InsideXO

Tag: reviews

  • An Interview With Parcyval Studios

    An Interview With Parcyval Studios

    I had the privilege of speaking with the developer of the newly found game “Type”, here’s how it went. Read the full review here!

    How do you view the experience you deliver with this type of game?

    Well, challenging, especially for people who don’t type that much or have problems with typing fast. On one side, I am kind of worried that this will create a problem to reach an audience, but looking at the success of stuff like osu, or even a successful competitor of this game, called “Glyphica”, you can see some people like fast typing/clicking. Always improving, beating your last record, or competing in a global leaderboard.

    There are people who want to learn typing, either young people, or learning English as a second language. Originally, I only wanted to add gibberish words to make it harder, but thinking about it now with feedback, I will add real words for this specific audience. Someone streamed my game, playing typing games in general because of health issues with her hands, which was wholesome to see! Those kind of things motivate me.

    Were there any particular games, films, or general works that influenced your game Type?

    There is a popular German YouTuber named “HandOfBlood” who has a video format where he plays bad games. and in one old video, he played a typing game. And I thought, hey, that has potential!

    Was there a feature you wanted to include but had to cut due to functionality reasons or similar?

    In all my games, I add whatever I want. It may take a bit, but nothing is impossible for me.

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    Is there a roadmap or update/content line we can expect to see in the near future? How do you plan to get new players hooked?

    This is not my main project, as you can see! It’s pretty simple! My main project is an RTS called Descending Empires, which originated from the idea of a spiritual successor to Empire at War! So I have to split my attention to this game and 2 or 3 other ones I am working on (yes, I work on 4 or 5 games at a time, alone).

    But yes, I will add a tiny tutorial/campaign with dialogue boxes, more enemies, more abilities, OF COURSE, as a roguelike, and maybe passive perks later! maybe even more if I come up with more when taking a walk outside!

    What advice would you give to indie or any game developers just starting out today?

    Everyone can do it, but at the same time, only specific people can. Be it from financial reasons (having to work all day with no time, …) or your life shaping your brain/character in a way where you just can’t think creative enough / in this specific way. It’s like with all things, we are born very similar, but life takes us different paths, and some lead to game dev, some not. Just try it out! (though you can be successful by copying existing formulars, as seen in palworld).

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    What’s been the most rewarding moment for you during the development or release of Type?

    Well, I had more players than expected, but that is probably because the demo is free! The full game will probably have less players 

    The idea was born earlier, but I really started making this game for my first Gamejam, which I made a video of here, and I never actually expected the game to be my first Steam release! Well, you never know where life takes you.

    I would like to thank the Parsy for taking the time to provide us with his insight, and most importantly, I would like to thank YOU, the reader, for making it to the end.

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    One response to “An Interview With Parcyval Studios”

    1. It’s Time To Break Your Fingers – and Maybe Even Your Keyboard, The Fun Way, with Type. – InsideXO avatar
      It’s Time To Break Your Fingers – and Maybe Even Your Keyboard, The Fun Way, with Type. – InsideXO

      […] Read the Interview Here! […]

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  • Painting Under Pressure: Sloppy Forgeries Is Indie Chaos at Its Best

    Painting Under Pressure: Sloppy Forgeries Is Indie Chaos at Its Best

    Imagine a high-stakes art heist, but instead of sneaking through lasers, you’re racing against the clock to sloppily recreate iconic paintings using only your mouse, a timer, and sheer panic. That’s Sloppy Forgeries, and after getting a chance to play it early, we’re absolutely hooked.

    Developed by the indie minds at Playful Systems LLC, Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced, competitive art game that mixes creativity and chaos. 

    You’re shown a classic painting and challenged to recreate it as closely (or wildly) as possible. The catch? You only have a short amount of time, and so every stroke counts.

    As you can imagine this can lead to some pretty hilarious attempts, of which I will show some of mine in this article!

    We’ve been playing an early build thanks to a Steam key from the dev (huge thanks again!), and the experience has been equal parts hilarious and genuinely addictive. There’s something oddly satisfying about trying to replicate a masterpiece while the timer ticks down, and everything just falls apart (At least for me!)

    I had the chance to Ask some Questions to the Dev about the game, which will be included in a separate article below, be sure to check it out,

    “There might be artists out there who aren’t great at traditional video games who will REALLY excel at this.”

