Wallace
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exalclaw.bsky.social
Wallace
@exalclaw.bsky.social
750 followers 500 following 1.1K posts
A writer & video creator with a weakness against soft cookies | Rambles without oversight at exalclaw.com | Words also at Unwinnable, Stop Caring, PopMatters, etc.

📬: exalclaw@gmail.com
Latest: https://linktr.ee/Exalclaw
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exalclaw.bsky.social
Type of game that’s making me question kindness with no strings attached, very in my lane!
My time with Duskpunk’s demo was depressing — not because it wasn’t fun, but instead for its interpretation of a city stricken by war times. The city of Dredgeport is a place stewing with death, paranoia, and opportunists of all types that you can befriend or antagonize. It is a place to survive first, thrive in if you’re lucky later. Even the friendly service given to Dread by the priest Brother Rejchek, who found Dread crawling in the alleyway he slept in, must be questioned. Kindness feels more like a mask than a face in these parts, to the point where it was easier to trust the beggar who stole 3 groats, Dredgeport’s currency, from Dread than it was the priest who gave me shelter and urgent medical attention.
November 13, 2025 at 8:21 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI: 🥚-> 🐣 (me and the game fr)
an egg hatch: full of breaking. While I wouldn’t call Egg a hard game, especially if you’re well-versed in platformers generally, it is one that requires a lot of trial and error. There’s some learning involved with any game, but the process feels especially intimate here when every tool at your disposal is in your hands from the get-go and it’s more a matter of becoming familiar with them. Growing that familiarity with one spilled yolk after another felt like breaking out of a shell in its own right, one that funnily enough ended with my egg’s shell intact and nestled into a comfortable home.
November 7, 2025 at 4:01 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Fairly happy with any piece that gets away with the use of “thug-hospitalizing fun”
This is a fundamental tension between superheroes and many of the games they headline: Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, or any other vigilante isn’t really the one behind the suit, the player is. It is ultimately the player’s desire that wins, and most players desire canon-blasting, web-slinging, thug-hospitalizing fun that doesn’t give much real regard to the NPCs being saved. When a game is marketed as “feel like [x hero],” what that often translates to is “make use of [x hero]’s stamina, relationships, and weapons to indulge your superhero fantasy.”
November 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Perfect line of dialogue
A screenshot of Buster Jam where a dude wearing a propeller hat says “I’m 32. My mom is dead. Back off.”
October 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Just saw this recent comment from my interview with @okumuramusicgroup.bsky.social earlier this year, wow can ppl be really nice!
Screenshot of a YouTube comment on the video “How Okumura Made Rap Music For Boss Fights In Sorry We’re Closed” that reads “Just finished this game and Okumura’s boss battle music was an absolute highlight, very few times has a game made me feel as seen or heard as Sorry, We’re Closed has, and Okumura’s music was the soundtrack to this game piercing my heart. Thanks Okumura for the music, and thanks Exalclaw for the awesome interview <3”
October 24, 2025 at 9:01 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
I hate the Duck Knight. It has been a while since a singular enemy has enraged me in such a short amount of time, but the Duck Knight found a way. I want to cave its beak in. I want to wear its armor in front of the royal flock. I want a new fairy tale full of caution and awe to be born from what I do to the Duck Knight.
October 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
New hell sound dropped
My imagination of what Hell could sound like has changed a lot throughout the years. I’ve imagined it as nothing but agonized screams preceded by flesh-carving slices. I’ve imagined it as the cadence of a river or creek, where lava, blood, acid, or any other liquid cruelty flows instead of water. I’ve even imagined it as raucous laughter — the annoying kind that preludes disaster and misery for everyone excluded from the joke. But for the last few days, I’ve imagined Hell sounds like a bloodthirsty army of monsters, chanting in dreadful unison, thanks to Ball x Pit.
October 21, 2025 at 2:06 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Also like the golden bull but mostly bc it’s propped up funny. Benny is whipping that thing
Screenshot of Ball x Pit where a golden bull is steering a cart next to the treasure hunter
October 16, 2025 at 10:49 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Been a while since I’ve seen smth in a game that causes the cave in my brain to echo “TATTOO!!” but yeah I like the mosquito king design quite a bit
Screenshot of the Mosquito King ball in Ball x Pit. Text on screen reads “Mosquito King - Level 1: Spaqns a mosquito each time it hits an enemy. Mosquitos attack a random enemy, dealing 80-120 damage each. If a mosquito kills an enemy, they steal 1 health.” Button on screen says “Whoa”
October 16, 2025 at 10:46 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Love it when a power fantasy interrupts itself with some dead bodies and silence
The whole affair is presented in such a way where I felt like they heard me, but didn’t have the will to respond anymore. It all came together to paint a sharp and clear picture of what you’re actually doing: you are not at war for glory or fame or any other trite and fleeting concept — you are fighting to survive, to exist. Factor in the soldiers and commanders that can die during a skirmish and you quickly realize there is very little to celebrate on the battlefield.
