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indie-ttrpg-of-the-week · 2 months

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Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin

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beatboxing-puppy · 12 days

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saw some posts on this website discussing what sort of videogames the dunmeshi characters would play and i think everyone is wrong. everyone is wrong except for me so im going to spell out exactly who plays what. putting it under a read more because im going on a damn tangent.

Laios: He's not a gamer he does not play games on purpose he will only ever play video games when his friends ask him to join them in their multiplayer things. One day tho Falin told him about Monster Hunter and now thats the only thing he plays aside from Spore and he has sunk countless hours into that damn game. Also he probably has played Some pokemon but he doesnt like PLAYING it he just likes it in concept he knows the name of all the pokemon

marcille: people keep saying she would be a cosy gamer playing animal crossing and stardew and other cute games ^-^ its so lalalaaaa NO!!!!!!! no she does not. Marcille plays games that stress her out on purpose marcille plays overwhelming micromanagey games like lobotomy corporation and rimworld and etc. She also likes games with deep lore and mysteries to discover. The only thing that doesn't fit in this category that she plays is Minecraft shes always in there CREATIVE MODE building virtual dungeons and other crazy shit. Also she plays on her work laptop with trackpad ok

Chilchuck: This one is for me. This one im just basing off my own dad ok. Chilchuck used to be a hardcore gamer in his youth but specifically he was playing stuff like world of warcraft and old school runescape he had really big setups so he could run several instances of the game at once on all his alt accounts so he could beat a boss by himself and he was really good at it. But then he had kids and didnt have time for this sort of thing so he stopped playing videogames aside from occasionally helping his daughters beat a super hard mario level. Later in life he probably discovered some shitty little low-commitment phone game like pokemon go or pikmin bloom or some daily sudoku puzzle thing and he plays it every day but its not that big a deal. He has been pressured by his friends and daughters to make a roblox account but he hasnt played it at all.

Senshi: THIS guy is the one that plays animal crossing. He logs in when he can but hes not on that every day grind. Also he doesnt play the newest one he doesnt play horizons he plays one of the DS ones. Wild world probably. He either doesn't like or doesn't know about the nintendo switch. Whenever one of his villagers say that they want to leave he'll nod solemnly and say smth like "Well... I suppose it'd be selfish to ask ye to stay, friend... Just promise me you'll stay safe and never forget me... Go and explore the world. Wish ye the best." Plus his island would be covered in weeds. He also has some mobile games he enjoys angry birds and candy crush and crosswords (gotta keep the brain in shape!) but other than that he doesn't videogame much because he prefers board games and tabletop stuff he isnt too jazzed about all this modern technology plus a console or a laptop and all that gaming equipment is a lot to lug around and hes a nomad he would NOT have that shit

Falin: Now FALIN is the cosy gamer. kind of. Falin plays animal crossing new horizons sometimes and has fun making a bad island on purpose. Very mildly "bad" tho the worst she'll do is use the drawing feature to hide a giant penis on the beach or whatever. Or she'll give her villagers silly outfits. She also plays minecraft (either skyblock or she makes a new world and explores and builds a couple houses and then forgets about it and makes another new world) and roblox (likes 'trolling' strangers by dressing up funny and acting kind of strange in roleplay servers but she's never actually mean or anything.) But the big thing she likes is story-driven indie rpgmaker games. She's the person who will say shit like "Yeah I played Blums Booglies the quest for Big Dinners and it was so good I cried for 9 hours" completely unironically.

kabru: social gamer like laios but the games he plays on purpose are the sims (he likes to cause them problems) and online multiplayer games (he likes to peoplewatch). I can also see him doing absurd and tortrous challenge runs of games like No items no pokecenter one type hardcore nuzlockes. im correct

izutsumi: ACTUALLY trolls people on roblox. And she plays needlessly gory flash games. Maybe she calls people dumbfucks over valorant voice chat sometimes

#dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #dunmesh #dunmeshi headcanons

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weeniebagel · 2 years

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Wanna get into fighting games? Can't really afford 'em? No problem.

I've seen a recent increase in the genre's popularity on Tumblr thanks to Guilty Gear: Strive (namely Bridget's reveal), but I've seen folks show concern for the genre's cost. While Strive may be outside of folks price range, that doesn't mean there aren't free or cheap entry points to the genre. (Every game listed below is easy to run on low end PC's, so don't worry if you're playing on a potato. Just remember to use an ethernet cable for the best possible connection!)

Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code (MBAACC) has a unique reputation for its underground scene and playerbase, as well as its dynamic roster of 31 characters (each with 3 distinct versions, producing an effective roster of 93 characters). It's fast paced and has a simple control scheme and plays fairly similarly to the latest entry in the series, Melty Blood: Type Lumina. The best part is that it's absolutely free with rollback netcode thanks to efforts of the fanbase in the making of community edition. It's also where Neco Arc was first made playable, so if you find posts about her amusing, you can play her for 15 minutes and then move onto a real character.

If you're not as interested in something less "anime" and want to try old arcade classics, then I can't recommend Fightcade more. Arcade emulator that lets you play online with anyone in the world with a solid connection thanks to rollback netcode. Classics such as Street Fighter III: Third Strike, King of Fighters '98, Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (Darkstalkers 3, in the US), and many, many more are all available. Hell, you can even play non fighting games such as Metal Slug on it, too! Of course, it's just an emulator, so you'll have to acquire roms yourself somehow, but that's a legally gray area. Fightcade does not give you any roms, so it's legal. Sure would be convenient if there was some sort of extension that automatically grabbed game roms for you the instant you joined a fightcade lobby, though.

If you're willing to drop a few bucks, then Steam isn't devoid of any good deals. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R (colloquially known as +R) is often on sale for just $3, and is a beloved entry in the Gear franchise. It's the game where Strive favorites Bridget, Testament, and Anji were last playable in, and maintain their original toolkits and playstyles. Not only that, but the game has some absolutely fantastic rollback netcode now! While it may be daunting at first, you'll find that most characters simplest bread and butter combos are easy and consistent. Low floor, high ceiling type of game.

Another game often available for cheap on Steam with great netcode is The King of Fighters 2002 UM. KOF is a very popular series in Latin America and East Asia, but never really exploded in the US. Recent series entry KOFXV has made an impact, and it plays like many previous entries. '02 UM has a large roster of fantastic characters to build a team around. Pick 3 of your favorites and jump right in!

A game you may already have (and not even know you do) Is Skullgirls. The game's often dirt cheap during sales, and has been included in more Humble Bundle's than any other game in the genre. Flexible, easy to learn systems, combined with a lovable roster of distinct characters gives you one of the best indie games ever made (and, personally, the best American made fighting game). Plus, after nearly a decade, the game is getting new characters again! There's never been a better time to start playing Skullgirls.

