Dredge and LOTR: Return to Moria

Games about inventory management!

Dredge

This was a surprise for me: a fishing game that managed to hold my attention for over two weeks! But its not really just fishing is it? Each critter has a slightly different reeling in mini-game which goes a long way to keeping it interesting and some only come out at night and in certain parts of the map. Then you also need to upgrade your boat which gives you more space not only for fish, but to also get different rod types so that you can fish deeper or in more tangled environments.

The best part is the game isn't really about fishing at all. Bad stuff lurks in the dark depths, and making sure they don't get you while intentionally going into their territory is quite the blast. Awesome game - recommended!

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

The dwarves have decided to reclaim their greatest territory long fallen to evil forces and when trying to get in (because speaking "friend" to enter isn't working anymore) you (and possibly your co-op allies) are the only one(s) to make it in with basically nothing.

That's ok because this is a crafting survival game and there's loads of material just lying around for you to make everything you need like axes, pickaxes, weapons, armor, food, and your very own base. Good luck trying to carry all of it at once though! Excellent idea with some items being overpowered (insta wooden platforms to avoid enemies? Yes please!) and other things just being stupid like cooking forces you to wait 30 seconds while making a pick axe is instantaneous. Huh? As a player you really feel that idle time.

Alas that type of game loop is boring for me but if you enjoy things where you need to build up to advance a bit then harvest and build up again then this is a game for you! Literal walls of "you need the next level of pick axe" determine how far you can scavenge so enjoy the long dark of Moria!

Wonka and The Little Mermaid

Movies with singing!

Wonka

A young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in a city with the hopes of fulfilling his chocolate making dreams but finds difficulty breaking in especially due to his lack of money and his zero sense in being street wise. At the same time he is a freaking magician who can seemingly conjure whatever he requires (except money it seems). Funny in a cute way and while the plot has no surprises I was surprised with the decent musical numbers. After seeing Timothée so dour and possibly bored in Dune: Part 2 it was great to see him in a completely opposite role. This kid friendly movie won't be for everyone but I certainly enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

The Little Mermaid (2023)

The woke live action version of the Disney classic still keeps most of the same songs and plot with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel, a mermaid who longs to be a human and can only do so by being someone's bitch using her strong independence skills. There's one shot where she crawls on a rock like a crab (which has ruined all mermaids for us honestly) and screams out despite trying to be hidden which is really off putting, and another where the human prince who is forbidden to get on a ship suddenly teleports onto one mid-song which is jarring. Is it better or worse than the animated one? Can't say as I haven't seen the cartoon one in years. All I know is I don't want to watch this one again with its weak acting and singing. If you need a Little Mermaid hit with better music quality and a much shorter run time have a listen to the talented Voiceplay instead (thanks Jim).

Ghostrunner II and Hot Wheels Unleashed

Gotta keep moving!

Ghostrunner II

The katana wielding cyborg ninja is back to do more parkour across the futuristic city scape while avoiding all the single hit kills that would force you to repeat sections of the game. At least most of the bad guys only require one hit to kill too! Awesome graphics like last time and I have to admit, I did get into this one a bit more than the first game especially since they dialed the difficulty right down at the start. However, as I predicted I eventually reached a parkour from hell segment that just wasn't fun to keep repeating and so I dropped this from my play list. Not recommended.

Hot Wheels Unleashed

I usually dislike racing games but this one did manage to hold my attention for a little bit. In it you race toy cars from the Hot Wheels collection and even picking the fastest car with zero maneuverability I had no problem with steering and getting enough boost to do the gravity defying loops and jumps featured on each starting track. I also found it cute that you need to be mindful of things like a spider shooting webs as you pass by which slows you down, and the small mini map in the bottom corner actually lets you see where cars situated behind you are. Sharp graphics and decent controls make for a game racers should check out. Thumbs up!

Deadpool & Wolverine and Dune: Part 2

Sequels to good movies!

Deadpool & Wolverine

After an encounter with the TVA who reveal his universe is going to end due to the lack of an anchor being, a retired Wade Wilson (played by Ryan Reynolds) goes off to find a replacement Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Shenanigans ensue with numerous cameos and jokes that hopefully people still get many years from now. As usual its very rude, quite funny to the point of ridiculousness, and action packed using the tried and true "if nothing funny or emotional is happening, a fight breaks out" technique. Recommended if you are a fan of Ryan's Deadpool and/or Hugh's Wolverine. On the flip side, if you disliked any of the previous Deadpool movies you will definitely not like this one too. :P

Dune: Part 2

Hiding with the desert folk after the destruction of his house, Paul Atredies (played by Timothée Chalamet) learns their ways while also having a vision that specifically tries to avoid. But no, his allies convince him to do the thing anyway and then possibly get upset after he does the thing that he warned them he didn't want to do. Really though, most of this 2 hour and 46 minute film is an absolute snooze fest. Visually nice if you can stay awake, but really they needed to cut off some fat from the run time. Easiest one is the whole bit where group A ambushes a harvester, killing their guards and then use a long ranged rocket to destroy the machine. Five seconds later, they just use a long ranged rocked to destroy the next machine. Did we really need that previous prolonged action scene? Nope. Does it change anything that they destroyed the harvester? Nope. Do I recommend this movie? Nope.

