Review: Freshly Frosted Is a Friendly, Funky Flare Game

Review: Freshly Frosted Is a Friendly, Funky Flare Game

I’ve written before about the importance of a good flare up game—that is, a game that’s enjoyable to play during a chronic illness or chronic pain flare. Even better than discovering a new flare game is discovering one that makes you screech with excitement when you first boot it up, and that’s exactly what happened when I played Freshly Frosted. (more…)

These Chill Apple Arcade Puzzle Games Shut My Brain Up

These Chill Apple Arcade Puzzle Games Shut My Brain Up

So. You got a new Apple device and a bunch of free three-month subscriptions, or perhaps a family member or friend has generously added you to their Apple family plan and granted you access to Apple Arcade. Congrats! You now have access to more than 200 ad-free games. But which ones are worth your precious storage space? (more…)

Review: Love Closes the Distance in Fire Tonight

Review: Love Closes the Distance in Fire Tonight

Carrying a lighthearted phone conversation with her boyfriend, Nevin, Maya touches upon her anxieties and expectations after having just freshly moved into a new city. Unexpectedly, a mass fire breaks out. When the telephone lines jam and power goes out, the long-distance communication limitations of the year 1990 cut Maya and Devin’s conversation short. The two soon take their own separate journeys across the city and through memory lane in order to reunite.

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Review: Piecing Together the Dragon Age: World of Thedas Map Puzzle

Review: Piecing Together the Dragon Age: World of Thedas Map Puzzle

Here’s hoping that Dragon Age 4 will let us actually visit places like Par Vollen and Tevinter, but until its release, I shall content myself with lovingly running my fingers over the pieces of the Dragon Age: World of Thedas Map Puzzle. This 1,000-piece puzzle comes in at 20 by 27 inches and is made with care. Where some puzzle manufacturers cheap out on materials, this one uses a quality board at about 1/16th of an inch thickness, making its pieces very sturdy. (more…)

How Playing Notpron In 2005 Helped My Programming Career In 2017

How Playing Notpron In 2005 Helped My Programming Career In 2017

Do you remember Notpron? I certainly do, although I distinctly remember it being called notpr0n—which I suspect is more a remnant of online culture in the late 2000s when it was originally popular than a Mandela effect. If you’re one of the more than 19 million people who have participated in this online scavenger hunt, it’s likely you have nostalgic feelings about it too. It was the first time I had seen anything like it, a puzzle game that wasn’t confined to the boundaries of a normal game in any of the ways I expected. (more…)