Alora Fane

I'm thinking of writing posts here on a weekly schedule; "Weekly Updates", like I used to do a billion years ago. I'll post two at a time, one personal, one about that week's development progress. Here's this week's personal one, where I wonder whether my too-frequent tiredness is due to my pineal gland being cut out, and whether that'll interfere with my ability to have lucid dreams... There's also a bit about politics, because that's always a good idea!

I already posted yesterday and I am also posting this day as well, gasp!!! These posts seem to be getting less attention lately, I think? It could be the Christmas/New Year period, or maybe people are just losing interest and I've made no efforts to draw new attention to me. Oh well; that's one of my goals for this year anyway. If you're one of the few people who checks posts on this thing though, hello!! Yes, that is my message of appreciation for you. Hello.

As I write this, I'm cripplingly tired, as I often have been for an annoyingly long time now (edit: thankfully it's worn off in the 20 straight hours or whatever I've been unblinkingly writing this for). I've been trying various things to address this issue, most importantly planning a daily timetable for myself based around when I seem to be naturally inclined to do certain things. I've got one those one now which I think should work... but it falls apart when I feel debilitated by fatigue in the middle of the day. I've tried napping during the middle of the day, essentially attempting a biphasic sleep cycle, but it just usually ends up making me overly alert at night. I'm probably not sleeping enough in general, but a big part of that is because I often randomly wake up during the night, then I lie awake for like an hour trying to drift off. I'm tired at all the wrong times.

I mean, I suppose I'm glad I can sleep at all, since I couldn't for a week following the brain surgery. I suspect my sleep issues are because of that surgery, though; I literally no longer have a pineal gland (probably; the brain surgeon who literally poked and cut around that area said there was no way to be sure because it's so small and is indistinguishable from the tumour mass). The function of the pineal gland is poorly understood, according to a bunch of articles that come up when you research it, but it seems to play a role in regulating the circadian rhythm by secreting melatonin. You can get melatonin supplements, so if my issue was that my brain wasn't producing any, then perhaps taking some pills to give it some might solve the issue. The potential side effects of those supplements sound exactly like the symptoms I already have, though, so maybe it's not as simple as that.

I'll be having another check-up at the BRAIN HOSPITAL in a week. Sort of. Usually I'd have a scan and a doctor's appointment on the same day, but my doctor/oncologist retired and I've been assigned to a new one I've not yet met who insists on doing them a week apart... so that means I have to go tomorrow and next week. Annoying, especially since it takes an hour to get there and another to get back, plus all the waiting and the scan/meeting time, so I won't be able to get any work done during that period. The impending diagnosis will also be hanging over me all week. What if the tumour's starting to grow back, as the literature suggests it's likely to do?? Ugh. I'll be sure to talk about this fatigue with the new doctor when I have the chance, though. It's really getting in the way.

I've also been trying to get into lucid dreaming and similar things recently, since they're amazing experiences and I'd like to be able to have them more regularly, which you can do with practice. And they're very much related to the story I'm hoping to tell with this game I'm making. I've been familiarising myself with all the techniques like "WILD" and "WBTB" and keeping a dream journal to improve my dream recall.

What I'm wondering though is whether I actually can have lucid dreams considering the particular type of brain damage that I have. This was a big concern I had before the surgery, and I'm sure I've talked about it here before. I do seem to still have normal dreams, though - I've been able to add to my dream journal every day for the three days I've been using it so far - but perhaps there are other neurological processes involved in those more mystical experiences that I'm now locked out of? I intend to keep attempting it to find out.

Some researchers have suggested that the pineal gland secretes DMT, and that's what's responsible for mystical experiences. But it's contested, with another researcher saying that the amount of DMT required to be immediately produced and secreted to create those experiences would be like a solo indie games developer producing a full JRPG in a day. Those are the exact words that this researcher used. You have to believe me.

Speaking of which, I've made some significant progress on what I'll likely be calling Divine Dreams during these first few days of the year! I was going to talk about that in a second half of this post... but since I imagine more people will care about that than my broken brain (I am wounded by the thought, truly I am! O woe, what a world!), I'll split it into two separate posts, I SUPPOSE.

