About & FAQ

This site is an homage to all of us who love video games, but will never be good at them. Sometimes the foibles are more memorable than the games themselves, and the goal here is to recognize, and celebrate, that feeling of perpetual inadequacy.

Why are you doing this?

This site comes from a couple points of inspiration. Possibly the most prominent comes from Rock Paper Shotgun's wonderful game diaries. If you haven't given their great Basement of Curiosity series a read yet, you really should. It focuses on writer Nate Crowley trying to build an illegal zoo in Dwarf Fortress, while also fending off attacks by goblin armies, the ridiculous eccentricities of his dwarf citizens, and odd signs from a rumored blood god. The whole thing is written as an oral history (instead of from Nate's own point of view), and I cannot recommend it enough.

The other main inspiration comes from the phenomenal Idle Thumbs podcast. Though no longer active, I listened to Idle Thumbs for years, and am slowly re-listening to all if it. It has been so much fun to get to know these developers, play their games, and root for their successes. One of my favorite elements of Idle Thumbs is how frequently they resort to long accounts of their insane game experiences. The hosts also get excited to hear what happened to one another, and it is impossible not to be excited with them.

Sadly, beyond these stellar examples there doesn't seem to be much interest in the experience of playing a specific game. There are plenty of small blogs like this one, but they can still be hard to find. There isn't much on a larger scale. The anecdotes that develop through the act of playing aren't usually seen as a selling point in a game review, for example, so this type of writing is hard to find on the bigger sites.

But, aren't those very anecdotes what makes one review or article more memorable than another?

So, if I long for narrative content about games, maybe I can try to create it. Even if it ends-up more entertaining for me than for anyone else, why not see what I can come up with? I mean, writing is easy, right??

What games will you be playing? 

The plan is to play more systems-focused games, instead of narrative ones. If you are brand new to these terms, I am less interested in writing about games which play like a movie, and more interested in games that have a lot of little elements to them, like a board game. In a lot of narrative games it can be hard to truly 'fail,' which makes it hard to show off just how bad of a gamer I can be. I just prefer thinking about how unplanned situations build on one another, and how the fallout impacts my future decisions. It is hard to deal with the ramifications of my actions if a game has a script.

Some examples of games that I plan to play, or which would be a good fit:

• Rimworld
• Don't Starve (and Don't Starve Together)
• Spelunky
• Sea of Thieves 
• PUBG, Ring of Elysium, etc. 
• Streets of Rogue 

Some games which are great on their own and worth playing, but probably won't fit here:

• Mass Effect
• Uncharted
• Destiny II
• Baldur's Gate
• Firewatch
• Tacoma

I like survival games, and games that require collaboration. I also like multiplayer games, but haven't decided how well they fit with the narrative nature of this site.

I also play PC games almost exclusively, so sorry console buds.

I have the perfect game for you! Will you give it a shot? 

Of course! I do have a huge backlog of games I want to play, but I always want to learn what else is out there!

As this website is still getting started, I'm not taking requests at the moment. But when I'm ready to take requests I'll provide an email address here.

What is your process? 

Typically I use Bandicam to take screenshots at regular intervals to get the pictures I want. I have to fiddle with this sometimes, depending on the game, but it helps me remember what happened during a particular session. I also take notes to remember certain details.

Ok, so who the hell are you?

No-one of consequence, but I live in California. I have a 9-5 job, far too many hobbies with not enough time (this blog being the newest), and a pretty great group of friends to keep me sane.