Ultimately, the best game to play to get into the genre is the game you want to play in the first place. If you want to get into Strive, there's no better game to play than Strive. Same with any Street Fighter, Skullgirls, Melty Blood, etc. Don't let the high level players scare you, there's always going to be fellow new bloods to play against. Check your game's wiki to find relative socials such as a community Discord, many of which have focused beginner tournaments and play nights to meet new people around your skill level. Don't be afraid to ask questions! You'll get answers and feedback from more experienced and friendly players.

Also, small note, use whatever controller you're most comfortable with. Keyboard and gamepad are perfectly fine. You don't need to buy a $200+ fightstick. While they can be fun, they're an investment often not worth making. Many of high level players such as SonicFox use a gamepad exclusively for every game they play. Go do you.

#out of character of me to make such a #long post #but i thought it would be fun and informative #fighting games #fgc #skullgirls #guilty gear #kof #king of fighters #melty blood #i hate adding tags this is so excessive

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tuffmallowinteractive · 8 months

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TUFF UPDATE 9/7/23

You know... I always talk about how I started The Closet Door, sorta like those old geezers in the 1980s movies. "Back when I first started this game in fall of 2019..."

But this is this is the first time I can talk about actually finishing it. I've been avoiding discussing it for a while. So much has happened in the last year. When I finally got to a point I could have released TCD, I won't lie- I got scared. I learned the world is a rough place. Even in the indie game development arena. Not everyone has your best interest at heart as a creative, and just about anything in life can happen, regardless of what your goals and plans are- including while making a game.

I am so very fortunate to work with others to bring Lake of Reflection - a short visual novel about life, loss and community to life. If I'd never made that much smaller game, I'd never have the courage to release TCD, which has grown so close to my heart, along with everyone that has joined me during my journey to complete it. Thank you so much everyone who helped me make this game. In so many ways, I am like Zeroi- humbled by your kindness and support more than you can ever know.

My first full length project, The Closet Door will be available to play on November 1st, 2023. I think I've discussed all the features (except for some of the backgrounds having animations) before- but if you'd like to know more about the game's features, its synopsis, as well as read the main character bios, you should check out the game page and make sure to follow for the notification when the game goes live!

But you know there's more, right?

Not only will this release have a voiced opening, but I'll be streaming the common route and first few chapters as a sneak peek this upcoming October 1st as a way to celebrate Tuffmallow.com's live launch on that day! I'll also be announcing some other goodies that I've been HARD at work on- it's been feeling so good getting to a point where I can say things are coming together! I'll be doing so in the Tuff Discord (link) because I want to chat with you guys, answer questions and have a ball! Make sure you're there to save the date for the event!

All the negativity in the world couldn't hold me back, my heart is so full right now! I can't wait to share more with you guys, but for now, thanks for everything and just yeah! This Fall is going to be amazing! <3

~AlwaysJmB

#yes I am releasing The Closet Door!#Game Dev: It's been worth the journey #the closet door #amare game #tuff mallow #visual novel #otome game

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meggannn · 8 months

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Do you happen to know any other games like transistor or Hades? sorry if it's so random but I got into them thru seeing them on your blog and have been looking for something along similar gameplay

if you haven't already, check out the rest of the Supergiant catalogue? they're also isometric action games, and although I haven't played them myself I hear good things:

Bastion—truthfully I tried this one and just couldn't get into it but it does look pretty and has good voice acting like all SG games

Pyre—honestly I've been meaning to play this for a while but I just haven't gotten around to it. it has middle child syndrome in that it gets looked over for its move hyped siblings but everything I've heard about it has been positive

I don't know if I can recommend anything with similar gameplay to Hades and Transistor, because I don't play a lot of roguelites and Transistor was so unique I'm struggling to think of a comparison. Supergiant has been really singular for me in combining storytelling with gameplay, the marriage of the two in Hades in particular I think was a masterclass akin to Portal (which I'd also recommend if you haven't played it). so a lot of these recommendations are just going to address parts of what I liked about Hades and Transistor, but not the whole package, really.

story-heavy RPG-light games with beautiful graphics with no combat:

Oxenfree—supernatural/coming-of-age story about a group of kids trapped on an island when a portal opens to another world

Night in the Woods—the story of Mae, a college dropout struggling with mental health, who moves back home to deal with friend and family problems... and something else that's in the woods

Afterparty—two friends die and get sent to hell. they hear the only way to escape is to challenge the devil to a drinking contest, so they travel the afterlife to do just that

Signs of the Sojourner—this is an interesting one where you travel to acquire goods to sell at your shop, but negotiating is difficult, and the cards in your deck will help you succeed in forging bonds in conversations. the more diverse cards you have, the more people you can interact with successfully, but you also risk losing the cards you started with, which will make your conversations back home difficult when you return to stock up.

action-heavy indie games, usually made me go "just one more map":

Apotheon—story set in a 2D Greek mythology world about a man challenged to take down the pantheon one god at a time

Into the Breach—the only other roguelite I've played, it's a turn-based strategy where you fight aliens on a grid system with robots, very Pacific Rim-esque

Cult of the Lamb—a roguelite about running your own cult full of animals. apparently it's big on the horror elements without being off-putting or too gory due to the cute graphics. I haven't played this but other people have recommended it!

Jade Order—a very short puzzle game with a neat map design

#askbox #waifufatale

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fioras-resolve · 2 months

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Playing Style Savvy for the first time has been pretty cool, delving into a kind of game we don't usually play and getting to experience the fashion world as trans women. (Incidentally, I say "we," we're a plural system. Please don't get mad, at least not in the replies. I'm Maya, I love fashion, and that's about all you need to know.) But playing it has also called attention to something that I just cannot ignore as a fat trans woman, which is the lack of body diversity. So, let's get into it.

So, I wanna start with a concept I'll call "the world of pretty." This is a fictional setting where just about every character is some kind of attractive. Style Savvy is obviously a world of pretty, but so is Final Fantasy, Hades, a lot of anime, and the portfolios of plenty of artists on this site. And this is a good, fun thing, you know? It gives the work a kind of appeal that's incredibly straightforward to understand, so I don't need to dwell on it for too long.

Here's the thing, though. I am, as I said, a fat trans woman. Not many worlds of pretty include someone with a body like mine, because trans bodies are so often forgotten, and fat bodies are simply excluded from a lot of people's idea of what an attractive person looks like. So when Style Savvy doesn't even let me be an XL, the implication is that my actual body is not worth having in your world. And that's not even to mention the limited or non-presence of people of color in many of these works. When I realize that my own body is excluded from a world of pretty, the illusion shatters.

