Drop Rate - Video game reviews that'll make you think

THE DARK QUEEN OF MORTHOLME [https://www.sifter.com.au/games/the-dark-queen-of-mortholme] is a 20 minute long, self-proclaimed "anti-game" by Mosu Aijala, and is one of my most memorable game experiences in recent memory. Read our review here: The Dark Queen of Mortholme: A Short but Brilliant Subversion of the Hero’s Journey [https://www.sifter.com.au/post/the-dark-queen-of-mortholme-a-short-but-brilliant-subversion-of-the-heros-journey-indie-review-pc] Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings [https://pocketcasts.com/ratings] Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade [https://www.sifter.com.au/arcade] to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled. You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by ☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ [https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ] 👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/ [https://sifter.store/] 💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord [https://www.sifter.com.au/discord] SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto], Fiona Bartholomaeus [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/fiona-bartholomaeus], Courtney Smith [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/courtney-borrett], https://www.sifter.com.au/author/daniel-angAdam Christou [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/adam-christou], Chris Button [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/chris-button] and Cat Jahne [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/cat-jahne]. Mitch Loh [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/mitchel-loh] is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/gianni-di-giovanni] is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.

The team is bigger than ever before and we've got seven red hot recommendations for you, with lots of variety to choose from, and a great list of honourable mentions as well. Did your favourite game make the cut this year? Let us know on Discord, or leave us a rating or review. Read our written reviews for our 2024 picks on our website. Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings [https://pocketcasts.com/ratings] Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade [https://www.sifter.com.au/arcade] to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled. You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by ☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ [https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ] 👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/ [https://sifter.store/] 💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord [https://www.sifter.com.au/discord] SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto], Fiona Bartholomaeus [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/fiona-bartholomaeus], Courtney Smith [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/courtney-borrett], https://www.sifter.com.au/author/daniel-angAdam Christou [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/adam-christou] and Chris Button [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/chris-button]. Mitch Loh [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/mitchel-loh] is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/gianni-di-giovanni] is our Executive Producer. Thanks to https://www.omnystudio.com/Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.

As romance novels grow in popularity, so too do dating sims and visual novels. SIFTER's Courtney Smith and Steph Panecasio (GamesHub [https://bsky.app/profile/stephpanecasio.bsky.social]) discuss A DATE WITH DEATH [http:///games/a-date-with-death], a free dating sim from Aussie devs, Two and a Half Studios. From blushing at the grim reaper in the computer to analysing how women's sexuality is catered to in video games, this episode of Drop Rate has it all. Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings [https://pocketcasts.com/ratings] Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade [https://www.sifter.com.au/arcade] to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled. You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by ☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ [https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ] 👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/ [https://sifter.store/] 💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord [https://www.sifter.com.au/discord] SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto], Fiona Bartholomaeus [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/fiona-bartholomaeus], Courtney Smith [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/courtney-borrett], https://www.sifter.com.au/author/daniel-angAdam Christou [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/adam-christou] and Chris Button [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/chris-button]. Mitch Loh [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/mitchel-loh] is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/gianni-di-giovanni] is our Executive Producer. Thanks to https://www.omnystudio.com/Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.

There are only a couple of constants in this world, death, taxes and new CALL OF DUTY games. This semi-annual series keeps cranking out the shooter scenarios, with some great multiplayer and all over the place single player. Chris Button is joined by SIFTER's own Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto] and freelance journalist David Smith (Rhunwords [https://www.patreon.com/Rhunwords]) as they make heads and tails of it all. Clicking on things is fun, that's what CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6 [https://www.sifter.com.au/games/call-of-duty-black-ops-6] delivers in spades. Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade [https://www.sifter.com.au/arcade] to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled. Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings [https://pocketcasts.com/ratings] You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by ☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ [https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ] 👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/ [https://sifter.store/] 💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord [https://www.sifter.com.au/discord] SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto], Fiona Bartholomaeus [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/fiona-bartholomaeus], Courtney Smith [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/courtney-borrett], https://www.sifter.com.au/author/daniel-angAdam Christou [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/adam-christou] and Chris Button [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/chris-button]. Mitch Loh [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/mitchel-loh] is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/gianni-di-giovanni] is our Executive Producer. Thanks to https://www.omnystudio.com/Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER.

‍STAR WARS OUTLAWS [https://www.sifter.com.au/games/star-wars-outlaws] might be the first game that actually feels like you're in the cities, spaceships and bases of the legendary scifi series. It's an open world game that doesn't feel bogged down with too much list ticking activities. Chris Button and Gianni Di Giovanni share their thoughts on Ubisoft's take on the world of Star Wars, what worked, what didn't and why Massive is only the name of the studio that made it, not the world. Read our full review here: STAR WARS OUTLAWS is a fun open world adventure that feels perfectly intimate and vast [http:///post/star-wars-outlaws-massive-entertainment-ubisoft-playstation-5] Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade [https://www.sifter.com.au/arcade] to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled. You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by ☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ [https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ] 👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/ [https://sifter.store/] 💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord [https://www.sifter.com.au/discord] SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/kyle-pauletto], Fiona Bartholomaeus [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/fiona-bartholomaeus], Courtney Smith [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/courtney-borrett], https://www.sifter.com.au/author/daniel-angAdam Christou [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/adam-christou] and Chris Button [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/chris-button]. Mitch Loh [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/mitchel-loh] is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni [https://www.sifter.com.au/author/gianni-di-giovanni] is our Executive Producer. Thanks to https://www.omnystudio.com/Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER.