Games I think you should play.
Hard Wired Island is a game about building a community and resisting an oppressive capitalist system, all while being on a cool space station. The breakdown of the 400-page book is roughly 25% rules, 25% how to run the game, and 50% lore, which is exactly what I want. It's already given my group some of the best scenes we've ever had, and the best first session by far.
Frantic Fanfic is just great fun. Wonderful little party game for extremely online nerds. Gartic Phone for words.
Winter is an exploration of the nature of trans intimacy. This is my favorite piece of interactive fiction I've ever read.
A YEAR OF SPRINGS is a complete trilogy related visual novels, stories about a trans woman and her friends navigating life, love, connection, and belonging. The kind of games that make you all warm and fuzzy inside.
Trash the Planet reframes capitalism as developed rapidly out of the sudden sentience of raccoons, and in doing so makes it incredibly obvious to the layman just how fucked things really are. And it's hilarious while doing it.
I sobbed for an hour from this game. I never cry at media. I can't believe I never tried any of Angela He's work before this. This is such a wonderful story, and it's so worth the price of entry.
An exploration of both transhumanism and being transgender at the same time. A little janky, but the ways it's rough around the edges make a more relatable, intimate experience in the end. And it has one of the most incredible lines I've ever read, so much so that I want to make a patch of it for the back of my jacket.
It's quick and it resonates incredibly well with me, a (currently) 16 year old in the suburbs who has no idea what's going on spiritually.
Paratopic's tagline, "Journey through a dark fever dream," really is accurate. It feels like a sickly miasma and it's perfect. I honestly struggle to make sense of the story, but the mood and ambiance is so rich and thick.
Lost In Vivo is a game where you walk your dog, and then it gets worse. An early adopter of the PSX visual style, Lost In Vivo is a great little action-horror romp.
WORLD OF HORROR is an adventure game RPG that reminds me of the TTRPG system Into the Odd and Powered by the Apocalypse in a wonderful and creepy ode to Macintosh graphics, Junji Ito, cosmic horror, and general badassery.
A Mortician's Tale is a touching series of vignettes where you play as a young mortician. The game advocates for death-positivity and eco-friendly burial, and touches wonderfully on the different ways people mourn and the specific issue of trans death.
Afternoon Spaghetti is Game of the Anthropocene
Sagebrush is a walking simulator that takes you through an abandoned cult compound in New Mexico. It's an enthralling and chilling experience, and if you bought the BLM bundle, you already have it.
SpookWare is WarioWare but based on horror tropes. With 10 minigames and three lives, you must complete 20 games and a final boss without running out of lives. Halfway through, the game gets faster. It's great fun, and a sequel is included in Dread X Collection 3
