kfwyre's recent activity

  1. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    u/cheep_cheep ✨⭐️ Distinguished 🧐 Honoree 🏆 of the Ⓜ️🅰️✌️2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣ Backlog 📋 Burner ❤️🔥⭐️✨ (I'm so glad we get to use it again!)

    u/cheep_cheep

    ✨⭐️ Distinguished 🧐 Honoree 🏆 of the Ⓜ️🅰️✌️2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣ Backlog 📋 Burner ❤️‍🔥⭐️✨

    (I'm so glad we get to use it again!)

    1 vote
  2. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I played and loved that game way back in the day. Your spoilered insights (specifically the second level block) do a great job of capturing the rich complexity of the game’s narrative, which is...

    I played and loved that game way back in the day. Your spoilered insights (specifically the second level block) do a great job of capturing the rich complexity of the game’s narrative, which is especially noteworthy given that it’s quite short (especially by VN standards).

    My husband didn’t play it himself, but he was around while I did, and to this day he still affectionately calls the game

    Spoiler

    “Korean Space Lesbians”

  3. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Do I ever hear you on the jargon. I tried to read Neuromancer, that foundational pillar of cyberpunk fiction, and stopped halfway through because I genuinely had no idea what was going on. It just...

    Do I ever hear you on the jargon.

    I tried to read Neuromancer, that foundational pillar of cyberpunk fiction, and stopped halfway through because I genuinely had no idea what was going on. It just throws a bunch of terms at you and asks you to roll with it. The subreddit has a full on glossary for the book!

    I was quite put off by this. I talked to my friend who loves the book, and he said that it's more about the vibe than fully understanding what's going on. Your description of Gamedec seems very similar. It's not my preference, but I can see how someone would like it.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    DeckRoulette looks fantastic. I've been using a phone app called DeckFilter to achieve something similar, but having it right on the device is so convenient. I could see myself installing this at...

    DeckRoulette looks fantastic. I've been using a phone app called DeckFilter to achieve something similar, but having it right on the device is so convenient. I could see myself installing this at the beginning of my summer and just hopscotching my way through my library.

    My only concern about it is, well, Decky. Has it gotten more stable? I tried it a while back (maybe a year or two ago?), but ended up getting sick of it repeatedly breaking.

    2 votes
  5. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I probably read the same post as you, because I also bought the game back then (I can't find the post though -- it might have been over on reddit's hidden gems topics rather than here?). Have I...

    I probably read the same post as you, because I also bought the game back then (I can't find the post though -- it might have been over on reddit's hidden gems topics rather than here?).

    Have I played it?

    Of course not.

    2 votes
  6. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Steam says I sunk 15ish hours into Breakneck back during the COVID. It was a perfect turn your brain off, listen to an audiobook, stay on the hook because of the dripfeed of rewards kind of game....

    Steam says I sunk 15ish hours into Breakneck back during the COVID. It was a perfect turn your brain off, listen to an audiobook, stay on the hook because of the dripfeed of rewards kind of game.

    What's weird is that I have little to no recollection of any of the specifics of the game itself, and the same goes for most of the stuff I played during COVID. I don't know if it was anxiety-driven, or my brain was just focused on the unprecedented nature of everything, but I gamed a lot during those times and have little to nothing to show for it because I honestly don't remember most of what I played.

    My husband and I played through all of Borderlands 3 on co-op, and I can't really tell you anything about it. Another friend of mine and I played a ton of Risk of Rain 2, but the space it occupies in my mind is mostly blank. I apparently played Breakneck for 15 hours, but reading your description of it was like rediscovering it because nearly none of it stuck for me.

    Odd. I suppose it isn't all bad though -- I could easily return to any of the games I played back then and enjoy them like it's the first time!

    Also I think you make a great point about PC releases of mobile games liberating them from some of their scummier mechanics. I actually like the mobile-style "always have three short-term goals to fulfill" checklist that tries to keep you on the hook, despite it being a transparent engagement mechanic.

    I have played some where they simply cut out the microtransactions, but the game's progress was effectively dependent on them, so it ends up being a slog and not worth the time. Breakneck wasn't like that though.