    Full Interview Here!


    Gameplay – A Stroke of Genius🖌️

    The game plays very well, for an unreleased game it feels solid, and it does the job, i was given a painting to copy, and I did my best, there’s a good selection already of over 30 classic paintings, and there’s so much more potential, I can already imagine the competitions to get your artwork in the game, or Merch to be able to get your best (or worst) paintings on a small canvas for your own keeping! There are so many different directions this game could go, it’s incredibly exciting to follow its Journey!

    The game Particularly Shines in multiplayer, and with it’s mouse v mouse local multiplayer, it makes it even easier to play with those around you, (although there will be a standard multiplayer option as well) 

    The game scores you on how accurate your painting is to the real thing, so this creates some very funny moments of panic, trying to get those last few brush strokes in before time runs out.

    There’s a healthy amount of Strategy involved here too, Do you go for the broader shapes quickly, or focus on those smaller details that may boost your score? Either way no two matches really felt the same when I was playing, as I was trying different ways to optimise my accuracy score

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    Why It works🧠

    Beyond the laughs, Sloppy Forgeries taps into that same accessible creative itch games like Drawful or even Skribbl.io do, but with a surprisingly artful twist. It manages to celebrate fine art while also absolutely butchering it in the most amazing way, 

    The Dev clearly has a strong love for art, combined with some absurdity in a perfect blend, the game also seems to sharpen your mind, you think quick and really tap into your inner artist, i’ve never been good at art, in fact, even in school my worst nemesis was shading a circle! (story for another day) but this game made me actually enjoy it, and want to see how good I could actually be!

    As you can see… Not Very!
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    So When Can You Play it?

    The game is currently unreleased, but it’s already making waves in indie circles. No hard release date just yet, but it’s one of the most uniquely fun party games we’ve played in a while. It’s expected in 2025, so be sure to add it onto your wishlist, and keep your brushes at the ready, this is absolutely one to keep a close eye on!

    We’ll be watching this one closely here at InsideXO, and we’ll update as soon as more info drops. 

    Let us know Your Thoughts below in the comments, or Join the Official XO Discord, and come chat!

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    One response to “Painting Under Pressure: Sloppy Forgeries Is Indie Chaos at Its Best”

    1. Turning Art into Chaos: An Interview with the Creator of Sloppy Forgeries – InsideXO avatar
      Turning Art into Chaos: An Interview with the Creator of Sloppy Forgeries – InsideXO

      […] Read The Review! […]

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  • Turning Art into Chaos: An Interview with the Creator of Sloppy Forgeries

    Turning Art into Chaos: An Interview with the Creator of Sloppy Forgeries

    I was lucky enough to ask a few questions towards the mind behind Sloppy Forgeries, an Upcoming Indie art-chaos game, Here’s what they had to say!

    Read The Review!

    What inspired you to make Sloppy Forgeries?

    It was a combination of things. I’ve always loved drawing and painting—as a kid and then as an art major in college. When I became a professor, I thought about games I enjoy and like to study, which resulted in drawing games.

    I was also making small games on the side and had just created Word After Word, a competitive local multiplayer word game using multiple keyboards. After getting the multiple keyboards thing to work, I knew I could do the same for mice and started brainstorming games that would use two mice simultaneously.

    The research and brainstorming naturally led to thinking about multi-mice drawing games. I had also done some image processing work in grad school, so knew how to compare images. The last question was what to copy? Famous paintings and the name quickly followed.

    If time and budget weren’t an issue, what’s the wildest mode or feature you’d add to Sloppy Forgeries?

    If budget weren’t an issue, I’d love for Sloppy Forgeries to be twitter for drawing/painting (before it became X and was ruined by a certain someone). What I mean by that, is a thoughtful drawing tool with a time limit where that limitation makes the prospect of art-making less daunting and more fun. All work on the platform would be made in three-minutes or less. Mobile-first.

    This idea partially came from a critique of a painting I was doing as a senior in college. I was starting a landscape painting and had just finished the underpainting and a quick glaze of color over it. My professor walked by, looked over my shoulder and said, “You’re done.” My brain kind of exploded. I stopped painting. I’m glad I did. The painting has this wonderful energy that would have been lost if I had kept working.

    Do you get more joy out of seeing players compete seriously, or just absolutely butcher the paintings for laughs?