If I'm doing that, here's some more about my highly exciting life: I've already made some baby-steps progress on my 2020 goals. I've been browsing Reddit for the past year or more, but I never got the mobile app or even had an account, so I've got both of those now and I've joined a bunch of communities relevant to indie games (and lucid dreaming). It's a tiny, petty little thing that most people can do without stupid avoidance issues interfering, but for me just looking at these things from rivals! feels like some small progress. I notice that a lot of other developers in a similar position to me post their progress pictures/gifs which aren't too different to what I've been posting (not infrequently) on Twitter lately, so maybe eventually I'll be able to start doing the same, only to end up being ignored and/or breaking some written or unwritten rule out of naivete, or saying some horrible thing that'll have terrible consequences like expressing something other than revulsion towards Jordan Peterson.

...I say, since YouTube randomly recommended me this video yesterday:

It's five minutes of him talking as a psychologist - it is his profession, after all - about how high creativity is a rare curse rather than a wholly desirable trait shared by all, no contentious political views involved, and I tweeted about it because what he's saying is essentially my experience at the moment, and it's nice to hear it in someone else's words. Having high creativity/openness leads to feelings of failing to fulfill your purpose if it's not pursued - I don't think I could do anything other than make things - but it's tough to monetise it, though it can be extremely profitable in the rare cases that it does succeed. It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy. He sensibly recommends getting a job to pay the bills and indulging creativity on the side, but pfft! I'm either going to make this stupid path work, or die trying!!!! I'm in my flimsy rocket on a one-way trip to the moon!!!!!

I've been wondering a lot about tweeting that though, since (unsurprisingly) it got even less attention than my barely-noticed tweets usually do, and I wondered whether that's because it's a link to a youtube video few people would be inclined to click, or because just the name of the speaker would fill people's minds with negative associations and they would think less of me - or put me in certain categories - because I mentioned him. And that sets off a train of thought about how it's a shame that we can miss out on valuable bits of information if our mental belief structures prevent us from listening to them in the first place. A shame!

I don't really want to get into politics again since I freely admit I'm both ignorant about and largely uninterested in it, but there was an election recently, and my step-dad convinced me to go and vote with him, so I did a little bit of research first. I found this thing called the ∞ 'political compass' ∞, which you may have heard of, and got ∞ this result ∞. I got the impression when Jordan Peterson etc came up months ago that some people probably assumed I was some alt-right Nazi or something for finding value in anything he said, and I'd been assuming I was somewhere more in the middle myself, but apparently I'm very far to the left, closer to Gandhi than any of the other example political figures. I don't care about politics, but I don't like people getting hurt, or perceiving people in terms of their group identities rather than as individuals, so all my values come from that. I can't stand the idea of 'cancelling' or 'shutting down' someone for something they've done, or for holding views I disagree with; I'd rather listen to them and understand why they think or behave the way they do. I wish we as a race were more forgiving and less judgemental. It's a naive attitude to have though, not really compatible with success in the world, sadly.

Finally, I'm aiming to spend a couple of hours a day playing indie games, and while some of you have already suggested some, I'm open to more suggestions! I didn't play one today because I wasn't sure what to start with. (I chose GRIS largely because it was a lone suggestion that made the decision easy for me.)

As I said in the intro, I'm planning to post here in the form of 'Weekly Updates', like I used to on Fig Hunter back when we weren't all constantly attached to our smartphones (so strange how recent that was). I'll do them in pairs, so each day - probably a Sunday - I'll have a personal ("Taming the Mind") post like this, and a progress report for the MARDEK Reimagining/Divine Dreams. Probably. Let's see how it goes! (I'm expecting the development ones to get many more views than these personal ones, but it helps to write them out.)

If I play indie games though, I'll also write a post about them when I finish, like yesterday's GRIS one, apart from that schedule.

11 COMMENTS

purplerabbits148~5Y

I'm interested in seeing your opinions on different Indie games. It's interesting to see how people develop different opinions of something that I've played.

As for Indie games
If you like Monty Python then "Four Last things" is right up your alley.

"Donut County" is a different type of indie game that's just a delight to play.

For a game with no dialogue, "Inside" is an interesting one since there are so many questions especially regarding the ending. The game is from the creators of "Limbo"

You've already starting off the year strong by keeping up the resolutions o/

Tobias 1115~5Y

I've added them to my list!

Comment deleted

Tobias 1115~5Y

I remember you mentioning that but it wasn't on my list; it is now. I've seen mentions of it in random youtube videos, so I'm assuming it's one of the few indie games that's made it big?

At this point I'm open to trying all kinds of things. I'm more interested in story and setting, but more intimidated by those too so games with less of that are less intimidating?

