vili's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes “orphans”, what do you do for Christmas? in ~life
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentWhat was your feeling about the gameplay and user interface, now that you went back to the game after such a long time? I'm just curious, since I can typically tolerate clunky design decisions in...What was your feeling about the gameplay and user interface, now that you went back to the game after such a long time?
I'm just curious, since I can typically tolerate clunky design decisions in games that I played a lot as a kid. Or at least I notice that I forgive them easier, probably because I know what to expect, and there's likely also some residual muscle memory that helps me get into a game, even decades after I last played it. But with Maniac Mansion this month, I must say I got a bit frustrated with some of the design decisions. Now, it has never been among my very favourite adventure games, but I was a bit surprised at how much I actually disliked some parts of the game this time around.
I didn't end up finishing it. But that was more because of the release of Order of the Sinking Star, which has taken over practically all of my gaming time. And probably will for the foreseeable future.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkI didn't play much of Alone in the Dark this month, but I did boot it up. And the act of doing so unburied a memory. It's a relatively vivid image, but I'm not always certain how authentic...- Exemplary
I didn't play much of Alone in the Dark this month, but I did boot it up. And the act of doing so unburied a memory. It's a relatively vivid image, but I'm not always certain how authentic recollections like these are. Sure, they could be actual memories. But they could also be later constructions. Or a mixture of things. There is no way for me to know.
This one features a ten-year-old me, cycling to my friend's place, up on the hill, to play this new video game that he has just got. Alone in the Dark, it's called. It's autumn, it's late in the afternoon, the sun is going down and the forests around me are in full, fiery bloom. "Ruska," we call these autumn colours in Finnish. The very fact that Finnish has a specific term for the phenomenon tells you how insanely colourful nature can get there in that time of the year. When I think of ruska, I often think of the Finnish painter Reidar Särestöniemi's works: like this, or this, or this. I have been told that I'm related to the artist.
But I digress. There I am, cycling on a dirt road near the border to what was once the Soviet Union but has recently began to call itself Russia again. So, ruska near Russia. The big scary bear of the east. It's starting to get dark but that's ok. I've only got a couple of more kilometres to go, my bike has a lamp and I'll be staying the night at my friend's. It's not a school night. It's going to be a game night instead. We are going to have so much fun with Alone in the Dark. I wonder if it's going to be anywhere near as funny as the film was.
Looking back, I'm not sure if it's just me or also my friend, but I have got some things mixed up in my little ten-year-old head. While I'm frantically pedalling towards my friend's house, up that steep hill, I'm expecting a comedy game about a kid who's stopping a couple of robbers. Home Alone. Yksin kotona. Alone in the Dark. It's an easy mistake to make when you are only just starting to study English.
Needless to say, once I get there and we boot up the game, it's nothing like I had expected it to be. Sure, there is a house, and sure, you are sort of trying to make decisions to survive, but it's not Home Alone. Instead, we keep dying. It's a bit disappointing. We don't get very far. And it's actually really really scary.
Although, truth be told, I had thought Home Alone was also a little scary.
I don't sleep well that night. It could be the scary game. Or it could be the soft drinks that we drank and the bags and bags of candy that we ate. Finnish candy is on a whole different level compared to candy made anywhere else in the world. There is absolutely no competition. #SalmiakkiForPresident.
The next day, neither of us wants to play Alone in the Dark. We go out instead, take out some tennis balls and ice hockey sticks. The air is cool, the sun stays low, the parking lot gravel is our imaginary ice rink. My friend is Teemu Selänne. I am Mats Sundin. This tells you everything you need to know about my loyalty to the country. Despite the ruska and the salmiakki, I will be out of the country by the time I turn 18.
I never touch Alone in the Dark after that one evening. Not the game, not any of its sequels. Certainly not the films. I still don't particularly like scary things.
Or well, I guess Home Alone was quite ok in its own campy way. The sequel wasn't as good.
Fast forward three decades and a bit, and I'm Alone in the Dark again. This time, my friend is not with me. We haven't been in touch for over thirty years. No candy or soft drinks, either. A warm pot of jasmine tea, some dried fruits and Daisy the cat in my lap will have to do.
As I boot up the game, I make note of the sensation that washes over me: I hope this won't be too scary. But it kind of is. The music and sound design in particular. But also the painfully slow movement. Every step seems designed to give all the time in the world for some otherworldly creature to break in and kill me. And speaking of movement, also spooky are the camera angles, mixed with the game's tank controls. And the art style: it's amazing how polygons can look so ominous. All in all, I think it's really well done. If I were into horror, I think I would appreciate it.
