Welcome to this month’s issue of Attract Mode. Sorry this issue is late, I haven’t been able to give it the attention it deserves but in the meantime, Indiepocalypse has released a few new volumes of their game zines, so check that out if you’d like to see some other recent, small games. Going to be a short issue this time round, with some shorter reviews!:

The left-side of the screenshot features an alien creature sunbathing. The right side features the dialogue between the player character, their exo suit and their internal thoughts with the discussion focused on analysing the creature. Dialogue options based on the internal thoughts are available for the player to select.

Screenshot from my playthrough of the Demo

The Anders Cyclopeadia

So far this game has eluded definition and my attempts to describe it, nonetheless my impressions of the demo are as follows: The Anders Cyclopeadia is an adventure game taking hints from Anodyne 2’s evocative and dreamlike qualities and Disco Elysium’s brilliant conversation system, wherein you play as a xenozoologist, eager to explore Anders, a newly discovered parallel universe, joining its colony of scientists (whom contact from has been silent for some time); accompanied by a corporate mandated exoskeleton, your thoughts, and the incomplete (and real world printable) Anders Cyclopeadia you journey to this newly found planet to discover its creatures and make contact with the fellow scientists situated there.
Attraction: Initially appealing to me through softly evoking Anodyne 2, the demo left enough mystery at its core to leave me wanting more and so I quietly await for more.

A screenshot from the game Anthology of the Killer. It features a cartoon artstyle with a cloaked, masked figure holding a bloody hammer, facing the main character BB saying 'DON'T WORRY!!!!!!!' 'I'M A MURDERER!!!!!' BB is responding with '..........yes??'

Image via Anthology of the Killer itch.io page

Anthology of the Killer

Honestly at this point this game feels fairly “well known” within indie spheres but if there’s a chance someone doesn’t know it then it counts to be put on here. Of the Killer is a self-styled “giallo” adventure game where you play as BB, a zine-maker, investigating the latest mystery to put into her next publication, ofttimes placing her in precarious situations with killers of some style usually devolving into a classic chase sequence. It’s vitally important to how well these games work that there isn’t any “fail” state to these chases, and so the story and tension never really loses its steam by allowing it to continue. Of the Killer is a real ripper of a game. It is an absolute delight to watch this anthology strengthen with each entry, and for what is already something well wrought, it solidifies into something that is wholly confident in itself. It's also really damn funny.
Attraction: Aside from being an IGF nominee and winner, just look at it and get a feel for it. It's a blast.

These were originally posted onto my tumblr blog and are mirrored here.
Some editions may differ from the original posts due to editing.