• of the Devil
  Imagine a world where everyone is Vriska in different ways... probably one of my favorite visual novels ever, oozing with style, compelling mysteries, and truly fantastically written characters. I have no idea what this game is even *about* on a macro-level (it's episodic) but I can't wait to find out.
• DELTARUNE: Chapter 3 & 4
  I obviously loved these chapters, truly Toby just keeps knocking it out of the park. Fascinatingly, I was not much of a completionist about things, I just casually played through. Compare that to the version of myself that once replayed Undertale dozens of times to obsessively log every detail to the wiki, and one can see how differently I approach games... I'm very excited to see what's next!
• Blue Prince
  Played this during work for weeks with a friend. I really adored this game, simultaneously working out big elaborate puzzles while incrementally upgrading my navigational abilities was a really satisfying gameplay loop. A great game to play with a friend to bounce ideas off of.

  ...also, if I was playing alone, I would've binge played it and finished it in a week at the expense of sleep, so I'm glad I had someone keeping me accountable, haha.

• The Incident at Galley House
  Pretty standard deductive reasoning, with a few incredibly satisfying leaps of logic to make. A story that makes no sense until it does, and then you're hooked.
• The Roottrees are Dead
  An excellent deductive reasoning game akin to Return of the Obra Dinn. Essentially just a deeply satisfying logic puzzle, with enough flavor and scandal to keep things interesting.
• The Rise of the Golden Idol
  It was okay, but not as compelling as the original - nothing held up to the ultimate reasoning spectacular at the end of the first game. I was a bit let down by the ending, it would've been more impactful if he succeeded, in my opinion.
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
  Flawless, obviously, but not in a way that particularly intrigued me. It was fun, it was a good amount of challenge, but the fact that I got bored halfway through sure is a sign that I'm changing. In being an exemplar of a metroidvania, in some ways it wasn't doing anything interesting enough for me to really feel invested. I don't think I have the time in my life for a game longer than ~20 hours.
• Discopup
  Evil animal crossing. In some ways it felt like the spirtual evolution of the game Sit and Spin Adventure. Like most good games (i.e. oikospiel) it was an adaptation of Orpheus and Eurydice. It felt like a game I would make, both in a positive and negative way. The game felt like it was yearning to be about something, but mostly just played around with ideas and vibes. It had some incredibly funny moments.
• Z.A.T.O. // I Love the World and Everything in It
  This game is haunting to me because the main character has such a similar worldview as the ex I was with for 4 years. The weird mix of self loathing and love for the world, I've never seen that as intensely in anyone else, real or fictional. And, it's like, the melancholy is deep and painful but the love of humanity shines bright. This ex is no longer in my life but I'm glad I knew them, you know?

  Even at my lowest moments I'm thankful to be alive.

• The Zodiac Trial
  This was fine, mostly? Well written mysteries and plots, but the characters were pretty weak... they felt like suggestions in the directions of personality, just enough so that the writer some pieces to work with in their plots. In some ways this was the most generic death game VM I'd ever played. But like, I eat that shit up, so it was fun.
• Kirby Airiders
  It didn't capture the magic of the original for me, I'm sorry to say. It's too chaotic. Kirby Air Ride was already busting at the seams with weird idiosyncrasies, and I think this one goes over the edge. Don't get me wrong - this is a good game... but not one I feel compelled to 100% in the same way.

Top five: of the devil, DELTARUNE, Blue Prince, The Roottrees are Dead, Z.A.T.O

Primarily puzzle games and visual novels. I suppose what I find most compelling in games these days are mysteries, haha. I keep saying this annoying thing about how I'm no longer into games or I've moved beyond them as like, a show of pretension or sophistication or something. I need to stop doing that, it's obnoxious. But my habits have changed a lot in the past few years. I'm much more social, I'm out of the house after work most days in a week, so I just don't have time to play long games. Usually when I play visual novels I play them with my friend Jacob (HI JACOB I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS). And most of the puzzle games I played with another friend. Sitting alone to play games just isn't an activity I'm drawn to as much anymore.