Week 2 has begun!

• Post your current bingo cards.
• Continue updating us on your games!

If you did not participate in Week 1 but want to start this week, that's fine!
Reminder: playing bingo is OPTIONAL.

Quick links:

• Backlog Bingo Site
• Week 1 Discussion

Week 1 Recap

8 participants played 8 bingo cards and moved 18 games out of their backlogs!
There were 0 bingo wins

• The games played spanned a period of 33 years: from Ecco the Dolphin (1992) to Mohrta (2025)

Game List:

• Chameleon Twist
• Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
• Death Crimson OX
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Heading Out
• Mohrta
• No, I’m Not Human
• Okami HD
• Otome * Domain
• P.N.03
• Portal 2
• REDDER
• Shadow Tower: Abyss
• Superliminal
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Tower of Mask
• Unpacking
• Whiplash/Fatal Racing

Could be a movie, could be a game, and for whatever reason: Cool explosions, fights, disasters, CGI, you name it. Hell, maybe it managed to tie the action in question into the story or setting unusually well. That counts too. Links to view the scenes are obviously appreciated, but if you can't find one, don't sweat it!

I got inspired to ask this one in part because I've been rewatching some of my favorites from movies recently, and in part because I'm a huge fan of games that focus on having as many giant explosions as they can muster. So I figured a good way to find some more stuff like this might be to post about it! And it gives me an excuse to share my own favorites, which I have trouble not talking about, truth be told. (I'll save that for a top-level comment, though)

Introduction

There are some people who, when you mention the title Mother 3, feel a warmth in their heart and a stirring in their soul.

And then there is everyone else who, when you mention the same title, go "huh?"

The Mother series holds a cult-classic status: strongly beloved by those familiar with it, but often completely unknown otherwise. Part of the reason it's somewhat unknown is that the series itself has a somewhat storied and scattered pattern of releases, while the other is that it's known by completely different names depending on where you are in the world: Mother for some, EarthBound for others.

Stay with me for a moment as we break down the series' release history:

• 1989: Mother releases in Japan for the Famicom
• 1989: English localization of Mother is completed but never released
• 1994: Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū releases in Japan for the Super Famicom
• 1995: English localization of Mother 2 releases as EarthBound
• 2003: Mother 1+2 compilation releases in Japan for the Game Boy Advance
• 2006: Mother 3 releases in Japan for the Game Boy Advance
• 2008: Unofficial English localization of Mother 3 releases
• 2015: English localization of Mother releases for Wii U Virtual Console as EarthBound Beginnings

So, for Japanese audiences, the game had 3 releases spanning 17 years:

• Mother (1989)
• Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū (1994)
• Mother 3 (2006)

For the rest of the world, the game has only had two releases, out of order, spanning 20 years:

• EarthBound (Mother 2) (1995)
• EarthBound Beginnings (Mother) (2015)

To date, there is no official non-Japanese release of Mother 3. English-speaking audiences have been using this fan translation.

I have never played any of the Mother/EarthBound games and don't actually know very much about them myself. As our default host this month, I wish I had more to offer, but I hope to learn more as I play. If anyone else wants to chime in with background info, tips, or stories about the series, I'm sure it would be worthwhile as we settle in to explore this month's much-beloved yet still under-appreciated game.

Mother 3

Versions: JP, EN Fan Translation

Platforms: Game Boy Advance

Genre(s): RPG

Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

Stores: eBay, Nintendo Switch Online JP

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

Important

• Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

• Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>
 
Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as you stumbled out of the mansion. Behind you, the ominous cackling gave way to agonized shrieks as the sunlight ignited the shadowy figures in the doorway, the noise echoing until the doors slammed shut.

After a long and hectic night, you survived and made it out of the mansions. Even better: you were able to call a repair service from a phone you repaired in the mansion.

You trudged across the yard slowly, the grass and dirt squishing under each step due to still being damp from the dark and stormy night. Beyond the fence awaited your newly repaired car, a mechanic patiently waiting for payment. You tossed him the requested totem, and he nodded at you before disappearing into a wisp of smoke.

You climbed into your car, and just took a moment to sit and gaze at the sunrise. Your thoughts returned to all the companions you met last night, who failed to survive long enough to see this beautiful dawn with you. A pity, but hey. At least you survived.