Stardew Valley: the Board Game and Mysterium

Board games where you need to communicate!

Stardew Valley: the Board Game

Much like the digital game in this cooperative board game of 1 to 4 players, you have inherited a run down farm from your grandpa and must restore all the rooms (by completing random quests) and fulfilling his life long goals (more random quests) all in the span of one year (tracked by event cards)! On your turn you can  move (and collect nearby resources which replenish each season) or do an action based on where you are. 

Buy seeds, water plants, make friends, dig in the mine (need to find those stairs!), fish in three different spots etc. One player can get more moves by getting a spouse (some NPCs are marriageable) who can get you an extra action and you'll probably need it because right from the get go, you need to plan carefully what you're doing and work as a team. This does make it susceptible to quarter backing but as each player has a "job" they're good at it's usually an easy plan: the miner mines, fisher fishes, etc. Good quality components and a pretty good game! Thumbs up!

Mysterium

There's been a murder and as everyone knows the best way to solve it is with a seance!? In this 2-7 cooperative board game one player is a ghost who knows all the answers but can only communicate by giving out awesomely illustrated but often useless picture cards which they randomly draw while the rest are psychics who each need to interpret said cards to correctly identify THEIR three things - suspect / location / weapon in 7 turns. If even one fails, everyone loses at this point. 

If they all made it then the ghost picks which set of suspect / location / weapon is the "true" one and gives 1-3 more cards (depending on "psychic power mechanic", and if players aren't gaming the system this will likely be 1 card) for everyone to secretly vote for it. If the "true" one gets the most votes, everyone wins! Yay! This is a really interesting one to play, and the hardest role is that of the ghost who will likely be cursing each turn with the garbage cards he or she can use as clues. Expect to feel mentally exhausted after a game or two of this one. :P

Red Sparrow Outside the Wire

Movies with manipulation.

Red Sparrow

A famous Russian ballerina (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is manipulated by her uncle into joining the SVR Sparrow school where she learns the art of sexpionage to use against their USA counter parts. The story is a rather dark one but good, and while there is a bit of violence here, there is obviously much more in terms of nudity (full frontal) and sex. Worth a watch but I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again as the content is a bit "heavy" and the run time a little long.

Outside the Wire

In a future with robot soldiers supporting their human counterparts, war still rages in Ukraine. A drone operator who disobeyed an order is sent to the front lines as punishment to work in a two man team with his superior, Captain Leo (played by Anthony Mackie) who rather quickly reveals he is an experimental android and their mission is to find "lost nuclear silos" in the region. Uh. Really? You have freaking robots, drones, satellites and you need to walk around ask where these things are? The drone operator could have used a stronger actor too. That aside there's an ok movie in here, but its not one you need to rush out and see.

Kill Knight and Wizard of Legend

Games about fighting in little rooms.

Kill Knight

You are a knight armed with a sword and guns who drops down into some randomly generated tiny arena to see how many monsters you can kill. Time your dodges, sword the baddies to get more ammo, and obliterate them with your ultimate skill once its charged up enough: basically the more you kill, the stronger you get. Alas it doesn't look like there's much else happening in this game which just expects you to button mash the boredom away. Not recommended.

Wizard of Legend

You are a wizard invited to the Chaos trials which consists of randomly generated areas that you need to get through to become a Wizard of Legend. In it you'll run into shops, mini bosses and of course - rooms that lock you in with a variety of bad guys that you have to beat to advance. There's more customization from the get go than Kill Knight, but the controls aren't very good (though to be fair, BOTH games recommend using a controller which I did not). Even if they were it would suffer from the same problem as Kill Knight though, which is repetitiveness. If you want a better version of both these games, play Hades instead.

Plane and Carry On

Movies about airports and aircraft.

Plane

In an effort to save fuel costs, a commercial airliner attempts to shortcut through a storm and soon finds themselves emergency landing on a small Philippine island controlled by violent rebels. Good thing their pilot and main protagonist is played by Gerard Butler though, because he's literally the deus ex machina that keeps this unintentionally hilarious film going. While there's an ok amount of action the plot is silly, the main bad guy who gives the orders can barely speak proper Tagalog, and the whole emergency landing thing near the start should have been a crash and burn instead. Only recommended if you are a huge Gerard Butler fan, otherwise don't board this one.

