Things I Liked Last Month: September 2024

Welcome to another dispatch of Things I Liked Last Month! Last month I wrote about background features in D&D 5e! I also just released the second edition of ABODE, a gothic horror family-tree building game, check it out on itch.io here! Now onto the recommendations:

Inscryption

I want to start finishing up some games that I love but never beat, and Inscryption is first on my list. I adore this game’s aesthetic and the dynamic between the player and the game master character is so fascinating to me. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to spoil any details, since the raw experience of playing it is so immersive and fascinating, but I have so much praise for this game. Maybe I’ll write a full review of it once I beat it.

Nova Drift

I’ve also been revisiting Nova Drift now that I’ve finished Baldur’s Gate 3 (twice!). This roguelike takes inspiration from the classic game Asteroids, and it’s really easy to pick up and play when I’m looking for a quick game (which is the perfect roguelike criteria for me). The potential builds you can explore are all really satisfying, and I especially love that you can up the difficulty of the game to get more XP.

The Northman

The Northman is probably the film I love most disproportionately more than average. The way this film depicts Norse religion is so immersive and totally inspiring to me as a writer. It’s also shot gorgeously with some amazing action set pieces. Robert Eggers is an amazing director and I think it’s such a shame that this film doesn’t get as much love as his other two. 

Jetlag: the Game Season 11

For season 11 of Jetlag, the boys returned to the iconic Tag Across Europe format for a third time! This time with a new map that’s moved slightly south, centred on Italy. If you watch Jetlag as thoroughly as I do, it’s been really interesting to see the gang’s skills develop over time, to the point where I think Tag is too simple of a game for them now. This season is still great! But there were a couple moments that left me thinking they should retire this format (and do more Hide and Seek!).

Links

• On the Asked Questions blog: How to create dramatic triangles, and why 

• Overly Sarcastic Productions covers Precursors, one of my favourite tropes that i touched upon in How to Build a World like Breath of the Wild  

• Curious Archive writes of How a Forest Digests You

• People Make Games covers The Games Behind Your Government’s Next War, it’s a heavy video, but well worth the watch.