Probably.

You might have been replaced with a clone or occult copy with your exact memories. Hard to say, the night got really convoluted sometimes.

Eh, whatever. You're out now.

Shrugging it off, you turned on the car and resumed your grand adventure. Oblivious to the face watching from the window of the final mansion...

The Spooky Mansion Adventures have come to an end! A day late, sorry about that. But I'm sure that extra day didn't kill anyone. Probably.

As a reminder, spoilers are fully permitted without hiding them in this thread. And on that note, I do have one question:

What is your canonical death?

The first death you had in any game. That is how you would presumably die if you were actually there. Though of course, you didn't actually die on this adventure. You're still alive and free to continue to the next leg... Probably.

I hope you all got to enjoy exploring at least one spooky mansion. Whether you dealt with mad scientists or cults, puzzles or monsters, I hope you had a terrific time...

If you're still up for more adventures after that harrowing night, the next adventure should take us to Mother 3 with u/kfwyre as our host.

Schedule

Discussion Topics

Each month will have two discussion topics:

• "Insert Cartridge" - 1st of the month
• "Remove Cartridge" - 28th of the month (25th for February)

Insert Cartridge topics are primarily for getting the game set up and running. Remove Cartridge topics are primarily for reflecting on the game once you've played it. However, the game itself and anything else related to it can be discussed in either one.

Hosting

Each month, the discussion topics will be posted by a different "host" who will act as the emcee for that month.

Hosting is not required, but it is encouraged that people host months for games that they are either already very familiar with or that they are strongly interested in playing.

People who nominated a game will be given preference for hosting, otherwise it will be given to whomever claims it first.

Check out old months to get a feel for what it's like.

If you would like to host a month, let me know which one and I will add you to the schedule.

Before your month begins, I will send you a "Hosting Package" featuring templates that you can edit to your liking.

If no one claims a month, I will host it as a fallback.

Voting Results

The top 6 games from the voting round were chosen to be played.

Of the remaining games:

• The top 50% will advance to the next round. They will start the next round with a base score of 30% of their vote totals.
• The bottom 50% will be removed from the list.

Removed games will be able to be re-nominated in future rounds if someone chooses to do so.

I played a game of the Free Stars demo with my son recently, and when your ship is close to exploding, an alert very similar to the Star Trek red alert sounds starts playing.

My son instantly said "it sounds like McDonalds", and I was a little shocked because the first place I heard that sound was on TV when a captain called for Red Alert. But for him, it's completely different: you hear the same sound used as an alarm behind the counter at McDonalds, and that's his association.

Just a short anecdote, I'm sad that McDonalds has co-opted that sound. I do wonder though, is that only in McDonalds in Australia, or is it in places like the US too?

Introduction

It was a dark and stormy night...

Rain hammered the car roof with the ferocity of hail. The windshield wipers did little to help as sheets of water cascaded down the glass between every beat. The road itself was dark with no lights besides your headlights, the beams casting eerie shadows on the gnarled trees as you drove past.

Or they would, if the car was moving.

Because of course the car broke down, leaving you stranded on a remote country road far from the nearest town. You sat in the driver's seat looking at the MapQuest printout, determining it to be useless given the lack of signage on remote country roads.

You did, however, receive a surprisingly detailed novelty map of local landmarks from when you stopped at a diner an hour ago. Squinting out the window, the headlights just illuminated a large rock with a pointed tip near the base of a tree. A good match for the "Wytch Hat Stone" on the map.

According to the novelty map, there were three mansions nearby: the Edison Mansion, the Derceto Manor, and the DeFoe Manor. Perhaps one of them would have a phone you could use. Or at least be a quieter place to spend the night, the incessant hammering of the raindrops was really loud. The flashes of lightning every time you mumbled the names of any mansion would help illuminate your way.

And surely the "Beware And Avoid" heading on the map was just a marketing gimmick, right?

Welcome to the Spooky Mansion Arcade Special!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I shall be your hostess this delightfully dreary evening.

Now as your hostess, I must be upfront with you: I have no personal experience with any of these titles. I originally nominated Maniac Mansion since I have wanted to play it for some time, but then realized there are many old games set in spooky mansions. And I also had the thought: what better time to explore some creepy mansions than October, the month most associated with all things spooky and creepy?

