I’ll give an honorable mention to Terraria–largely because I had to explain it to someone recently and it was more difficult than I anticipated.

Yeah, you can just say “2D Minecraft,” but it’s more than that. It’s almost an RPG in terms of advancements and equipment development, and it’s very combat oriented. But it’s not really a sidescroller or a metroidvania type, because the digging and building plays a huge part.

Less genre defining, and more living in the liminal space between a lot of other genres.

Do you… do you have eyelids?

You should have eyelids.

Yeah, at this point, it’s polite to arrange a call, especially if it’s probably more than a minute or two. And as you’ve noted, it’s also more successful than a cold call.

My wife has ADHD. I feel you, fam.

Easy access to a few key functions is nice, IMO. Though helping someone on their computer and seeing half the taskbar occupied with two dozen system tray icons makes me vomit just a little, so I get it.

Being “up for” something is the same as being “down with” something.

“You’re shit” and “you ain’t shit” mean the same thing.

“Giving in” and “giving out” sometimes mean the same thing.

English is a delightful mess of redundancy and contradictions.

Shortly after getting a cell phone, I made a personal policy that most people don’t get a free pass to interrupt my life whenever they want (there are a handful of people on the short list, of course). I’ve had friends and family comment that I’m hard to contact by phone, and I’ve always pleasantly agreed (and explained politely if they seem interested). Even texts or other messages can wait until I’m at a good place to respond.

For me, having my phone on silent most of the time is a mental health thing. I know people that have their attention diverted every few minutes, and I have no idea how they survive.

And if someone picks it up in good faith? Trapping something that is locked away and could only be a theft attempt is one thing, but this is a cooler sitting out in the open. There are plenty of reasons a well-meaning person might pick it up.

This isn’t reasonable theft detterent, this is sadism.

When your mom says you’re not getting out of cleaning this time…

“Yeah, but my PC doesn’t handle it well. If my PC were upgraded, it could really gen some AI.”

I can fix her

There was a monastery adjacent to a property owned by Hugh Jackman. To help the poor village nearby, the monks would sell flowers at a stand near the road, at quite a reasonable price.

This upset the local florist, who was accustomed to overcharging his clients. On doing some research, the florist found that the monks were not legally allowed to sell anything from their property. He took his complaint to the village authorities, but they explained to him that the monks were actually using Mr. Jackman’s land for their flower stand.

They told the shop owner: only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

I wish I could, but cameras are restricted :/

My office has two ping pong tables. They’re literally roped off with caution tape, and nobody is allowed to use them. I wish I were kidding.

Yeah, but it always goes a bit sideways when it attacks.

Even using bullet points can help a lot in these situations (I use them quite often in emails with non-technical recipients).

We like to think English follows a consistent set of rules.

It doesn’t.

Looks like the goal has been met!

It’s not ideal, but compare that to the toxic nature of most bigger studios… might be the lesser of two evils. And I strongly suspect that the donor insertion isn’t going to compromise the vision or quality of the game.

It’s definitely a bit weird, but probably better than the shenanigans of AAA studios.