke-Is
I really like the concept, but the unique controls didn't work for me and the whole experience felt clunky and slow.
15:01, Retired
12: Sheepy: A Short Adventure
I hate platformers, so this being above a game that isn't a platformer shows just how much I liked the overall visual and audio design.
17:50, Retired
11: Nightmare Kart
The amount of detail is impressive and I really like how the campaign follows the Bloodborne locations and story. At the end of the day though, it's a fairly boring and repetitive kart racer.
16:55, Retired
10: Arcane Beak
While this was a very small proof of concept, I really enjoyed the progression and gameplay. It's just a shame there weren't any twin-stick controls implemented, or this would have been even better.
11:36, Completed
9: Rental
It started strong and I enjoyed the aesthetic overall with the whole PS1 style game thing, but it was a bit janky in parts and the maze section was kind of boring.
16:03, Completed
8: | (pipe)
Fantastic concept and I loved the momentum building gameplay that encourages you to go fast and try things again and againa. Obviously a very short experience that is meant to be replayed many times. Not sure I'd play a whole game of it, but I liked what was in this little slice.
9:32, Completed about 3 or 4 runs.
7: A Good Gardener
At first I got a bit bored with this one and didn't complete it in one sitting. However, I went back the next day and finished off the story, which was well worth it. The gameplay does get repetitive and boring though, even if the overall experience is pretty good.
55:42, Completed
6: P.E. Noire
Loved this point and click, mostly because of the writing and the music. Really leans into the noir aspect of the title, and while most of the puzzles were pretty straight forward, I like that they threw in a bit of a head scratcher towards the end. Again, a very solid execution of a fun concept.
31:28, Completed
5: Creature Packets
Loved the aesthetic of this one and how grimy it felt in that little room. I'm glad the game didn't out-stay its welcome and went through each creature once, instead of more needless faffing about. I'd like to see the concept expanded into something with more depth, but as an initial taste, this was pretty rad.
18:58, Completed
4: What Never Was
Very impressive work for a simple little proof of concept, and I'm a sucker for these kinds of games anyway. I enjoyed the voice acting and the exploration elements a lot, while the puzzles were pretty straight forward.
33:17, Completed
3: LODGE
My own nomination, and happily one of my favourites as I love this kind of puzzle game where you get to explore and piece together all the bits along the way. Gave me Myst vibes, which is a very good thing... even if I needed a hint from chat =)
45:27, Completed
2: Off-Peak
I think I enjoyed this one more than anyone would possibly expect. It reminded me of games like BABBDI and Paradise Killer, which are both excellent in their own right, and this one brought about similar vibes with some cool world building and surprising moments along the way. I'm a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this to be honest.
48:10, Completed
1: The World Had Been Sad Since Tuesday
This one was probably always going to be my favourite, as it's a lovely and surreal take on a Gabriel Garcias Marquez story. That along is enough for me to fall in love with it, but I really enjoyed how the narrative played out and the simple progress through the tale. My favourite element of gaming in general is story-telling, and this was by far the best bit of story-telling this itchmas!
17:25, Completed
(ranked in order of preference (number 1 being favourite of the group)
14: Delia: The Travelling Witch
I hate platformers, and the controls were pretty awful and floaty, so I did not like this platformer.
8:15, Retired
13: Pakke-Is
I really like the concept, but the unique controls didn't work for me and the whole experience felt clunky and slow.
15:01, Retired
12: Sheepy: A Short Adventure
I hate platformers, so this being above a game that isn't a platformer shows just how much I liked the overall visual and audio design.
17:50, Retired
11: Nightmare Kart
The amount of detail is impressive and I really like how the campaign follows the Bloodborne locations and story. At the end of the day though, it's a fairly boring and repetitive kart racer.
16:55, Retired
10: Arcane Beak
While this was a very small proof of concept, I really enjoyed the progression and gameplay. It's just a shame there weren't any twin-stick controls implemented, or this would have been even better.
