If you've ever been a depressed and aimless 20 year old overwhelmed by a life that isn't what you expected or wanted, you can probably relate to Mae Borowski.

I have a fondness for the idea of games that are more like places where you can hang out (I think it’s Animal Crossing’s best idea), and this game feels that way. The town of Possum Springs feels genuinely inhabited, and Mae's relationships to her friends feel as real, loving, difficult and damaged as real friendships are. The writing deftly handles the way that relationships drift and decay and can never return to what they were, but importantly, they retain the potential to blossom in different and possibly better ways. People can’t stay the same forever, so it’s nearly impossible for their relationships to.

One thing I love about this game is how gently and unexpectedly it approaches difficult subjects. It's a game about decay and loss, but it's just as much a game about hope and community. Ultimately it's about the necessity of hope and community in the face of despair, anxiety, fear, and a world that often seems terminally ill. It's also one of the only games I know of that's overtly about the damage caused by capitalism, the way it makes everything homogenous as it crushes individuals under its heel. The nihilism of capitalism has infected the town, as it infects everywhere, and the environment it creates affects everyone in one way or another.

But, also, the strengths of Night in the Woods don't stop at the narrative. Just in terms of play, this game is really fun! So many things are satisfyingly interactive. Leaves blow in your path as you frolic in autumnal delight. Telephone wires bow and twang in an incredibly pleasing manner as you balance upon them in the fresh morning air. You can jump up and down on your neighbor's car for no reason, and you’ll want to, because everything in this game feels so good. There are fun little minigames about moving furniture or smashing light bulbs or looking at stars with a cool old dude or hanging out with your mom. I’d also be remiss not to mention it’s the funniest game I’ve played other than Butterfly Soup. Night in the Woods proves that a charming and generous sense of play is no less engaging than dense mechanics.

This is a game I fully expect to return to occasionally for the rest of my life.

Some of the shine has worn off of this game with age and Valve doesn't seem too interested in fixing it up, so I can't really give it a five-star review like I want to. I still put thousands of hours in to this game, and I still fire it up for a quick fix of the specific flavor of unserious multiplayer bullshit I crave. The golden age of public community servers is behind us and any game on an official server has a high chance of getting ruined by aimbots, but you can still find the old fun buried deep in there. Despite everything, it's still TF2.

A great little collectathon you can beat in one sitting. The launch of Celeste 64 caught me entirely by surprise and the fact that this game was made in just a week is astonishing. Not much to say about it except that it's a lot of fun (despite the janky camera) and translates the gameplay elements of Celeste into 3D fairly well. Wish it was a bit longer, but I'm not really complaining since it was made in such a short time - maybe this concept will be fully realized one day if the reception is positive? Only time will tell.

Final stats (taken from the results screen):
🍓x25
💀x089
⏱47:55:455