It’s been a while. Us, the people running this site, got really swept up in:
- Losing our jobs
- Facilitating the most recent run of Women’s Theatre Festival
- Getting new jobs
But we’re settled and we’re back and we’re ready to play cute games, watch a lot of TV, and cope with existential dread with all of you. With that in mind, I like to cope with existential dread with cartoons and cute tiny video games. To get started, here are 3 soft games to help.
1. Five Great Places to Get a Nice Cup of Tea When You Are Asleep
Cephalopodunk has to be one of my favorite bitsy creators and is maybe one of the most prolific. From games about being a cool archaeologist to those about a witch telling bedtime stories to her cats, to even coming up with dope fish names— they all slap. This game in particular plays to my favorite thing, ever since I ever saw Uncle Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender: fictional tea shops. There are 5 teashops you can explore, each one more interesting than the last. It’s great and it’s a perfect, relaxing escape.
2. Short Trip
I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve been really craving games about train-esque modes of transport. People enter them, people leave and you just keep going. In this one, you’re a cat in the country running a train for other cats. It’s just relaxing and beautiful. If you want to pair two train games, Rusty’s Rail is also a great train management sim, but without the fun of actually running the train.
3. Dreamer of Electric Sheep
When I think about MUD-style, text-input RPG’s, I usually think about a certain color palette. I think of a black backdrop with sharp reds and oranges.
Dreamer of Electric sheep uses generative text and a beautiful calm, purple-y color palette that is soothing even when dream entities start to attack you and shout at you to wake up. It’s definitely an interesting dream to partake in when you need an escape.
Bonus Round: Make a Game!
Of course, one thing I love to do when I’m in a particular existential dread-y mood is to make something! There are a lot of cool jams out there that you can do right now. Here are a couple that look like a great experience:
- Harvest (Bitsy Jam)– The pumpkin spice lattes are here and we at Plucky Media HQ can’t wait for Summer to please go away (please). This is the perfect way to get your feet wet with bitsy by making a small game about “harvest” and whatever that encompasses.
- itsy-bitsy jam- rain– It’s another bitsy jam but it also looks really cute! It’s about rain and with the remnants of Florence still floating around, it seems like a great idea to get your rain ideas flowing
- Greek MytholoJam 2018– If there is a topic with lots of cool game ideas in it, it’s Greek Mythology. You can get your myth on and this is a nice long jam that you can really explore an engine with.
That’s it! We’re back and noodling around, so hopefully, you’ll see some more content from us soon. Let us know what games you like and whatever game jams you participate in!