So for this month's adventure, I have selected three potential mansions for us to tour: the classic LucasArts game Maniac Mansion, the classic survival horror game Alone in the Dark, and the freeware adventure game 5 Days A Stranger. All three provide glimpses into different periods and niches of gaming history.

Maniac Mansion (1987) helped redefine the adventure game genre, and established LucasArts as a powerhouse in gaming. It removed many frustrations of the genre such as guessing and typing text commands in favor of one of the first point-and-click interfaces, or super-linear puzzles with specific solutions. It placed more emphasis on cinematic storytelling, and added humor to a generally serious genre.

Alone in the Dark (1992) meanwhile is one of the games that defined the survival horror genre alongside Sweet Home. It was the first 3D survival horror game, with many of its mechanics such as limited inventory and a focus on survival over combat appearing to this day. Even the first Resident Evil game was influenced by it, nixing the original plan of first-person gameplay for similar fixed camera angles.

5 Days a Stranger (2003) is comparatively lesser known and influential than the other two. However, it's also CGA's first foray into the early indie dev scene! This is a freeware game about a cat burglar who becomes trapped in a house with four others, and is the first part of a series called the Chzo Mythos. Its developer is likely to be familiar: Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, famous for the Zero Punctuation review series for The Escapist.

Also: it's free. Of all the games we've played to date, this may be the most accessible because it's always been free, so no legal barriers.

Moving on.

You have your choice of up to three beautiful mansions to explore. I have hopefully given you enough information to decide which to visit first. They can't be worse than spending the night in a tiny, cramped, broken car. Feel free to chant the names of whichever mansion you most prefer as you begin the mad dash through the rain. The dramatic lightning flashes are so convenient, aren't they?

I hope you all have a terrific time.

GAME INFORMATION

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the games. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the games you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the games and their time periods:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Enter if you dare...

> PRESS START

(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen!)

I've had plenty of fun conversations with friends about this topic and figure all you Tilders would have some interesting ideas/thoughts.

• Are there any games that you've always wished for?
• Has there been a game that captured your imagination but fell short in one or more areas?
• Have you ever wanted to smash elements from two or more games together?

Don't let budgetary/IP constraints ruin your dreams here!

So I've heard that (at least some of) you have, trounced every park's leaderboard, cleared all goals (including the cash ones), and racked up 3 gold medals from the occasional competition stages.

If that's true, then congratulations! You're basically legend-level; Tony Hawk himself would be impressed.
But what if I told you there's more to do after a full Career Mode clean sweep? Shocker, I know. Here are two hints:

• Land a successful trick in every gap on every Career Mode park (ideally in Free Skate)
• Spend an absurd amount of time 100%-ing every skater's Career Mode

Sounds simple, right? But it's also... an absolutely herculean task. I won't blame you if you reach for the cheat codes hidden there to skip the grind. And for anyone on the N64 or GBC versions of Pro Skater 2: tough luck, as no such things are available there to my knowledge.

Now the real question: where are you going to rest after all that? Blow your remaining hard-earned cash on some old, shady place you found on your dinky desktop out of pure desperation? Don't worry, u/CannibalisticApple will walk you through those sketchy mansions and manors on the next CGA month.

Until then, drop your feats and thoughts about your journey to becoming one of skateboarding's champions.

Later, gators!

Schedule

Anyone can participate. CGA does not require membership and is always open to all.

Ballot Formatting

• Ballot entries are NAME (VOTES) e.g. Pong (3)
• Copy and paste the game titles from the list so they match exactly.
• The ballots will be tallied using this script from u/Spore_Prince.
• Any improper ballots will not be counted (but you will get a polite message from me or someone else asking you to fix them beforehand).

Topic Rules

• All top-level comments must be ballots and ballots only.
• Child comments can be anything -- feel free to talk about why you chose what you did.

Voting Process

• Each person has 20 votes to distribute among games as they see fit.
• Each person can allocate a maximum of 5 points per Single Game/Arcade Special.
• Arcade Specials count as one block (do not vote for each game in them individually).
• Voting closes 4 days (96 hours) from the posting of this topic.

