April Staple 2025
Writing
Indiegames
In case you missed it in March, I did a free round up of the 2025 D.I.C.E. awards here and for supporters my review of the Beyond the Bet DLC for A Date with Death is available here. I also managed to do a free interest list of games from the 2025 BAFTA Games nominations here. It’s a really exciting time for indiegames despite the continued financial woes in the industry, and it’s been such a pleasure to check out all of the games that have been recognized by these organizations.
Video
Streaming
We finished Detroit: Become Human and I know I said I wanted to move onto Persona 5 Royal but VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action was on sale and I wasn’t quite ready to jump into a long game yet. So we’ll be spending time with that on Mondays until we roll credits! I think we’ll be able to finish it at the end of the month and move onto Persona 5 Royal in May.
On April 26 I also have a special coverage stream of Leila, so look forward to checking out another new indiegame with me!
Short Form
I honestly have no idea what is happening with TikTok but I miss it so much! Supposedly we’ll find out this month what its fate is in the United States and I’m hoping that all of this was just a fever dream so I can return to making content for it.
Personal
Currently Playing
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows has been fun practice for my Japanese language journey and watching my partner run through gameplay has been amazing. The quality of detail in both the weather and the environment left me speechless! They did a great job of incorporating classic AC moves alongside the cultural backdrop of feudal Japan.
For solo play I’ve been doing some bite-sized gaming sessions with Thank Goodness You’re Here! and it’s very absurd, so much so that I can only consume it a few minutes at a time. I’m so used to bigger brain energy in the games I play and while I understand there’s room for head-empty gameplay I’ve found that this game actually occupies even less space than “empty”. Would that be void space then? It’s really funny, and if you’re in the mood for something unexpected, this is the game for you.
IRL
Sourdough loaf number three in March was an absolute disaster as I over-fermented it, but my latest kimchi batch was delicious. I know that I was pressuring my sourdough loaf to perform in a certain way as opposed to really listening and paying attention to its cues. It’s a lesson in baking as well as introspection, honestly. We shouldn’t try to force anything, including ourselves, into a space that we’re not built for! Work with it, just as it is.
Back in March I attended a cousin’s wedding and took the opportunity during the trip to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with my partner. We got to get up close to the animals there and I even got to see a male rhino get rejected by a group of female rhinos. Way to go for them setting and enforcing boundaries!
Japanese lessons continue to go well and I’m able to give taxi drivers directions and ask for directions from locals on how to get somewhere by foot. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me through ko-fi or Twitch subscriptions/bits to make this happen! I’m close to the end of my language journey at this level and will likely move on to another language later this year.
Picture of the Month
Spring is in full force, and while last month I treated the newsletter to some cute blossoms I figured I would show off the Lego Wildflower bouquet I finished this time. Blooms that last forever!
Feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know your thoughts, or perhaps any content that you'd like to see or questions you might have. Otherwise, sending you all my breezy thoughts for the month and I look forward to writing to you in May!