[wispythreads]

Game Recommendations

I’m not really sure why I want to do this, as I don’t really have that big or extensive of a game library, but I’ve been feeling this weird mood where I want to make a list of games that aren’t made by big companies like Blizzard, Nintendo, Bethesda, Rockstar, Telltale Games, etc., or games that aren’t new, big titles, but are definitely games that I would recommend other people play or even watch someone else play. It might be stupid, but this is my blog, so I’m just gonna do it and have fun with it! And, hey, feel free to reblog and add your own game recommendations! If I haven’t played them, I might even check them out myself!

So, starting off in no particular order, with potential drawbacks for certain people upfront and reasons why I recommend the games (while doing my best not to spoil anything about it): 

- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Type of Game: It’s a mystery-horror game set in the first person perspective, with some Lovecraft-esque tones and supernatural elements. Its listed as an ‘adventure’ game, which I suppose is accurate, but I would classify it more as an exploration than an adventure.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a horror game that investigates some rather grisly murders, so if you’re uncomfortable with either of those things, or just don’t enjoy them, you might not like this game. I guess it could be argued that the game isn’t very interactive, as a lot of it is spent walking around and absorbing the rather beautiful scenery. I would just say that it isn’t an action-oriented game, and it won’t hold your hand or tell you what you’re supposed to do.

Why I recommend it: It was just... a really cool game to play! My favorite thing about it, hands-down, is the environments you explore while investigating the mystery! Everything looks so amazing and pretty and just filled me with awe as I walked around the beautiful scenery. Because of this, and the wonderful music that goes with it, a lot of the game play felt very serene and peaceful, even with all the spooky supernatural elements going on and the gruesome murders you would encounter and investigate. Speaking of, I really loved and enjoyed those components of the game too! I’m just a supernatural fan in general, but the whole mechanic of reconstructing crime scenes to how they were before the horrible events took place were really fun, and watching how everything had played out as you slowly pieced together the mystery was really gratifying! I actively wanted to figure out just what the heck was going on, and everything added up to a really enjoyable experience by the time I finished the game! I still listen to the soundtrack too, randomly playing it whenever I feel in the mood, whether it be while I’m writing, drawing, working on school assignments, whatever, it’s just a really good soundtrack!

- Oxenfree

Type of Game: It’s a type of side scrolling game, of the supernatural mystery genre. In it, you play the character Alex, but who Alex is and their relationships to the other characters is influenced by your decisions. So, kind of a graphic adventure with some horror elements.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): This is another horror-genre game, so, might not appeal to some people. I can also see this lacking appeal to people who prefer action-y games, as there is limited mobility for the player character.

Why I recommend it: It’s another really good game! Like, really, really good! I absolutely love the background lore, the characters, the art style, the environment, the story, the music, everything is just really, really good! I know I keep saying that but it’s true! It does a really good job of being eerie and scary even though it has such a simplistic, pretty design. In fact, while I was playing it I had a background worry that it was going to end up generating nightmare fuel, the visuals and events were just that frightening. Still, even though it was frightening, it wasn’t really because of most horror games with sudden jumpscares and the like. It was more atmospherically creepy, I guess I’d say. And I really loved playing it! I really enjoyed the character interactions, the supernatural elements, the game mechanic of using your player character’s little radio to tune into the right frequencies and progress through the game, all of that was really fun! 10/10 would play again, and actually did, and would recommend doing, as it’s one of those neat games that changes up based on the fact that you’ve already played through the events before.

- Little Nightmares & Little Nightmares II

Type of Game: Another side-scroller styled horror game. It is also classified as an adventure game, with puzzle-platforming in the mix.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It is a horror game and it is meant to be terrifying, a lesson I learned pretty well in the second game, when a certain collection of enemies happened to play into a phobia of mine and caused me to shriek and have a panic attack as I tried to maneuver away from them, so terrified just from their existence that it nearly got to a point where it was unplayable for me. (However, I am apparently very determined when it comes to games, so I pushed through it anyway. The respite I got from managing to get through that section was short-lived, however, since my younger siblings, much to my despair, decided that I was the person to go to in order to help them get through it. And they would not take no for an answer.)

Why I recommend it: It's a pretty terrifying horror game, but it’s also really fun! Whether you’re trying to get past a physical obstacle or are trying to avoid the grotesque, horrifying enemies that want to snatch you up and eat you, I loved crawling around, climbing things, picking up objects and carrying them with me as I explored the area and figured out what I was supposed to do to move on. The story is also a rather intriguing element of the game, as you’re not really told anything about the lore or the characters, you have to sleuth it out from your observations of the environment and how the enemies interact with you. And, though they’re unsettling, I think the character designs of the enemies are really cool! There are some aspects of the game that I enjoyed specifically because they weren’t spooky, though, and just made the game more enjoyable. Such as both of the main characters of the game. I loved playing as little Six, she just seemed like an adorable protagonist that was so small and needed your help to be safe and survive. Mono felt a little less fragile, but still is a cute little button I loved being able to help, both him and his friend. Who you could hold hands with!!! So cute. Then there were the little gnome-looking guys, and how you could pick them up and it’d look like you were hugging them. Their absence from the second game is the only downside to it, but everything else felt like such as huge upgrade from the original game. The controls felt a bit smoother, the added mechanics with a companion and the ability to fight back against certain enemies was really cool, the environments were even more amazing while the enemies were even more terrifying, and there was so much more mystery and intrigue as to what events could’ve occurred to have led up to this point in the world. As usual, I also really enjoyed the music in the game!

- Night in the Woods

Type of Game: Another side scroller style game that also includes some platforming. The character you play as, Mae, is also developed and influenced by your choices, but to a lesser extent than in Oxenfree. There’s a greater focus on story and characters, and it includes some horror elements.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Once again, this game has some horror-elements. Compared to the others, though, I’d say this one is a lot more relaxed in those aspects. It’s spooky and maybe a bit upsetting at times, but not to a point where I worried about nightmares or had to stop playing. A lot of the game comes from interacting with the other characters. Some of the mini-games might not be that enjoyable for some people, but those are mini-games and obviously can be avoided without negatively impacting the story.