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (5)
Portal 3 (5)
Half-Life 3 (3)
Team Fortress 3 (2)
Night Trap (2)
Xexyz (1)
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (1)
Left 4 Dead 3 (1)

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (10)
Protal 3 (7)
Wand of Gamelon (5)

Voting Outcomes

• The top 6 games/Arcade Specials will become the next 6 months of CGA (or more in case of a tie).
• Of the remaining games, the bottom 50% will be cut from the list.
• The remaining 50% will stay on the list and will enter the next voting round with 30% of their final vote totals.

Game List

Hey, wanna listen to some tunes? throws a tape at your head, causing Out With The Old to play

Introduction

Legends come in many forms. For some, it's charting unknown space in a wildly complicated ship. For others, it's carving their own path as a pirate on uncharted seas. And for many gamers, it's stopping every "big bad" you can think of: chaotic embodiments, pantheons of mythic gods, egocentric wizards, and so on.

But this month, we're not chasing cosmic threats or fantasy epics. We're hitting the skatepark to prove our mad boarding skills, with Tony Hawk himself as the centerpiece.

He's the same guy who landed the first-ever documented legendary 900° aerial spin in competition on June 27, 1999, popping it out of a half-pipe in a single leap. He'd later land two more 900s in the 2010s, get credited with inventing 88 named tricks, and appeared in countless videos, films, and TV shows, both as a skater and as himself.

Just ten days ago, the second and final day of Vert Alert, his own vertical skateboarding competition in Salt Lake City has wrapped up. That pedigree is exactly what backs the entire Tony Hawk's franchise, especially the first four Pro Skater games and the gloriously unhinged Underground series.

Pro Skater 1 took the bare-bones fundamentals of real-world skate tricking and mapped them onto a video game blueprint. Suddenly, you could chase mastery without wrecking your body through endless falls.

The core loop has you choose a skater and board from a roster, each with different tricks and stats that shape your playstyle. Then, drop into one of several skate parks to chain stunts for big scores and complete literal fetch-style goals within a tight time limit.

Our CGA Game of the Month, Pro Skater 2, expands and refines that foundation in almost every way, including:

• Manuals: The game-changing addition that lets you chain tricks on flat ground without being forced into a stop when you run out of rails or airtime.
• Bigger, more varied levels: More complex park design with more routes and secrets.
• Deeper Career Mode: Instead of just grabbing tapes, smashing objects, and chasing high scores in 2-minute runs, you get more varied and elaborate objectives.
• Expanded roster and tricks: More skaters, more moves, more ways to play.
• Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park: Full customization for both your rider and your levels.

The one big mechanical piece still missing? Reverts to chain aerials into each other. That wouldn't arrive until Pro Skater 3, and is finally addressed in the 2020 remake, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, which also folds in various gameplay tweaks from later entries up through Underground 1.

My Personal Background

When I was a kid, I vaguely remember seeing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 everywhere: for sale and rent in every store, featured in strategy and tips magazines, and even in those massive Sears holiday catalogs. We also had friends who were always messing around on real skateboards.

All of that eventually convinced my brother to rent Pro Skater 3 on GameCube. We both took turns with it. We loved how addictive and technical the gameplay loop was, but we didn't end up buying it, or any of the sequels, because we assumed it would be a short, shallow experience that wouldn't stay relevant.

We were wrong.

In 2004, our parents bought us a PS2 copy of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 instead of renting. That game blew us away: twice as many intricate, unique levels, plus new gameplay elements layered on top of the already addictive core.

A few months later, I beat both Story and Classic modes, which unlocked a set of hidden characters. The most shocking (and hilarious) one is tied to a movie finally coming out in 2027, an icon of the 2000s both commercially and as a meme.

The fun didn't stop there. I accidentally discovered a bunch of out-of-bounds glitches thanks to weirdly programmed boundaries (the Los Angeles level sticks out in my mind; I loved those rebounding invisible walls I could endlessly jump off). I also managed to clip Player 1's position marker into odd places in Create-a-Goal mode. We felt like we were game developers, which might be what inspired my brother to pursue a career in the video game industry. Good times.

Fun fact: at one point, he even helped debug the then-upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Many of the bugs he found and documented still made it into the critically panned final release, because the game had to ship before the licensing deal between Activision and Tony Hawk expired at the end of 2015. And it barely had any development time… Yikes!

