Things I Liked Last Month: May 2024

01 June 2024

Welcome to another dispatch of Things I Liked Last Month! Check out the things I liked from April, as well as my review of Biosphere Guardians 2050, which definitely would have a place on this list if I hadn’t already written a whole article about it! After visiting the library for the Biosphere playtest, I’ve had a bit of an environmental theme to my favourite things from this month, so I’ve grouped all that at the beginning!

Eye to the Ear

Check it out on Spotify here

In April, Cosmo Sheldrake released his new studio album Eye to the Ear. I love the way he uses field recordings and samples animal sounds in his songs, it genuinely sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard. I also recently discovered his live performance at the Great Animal Orchestra, using field recordings by ecologist Bernie Krause. It’s great too!

Exquisite Biome

Check it out on Itch here

I finally played Exquisite Biome by Caro Asercion after giving it a read and realising it's solo-friendly. I’ve gotten a new appreciation for solo games recently, since I don’t have to make any arrangements around all my friends’ busy lives. I had a great time constructing a little fantasy environment in my short playthrough of the game. I’m a huge fan of Microscope by Ben Robbins, and I definitely prefer the feeling of building off each other’s ideas that I’ve gotten from multiplayer playthroughs of that, so I’d love to play this with a group sometime too! The art is gorgeous and the game is a perfect length for a short trip into a new fantasy environment. I had a great time!

Leviathan

Leviathan (2012) is an experimental documentary about the North American fishing industry. Being entirely shot on GoPros attached to various parts of ships and their crews, the film has a chaotic vibe that is all the more amplified when the cameras frantically splash through the crashing seas. The ships in Leviathan feel more like animals than man-made vehicles, and I couldn’t help but make a direct comparison to Jean Jacket from Jordan Peele’s Nope in the way the fish are collected up, harvested, and their remains are chucked carelessly back into the ocean. I was also fascinated by the way seagulls flock to these ships, knowing that they will regurgitate a perfectly good meal in time. It made me think a lot about the fantasy ecosystems that I create, and what would happen if the metaphor of Leviathan was made literal.

FIST: Ultra Edition

Check it out on Itch here

FIST is a perfect example of a maximalist game. Character creation sees you rolling a d666 twice, a d66, and making a choice between 3 starting benefits for over 5 million possible character options, each with super unique flavour that plays into fantasy, sci-fi, and spy thriller tropes, with the occasional fourth wall breaking power to top it off. Campaigns are episodic, with each session being a self contained mission, and the level up mechanic is simple and makes the players feel super powerful by giving them a chance to level up every single session. I had a great time playing the one shot my friend ran, and I'd love to play more and run some games myself!

Steamworld Heist

Check it out on Steam here

I've been replaying Steamworld Heist in anticipation for the upcoming sequel. It's a turn-based strategy game that follows a group of space-faring steambot pirates looking to free the empire from its tyrannical leaders. The game uses a side scrolling camera, rather than the traditional top down camera, and it's got me thinking about what a side scrolling board game might look like (apparently I'm incapable of playing anything without thinking about work now). I'm sure someone's done it before, so let me know in the comments if you've seen it!

Curious Archive

Check them out on YouTube here

I've seen lots of creators try to emulate the video essay style of Jacob Geller, and none have done it as well as Curious Archive. From The Dragon Paradox to Sympathy for the Monster to What Happens After a God Dies?, each video pulls from various mediums to create a broad analysis of some wonderfully niche tropes. While the points of reference aren't as obscure as Geller’s, they are still wonderful to watch and show new angles to view some of my favourite media from.