Love this! I look out for those reviewers who go after the smaller stuff. No hate on people who want that big game experience, it's just not for me. The 2-10 hour experience that wears its heart on its sleeve is what I'm looking for. There are so many cool niche games in the smaller space and the treasure hunt aspect of finding the one that speaks to you is a blast.

I do take time to review my games when they've got less than 1,000 reviews, and particularly if they've got a few hundred or less. Definitely try to focus on the ones that were positive for me.

Definitely feels like these little guys are more of the world of garage band self-published cassette tapes. A more direct link between the creator and you, and less of an experience of being two participants in economic transactions.

You probably know that following itch people is a good way to get those recommendations .. apart from this I found the Exhibit Play lists a nice guidance.

Yeah, I've got a janky selection of developer newsletter subscriptions, Itch follows, Steam curators, and one-off threads and sites like these. Pleased with the results I get so I just keep throwing stuff in these piles.

Thanks for the link, hadn't seen that one before.

here's another great endless loop of gamedev chatter:

https://mastodon.gamedev.place/public/local

and some collections I did on itch .. if we're following each other, we see each other's ratings:

- hidden objects
- musical toys
- chill-exploration
- word puzzles
- etc.

N++ will forever have my heart, such a solid game