11:36, Completed
9: Rental
It started strong and I enjoyed the aesthetic overall with the whole PS1 style game thing, but it was a bit janky in parts and the maze section was kind of boring.
16:03, Completed
8: | (pipe)
Fantastic concept and I loved the momentum building gameplay that encourages you to go fast and try things again and againa. Obviously a very short experience that is meant to be replayed many times. Not sure I'd play a whole game of it, but I liked what was in this little slice.
9:32, Completed about 3 or 4 runs.
7: A Good Gardener
At first I got a bit bored with this one and didn't complete it in one sitting. However, I went back the next day and finished off the story, which was well worth it. The gameplay does get repetitive and boring though, even if the overall experience is pretty good.
55:42, Completed
6: P.E. Noire
Loved this point and click, mostly because of the writing and the music. Really leans into the noir aspect of the title, and while most of the puzzles were pretty straight forward, I like that they threw in a bit of a head scratcher towards the end. Again, a very solid execution of a fun concept.
31:28, Completed
5: Creature Packets
Loved the aesthetic of this one and how grimy it felt in that little room. I'm glad the game didn't out-stay its welcome and went through each creature once, instead of more needless faffing about. I'd like to see the concept expanded into something with more depth, but as an initial taste, this was pretty rad.
18:58, Completed
4: What Never Was
Very impressive work for a simple little proof of concept, and I'm a sucker for these kinds of games anyway. I enjoyed the voice acting and the exploration elements a lot, while the puzzles were pretty straight forward.
33:17, Completed
3: LODGE
My own nomination, and happily one of my favourites as I love this kind of puzzle game where you get to explore and piece together all the bits along the way. Gave me Myst vibes, which is a very good thing... even if I needed a hint from chat =)
45:27, Completed
2: Off-Peak
I think I enjoyed this one more than anyone would possibly expect. It reminded me of games like BABBDI and Paradise Killer, which are both excellent in their own right, and this one brought about similar vibes with some cool world building and surprising moments along the way. I'm a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this to be honest.
48:10, Completed
1: The World Had Been Sad Since Tuesday
This one was probably always going to be my favourite, as it's a lovely and surreal take on a Gabriel Garcias Marquez story. That along is enough for me to fall in love with it, but I really enjoyed how the narrative played out and the simple progress through the tale. My favourite element of gaming in general is story-telling, and this was by far the best bit of story-telling this itchmas!
17:25, Completed
5 Yrs✓#
NoOne
5 Yrs✓#
Beat all the itchmas games!
Here are my thoughts and rankings.
14. Pakke-Is (honorary position)
Retired
Almost unplayable. There is no mention of the KBM controls anywhere on the itch page, there isn’t a readme in the game files and the game menu only shows controls for a controller. Certain parts of the game refused to work, even after I pressed literally every key on my keyboard. It’s a shame, since I’d usually dig this sort of game, I love weird physics-based controls like Getting Over It and Jusant and I dig games that include local myths as stories, but I can’t judge something I can’t play on what it’s offering, and only of the problems I face while playing it.
13. Delia: The Travelling Witch
4/10 - 1h 35m 21s
The controls felt imprecise and floaty and the rest of the package felt uninteresting and bland. I’d forgive either of those if the other was fine, but this game under-delivers on all of its key aspects.
12. Arcane Beak
5/10 - 9m 50s
A pretty basic twin-stick shooter, standard stuff. A fun few minutes. The mouse-only control scheme was an awful idea though and I’m not sure if there’s anyone who’d prefer it to the KBM control scheme. It’s basically just mashing both the sticks of a twin-stick shooter into a single one. Why?
I also played 4 other games by the dev (Irilia, Hexblade, Delivery Quest and Ghost Hunter) and at the time I preferred Arcane Beak since it felt the most mechanically sound, but I’ve since come to like Ghost Hunter more. It’s very charming and at first, I found the gameplay weird, but it grew on me a lot by the end of my time with it.