Why I recommend it: Its! A! Good! Game! All the characters you meet and interact with are so cool and lovable, and a great many of them are really relatable. I actually related a lot more to Mae than I expected to when I first saw her character up on the internet, and I really enjoyed playing as her. The environments are really nice, especially the ones in her dream sequences, and I just really loved the art style and the glow of the colors in all the different lighting. It all just felt really homey and nice, and even if it didn’t have the supernatural elements that had a much bigger presence in the second chapter of the game, I still would’ve enjoyed playing it and just talking to everyone in the town, slowly progressing the story as I unraveled everyone’s characters. Speaking of the supernatural elements, I love how they turned up, with everything feeling normal, chill, and happy, until boom! Spooky stuff. It’s really great! And, once again, A+ music! I have actually just been chilling out with the entire soundtrack every day immediately after first playing the game, its so lovely! Though I was terrible at them, I also really enjoyed the bass mini-games, to the point where I was slightly saddened that I could only play two songs everyday, and that there really aren’t that many band practice sessions throughout the course of the game. Still, it was really fun, and there’s so much in the game to be discovered that could easily be missed that it has some good replay-ability. I actually want to play it all over again right now, in fact.

- Hollow Knight

Type of Game: A two-dimensional side-scrolling, platforming action adventure type game with hand-drawn graphics that has been described as a Metroidvania.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It has not only been described as a Metroidvania, but kind of like a Dark Souls. I thought it was really fun and only had a few sections that were truly, ridiculously difficult and I was being a stubborn idiot putting myself through unnecessary pain trying to get through, considering they were optional. However, because I loved this game so much, I gave it a glowing recommendation to my siblings, and even though they thought everything about it was really cool, they eventually stopped playing because the boss fights stressed them out too much. They only made it to the first two bosses.

Why I recommend it: It is probably my favorite game? It and Undertale just hit a very specific niche in my brain that just makes the entire experience of having played this game ridiculously pleasant. First of all do you see that art are you looking at it holy moley it is already so pretty just visually speaking and then you add the sound design. Not just the music (which is probably my favorite soundtrack I’ve ever listened to holy wow regardless of whether it’s calm environmental music or hyped up battle music it is just absolutely wonderful), every little noise in this game, every noise just adds so much to the lovely experience I had walking around taking everything in. The mechanics were a blast, the character designs and the actual characters themselves were amazing, and so were the environments you’d find them in, and the boss fights and even just standard enemy fights and the background lore and the STORY!!! Hollow Knight has a very show, not tell approach to its storytelling, both for the characters and for the overarching plot behind why everything is the way that it is once you play the game. It’s like a fun little puzzle, one you have to solve by putting together small, inconspicuous pieces hidden in the environments, the sparse information that you can manage to gather from the other characters, and the enemies you encounter and how they behave. And it’s very flexible in how you can explore the world. There are certain points where you have to do things in a certain order, finding a certain item or power-up that let’s you unlock a section that had been previously blocked, for example, but even then there is so much freedom to when you get to these areas and what you want to take care of first. It’s just... it’s a really wonderful game and I’m glad I played it. Everything about it just feels so nice... Even before getting my siblings to play, they’d pass by me playing it, chuckle to themselves and mention how it looked like a game that was made for me. 

- Omori

Type of Game: A pixelated psychological horror game with multiple endings, and turn-based combat that gets influenced by the changing emotions either your party or the enemies themselves can induce and take advantage of.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Again, it is a  psychological horror game, and it has a pretty heavy, dark driving force throughout the story. There’s a mature warning asking that viewer discretion beware, as it depicts topics such as depression, anxiety, and suicide, while also having flashing imagery that could be a problem if you have photosensitive epilepsy. Less important but could still be considered a drawback; there’s also the fact that, like some of the new releases of Undertale, there is pretty interesting content that, sadly, is only available through console editions of the game.

Why I recommend it: This is definitely another one of my favorite games. It has one of my favorite soundtracks, right alongside Toby Fox’s work for his games Undertale and Deltarune and Christopher Larkin’s compositions for Hollow Knight. Regardless of whether I was playing in the more whimsical, surreal landscape of Headspace or the overworld for the real world, I really liked the design of the world and how it felt to explore all of it. And, when the psychological horror elements kicked in, it did a really good job at making me feel at first unnerved and then legitimately scared to the point where I was reluctant to keep playing. I really love the art for the game, too, the cute style that I’d encounter through the photographs, or battles, or other important moments in the game, and how, in those battles and important moments, the music would pair well alongside it, heightening whatever it was I was meant to be feeling in that moment. I also think the emotions battle mechanic is pretty cool! It was a little confusing, at first, but I really think its an interesting idea to structure fights with, and would love to see it get explored some more. And then, of course, there’s the story, and the characters we meet through it. I don’t really know how to talk about them without giving away spoilers, but know this: I love and care them. Their interactions can be so goofy, so heartwarming, and yet at some points so heartbreaking that they spurred me on to keep doing whatever I could for that group, hoping they could all have some sort of happy ending, regardless of what secrets might end up getting revealed at the end of it all. It’s made me nostalgic of my childhood, and ended up motivating me to try and get out there more, in the real world. Try doing things that I’ve been too scared to do, too swept up in my own head to do. I still have a lot of work to do, on that, but, at the very least,

its made me really want to try learning the violin again.

- Year Walk

Type of Game: I suppose this is first person perspective...? It’s hard to describe the style of the game. It’s an adventure game, though, with supernatural/horror elements and progression based on puzzle-solving.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Okay, yeah, I’ve actually played and enjoyed a lot more horror-games than I had realized. Surprising. So, once again, horror-genre. Its described as an adventure game, which is kind of true, but I found the map rather small and confined while playing, at least compared to other games I’ve played. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you prefer more open-world type games that you walk around in this would be something to consider. The style of ‘walking around’ is rather different, too, as you swap between the areas you’re currently in by using your keyboard arrows in a kind of slide-show way.

Why I recommend it: I really loved the art style! Look at those trees, that goat man, that house! So cozy. Another aspect I enjoy is that all the creatures you interact with are based upon real supernatural mythology, which is particularly cool to me because those are my favorite aspects of any mythology! I find that the game does a really good job of being unsettling and scary without relying on jump scares, and I say this because I played the game in the middle of the day, with bright lights, no jump scares, but was still scared out of my gourd because I was alone and the game just kind of became too unsettling for me to keep playing without taking a small break from it. Even when everything’s peaceful and you’re just trying to solve a puzzle, there’s this prevalent disquieting feeling to it all. Speaking of puzzles, though, they were really fun, too! Aside from one point in the game where I got stuck, which was based more on me not being able to figure out mechanically how to do something, it was really smooth playing, and really enjoyable to solve! And, like most of the games on this list, I really enjoyed the soundtrack! The music would give off both a pleasant and unnerving feeling at times.

- Don’t Starve

Type of Game: 2.5D open-world survival game with multiple unlockable player characters. Much of it is spent in a sandbox mode, but there is a story mode too! Lots of creepy supernatural stuff going on throughout the game, as well!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a survival game. A rather brutal one, in my opinion, but take that opinion with a grain of salt, as I normally don’t really play survival games. It’s also in sandbox mode by default; in order to activate the story mode you kind of have to be lucky enough to randomly stumble into it in the sandbox mode. As I’m inexperienced in Survival games, I’m not sure if that’s just a thing, but if it isn’t, now you’re informed about Don’t Starve’s way of doing things.