    2 votes
  7. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Motivated Rapid Fire Round These are all games that I played enough to count for the Backlog Burner, but not enough that I have very strong feelings on them. Blast Rush LS (played via Indie Pass)...

    Motivated Rapid Fire Round

    These are all games that I played enough to count for the Backlog Burner, but not enough that I have very strong feelings on them.


    Blast Rush LS (played via Indie Pass)

    A scrolling shooter where, instead of shooting, you can only launch bombs (note: there is also an option to turn on shooting too?). So, it's essentially aiming at a niche within a niche for its audience. It was originally a mobile game that got polished up for a full desktop release, with one exception: there's no way to exit the game from within the game. You have to force-kill it.


    Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective (played via direct installation on Steam Deck)

    Mentioning Arcane Kids earlier reminded me that I still hadn't played this and it's been sitting on my Steam Deck for years now.

    The game is essentially a high-effort shitpost that left me uncertain about how to feel about it. Bubsy 3D is infamous for being a bad game with bad controls, and this game mimics that directly. It does eventually do some things that play around with your expectations, which I liked, but I can't exactly say that I enjoyed or even really appreciated the experience, but I also think that's exactly what it's going for? It feels much more like an art think piece than an actual game.


    Elephant in the Room (played via the Humble App)

    This is another endangered game, though it feels much more like an early beta build of something rather than a full-fledged game. You're an elephant trying to escape a house without getting seen, and you can use your trunk to grab and throw things so that you can incapacitate people which lets you get by them.

    The controls are deliberately clunky. Your elephant moves very slowly. This feels like the kind of game made for humorous purposes for people to stream on Twitch, where the fun comes from watching someone clumsily work their way through things rather than executing tight gameplay. I did a few runs of this and then moved on.


    Mr Rescue (played via Flathub on Steam Deck)

    This is a cute, old-school firefighting game where you have to save people in a burning building and constantly ascend floors to look for more survivors. Controls and gameplay are dead simple and the game works perfectly on the Deck.

    I think the game is good at what it does, but it's not the exact kind of game I want. I have a soft spot for firefighting games, but in this one your goal is to save people, not fight fire. Fighting the fire is only a means to an end -- you have to carefully select which ones to put out in order to save people because you'll never be able to get everything extinguished.

    I'd much rather play a game where my goal is to put out the whole blaze itself. Having that as an alt mode or a mod for this one would be great, as the game itself is well-made and I can't really fault it on its own terms, only on mine.

    3 votes
  8. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Woten (played via Humble App) The best way I can describe this is that it feels like a game jam graduate. You know: somebody had a neat idea that they threw together quickly, realized they had...

    Woten (played via Humble App)

    The best way I can describe this is that it feels like a game jam graduate. You know: somebody had a neat idea that they threw together quickly, realized they had something good on their hands, and then fleshed it out for a full release.

    It’s a puzzleish-platformer that feels like it would fit right in with the Game Boy Advance library.

    Levels are single screen, with the main limitation being that your little adventurer in a cute horned hat can’t jump very high. Instead, he’s reliant on other things to help him with his verticality, including his bat friend who can fly him over large obstacles.

    Initially I thought that this was going to be included in the game mechanically, letting you call on the bat (and feed him his favorite fruits) in certain circumstances, but it turns out all the bat scenes are predetermined. They’re chapter breaks, essentially.

    Instead, the game is all about using your limited movement set, the environment, and deeper-than-expected movement tech to navigate the world. It reminded me a bit of Leap Year in that regard. There were times where I was stumped on how to get a collectible and just decided to move on, only to, in a later screen, realize that there was something I could have done to get it because I uncovered a new way to do something.

    The world is linear and contiguous and doesn’t let you backtrack, so you have to either get things the first time or replay the game (even after beating it, it doesn’t have a level select option). This isn’t too big of an imposition — I think it took me maybe 2 hours to finish, and I could certainly do it faster on a second go-around.

