Games I Played in October 2025

Kitsune Tails

Steam

I follow a lot of people who like this one, so it was only a matter of time before I gave it a shot. I have a weird relationship with platformers in that I think they're really cool but at the same time I am not great at them. Regardless, I finished this one and had a lovely time with it. The game is very honest about taking inspiration from Mario 3 specifically, but it manages to hold onto its own identity well. This really shines with the enemy design. Each one clearly has a Mario equivalent, but the yōkai-inspired designs really makes them feel like they belong in this world rather than just being ripped from another.

Kitsune Tails has a fully-voiced story and it was more enjoyable than I expected. It's a simple story, but the characters and their interactions absolutely make up for it. Looking back, my favorite character is probably Yuzu's mom, which is not what I would have expected after the first conversation with her. The main plot revolves around a budding romance and its ensuing drama. This isn't typically my cup of tea due to... well, you can see the aromantic flag at the bottom of this page, but I liked this one. Without spoiling anything, I've actually left a hint about something I thought it did well earlier in this post.

The gameplay was a nice surprise as well. It was more difficult than I was expecting and apparently earlier versions of the game were even harsher. There's only a couple points that felt aggressively difficult, and I think it's fair to keep the player on their toes. The second half of the game sees your available movement techniques change dramatically and the momentum you can get out of it is thrilling. I know not everyone is a fan on how it was implemented, but I just adore that feeling of fast movement too much.

I do have some mixed feelings on the game's boss fights. The hitboxes of their attacks don't seem to match the animations, so it's quite easy to get hit when it looks like you were safe. But, I do think the hitboxes are more fair than they feel. If I was close enough to be between a weapon and the boss, nine times out of ten I deserved to get hit. And besides, the bosses are more creative than you'd expect from a game so heavily-inspired by Mario 3.

Unfair Flips

Steam

Yeah I paid $2 to flip a virtual coin a few thousand times. And it was god-damn worth it.

There's not too much I can say about the game on its own that isn't immediately clear from a minute or two of gameplay. It's a well-presented, honest example of "getting 7 tails in a row doesn't mean the next flip has to be heads."

It did take the role that idle games would sometimes play in that I sometimes like having something to do with my hands while watching something long, like an episode of an actual-play series. And that's a plus! Where even the more ethical idle games shove bigger and bigger numbers in your face, the large-ish numbers in this game don't matter for too long. All you care about is consecutive heads. And if I want something very simple to put on while anything else is going on, it might as well be a shiny coin instead of a tab yelling "optimize, optimize, optimize" at me.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

So I actually started a new Animal Crossing town on the first of this month on a whim. And after 31 (well, we'll get to that) days, I'm still having a nice time with it. Starting in October had a couple fun consequences - the Nookling shop was selling candies instead of fortune cookies until it reached its first upgrade, and the Able Sisters were selling costume masks. Compared to it now being November and there being mushrooms all over the town, the candy was pretty easy to get used to again.

Animal Crossing sits in this weird middle ground between moment-to-moment fun and a more meditative experience. It's slow-paced but my focus is usually on whatever small task I'm in the middle of rather than larger goals. Even if I was doing something like fishing a bunch of island fish to raise bells, I was just enjoying the vibes and didn't think about it like I was grinding for anything. I think my enjoyment of this middle ground is why New Leaf is the entry I'm most attracted to. It strikes a nice balance of giving you a lot of control over the town while still leaving you to make the most of other aspects of it. Raising bells for the Museum renovation compliments a slow-paced gameplay style more than the idea of terraforming an entire island.

There's a bit of pressure to play Animal Crossing every day. Even outside of earning more bells for your big projects, not playing means missing out on museum progress and weekly events. Your villagers will comment on if it's been a few days if you haven't spoken to them. And you know what? It's fine. Like I was saying earlier, Animal Crossing is a game I just like to soak in. Sure, I don't go to every live KK concert, but that just means I get to look forward to one when I do make time for it. If you have no plans for your birthday, the game still wants the day to feel significant. If you do have plans, go enjoy them, the game will be there when you're ready.