I see a lot of game announcements, pitches, and ideas come across my Twitter feed. Some are hits, some miss the mark of my personal interest, and others just stick with me. Some are so unique in their presence that I kinda have to pay attention and keep the game on my radar until they are in my hands. When Afterparty, Night School Studio’s follow up to Oxenfree, was announced in December 2017 under the core premise of out-drinking Satan, I knew I had to keep both eyes out for this one.

I had the opportunity to play a 30-minute chunk of the game during PAX East 2019. Dual protagonists Lola and Milo seemed to be recent additions to the population of Hell. I/we walked to a local bar in Nowhere to party. Our sassy demon guide, Sam Hill, teased a possible way to escape Hell and return to Earth—alive—before ditching us to attend a private party upstairs.

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There is something about the fusion of one-hit kills, zany weapons, rapid fire repetition, and scoreboards that creates an utterly addictive loop. The Hotline Miami series is near-and-dear to my heart. The more recent release Ape Out also vibes with me on a deep level. These games get stuck in your brain. They take over every thought as you think about how to become better and better at the flow of combat and chase the best run possible.

Bloodroots is executing that addictive, obsessive loop in a masterful way. After my demo of the game’s first act at PAX East, I cannot get it out of my head. It almost feels unfair to the other games I’ve seen at the show since I played Bloodroots first. I just want to keep playing and climb the leaderboard. I have a long way to go to climb to the top, but I know with enough practice, I can get there. It’s jussssst out of reach.

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This generation feels defined by two types of games–the games-as-a-service model and the remasters. Aimed at the crippling nostalgia gamers seem to have (I know I do) the era of 90s games have started to hit the market in full force now in remastered form.

It’s easy to look at these kinds of games at cash grabs banking solely on those with rose-tinted glasses for the past. But what happens when you don’t have the nostalgia for a game like that? How does the quality hold up or does nostalgia do all the heavy lifting? Thankfully, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled carries itself strongly without the need for memories to bolster up the experience.

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Welcome back to the journey of retro game collecting! In my last post, I shared my experience, tips, and resources for hunting down the games you want the most. Now that you’ve begun amassing a nice collection, you ought to keep track of it too! Not just in terms of where you keep them in your home, but what you paid for them, their current going price, condition, quantity, and oh so much more!

I recently dove into this pool and have found seeing what my collection is worth is equally as fun. Call me weird, but seeing it all laid out in an organized spreadsheet is almost as satisfying as finding a rare gem for a fair price.

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One goal I had this weekend at PAX East was to make my wife jealous by playing her most anticipated game this year—Vacation Simulator. She is a huge fan of Owlchemy Lab’s Job Simulator and begged me for months to buy it on PSVR. She’d just play the demo on the PSVR demo disc until I finally snagged it during a sale. She played it for well over an hour on the first day, which is a big commitment for both VR and her.

I got to complete that goal thanks to the Oculus booth and the fine folks at Owlchemy Labs. As someone who as played my fair share of VR, I was not prepared for just how wonderfully immersive Vacation Simulator was. It wasn’t just because of the shiny, new Oculus Rift S headset I was playing on. Vacation Simulator is shaping up to be one of the most immersive VR games ever. Owlchemy Labs has kept the goofy robot futuristic humor, but given players unparalleled choice in a way I’ve never experienced in VR.

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