It is also only now that I realise that this wasn't an American game but by Infogrames, of all things. Again, I think my brain must have made a connection with Home Alone, which is just about the most American thing I can think of. Or maybe I was just visionary as a kid, since Infogrames is now owned by Atari. Although I must admit that as a kid, I always thought Atari was Japanese. And these days, it seems, Atari is headquartered in Luxemburg. And doesn't actually own the Alone in the Dark IP, as far as I can see.
Spooky.
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Comment on Finland launches criminal investigation into Google's clearing of forest for data centre site in ~enviro
vili Link ParentDepending a little on how one counts it, Finland is the most forested developed country in the world, with forests covering about 75% of its territory. But they are very much maintained forests:...I wanted to know a little more about the Finnish forest industry so I made a graph. Apparently over 1000 square kilometers of forest are clear-cut each year. Perhaps not that much in one place, though?
Depending a little on how one counts it, Finland is the most forested developed country in the world, with forests covering about 75% of its territory. But they are very much maintained forests: most of it is commercial forests, a little over 10% is protected wild land, about half of that is natural state forests, and less than 1% of Finnish forests are actual old growth forests.
Something like 13% of Finnish manufacturing industry is forestry related and a little over 20% of the country's exports are tied to forestry. As it's such an important part of the economy, Finnish commercial forests are relatively well maintained and fairly regulated, and my understanding is that the industry as a whole works quite sustainably. But there could always be improvements, of course: for instance, about 80% of logging in Finland is done with clearcutting. It makes economic sense I suppose, and can be sustainable from forest maintenance perspective, but I would assume that its impact on local habitats and biodiversity is much worse than more selective felling practices would be.
I've hiked in Finland on many occasions, and it's a bit of a shock when you leave the area of a protected national park and suddenly step into a clearcut part of a commercial forest.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentThere are a couple of places where you definitely know you have reached a dead end, but generally you won’t know if you are in a winless state. And yes, there are quite a few ways to play yourself...There are a couple of places where you definitely know you have reached a dead end, but generally you won’t know if you are in a winless state.
And yes, there are quite a few ways to play yourself into a dead end. In fact, I’d say it’s almost certain to happen.
Maniac Mansion comes from an era when adventure games worked with a philosophy similar to what roguelike games employ these days. You are expected to try things out, fail, restart, try other things, fail, try again, and so on. Every “run” you make gives you more information about the world and the puzzles. After a number of tries, and maybe some help from friends, you figure out what to do. Some games of the era also allowed you to play around with multiple save slots.
Maniac Mansion expands that philosophy and loop by allowing you to choose the kids you want to play as whenever you start a new game.
A couple of years after Maniac Mansion, the game’s designer Ron Gilbert wrote something of a manifesto where he argued against this type of design. You can read it on his website: Why Adventure Games Suck And What We Can Do About It.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentManiac Mansion is the big classic (indeed one of the biggest classics), so play it first if you want to explore gaming history. 5 Days a Stranger is arguably the better game, so play it first if...Maniac Mansion is the big classic (indeed one of the biggest classics), so play it first if you want to explore gaming history.
5 Days a Stranger is arguably the better game, so play it first if you just want to play a good game.
I would assume (but can't be sure) that 5 Days runs fine on your Windows laptop and Maniac Mansion should be playable at least either in ScummVM or another emulator that runs on your systems. I've been playing the C64 version of MM with the VICE emulator on my more recent MacBook.
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Comment on What single episode of a show would you recommend as a standalone? in ~tv
vili LinkNorthern Exposure, season 4 episode 18, "Northern Lights". The episode is all about finding light in the middle of the worst darkness, both literally and figuratively. About overcoming isolation,...Northern Exposure, season 4 episode 18, "Northern Lights".
The episode is all about finding light in the middle of the worst darkness, both literally and figuratively. About overcoming isolation, uncertainty and polarisation through empathy, art and coming together as a community. It condenses the series' main themes into a single episode, features almost all of the major characters, is largely self-contained, and has one of the most beautiful endings of any episode of television ever created.