Why I recommend it: It has a very quirky and interesting art style that I really enjoy, and each of the playable characters are really neat! I love all the little things that make them stand out individually, be it through game mechanics, flavor text, or what musical instrument takes the place of their voice and represents their personality. All the worlds that you explore are really interesting, too, and each world is randomly generated, making it new and exciting each time you start a new game! There also are a lot of unique craftable items that are pretty neat, especially once you get to the magic-related ones! Though I wasn’t skilled enough to progress through the main story when I was still playing, I really enjoyed the lore elements and all the background information of the game, and I really do want to finish the main story at some point. Finally, the music is really good too! Really whimsical and nice. All in all, it’s just a really good game, and I enjoyed playing it, even though I’m not really good at nor am a fan of survival games.

- Sunless Sea

Type of Game: A resource-management exploration RPG with Lovecraftian themes in a top-down style view and some elements of combat.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Any progress to be made in this game is very, very slow. Participating in the story often requires that you have something, whether it is an item, a skill-check, or a certain number of favors with a particular NPC, and building yourself up to have what you need often takes a lot of time, especially when what you need costs a lot of echoes (money). There’s also a lot to juggle in this game; your fuel, your supplies, your cargo hold, your crew members, your echoes, your fear, etc. Also, its a bit punishing, it expects and anticipates that your captain will die multiple times, as that is part of the mechanics of the game, so it is not so easy to recover from mistakes as it is in Kingdoms: New Lands.

Why I recommend it: It’s a really interesting game. You play as a captain in a Lovecraftian style subterranean world, with all types of weird, ranging from slightly to highly unnerving situations and encounters. For awhile, most of what unnerved me would just be in the dialogue and story, though not really enough to warrant, in my opinion, a rise in my captain’s fear level, especially when it just seems to be the norm of this world. But then I encountered a landmark that consisted of floating shapes that looked like skulls with writhing jaws, just beneath the surface of the water, and I found the island of Saviour’s Rocks. I like spiders, I really do, but the animation of all those tiny spiders moving across the dense webbing of the island actually made me feel that skin crawling sensation. The islands and their art design are all intriguing, the characters are interesting (and I’ve noticed that so far all of them merely have titles, no names) and sometimes just as unnerving as the environments, and I really enjoy what bits of the story and lore I have uncovered so far, though I wish that I could uncover it all much more quickly. It’s interesting in that it gives you the option of selecting your own win-conditions, even if it is an option between three choices (excluding one locked off choice), and the option to end the game in a ‘draw’ as it calls it once you reach a certain point in advancing your captain’s prospects. Also there were times where I read the narration and dialogue in my head with the voice of Cecil Palmer from Welcome to Night Vale, and that just... added to the very cool vibes the game gave me.

- Dredge

Type of Game: Another exploration game with Lovecraftian themes, but different! A fishing simulator that is set in a 3D space and has a focus on inventory management, with a day and night cycle where you’d need to manage both whatever part of your job has you fishing at night, and your sanity. 

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s another horror game that is pretty good at spiking your anxiety with some of the things that can be encountered. There’s a mini-game for dredging materials, a mechanic that is required to participate in if you want to progress the story, which is fast-paced and kind of requires a decent reaction time. The game is kind of short in a way where the price maybe isn’t exactly lining up with what you paid for, I personally would and did wait until it went on sale, but that’s up to your own judgement. 

Why I recommend it: I loved my time playing Dredge! The atmosphere for the entire thing is great just from the get-go. The art for the game is wonderful, whether we’re talking about things more obvious such as the environments and the types of fish that you’ll be catching or more so the U.I. elements for managing your ship’s inventory and interacting with the shop keepers. The mechanics for fishing and dredging are simple and easy to get the hang of, and the background story for your amnesiac fisherman and just why they’re doing all this was so genuinely engaging, and exciting to uncover! I love the gradual increasing unease as you progress, starting slowly as you are still wary of what lurks in the dark just past the town’s lighthouse at night, and getting worse as you push further, grow bolder in spite of the horrors awaiting you. Even after beating the game’s story, I found that it was still fun to load the game back up from time to time just to be able to float around, catching fish, leading to me eventually having gotten all the achievements for it before they started releasing DLC content. Just a really interesting and fun little fishing game! 

- Smile for Me

Type of Game: First person perspective... 3-D Point and Click type of puzzle game?

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Honestly folks I’m drawing a blank with this one. It is meant to be a psychological horror but those aspects didn’t really effect me beyond going “ah. creepy,” it may be more effective on someone who’s either had the teeth falling out nightmare, or has ever been concerned of the possibility of getting that nightmare.

Why I recommend it: I think I’m going to just copy what I wrote down once I finished the game as I think that it summarizes how I feel a lot better than anything I’ve attempted to write up again here. It’s pretty short and condensed, something you could get through in a day if you’re not struggling with the puzzles.  I absolutely adore the art direction, the u.i. elements, the character designs, and the little video segments between the days featuring Dr. Habit’s puppet. It’s not the same thing but it is reminiscent to me of how cool and stylized something like Pyschonauts is, it helps the game stand out from other things I’ve played. The plot’s pretty simple, but fun! I love all the little silly characters you meet and are trying to cheer up by going on errands and collecting things for them. And I find it interesting how you have to be a lot more purposeful with how you interact with things in the game, as there is no default “interact” button on your keyboard, you have to manually wheel over to what tool you want to use in order to try to have an effect on the world. I loved most the moment when Randy handed me a jar of pickles, asking me to help him smell like the pickle juice, and, just, being baffled, I smacked the pickle jar against him over and over. Until the jar shattered. And he was green and smiling. And in the lower right hand corner, an achievement popped up saying “True Anarchist: Find an alternative route” “That wasn’t the way I was supposed to do it???” Lovely game, great experience, 10/10.

- Endling: Extinction is Forever

Type of Game: An animal survival sim with a sidescroller type of format, where you play as a vixen trying to care for 4 kits.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): This was obvious to me and kind of the reason why I was interested in playing it in the first place, but the game’s goal is to make you emotionally invested in what’s going on and then rip your heart out. If you’re not in the headspace for that or not interested in subjecting yourself to it in the first place, maybe it’s best to just hear about this game rather than play it yourself. Even if you do everything right, there is really only one ending to the game, that will only change very slightly. Your actions overall don’t change anything.