11. Nightmare Kart
6/10 - 1h 12m - Replay, I played this back in September too. The score is from back then, the write-up’s for this playthrough.
A fun homage to bloodborne, but somehow the races felt pretty repetitive even though there weren’t a lot and enough of the arena sections were just annoying. Still a good enough first playthrough, not something I’d suggest replaying.
10. LODGE
6/10 - 19m 54s
The puzzles were fun but pretty easy, and the thing with puzzle games and me is that unless the puzzles are excellent, the downtime between figuring the solutions out and being able to execute on them is what makes or breaks an experience. The best of the genre have either such good puzzles that the high from them remains through that downtime or where the downtime is negligible or non-existent. This game had a few too many puzzles where I’d figured it out quick and then that downtime was large (the one with the glow in the dark clock letters, or the ones to do with the letter-tracing thing). Not a bad game at all, definitely above average, but it’s definitely got flaws. Also I’ve got literally no clue what the story is supposed to be.
9. Creature packets
6/10 - 17m 31s
The vibe was on point and I loved it. Sorta creepy, sorta morbid and completely out there. The concept was fascinating as hell but in the end that’s all this was, a concept.
8. What Never Was
6/10 - 21m 29s - 100% (Steam achievements)
The puzzles were fine, I preferred the ones in LODGE, but I dug the story / sequel setup. The myths it set up / borrowed from were fun to explore. Chinese, Egyptian, Hawaiian and Incan. But in the end, it’s just a demo. Though it’s been ages without a proper word from the dev about chapter 2, I’ll be looking forward to it anyways.
7. P.E. Noire
7/10 - 17m 21s
Witty, charismatic writing and the noir vibe the title promised was delivered on in a humorous manner expertly. The puzzles were fun too. BIG MILK IS OUT TO GET US ALL!!!
6. Rental
7/10 - 18m 41s - 100% (steam achievements), 2 playthroughs.
PS1-Era vibey horror collectathon. It’s basic, but the style was executed damn well and it’s short enough to not overstay its welcome (first playthrough took me just over 10 mins iirc)
5, | (pipe)
7/10 - 5m 32s (2nd playthrough, 100%) – 12 playthroughs, multiple speedruns, shortest time was 31s.
I was utterly addicted. The controls are precise and pretty much perfect. As I said, I love weird physics-y controls and this absolutely delivered. The wall-collision traversal corners were so fun. Also the palette switching was a fun gimmick. I also ended up playing TEMPRES by the same dev and got just as addicted. Solving that puzzle was probably the most fun I’ve had out of any of the itchmas games.
4. A Good Gardener
8/10 - 57m 4s
I didn’t know what I was doing until I realized that the cactuses were bombs and the bamboo shoots were spears. By then I’d gotten knee deep into it. The skyline was littered with rising smoke one day. I grew more weapons. I grew battle-axes, I grew shurikens and bombs and whatever the xenomorph-poker looking thing was. I made a friend and he wanted to talk to me. I saw clouds gathering day after day, as if they were harbingers of doom coming to wash away my entire garden. I was right in a way. We never got to talk.
"Remember to remember who you are". An excellently executed plot about war and friendship and bamboo spears and cactus bombs. The gameplay was slow, but once I was hooked it didn’t matter.
3. Sheepy: A Short Adventure
8/10 - 2h 21m 44s - 100% (Steam achievements), normal playthrough + 3 deathless speedrun attempts, successful attempt was 23m 54s.
A pretty good platformer used to deliver an ultimately very cool/fun story and a world that’s still got me thinking about what happened to it. PATCHES IS A BRO FR.
2. The world had been sad since Tuesday
8/10 - 9m 15s
I’m not really sure how to talk about this one. I think this is gonna be the “La maleta” for this itchmas. Both are games based on literary works that I only familiarized myself and fell in love with after finding the game, but that isn’t the point. Both games feel magnetic to me in the way that they portray their themes and ideas. It’s been ages since I played La maleta and I recently mentioned it in the HLTB discord. I’m 100% certain that this game is another one I’ll be thinking about for a while, even without playing it.