It's sad that the show has been so difficult to watch for such a long time. I would argue that it was as influential and popular as contemporary shows like Twin Peaks and X-Files. But Northern Exposure was also full of great licensed music, and music licensing is complicated, so it all but disappeared soon after broadcasts ended. It remains one of my favourite series, and "Northern Lights" one of my favourite episodes of television. If you can watch it, and like quirky, warm, thoughtful television, do give it a try.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentThe Chzo tetralogy is a remarkably good series and I love how each game experiments with a different user interface. Back when these games came out, my favourite was the third game Trilby's Notes,...The Chzo tetralogy is a remarkably good series and I love how each game experiments with a different user interface. Back when these games came out, my favourite was the third game Trilby's Notes, which uses a Sierra style text parser. I'm looking forward to revisiting the series this month.
The main issue with text parser games, and one of the main reasons for Maniac Mansion's then novel approach of using clickable verbs on the bottom of the screen and clickable objects on the graphical side of the screen, was the common frustration of having to fight the parser in text based games. Very often you knew exactly what you needed to do, but communicating it to the computer was difficult. One of the things I'm most excited about when it comes to AIs/LLMs is that we now finally live in an age where someone could create a text parser game that actually understands more or less anything you try to tell it.
In fact, we wouldn't necessarily even need text at all: by now, surely you should be able to control your adventure game protagonist simply by speaking to the game and telling it what you want to do. This could open up a whole new range of puzzles and experiences, as developers wouldn't be so constrained by user interfaces.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkStop the presses! Some beautiful soul has just released an English fan translation of the Famicom version of Maniac Mansion. The International House of Mojo (a LucasArts fan site) wrote about it...Stop the presses! Some beautiful soul has just released an English fan translation of the Famicom version of Maniac Mansion. The International House of Mojo (a LucasArts fan site) wrote about it today and you can find more information about the release here. I believe it’s the first time the Famicom version is accessible to those of us who don’t speak Japanese.
Unlike the NES version, the Famicom release was not done by LucasFilm Games and ended up being quite different from the original. Not only graphically, but also in terms of many gameplay elements.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentAh, I indeed made it sound like I do! While I do own more C64s than my wife says is strictly speaking necessary, I decided against running the game on any of them as I only have 30-year-old PSUs...Are you playing on actual C64 hardware?
Ah, I indeed made it sound like I do! While I do own more C64s than my wife says is strictly speaking necessary, I decided against running the game on any of them as I only have 30-year-old PSUs and I fear they'll burn down the house if I use them. I should get around to buying a modern replacement.
Also, I think the last time I booted up one of the C64s, the disk drive was acting up. It's probably fixable, but I just haven't found the time to attend to it.
So, I have been playing Maniac Mansion on the C64 emulator VICE instead. It still requires ejecting and inserting disk images manually. Maybe there is a more elegant way to do it but that's how I use it.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkAs I find myself in what I think is an unwinnable state in Maniac Mansion (I failed to pick up an object when it was available, and both of the kids that I selected for the run seem to require it...As I find myself in what I think is an unwinnable state in Maniac Mansion (I failed to pick up an object when it was available, and both of the kids that I selected for the run seem to require it to solve the game), I was reminded of last spring's Adventure Game Aptitude Test, which tested 831 players against Maniac Mansion and a four-hour completion deadline (in the spirit of How Long To Beat's rather ridiculous suggestion of 3.5 hours). Apparently, two people managed to pass the test, which is more than I thought could if they really had never played the game before. You can read about it over at Kotaku. As the article notes, this game was designed to be played for weeks or months, not hours.
At the other end of the spectrum, the current speedrun record for the game, as reported by speedrun.com, seems to be 3 minutes 51 seconds with a mod, and 8 minutes 24 seconds without it. It doesn't seem like a particularly popular speedrunning game, though. And this in turn reminds me: if you find the idea of people speedrunning classic adventure games interesting, the YouTube channel OneShortEye has excellent documentaries on many games and their speedrunning histories. Sadly, there isn't one for Maniac Mansion yet.
As I'll be starting my second attempt with Maniac Mansion, I'm contemplating switching from the original Commodore 64 version to the enhanced 1989 PC release. Partly for a fresh coat of paint, but mainly because ejecting, flipping and re-inserting the floppy disk whenever I move from one part of the mansion to another is starting to get a bit tiresome. Some areas, like standing in front of the garage, even seem to require data from both sides of the disk to be loaded. And I also encountered a disk read error at one point which forced me to reload an earlier save, so I'm a bit worried that something wonky is going on with the disk.
One thing that I had completely forgotten about is that first LucasFilm adventures lacked two verbs that one could argue became the very identity of all later adventure games from the studio: look and talk. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, which followed Maniac Mansion, still didn't have them, but 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade did. And I would say the first Monkey Island game perfected their use in 1990.