Carry On

Taron Egerton stars as a "going nowhere" lowly airport security guy who finally gets a baggage scanning job only to be manipulated by a bad guy who pressures him into letting a particular carry on bag to be let through. This film actually has lots of decent action scenes (and soooo much running) as well as hilarious exchanges with the bad guy but its main flaw is the massive logic leaps it uses to actually get the bad guy's Batman gambit started. If the protagonist had a spine from the start the movie would be over much quicker, but no - he has to grow that as the movie progresses. Other than that it's an ok watch, but only if you've got nothing better to see.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (board game) and Uno No Mercy

Games of wrath!

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

In this 1-5 player cooperative game, each player is a character from the World of Warcraft setting out to stop the Lich King who is spawning stationary ghouls and up to three abominations who actively pursue players. He also wanders around making things hurt more if he's in the region. To win, the team must complete three random quests (out of 9) and then complete a final quest at the Lich King's castle by rolling dice and maybe having cards with the right symbol to help push the progress tracker along. 

Combat plays much the same way. Players lose if the despair marker reaches the end of its track: moving twice for any player "killed" and once for each figurine you needed to spawn but have no more of. But how does the game actually play? Almost exactly like Pandemic. 7 hand card limit, do four actions per turn, ghouls spawn in location cards drawn, bad cards wait in player card pile to make things worse. I do quite like that you don't need to do the five of the same cards business this time around which makes it different enough to be interesting for me, but I also think it makes it much easier than any of the other Pandemic games in my collection thus far. :P

Uno No Mercy

This competitive card game is just like Uno in that you want to be the first one to get rid of all your cards and have to say "Uno" once you're down to one. The no mercy bit comes from all the +plus cards in the deck, like +2 means the next player draws two and loses their turn - BUT the +plus cards stack, so if you have a plus card you can just put that on, and on, and on, until someone needs to pick up a +32 or something. Also, if you ever get 25 or more cards in your hand, you're out which opens up another path to victory: kill all your opponents. Expect tears if played with younger kids. Not the type of game for me.

Yellowstone and Territory

TV Series that depict cattle wrangling as a tough business.

Yellowstone

The original series from which the shows 1883 and 1923 spun off from, again the focus of this drama is on the Dutton family and their controlling patriarch (played by Kevin Costner) who fiercely fights off any and all challengers to his substantial property (in the modern day, just to be clear). Through its five seasons we get to see a tiny bit of character growth from a just a few of the characters but the plot, acting and scenery is good enough to command attention anyway. I quite liked all the cowboy parts which really didn't need to have such a focus, but it was something different and really cool. It also helps that I do like horses. :P Anyway, big thumbs up for this one and an easy one to recommend.

Territory

This currently one season show feels like the Australian copy of Yellowstone. A family who owns the largest cattle station led by an angry patriarch (played by Robert Taylor but the main protagonist is his daughter in law, played by Anna Torv) has to fight off competitors and companies trying to carve parts of their land away. While the stakes feel much lower and there are far fewer horses (most rustling is done with dogs and buggies) its still an alright watch. Especially as there are only six episodes (so far).

Witch it and Deceive Inc

Multiplayer hide and seek.

Witch It

This is a multiplayer "prop" hide and seek game where one team plays as witches who can fly in short bursts and transform into "props" (tables, chairs, cheese, etc) to hide against the other team composed of potato throwing hunters. There are slight game format variations but for the hunters to win they have to find and KO all the witches before time runs out while the witches who have no real way to fight back but only win if time runs out. Cute concept though the graphics are intentionally poor. Multiplayer wise there were only a few lobbies open that were waiting for more players. Either the other lobbies were all full and running games or there was hardly anyone on when I checked.

Deceive Inc.

Is a spy version of the hide and seek game where everyone can camouflage themselves as NPCs in a level. Usually each spy or each team has a goal of retrieving a well guarded item and then extracting, so using the camo actually helps them traverse zones without getting NPC aggro but as all players can attack I don't see how this will always just devolve into a shooting fest. This one has sharp graphics but zero lobbies available to play in when I checked. That's what happens when you rely on other players to be the games content.

The Penguin and Honey Bunny

TV Series that additional content to their respective franchises.

The Penguin

This crime drama is as dark as "The Batman" movie which it continues from. Here we follow Ozwald Cobb (wonderfully played by Colin Farrell) as he weasels his way from being a lowly underling to the crime boss better known as the titular Penguin. While there aren't so many action scenes the plot, acting and effects are very well done making this so far single season show really easy to recommend. You don't really have to know anything about Batman, Penguin or the movie preceding it to enjoy it either. Big thumbs up!

Honey Bunny

This is actually the second spin off for Citadel, but unlike the first one this is a prequel series set in India and they won't let you forget it with all the synth music tracks and silly Indian humor peppered through out. In it we follow a struggling actress who gets into the spy game and while there are some good action sequences in here the story itself is weaker than its peers. Combined with the fact that its all happened in the past makes it a bit of a non starter. Feel free to skip this one.