    I’m not planning on doing a second playthrough for the Burner, but I am going to keep the game installed — partly because it’s endangered but mostly because I genuinely might go back and try for a 100% run. I got a bad ending 😭 and I’m thinking maybe there’s a better one if I get all the things.

    If you’ve got the Humble App, then I’d say this is worth a playthrough (provided you like the genre, of course). It’s a cute little hidden gem.

    4 votes
  9. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Kaamos (played via Indie Pass) This takes place in the same universe as Vartio and features the same unsettling atmosphere conveyed with well-done minimalistic pixel art. I almost picked Vartio...

    Kaamos (played via Indie Pass)

    This takes place in the same universe as Vartio and features the same unsettling atmosphere conveyed with well-done minimalistic pixel art.

    I almost picked Vartio for slow-burn but ended up choosing absence instead, so I'm glad that I can circle back to that square and fill it with this game. The game is almost a match 3 game, but instead of swapping tiles, you can move an entire row or column as many spaces as you want. The board is made up of different symbols based on your equipment. Match swords, and you attack. Match shields, and you block damage. As you progress in the game, you gain new equipment that changes the composition of your board. The boots you get might add more sword symbols, but take away shields.

    The resulting game is a simple, elegant mix of match 3, RPG, and roguelike. I say it's a slow-burn because the progression is very gradual. You don't suddenly find a sword that makes you super powerful, you have to slowly shift the tile allocations in your favor in pickup after pickup.

    I played through two rounds on my computer and enjoyed it, but the game is clearly a mobile game that has been ported. I like it enough though that I ended up buying it for my phone and will continue to play it there.

    There's nothing fundamentally wrong with playing it on PC, but it's clearly intended for phones first. It's got a portrait orientation, a touch-intended control scheme, and would work well with small sessions where you pick it up and put it down frequently.

    4 votes
  10. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    I’m still repping Team Motivated, still going for that full blackout, and still trying to do it entirely with games that aren’t on Steam. Flow Custom bingo 15/25 ✅ Mr Rescue ✅ Heeey! Park-Boy ✅...

    I’m still repping Team Motivated, still going for that full blackout, and still trying to do it entirely with games that aren’t on Steam.

    Flow Custom bingo 15/25
    Ascent
    ✅ Mr Rescue
    Happiness
    ✅ Heeey! Park-Boy
    Style
    ✅ Assault on Proxima
    Niche
    ✅ Blast Rush LS
    Absence
    ✅ Vartio
    Resistance Contrast Causality Increment
    ✅ Aris Arcanum
    Defense
    ✅ Cards and Towers
    Choice Humor
    ✅ Elephant in the Room
    ★ Wildcard Vision Slow-burn
    ✅ Kaamos
    Love Simple
    ✅ Donna: The Canine Quest
    Tradition
    ✅ Blue Maiden
    Order
    ✅ THOR.N
    Unlock
    Pride Uncertainty
    ✅ Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective
    Transformation
    ✅ Subserial Network
    Verticality
    ✅ Woten
    Chaos
    3 votes
  11. Comment on Rebecca Black - Fame Is a Gun (live, 2025) in ~music

  12. Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (May 2026) — Version 1.6 adds "Find in comments" in ~tildes

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    That link is clickable for me on version 1.5.2 for iOS.

    That link is clickable for me on version 1.5.2 for iOS.

    3 votes
  13. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link
    Pinging all Backlog Burner participants/conversationalists: here's the new topic for the week. TEAM MOTIVATED: ALWAYS. BE. HUSTLING! Team Mellow: Keep calm and carry on. Notification List @1338...

    Pinging all Backlog Burner participants/conversationalists: here's the new topic for the week.

    TEAM MOTIVATED: ALWAYS. BE. HUSTLING!

    Team Mellow: Keep calm and carry on.

    Notification List

    @1338
    @BailerAppleby
    @Bullmaestro
    @CannibalisticApple
    @dannydotcafe
    @Durinthal
    @Eidolon
    @J-Chiptunator
    @JCPhoenix
    @kingofsnake
    @ShroudedScribe
    @sotix
    @Wes

    If you would like to be removed from/added to the list, let me know either here or by PM.