Maniafig222~5Y

I hope things turn out well with your brain scan! It really is annoying having to make two long trips and having to wait a whole week for something that used to happen within one trip in the same day. I do think it's really impressive how much you've gotten done despite the brain surgery!

I barely remember any of my dreams, it's really rare for me to remember anything about them, it happens probably less than once a year that I remember a dream that isn't just "and then I failed an exam and I suddenly woke up".

I actually did watch the Jordan Peterson video! It doesn't change my mind on his politics, but this video wasn't about that in the first place of course.

I think it's an interesting discussion to have, what is creativity and how much creativity does a person need to be labeled creative? Everybody has some level of creativity, but some more than others. Just like everybody has some intelligence, but that doesn't mean everybody is intelligent. And just like creativity, intelligence is also hard to quantify.

It wouldn't surprise me if people who express their creativity as a hobby are happier off in the end. There's a community of people who make games for a very dated game creation engine, no doubt a very creative pursuit, but they also all seem to have lives on the side and treat it more as a hobby with a small income from any sales, or sometimes they even make games just for site contests or such. It's a part of the creative market that isn't really talked about much because it isn't lucrative, but no doubt it is still personally fulfilling.

I certainly have also talked to a large number of starving artists, the sort who do make it their livelihood! It seems really rough, especially if they don't have a sturdy support network to fall back on. One character in the game I'm currently playing is such a starving artist character type, actually. [LINK]

I'm not surprised by the results you got on that political compass! Most people I talk with online also fall in the leftist progressive quadrant, as do I myself. I didn't figure you for a conservative in any way regardless, it doesn't fit with your personality or outlook at all.

It's interesting that you mention cancelling like that, did you come across a video about it recently perhaps? It's sort of a hot topic at the moment, and the video I'm thinking about is really doing the rounds and getting lots of views. I'll link it just in case, I do find it very interesting, though I wonder how difficult it may be to follow without having seen other content of the creator. [LINK]

Anyway, I look forward to more of your thoughts on indie games!

I barely remember any of my dreams, it's really rare for me to remember anything about them, it happens probably less than once a year that I remember a dream that isn't just "and then I failed an exam and I suddenly woke up".

I actually did watch the Jordan Peterson video! It doesn't change my mind on his politics, but this video wasn't about that in the first place of course.

I think it's an interesting discussion to have, what is creativity and how much creativity does a person need to be labeled creative? Everybody has some level of creativity, but some more than others. Just like everybody has some intelligence, but that doesn't mean everybody is intelligent. And just like creativity, intelligence is also hard to quantify.

It wouldn't surprise me if people who express their creativity as a hobby are happier off in the end. There's a community of people who make games for a very dated game creation engine, no doubt a very creative pursuit, but they also all seem to have lives on the side and treat it more as a hobby with a small income from any sales, or sometimes they even make games just for site contests or such. It's a part of the creative market that isn't really talked about much because it isn't lucrative, but no doubt it is still personally fulfilling.

I certainly have also talked to a large number of starving artists, the sort who do make it their livelihood! It seems really rough, especially if they don't have a sturdy support network to fall back on. One character in the game I'm currently playing is such a starving artist character type, actually. https://i.imgur.com/976gcaJ.png

I'm not surprised by the results you got on that political compass! Most people I talk with online also fall in the leftist progressive quadrant, as do I myself. I didn't figure you for a conservative in any way regardless, it doesn't fit with your personality or outlook at all.

It's interesting that you mention cancelling like that, did you come across a video about it recently perhaps? It's sort of a hot topic at the moment, and the video I'm thinking about is really doing the rounds and getting lots of views. I'll link it just in case, I do find it very interesting, though I wonder how difficult it may be to follow without having seen other content of the creator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMPJVmXxV8

Anyway, I look forward to more of your thoughts on indie games!

Tobias 1115~5Y

Do you wake up using an alarm? That's the best way to ensure you never remember any dreams! Though it seems to be an individual variable anyway; some people just don't have or remember them often. Though I've found that now that I'm recording mine, I'm remembering them more than I expect to.

I appreciate you watching the video! Since I understand the aversion we all have to things that clash with our values and allegiances. I wish he didn't talk about politics, since a scientist talking about politics is as valuable as a politician talking about science, and he has a lot of interesting things to share about research into personality, which obviously I'm interested in. It's why I took an interest in him in the first place, as what he talked about was similar to what I'd spent three years immersed in while getting that degree, and I was surprised by the reaction people had to him based on his politics.

