Silent Hill franchise finally has a new installment in the franchise, and it’s called Silent Hill f and it’s set in 1960s, Japan. I know there were quite the concerns about the status of the IP under Konami and the future outlook of it; I believe The Short Message and Silent Hill 2 (2024) have shown it can be preserved. Whether or not a globalized “Silent Hill” would work as a proper standalone title, however, was somewhat dubious, partly because The Short Message was more or less a playable teaser to announce the revival of the franchise.
From Review
AirPods Pro 3 Spiel
I’ve tried AirPods, AirPods Max, and AirPods Pro. Of them three, AirPods Pro grew on me recently as I began to use my prescription glasses more often — headphones, no matter how comfortable it sits around the head, still has some force on the legs of the glasses. Since the release of AirPods Pro 2 in 2022, noise canceling earbuds came long way. Some of the reviews from 2024 and earlier this year openly recommend to take a risk with lesser known brands for better bang for the bucks.
Cronos: The New Dawn Spiel
I started playing Cronos: The New Dawn well aware of the fact that it was from Bloober Team and that it is sitting between AAA and AA, due to its budgets and pricing. What I didn’t learn, and the writers of those reviews and articles have rightfully reserved those details, were the nature of the game itself. It’s a Dead Space like game, but with neither the horror nor unique game mechanic the classic had; frankly, it’s more Resident Evil in 1980s Poland with the whiff of Twilight Zone.
Parasocial Spiel
I was waiting for Chilla’s Art to make landing on non-PC platforms for a while; any other successful horror indies have ported their games over with or without the help of porting studios. That hasn’t happened as of yet. Regardless, Chilla’s Art titles have special place in the indie horror scenes of serving realistic modern Japanese horrors.
Dwarf II Spiel: Astrophotography on Smartphones
I believe Dwarf II crowdfunding started back in 2021. I barely knew about the first Dwarf device, so when I heard the rumors of the new “smart” telescopes, I kinda wished I hadn’t invested so much on short tube telescopes already. There is something fundamentally beautiful, different even, being able to see through what the night sky hides from bare eyes — but being able to see something only through computational imaging can see, without much works or equipments, and converse about the observations, that was something I could not do on my own with traditional telescopes.
Dyson PencilVac Spiel
Dyson has released PencilVac in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea first. I thought it was an unusual choice from Dyson to release it in South Korea early, as the handheld vacuum market in Korea is quite different from, say, America, as the most common types of flooring is simply not carpet. Carpeted floors are rare here.
Blue Prince Spiel
I remember when I played Myst back in the 2000s when it was released for the iPhone. It was one of “those genres” from the 90s that did not survive the test of times; the puzzles can be mildly infuriating, but you had no other game to play. I was in such a joy when I made a progress after days of being stuck on one puzzle. I’ve seen several reviews mentioning similar stories with The 7th Guest, though my personal “that game” was always the Myst.
Apple Watch 8 Spiel: From Perspective of Super App Supports
Apple Watch 8 came out in 2022, and with that, it would render this post out-dated soon as it is published. My point here has little to do with the hardware changes that were made 3 years ago, or the watchOS that were announced 3 years ago. In fact, during those time, I learned it the hard way that I prefer to have biometrics on the physical machine, instead of using Apple Watch to log me in.
Fears to Fathom – Home Alone Spiel
The second season of Fears to Fathom series is already underway, and I thought to come back to the series as it is slowly being released on other platforms. Currently, only the fourth episode is available on the PlayStation with DualSense support. Fears to Fathom is an anthology; the episodes are not connected from one another, as of yet. Home Alone, the one this piece is about, was the debut title of the series and also available for free.
BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH Spiel
Would you believe it if I told you I found the game due to its usage of NHK, or MHK in-game, fee collector as a horror? BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH is part of the franchise that seems to be publishing multiple titles this year alone. DON’T WATCH primarily focuses on the Japanese societal issue of hikikomori, or as often translated as shut-ins. And NHK fee collector, believe me, is part of the horror.
Platform 8 Spiel
I remember when Platform 8 came out, the indie market was already saturated with Exit 8-likes, especially with trains, trolleys, subways, and tubes — any kind of public transit that would be remotely reminiscent of liminality. In essence, Platform 8 is late in the game; subways and trains are already tried ideas as Exit-8 likes.
My Friendly Neighborhood Spiel
I believe I’ve heard about My Friendly Neighborhood as a mascot horror and a survival horror back in 2023, when the the subgenre was getting all the attentions from the fans of horrors. The reason why I started now, in 2025, is due to its console release. Though, there is something to be said about releasing a game without much changes after 2 years without considerations for controllers.
Order 13 Spiel
I suppose calling Order 13 a job simulator would be a euphemism. Order 13 is a horror game with big enough emphasis on the job of warehouse workers. Though I have never worked in Amazon warehouse before, I can safely assume jobs in the warehouse is more separated and specialized, instead of having one employee on the look out for the products, packaging, labeling, and shipping it out from his/her lane.
Dyson Sphere Program Spiel
As Dyson Sphere Program is a simulation game still in Early Access without a story mode, I wasn’t sure when I could safely say I finished it. I prefer not to talk about sims that go on forever, as they tend to be more “simulation” than a “simulation game”. Fortunately, the game does have an ending, or something akin to an ending in the tech tree, where the narrator congratulates the player on finishing the monolithic task.
Dollmare Spiel
It’s yet another horror game from yesteryear with a ‘find an anomaly’ mechanic. However, Dollmare is less an anomaly game than more a job simulator game. Job simulator is a subgenre which focuses on “simulating” real life job — in this game, a doll inspector. The premise of the game is rather straightforward. The protagonist has gotten a job in a doll factory as a doll inspector, who now needs to examine the toys before they can hit the shelves.