This week: Overcooked, Ultra Hyperball and Infinite Minigolf.

I’ve been doing these posts to provide coverage for nindies or smaller titles the bigger outlets don’t cover, this week I want to highlight the 3 below!

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Overcooked: Special Edition

Dev: Ghost Town Games

1–4 player co-op/versus

$20

TL;DR

Frantic co-op cooking game where you’re dropped into a kitchen with specific tasks but players coordinate to divvy duties to complete tasks in a timely manner.

PROS

+ Every level has its own mechanics that make the core mechanics of the game feel fresh

+ Character models have a Jim Henson feel and you unlock items and characters consistently

+ Base game has a ton of content, you get both of the DLC included with the price tag.

+ Co-op is AMAZING! On par with Death Squared or Snipperclips.

CONS

+ Playing solo it becomes difficult to manage two characters and the star unlock system makes later stages seem improbable to unlock

+ Soundtrack is oddly a downer

+ Controls don’t always respond as polished as the rest of the game.

Who Should Buy?

Realistically this a 2 player minimum game to enjoy its content at a base level. People who don’t co-op likely should avoid.

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Ultra Hyperball

Dev: Springloaded Games

1 to 4 player co-op/versus

$10

TL;DR

Quasi-rhythm same screen (sometimes) side scroller where you attempt to continuously bounce a shuttlecock off the top of your head to meet some specified goal (ex. “hit 5 perfects in 20 attempts”, “reach max height of 100m in 0:45”, etc.).

PROS

+ The art and aesthetic of this game is awesome

+ The soundtrack is the epitome of stylized 8bit and as far as main theme, rivals it kit meets Hotline Miami toe to toe

+ Simplistic controls means the age old rule of easy to learn, difficult to master fits this bill

+ Many character unlocks and all are super stylized, cute and sometimes just weird.

+ Campaign story is quirky, albeit short

+ Rhythm aspect is spot on and no sign of input delay from indicators

CONS

+ Short campaign, difficulty ramps fast

+ Tilt controls (one mode variant) offer no on screen or shown calibration. Best to in between rounds try to hold the control or flat or in place.

+ Part of the single player requires you to undock and play this weird multi touch game type. It’s just not executed on a polished level.

Who Should Buy?

Like Overcooked above, this a 2 player minimum game to enjoy its content at a base level. People who don’t co-op likely should avoid.

That being said the single player campaign can be knocked out in the course of a few hours. So if you can justify ~5 hours of fun amidst the solo content and co-op with a friend I would recommend.

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Infinite Minigolf

Dev: Zen Studios

1–8 player versus

$20

TL;DR

Minigolf with powerups, full features include online and deep map creation tools with functioning reviews. Cosmetic items galore unlocked via in game currency in card packs.

PROS

+ The map creation tools are insanely deep but easy to use, upload, share and vote.

+ Vast controller options allow for you to have one controller shared if friends are bundled on a couch and then controller 2, 3, etc. to friends on opposite chairs.

+ Cosmetic features are abundant.

+ Co-op is so much fun

CONS

+ Only three tile sets with 4 courses per. Could use more variety.

+ Casual courses (which you must play through before unlocking harder difficulties) are too easy.

+ The “hello fellow teenagers” schtick can get old (ex. characters do selfies, etc.)

+ Shooting can be finicky

+ I’ve had one occasion of game breaking by being stuck on a slant with a booster pad at the bottom, stuck in a loop

Who Should Buy?

Personally I bought for the creation tools alone, but I feel if and when they get the actual online portion running I could easily recommend.

While not a lot of lengthy content, through single player the creation and ability to download other users courses could really add legs to this game in the future.

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That’s it for this week folks!

You can find Jordan Thompson via Twitter, listen to him weekly on the Have At You! podcast and follow him and the rest of Drop Rate on their YouTube channel.