Over the next week, we will be wrapping up our PAX East 2022 coverage. Almost a month has passed since the event and we have shared with you a good majority of the demos we played during the event. If you missed any PAX East 2022 coverage, head to our PAX East 2022 section to view any articles you might have missed. Right after PAX East, we covered one of Thunderful Games‘ PAX East demos, The Last Hero of Nostalgaia. The Last Hero of Nostalgaia demo won a Writers Choice award but wasn’t the only great game Thunderful had to offer. We also previewed Lego Bricktales and Tinkertown.
Tinkertown
Most seasoned gamers, that like Sandbox experiences, should realize that Tinkertown is already out. Rather than showing off some of the game’s new features, players were left to explore the demo and figure things out on their own. After giving the game a chance, I realized that I would need a little help, since I was out of my element. Thankfully, Tina was more than willing to show me the ropes and guide me to a storage area. The core gameplay of Tinkertown was easy to understand but there was a bit of a learning curve; the demo did showcase that the game would be fun to play with friends.
After breaking through a few walls, and killing a few enemies, we were able to get to the developers’ storage area. At the developers’ storage area, there were multiple storage chests. These chests contained items from the latest expansion, that were available to try out. These new items showcased some of the special equipment from each of the biomes. Each piece of equipment offered a range of stats for the player to experiment with. These items felt a bit overpowered when fighting an early-level boss.
Personally, Tinkertown is not high on my to-play list but would provide players who like Stardew, Animal Crossing, Don’t Starve, and other games in that genre a fun experience.
Lego Bricktales
If we were to award any other Thunderful Games title an award, it would be Lego Bricktales. Lego Bricktales is a creation simulator where players must build different items in order to solve puzzles. Like other building simulators, the player can choose how they want to build each item, but only a few designs will succeed. Is your design structurally sufficient or will it break into tiny pieces?
During our playthrough, the most difficult mechanic to get used to was building. Players have to view the world as a 3D structure, which requires players to visualize what they want to build. On numerous occasions, I was not able to line up the brick exactly to where I wanted it, which often meant redoing designs or placing bricks over again. The overall concept of the game is easy enough to comprehend. Once you do, you can have a lot of fun; especially if you are trying to engineer the design with as few bricks as possible.
Watching others play the game was also an amusing time. Seeing how players could think of different ways to build things really shows off the ingenuity of the game while allowing players to play their own way. This concept is refreshing and reminds us of why people loved Minecraft.
All three Thunderful Games provided PAX East gamers with a way to express themselves. Whether it was building, slaying monsters, or trying not to die, there was a good time to be had. If you are a fan of open-world sandbox games, then checking out Tinkertown might be a good idea. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for Lego Bricktales and The Last Hero of Nostalgaia. Let us know which of these games you decide to pick up!