In that video, what he refers to as 'creativity' is the Openness trait (sort of), though I suppose he doesn't call it that because most people wouldn't know what it was or make the right assumptions about it. I liked this video because it essentially said what I was trying to in a post a while back, about having high Openness myself and how that was less of an "I'm more than you" and more of a double-edged thing, often more of a curse than anything.

Is that screenshot from the Telepath Tactics game, then? I can see how he'd understand that perspective enough to have a character voice it! (In terms of visual quality, it also gives me hope about my stuff succeeding...)

I see that that video is almost two hours long! A shame I don't have that time to devote to it. Is it for or against the 'cancelling' thing?

There's nothing in particular about that that I've seen recently, but I suppose it took me by surprise when the Jordan Peterson stuff came up how 'progressive' people were so quick to advocate 'shutting down' someone whose views they disagreed with, rather than seeing the value in some of his words like I seemed to. And then that led to me feeling like some kind of Nazi for valuing compassion and a desire to understand over what seemed to me to be just judgement and harsh rejection. It didn't seem like the attitude of the compassionate or considerate; more like the kind of thing that leads to war. I wondered if they'd like to be 'cancelled' for their beliefs or misdeeds.

I used to be so judgemental back in the day, and I probably can't stand it now because of that. I added all those features on Fig Hunter essentially based around labelling and judging other people, ugh... I not-infrequently remember multiple people taking issue with how readily I used the word 'hate' for things I didn't like. I hate thinking back on that!! It's so embarrassing. Because I'd like to think I've grown. I wonder if it's a phase people with similar minds to me go through though, and whether the loud 'cancel culture' protesters are just going through a phase I've grown beyond. They all seem to be that kind of age. I don't know, I mostly stay away from it (and everything, since I'm in a bubble).

I haven't started another indie game yet because my list's too long and I don't know which one to start with! I should probably start with Undertale, but... UHH.

I appreciate you watching the video! Since I understand the aversion we all have to things that clash with our values and allegiances. I wish he didn't talk about politics, since a scientist talking about politics is as valuable as a politician talking about science, and he has a lot of interesting things to share about research into personality, which obviously I'm interested in. It's why I took an interest in him in the first place, as what he talked about was similar to what I'd spent three years immersed in while getting that degree, and I was surprised by the reaction people had to him based on his politics.

In that video, what he refers to as 'creativity' is the Openness trait (sort of), though I suppose he doesn't call it that because most people wouldn't know what it was or make the right assumptions about it. I liked this video because it essentially said what I was trying to in a post a while back, about having high Openness myself and how that was less of an "I'm /more/ than you" and more of a double-edged thing, often more of a curse than anything.

Is that screenshot from the Telepath Tactics game, then? I can see how he'd understand that perspective enough to have a character voice it! (In terms of visual quality, it also gives me hope about my stuff succeeding...)

I see that that video is almost two hours long! A shame I don't have that time to devote to it. Is it for or against the 'cancelling' thing?

There's nothing in particular about that that I've seen recently, but I suppose it took me by surprise when the Jordan Peterson stuff came up how 'progressive' people were so quick to advocate 'shutting down' someone whose views they disagreed with, rather than seeing the value in some of his words like I seemed to. And then that led to me feeling like some kind of Nazi for valuing compassion and a desire to understand over what seemed to me to be just judgement and harsh rejection. It didn't seem like the attitude of the compassionate or considerate; more like the kind of thing that leads to war. I wondered if they'd like to be 'cancelled' for their beliefs or misdeeds.

I used to be so judgemental back in the day, and I probably can't stand it now because of that. I added all those features on Fig Hunter essentially based around labelling and judging other people, ugh... I not-infrequently remember multiple people taking issue with how readily I used the word 'hate' for things I didn't like. I /hate/ thinking back on that!! It's so embarrassing. Because I'd like to think I've grown. I wonder if it's a phase people with similar minds to me go through though, and whether the loud 'cancel culture' protesters are just going through a phase I've grown beyond. They all seem to be that kind of age. I don't know, I mostly stay away from it (and everything, since I'm in a bubble).

I haven't started another indie game yet because my list's too long and I don't know which one to start with! I should probably start with Undertale, but... UHH.

Maniafig222~5Y

Most days my mom wakes me up, but I suppose it's not that different from waking up by an alarm.