Now, the fact I mentioned tumblr artists as an example of this might raise some eyebrows. After all, this kind of thinking can easily drive someone to hassle an indie artist about changing their style or preferences. I don't want to encourage that here, and if you've received grief about not drawing fat, trans or PoC characters, I'm sorry that happened, and it shouldn't have. I've been in the position of wanting to have this kind of conversation, but knowing it could easily get drowned out by people who do not fucking speak for me. I just want you to be mindful that, when you make attractive character art for a long time, you inevitably create a world of pretty, for good and ill. I can't tell you how to use that power, but I want you to know that it's there.

And, additionally, there are excuses, some better than others. Final Fantasy and Style Savvy are both inspired by high fashion and normal people fashion respectively, so it makes sense their characters all look like models. Worlds of pretty are very marketable, and it can be a hard sell to break from that mold. And it is genuinely hard to have diversity in your work, in a way I will explain right now.

Okay, look. To give Style Savvy its due... gamedev is hard. I would know, this body does it all the time. So like, if you're making a game with any kind of visual element, you need either sprites (2D drawings basically) or models (Basically 3D puppets with potentially hundreds of moving parts). And these models will almost always require a rig, like, a skeleton with bones and joints, that determines how the model can move.

From a production standpoint, you can crank out new characters from the same base model, much easier and faster than if you spent the time building another model with a unique rig. I can't speak for this exactly, because we've never done 3D dev before, but it's just way less of a headache and a hurdle if you're trying to get the most "content" out of your limited budget of staff and time. It just makes sense not spending the time to make different body types, especially in a game like Style Savvy where they'd also have to do a metric shitton of work modeling all the clothing for each distinct body type. I understand this. We sympathize. But what it means is that fat bodies are not in the games' world of pretty.

(hey, Angie here now) so like, i am not immune to the world of pretty. it's part of why i like the things i do, and it's part of why i picked up style savvy to begin with. even as the illusion shatters, i still like a lot of media and artists that don't really do body diversity. but at the same time, as i was playing style savvy i started imagining a version of it that actually did have what i wanted, and used that to create an even more positive experience. like, imagine playing one of these games, playing a clerk at a boutique, and then a trans woman comes through the door, bashful about her looks but desperately wanting to find something that suits her. i'm imagining a world of pretty that includes all body types, that finds beauty in every body. and i know i can't create this because i'm a lowly game designer... but i imagine it and i start to feel happy.

#game design #style savvy #maya speaks

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centrally-unplanned · 1 year

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Random Lackadaisy Pilot Thoughts:

-- I knew going in that I would have a fundamental disagreement with this pilot, from both knowing median audience preferences and seeing promotional documents; namely Rocky. Rocky is your zany lyrical comic relief character, who says things like this all the time:

And everyone in universe treats him like that police officer does; as an annoying lunatic. On the page this level of court jester can work; no one is reading it aloud to me, I can go at my own pace, others in-universe are responding the way I would respond in-universe, I can appreciate the dynamic. As spoken dialogue though, its a lot harder - he is talking *at* me, I am no longer a distant observer but instead just like one of the characters in the story, feeling what they are feeling; namely, cringe.

So how do you execute a character like Rocky on screen? A lot of ways (he isn't an issue at all if this is a comedy or a musical, for example) but overall I think you need to pair him off and reduce him - he should be playing off people most of the time, talk like 40% less, get interrupted more, his lines should often be set-ups for eye-roll punchlines by others. You balance him for the reality of film.

However! Rocky is also the 'protagonist' - not really, but he is the first character we meet - and a fan favourite. Western animation 'loves' zany weirdo characters, he is flash you can use to position your product in the market. So Rocky is not reduced in the pilot, he is expanded - full solo opening, musical number, lots of setpiece sequences around him. He is absolutely the primary character of the pilot. Which does not work for me, I think it was a poor choice - it sells the story itself short.

-- Related to that, I think the Rocky choice and some others frayed the story's film noir tone. Lackadaisy is famous amoung webcomics for its out-of-this-world levels of detailed shading and toning, which it uses to build a city of shadows and light:

Its the kind art that sells a troubled man torturing his bounty for information about his own dark past for pyschological reasons. There is just no way an indie long-form animated show can look like this, they aren't Studio Shaft. So your Mordecai is gonna look like this

Which is fine, but you are bleeding film noir points, you need to make them up elsewhere - which you cannot do if zany Rocky is your lead and 60% of the run time is combat shenanigans! This pilot is selling a very different vision of the story; its aesthetics have been altered by the demands of the medium, and the story isn't calibrated to that to preserve the comic's balance (which is equally serious & comedic).

There is also a plotting issue behind this to - the pilot does not start the same way as the comic, in the comic Rocky's opponents are some unimportant farmhands he is robbing, meanwhile Mordecai is introduced in full targeting some equally unimportant dudes. Which means people get to die, fight scenes can get brutal, it can pivot from comedic to serious by escalating the stakes. However, since this pilot is all main characters, they all have plot armor, no one can die, so the tone has to stay zany. The characters cant bleed, so the film noir points continue to do so for them.

-- Lol these short thoughts ballooned, sorry! I definitely still liked it, I love Lackadaisy after all. Something I did like was that, even though it could not preserve the sepia-shadow detail of the comic, when given the space it did a lot of great things with lighting, special effects and staging to give it visual flair. Rocky's bridge song has a lot of that:

And the final cigar-ash-burning-the-flower shot was a great all-into-our-vibe choice:

When the pilot chose to be fully art deco or film noir, it really hit it.

-- This pilot is a great example of industry shaping art. This is not a short, its a pilot; a pilot is a pitch letter to production studios asking them to pick up your show. That is a different ask from "be a good first episode for your story". It wants to introduce all the cast because everyone has their favourites and you want to maximize buzz with casting like their voice actors and stuff. It wants to be flashy with a lot of combat and movement because that is what a studio thinks the 'median' audience member wants from a cartoon. It probably toned down the blood because as a cartoon in America it needs to be pitched for an all-ages demo and doesn't want box itself into a corner ratings-wise. The ways it deviates from the comic are probably less artistic desire and instead a combination of the medium-is-the-message and the realities of how a show like this is financed if its going to reach a full cour. I can't fault it for any of that, and it really helps to know those things as you are watching it imo.

-- What is up with the rough pencil motion lines still in the final cut??

This isn't a budget or accident thing, these shots are fully colored and lit and all that, removing those lines would have been trivial. At least I think they should have been. It seems an intentional choice, but it kindof baffles me, why? Someone must have explained this somewhere, I am legitimately asking, if you know tell me.