Anyway, I'm off to think about which two kids to pick for my second attempt at solving the mansion. Which kids are you guys playing as? (In case you haven't read the manual yet, keep in mind that your choice of kids determines how some of the main puzzles play out: "The story — and your approach to rescuing Sandy — will be different depending on which kids you choose and how you interact with the people and things inside the mansion itself.")
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
vili LinkDespite @kfwyre's excellent advice, I never made it out of the starting hangar. I am sorry I failed you, sensei. I blame the very limited time that I currently have for games. The game felt like...Despite @kfwyre's excellent advice, I never made it out of the starting hangar. I am sorry I failed you, sensei. I blame the very limited time that I currently have for games.
The game felt like something that a younger me might have become quite obsessed about. There is a definite flow to it. It punishes you but it feels fair. It's short bursts of concentrated action. You need to learn its mechanics to get good. I love that type of design.
As I played the introductory hangar level, I kept imagining how this game would be introduced today. There would likely be a voice in the loudspeakers constantly telling you what to do. The flow would be broken, as action would slow down so that on-screen prompts can reinforce the voiced instructions: press X now to do a hoopladidoople, then press A + left to complete a flippetifloppy. And as you managed these button combos with the game holding your hand, notifications about achievements would pop up in the lower right corner. Well done, you pressed the button we told you to press! As your reward, you shall get five diamond tokens with which you can buy new cosmetics (also available through microtransactions).
Instead, the game as I experienced it just throws you in and trusts that you will figure it out yourself. It doesn't insult your intelligence or ability. It's confident enough about its mechanics and gameplay loop to know that you'll be having fun, no matter how far you progress.
And while I didn't progress far, I certainly did have fun.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkIf anyone is interested in extracurricular activities around Maniac Mansion, the game designer Ron Gilbert gave a postmortem for the game at the Game Forum Germany in 2011 (and other places). It...If anyone is interested in extracurricular activities around Maniac Mansion, the game designer Ron Gilbert gave a postmortem for the game at the Game Forum Germany in 2011 (and other places). It contains no real spoilers.
One could say that there have been three spiritual successors to the game over the years:
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Day of the Tentacle (1993) is the official sequel. Ron Gilbert himself was no longer involved, but Maniac Mansion's co-project lead and sole artist Gary Winnick did work on it as a writer, and the game was led by Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, with whom Gilbert had created the first two Monkey Island games. It's a classic in its own right.
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The Cave (2013) is a game by Ron Gilbert (developed and published by Tim Schafer's studio Double Fine Productions) which develops some of the concepts introduced in Maniac Mansion, including how character selection works, and puts them into a more puzzle platformer type setup similar to games like Limbo. It's one of my personal favourites and I think was somewhat overlooked at the time of its release.
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Thimbleweed Park (2017) was Gilbert's return to adventure games, together with Maniac Mansion co-creator Gary Winnick. It was pitched as an undiscovered LucasArts adventure game that could have been developed somewhere between Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, and I think they delivered exactly that. Thimbleweed Park 2 is currently under development and set for a 2028 release.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili (edited )Link ParentA note for purists who are looking for the original version of the game: the version you get out of your Day of the Tentacle copy depends on the version of Day of the Tentacle that you are playing...all official releases of Day of the Tentacle contain the complete, fully playable original Maniac Mansion as a built-in secret "mini-game"!
A note for purists who are looking for the original version of the game: the version you get out of your Day of the Tentacle copy depends on the version of Day of the Tentacle that you are playing and the language that you are playing it in.
With the original Day of the Tentacle (1993), the game prioritises the original 1987 version of Maniac Mansion, but falls back to the "enhanced" 1989 version for languages in which the 1987 version is not available. Meanwhile, Day of the Tentacle Remastered (2016) only gives you the 1989 version.
More information about different versions can be found here (your browser may complain about lack of https) and here (many of the embedded images sadly dead links by now).
Personally, I am playing the original C64 copy, just like
godRon intended. I believe the Steam and GOG releases also include it, although they launch with the 1989 version by default.Edit: A quick note on Maniac Mansion Deluxe -- while it's largely the same game with higher fidelity graphics, it removes some things to prevent dead ends, the graphics change the mood of the game, and there is additional content that doesn't exist in the original. In other words, it's a very well made fan remake, but it's definitely different from the original game.