Why I recommend it: I feel it does a wonderful job at what it set out to do, make you invested, and then break your heart =) Honestly though, the mechanics were pretty solid, very simple and straightforward. Basically just movement and interact, though you are also given the freedom to bark and play with your kits whenever you want, not just when it is tactically a good idea to do so. The way it approached being a side scroller was pretty interesting; it was able to make the world feel like an environment the vixen was exploring along safe paths she had trekked out by rotating the camera around at different points, as opposed to just being one straight line I followed throughout. The simplicity of it all created a pretty good gameplay loop of leaving the den, exploring the environment in order to feed and care for the kits while avoiding danger, and returning to the den as the rest of the world wakes up in order to return to safety and rest. It also had an engaging story, despite being limited by the fact you're a realistic animal in a realistic world. Two engaging stories that reflected each other, really; the story of this poor Vixen doing everything that she can to survive not just by herself, but to ensure the survival of her kits; and the story of the Scavenger and his daughter Molly. Personally I also found it very interesting how things in the game would unconsciously push me towards mimicking behaviors of wild animals in real life; as the forest became more and more polluted and food was scarcer to come by, I'd be more inclined to head into the more densely populated human areas, as even though the food wasn't natural, or at the very worst would be literal garbage, it was better than letting my kits starve. Games are a medium in which people get to let their creativity shine, and this is one where I feel it can be easily classified as art, a creation that wants you to feel something from engaging with it, and excels at that goal.  

- Hades

Type of Game: An isometrically designed dungeon crawler that has randomly generated rooms and encounters that shift around with each death, but each death also helps to progress the story and unlocking new equipment/abilities.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It is not exactly an easy game and the style can be frustrating for some people, though I’ve heard that it is much easier to get into this style of gameplay with Hades than it is with others that follow a similar format. Also, it does its best to be accessible to people who are interested in the story, even if the gameplay itself is difficult for them.

Why I recommend it: First off, I would like to mention that what initially drew my interest was the fact that it was based of ancient Greek mythology. This is what also drew my attention to the God of War series, but I lost interest when it became apparent that you were meant to kill the gods from that pantheon, and I wasn’t a fan of how they were portrayed in that game. In Hades, however, the gods and goddesses, and even the heroes of old that also are present in the game, feel much more fairly portrayed and really seem to fit with how they are in their myths, neither good nor bad but just... beings with flaws and strengths like the rest of us. And they’re just as petty as in their myths, too. Throwing that out there first in case someone under similar circumstances should see this. There’s still some creative liberties taken with how things are portrayed in the Underworld, specifically with the environments and some of the enemies, but it still manages to feel really fun and entertaining regardless. The game has such great mechanics and combat, especially once you find the style of fighting that really fits for you, and the music and all of the environments you roll through are incredibly beautiful. And like. Man. All of the designs. I mentioned the environments already but the character designs, the designs for the weaponry, for the flourishes surrounding attacks and abilities as you fight, for little collectibles and items, even for something like the menu are so detailed and pretty and wonderful to look at. And there’s also the awesome dialogue, and the wonderful story! Truly just a joy of a game and definitely worth checking out, in my opinion

- Ico and/or Shadow of the Colossus

Type of Game: They’re both third-person perspective action-adventure games! The first includes environmental puzzle solving, the second one I would classify as an open-world!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): The biggest drawback, I think, is that they are both Playstation exclusive. Another drawback is that these games are really old. Ico was released in 2001, while Shadow of the Colossus was initially released in 2005. Shadow of the Colossus recently had a remake, I think, but that still requires you to have a Playstation 4 in order to play it. On a personal note, I experienced a bit of annoyance while playing Ico because of the camera, as I felt that some parts of the game would be easier to do if I could just rotate the camera a little bit, but it was static.

Why I recommend it: I absolutely LOVED playing these games!!! They were so much fun! They seemed so awesome and alive, and I loved moving about them, even when there were points where I wasn’t sure where I was going or what I was supposed to be doing next. It’s got an intriguing and mysterious lore, cool story, creepy yet awesome monsters, and really neat characters. I loved the environmental puzzles from Ico, and just the environment in general with Shadow of the Colossus. The combat is also very fun and interesting, at least to me, as I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that does combat quite like it. I’ve briefly mentioned this in another post, but there’s a game I want to make myself, and whenever I picture the combat I always see it as something similar to Ico. If you’ve played The Last Guardian, that game was made by the same developers as these two! I’d also recommend The Last Guardian, but I haven’t played it myself, as I lack a Playstation 4 (the drawback of this series of games), but, from what I’ve seen of it, it seems just as wonderful!

- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Type of Game: It’s an action role-playing game, with its setting, characters, and mechanics based on the tabletop game sharing its name, Vampire: The Masquerade. You can switch between first person and third person perspective.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Another really old game! This one was initially released in 2004. The combat is rather clunky, at least to me, and, surprisingly, the game wasn’t actually finished when it was released. There is a patch out there that can be downloaded, though, that includes stuff that was never fully developed or was cut from the game. It’s not necessary to have the patch to play the game, it just adds more to it and provides a bit of stability to the otherwise buggy potential the original game has. The game is limited to being able to be played on Microsoft Windows. Finally, this is a vampire game that has an 18+ rating for a reason. It’s a lot more explicitly ‘mature’ than most games I like to play.

Why I recommend it: It’s a really fun vampire game! The graphics are outdated but they still hold up pretty well and the environments are still really fun to move around in, the multiple side quests are ridiculously fun, and its just a really cool game. I love all the rpg elements; from choosing your clan, to the faction you side with, to how you interact with the other characters, to the ending you work towards, to the statistics you choose for your player, it’s all really neat! I also love the lore and the backstories all the other characters have, even though the latter isn’t really spelled out, it’s still really cool! Its soundtrack is pretty good too, my favorite in it being the music that plays during your final mission. Seriously, that song made the experience of completing the final mission, which I was doing in a way that already made me feel like a cool badass, 100 times better. Also!!! Even though the combat is super clunky, the melee weapons are really fun to play around with! There’s a lot of variety to be had with them, and each one has a special animation that plays during their stealth take-downs. I’m honestly not sure which one is my favorite? Even just plain-old-fists is really fun.

- Drakan: Order of the Flame

Type of Game: A rather old action adventure game, set in a fantasy setting with magical weapons, unrealistic but extremely cool jumping, and flying dragons. If I remember correctly, I think that it may have been possible to switch between first person perspective and third person, but all my memories of it are in third person so maybe I’m wrong.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Okay, you know how Ico is a really old game? This game is older by 2 more years, initially being released in 1999. So... yeah. I can understand if that immediately turns people away, I don’t blame them, this is more on the list for nostalgia purposes, even though I earnestly would recommend playing it and find it to be a good game. It’s also only available on PC. There’s also the problem of inventory management, which is done kind of similarly to the original Diablo game, if you’ve played it you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. One final drawback I can foresee is that, unfortunately, this game is pretty buggy.

