A screenshot from Dosa Divas. Two characters hang, arms outstretched, off a food truck that is also a small mech. In the foreground, a dosa on a plate invitingly steams.
The game also has loads of color and style, but I think people knew that already. #optionalplaying
Played Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse as a game club pick this past month. As good, and in some ways, better than the first one. There's a bit to struggle past along the way, but the story was ultimately good to the last drop. #optionalplaying
A screenshot from Marathon (2026). The image is largely grayed-out, with magenta streaks and pseudocode overlaying the image from top to bottom of the screen as visual effects. Plastic, robotic bodies lie on the ground. A symbol for bodily failure with a circular gauge is nearly full on the center of the screen. A small block of text reads, “matter transfer in 0.02.”
Beautiful finish to a Marathon run last night with friends. We hit the extraction and, all standing together, got taken out by a bolt of lightning. We had just enough time to get out of there before the bodies shut down. #optionalplaying
A screenshot from Big Hops. The title character, with a violet backpack and a small hat, faces an otter in an orange uniform. They’re some way up a tower. The otter, identified as “rig worker,” has dialogue that reads, “The climb was too much for me, a lowly crestfallen otter…” It has dialogue and mannerisms similar to the Crestfallen Warrior in Dark Souls.
Okay, Big Hops, I get the reference. #optionalplaying
Finished up 3 consecutive rounds of Bug Hunter, a UFO 50 tactics game. It shows some good ways to get constraints to drive strategy, even if it’s not the most original. #optionalplaying backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
Played some WarioWare on and off in short sessions the last couple months, probably the way it was meant to be played. I guess the guy himself might have gulped it down in one shot. #optionalplaying
Loaded up MonHun Wilds for the first time in a while tonight. I hadn’t done the Mizutsune fight. That was a good addition, watching it flop around in its bubble bath with its… is that a water laser? Huh. #optionalplaying
A screenshot from Fantasian. Two figures stand before a gaping hole that looks to have been torn out of the floor. The textures of the floor and walls suggest the mechanical and digital, colored in purple with bright blue lines of light. A third figure with a giant sword, armor, and long blue hair stands in midair, hovering over the hole.
Is this that Sephiroth I’m always hearing about? #optionalplaying
A Mixolumia screen with a full diamond grid. Yellow, red, blue, and hollow white circles like beads fill it. The score is 4,018,777 with 878 clears and 10:09 on the clock.
Set a new Mixolumia high score in endless mode for the first time in a real long time. #optionalplaying
I’m a few more weeks in and Demonschool has become my chill out game of the moment. Go in, do some stuff on the island, read some dialogue, do some of the puzzle-game-y fights. It’s cool. The soundtrack encourages that. #optionalplaying
Finished playing The Lake House yesterday. It’s great and, in terms of what it says about how people look at art and artists, probably the best Remedy have made their point. It’s also probably their best execution of a horror story. I might have more to say later, but for now:
#optionalplaying
A boss fight in Fantasian. The screen shows a party of 3 facing off against a massive, icy figure. Everything is filtered in shades of blue. A dialogue bubble from a party member reads, “Anyone else c-c-cold?”
I had stopped playing Fantasian after playing it for a few hours a year or so ago. Picked it back up after finishing FF1. I’m surprised that I’m finding more to like than I feel like I used to. Fought this thing today outside of a Toy Box and crushed it. #optionalplaying
Oh, Demonschool has different fishing spots to unlock as you catch more types? Tight. #optionalplaying
I killed Chaos. Kind of a shame, since that was the most interesting thing about the game. #optionalplaying
Played the Sackboy game. A good excuse to break out the word "pablum." backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
Just played a good round of chess as black, using a basic Alekhine. Maybe I should dig in to that style. I’ve never been much of a systems guy, but that felt less reactive than usual and was surprisingly intuitive. #optionalplaying
Whisky and Tetrisphere #optionalplaying #alcohol
seeing people I know climbing in the top 1000 of the Sektori leaderboards and, meanwhile, I'm pretty happy that I made it to a third boss last night. that's a new best for me, which is nice. #optionalplaying
Another good one from UFO 50: Avianos. Dinosaur- and bird-themed strategy with some fun complications, including autobattling. In the game's fiction, this would be from 1985 - and that would have been wild. #optionalplaying
backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
Wrapped up a round of Pingolf and finished at the top. It was a good time getting there, especially figuring out all the ways that the game really was a blend of pinball and golf. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
First game I finished in 2026 is the first one in UFO 50's fictitious chronology: Barbuta. More interesting than frustrating on balance, it benefits from the larger context of UFO. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
Oops. Whelp, I got it the next time. #optionalplaying #sektori
So I finally started really playing Cyberbots and the story elements of this arcade mode, plus all the cool things I already have an idea of from watching the occasional tournament, are making it a real good time. #optionalplaying
Huh, if this is correct then I just learned that Tetrisphere was originally a Jaguar game. Cool. harddrop.com/wiki/Tetrisp...
Played some decent rounds last night, starting to remember some of it, but I think there were details I missed out on last time I gave it a spin. #optionalplaying
A screenshot from Skate Story. A semi-transparent, reflective figure rides a skateboard. A carpet of stars swirls around it. The moon is large and bright ahead of the skater, in the background.
The skater in Skate Story on its way to the moon on a bed of stars. Cosmic surrealism. #optionalplaying
A screenshot from Demonschool. Small figures stand in a dockside scene. String lights glow softly over a boardwalk and narrow, cobbled alleys. Wooden kiosks for vendors are scattered and, further in, vending machines of various types.
Demonschool by moonlight - detailed, quotidian. The occult and otherworldly is underneath, next door, perpendicular. #optionalplaying
Something about missing an Ollie and shattering into a million pieces makes me laugh in a way that jokes with setups and punchlines in text don’t. #optionalplaying
Wrapped up 100% of Spooky Express, wrote a few more paragraphs about it. Review is getting there. Fun challenge to think about its particularities and particular situation. There’s always something in puzzle games beyond their structures. #optionalplaying
Got a copy of Forsaken 64 that was untested, but worked after a little cleaning. What a weird thing to move around in.
Threw Perfect Dark on afterwards and it was like that weirdness gave me my N64 shooter sea legs back. Worth the price and time just for that. #optionalplaying
I guess talking videogame music is also cool. I’ve been playing Spooky Express’ optional levels and I’ve got one more of those left. And y’know @ghoulnoise.com put together a really fun soundtrack! Still hanging with it hours later. #optionalplaying #optionallisteningi