-- Lots of great Cat Moments, Mordecai hissing at the water, amazing. We need at least one an episode if this gets picked up.

#lackadaisy

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deaddee-anime-brownfanlady · 1 year

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LACKADAISY Pilot Short Review & Thoughts: INDIE Animation Greatness.

Okay, so I've just recently gotten finished watching the latest new indie animated pilot short: Lackadaisy. Honestly, I truly and seriously loved this 27-minute long film of bootlegging kitties' adventure! Now for those who are super new to this short and overall story of the Lackadaisy world, the short takes place in 1920s America specifically in St Louis Missouri during the prohibition era when all things alcoholic were OutLaw and where most of the characters consist of anthropomorphic cat people in this story.

The title comes from the name of the café also covered as an underground speakeasy "The little Daisy Café " or for very special Partons and guests that want to get their illegal drink on known as the Lackadaisy speakeasy. All in all, the business hasn't been like it used to be for the little once glamorous speakeasy, leaving our main cat trio of trouble of the short to dig up some much-needed booze. We got the highly chaotic also artistic wild spirit, wacky, smart but slightly dimwitted sweet grinning nut Rocky Rickaby. His baby-faced sweet and super adorable well mannered but deeply repressed rage Tigger happy cousin Calvin "Freckle" McMurray ,and last but not least little miss firecracker and sweetie full of spunk Ivy Peppers.

On the revival competitor side that is Marigold. We got our Cajuns sensations siblings danger duo the Savoy: Serafine and Nicodeme, And last Mr. Tuxedo always serious catman and professional "cleaner" extraordinaire Mordecai Heller who has some past history with the Lackadaisy staff & it past owner. Now a little details on what and why I enjoyed this film.

The Animation: Lackadaisy overall animation is fantastical amazing, like UGH from the impressive shading and lighting within the backgrounds from the way the characters eyes are super luminescence in the dark and really gives that feline aspect. To the intricate little details such as the characters very realistic cat ear twitching and other behavioral cat traits like the tail movements and fizzing of the fur when scared or startle, some criticism I've seen in the Live Chat in regards to the left in sketch/guidelines within the characters is that it's distracting. But personal for me I liked the added in sketch linework, it deeply reminded me of super old school classic Disney animation or seeing old traditional animationing videos on how they did things back in the day.

The Voice acting: I swear the voice casting in this was excellent and very on point. Each of the voice actors really fit so well into each of their characters, from Michael Kovach great voice work as Rocky who you can tell was really enjoying himself, to Channel Awesome Malcolm Ray as Nico and Benni Latham as Serafine and ProZD also known as SungWon Cho very nice and fantastic voice work as Mordecai and Belsheber Rusape as Freckle and Ashe Wagner as Mitzi, Lisa Reimold as Ivy. Just overall real good sounding Voice work.

The Story: Now when it comes to overall story, I liked how it was basically more of a standalone type of storytelling in its own kind of separate reality then what's currently going on in the comic thus far into it. I can maybe see others who've been following the webcomic for far longer might dislike certain changes in the pilot that differ a bit from the comic, but I can get why they went with it this way so it probably would be easier for newcomers to jump into it. While certain parts did felt a bit underwhelming & might not be super perfect, I still enjoyed the energy and pacing of this short. I felt they did a really good job as a pilot showcasing the premise /concept and some of the characteristics of the main cast, although not all of them...but I felt it did a nice enough job of giving you a taste of these characters and making you want more of them & find out what's their story is. Either way love how the pilot plot was this mini but disastrous bootlegging adventure of Rocky, Ivy and Freckle getting into trouble barely escaping with their lives all for some nasty tasting booze.

Final Thoughts: While I might not have been following this project or webcomic since early DeviantArt or back during the mid-2000s to 2010s ( even though I wished I got into it much earlier) as long as others have. But even as a somewhat new fan of this indie piece of work and incredible artsy, I truly really come to love Lackadaisy so much and I deeply hope that this pilot short will paved the way for even more crime-fulled animated kitties adventures in the future.

Please Check Out LACKADAISY and give it all the love and support it can get because I want more Booze stealing lawbreaking Cats to see!

#indie animation #adult animation #animation #lackadaisy #animated pilot #animated film #animated shorts #2023 animation #2d animation #animated short film #animated films #lackadaisy cats #youtube animation

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springbloggy · 7 months

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It funny because BOTH Teen Titans Go and Johnny Test actively have new episodes/movies being made based on them to this very day, while the VAST majority of those ‘LoRe ShOwS’ from the 2010s have ended by now. So it actually, OBJECTIVELY looks like jack fucking shit was killed off for an entire decade. Almost like specific genres being killed completely for a set amount of time just doesn’t fucking actually happen in the entertainment. At all. Because how the FUCK would that even work.

What else is different about the universe you live in where Teen Titans Go and Johnny Tests didn’t obviously outlast those evil lore shows (whatever the hell that’s even supposed to MEAN)? And instead its Owl House and Amphibia that are still having new episodes/movies being made about them to this day??

Personally. I also think the future of animation looks horrible. Cartoons are constantly being cancelled or pulled off of streaming services, the unique and creative cartoons that ACTUALLY came from indie/outsider animators (I.E. those lore based shows you need to hate so much) have all been dropped in favor of cheap garbage that can be pumped out indefinitely because nobody gives a shit about making them any good, and constant layoffs/shutdowns are plaguing animation departments at multiple studios in general. Which are all BAD things that lead to animators and cartoon creators/writers being fucked over by companies as hard as they are right now.

I don’t even know what to say to you in that regard. It just seems like you don’t really give a shit about animation, REALLY don’t like any of the real world indie creators or people who actually want the medium to prosper, and are just towing the line of what Lily/Ginger have said nearly every fucking day for YEARS by now because you don’t actually have any ideas yourself about what the hell you’re even talking about when it comes to the animation industry. The unions for animators and those working on children’s cartoons overall weren’t even A PART of these most recent strikes you fucking moron!! I don’t even think that those can be called any type of animation “takes”, because you clearly know so PAINFULLY fucking little about cartoons or how the animation industry works at all. While getting all of your information about them from the like 3 fucking terminally online losers that you have an extremely unhealthy parasocial attachment too!!

Dang @ginger-snap-talkin-nonsense looks like I got one of your guys.

What I find the strangest thing about this act is the implication that modern animation is cheap, when it is the complete opposite now. Like, have you seen Spiderverse, Puss in Boots, Nimona? Even preschool shows have upped their game. That can't be cheap or easy.