October 16, 2025 at 2:31 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Nice thing about playing the Ball x Pit demo ahead of time was it let me beat the first level on the first try now, which let me expand my base immediately, which brings me one step closer to my ultimate goal: making my base pretty.

Anyway, wheat field is going wellx Forest going in the back
A Ball x Pit screenshot showing a developing wheat field to the bottom right, the sherrif’s house to the bottom left, and a developing forest to the top left in a base
October 15, 2025 at 10:28 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Mood enhancing donuts is lowkey a perfect ice breaker for a sudden reunion. How those reunions unfold over a full VN is what Im most interested in
These desserts will be especially handy for the onslaught of exes that will “Omg, is that you?!” you in High Times. The customizable protagonist certainly can’t be accused of having a type: from the rock musician MJ who “forgot” their share of rent and is looking to move back in, to the college cheerleader Emmette you dated during their high school occult phase, to the childhood friend Lucy who can’t stop talking about furry porn, to Mr. Perfect Harry from your university days at the FoodTech Club, you really are dealing with a Scott Pilgrim’s worth of exes as you run the Hotbox.
October 13, 2025 at 2:43 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo is cool
Have you ever wondered what it’d look like if Studio Trigger made a videogame right after watching the entirety of Totally Spies? Maybe while pounding pack after pack of energy drinks during development? Because that’s what it felt like playing the Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo.
October 10, 2025 at 12:44 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Might mess around and play Cult of the Lamb’s upcoming DLC in Spanish tbh, just to finish business
Right now, I’m back in one of my consistent phases and want to keep it going. This has meant looking for ways to diversify my learning experience, which finally brought me to trying to play a game in Spanish. I’ve thought about it before, and even briefly tried it one night while slaying gods in Cult of the Lamb, but ultimately never gave it a real shot. I don’t know why now — maybe I had a quiet confidence in my skill level gain since the last attempt, maybe Celeste’s whole “You can do this!” ethos clicked earlier than I realized — but something flipped a switch in my brain that made me play in Spanish. A screenshot of Celeste and Theo taking a breather on a snowy part of Mount Celeste, backdropped by a starry night sky
October 7, 2025 at 8:57 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI, size matters! Read all about it in my piece on and Roger, Little Nightmares, and feeling small
At the risk of making someone giggle, there’s something I must state plainly: size matters on most days. Sometimes it matters in small ways, like being too short to reach the top shelf at a grocery store, or having arms that aren’t long enough to reach a stray remote behind the couch. Then, there are the big ways that size matters. It is the Earth’s size that gives it a gravity that won’t let us go. It is an ant’s size that allows people to crush them without effort or thought. It is a child’s size that makes you grab their hand out of fear that you could lose them to a crowd, if not losing them to the embarrassment that a child often feels as they get older. Size matters, and that is partially why feeling small can be such a damning sensation.
October 7, 2025 at 3:38 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
One consistent, and I’d say valid, concern is how LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion will be affected given that EA’s future owners have terrible track records in how they treat the community
In addition to pricing, both Mason and Eastland brought up worries around LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation. “The main concern, as a female LGBTQ player, is that the representation will disappear. Fans of the sims have fought and protested online for more representation, [and] thus far this is the best version we have. There is a huge possibility, depending on how much of a part Saudi Arabia play, that all of that representation could be gone within seconds,” shared Eastland. Mason said, “The Sims franchise has long been a figurehead for expression and diversity within gaming and with this acquisition bringing the franchise into the ownership of far-right leaning Conservative individuals, community members are rightfully concerned about the future of LGBTQ+ and gender-equal content.”
October 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Not the first to say it, likely won’t be the last: Celeste rules hard
Madeline at the top of Mount Celeste
October 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Love that my observations as the one who usually navigates at amusement parks finally had some use
After years of being a navigator at amusement parks, I’ve realized how much their maps suffer from planned obsolescence. When most people visit an amusement park for the first time, either alone or in a group, they tend to check the map as if lives are at stake. It’s a tool that can help them navigate the ever-shifting park elements, but it is really meant to get them to the “good” parts. However, given that most amusement parks aim to keep visitors within their borders for as long as possible, or offer an experience so dizzyingly fun that they turn into repeat customers, maps often begin to feel superfluous. They turn into signalers of a novice rather than tools integral to the experience. By the time park visitors leave, maps end up a souvenir, if not the cherry on top of a trash bin.
September 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Crazy that I’m the same as two of my favorite Wii games, time to celebrate
Mario Kart Wii is an 82 on Metacritic de Blob is an 82 on Metacritic
September 25, 2025 at 8:29 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
I’m a B? I’m a B! Look ma, I’m a B!! Look at me and all my B’s!!!!
