Spindle
If you've been on the newsletter for a while, you know how I'm a huge fan of Zelda-likes. They're still probably my favorite genre (despite how many metroidvanias I play lol). Spindle was a good entry into this genre. You play as the newly appointed reaper who has been given the responsibility to collect the souls of the recently deceased, but things quickly spin out of control as you realize that something is kidnapping souls before you can get to them. Explore the world, collect items and powers to progress through dungeons, and figure out what's happening as the world starts to break around you. Spindle was a fun game overall, it explores grief and the ways that people process grief. I think the writing struggled a little bit towards the end of the game, but I had a fun time adventuring through the world with a lil pig friend to keep me company. If you're looking for a fairly quick Zelda-like, I would recommend checking it out! You can see the start of my play through here.
Save the World with Death and Pig here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1386750/Spindle/
Sunken Stones
I haven't had the chance to put a lot of time into Sunken Stones, but it's a cool puzzle game where you run a crew of pirates who are fighting off sea monsters and exploring the ocean for treasure. Along the way, you can trade out for more powerful crew members (tho it troubled me a bit that I think we were just throwing people off the boat when we picked some of the new folk) to further affect the battles that you're fighting. It's almost like a deck builder as you figure out what works best for your crew and fight off the hoards of monsters. I'm going to spend a lil more time with this one off stream to get a better idea of the controls and what the game is looking for. You can watch my lil play through of it here.
Throw some folk off the boat here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2601810/Sunken_Stones/
Bit Esc
This is in my top five, maybe top 3 games of this year so far. Bit Esc is a platforming game where you play as a Bit who is trying to escape their life of monotony and find out what else might be out there. There are *multiple* endings and I've only gotten 2 so far. The game can change drastically depending on the decisions you make and the paths that you take, I'm so excited to continue playing this one offline to see if I can make it to the other endings. Apparently there's a whole Galaga level that I didn't see and a way to defeat and early game NPC? I gotta know more about this one. Please check this game out, it was such a fun time and I'd love to see more people playing and talking about it. Watch my run through Bit Esc here. As of today, the game is 40% off on Steam!
Escape the program here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724490/Bit_ESC/
Dice & Fold
Thanks to a dear friend who sent me a copy of this game! Dice & Fold is a dice builder game where you're doing your best to make it through waves of enemies by rolling dice and either damaging the enemies or powering up yourself or your companions to make sure you can get the rolls you need. There's a bunch of different characters that all play a bit differently and difficulty settings so that you can spend some time getting used to the mechanics before you dive into harder levels. I'd like to see a little more variety in the enemies in the game, but overall it's been a good vibe! I'd recommend it for folk who like games like Slay the Spire or Die in the Dungeon. The art is also really good! Watch me play the game here.
Roll some dice here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2240080/Spilled/
Chicken Journey
What's not to like about following along with the adventures of a lil chicken who is trying to answer the eternal question of "what came first the chicken or the egg?" That's what you'll get to experience with Chicken Journey, a platforming game focused on solving community problems and trying to answer the age old question. This is a cute way to spend the afternoon and I think would be a great game to play with a younger audience. There were a couple of times where it was a little unclear as to what the game wanted me to do for certain quests, but other than that this was a good shorter stream game. Check out my chicken journey here.
Discover the answer to the age old question here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1837650/Chicken_Journey/
Broken Lens
This was another favorite of mine from this month. It's in my top 3 games of the year so far for sure. Broken Lens is a spot the difference game with layers. During the streams, I talked about how much game there is in this game. A viewer pointed out that there is a language cypher for the notebook that you find in the game so that you can actually translate what all the different pages say. Once you translate the pages, there are secrets to discover in the different levels. There's a lot that happens in this game that I still don't really understand but am so excited to figure out. I'm definitely working on translating the notebook in my spare time and I can't wait to see what else this game has for me. And yall, it's only $7 USD regular price. You should pick it up, it's a great game. (Also, my brain really locked in for finding the hidden pages in each level and I'm still proud of that). If you wanna check out some of the game before you buy, you can watch my play through here.
Real talk, go buy this game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2184770/Broken_Lens/
VODs are up on YouTube, link at the bottom of the newsletter if you want to check them out!
On My Own
Dosa Divas
This was a game that I was loosely keeping an eye on since it was announced. I love the bright colors and the combination of a more active turn-based combat system and mini-games to create some food that looks absolutely delicious. I loved playing this one offline and using the different accessibility and gameplay settings to tailor my experience. I played this one for the story more than anything else (and to see all the good looking food. I'm gonna learn to make some of it, just wait). While I have some hesitations about the way that the story approached some of the different beats, I really enjoyed this game and I would highly recommend it to folk. I want to see more games like this and want to see more from this studio!