The screenshot is from Telepath Tactics yes! Honestly I would say the graphical style is less than the sum of its parts, I like the spritework but it doesn't really mesh well together into a whole quite like Taming Dreams does for example. The graphical style is often mentioned in reviews though, and not often positively! The portrait art in particular seems to get a lot of flak, but I actually really like the portraits myself, my issue is more with the small size of the units which hides their well-made and well-animated sprites and the repetitive design of the tilesets. [LINK]

The video is basically an explanation of where cancel culture comes from, how it evolved, how it functions, how it can be broken down into several components (presumption of guilt, abstraction of the accusation, accusation against action transforms into accusation against the person, pseudo-moralistic reasoning, no forgiveness/second chances, cancellations can latch on to supporters/friends, with us or against us mentality) as well as being an account from someone who was cancelled herself. So it is generally against it.

Canceling strikes me as a general human construct within safe spaces of like-minded people rather than necessarily a progressive thing, that's clearly just politicking on Peterson's part and the sort of thing why people are so skeptical about the things he says!

One's just as likely to be cancelled, cast out, mocked, berated and branded a betrayer for being out of line among conservative groups. It happens to conservative media figures who take a progressive view on a topic, but also in facebook groups or in close-knit town communities and the like, it's not just a Twitter thing, though Twitter definitely enables it on both sides.

It's definitely not just an age thing either, I wouldn't be surprised to see this sort of thing happening among middle aged people or even in retirement homes! Some people never grow out of bad habits, especially if they're reinforced to do it their whole life.

I do understand what you mean though, I've gotten into arguments about the topic myself where I've defended someone while being in the minority opinion on the topic and it feels really overwhelming. It's an unenviable position and leaves lingering worries you might be next.

I remember all the hassle that was made over ratings and whatnot, how having a cyan orb was basically a sign that branded you as part of the special privileged few. The upper class. The elite. Obsessing over getting anything below a cyan because it might hurt your average and, gasp, knock you down to blue!! Absurd to think back about, of course.

I do actually remember the conversations about the word hate being used as the contrast for like instead of dislike, I might have made that point myself at times, even. I do think you've grown a lot since then, though!

You don't have to immediately jump into Undertale! Maybe post a shortlist next week of games that stuck out to you as especially interesting and see whether any commenters can help pick one. Or just make a poll on Twitter, I suppose! Funny thing, a lot of Patreon accounts actually have a certain tier above which Patrons can vote from a list on what games/movies the account runner should stream/play/watch next.

Most days my mom wakes me up, but I suppose it's not that different from waking up by an alarm.

The screenshot is from Telepath Tactics yes! Honestly I would say the graphical style is less than the sum of its parts, I like the spritework but it doesn't really mesh well together into a whole quite like Taming Dreams does for example. The graphical style is often mentioned in reviews though, and not often positively! The portrait art in particular seems to get a lot of flak, but I actually really like the portraits myself, my issue is more with the small size of the units which hides their well-made and well-animated sprites and the repetitive design of the tilesets. https://i.imgur.com/0ijhm8F.png

The video is basically an explanation of where cancel culture comes from, how it evolved, how it functions, how it can be broken down into several components (presumption of guilt, abstraction of the accusation, accusation against action transforms into accusation against the person, pseudo-moralistic reasoning, no forgiveness/second chances, cancellations can latch on to supporters/friends, with us or against us mentality) as well as being an account from someone who was cancelled herself. So it is generally against it.

Canceling strikes me as a general human construct within safe spaces of like-minded people rather than necessarily a progressive thing, that's clearly just politicking on Peterson's part and the sort of thing why people are so skeptical about the things he says!

One's just as likely to be cancelled, cast out, mocked, berated and branded a betrayer for being out of line among conservative groups. It happens to conservative media figures who take a progressive view on a topic, but also in facebook groups or in close-knit town communities and the like, it's not just a Twitter thing, though Twitter definitely enables it on both sides.

It's definitely not just an age thing either, I wouldn't be surprised to see this sort of thing happening among middle aged people or even in retirement homes! Some people never grow out of bad habits, especially if they're reinforced to do it their whole life.

I do understand what you mean though, I've gotten into arguments about the topic myself where I've defended someone while being in the minority opinion on the topic and it feels really overwhelming. It's an unenviable position and leaves lingering worries you might be next.

I remember all the hassle that was made over ratings and whatnot, how having a cyan orb was basically a sign that branded you as part of the special privileged few. The upper class. The elite. Obsessing over getting anything below a cyan because it might hurt your average and, gasp, knock you down to blue!! Absurd to think back about, of course.

