Octogeddon (2018)

Aside from it feeling like it may take its sweet time to hit its stride Octogeddon works in a satisfying manner both in terms of being an action and a strategy game...

Though it won't be in the hearts and minds of players like his previous creation was, George May's Octogeddon still demonstrates the power of a simple premise with a deep gameplay hook. The game is very easy to understand and easy for anyone to pick up and play thanks to the two-button control scheme. The sparse number of levels can hurt, but the roguelike mechanics keep things engaging and addicting well before you finally open up the endless wave mode. Whether you're a casual or more dedicated player, Octogeddon is worth checking out.

Octogeddon doesn't have the same charm or polish as Plants VS Zombies, but it's a refreshing new take on the bullet hell genre. The concept is zany and feels like a thin veil laid over simplistic game mechanics in the vein of Divekick, but the excellent animated cutscenes bring coherence to it all. Ultimately, Octogeddon is a good time-waster, but not much more.

Despite the kick in the teeth, it was worth crawling back out of that hole and trying again. Any game where you're pondering the optimal setup for a chicken head that shoots egg bombs and a bee homing missile is a-okay with me. I won't be endlessly replaying it, but Octogeddon grabbed me hard for a good while.

It took me around 36 hours and 13 runs to beat the game. And when I finally beat it, I felt so good. Now I'll have to get started all over again.