Why I recommend it: Like I mentioned before, this is kind of a nostalgia game for me. I’d always play it when I was younger, me and my sister (Sen) would actually like to pretend that we were playing together at times, interacting with each other across different saves. Even without that nostalgia factor, though, it’s a really cool game! You see that dragon? He’s named Arokh, and not only do you get to ride him, but you’re also fully in control of when you get on, off, where you’re going, and what you’re doing. Also, aerial combat! There are other enemy dragons that you can often engage with while riding Arokh, and defeating them unlocks a new breath attack! You start out with fire, but can unlock poison, electricity, and frost, if I remember correctly. The only downside with the whole dragon thing is that there are a lot of points in the game specifically designed so that you can’t just fly in on Arokh and roast everyone, relying on your own skills as a jumping, slashing hero, but those bits are still really fun! The story’s really intriguing, the lore is dark and interesting, and it just is a really fun game. I’m listening to the soundtrack for the first time in years right as I’m writing this, and it’s just... so nice. Brings back old memories. And old fears of spider mines. Ahhh... I miss you, Arokh.

- Mystic Messenger

(my own in-game screenshots)

Type of Game: A phone app dating sim from Korea that sticks to its bit very well, it mimics a messaging application pretty closely with chatrooms, private texts, and even phonecalls from the characters. It also has some visual novel elements in addition to all that, in order to progress the story outside of the messenger.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): First off, it does require you to have a phone in order to play it. And it is a pretty big file, a significant chunk of my phone storage is taken up by this game and I had very small storage already to begin with. The game also progresses in real-time and it is possible to miss parts of the story and a chance to influence it if you don’t enter a chatroom before the next one appears, which can have a negative effect on the overall story if you miss a majority of it. The good news is that, if you miss a chatroom, you can spend in-game currency in the form of hourglasses to unlock it at a pretty low cost, and the hourglasses are pretty easy to build up without much effort. The final thing I can think of that might dissuade anyone from playing is that this game can get dark. Not even just with the bad endings, which are bad for a reason. Two of the final routes go out of their way to warn you about all the potentially triggering content found within before you even attempt them, and there is a lot.

Why I recommend it: Gosh I love this game. I wasn’t expecting to get this invested when I started playing it but the story and characters are so gosh darn intriguing that it kind of spiraled into me being heavily invested in all of it. It’s just got such a good set-up. And there’s the mystery surrounding the bigger picture beyond the events of each individual run, the way they would reveal small pieces of just a bit more information as to what that bigger picture was in each route, the tension that grew heavier and heavier as the game progressed, the characters and their individual stories as well as how they all intersect and interact in each others lives, gosh it was just... so cool. Honestly? I’m really sad that the characters don’t actually exist. They all feel so... real. They all have so much heart to them, it really felt like I was interacting with people on the other end of the screen, for both the good and the bad. Especially with one of the characters, 707. There were several scenes where he was the focus and the scenario just. Felt real? Like it could actually happen in real life, with the same kind of back-and-forth exchanges? I don’t know how else to describe it, it was odd. The voice actors did such a great job making the characters feel even more alive. There’s some really nice art in the game, too, in all the different styles that it uses, and I really, really love the music! It’s all so, so, so good and has such a wide range of moods that it evokes from me, lots of smiles and lots of tears (and some fears...). This game honestly means a lot to me, and it’s actually inspired me, in some instances. From the very start, one of the characters motivated me to actually cook a meal for myself instead of just having something previously frozen for breakfast, and others have made me want to write either some short stories or poetry, draw happy little doodles of flowers and other things, crochet different types of clothing, and just... yeah. I really like this game. I just wish everyone in it could have a happy ending...

- Monster Prom

Type of Game: It’s a multiplayer dating sim set in a monster high school appropriately titled Monster High.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Ehhh, I mean it’s a dating sim with some violent imagery through the narration, crude humor, and coarse language. It’s not as fun to play by yourself, at least in my experience.

Why I recommend it: Normally I don’t really enjoy this level of crude humor, but I really enjoy playing this game with friends (or, well, in my case, sisters). Also, I don’t generally like dating sims, I mainly like them when they’ve got some kind of twist to them, like Hatoful Boyfriend’s weird depth in lore that ends up with you crying over a bunch of virtual birds, or Doki Doki Literature Club’s psychological horror elements, stuff like that. In this game, the twist is the fact that its a multiplayer dating sim, with stats that determine whether you’ll actually be successful in the path that you’re trying to follow. Also, all the various different random events and secret endings that you can unlock. The scenarios are hilarious in their wacky outlandish shenanigans, and though the characters can seem one-dimensional, some of their randomly generated events or secret endings lends more interesting weight and characterization to them, like Polly’s interests in chess and Russian literature in addition to her crazy party personality. It’s just really fun to play with company, and fun in its own right by yourself, with some pretty cool characters to interact with as you go about the goal’s objective of acquiring a date for Monster Prom.

- Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun Series

Type of Game: These games are described as tactical role-playing games, the game is isometrically styled and combat is turn-based.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Most of the enjoyment for myself was drawn from the text-based elements; dialogue, story, lore, etc. Also, in my opinion, the Matrix sections in Hong Kong lost the fun and appeal that it had in the previous two games, but other people might like it better, and the good news for those who don’t is that, for the most part, those sections are not mandatory to play the game. Still, if you want, there are cheats that can be used to make those sections more bearable.

Why I recommend it:  The stories are so good, man. It’s a cyber-punk world with elements of fantasy! Every fall-moving-into-winter I get in the mood to play them over again, as the cold chill in the air and that wintery scent reminds me of the first time I played these games and just how cool the settings were. Though the combat is a bit strange to get used to if you’ve never played the games before, I’d say it’s a lot easier to get used to than the original Fallout  games, and it does get a lot more enjoyable once you’ve got a handle on what you’re doing. Like, by the end of Dragonfall, enemies HAD to target my mage character first, because if they made the mistake of attacking other members of my party instead, I would absolutely WRECK them, utterly destroying their defenses before incinerating them with my massive fireballs. It was brilliant. Aside from that, I just really love the dialogue with other characters? There are a lot of comedic moments that gave me a good laugh, and more serious conversations that just drew me further and further into the story as I became attached to these characters. The music and scenery, in my opinion, isn’t as endearing as these other games, but its still really good, and the artwork elements (like the character portraits and cutscenes) are really awesome!

