"...it creates a complexity delicious enough to lounge in."

"I anticipate that Dispatch has some lapses of judgement. But from what I see and know now, the game is so exceedingly well-done that I hope it becomes a narrative lodestone for stories to come."

"Voice actors and animators are willing to do a lot, but secretly creating 20+ games in one to account for... slight differences [in player choice] is not one. And I'm still relatively impressed by the amount of impact those choices did have."

"Dispatch is a lesson in how to do tropes right."

"I’ve personally had enough of intergalactic conquerors and knock-off Cthulhus in my superhero media; give me drama, give me intrigue... And Dispatch delivers all of the above with such ease..."

Did you know I also write essays? This is the only one that's under my name and publically available! Read me gushing about Nine Sols and also discussing the importance of trying to bridge cultural gaps

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/f...

#videogame #indievideogame #essay

Play Solitaire*!

*By playing Solitaire you agree to whatever timeline changes occur and forfeit your soul.

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/b...

#videogames #videogamereview #indievideogame #cardgame

I forgot some! Listen to some radio drama while you travel through a radioactive Pacific Northwest.

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/09/06/b...

#videogame #videogamereview #lgbtq

Someone suggested me this book after I gushed about WAGON and I cannot express enough that this book is one of the few historical fiction novels I have loved.

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/09/12/b...

#fiction #bookreview #literature

"Hey aren't you a book guy where's your book reviews?" You try reading a book in the year our Lord 2025. And I have! This book is a genuinely phenomenal queer low-fantasy story with a main character I wish was more common!

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/b...

#bookreview #lgbt #fiction

Crown Gambit is a jaw-dropping narrative with great art and a fun gameplay loop that has some great replayability. Also a twist halfway through that made me take a break to think and fume (a positive here)

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/07/19/b...

#videogames #indievideogames #videogamereview

This covers both video games related to the Secret Histories lore: Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. Both enraptured me for several weeks earlier this summer!

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/b...

#videogamereview #indievideogame #videogame

A fun indie gem that is Inscryption meets Oregon Trail (although it merits way more discussion than that). Please play it almost no one has!

theorionsoapbox.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/b...

#indie #indievideogames #independentvideogames #horror #halloween #review #videogamereview

"What I appreciate most from this book is that these are real people... who really could have lived this event as they are shown to. The characters are not queer caricatures designed to sell a sanitized and agreed-upon version of queerness."

"When I read this latter scene, I swore to myself as well, remembering the banana comment from earlier... Beautiful use of Chekov's gun."

"She even let us see them established in their relationship, not just showing us a brief moment of queer happiness before closing curtains."

"How easy was it for you to fall into authoritarianism in Frostpunk? How easy was it for you to dehumanize people in Papers, Please? What do those answers say about you?

How ready were you to use an apocalypse as reason enough to kill and steal?"

"I really don’t think this game would’ve been conceptualized without...COVID...Everything from the time frame to the presence of social media to the infection mechanic speaks to it."

"If you want to see some truly horrifying flesh monsters, play two days of Look Outside; there’s plenty to be had."