John Swartzwelder had the best answer to this question.

The *BEST* game I played, though, was Mandrake (@failbettergames.com).

A little bit cozy, a little bit Stardew, and a *LOT* Failbetter.

It's gonna be awesome.

Love low poly pigeon

Yeah. And having a denouement in a fifth dimensional space that’s meant to be a bit weird and sublime and 2001… and getting a blow-by-blow explanation from another character at the same time so no one is lost.

It has to fit so much in to get where it’s going that there aren’t really downbeats or reflective moments. It’s desperately afraid of people not keeping up, so everything is explained excruciatingly explicitly. Most events that could have emotional weight are there and gone before they can land.

I get exactly what you mean. It quacks like a movie with some meaning underneath. But it doesn’t give you any time to breathe or think, and what’s actually under there is kinda ‘nothing’ in my view. I’m not really sure it has anything coherent to say about love or humanity or selfish/less-ness.

I’m sufficiently excited that I’m hoping to drag @babelfishwars.bsky.social along tomorrow after a 7 hour drive home.

The soundtrack is powerful enough to brute-force emotions all by itself, admittedly.

Loads of people seem to love it and be really moved by it! More power to them. But I found it largely bereft or meaning or emotion, and so many things make absolutely no sense if you dwell on them for more than a minute. The spectacle of it was great, but I find spectacle without substance tedious.

Incredible soundtrack, though.

Finally watched Interstellar last night. I had fun, but I’m also still mad about how little sense it makes. I can only assume the lack of nutrition from a corn-only diet has messed with humanity’s brains, because the entire plot hinges on these guys being the dumbest astronauts alive.

200kg! Also ow!

16.25kg on one side of a squat bar

Some ridiculous amount of weight on one side of a squat bar. Double it and add 20kg.

Me vs my husband

175kg. A marginal but still actual PR. (Watch my neck turn right red immediately.)

Rich Stories in Mandrake | Rural Life Sim YouTube video by Failbetter Games

We'd really like to hear what fans of rural life sims make of the dialogue system we're using in Mandrake. Is that you?

I technically allow myself an hour to check it, twice a week. I could theoretically spend that time scrolling reels or whatever and have it be ‘ok’ by my rules. But it turns out it’s honestly only appealing to me as a quick fix for wandering attention. Treated as a destination, it holds no interest.

At the start of the year, I decided to venture onto social media less. It’s still useful, so I set two ‘check social media’ windows each week. It’s staggering how boring social media becomes when it’s not available to fill the gaps in my time. I log on to check stuff and am out within 5 mins.

Three pigeons in a sunbeam on a wall

Les pidges.

Knights in Tight Spaces poster

Shadows of Doubt poster

Nivalis poster

Nightfall of Stygies Warhammer cover (an Adeptus Mechanicus story)

Doing work planning for the next six months and looks like I'll have slots available for freelance work, esp around Feb-April. So if you need someone to write STUFF or do narrative /story consulting, HMU!

Things I've worked on over past few years (and am not NDAd about) include!

Olivia’s gorgeous husband sitting on the floor by a squat rack. He has a beautiful octopus tattoo.

Happy New Year! My best friend and beloved already has me at the gym. We’ve become that kind of couple, gross I know.
Anyway, here’s the person who makes my life one of joy, who encourages me to successes. @thewizardlockwood.bsky.social thank you for being you.

TBF I also hated the one before this and that’s like 97% on there.

What an absolute turd of a film.

For a movie that spends 80% of its time explaining things and why they’re happening, it sure still makes no sense whatsoever.

‘The audience finally breathes a sigh of relief after an hour of utter nonsense when you come on screen’ is a pretty great mark to hit as an actor.

So far the watchability of the movie is directly proportional to the amount of submarine on screen.

Absolutely carrying it.

a cartoon of homer simpson driving a green car Alt: a cartoon of homer simpson in a spinning green car with a totally baffling overdesign

The Final Reckoning (2025)

Taking a shot every time someone says ‘fate of the world’ and now I am dead.

I’d better see a fucking submarine soon.