CRIMEHOT for Mac

Explore art and the nature of mankindPartum Artifex is a free-to-play adventure experience from Joakim “Chef” Lundstrom. This suspenseful, story-driven experience puts you in the shoes of a curious passer-by who approaches an abandoned house, lured by a light on the second floor. As you investigate the house, you find notes and artworks that let you uncover the decrepit building’s story.Being mostly story-based instead of the usual fight and survive mechanics, Partum Artifex is actually closer to The Stanley Parable or God’s Basement. However, this is not simply a walking simulator like Gardens of a New World, as it has puzzles for you to solve.sam.cmd.push(function() { sam.display('review-app-page-desktop'); });A rich, complex story experienceIn terms of the overall feel, Partum Artifex feels like reading a novel through a new character. As you make your way across the house, you’ll feel its focus on storytelling, puzzles, and the effective use of atmosphere. Although it lacks enemies in the conventional sense, it doesn’t take anything away. There are a lot of creepy figures, though, but they all serve as puzzle parts or mechanics only.The game also features a variety of puzzles to help you piece together the main puzzle, which is the story. However, it really helps since the game starts with a simple tutorialof the controls and how to navigate between your specific objectives. Puzzles range from simple maths to visual challenges covering entire rooms. Some puzzles are extremely hard, although the developer keeps a walkthrough for people in need.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is that this game is a storytelling masterpiece. Despite not meeting the figure behind the artworks in the game, it raises some serious philosophical questions that will keep you thinking even after you’ve played the game. This makes the game a memorable experience, by asking you who is the real monster through journal pages and gruesome artworks.An overall great gameWith its lack of enemies and a complex story for you to piece together, Partum Artifex manages to be one of those games that push the medium into something more intellectually challenging. Not only does it pose extremely difficult puzzles, but it also asks you poignant questions about the nature of man and how art exposes the worst in people. For people looking for a story-driven experience, you can’t miss this one.

Live a new life in this free VNAugma II Arc I is a free action video game wherein you’re trying to move on from your heavy past. Developed by Kamigigana, this is a mystery sci-fi indie visual novel with a gripping story. With heavy action and psychological horror elements, take note that it has some mature content like blood and gore, as well as partial nudity. Nevertheless, it has stellar writing and a cool graphics style for both character sprites and background images.Time keeps on ticking Augma II Arc I is the first installment of the Augma series, starring Shira Yamano. He’s a young boy who had been involved in an apocalyptic event four years ago and is now living peacefully in the strange city of Kirron. However, new friends bring in peculiar occurrences that start him down the path of revisiting his past. This is technically a complete game but is considered a beta version until Arc II is released.sam.cmd.push(function() { sam.display('review-app-page-desktop'); });In this game, you’ll mostly be reading the text. It boasts of a whopping 110k word count and is really heavy on the narration—with its flowery prose and plot-heavy dialogue. Its edgy style of storytelling goes well with the character designs and vibrant background environments. You’ll also often have to read the text on the whole screen. Unlike most visuals novels, however, there’s no dialogue or action option to change the ending.In terms of graphics, you can get over 70 unique CGs but these will not be saved to a gallery after you unlock them though. The music pairs well with how the story flows and ebbs throughout its pacing and the sound effects really hammer in on the action. Unfortunately, after you finish the game, there’s not much reason to replay it since there’s only one possible ending you can achieve in the game.Face your pastOverall, Augma II Arc I can be quite long but is a great recommendation for those who like something with a meaty story or a dark supernatural mystery plotline. While it’s not the type of game you can play again and again to collect endings and whatnot, it’s still an interesting read for VN fans who appreciate complicated stories more. This is also recommended for fans of games like Baldr Sky, Dies Irae, and Subahibi.

Free Game for LEGO FansCastle Story is an action and building game that gives players the chance to create their own kingdom in the classic LEGO style. However, the game also comes with diverse storytelling elements and features plenty of side quests and other elements for players to enjoy.Time to Get BuildingPlayers of Castle Story are given a whole horde of Bricktrons to put to work. These rather cute and quirky characters can be commanded in a number of different ways to help you to create the castle of your dreams. Basically, you do all the designing and the Bricktrons do all the work, while there are also plenty of different options for expanding the castle once it has been completed.sam.cmd.push(function() { sam.display('review-app-page-desktop'); });Creating the Perfect CastleThe pace of Castle Story is rather slow and this can get quite frustrating after a while. The main reason for this is that each and every action that is performed takes energy and this energy tends to run out very quickly. After the energy has run out, players either need to wait for it to be recharged, which takes at least five minutes, purchase more energy or stop playing for a while. Although the cost for purchasing new energy is rather low, it takes actual cash to do this and takes the emphasis away from the fact that this is supposed to be a free game.

Following the truth when you’re indirectly involvedCLOSED HANDS is a free simulation video game wherein you explore the events of a terrorist attack through the eyes of five individuals who were only in the periphery of it. Developed by PASSENGER, this is a 2D experimental visual novel that features an interesting combination of text-based gameplay and deep branching storyline progression. Publicly funded by the Arts Council England, it’s free to download but you can also buy a copy to support the developer.Sorting out the confusionThe story of CLOSED HANDS revolves around five characters: Beth, Mike, Marcus, Haziq, and Farah. A terrorist attack recently hit their city but none of them were directly involved. They still have a connection to the event, however, and following each of their own distinct intertwining story arcs can lead to 9 possible endings after several dialogue or action options along the way. What’s great about this game is its non-linear story progression.sam.cmd.push(function() { sam.display('review-app-page-desktop'); });At the start, you’re given a simple storyline web, with each branch belonging to a character. Choosing a node plays a scene for that character—and the way it’s set up allows you to play in any order you want. You can follow one arc or jump in-between any of the perspectives. Sometimes, the scene is set in the past or is part of the present. Another cool thing is that the game is half text and half interactive PC interface.In terms of storytelling, the narrative is highly engrossing—clocking at over 130,000 words and almost 150 scenes. The characterizations here are top-notch, showcasing a myriad of human personalities that you can’t help but empathize with despite your conflicting beliefs. It helps that during gameplay, you’re accompanied by a dynamic ambient soundtrack that reacts to events. However, it has some UI issues, like the lack of ending hints when replaying the game.As human as can beOverall, CLOSED HANDS is an amazing atmospheric interaction fiction work that integrates superb writing into an interesting gameplay experience. While it’s quite narrative-heavy, there are enough explorable PC interface sections to freshen up the reading. It still needs some fixes on the user interface, as the text can be hard to read at times. Plus, when replaying for other endings, it’s hard to figure out which late-game choice switches your path since there are no hints.