Regardless, I'm looking forward to trying the original PS1 version of Pro Skater 2 for this month's CGA, warts and all. It has the gameplay loop I know and love, and I can get over the fact that I can't walk off my skateboard anymore, something I haven't dealt with since beating American Sk8land on Nintendo DS over a decade ago.

Game Information

Years of the release: 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2020, 2021

Platforms: PS1, PC, GBC, Dreamcast, Mac OS, GBA, N64, Xbox, Windows Mobile, iPhone, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 1

Genre(s): Action, Sports

Links: Original - Mobygames, Original - Wikipedia
Windows - Mobygames
GBC - Mobygames
GBA - Mobygames
2x - Mobygames, 2x - Wikipedia
1 + 2 - Mobygames, 1 + 2 - Wikipedia

A brief overview at some of the versions:

• PS1

  • Easiest to access in terms of controller layout and emulation.
  • Great baseline "classic" feel.

• Windows

  • Potentially the most authentic way to experience Pro Skater 2 if you're comfortable with modding and tinkering.
  • Requires tracking down a out-of-production software and configuring it properly.

• Dreamcast

  • Similar to PS1 in feel, but with a noticeable visual fidelity boost.
  • Often considered the best-looking original-console version.

• N64

  • The most technically compromised 3D version.
  • Still functional, but stunts feel awkward with the C-button layout.

• Xbox (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x)

  • Essentially "what if Pro Skater 1 + 2 came out right after Pro Skater 3?"
  • Adds mechanics and quality-of-life improvements from later entries.

• GBA

  • A surprisingly playable top-down/isometric conversion of the full Pro Skater 2 experience for a low-powered handheld.
  • Requires adjusting to the perspective and controls, but it holds up.

• GBC

  • Drastically different due to hardware limits and too few buttons.
  • Becomes a sidescrolling, scope-limited version of Pro Skater 2 with mediocre controls, despite being an improvement over the GBC Pro Skater 1.

Where to find the game:

• Physical Release: Prices seem to be fairly reasonable on eBay. A loose cartridge/disc is usually much cheaper than a Complete-in-Box copy (which includes the game, manuals, and box), but not by much.
• Digital storefronts: A convenient fallback solution, especially with its frequent sales. Only applies to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Without further ado, let's hit the parks and go buck wild with tricks and stunts!

> CONTINUE

(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen. Still rock-and-rolling after a year!)

This is your chance to try to sway people's votes in the upcoming Voting Topic by endorsing certain titles!

Let people know why a certain game is awesome, or how a particular entry is of historical value, or why others really need to play this gem of yesteryear.

Parameters:

• The topic will remain open for 2 days (48 hours).
• Lobbying is not limited in any way, so you can endorse/support as many entries as you like.
• Negative lobbying IS allowed (but please make it fun).
• Anyone can participate. CGA does not require membership and is always open to all.

Game List

All nominations and boosts have been added, so this is the final list of games and their vote totals that we will be deciding on.

We are up for another round of nominations for Colossal Game Adventure, Tildes' very own retro video game club!

These nominations will form the ballot for the next round of voting, in which will we choose the next SIX games to play after we finish Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 this month.

Nominations for CGA do not start fresh each time. We rollover the top 50% of nominations from the previous round, and we decay their vote totals by 70%. So, many of the previously nominated games are still eligible to win in the upcoming voting.

Procedural Details

• Nominations will be open for 96 hours (4 days) from the time of this posting.

• Anyone can nominate. You do not have to have previously taken part in CGA in order to participate.

• Anyone nominating in this topic will be added to the CGA notification list if they're not already on there (unless you request otherwise).

• There is no hard definition for "retro." Choose whatever you feel fits that label.

• Games that have been nominated in the past but were cut are still eligible for nomination again. They do not get "locked out" of CGA.

Nomination Process

Everyone has the ability to take one (and ONLY one) official action for the nominations topic.

EITHER: Boost a rolled-over title.

• This will add 3 points to the title's rollover points from the previous round.
• You will also be able to add points to the game during the voting round.
• The purpose of this is to limit new nominations if there are games already in the list that strongly interest you.

OR: Nominate a new title.

• This will add a new game/arcade special to the ballot.
• An Arcade Special is a group of shorter/smaller games meant to be played together.
• Any new title starts at 0 points.

Nomination Formatting

Please do the following:

Bold your action (boosting/nominating).

