August 2026 – Waltorious Writes About Games

This is the two hundred forty-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.

Our two hundred forty-fourth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality wants to talk about tennis. It’s falling is not the same thing as dying, by Sisi, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

cute high school game about jv girls tennis

Having played it, I’m not so sure about the “cute” part.

Scratching That Itch: Sidewords

By Waltorious

On August 25, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred forty-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.

Our two hundred forty-third random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is asking us to make words. It’s Sidewords, by Milkbag Games, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Grab a cup of coffee and relax with a good puzzle

I don’t drink coffee, but fortunately it’s not required to enjoy these puzzles.

Console History: Ai Senshi Nicol (Love Warrior Nicol)

By Waltorious

On August 11, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is Console History, a special sub-series of my more general History Lessons series, covering console role-playing games, action role-playing games, Metroidvanias, and action-adventure games in nominally chronological order starting in the late 1980s. The chronology is garbled in the beginning as the scope of the series expanded, but it gets more organized later on. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

The Great Console History Reorganization continues! Last time, I added Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll to the ranks of games I’ve already covered. If I’d had my timeline in order, next would have been Esper Dream, then The Goonies II, Golvellius: Valley of Doom, and Rygar. Since I’ve already written about those, we move now to Ai Senshi Nicol, a sci-fi action-adventure game released by Konami on April 24, 1987 for the Famicom Disk System. Ai Senshi Nicol was only released in Japan, but all of the in-game text is in English, so I was able to play it without needing to track down a fan translation.

Game-related ramblings.

Month: August 2026

Scratching That Itch: Falling Is Not The Same Thing As Dying

Scratching That Itch: Sidewords

Console History: Ai Senshi Nicol (Love Warrior Nicol)