Dungeons of Hinterburg,  Against the Storm, Sumire

Dungeons of Hinterburg
Puzzle, Dungeon Crawler

Dungeons of Hinterburg has the somewhat odd distinction of being the game that everyone brings up when asked, “Which game from a bundle was way better than you thought it would be?” I’m not really sure what to attribute this to — it’s tempting the say the game doesn’t pitch itself well, but I do think at least part of it is that it’s a hard game to pitch. It’s not a dungeon crawler, as the title implies, but it’s also not exactly a puzzle game or an adventure game because there’s too much combat for that, but it’s not an RPG, and it has life sim elements but definitely isn’t a life sim… and somehow all these weird pieces fit together really well.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is an urban fantasy about magic suddenly being real. In the Austrian Alps, magical portals to other dimensions appear — the titular “dungeons” — and the local town becomes a tourist hotspot. Dungeoneering becomes a profession as well as a vacation, and you play as Luisa, a young woman who travels to Hinterberg to explore the dungeons as a tourist.

Part of what makes the game hard to describe is just how much variation there is in the dungeons. There are, if I remember correctly, 21, and no two are exactly alike. Some are platformers, some are combat, some are runners, some are 3D puzzles, some are 2D puzzles, some are minecart riding, some are alpine snowboarding… you have no idea what genre you’re jumping into when you head into a portal, and it’s absolutely delightful. Despite the many disparate gameplay elements, all are expertly designed and feel cohesive. The dungeon design is a real accomplishment.

When you’re not dungeoning you’re running around Hinterberg and getting to know the people there, from tourists to locals to journalists to influencers. Befriending people gives you access to new equipment and even sidequests, and who you know influences how you unfold the story.

Speaking of story, like all the good indies nowadays, it’s an anticapitalism story, specifically a critique of ecotourism and the effect it has on local peoples and the environment. I thought it was solid, and managed a more nuanced take than you might think, finding room to both acknowledge that what people are getting out of Hinterberg is real while still saying that doesn’t justify ruining the lives of the locals. My big complaint about it is Alex — I found her refusal to help Luisa even as people’s lives are on the line selfish to the point of being unforgiveable, and I don’t really understand why the game acted like her behavior was something her and Luisa’s relationship could come back from. I really would have preferred the option to affect the ending by saying to her, no, I don’t think I can be okay with how you acted. Idk.

Oh, and one thing that wasn’t clear from the game itself — while there is a day counter and a day/night system, your time is actually unlimited and you’re not on any kind of schedule, which is nice.

It might be hard to put a pin in why, exactly, people –myself included — underestimate this game, but it’s not hard to see why people have liked it so much once they’ve play it.

Against the Storm
Roguelike, Colony Sim

I’ve been struggling with this review because this is a game I loved so much I genuinely don’t know what to say about it. I put literally hundreds of hours into it and haven’t yet bought the newest DLC precisely because I know it will consume me again.

Against the Storm is a roguelike colony sim, a genre combination that I did not think could work this well. You live in a fantasy realm in which magical storms periodically consume the land, forcing everyone back to the capital for safety. During the respite between storms, you lead expeditions out into the world for resources and to attempt to seal up the elder gods who may or may not be the cause of the storms.

The game is thought-provoking, challenging, and deeply satisfying. The different biomes have wildly different resources, and you’re assigned different three of the six races as citizens semi-randomly at the start of each colony, which all have different needs which overlap in different ways, so you have to always be adjusting strategy. There are 20 difficulty levels that you unlock by clearing a map at a lower level, and each one is genuinely more challening than the last; endgame maps must be cleared at the highest levels.

This game is unique, delightfully difficult, and brilliantly designed. It’s easily become on of my favorite games I’ve ever played, and certainly one of my favorite citybuilders — and I play a lot of citybuilders. If you like management-focused colony sims at all, it’s worth playing. This is not a very well constructed review, but damn it’s hard to review something you love. 11/10, no notes.

Sumire
Point-and-Click

Sumire definitely falls into the “depressing coming of age story” indie subgenre, but it’s just a really unique and well-done iteration of that. I bought it on a whim for the gorgeous art (and because it was 89 cents) and was surprised at how much I ended up liking it.

As is par for the course in these games, tween Sumire’s life absolutely sucks. Her self-involved father is leaving her depressed mother, and her grandma, the only stable adult presence in her life, just died. Her childhood best friend has dumped her for a cooler crowd, and her crush is moving away. Just as things seem hopeless, Sumire is contacted by a flower spirit who promises to give her the best day ever in return for completing its tasks. Along with the spirit, Sumire is able to confront her problems and face her life with renewed hope.

I think part of the reason Sumire worked for me where a lot of these games don’t is because it contextualizes Sumire’s issues as just part of being human — the conclusion isn’t just the “everything sucks forever” of a lot of these games, but more, “Yeah, becoming an adult is hard and rough, but it’s also a chance to decide for yourself who you are and how you want to live.” Sumire’s day is spent as much learning to appreciate the people in her village and the nature of her surroundings as it is confronting her bullies and her parents, and so it ends up a “this too will pass” coming-of-age story instead of something more doomerist.

It’s also just really competently told. Sumire is easy to root for and believe in and the people around her feel real, the problems feel relatable, and the premise gives it a shot of originality these games often lack. The point-and-click elements are well-designed and the gameplay is smooth.

Part of it for me is definitely that I went in with no expectations, but if a short, bittersweet artsy game is your kind of thing, this is definitely worth checking out.