- Fallout 1 & 2

Type of Game: Like the Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun series, the game is isometrically designed and combat is turn based. Its an open world tactical RPG.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): This is mainly a recommendation for people who enjoy the Fallout series, but haven’t played the original games. So I guess this is kind of related to a big game company, but, shh! Both the combat and inventory systems feel really clunky at first and are kind of hard to get used to. It is not a very easy game, although, thankfully, you can change difficulty settings at any time. The second game (and maybe the first, though I don’t remember anything risque in that one) is another game that is a lot more ‘mature’ than I normally like. Both games are only available to play on PC, and, to top it all off, both games are really old.

Why I recommend it: Even if you don’t play the other Fallout games, I still think this would be a good game to play if you can look past the possible drawbacks listed! The characters you meet are really cool individuals, especially the companions you can gather from both games, and the lore and world-building are really cool! Plus, the second game had a lot of random comedic moments that made this really old, really fiddly game feel a lot more enjoyable. It may or may not have broken the fourth wall too much, but it was still loads of fun whenever it did!

- Undertale & Deltarune

Type of Game: It’s a pixelated top-down type RPG. There are some decent puzzles, and the combat is a turn-based bullet-hell style. In Deltarune, the combat is a little bit different, more like a traditional RPG game with a party system.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Look at the type of game it is. Also, the game remembers what you do, and (understandably, given its premise) won’t like it very much if you take the 'killing’ path, regardless of if you go full Genocide or not. Both games seem to be featured on a lot of consoles, but currently Deltarune (when I wrote this) is not available on the Xbox, I’m pretty sure. Also, Deltarune is still not finished, only two of the total seven planned chapters are available.

Why I recommend it: I know Undertale is a popular game and that loads of people have already played it and knows about it but there’s no way I’m not going to recommend it. Just... The story! The characters!! The Music!!! I love this little game to death, even if I’m missing out on tons of story because I refuse to do the genocide path. I care too much about each and everyone of these characters, even the ones that don’t do much or contribute to the story at all, like the Froggits. It’s just... it’s such a lovely game. I loved going through the puzzles, reading the dialogue that was just full of laughs and tears, walking through the environments of each section, engaging in the combat system with the unique bullet-patterns of each monster, just going through the whole story and interacting with everyone was the most wonderful game experience. The soundtrack still can just reduce me to tears as I listen to it, conjuring all the emotions and everything I felt while playing it the first time around. So, yeah, I’m gonna recommend it even though it’s already popular enough without me doing so. It’s a good game, and if you haven’t tried it yet, I’d say give it a try, because you just might like it, too.

Deltarune has its own vibe and story separate from Undertale, but it is already showing similarities in what made Undertale feel so wonderful, and has the potential to be even better as the story continues. The puzzles, character dialogue, story, music, environments, and combat were all really fun and enjoyable to play through and experience, the character sprites and the concepts behind them really cool! Even if this game wasn’t tied to Undertale, with the recurring characters and references to the first game, I would still really, really love Deltarune. The Dark World and all the characters, lore, and story associated with it are all really interesting on their own, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more from it. It’s just... a nice game. I like it. And, the first two chapters are free to download and play, so there’s not much of a gamble to be had when trying to figure out if you’d enjoy it, too. If you don’t like it, it didn’t cost you anything to give it a try, so its worth seeing for yourself and giving it a shot.

- OFF

Type of Game: Top-down pixelated style RPG with puzzles!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a PC only game. The combat felt kind of weird to me, but that might just be me. Though I wouldn’t classify it as a horror-game, it does have some imagery that might be considered disturbing.

Why I recommend it: It’s pretty neat! I loved each individual character design I saw, and the characters that you can interact with were pretty cool! I really liked the art style, especially for the battle sprites; its strange and a bit unsettling, depending on the character, but just really appealing for some reason. I also enjoyed the music of the game, and the puzzles were really fun to solve! Speaking of puzzles, just enough lore is given to have your mind turning and wondering about the events of the game, but not enough for the dots to really connect easily. I feel like there’s a lot of potential ways to interpret it all. Also, it’s a free to download game! So, there’s no loss if you end up getting the game but decide that you don’t like it.

- To the Moon

Type of Game: This is another top-down style pixelated, story-driven adventure RPG.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person):  It’s mainly story-driven; there’s no combat, no inventory systems, just puzzles and story that unravels the more you play the game.

Why I recommend it: Unlike the other games on this list, I haven’t actually played To the Moon myself yet. I’ve only watched another person play it, a long time ago. But, I’m including it on this list, because I remember enough of it that I really do want to recommend playing it, and play it myself, at some point. The story it tells is just, really emotional and sad but with some heartwarming moments and comical events in the mix as well. Bittersweet, I guess. I don’t want to talk more about it and give anything important away, but its really good.

- Stardew Valley

Type of Game: A pixelated, top-down farming simulator RPG

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): You can’t save whenever you like, only after you’ve gone to bed and finished the current day. After you’ve finished the main storyline, it can feel a little bit repetitive, though maybe for other people it could end up feeling repetitive before then.

Why I recommend it: It’s a cute game! It’s labeled as a farming simulator, which it is, but farming isn’t the only thing you end up doing! You’ll find yourself fishing, foraging, cooking, chopping down wood and mining, crafting either an arcane artifact or a new wooden fence, finding lost artifacts, defeating monsters that threaten your new home, socializing with your fellow townspeople, falling in love, starting a family, etc. Like I said, its a cute, fun game! I love all the characters that you interact with, from the reserved supernatural characters living in locked off sections, to absolutely adorable characters like Penny and Maru, and I enjoy feeling like a member of their community thanks to how productive and active my little player character is. It’s just a nice peaceful game with a nice peaceful art style that I’ll end up spending way more time on then I anticipated and whoops it’s three in the morning how did that happen...? Like many of the entries on this list, I also really enjoy the music! Regardless of whether it’s the happy, twangy country feeling music of the valley, or the more mysterious and echoed feeling music of the caves and supernatural elements, its just very nice and relaxing to listen to. I especially love all the flute bits.

- Moonlighter

Type of Game: A top down pixelated dungeon delver and shopkeeper simulator

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person):  It’s built with a controller in mind, and though you can play it with a keyboard I had to fiddle with the settings in order to get the bindings to be placed comfortably and in a way where I would remember intuitively what each key was meant to do. The game works on an autosave system, saving each time you enter and leave a dungeon floor, and each time you get through a day tending to the shop. Otherwise you are not able to manually save nor have multiple save slots. There are some odd little glitches here and there, like the sound being muffled if you come back to a dungeon through one of your own portals, which will stay in effect until you open a chest. Nothing game breaking encountered so far but I am wary about encountering one at some point. 