Also there's a lot of assumptions on my personal life or my knowledge of animation here. Now I won't pretend I am an animation expert or industry expert, but I know quite a bit. I've studied in depth on some of the behind the scenes stories of animation, to the point where I cracked the story of what happened to one of the most obscure pieces of lost media (which btw expect that post in about 3 days). That takes time and effort out of my life studying this stuff to understand where things went wrong or right.

Also I do like indie animaton, and I do like people who actually want the medium to prosper, but a lot of people forget that animation, like all mediums of fiction, needs variety to prosper. You can't have every animated series to be a serious, lore telling show like how you can't have every movie to be a superhero action flick, or every book to be a dystopian novel (just for example). Variety is the spice of life. You also have to ask, did people make so many lore telling epics because they truly believed they were making a good story, or because it was the latest trend? I think something like Steven Universe did want to tell a story, but something like Amphibia it's a bit more questionable.

Also last bit, to define a lore show. Lore shows are shows that favor bits of pieces of lore drops and mystery instead of telling a good story. It's a term I came up with after my fascination with FNAF's history. FNAF used to be a game series with a good story, but after some time it became obsessed with hiding as many secrets as possible. Doing this for so long has hurt FNAF in the long run, where people dislike how many mysteries don't have a plausible solution, how bare-bones the story is, and how far it has come from its original roots of telling a simple ghost story.

My current list of lore shows are as follows:

Adventure Time at some point, Steven Universe, Owl House, Star vs., Amphibia.

I am not saying of course, that lore is a bad thing. I love a good mystery, or else I wouldn't have followed FNAF for as long as I did. But there's a good line to draw when having a good mystery over a good story. Or having story be there, but not be the total focus of everything the show revolves around.

Here's a list of shows I think have good stories/lore, but have other things that make the shows good that keep them balanced:

Modern spongebob (no, really), Gumball, Kim possible, American Dragon, Regular show, Clone high s1, Gravity Falls

Of course, I probably spent too much energy to answering someone who probably wanted to get a rise out of me instead of a thoroughly thought out answer, but there you go.

#Anonymous #springy thoughts #springy answer

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tankmanaj · 26 days

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i think i made a bn oc a bit detailed but behold!

Calyspo Angéle (totally didnt pick Rosalie just for marcus to make fun of if he ever finds out his real last name. cackling evilly)

anywaysss calypso moved from greenville illinois to rackleff, maine eve. when he went to PS38 school he was first a bit nervous because well, hes got two rare conditions, albinism and vitiligo (though i doubt that a person can have two conditions combined but it wont hurt to make it slightly possible in a fictional world!)

once he stepped into the school, he had eyes all over him, which made him worry that theyll see him differently because of his combined condition. turns out, to his surprise, that the kids found him as 'cool looking', along with the jacket he wore on the first day of school. he became all happy yet a little shy by so many kids complimenting him, some kids (such as randy, marcus, and other kids i might not know) dont like him at all. but the only kid who hates him is no one but the one who used to be the popular kid in school, marcus goode. when he found out about calypso being the new popular kid in school, this made him infuriated and he realized with the major feeling of jealousy and hatred for calypso, its confirmed that he has found his actual rival instead of nate becoming a trendsetter aswell before the new kid stepped in.

personality: though he is outgoing, trustworthy, patient, pure-hearted, optimistic, friendly, and basically that guy you would like to hang out with, he does have a bit of a fierce side if someone ticks him off. he's sort of tough-talking, very independent (but its possible for him to change his appearance if someone insulted him pretty badly), self-reliant and a bit sassy, incredibly honest to the fact that hell possibly hurt someones feelings, that's because he sometimes doesnt think before doing it. but he has a softer and more understanding side shown when someone who was rude to him actually turned out to be just hurt. he comforts them and help them become a better person. he is strong but not strong as some bullies in school... chester would pretty much let him know what a deathbed would feel like/j

grade/age: 12 y/o 7th grader

nationality n race: a french mix african american born in a town in illinois. so he does speak english but french also

gender: male, he/him

likes: helping, learning new things, making friends, cooking/baking, the midnight sky, such as the stars and the moon, parks, 1930s french or american movies, sports, photography, anything that was in the vintage days, bunnies and other animals that are considered adorable, painting, singing, space, mar- ermm marvin the martian ! yea !! hes such a cool alien character because he likes spacee, listening to podcasts/people talking, putting on clothes that fits his appearance, decorating, sweet treats and drinks, hanging out with people (hes an extrovert!), playing video games, winter

dislikes: anything that involves danger, being disrespectful or even controlling to his posse, disrespectful people such as bullies, people making fun of him for looking like a girl or having a last name that sounds like its a feminine name, gossiping, heights, being followed by people who admire him (he does appreciate the good side of popularity but he does not like being followed, fighting or anything that involves violence, sixth graders being seen as pathetic

favorite music genre: french pop, orchestral, folk, indie, r&b, hip hop

hobbies: arts n crafts, photography, writing, culinary, singing, pottery, designing, knitting

and i think thats all

#big nate #big nate marcus #bn oc drop WOOOOO #after so many uears ive done i!!!!!!!

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mariacallous · 9 months

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Amid a desert landscape a visionary unveils an invention that will forever change the world as we know it.

That’s the climactic scene of the Christopher Nolan biopic Oppenheimer, about the eponymous J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.” It’s also the opening scene of the Barbie movie, directed and co-written by indie auteur Greta Gerwig, which opened on the same day as Oppenheimer.

Despite the two films’ radically different subject matter and tone—one a dramatic examination of man’s hubris and the threat of nuclear apocalypse and the other a neon-drenched romp about Mattel’s iconic fashion doll—they have far more in common than just their release date. Both movies consider the complicated legacies of two American icons and how to grapple with and perhaps even atone for them.

In Oppenheimer, the desert scene depicts the Trinity test, the world’s first detonation of a nuclear bomb near Los Alamos, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. A brilliant but flawed theoretical physicist and the rest of his team work frantically to develop the weapon for the United States before the Nazis can beat them to the punch; they then gather on bleak, lunar-white sands near their secret laboratory to test the terrifying creation.

The countdown timer ticks to 00:00:00, the proverbial big red button is pushed, and a blast ignites the sky—a blinding white flash that quickly morphs into a towering inferno. Everything goes silent as Oppenheimer stares in awe from behind a makeshift protective barrier at what he has created.

Suddenly, he begins experiencing flashes of a different kind, premonitions of the human horror and suffering his weapon will wreak. Nolan is unambiguously signaling to the audience that this is a pivotal moment for the world, and for Oppenheimer personally, as what was once merely a theoretical idea has become monstrously real. The fallout, both literally and figuratively, will be out of Oppenheimer’s control.

