March 9th, 2023
Top-Rated Games
Need a new fixation for the weekend? Or something to keep you occupied with friends online? Look no further than our Expert Gamer Suggestions™ on what to play next!
Hungry Hearts Diner: A Game of Star-Crossed Souls
Hungry Hearts Diner is about a sweet old lady who struggles to run a small shop in a big city. The premise is to play as the woman and cook meals for various customers while learning more about their lives with each dish served. With every item you make, you not only unlock the stories of customers but also new things to make for them. The plot is full of twists and turns, and some tales you hear will leave you more emotional than you’d expect from a typical cooking game. This app is rated 4.9/5 on the Apple store and deservingly so. If you like relaxing, storytelling, casual/idle mobile games, or even if you’re just a fan of cooking games, then this app may be right for you. As one comment left by a player says, this is a “poignant story hidden inside a cooking sim.” Hungry Hearts Diner is free, so you might as well give it a go and see if you enjoy it for yourself. Available on iOS and Google Play, and for Mac/PC.
Hungry Hearts Diner is about a sweet old lady who struggles to run a small shop in a big city. The premise is to play as the woman and cook meals for various customers while learning more about their lives with each dish served. With every item you make, you not only unlock the stories of customers but also new things to make for them. The plot is full of twists and turns, and some tales you hear will leave you more emotional than you’d expect from a typical cooking game. This app is rated 4.9/5 on the Apple store and deservingly so. If you like relaxing, storytelling, casual/idle mobile games, or even if you’re just a fan of cooking games, then this app may be right for you. As one comment left by a player says, this is a “poignant story hidden inside a cooking sim.” Hungry Hearts Diner is free, so you might as well give it a go and see if you enjoy it for yourself. Available on iOS and Google Play, and for Mac/PC.—Jasmine Puls
Portal 2
I’m just going to get it out of the way immediately, Portal 2 is probably my favorite game of all time. I can remember when I first got it back in 2012 as one of my first games for the Xbox 360, spending weeks tearing my ten-year-old hair out trying to beat it, and a genuine feeling of triumph as I did it for the first time. I remember a few years later, seeing the game on sale for $5 on Steam and popping back out the other end a couple of days later having an even deeper appreciation for it. I remember coming back just a few months ago and being drawn into the speedrunning community (people who try to beat the game as fast as possible), and after a LOT of practice getting placed 627th on the leaderboard. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but the point is this game has stuck with me for over a decade now.The core gameplay is built around a gun that shoots two portals that, once both are placed, allow the user to walk between the two. You play as a test subject for the company that invented the gun, Aperture Science, but clearly, something has gone very wrong at the facility. There are no other humans left in sight; only two insane robots trying to kill/save you. They take you through the twists and turns of the Aperture Labs as you use the portal gun to solve puzzles and progress the story. The game does an amazing job of slowly trickling the mechanics to the player, both in story and gameplay. Finding solutions feels very engaging and rewarding, and the writing is insanely clever. Each time I play, I pick up on new jokes and random intricacies that still get me to laugh and appreciate it that much more. If you have never played this game before, you are doing yourself a great disservice as there really are no other games quite like it.Available for purchase on The Microsoft Store for $19.99 or on Steam for $9.99. (Unfortunately, it was on sale for one dollar just a couple of days ago. It does go on sale fairly frequently, so there’s still a morsel of hope)
I’m just going to get it out of the way immediately, Portal 2 is probably my favorite game of all time. I can remember when I first got it back in 2012 as one of my first games for the Xbox 360, spending weeks tearing my ten-year-old hair out trying to beat it, and a genuine feeling of triumph as I did it for the first time. I remember a few years later, seeing the game on sale for $5 on Steam and popping back out the other end a couple of days later having an even deeper appreciation for it. I remember coming back just a few months ago and being drawn into the speedrunning community (people who try to beat the game as fast as possible), and after a LOT of practice getting placed 627th on the leaderboard. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but the point is this game has stuck with me for over a decade now.The core gameplay is built around a gun that shoots two portals that, once both are placed, allow the user to walk between the two. You play as a test subject for the company that invented the gun, Aperture Science, but clearly, something has gone very wrong at the facility. There are no other humans left in sight; only two insane robots trying to kill/save you. They take you through the twists and turns of the Aperture Labs as you use the portal gun to solve puzzles and progress the story. The game does an amazing job of slowly trickling the mechanics to the player, both in story and gameplay. Finding solutions feels very engaging and rewarding, and the writing is insanely clever. Each time I play, I pick up on new jokes and random intricacies that still get me to laugh and appreciate it that much more. If you have never played this game before, you are doing yourself a great disservice as there really are no other games quite like it.Available for purchase on The Microsoft Store for $19.99 or on Steam for $9.99. (Unfortunately, it was on sale for one dollar just a couple of days ago. It does go on sale fairly frequently, so there’s still a morsel of hope)—Andrew Wiegman