1. Off-Peak
8/10 - 1h 1m 31s - 100% (Steam achievements), 2 playthroughs (replay, first played in 2022).
I’ve been familiar with Cosmo-D since 2022 and his worlds are still so fascinatingly compelling to me. I used to compare them to these “Best out of waste” competitions I used to have way back in elementary school, but it’s unfair to me and all the others who participated in those to do that. I guess in the hands of a person whose skilled or creative enough, there’s no such thing as trash. Cosmo-D’s worlds radiate this scrappy charm, each corner brimming with personality, each person existing as a part of the painting they create. The music, sound effects, and just the way the world is put together like a chaotically functional art gallery, the only game I can even think of comparing his works to is BABBDI, which IMO is a certified masterpiece.
To those here that liked Off-Peak, Cosmo-D’s got 3 more (paid) games that share the same universe and protagonist (afaik) and all get progressively weirder, more creative and more unique. This game is an 8, but Tales From Off-Peak is a 9 to me. He’s also got another game in the works for a 2025 reveal acc to a comment on his steam profile.
Here are my thoughts and rankings.
14. Pakke-Is (honorary position)
Retired
Almost unplayable. There is no mention of the KBM controls anywhere on the itch page, there isn’t a readme in the game files and the game menu only shows controls for a controller. Certain parts of the game refused to work, even after I pressed literally every key on my keyboard. It’s a shame, since I’d usually dig this sort of game, I love weird physics-based controls like Getting Over It and Jusant and I dig games that include local myths as stories, but I can’t judge something I can’t play on what it’s offering, and only of the problems I face while playing it.
13. Delia: The Travelling Witch
4/10 - 1h 35m 21s
The controls felt imprecise and floaty and the rest of the package felt uninteresting and bland. I’d forgive either of those if the other was fine, but this game under-delivers on all of its key aspects.
12. Arcane Beak
5/10 - 9m 50s
A pretty basic twin-stick shooter, standard stuff. A fun few minutes. The mouse-only control scheme was an awful idea though and I’m not sure if there’s anyone who’d prefer it to the KBM control scheme. It’s basically just mashing both the sticks of a twin-stick shooter into a single one. Why?
I also played 4 other games by the dev (Irilia, Hexblade, Delivery Quest and Ghost Hunter) and at the time I preferred Arcane Beak since it felt the most mechanically sound, but I’ve since come to like Ghost Hunter more. It’s very charming and at first, I found the gameplay weird, but it grew on me a lot by the end of my time with it.
11. Nightmare Kart
6/10 - 1h 12m - Replay, I played this back in September too. The score is from back then, the write-up’s for this playthrough.
A fun homage to bloodborne, but somehow the races felt pretty repetitive even though there weren’t a lot and enough of the arena sections were just annoying. Still a good enough first playthrough, not something I’d suggest replaying.
10. LODGE
6/10 - 19m 54s
The puzzles were fun but pretty easy, and the thing with puzzle games and me is that unless the puzzles are excellent, the downtime between figuring the solutions out and being able to execute on them is what makes or breaks an experience. The best of the genre have either such good puzzles that the high from them remains through that downtime or where the downtime is negligible or non-existent. This game had a few too many puzzles where I’d figured it out quick and then that downtime was large (the one with the glow in the dark clock letters, or the ones to do with the letter-tracing thing). Not a bad game at all, definitely above average, but it’s definitely got flaws. Also I’ve got literally no clue what the story is supposed to be.
9. Creature packets
6/10 - 17m 31s
The vibe was on point and I loved it. Sorta creepy, sorta morbid and completely out there. The concept was fascinating as hell but in the end that’s all this was, a concept.