Barbie’s critical desert scene comes not at the film’s climax but at its very beginning. The movie opens with a parody of the famous “The Dawn of Man” scene from Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1968 science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. As a red-orange sunrise breaks across a rocky desert landscape, a voiceover (from none other than Dame Helen Mirren) begins: “Since the beginning of time, since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls. But the dolls were always and forever baby dolls.” On screen, underscored by the ominous notes of Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” little girls sit amid dusty canyon walls playing with baby dolls.

“Until…” Mirren says. And then comes the reveal: The little girls look up to see a massive, monolith-sized Margot Robbie, dressed in the black and white-striped swimsuit of the very first Barbie doll. She lifts her sunglasses and winks. The little girls are stunned—and, like the apes in the classic sci-fi movie, they begin to angrily dash their baby dolls against the ground.

This is Barbie’s mythic origin story: Once upon a time, little girls could only play with baby dolls meant to socialize them into wanting to be good wives and, eventually, mothers. Then came Ruth Handler, who in 1959 decided to create a doll with an adult woman’s body, adult women’s fashions, and adult women’s careers so that little girls could dream of being more than just wives and mothers. And the rest is history. Thanks to such iterations as doctor Barbie, chef Barbie, scientist Barbie, professional violinist Barbie, and beyond, Barbie opened up young girls to a world of possibilities and, Mirren says, “All problems of feminism and equal rights [were] solved.”

Well, not so fast: Mirren adds one final, snarky beat: “At least,” she says, “that’s what the Barbies think.”

Thus Gerwig introduces the central tension that animates the movie: Handler set out to create a feminist toy to empower and inspire young girls. But we sitting in the audience in 2023 know that things worked out a little differently. In the intervening years, Barbie would come under fire from feminists and other critics for a whole host of sins: encouraging unrealistic and harmful beauty standards that contribute to negative body image issues, eating disorders, and depression among pre-adolescent girls; lacking diversity and perpetuating white supremacy, ableism, and heteronormativity; objectifying women; promoting consumerism and capitalism; and even contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

And here is the core parallel between Barbie and Oppenheimer: Two iconic American creators who ostensibly meant well but whose creations caused irreparable harm. And two iconic American directors (Nolan is British-American) who set out to tell their stories from a very modern perspective, humanizing them while also addressing their harmful legacies.

But while Nolan obviously had the much harder task—no matter how much harm you think Barbie has done to the psyches of young girls over the years, there’s simply no comparison to the human toll of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the environmental impact of decades of nuclear testing, or the cost of the nuclear arms race—oddly enough, it’s Gerwig who ends up taking her job of atonement far more seriously.

As its opening scene shows, the Barbie movie lets the audience know right from the start that it’s self-aware. It knows that Barbie is problematic. And it’s going to go there.

And it does—almost to the point of overkill. The basic plot of the movie is this: Barbie is living happily in Barbie Land, a perfect pink plastic world where she and her fellow Barbies run everything from the White House to the Supreme Court and have everything they could ever want, from dream houses to dream cars to dreamy boyfriends (Ken)—the last of which they treat as little more than accessories.

But suddenly, things start to go wrong in Barbie’s happy feminist utopia, and to fix it, she is forced to journey into the real world—our world—accompanied by Ken, who insists on going with her. When she does, she realizes that contrary to what she believed (as Mirren told us in the opening scene), the invention of Barbies didn’t solve gender inequality in the real world. In the real world, Barbie is confronted not only with the dominance of the patriarchy (she discovers, for instance, that Mattel’s CEO is a man, played by Will Ferrell), but also with the fact that young girls seem to hate her.

In a crucial early scene, Robbie’s Barbie encounters ultracool Gen-Z teen Sasha (played by Ariana Greenblatt), who delivers a scathing monologue about everything that’s wrong with Barbie, the doll and cultural symbol—basically a checklist of all the criticisms lobbed at Barbie over the years, from promoting unrealistic beauty standards to destroying the planet with rampant capitalism. Barbie is crestfallen.

Meanwhile, there’s a subplot involving Ken’s parallel discovery of patriarchy, and how awesome and different it seems to be from his subjugated life in Barbie Land. Ken proceeds to go full men’s rights, heading back to Barbie Land and seizing power. He transforms Barbie’s dream house into Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House, where Barbies serve men and “every night is boys’ night!”

Barbie enlists the help of Sasha and her mom (played by America Ferrera)—a Mattel employee who secretly dreams up ideas for new, more realistic Barbies such as anxiety Barbie—to unseat Ken and restore female power in Barbie Land. Along the way, Ferrera’s character delivers the film’s other major feminist monologue, about how hard it is being a woman in the real world.

The monologues are unsubtle, as are the repeated mentions of concepts like the patriarchy. In every scene and nearly every line, the movie hits the audience over the head with the pro-feminism message. Gerwig knows what her job is—to atone for Barbie’s sins (and, yes, help Mattel sell more dolls)—and she makes sure everyone knows that she has fully understood the assignment.

But it’s in the film’s quieter, more tender moments that Gerwig’s background as an indie filmmaker and her true talent shine through, and where she’s able to communicate the message in a subtler, but ultimately more impactful, way. The scene where Barbie in the real world sees an elderly woman for the first time (old people and wrinkles don’t exist in Barbie Land, obviously) and is stunned at how beautiful she is, wrinkles and all. Or the scenes where Barbie talks quietly with her deceased creator, an elderly Handler (played by Rhea Perlman), who explains that the name Barbie was an homage to Handler’s daughter, Barbara, who inspired her to make the doll.

The overall result is a movie that, even if a bit ham-fisted in its over-the-top messaging, doesn’t shy away from the uglier parts of Barbie’s legacy. It looks them right in the face, wrinkles and all.

I said above that the Trinity test scene is the climactic scene in Oppenheimer, but that’s not really the case. For a movie about the complicated life and legacy of the man credited with creating the world’s most destructive weapon, it should be the climax. You might imagine it would follow with a denouement of the inventor confronting the reality that his creation is used to kill tens of thousands of Japanese civilians and sparks an arms race that threatens to destroy all of humanity.

These scenes are in there, but they are given short shrift next to the other story Nolan wants to tell: that of how Oppenheimer, once considered an American hero, was mistreated by his country in the postwar years. As McCarthy-era fears of communist infiltration grip the country, Oppenheimer’s previous ties to the Communist Party (he never joined the party himself, but he had close family members and friends who were members, and he supported various left-wing causes) are mysteriously brought to the FBI’s attention despite already being well documented. His security clearance is revoked, and his career working with the U.S. government on nuclear issues ends.