If nominating, please link to your title on MobyGames. (You do not need to do this for boosting since the links are already in the list.)

Examples:

Boosting a game:

• Boost: Lode Runner

Nominating a game:

• Nomination: Portal 2

Nominating an Arcade Special:

• Nomination: Windows in the 90s
  Minesweeper
  Chip's Challenge
  JezzBall

It is recommended (but not required) that you share why you are nominating/boosting a particular game as well.

Rollover Titles

I got a kiosk for two days at my school last week to present my ideas to college students to gauge interest. 16 people said they'd be interested. There's even a teacher that'd want to be involved, he teaches a game programming course. There's also a university club nearby that wants to team up. (Also mid to long term, I'm in Quebec City so I could contact the many local studios around the campus.)

I wonder what the people of Tildes expect when they hear about a video game creation club. Have you been in one before?

I wrote myself a brainstorm document, here are the general ideas:

• Every field of study is welcome. Game projects are great for multidisciplinary groups, and people can also do stuff outside their field of study.
• General roles (someone could have many): project lead, game designer, gameplay programmer, systems and tools programmer, art director, 2D/3D/animation artist, UI/UX, composer, sound designer, writer, QA, voice actor, etc.
• Around 2 hours together per week, meeting in either a classroom or a club location if we get one.
• Would be nice if people shared what they learned during the week at each session.
• Game jam orientation? A college semester lasts 15 weeks. We could pick a theme at the start to drive the game ideas we want to do. Scope control is really important.
• Building a portfolio should be a main goal.
• Do we allow people from outside the club to come hang out? There are probably solo people working on their own games.
• How to handle intellectual property? Should we eventually try to sell games for the club finances? I guess we should at least be allowed to use the games for club marketing.
• If we do console games, we'd need an NDA. Not sure a club can even get console dev access, though we could probably work with a third party for that.
• Some nice stuff: the school has a recording booth we could record voices in. We might also have access to the school's servers if we get the proper approvals.
• We could demo the games in the school's public spaces to get feedback.
• The club could have a website, itch.io page, Discord.
• How to train people who have never made a game before?

Did I overthink this or forget about important details?

• The top 7 chillest Genesis games YOU NEED IN YOUR BUSY MODERN LIFE
• Best video game barrel explosions, ranked
• Five games that defied your expectations (plus one you'll never guess!)
• These 3 console flops make the Ouya look like a success
• The best magical swords of the 16-bit era

The internet is loaded with clickbaity articles like these (note: I specifically made these up, so apologies if any sound interesting). They were already somewhat low effort content, but they've gotten far worse in the age of AI.

As such, I thought it might be cool if we could make our own hand-crafted, artisan, bespoke humanslop ones here. You know, for fun.

1. Choose a list topic.
2. Populate it with games/mechanics/series/consoles/controllers/whatever.
3. Explain how each fits the theme.

Be as serious or as nonsensical as you like. Be as generic ("top games of 2025") or as specific ("games that kfwyre spent more time setting up than playing") as you want. Create the video game listicle of your dreams, with as little or as much clickbaitiness as you like.

(Cross-ref: INSERT CARTRIDGE topic)

Thanks to everyone who joined me on playing A Link to the Past this month!

Whether you were playing it very first time or the twentieth time, and whether you were playing vanilla, randomized, or multiplayer randomized (!), I hope you had a good time. I definitely look forward to hearing about everyone's experience, e.g.:

• How do you think it held up for a nearly 35 year old game?
• How do you like this style vs. the newer franchise entries?
• Would you likely play it again?
• Did you 100% it and find every last heart piece for a full health bar?
• Any particularly tough puzzles or fights that stood out to you?
• Did you have to resort to any hints or guides?
• If you did a randomizer, what was the craziest thing you encountered?
• Who was your favorite NPC?

(Personally, I had a blast trying the randomizer for the first time, with oddities like getting the flute for fast travel in the first two minutes while going without a shield for several dungeons, not to mention seeing the quirky changed dialogue and trying to get faster at my runs. I'll definitely be playing the randomizer more in the future.)

Next month, we'll be taking a break from our recent sword-and-sorcery run (Castlevania -> Lufia 2 -> Zelda), with u/J-Chiptunator hosting Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 as the final game in this season of CGA.