Hello all you wonderful Heroes and Travelers, sorry I’ve been AWOL but, it’s Thrifty Thursday and that means another Thrifty Gamer, the weekly post series where I spotlight three otome games/visual novels for gamers on a budget. Whatever your financial situation, I’m here to bring you affordable games that won’t break the bank!! All of the games on this list are $10 or less (does not include limited time offers and sale items), so no more weepy wallets!
This week’s post will include links to the games and a brief synopsis, but let me stress that these are not reviews, but recommendations… so your mileage may vary! Now that that’s out of the way lets get on to this week’s list!!
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Autumn’s Journey
- Publisher: Apple Cider
- Genre: Adventure | Fantasy | Romance
- Cost: Free
- Where to Play: Windows, Mac, Linux
The world of Ishtera is populated by two races: dragonkind, who have lived there for eons, and the heavenkind, who have recently appeared.
Auralee, an aspiring knight from the farming town of Berri, stumbles upon something unexpected during one of her patrols. After a rather inelegant introduction, Kerr states he’s really an Earth Dragon – one of the mystical beasts that inhabit their world, Ishtera. Whether he likes it or not, Auralee is now involved in his mission to regain his dragon form. Along with some help by a fellow dragonkind named Ilmari, their journey begins…
-Synopsis
Autumn’s Journey is a short fantasy visual novel with two pursuable characters with a total of THREE endings. Of the three achievable endings, two are romantic in nature, while one is a joint friendship ending with both potential love interests. The game is available in both English and Spanish, and also features partial voice acting!
The Shadows That Run Alongside Our Car
- Publisher: Lox Rain
- Genre: Mystery | Horror | Story Based
- Cost: Name Your Own Price
- Where to Play: Windows, Mac, Linux
The road is long.
Two strangers sit side by side as night falls over. The car speeds down the open highway.
Without a soul around them, everything seems to slip away. On a journey to no one knows where, all they have is words and time. And that time is dwindling fast.
The shadows are chasing.
-Synopsis
The Shadows That Run Alongside Our Car is a short horror visual novel with two main characters, players can choose to play as either Dustin or Shelby (names changeable) as they embark on a road trip into the unknown. There are a total of six unique endings, three for each of the main characters.
Sailor Moon Drops
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Genre: Puzzle | Connect 3
- Cost: Free
- Where to Play: This game is no longer available
Sailor Moon Drops is a mobile puzzle game featuring the characters from the classic magical girl anime, Sailor Moon. In the same strain as games like Candy Crush and Bejeweled, player are tasked with shifting around multicolored jewels in order to clear various puzzles and protect the citizens of Tokyo from Queen Beryl’s minions.
I played Sailor Moon Drops for a while. I really liked the graphics and the atmosphere, but some levels just stonewall you.
OMG yes!! I got to this one level that was just impossible to figure out and that was after I used all of the Senshi and the boosters!
Another awesome article! I really need to try out Sailor Moon Drops, especially since it’s free. The horror visual novel also sounds intriguing. I’m usually a fan of those, though I tend to have trouble getting to sleep after playing them, haha!
Panda, if you play any game from this list, it has to be Shadows!! That was my favorite game from 2016, it’s fantastic!! I say horror but, it’s more of a suspense game, but even that doesn’t quite do it justice! I love that game!
While I don’t like straight-up horror, suspense horror is one of the types of stories I like most. Even though I end up having trouble getting to sleep those nights, haha. I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for the recommendations!
I’m a huge horror fan so I’m a bit desensitized to that sort of thing, unless it’s extreme gore… now that I can’t deal with. 😛
YAY!! It’s really short, I finished it in about an hour or two, so it’s not too tme consuming. But, when you do play it, let me know when you do!! I would love to here what you think!
Oooo Sailor Moon? I may have to see if I can put that on my Kindle. No room on my phone unfortunately. And free is my favorite price 🙂
It’s such a cute game and there are cut scenes with the characters and stuff too!! Where you able to put it on the Kindle?
LOL free is the way to be!! 😉
Boo, it’s not available on there, but I could find it on Google play. I just have to remember :p
Aww dang! LOL you know what’s funny, I worked at Barnes and Noble for two years back in undergrad and we were always trying to prove that the Nook was better than the Kindle. So when I saw that you couldn’t get it on your Kindle my first thought was… “i bet it would have worked on the Nook” LOL It’s been years, but the BN programming stuck!
I didn’t know the Nook did more than books! I had a just plain old, standard Kindle until last Christmas when my MIL got me a Fire, and I loooove it lol. One, because my phone is cracked and it’s hard to read on it, and, well that’s the main reason :p The downloaded games are kind of a perk. Also apparently Kindle is considered Android?? I was checking something somewhere (yeah, I’m really bad at remembering things) and it said “Android device,” and I was confused until I figured out what they were talking about.
I still try to visit the local BN once a month. It’s the ONLY bookstore in my area (my freaking mall doesn’t have one, and it’s the biggest mall in America based on store space. Seriously, what the hell?), and I want brick and mortar bookstores to stick around. In fact…I think it’s about that time 😀
Oh yeah it definitely does! But, the Kindle does do some things better than the Nook so it all depends on preference.
I wish I could, they keep closing them all down, ppl just aren’t buying books like they used too… *sigh* I know there’s a bar in the city that also serves as like a book cafe so I might have to stop by one of these days for a drink and some books!
It’s really disheartening. It’s not just the eBook readers, it’s also stuff like Amazon and whatnot where you can just order online. I have a huge list of books I really want to read though, so I think it’s time to take a trip to the BN.