Why I recommend it: The idea behind it is pretty neat! You’re a young guy that grew up in a town that had built it’s economy around the fact that a mysterious dungeon had basically popped into existence in the area, and you’ve inherited your family’s merchant shop, which sells goods collected from the dungeons. The game does favor the dungeon delving part of the mechanics more than the shopkeeper sim, I feel, but with how it is set up there is a very nice loop of delving into the dungeon and then managing the shop. And, to it’s benefit, I feel like it works well with putting you into the same headspace as the player character, Will. Yeah expanding the shop and the town are important, but the dungeon is what you’re interested in. Each level has neat little creatures to fight against, and the layouts of each randomly generated room are interesting as you eventually will be able to tell from a glance how difficult it is going to be to get through that room. The first dungeon is pretty standard in design, but I love the art that went into the environments for the dungeons going forward, and the spritework for both the creatures and the human characters. The music is alright, it’s stuck in my head as of writing this. Not my favorite type of soundtrack but not an annoying one, just does its job and calls it a day. This is another game where you could end up sitting down and accidentally playing it for a lot longer than you initially intended. 

- Kingdom: New Lands

Type of Game: It’s a 2-D pixelated side scroller styled game. It is also both an adventure game, a strategy game, and a kingdom building simulator!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): You’re given very little direction from the game. You’re told how to set up your base, how to hire people, give them jobs, and assign workers to do certain tasks, but there’s a lot of information that would have been good to know from the start. Like, I knew about this already because of my Dad talking about it before, but blood moons coming every 5 days and summoning new, stronger monsters to defend against, or the fact that the long-term objective is to build a boat so that the crown remains safe and you can move on to the next island, certain things like that. So, if you do intend to play it, I highly recommend perusing through a game guide to figure out what everything means and what does what and stuff like that before jumping into it.

Why I recommend it: It’s really fun! And, though it’s a strategy game, it’s not too punishing if you make a mistake and things go wrong. Really, there have been too many times for comfort where I’ve thought: ‘Welp that was a good run guess I’ll die.” But somehow or other, I don’t actually die, manage to recover my losses, and keep on playing. I wouldn’t classify it an easy game, at least not once you’ve gotten to Island 3 and onwards, but it’s also not so hard that you have to work to be able to enjoy it, and you don’t suffer too much if you make minor mistakes. Sometimes even major mistakes are totally recoverable! It’s also another game, like Stardew Valley, where I’ll accidentally spend much more time on it than I had intended when sitting down to play it. It’s just, well, really calm and relaxing to play most of the time. And I say most of the time because the only time I’m not relaxed is when I’ve successfully destroyed one of the monster portals, because, let me tell you now, the sound that happens immediately afterwards is absolutely dread-inducing, even before I knew what it meant, and with good reason. Aside from that, even though it’s a pixelated art style, I really like it because it kind of gives me this Princess Mononoke feeling? I’ll just be wondering around in the forest on my mount, with deer running off and light barely managing to break through the heavy foliage of the trees, that peaceful, lovely music playing in the background, and I’ll be expecting to see a little tree spirit crouched in the corner of my screen, wobbling its head. It’s a pretty great game, and I think there are two other variations of it available currently, but I don’t know what those are like comparatively so I’m just recommending this one for now.

- Primordia

Type of Game: A pixelated point-and-click adventure game with the usual puzzle mechanics such a game entails, set in a post-apocalypse environment.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Some puzzle solutions may seem a bit obtuse, and I did see someone complain that the ending feels a bit rushed. I can see where they’re coming from, even if I thought the build-up to the ending was fine. Finally, much of what I appreciated from the game came from the dialogue and reading optional text that required you to find and read yourself in order to get the kind of information you wanted, and there was a lot of that kind of text, though most of it was found all in one place, so that might not be favorable to some people. You can discover generally the same information by just playing the story line of the game, but I’m unsure if the impact of doing it that way will be the same.

Why I recommend it: Compared to previous point-and-click adventure games I’ve played, such as Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island or Grim Fandango, the puzzle solutions are way less obtuse and actually made understandable sense as to why that is the solution. Also, the puzzles aren’t just limited to finding the right combination of objects in your inventory and using it on your environment! There are also code puzzles: ciphers, binary, literal numeric codes to either unlock other sections of the environment or for some other purpose! It was loads of fun! Then there are the characters, which entirely consist of robots, and the lore behind the game. I enjoyed helping the wise-cracking, glorified lamp Crispin and his exasperated creator, Horatio Nullbuilt, go about their mission objectives as they navigated the world left behind by Man. I enjoyed collecting the little tidbits of lore that eventually collected into the larger picture behind the world they roam, paying attention to the little details that foreshadowed later events in the game. I loved the art style and design for the robots, the grittiness of the world just barely getting by on the skin of its teeth, it was a really fun experience, and a really cool game!

- Soul Void

Type of Game: It’s a pixelated, top-down, story driven game.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s PC only, and explores the darker parts of people’s minds pretty realistically. Which I think is really interesting, and part of why I like it, but I understand that some people would rather just... not interact with that in the types of video games they want to play. Also body horror. Which, I guess I either have become desensitized to or don’t really categorize as horror anymore, as I literally forgot until just now that this might be an issue.

Why I recommend it: hoo boy I’ve been scared to actually write anything because I’ve seen that the creator is actually on tumblr and they seem really cool please don’t see this I’m embarrassing and weird It’s a really, really cool game. The art style, the character designs, the environments, the actual characters of the kinds of people you meet, the story it has to tell... It’s just all really, really good, and feels really impactful, which is especially impressive to me considering just how short the game actually is. I related a lot to the insecurities that were expressed through the characters, and it’s just... really the kind of game that I like. Where there is darkness, because that’s a reality a lot of people face, but... with just a little effort, and a little kindness, you can actually make a difference, make things just a little bit better for the people you interact with. It doesn’t have to be big, or grand, but it still matters. And even if you’re struggling with things yourself, and find yourself in a bad place, you’re not weak for struggling. You’re not alone. I’m not really expressing myself properly here, it’s hard to get down everything I feel about this game, but... really, it was really nice playing through it to the end. It’s a game that I enjoyed playing, but also just feels... important. I’m glad that it exists, and that I got to experience it.

And that’s it for now. I think I read somewhere that the content under the read more changes throughout everyone’s reblogs after an edit is made, so I’ll probably edit it in the future when I think of more games I’d recommend, and reblog it again myself at that point so you guys know that I’ve added more games. Again, feel free to reblog and add your own recommendations!

EDIT: I’ve played some more games, so here’s some more recommendations!