It is this storyline—not the apocalyptic destruction of two Japanese cities—that is given the most pathos. Much of the movie’s three-hour run time—and nearly all of its third act—centers on what we are clearly meant to see as the great evil that was done to this man who did so much for his country. The real climax of the film is not the Trinity test, nor even the bombings of Japan (which are not even shown in the movie), but rather the moment we learn who betrayed Oppenheimer by handing over his security file to the FBI.

This is the shocking revelation that is meant to induce gasps in the audience, not the images of charred and irradiated bodies. In fact, those images aren’t even shown to us, the viewers. In the scene where Oppenheimer and his team are shown photos of the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the camera stays tight on Oppenheimer’s face as he reacts to the images—a reaction that consists of him putting his head down to avoid seeing them.

It is an act of cowardice on Oppenheimer’s part, yes, but also on Nolan’s. Indeed, the only glimpses we get of the macabre effects of the atom bomb take place in Oppenheimer’s fevered imagination, and even then, they are brief flashes used for shock value: skin flapping off the beautiful face of an admiring female colleague; the charred, faceless husk of a child’s body Oppenheimer accidentally steps on; a male colleague vomiting from the effects of radiation. Of the Japanese victims, there is nothing. They remain theoretical, faceless.

Nolan has said that he chose not to depict the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to sanitize them but because the film’s events are shown from Oppenheimer’s point of view. “We know so much more than he did at the time,” Nolan said at a screening of the movie in New York. “He learned about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the radio, the same as the rest of the world.”

But in reading the numerous interviews he’s given about the movie, it’s also clear that Nolan fundamentally sees Oppenheimer as a tragic hero—Nolan has repeatedly called Oppenheimer “the most important person who ever lived”—and Oppenheimer’s story as a distinctly American one. “I believe you see in the Oppenheimer story all that is great and all that is terrible about America’s uniquely modern power in the world,” he told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “It’s a very, very American story.”

That Nolan’s film devotes so much runtime to Oppenheimer’s point of view and how he was tragically betrayed by his country is partly due to the fact that the film is not an original story but rather an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of the great scientist, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. That book also places Oppenheimer being stripped of his security clearance at its center. But that didn’t mean Nolan had to do the same in his adaptation. That was a choice. And the end result is what military technology writer Kelsey Atherton aptly described as “a 3 hour long argument that the greatest victim of atomic weaponry was Oppenheimer’s clearance.”

At a time when Americans are struggling to reckon with their country’s past and how it has shaped the present—from fights over how (or even whether) to teach children about the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow; to debates, including in these very pages, over the role (or lack thereof) of NATO expansion in Russia’s decision to wage war on Ukraine; to retrospectives on the myriad failures of the U.S. war in Afghanistan; and beyond—the fact that the two biggest films in theaters right now are attempting to confront the legacies of two American icons, the nuclear bomb and Barbie, is understandable and perhaps even impressive.

But the impulse to look away from the ugliest parts of those legacies remains strong, and Oppenheimer never fully faces them.

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somethingwittyandweird · 3 months

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So I finished Sea of Stars today (as anyone with me on their dash will find out as soon as they scroll past this post). Long story short, I loved it! It was a really solid experience from start to finish, and I'm going to take a moment here to sing some praises.

Early on the first thing that charmed me was the environment design- it felt like I could follow my character's journey visually on the world map through the zones when I entered and exited them, which just testifies to how well made the overworld map is. The environment designs were just great in general- every place was visually interesting and some of the backgrounds were absolutely jaw dropping.

I liked the combat system! It's not hard by any means but it's fun. It starts out slow to ramp up the interesting features and many times in the early game I felt like combats were over before I got to use any cool moves, but by the time you unlock all the mechanics it's a really dynamic system. I like the choice to flatten the MP bars and skill costs and put an emphasis on alternating spending MP on two-three skills and then basic attacking to replenish it. The live mana system gives another dynamic angle that ended up feeling a lot like Octopath's BP system in execution (again, setting up a cadence of small attacks to charge -> big damage attack -> repeat) but also interacted well with the lock system. The combo attacks are a highlight and the elemental lock system encourages nearly all of them to enter the rotation. The only gripe I have is that the Obligatory Indie RPG Timed Hits Like Paper Mario, while they do have good feel once you get them down, *really* could have used a timing example on first appearance, or someplace to practice using them. When a new party member showed up with a completely different attack pattern, it took me several fights of pressing A at random times during the animation to figure out where the right timing window was. Turning on the modifier that gave feedback on perfect timing was helpful to know when I had it, but I didn't like having to guess what part of the animation I was aiming at in the first place.

The characters were excellent- though I don't have much to say about some of them, others of them felt like they were aimed directly at me and the types of character I like. There were multiple times that I was delighted to see a new character get to join the ensemble and not just remain in place. I think they were all treated well by the story and most importantly, all had their moments to shine. On that, the story in this one was also excellent- some good twists and some *really* heartfelt plot beats that will stick with me. One visually shattering moment in the middle gave me that awe-struck "oh to experience that again for the first time" feeling whenever I passed through that area thereafter. Just an overall good story well told.

Like I said in my last post, I enjoyed the gamefeel of traversal, which is surprising since JRPGs aren't really a movement focused genre. But again, with the addition of verticality, climbing up ledges and rock walls, and later on the grapple hook to cross gaps, I was pretty engaged even when backtracking- though there was very little backtracking, since the world and environments were designed as very straightforward and easy to navigate. The collectibles and sidequests were at a good challenge level where they weren't free but they also didn't take dozens of hours to scour the world for the hidden door, etc. The game also gives you a modifier that gives a radar for collectibles too making it easy to get that nice shiny completion star. And the sidequests were all worthwhile too, especially the late game character-specific questlines. The full completion reward true ending surprised me at first, but I settled into it once the feelings started to flow.

It wouldn't be fair to the game to not mention the way it wears its love for Chrono Trigger and other SNES-era JRPGs on its sleeve. If "Guest Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda" wasn't enough of a clue, the story is tucked full of easter eggs and references, combo attacks and enemies and environments and plot beats that fans of Chrono Trigger would identify easily. But I think it handles the inspiration well, being an homage that still keeps up its own identity. The lore tying it to the studio's other game, The Messenger, helps with that. It's not just "hey let's remake this game we're all nostalgic for beat for beat" and more "hey let's do our own thing but throw in a lot of nods for us and for other people who are nostalgic for this."

Overall, playing the game was great to end 2023 and finishing the game is a killer start to 2024! A very hearty recommend from me.

