Kinetic Mouse Car

Kinetic Mouse Car, January 30, 2023 - Reply
You have a point about that. I try to prioritize reviewing games that have no reviews. If an author makes an earnest effort to contribute to IFDB, their game should get a review. Even if it is poorly done. It just has to be earnest. I am glad that I am alleviating some of the pressure with writing reviews. The more people who review unknown games, the more coverage. There are over 12,000 games out there. Plus, it’s fun.

There are outstanding games out there that virtually NO ONE has explored. Like Neurocracy. It's a sci-fi Wikipedia with gorgeous graphics. When I find a truly amazing but “undiscovered” gem that I think many players will like, I try to make some noise in my reviews to give it some recognition.

You probably don’t have time to read all of this, but in case you do:

I know this is going to sound lame, but the IFDB website is like an ocean, the surface of which functions as the front page. Let's say a game is a piece of foam/object of varying buoyancy. Tossing it into the ocean lands it on the surface, the front page. Eventually the game will slide off the front page as more things are posted, but reviews, ratings, polls, lists, and tags maintain its visibility, particularly if it was a competition entry. For these, the piece of foam sinks just below the surface and are revisited.

Meanwhile, other games sink to the bottom of the ocean without hardly getting any acknowledgement. They are posted on IFDB, but without having any reviews, ratings, lists (you get the idea), it is tricky to uncover them after they "disappear" from the front page. Every time scientists descend to the bottom of the ocean in their submersible to study lifeforms that never see the light of day, they always discover something new. Really. The same goes when you "deep dive" on IFDB. You always find an interesting game that no one seems to have explored. Many of the games I review were found by randomizing searches. That poll called "Games that could use more reviews" is also a useful resource.

All those top 100 lists are only the tip of the iceberg. They totally deserve to be top 100, but you can miss out on a lot by limiting yourself to well-known games. I want players to know that and dive into the unfamiliar. I review "mainstream" games all the time but still try to focus on hidden gems or untouched games.

Also: DaleosOS is a cool AI.