- Added Primordia (2021)

- Added Sunless Sea (2021)

- Added Monster Prom (2021)

- Added Soul Void (2021)

- Added Hollow Knight (2021)

- Added Hades (2021)

- Added Little Nightmares II (2021)

- Added Mystic Messenger (2022)

- Added Dredge (2025)

- Added Endling: Extinction is Forever (2025)

- Added Smile for Me (2025)

- Added Moonlighter (2025) 

[3hkowalski]

Oh it’s the trio I missed so much

I love this old render by Glitch

[kuropin]

Them

[retroject]

I found a lovely snail at work who was dried out so I let him have a shower and he seemed to enjoy it!! 🐌🚿

[scififantasystuff]

[joy-and-whimsy-official]

Joy and whimsy detected! This snower (snail shower) is joyful and whimsical! 🐌🚿

[sickficbay]

when a character is so badly hurt/sick that their demeanour switches up entirely

chatty characters pale-faced and silent

quiet and reserved characters rambling deliriously

character who always resorts to humour clearly trying to think of a quip but coming up empty

no-nonsense character so loopy that they can’t stop giggling

a stoic character’s hands trembling in panic

an easily frightened character so far out of it that they aren’t aware of what’s happening to them, much less afraid

intelligent characters who can’t think straight

protective (self-sacrificial) characters letting someone else take the fall for them because they’re too weak to object

patient characters snapping at whoever comes near

affectionate character who wants to be alone

lone wolf who begs you to stay a minute longer.

[polarity-disturbed]

With the whole "Markiplier making his own DVD copies of Iron Lung to sell" thing, it's been fascinating and slightly concerning how many people seem to genuinely believe that if a physical release isn't coming from a giant corporation, it must automatically be a bootleg.

Look at me.

Look me directly in the eyes while I say this.

You can just make things.

You can simply create something and put it into the world.

That's allowed.

People have been doing it for centuries.

They sell blank VHS tapes. They sell blank DVDs. Blank CDs. You can buy flash drives by the bucketful if you really want to. If you create a movie, an album, a game, a documentary, or a four-hour video essay about the mating habits of fictional space goblins, you are entirely permitted to put that thing on physical media and sell it.

That is not piracy.

Piracy is taking something that belongs to someone else and reproducing or distributing it without permission.

If I buy a DVD of a movie, I own that copy of the movie. I do not own the movie itself. I didn't acquire the rights to duplicate it, press a thousand copies, and start selling them out of my garage like I've become the regional distributor for Warner Bros.

The copyright, distribution rights, and intellectual property still belong to whoever created it or whoever legally acquired those rights.

If I start burning copies of Iron Lung and selling them myself without Markiplier's permission, that's piracy.

If Markiplier, who made and owns the rights to Iron Lung, burns copies and sells them himself, that's just distribution.

He's the rights holder.

He's distributing his own work.

If you made it, if it came from your own mind, your own work, your own time, your own resources, then congratulations. You own the thing. You don't need a corporation to bless it with legitimacy.

The corporation is not what makes it real.

The fact that it exists is what makes it real.

I think we've accidentally spent so many years living inside a world dominated by mass-produced media that some people have developed the strange assumption that all media emerges from a factory somewhere. As if films naturally occur in shrink-wrapped plastic cases and descend from the heavens aboard a pallet truck.

But independent artists have been burning discs, dubbing tapes, printing books, pressing records, and mailing things directly to people for longer than many of us have been alive.

That's not a bootleg.

That's just a product.

It's not "bootleg."

It's just... leg.

The normal kind.

The original, free-range, locally sourced leg.

[justcallmedom31]

[longsightmyth]

I bring a real 'actually people who are pregnant do deserve some special consideration because they are effectively at least temporarily disabled if not permanently after some complications' vibe to the party that a lot of people don't seem to like

[jurassicpeanut]

No bond stronger than a disabled girl and her disabled cat

[heedra]

In elementary school, my best friend and I had this game we would play where we were school supplies living inside a child's desk and going on slice-of-life adventures inside it. And I remember that a key component of our school supply society was a sort of religious schism that existed around the purpose and nature of the giant hand that occasionally reached in to grab different citizens, use them, and then return them, because most school supplies considered this an auspicious and enviable moment of being selected for a greater purpose and allowed a glimpse of a vast truth, but pencils considered it a horrible portent of doom because they always got sharpened during it and came back smaller and closer to death. We were third graders btw.

[vanglussy]

Can't believe people are out here getting their asses beat by literal children in compelling worldbuilding contests

[somie]

Slops

[martyfive]

this one is for Juniper Blessing.

this isn’t about mermay, really. you can grab the free png on my patreon. print it out if you can and remember her name.

[gamejoypod]

Sometimes it feels like people have forgotten that friction & frustration can be an intentional part of a game's design

There's still hay being made over Groal + his runback in silksong and a common opinion I see is that it's a mistake or oversight on team cherry's part and it's like, no? They know what feelings they're trying to invoke. It's why I laughed out loud when the bench popped up after beating Groal.

You're meant to feel like it's an unreasonable slog, it's a real challenge that demands you stay focused and cool-headed. That's why there's a hidden bench halfway through, it rewards staying curious while your patience is being tested.

Feel like a lot of discussions about game design could be pre-empted just by asking "do you think a game invoking negative emotions and a game having bad design are the same thing?"

[theoiandtuna]

Also Bilewater is like. The anger place. The whole thing about Bilewater is that the Citadel polluted it to the point that it's not a place to live in. At all. And the Stilkin tribe make it their life's mission to spite the Citadel for what they've done.

Bilewater is NOT a cakewalk. That's the point. You're supposed to be upset at this place. And you're supposed to see this place over and over again on the runback so it really sinks in. This isn't about what Groal is doing, this is what the Citadel has done to their home. This is about why they're so angry and power-hungry. This place SUCKS.

This is the same reason why there's pay-per-use benches in the Underworks and nowhere else, actually. The Underworkers are being worked to death, without even being allowed to rest in death. Even resting normally is heavily discouraged— assuming on-cycle and off-cycle are equivalent to workday and resting time, the confession booth recommends bugs sacrifice their resting time to atone for their sins, no matter what they actually did. While you can't tell the player to not take a break lest they be punished (how?), you CAN discourage it by making benches pay-per-use, and it illustrates how miserable the Underworkers were.

If those places were more pleasant, more fair, sure, it would be nicer to play... however, that's not the story they're telling. Those places killed bugs just for trying to exist. You're supposed to feel that.

[ratsoupee]

field trip cancelled

Based off hit tumblr post:

[xenosaurus]

it’s a shame more vampire media doesn’t pull from vampire bat behavior because they’re such sweeties. they can only survive their incredibly specialized diet because bats will share blood with colony members that didn’t find a meal! there’s evidence that suggests the donors sometimes initiate this behavior themselves by approaching hungry bats! the colonies are mostly harems of females with a few males but they’ve been observed letting unrelated males in when it gets cold so they can all stay warm! cute little social critters!

[xenosaurus]

@yupekosi your tags have created such a beautiful world

[starglowy]

[snaillesnaille]

streets and sodium lights