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.