    Great question. One of my favorite parts of Sloppy Forgeries is that it can be played in these two completely different ways. Initially, this made development challenging. I felt like I had to choose a path. Then I realized that it can be both: I’ll embrace serious play in single player and for-laughs in multiplayer. And of course the reality is people can play it however they want. That’s the beauty of games.

    TBH, I get more joy out of people laughing at what they’ve made afterwards. However, as an experience myself, I play it seriously. I think that might be the pattern for a lot of folks. You start for the laugh and then continue playing seriously after a certain point.

    What experience do you have in game development? Is this your first game?

    I’m a game design professor, so it’s not my first rodeo. A few I’ve worked on include:

    [Ayiti: The Cost of Life](www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWxG…)

    [Pangolin](www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDO7…)

    [Word After Word] (playfulsystems.com/word-after-w…)

    It’ll be the first game I’ve released in a few years, however. The development journey has been quite a ride. I made my first prototype about 7 years ago. It was received well and shown widely, but then came COVID, small children, job obligations, life, etc… I had the opportunity to continue working on it just over a year ago. Since then, it’s been a blast. I’ve learned a lot. And it’s been really nice to see it starting to find a community as well.

    And finally… Be honest, how good are you at your own game?

    Pretty good. I’ve been playing for 7 years, so there’s that. Surprisingly, I still enjoy it. I always feel like I can squeeze another half a point or two. I bet once I release it, I won’t be able to make the leaderboards, but that’s part of the fun. There might be artists out there who aren’t great at traditional video games who will REALLY excel at this. That’ll be exciting. Now, just to find them… 🙂

    Thank you so much for your time, and we here at InsideXO wish you huge luck with the release, We’ll be sure to share your progress as we hear from you, Our community cant wait to jump in and see what horrors we can create!

    Wishlist The Game Here!

    Want to chat? Come join the XO Discord, and share your thoughts on the game!

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    How did i even mess up some squares!

    One response to “Turning Art into Chaos: An Interview with the Creator of Sloppy Forgeries”

    1. Painting Under Pressure: Sloppy Forgeries Is Indie Chaos at Its Best – InsideXO avatar
      Painting Under Pressure: Sloppy Forgeries Is Indie Chaos at Its Best – InsideXO

      […] Full Interview Here! […]

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  • Day one in the Grass – Grounded Launch Day Impressions

    Day one in the Grass – Grounded Launch Day Impressions

    It’s launch day, and I’ve just wrapped up my first few hours in Grounded 2. I’m sunburned, bug-bitten, and completely hooked.

    Obsidian has come back swinging with a sequel that feels warmly familiar, but deeper, denser, and just that little bit deadlier. From the moment I awoke, tiny and clueless, the world felt bigger. Not just physically,  though the map is expanded for sure, but in its systems, its surprises, and its sense of danger, and Overall risk to reward.

    What Stood Out?

    Straight away, the game felt as though I was more equipped, with an excellent early-game loop, more tools, more variety in base building, and a heavy push towards exploration, sending me down ant nests, and stumbling into spider territory much quicker than I must say I wanted! But it all felt amazing; it was a guided journey filled with fear, fascination, and a whole load of fun

    And the new areas I managed to see? Gorgeous, the game looks brilliant, and despite some issues I was experiencing with framerate drops, it did feel well polished for such a new game. The lighting across the map is stunning, and it feels as though there’s more verticality to the game now, with a strong push towards underground exploration as well.

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    Smarter Than Ever…

    Combat feels much tighter, the AI behaviour seems to be massively improved, bugs seemingly working together, hunting me down several times, when I thought I’d gotten away, and that feeling of pure panic being chased by a spider, straight into a web… Never again!


    Weirder Than Ever, And We Love It!

    The tone of Grounded 2 is that perfect mix of childhood wonder and survival anxiety; it’s horrifying in the most addictive way, and amazing how unusual some situations need to feel, especially with the NPCs that I won’t spoil, because you just need to experience it for yourself to understand!

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    First-Day Verdict

    Obsidian gets what made Grounded special, and what their audience loves. This isn’t a simple sequel; it’s the backyard reborn. I’m already thinking about how I’ll rebuild my dream base, bigger and better than ever, and what the deeper systems might unlock for me in the coming weeks. For any fans of the first game, or anyone just curious about it, I cannot recommend it more highly.