I do actually remember the conversations about the word hate being used as the contrast for like instead of dislike, I might have made that point myself at times, even. I do think you've grown a lot since then, though!

You don't have to immediately jump into Undertale! Maybe post a shortlist next week of games that stuck out to you as especially interesting and see whether any commenters can help pick one. Or just make a poll on Twitter, I suppose! Funny thing, a lot of Patreon accounts actually have a certain tier above which Patrons can vote from a list on what games/movies the account runner should stream/play/watch next.

Tobias 1115~5Y

That screenshot doesn't blow me away with its amazingness, which again gives me hope that what I'm able to make will be good enough even if it's not exactly on the level of a professionally-made thing! (Though I am wondering how different his approach and outlook are to mine, and whether what he's making is more appealing or Kickstarter-friendly than what I'm making... I suppose we'll have to wait and see.)

One of the parts of my psychology course was Social Psychology, and group identity and allegiances are really the main part of that. Group memberships can form incredibly easily, and behaviours towards in-group and out-group members form just as easily. An example might be a classroom full of children who are sorted into two groups based on coin flips; the 'Heads' would tend to treat other 'Heads' more nicely than usual, while 'Tails' might be dehumanised to a degree, all based on absolutely nothing.

I'll keep that video bookmarked for if I ever find the time, though I suspect a lot of what it talks about is what I covered on that course. 'Cancelling', or group rejection, frustrates me not because of any particular political views - and I don't assume it's done only by any particular group! - but because treating others as Others rather than fellow humans, rejecting them rather than caring about their wellbeing, just feels so wrong to me. Though when it's done by people who claim to champion compassion, open-mindedness, and inclusiveness, maybe that seems doubly wrong?

I think I'll include a list and maybe a poll of games on my Weekly Update post tomorrow, since I still haven't played anything since GRIS! Seems such a weird world though where people will consider it a paid privilege to be able to partly decide in what some other person chooses to play!

One of the parts of my psychology course was Social Psychology, and group identity and allegiances are really the main part of that. Group memberships can form incredibly easily, and behaviours towards in-group and out-group members form just as easily. An example might be a classroom full of children who are sorted into two groups based on coin flips; the 'Heads' would tend to treat other 'Heads' more nicely than usual, while 'Tails' might be dehumanised to a degree, all based on absolutely nothing.

I'll keep that video bookmarked for if I ever find the time, though I suspect a lot of what it talks about is what I covered on that course. 'Cancelling', or group rejection, frustrates me not because of any particular political views - and I don't assume it's done only by any particular group! - but because treating others as /Others/ rather than fellow humans, rejecting them rather than caring about their wellbeing, just feels so wrong to me. Though when it's done by people who claim to champion compassion, open-mindedness, and inclusiveness, maybe that seems doubly wrong?

I think I'll include a list and maybe a poll of games on my Weekly Update post tomorrow, since I still haven't played anything since GRIS! Seems such a weird world though where people will consider it a paid privilege to be able to partly decide in what some other person chooses to play!

LotBlind53~5Y

If I wake up in the night and can't sleep, I've found that getting up and meditating for a bit is a much better alternative than "grinning it out".

Oh, and you want indie game suggestions? I've been playing something surprisingly fun and original recently, which I'll review once I'm done. You should try it! It's called something like Marmite: Sinned Rule Sun. Wait...

There's another game that's probably not your type, but I'll mention it anyway since it was criminally overlooked: Treasure Adventure World. I reviewed it here. [LINK]

Oh and since you're talking about RPGs, there's one I reviewed earlier that has some unique mechanics. Apparently takes cues from Might and Magic and Wizardry? I haven't played those but I really liked several things about Frayed Knights. ([LINK]

JohnnyV1235~5Y

I cannot vouch for it personally, but I instantly thought of you when my friend told me about the game Celeste. Sounds good.

Also, I have a benign cyst on my pineal gland that's hopefully not getting bigger so interesting to read that's where your tumor was. Hope for the best for you with that.

Tobias 1115~5Y

Celeste's been mentioned to me a few times, but I still need to play it!

How did you find out that you had a pineal cyst? Apparently they're not rare, and occasionally show up as incidental findings on head scans, so I hoped that's all mine was (but of course it wasn't). Cysts are generally harmless though, so I can't imagine you'll have anything to worry about, thankfully!