8. What Never Was
6/10 - 21m 29s - 100% (Steam achievements)
The puzzles were fine, I preferred the ones in LODGE, but I dug the story / sequel setup. The myths it set up / borrowed from were fun to explore. Chinese, Egyptian, Hawaiian and Incan. But in the end, it’s just a demo. Though it’s been ages without a proper word from the dev about chapter 2, I’ll be looking forward to it anyways.
7. P.E. Noire
7/10 - 17m 21s
Witty, charismatic writing and the noir vibe the title promised was delivered on in a humorous manner expertly. The puzzles were fun too. BIG MILK IS OUT TO GET US ALL!!!
6. Rental
7/10 - 18m 41s - 100% (steam achievements), 2 playthroughs.
PS1-Era vibey horror collectathon. It’s basic, but the style was executed damn well and it’s short enough to not overstay its welcome (first playthrough took me just over 10 mins iirc)
5, | (pipe)
7/10 - 5m 32s (2nd playthrough, 100%) – 12 playthroughs, multiple speedruns, shortest time was 31s.
I was utterly addicted. The controls are precise and pretty much perfect. As I said, I love weird physics-y controls and this absolutely delivered. The wall-collision traversal corners were so fun. Also the palette switching was a fun gimmick. I also ended up playing TEMPRES by the same dev and got just as addicted. Solving that puzzle was probably the most fun I’ve had out of any of the itchmas games.
4. A Good Gardener
8/10 - 57m 4s
I didn’t know what I was doing until I realized that the cactuses were bombs and the bamboo shoots were spears. By then I’d gotten knee deep into it. The skyline was littered with rising smoke one day. I grew more weapons. I grew battle-axes, I grew shurikens and bombs and whatever the xenomorph-poker looking thing was. I made a friend and he wanted to talk to me. I saw clouds gathering day after day, as if they were harbingers of doom coming to wash away my entire garden. I was right in a way. We never got to talk.
"Remember to remember who you are". An excellently executed plot about war and friendship and bamboo spears and cactus bombs. The gameplay was slow, but once I was hooked it didn’t matter.
3. Sheepy: A Short Adventure
8/10 - 2h 21m 44s - 100% (Steam achievements), normal playthrough + 3 deathless speedrun attempts, successful attempt was 23m 54s.
A pretty good platformer used to deliver an ultimately very cool/fun story and a world that’s still got me thinking about what happened to it. PATCHES IS A BRO FR.
2. The world had been sad since Tuesday
8/10 - 9m 15s
I’m not really sure how to talk about this one. I think this is gonna be the “La maleta” for this itchmas. Both are games based on literary works that I only familiarized myself and fell in love with after finding the game, but that isn’t the point. Both games feel magnetic to me in the way that they portray their themes and ideas. It’s been ages since I played La maleta and I recently mentioned it in the HLTB discord. I’m 100% certain that this game is another one I’ll be thinking about for a while, even without playing it.
1. Off-Peak
8/10 - 1h 1m 31s - 100% (Steam achievements), 2 playthroughs (replay, first played in 2022).
I’ve been familiar with Cosmo-D since 2022 and his worlds are still so fascinatingly compelling to me. I used to compare them to these “Best out of waste” competitions I used to have way back in elementary school, but it’s unfair to me and all the others who participated in those to do that. I guess in the hands of a person whose skilled or creative enough, there’s no such thing as trash. Cosmo-D’s worlds radiate this scrappy charm, each corner brimming with personality, each person existing as a part of the painting they create. The music, sound effects, and just the way the world is put together like a chaotically functional art gallery, the only game I can even think of comparing his works to is BABBDI, which IMO is a certified masterpiece.
To those here that liked Off-Peak, Cosmo-D’s got 3 more (paid) games that share the same universe and protagonist (afaik) and all get progressively weirder, more creative and more unique. This game is an 8, but Tales From Off-Peak is a 9 to me. He’s also got another game in the works for a 2025 reveal acc to a comment on his steam profile.