    7 votes
  14. May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion

    Week 3 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...

    Week 3 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:


    Week 2 Recap

    11 participants played 9 bingo cards and moved 28 games out of their backlogs!

    Team Mellow

    Team Motivated

    All but one are listed above.

    u/Wes

    Is he still Mellow? Or did he join the Motivateds?

    He played three different games, which seems very motivated...

    ...but mellow is also a state of mind, a pace, a vibe that he rolls with.

    So the question lingers: with whom will he stand?

    Answer: u/Wes remains on Team Mellow


    Game list:

    Week 1 Recap

    Week 1 Recap

    ⚔️🛡️ Battle lines have been drawn. 🛡️⚔️

    Team Mellow

    Calm, easygoing, relaxed (<3 games played this week)

    Team Motivated

    Driven, energized, results-oriented (≥3 games played this week, or, like, only one game played but for a LONG time)

    Who will come out on top? Which team will reign supreme? What metric will we even use to determine what counts as a win? STAY TUNED.


    11 participants played 10 bingo cards and moved 24 games out of their backlogs!

    Game list:

    12 votes
  15. Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of May 10 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link
    Fanatical Capcom Classics Bundle - GOG Edition GOG bundles are rare, and this brings the GOG re-releases of the original Resident Evil trilogy and Dino Crisis duet to their lowest prices so far....

    Fanatical Capcom Classics Bundle - GOG Edition

    GOG bundles are rare, and this brings the GOG re-releases of the original Resident Evil trilogy and Dino Crisis duet to their lowest prices so far.

    It’s worth noting that GOG put in effort themselves to spruce up these re-releases to get them running on modern hardware.

    There are Steam releases of these as well but, quite bafflingly, they have DRM, so the GOG editions are genuinely the best ones out there on account of being DRM-free.

    5 votes
  16. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Three games in a single week? Ten full hours in just one of them? Nearly immediately filling your own self-determined goal to play PTCG2? You're starting to look the slightest bit (dare I say...

    Three games in a single week? Ten full hours in just one of them? Nearly immediately filling your own self-determined goal to play PTCG2?

    You're starting to look the slightest bit (dare I say it?)... motivated.

    2 votes
  17. Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of May 10 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link
    Sunderfolk and Batman: The Telltale Series are this week’s freebies on Epic. I utterly adored Sunderfolk and gushed about it at length here. It is a fantastic multiplayer game, and is good for...

    Sunderfolk and Batman: The Telltale Series are this week’s freebies on Epic.

    I utterly adored Sunderfolk and gushed about it at length here.

    Imagine if someone took the Jackbox model (one main game screen, everybody plays on their phones), subtracted out the comedy, and added in a full tabletop RPG campaign and rules. That's Sunderfolk.

    It is a fantastic multiplayer game, and is good for seasoned TTRPG players and newbies alike. The phone integration is very well done.

    I’d normally say it’s absolutely worth the money, but, given that it’s free, I’ll simply say it’s absolutely worth a look. My friends and I played it entirely remotely, streaming the screen on Discord while all playing from our phones.

    3 votes
  18. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Not that I'm encouraging anyone to buy any new games this month or anything, but this one just went on sale on Steam for 90% off.

    Not that I'm encouraging anyone to buy any new games this month or anything, but this one just went on sale on Steam for 90% off.

    2 votes
  19. Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of May 10 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    All bangers. This is practically a must-buy if you don't own any of them, but I assume that a lot of people already have several of these. I'll highlight Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as a...

    All bangers.

    This is practically a must-buy if you don't own any of them, but I assume that a lot of people already have several of these.

    I'll highlight Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as a standout (though, genuinely, they are all standouts). It's the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and is like, THE perfect game for the Steam Deck.

    I know this because I didn't actually play it on my Steam Deck. I played it before the Deck came out. I was chilling on vacation at the time, and I set my laptop in my lap and connected a gamepad to it and played it for like, 40 hours that way. If I was willing to see it all the way through to 100% completion with my janky proto-Deck setup, then I can confirm that it's definitely worth the time on an actual handheld.

    5 votes