Cookie Run Kingdom was definitely my favorite game that was released during 2021.  I downloaded it in late September and instantly became addicted.

This game features a large cast of characters ranging from plain gingerbread cookies to wizards and even to wolves.  It has a very large campaign mode and a very intricate storyline.  It also has a gacha feature which you can use to acquire more cookies to add to your team.  

It is better than most RPGs in this category because it is more leaning toward a free-to-play lifestyle.  Meaning you can enjoy the game just as much without needing to spend a lot of money on it.  

I found this game on Youtube when I was scrolling through my home page.  I instantly clicked and fell in love with this game.  My favorite part of this game is the gacha feature which I do as much as possible.  So far I have collected all of the cookies except for 2 of the rarest ones which are Pure Vanilla and Sea Fairy, but I recently got them on my luckiest day ever in this game.  This game has a lot of fun things to do and can be played for hours on end.  Can be played does not mean you should play it a lot more than you should.  

In conclusion, if you like to play gacha games and don’t want to have to spend money to progress and have fun, then this is the game for you.  Just look up Devsisters in the App Store on Android and IOS.  

-Jasper D.

Forager is a game made by Hop Frog and is a very good game at that. It has a very simple 2D game design but the goal of the game is anything but simple. The objective is to buy all of the neighboring islands, unlock all the skills, and obtain all of the possible objects.

You start off on one tiny island with some rocks, trees, and berries. You use your pickaxe to mine the trees and the rocks to get resources. You eat the berries to replenish your stamina. When you get enough resources you can build a furnace if you get enough ore from mining the rocks. If you do not have enough resources, do not worry because rocks, trees, and berries respawn after a certain amount of time making it so you don’t need to worry about resource shortages.

Then once you start unlocking more items by leveling up then you can get access to markets which can help you buy rarer items and you can sell the items that do not have any use left for you. This helps with progression because of scrolls. There are a couple different scrolls that can spawn a lot of ores, animals, trees/berries, or digging spots. Digging spots have chances of giving rare items but when you combine digging spots with lighthouses, which give a boost to items gathered within the radius of the light, then you can get a lot of items from the ground.

If you like simulation crafting games then this game is definitely for you. You can get it on Steam for computers or on the App Store for mobile devices.

-Jasper D.

Tiny Tower is as it says in their own description, “the one and only building simulation that lets you manage your own tower, customize each floor, and the bitizens that inhabit it.” This is all true. The amount of customization that you control is amazing. You can change the color of the background, floor, and certain decorations inside of each floor of your tower. You can also change the people too. You can give them cool costumes and also change the colors of their clothes.

My favorite thing to do is pick an elevator, roof, and lobby design that all fit together, such as the pyramid set or the tree set. Then I change the colors of each floor to either brown or green for the tree set, then make all of the people in the tower wear a monkey costume so it is all one big tree! The possibilities are nearly infinite.

Another thing I like about this game is that the cost of the next floors scale pretty well so it gets harder and harder to get the next floor so you end up investing more time into the game which helps get money faster. And the best thing, NO ADS. I know most free games have ads that block you from playing the game and having fun but you only watch ads if you choose to and most of the time the ad rewards are worth watching the ads for. All in all this is a very nice game to play on the side while doing something else or having it be your main game.

-Jasper D.

Happy Mall Story is one of the best simulation games I have played in a very long time. It has a very simple objective and that is to run a successful mall. There are a lot of ways to customize your mall, from adding different decorations to changing the colors of your stores. This game is a perfect game if you just need something to do in your spare time.

My favorite aspect of this game was making sure I had multiples of most buildings on each of the floor to increase the customers’ happiness. You can also buy items from some of the stores themselves to use to increase the stats of the store, like appeal or price and things of that sort.

Another good thing is that this game does not have any ads unless you want to activate frenzy mode which happens every 5 minutes anyways without ads so you do not even need to watch them. It makes me so happy when I find a game as good as this one that does not have ads. That is pretty hard to find nowadays because most free games on the App Store are LOADED with ads.

That is why I think that this game is worth your time to download and play it.

-Jasper D.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the best racing games out right now on any platform. It has 48 different areas to race in which change after every lap to give more variety. It has online play and lots of different modes to challenge yourself with.

The main function of this game is to provide a fun experience made for playing with multiple people. Sure, you can play online with people from around the world, but in my experience, the best memories I have that are associated with this game are when I was playing it with my family.

They recently added a DLC for the game which is an extra 16 stages from the earlier games in the series. This is definitely a purchase that is very worth its price.

Another thing to do is the ghost runs. You choose the option and you do all of the races and you are racing yourself to get a new personal best on the specific track. Once you complete these you get the golden ghosts which are much harder to beat and require every ounce of skill you can get to beat them.

All in all, this is a fantastic game to play anytime and is well worth the cost.

-Jasper D.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.