    Myself & Moddedv10 outside our First litte Abode

    Do you have any thoughts you’d love to share on the game? leave them below in the comments, or join our Official Discord and come chat!

    Thanks for Reading!

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    One response to “Day one in the Grass – Grounded Launch Day Impressions”

    1. ModdedXO avatar
      ModdedXO

      I did not enjoy the spiders, they were big and scary

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  • Dead Metro: Where Every Step Could Be Your Last

    Dead Metro: Where Every Step Could Be Your Last


    Genre: Adventure, Survivor Simulation

    Developer: Trust Me Bro Studio

    Released: Coming Soon

    Price: Free DemoAvailable on Steam

    https://store.steampowered.com/app/3134490/Dead_Metro/.

    Beneath the rusted metal and flickering lights of long-abandoned cities, small towns, and heavily invested zones, something stirs… and it’s not happy you’re here. Dead Metro, a free indie developed with raw tension and a grim atmosphere all around, throws you into a suffocating underground maze where survival hinges on every bullet and every step. It’s rough around the edges, but what it offers is a brutally effective taste of what’s to come, and trust me, the darkness doesn’t play fair.

    My First Impressions 💬

    Dead Metro wastes no time dropping you into a run-down underground world that feels both claustrophobic and alive with tension. Even in demo form, the game’s atmosphere feels well-realised, from flickering tunnel lights to the constant sense of danger just out of sight. It instantly gave me that grimy, post-collapse vibe reminiscent of Metro 2033, but stripped down in a way that focuses more on raw survival than heavy narrative. From the start, it’s clear this is a world where every corner could kill you, and that’s what makes it so gripping.

    Controls and Gameplay🕹️

    Based on gameplay, movement, and combat feels surprisingly tight for a game still in its demo phase. The weapon handling, especially with the shotgun and assault rifle, has a punchy, impactful weight to it. Enemy encounters are sharp and unforgiving, keeping you alert as you push through the darkness. Resource management is crucial; you’re constantly scavenging for ammo and supplies while trying not to get overwhelmed. There’s a simplicity to the core of loot, explore, survive and shoot, but it works well in this gritty setting. The pacing allows for both tense firefights and slower, ambient exploration.

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    Graphics📺

    Dead Metro thrives on its visual tone. While not hyper-detailed, the lighting, shadows, and grime-smeared textures all add up to a cruel, believable environment. What stands out most to me is the game’s commitment to mood: dim tunnel corridors, leaking pipes, and the occasional glowing emergency light that really sets the tone. Creature design, though limited, is effective and creepy, especially when backed by the game’s lighting and animation. Even in its current state, the game looks the part of a solid horror-survival experience.

    Performance🖱️

    For a demo, it runs very well. There are no aggravating frame drops or audio stutters, and loading is fast and stable between areas. Gunfire is synced with audio and visual effects, and transitions between exploration and combat are seamless. That said, a few moments showed rough animations and slightly stiff enemy AI, totally expected for an early build. These are areas that could easily see improvement in future updates.

    Summary📝

    To wrap things up, Dead Metro is shaping up to be a gritty, underground survival horror gem. It channels classic post-apocalyptic energy while keeping things intense. The moment-to-moment gameplay rewards patience and awareness, while the setting constantly puts you on edge. For a free demo, it delivers a lot, and if the full version expands on the mechanics, polish, and enemy variety, it should become a must-play for fans of claustrophobic horror.

    If you’re into harsh environments, jump-scares with bite, and eerie atmosphere soaked in rust and darkness, this is a game to keep your eye on.

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    Final Thoughts

    All in all, Dead Metro is a haunting and surprisingly immersive indie experience that proves you don’t need flashy graphics or a massive budget to leave a lasting impression. It’s a short but impactful ride through a nightmare-fueled subway, packed with atmosphere, tension, and just enough mystery to keep you hooked.

    Badge: One to Watch
    Summary: A gritty and atmospheric underground horror that punches above its weight and drags you along the rails of fear.

    Rating:
    Graphics: 3.5/5
    Gameplay: 4/5
    Atmosphere: 5/5
    Future Potential: 5/5
    Overall: 4 out of 5

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    One response to “Dead Metro: Where Every Step Could Be Your Last”

    1. SkullFireXO avatar
      SkullFireXO

      Solid Game by the looks of it, on the list, love a good survival game

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