Fight Corporations and cook excellent food here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2950710/Dosa_Divas/
Jetstream
Thanks to a dear friend for sending me a copy of this game! Jetstream is a puzzle game where you're trying to get a lil airplane to its destination by bumping into clouds and avoiding storms. I'm still pretty early in the game, but it's so satisfying figuring out the path that will lead me to victory and learning about the new mechanics that they introduce every few levels. It's another great chill game that I'm sure will only get more difficult as I get deeper into it.
Fly through the clouds here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/738860/Jetstream/
Stitch.
I think that I've talked about Stitch. in earlier newsletters. It's a kind of paint by numbers style game. This is the game that I'll play before I head to bed because it's really low stress and lets me use my brain a lil bit before I got to sleep. You fill in the squares to "stitch" small to huge patterns and that's the full game. It's only on Switch for right now, but if you've been looking for a good game to relax with, I'd definitely recommend this one!
Giving Yourself the Chance to Succeed
I talked about this idea a little bit in the second episode of the Celeste series that I'm doing on YouTube right now (link down below). I'm sure that I've also written about it in a past newsletter, but I wanted to return to this idea. Self-doubt is something that I struggle with in a big way. It's always funny when I hear people describe me as really confident because that often doesn't feel like the case. Although, that's situational because when some folk try to test me I become the most confident version of myself lol. But, in general, because of that self-doubt, I keep myself from pursuing the ideas or things I want to try out. I decide in advance that I'll fail at the thing. Or I'll try a very small thing one time without really promoting it and, when it doesn't hit the arbitrary numbers that I held in my brain, I decide that I failed at it and that it's not worth trying again.
In a world that wants me to focus on not being able to do anything, I really can't afford to also count myself out. It's so difficult to keep pushing through and opening up any door or window that I can see to try to find a path towards some sort of success. But I have to believe it's worth it. Over the last few months, I've written to y'all a lot about how important it is for us to put our work, our creativity, ourselves out there. And, as illegal wars happen, as the Supreme Court in the USA does it's best to further disenfranchise us, as companies layoff hundreds of thousands of people, it is so so important that we find ways to continue to imagine a different way of existence. I read Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin and she talks a lot about how we have to recapture our imagination in order to build a world that actually lets us thrive.
We have to show up to give ourselves the chance to succeed at making things better. This is in small things like making videos that encourage people to think more deeply about games and books and media in general. It's creating platforms for folk to be able to share resources (financial and other). It's figuring out how to plug into your local area (if it's safe to do so) and getting to know your community. It's showing up.
I'm trying out small steps in my own life. I started a couple new lil mini-zines to showcase my favorite places in my area, I'm starting a YouTube series to thoughtfully play through some of my favorite games, and I'm engaged with my local library. When it feels a lot easier to think "what's the point" I'm pushing myself to keep showing up and giving myself the chance to be surprised and maybe even find success (when I figure out my definition for success, I'll let you know lol). We've gotta show up to build a better world. I hope you'll join me. I'd love to hear how you're showing up for yourself and your community, so feel free to respond to this newsletter if you want share <3
My Content for this Month
Slice of Calm Club
Thanks to everyone who signed up for the first month of Slice of Calm! I sent out the postcards yesterday and I'm hoping they make it to everyone safe. If you're interested in learning more (and signing up), you can visit my Ko-Fi page for more info! https://ko-fi.com/pizza_yeti/tiers
Streams
In April, I'll have hit 8 streams as of today! It's been great getting to stream a little more than I have been and I'm excited for the games I've got coming up on stream. You can check the VODs on YouTube if you missed any. The Broken Lens ones are good in particular, that game was so so fun (and some of the devs stopped by on stream)!
YouTube Videos - Launching Reflective Plays
So I've been sitting on this idea for a while. I've wanted to replay a few of the games that I've played over the years, both on and off stream. But I didn't want to just record and play them again, I wanted to spend some more time talking about why the games are important to me and how they've helped me in the current moment or in the past. I launched the first series this month over on YouTube where I'm playing through Celeste again. It's one of my favorite games and I'm so excited to share it with you through a new lens for me. You can check it out at the video below or by clicking here. (I've got the next game lined up for this series and y'all, I am so excited to check it out again once I finish up Celeste).
If you want to subscribe on YouTube, I’d really appreciate it. You can check out the Gaming Channel and the Vlogs / Chatting Channel by clicking on the hyperlinks!
See y'all next month.
Keep telling stories. Keep creating. You are important for the world that we want to create. I look forward to continuing to build a better world and better stories for us all. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I’ll see y’all around the Internet.