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Comment on Wikipedia's list of the best video games: how many have you played, and what's missing? in ~games
vili Link ParentThis is why I had to stop using the Bubble Bobble theme as my ringtone in the early 2000s. I was just constantly humming the tune AND happy whenever someone called me. Those were different times.This is why I had to stop using the Bubble Bobble theme as my ringtone in the early 2000s. I was just constantly humming the tune AND happy whenever someone called me. Those were different times.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 voting topic in ~games
vili LinkMother 3 (5) Wizball (5) Spooky Mansion Adventures (3) The Grue That Binds (3) Another World (1) Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1) Ratchet & Clank (1) Ys Origin (1)Mother 3 (5)
Wizball (5)
Spooky Mansion Adventures (3)
The Grue That Binds (3)
Another World (1)
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1)
Ratchet & Clank (1)
Ys Origin (1) -
Comment on How CDs are physically made in ~music
vili LinkI didn’t realise there were so many steps involved in manufacturing a CD. The video is a bit of promotion for both the artist’s own album and I guess the factory that pressed it, but it’s also a...I didn’t realise there were so many steps involved in manufacturing a CD. The video is a bit of promotion for both the artist’s own album and I guess the factory that pressed it, but it’s also a fascinating and highly informative description of the process of making a CD.
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How CDs are physically made
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 lobbying topic in ~games
vili Link ParentI think something like Tetris could offer a slightly different approach to CGA than what we have had until now. So far, discussion in the club has largely focused on personal reactions to the...I think something like Tetris could offer a slightly different approach to CGA than what we have had until now. So far, discussion in the club has largely focused on personal reactions to the games we have played, both past and present. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I love reading about people's recollections and reactions to what we are playing. And in many ways it's understandable that discussion focuses on this when the games we have played take longer to get through.
But shorter titles like Tetris, which you either already know or can get a feel for in a matter of an hour or two, might offer more time for people to explore broader topics related to the game. Tetris, for instance, would be a brilliant starting point to explore and discuss games developed in Soviet countries, how games travelled across the iron curtain (in both directions), the "Tetris effect" in psychology, competitive Tetris and e-sports, the lineage of Tetris clones and Tetris likes, or just Alexey Pajitnov's other games. There are also plenty of documentaries, and a fairly recent feature film, that we could watch. In other words: less time spent playing the game itself, more time spent exploring, researching and reporting your findings.
Before we started CGA, I somehow expected there to be more of this kind of discussion, but for whatever reason, it hasn't really happened. And it could of course be just me who would be interested in something like it.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 lobbying topic in ~games
vili LinkWizball Quoting from the Commodore 64 gaming magazine Zzap64!, page 106 of issue 043, November 1988:Wizball
Quoting from the Commodore 64 gaming magazine Zzap64!, page 106 of issue 043, November 1988:
(Paul) Not to put too fine a point on it, Wizball is nothing short of being a work of mad genius! The amount of thought put into this game is exemplary, with a marvellous plot, so many neat control touches, terrifyingly addictive play, beautiful graphic design and some of the best music you'll ever hear from a Commodore. Apart from the addition of more levels, there are no improvements which could be made to this game -- everything you could possibly want from a piece of computer entertainment is in there and nothing has been compromised. I don't know how it missed out on a Gold Medal back in Issue 27, but hopefully the DEF award [for the greatest game in its genre] will go some way to reconciling that small misdemeanor.
(Gordon) There's not much I can add to that: for me, it's a toss up between this and Dropzone, with this winning by virtue of its originality. The only fault I found with it was the initial difficulty, but the subsequent gameplay makes up for that by about a millionfold. It's crammed with cute touches (not something you normally find in a shoot 'em up) and is almost totally unique. I've played it and completed it, and I still play it -- if you ever see it lying around, snap it up, because it's not only the best shoot 'em up around, it's one of the best games of all time.
My wife and I had a tradition for a while where we would pick a country semi-randomly in December, lightly research what its end-of-year celebrations are like, and try to replicate some aspects of them at home. It mainly meant cooking and baking new dishes, but possibly also coming up with some simple decorations, listening to new music, watching new films, and learning a few words of a foreign language. I'm sure lots of mistakes were made and plenty of culture was appropriated, but it was fun and we learnt more about the world around us.
We have been talking about reviving that tradition, or coming up with some other end-of-year ritual, since otherwise the holidays are just regular days for us that pass by quite unnoticed. And I feel that the older we get, the more value we see in rituals.
Instead of a modern day country and tradition, you could also pick something like "Shakespearean England" or "ancient Rome". The world is your oyster. And with many countries quite literally so -- one thing I learnt is that oysters are a surprisingly popular end-of-year dish.