Brendan Hesse
@brendanlh.bsky.social
Deals Editor at GameSpot | DRPG Sicko at The Crawl: http://youtube.com/thecrawl | Other bylines: Lost In Cult, Lifehacker, PopSci, EGM, IGN, Digital Trends | My games: http://the-crawl.itch.io | He/Him (PFP: @alzandah.bsky.social)
Tomorrow morning on The Crawl.
November 9, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Tomorrow morning on The Crawl.
so @elmore.zone and I were talking about Wolves in the Throne Room the other day, so I went back a listened to Diadem and Two Hunters since it's been ages since I spun their older stuff and hey, guess what? Both albums still rule.
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
so @elmore.zone and I were talking about Wolves in the Throne Room the other day, so I went back a listened to Diadem and Two Hunters since it's been ages since I spun their older stuff and hey, guess what? Both albums still rule.
I never do this, but considering we're a month out from Prime 4 and I want to experience it on my own terms, this feels like the right move.
November 4, 2025 at 12:45 AM
I never do this, but considering we're a month out from Prime 4 and I want to experience it on my own terms, this feels like the right move.
“Shes dead, wrapped in plastic…”
November 1, 2025 at 2:59 AM
“Shes dead, wrapped in plastic…”
They put my words in another book!
I'm very grateful I got the chance to write about one of my all-time favorite visual artists, Ayami Kojima, for @lostincult.co.uk's Lock-On 006.
I'm very grateful I got the chance to write about one of my all-time favorite visual artists, Ayami Kojima, for @lostincult.co.uk's Lock-On 006.
October 31, 2025 at 6:13 PM
They put my words in another book!
I'm very grateful I got the chance to write about one of my all-time favorite visual artists, Ayami Kojima, for @lostincult.co.uk's Lock-On 006.
I'm very grateful I got the chance to write about one of my all-time favorite visual artists, Ayami Kojima, for @lostincult.co.uk's Lock-On 006.
forgot to post my PRGE 2025 acquisitions on here
October 20, 2025 at 10:13 PM
forgot to post my PRGE 2025 acquisitions on here
WHOA--official The Crawl apparel is now available. T-shirts and sweatshirts. All designs drawn by me, zero genAI. the-crawl-merch.printful.me
October 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
WHOA--official The Crawl apparel is now available. T-shirts and sweatshirts. All designs drawn by me, zero genAI. the-crawl-merch.printful.me
Yup. I can't tell if it's multiple, or just one, but yes. It comes roughly from where the Army Reserve camp is SE of us in Clackamas, and towards the smaller Hillsboro airport (rather than the Air Force base, which is further north next to the PDX airport). The website even has a PSA pop-up about it
October 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Yup. I can't tell if it's multiple, or just one, but yes. It comes roughly from where the Army Reserve camp is SE of us in Clackamas, and towards the smaller Hillsboro airport (rather than the Air Force base, which is further north next to the PDX airport). The website even has a PSA pop-up about it
jk this is the real list
October 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
jk this is the real list
top four final fantasy games
(tho I could've copied Kazuma's list, too)
(tho I could've copied Kazuma's list, too)
October 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
top four final fantasy games
(tho I could've copied Kazuma's list, too)
(tho I could've copied Kazuma's list, too)
No wait you don't understand, I spent like 20 minutes looking for a screenshot of the fulton in PoOps Plus, i like that game a lot I swear 😭
September 25, 2025 at 7:15 PM
No wait you don't understand, I spent like 20 minutes looking for a screenshot of the fulton in PoOps Plus, i like that game a lot I swear 😭
The Big Boss-era MGS games are not about the rise of the Patriots and Outer Heaven, or the effects of cold war proxy conflicts and American intervention, or the folly of revenge.
They're about the Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System.
They're about the Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System.
September 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The Big Boss-era MGS games are not about the rise of the Patriots and Outer Heaven, or the effects of cold war proxy conflicts and American intervention, or the folly of revenge.
They're about the Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System.
They're about the Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System.
the full reveal of the tower might be one of the coolest pages ever guys idk (marking graphic due to very, very mild spoilers). No one does super structures and scale quite like Nihei.
September 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
the full reveal of the tower might be one of the coolest pages ever guys idk (marking graphic due to very, very mild spoilers). No one does super structures and scale quite like Nihei.
Hey I finally read the first volume of Tower Dungeon.
HEY TOWER DUNGEON FUCKING RULES.
HEY TOWER DUNGEON FUCKING RULES.
September 25, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Hey I finally read the first volume of Tower Dungeon.
HEY TOWER DUNGEON FUCKING RULES.
HEY TOWER DUNGEON FUCKING RULES.
I apparently am cited on some very funny articles on wikipedia (and some cool ones like Shin Godzilla), but having a quote in the Table Top RPG page's Solo TTRPG section is probably my favorite lol:
![Table Top RPGs Wikipedia article:
Solo TTRPGs
TTRPGs are typically played in groups, however, single player TTRPGs are also available.[64][65][66] Brendan Hesse of Lifehacker highlighted that solo TTRPGs, like other TTRPGs, "run the gamut of settings and playstyles" and while it is a "different experience", solo games combine "the tactile feel of dice rolls and imagination-driven approach of group-based tabletop gaming, with the pick-up-and-play nature of single-player video games".[65] Katie Wickens of GamesRadar+ noted that many of the earliest games were "solo mods of multiplayer TRPGs", typically involving "dice and/or cards, a character sheet, and a hex map from your chosen tabletop RPG to wander through".[64] Similar to non-solo games, they often required stat tracking; however, Wickens observed that the journaling elements and story tracking requirements "were far less introspective than the kind we often see" in the 2020s.[64] Rowan Zeoli, for Polygon, explained that solo tabletop games "started in earnest with wargames in the [1980s]" and slowly rose "in prominence for the next few decades until the quarantine period of the ongoing COVID pandemic offered a perfect moment for board games and TTRPGs".[66] Wickens commented that the "genre has evolved profoundly", with many including a narrative focus – "the lines between simple solo RPG systems and journaling games have become far more blurred over the years".[64] Additionally, she noted that "many solo journaling systems today are not only subversions of the standard pen-and-paper model" but also introduce "their own unique and even far-flung mechanics to help cement the theme".[64]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jwndbuacy3ilvmmiyb73hwvt/bafkreicwlk3dk5ym4ekp3bhkuvpm44o423gm336k47uqbzbtqddtpicbeq@jpeg)
September 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I apparently am cited on some very funny articles on wikipedia (and some cool ones like Shin Godzilla), but having a quote in the Table Top RPG page's Solo TTRPG section is probably my favorite lol:
it's my birthday tomorrow and I have the day off so I'm gonna stream around 10:30 am. come hang out and hear about the games I saw at pax!
September 4, 2025 at 2:50 AM
it's my birthday tomorrow and I have the day off so I'm gonna stream around 10:30 am. come hang out and hear about the games I saw at pax!
Nice, the big Wizardry video is the third on the channel to pass 100K views.
September 3, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Nice, the big Wizardry video is the third on the channel to pass 100K views.
An absolutely incredible, but also bittersweet, final sticker package from @stoked.bsky.social arrived. The GainsWorkshop shirt is brilliant. Go support him on YouTube!
September 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
An absolutely incredible, but also bittersweet, final sticker package from @stoked.bsky.social arrived. The GainsWorkshop shirt is brilliant. Go support him on YouTube!
Final fantasy 11 acknowledged
August 31, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Final fantasy 11 acknowledged