#sea of stars #i talk a lot tag #long post #do i have too much to say in these sorts of posts?#nah it's my blog and readmores are my friend #i wish i could have said more about the characters and plot beats even #but everything else about my favorite moments is spoilers so i can't elaborate here #edit: oh yeah funniest thing about the endgame was that the credits had a button to multiply the scroll speed #and once the kickstarter backer section appeared another button appeared to super-multiply the speed

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brd6147 · 3 months

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BRD'S SUPER EPIC AND SUPER UNDERRATED GAME RECCOMENDATIONS

i am in love with so so many video games and it makes me so so sad when i gush about them and nobody knows what i am talking about... there is an alarmingly low amount of online appreciation for these games, even though the opinions i do find are usually absolutely glowing !! so,like, play these THREE super underrated indie gems pretty please. maybe youve heard of one or all of them, but it cant hurt to hear more !!!

chicory: a colorful tale !! its a relaxing and heartwarming top-down adventure across a world (full of cute animal people) that lost all of its color, and needs you to fill it back in !! its all about art, friendship, self-worth and self-discovery, accompanied by hundreds of fully colorable screens, fun painting-based puzzles, and a rich, lovable world with incredible characters and dialogue !! $20 on consoles and pc

tunic !! its a classic-zelda-like delve into a (genuinely and deeply) mysterious ruined world, complete with its own MULTIPLE conlangs and many, many mind-bending twists !! the greatest treasure (aside from the immaculately crafted vibe) is the very knowledge of how the game is played !! best experienced blind. $30 on consoles and pc

cobalt core !! its a sci-fi strategy deckbuilder "roguelite" that has you in a mysterious timeloop, fighting spaceship battles with a super charming animal crew, all with their own fun dialogue and dynamics with each other !! highly replayable, with simply learned and engaging gameplay that focuses on movement and positioning, and rewards each win with a glimpse into one of your crew's pasts !! $20 on nintendo switch and pc

all three of these games also have some awesome incredible epic original soundtracks !! only more reason to play them !!

and even if you dont totally want to play them after reading this, at least check them out !! i cant do each game enough justice with just one paragraph per !! trust me theyre worth it

thank you have a good day

#tunic #chicory a colorful tale #chicory #cobalt core #game recommendations #video games #gaming

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mudstoneabyss · 9 months

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can you make a list of your top indie horror game recs ::3

yeah! so these wont be in order of what i like the most, they're just going to be here in whatever order I think of them. i'm also trying to go with what I think are more lesser-known ones, and if one is more popular it'll because I think it's one people write off that are actually good. as i'm writing this i'm going back up to say the descriptions for these will become less detailed because i got tired and cant keep repeating the art!! the atmosphere!!

Scarlet Hollow: A heavily choice-based horror mystery visual novel about going back to Scarlet Hollow- a small town in south historically ran by your family- for the funeral of your late aunt. its episodic and there are currently only 4 of the 7 episodes out. even with just them it is my favorite game. I love the writing and the art and the whole atmosphere of the game AND the soundtrack brought Brandon Boone (the composer) into my top 5 artists in my spotify wrapped last year

Slay the Princess: Another choice-based horror visual novel (and dating sim!) by the creators of Scarlet Hollow where you are tasked with, well, slaying the princess to prevent the destruction of the entire world. It's only a demo right now-releasing q3 of this year- but I'm excited for the whole game! my selling point for it with my followers is that the narrator (and some other characters) are voiced by Jonny Sims and hey podcast fans you like him check out this game

Endacopia: A click and point horror game inspired by Humongous Entertainment games such as Pajama Sam. Currently also a demo and set to release in October of 2024, I can not emphasize enough how excited I am for it. The game's style is so fun and there's lots of little details and the music??? There's two musical numbers in the demo alone. Some of the style and writing also reminds me of Undertale and even Homestuck somewhat (I say as someone who hasn't read homestuck)

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity: This is an 8-bit style horror game inspired by the 1980s Satanic Scare coming in 3 chapters with multiple endings, a very good example of games not needing high-end realistic graphics to be scary

Doki Doki Literature Club: Glances at my icon. who could've seen this one coming. I feel like most people know about ddlc by now, even if they don't know anything past "horror anime dating sim". It starts off for a long while a seemingly normal, if bland, visual novel dating sim until-seemingly suddenly- twisting into psychological horror. There's, however, a lot of foreshadowing once you see the beginning again after knowing what will happen. Honestly I think this games brilliant and its such a shame it somehow got lumped in with "cringe" mascot horror (its not even a mascot horror game?). For me a lot of the horror comes from the amount of scares left up to a random percentage- and how subtle a lot of them are. You can replay it and have a fairly different experience than you did the first time- and be scared by completely new things. There's also this existential and cosmic horror element that is less one you experience while playing it, i think, and more thinking about it afterwards. This isn't even touching on a lot of the secrets and easter eggs. a few years after the original game came out, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus was released, and it leaves the og game experience essentially untouched while adding a new vn experience the length of the og game (thats seemingly horror-less) as well as some more lore to the world, not of the game, but around the game, and builds more on the existential/cosmic horror. Needless to say from the length of this, I adore this game. also take the content warnings seriously, in the (free) og the game opens with warnings and a link to a page with specific tws, and in ddlc+ you are given the options to see those warnings listed before starting the game, as well as the ability to turn on tw pop-ups before game events

Home Safety Hotline: Also currently a demo, a horror game where you work for a home safety hotline, answering calls to help people deal with pests and other household problems. as the game progresses you get some more... off-putting calls and access to more unusual problems. I love games that put you into the role of someone who works a mundane job dealing with horrifying shit (similar reasoning to why I like the I'm On Observation Duty games, which I think are more popular rn than I want to put on this list)

NiGHT SIGNAL: By the same creator of Home Safety Hotline, this one's a short one about getting a new tv set and finding some strange channels during the night, inspired by The Twilight Zone and a 1995 game, The Dark Eye. A lot of the art in the game is done with clay which creates this really nice uncanny look and atmosphere- details about which you can see in an artbook you unlock after playing the game, which is REALLY cool I adore seeing the creativity behind and what goes into games like these.

and there's a bunch more I like, these are just the ones off the top of my head and I also dont feel like typing a bunch more dfnafnsk I'll also say if yall haves one you really like that I havent mentioned feel free to send an ask talking about them

#ask #anonymous #I'll ramble off a few more um #WATER WOMB WORLD is really good but I think a lot off ppl know Yames's games. Darkness Under My Bed I haven't played myself or seen too #too much of but I loved what I saw. Cooking Companions I played the demo and enjoyed but I havent played the full game though I plan on #doing so. Future Racer 2000. Cave Crawler. The Missing Parts of Maria Gwozdek. Out of Hands I've also only seen part of but I think slays #long post #I also have a BUNCH of itch horror game pages bookmarked to play

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