Bluesky profile bio of Exalclaw that says “Tl;de he/him writer & video creator, weak against soft cookies | Owns exalclaw.com More words spotted at Unwinnable, Stop Caring, PopMatters, etc.” The profile is rated an 8.2 The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series - Game of the Year Edition is an 82 on Metacritic Citizen Sleeper is an 82 on Metacritic Little Nightmares II and Control are an 82 on Metacritic
September 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
And bc I know not everyone will read this article in full (no shade, y’all be busy!), here’s a few things the developers shared at the end of the game that speaks about the conditions this game was made under:
With all the above in mind, I’d like to end off by bringing attention to the compromised conditions this game was made under. This visual novel is the debut work of Zorkie Studios, a two-person indie studio where one developer is based in Canada and the other in Indonesia. At the end of the visual novel, the team speaks directly to the player through a note to share some of the struggles going on in their regions. Speaking first on Canada, where the game was primarily developed in Toronto, the note shares in part that “the rights of Indigenous Peoples are being violated. Settler-colonialism is and has been actively dismantling their connection to the land and their cultures through historic and ongoing genocide. We encourage settlers to unlearn their colonial history, deconstruct their privilege, and learn about Indigenous cultures and settler responsibilities. In this way, we learn the truth of the land we live on and reject Indigenous erasure and colonial myths.” This statement is followed by “We want to highlight the global Land Back movement, which aims to return land to Indigenous peoples. By returning land, self-governance and environmental stewardship are returned as well. The Land Back movement is led by Indigenous people, and we emphasize the importance of listening to Indigenous people and following their leadership as we act towards land return and reconciliation.” The note later brings up Bandung, Indonesia, another area where the game was developed, and shares that “it is hard to speak about developing queer games and hard to know who to trust with one’s words. We test the waters and tread lightly, employing effort where the energy feels warranted.” It follows this up by stating “Queer people have always existed and will never stop existing. They were here on Turtle Island before the settler-colonists came. We are here even when we are not wanted; we don’t have a choice. Queerness exists whether we can speak its name or not.”
September 21, 2025 at 4:40 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Many things I like individually and generally about Wanderstars, but here’s something about the combat that especially stands out:
While the diversity of words and enemies alone makes this combat system praise-worthy, the extra PUNCH is a feature where, if you get an enemy’s health within a certain range, they surrender without requiring a full KO. While you can knock out every enemy you come across (you never kill anyone in this game), almost every fight can be ended via this alternative Peace Out method. This element can completely rewire the thought process behind a fight, as you’re no longer trying to reach the highest damage output you can create with a set of words, but instead playing with different combos until you find one that does a specific range of damage. But even outside the practical benefits of aiming for a specific health range, it also creates a mechanical emulation of one of martial arts’ most important lessons: restraint. If you’ve ever spent time learning a martial art, or even just listened to someone who is, you’ll know that it’s equally important to know not just how to punch, but when to stop punching. I feel like this can get lost in translation sometimes with action TV shows, anime, or otherwise, since the high-stakes nature of these dramatic stories often leads to kill-or-be-killed scenarios. And Wanderstars doesn’t avoid this completely, as bosses are the only group in which you can’t end a fight via this Peace Out method, but it’s clear the game wants you to think about your damage with a softer intention.
September 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Game’s also great for having many choices when it comes to lead images, including the one I went
Lead image of Ringo making a funny face as she tries to drive a spaceship for the first time
September 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Also happy I finally wrote a piece where “shaking some ass” found its way in

Also also, a lil on why it’s (mostly) not your fault that making friends as an adult isnt easy
But years of engaging in impromptu group choreography is forcing me to concede that Just Dance may be more helpful than ever in making friends. In case you’ve never played the game or could use a refresher, Just Dance has players match the choreography of in-game dancers along to the beats and lyrics of popular songs. While the game is most often played with movement-sensing controls like Wii Remotes, Switch Joy-Cons, or VR controllers, in actuality the only thing you need to participate is your body and an ability to follow directions. With that in mind, playing Just Dance actually has a fairly low-barrier to entry when you remember that people love making playthroughs of anything on YouTube, including dance games. From there, looking up “Hot n Cold,” “Jump On It,” “Let’s Groove,” or “Rasputin” and shaking some ass with nearby folks is just a matter of knowledge and willingness. I’d argue this is an extra effective strategy in today’s world where more and more people are struggling to start conversations. This could be (and has been) attributed to any number of things, including but not limited to: the social media-born tendency to record everything that frequently ends in someone’s life being exploded; a necessary lockdown at the start of a pandemic that significantly affected young people’s social skills; the deeply misogynistic manosphere leaking out of the Internet and becoming everyone’s problems; and the current amount of time that work (and preparing for work) takes up that requires significant intention if you want any chance of developing adult friendships. Overall, making friends isn’t easy under ideal circumstances, so it’s not shocking that it hasn’t gotten any easier when people are struggling.
September 15, 2025 at 4:24 PM
exalclaw.bsky.social
Monochrome Days has been having some strong panels lately
Page 25 of Monochrome Days Chapter 27 where Saori cries after finally having a successful win in the storyboard battle. A “Thank god…” swims inside a tear drop
September 13, 2025 at 10:01 PM