My game resolution for 2015 is to get more invested in slow games (this was an off-year for that), and that sounds right up my alley. You had me at "unclear dream logic." Adding to the wishlist!

I liked Off-Peak because it knows how to play with scale. The short game takes place in a train station filled with weirdos and curios. There's loads of hipster nonsense that you might be forgiven for writing off; the game is an exercise in its creator collecting his presumed interests, like board game bars, vinyl…

That's just the reminder/recommendation I needed to look into Cities: Skylines. I've been aching to get into a good sim, so depending on how much I spend over the holidays, that's on the table.

Great question! Have a T-shirt!

The extra lives discussion was great this week. Lots of varied, insightful thoughts and perspectives. Kudos Gameologerinos!

[nevermind]

Checkpoints are sort of a distinct problem from extra lives, but the Prince of Persia example reminds me of how the shooter Prey took a similar approach that backfired.

Great point with Battletoads, especially because Battletoads Arcade is exactly the sort of mess you're describing. With infinite lives, it's just a slog of getting punched forever until you beat the stage. In contrast, like you said, the original has deliberate structure and pacing that gives you opportunities to…

Mostly agreed! Scarcity in allowing you to continue a game can be an extremely effective way to build tension when appropriate – with extra lives, and also continues, limited save points, and so forth – but not every game benefits from that design.

The most breathtaking part is when Simon off-handedly dismisses Walt Disney's complete body of work and the entire animation genre. I've never heard someone sneer the words "pencils and colors" before, like they were morally beneath him.

This is one of my favorite books, and I will gladly see an adaptation that gets the spirit right, even if it's clumsy.

This episode will forever be a touchstone reference for me for whenever someone/something burns through resources at an unsustainable rate.

Yessss Merlin thank you, the idea of a true ending is so bogus. I understand why a "right" ending often needs to exist for sequel continuation, but I'm uncomfortable with that idea that games with consequences can and should be replayed optimally to make the "best" choices. It's partly the fault of the developers for…

(PS: Amanda Lange is a good and cool person and totally worth reading thoughts from!)

Yeaaah, that's deceptive, but probably just as bad as movie commercials proclaiming to be "the #1 movie in America."

That's a really clever use of the cloud to do something substantively different than if the game had come out six years ago.

When all that was happening, I initially thought it would be nice if there was an alternative that wasn't basically just the MTV Movie Awards… but it's actually pretty great that there's not. There's a danger in allowing popular consensus to dominate discussion (everyone is probably tired about hearing about Dark Souls…

Holy shit. My only exposure to Undertale has been third-hand and through Internet jokes, and it all seemed really unsubtle, so I wasn't totally feeling it. But the idea of making consequences a fundamental part of the game's structure is awesome. It sounds like it's also just the right level of meta – acknowledging…

[post redacted since it's no longer relevant!]

Damn, I taped over my Luther Vandross mix!