Waltorious Writes About Games – Game-related ramblings.

Scratching That Itch: ANTI-GORGIAS 2

On October 18, 2021

This is the eighty-ninth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our next random selection from itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is ANTI-GORGIAS 2, by Jared Sinclair. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

A practical guide for OSR designers, and a useless road map for pundits.

From earlier entries in this series, I have learned that “OSR” stands for Old School Renaissance, referring to a style of tabletop role-playing game that reaches back to the earliest examples (such as Dungeons & Dragons) for inspiration, but offer various modern design twists on the classic formulae. As far as I can determine, ANTI-GORGIAS 2 has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Scratching That Itch: Guppy

By Waltorious

On October 15, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-eighth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Once more, the random number generators have pulled a random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. This time, it’s Guppy, by Christiaan Moleman. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

2D watercolor fish simulation

Heh, watercolor. I see what you did there, Christiaan Moleman.

Psychonauts 2 Is Fantastic

By Waltorious

On October 13, 2021

In Uncategorized

As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Roughly two months ago, I wrote about Psychonauts, which I was replaying in order to get ready for its crowdfunded sequel, Psychonauts 2, which released on August 25. The original Psychonauts is a wonderful game that I encourage everyone to play. I thought I’d take a break and play something else before tackling the sequel, but then I decided to just jump right in. I’m glad I did. Psychonauts 2 is brilliant, managing to improve upon its classic predecessor in every way. I don’t play enough games to be able to make a judgment about the best games released each year, but it’s hard to imagine anything topping this. I recommend it without reservation. Go play it! If you need further convincing, I’ve written more thoughts on Psychonauts 2 below, which I’ve tried to keep as spoiler-free as possible.

Scratching That Itch: Celestial Hacker Girl Jessica

By Waltorious

On October 10, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-seventh entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

It’s time for another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It’s Celestial Hacker Girl Jessica, by girl software, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

marble girl hacks computers, eats cake

I have long suspected that the primary leisure activities of celestial hacker girls include hacking computers and eating cake, especially when the celestial hacker girls in question are also marbles. Vindication!

Scratching That Itch: Ripped Pants At Work

By Waltorious

On October 3, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-sixth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Ready or not, here’s another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It’s Ripped Pants At Work, by Scott Ethington. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

A frantic stealth game about searching for new pants

In life, does the search for new pants ever truly end?

Scratching That Itch: Exit, Pursued By A Bear

By Waltorious

On September 28, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-fifth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

The random picks from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality keep coming. This time we have Exit, Pursued By a Bear, by Chris Bissette. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

There’s a goddamn bear and it wants to eat you.

I have no further comment.

Scratching That Itch: Bleed 2

By Waltorious

On September 28, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-fourth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

It’s time for another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It’s Bleed 2, by BootdiskRevolution (AKA Ian Campbell). Its tagline in the bundle reads:

A relentless arcade action game with air-dodging, bullet-reflecting, and tons …

I’m going to assume that it was going to say “tons of explosions”. Bleed 2 is, of course, the sequel to Bleed, which is also in the bundle. The pair are among the better known games within, having gotten a lot of positive press, and I’d intended to check them out at some point, so this pick was a pleasant surprise. Normally, I’d play the two games in order, but such is not the way of Scratching That Itch. I must embrace the randomness, and play the sequel first. I can now reveal that, despite the name, Bleed 2 has no blood whatsoever. But it sure does have explosions.

Scratching That Itch: Monster Jaunt

By Waltorious

On September 25, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-third entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

The random number generators do not sleep. They have picked another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality for our perusal: Monster Jaunt, by Sketch House Games. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

A minigame party that *won’t* ruin your friendships

What’s the point of having friendships if you’re not going to ruin them?

Scratching That Itch: Galaxy Goons

By Waltorious

On September 20, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-second entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Here comes another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality: it’s Galaxy Goons by John Erwin, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

a space fantasy adventure game

Do you fantasize about adventures in space, reader? Then you are in luck, because that’s exactly what Galaxy Goons is about.

Scratching That Itch: Rosette Diceless

By Waltorious

On September 14, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is the eighty-first entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

The random number generators have whirred to life once again, plucking a random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. This time it’s Rosette Diceless, by Future Proof Games. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

Consensus-based, story-focused, improvisational roleplaying

Well, reader, you’re about to hear my consensus on Rosette Diceless. A consensus of one.