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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 12h

Who knows what happens after he wins, but this is feel-good campaigning. Like his policies or not, Zohran understands the *range* of people in his community. You'll never make everybody happy, but you can at least make them feel seen.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

It’s pronounced cyclist.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 12h

Sold with any one of those three, let alone ALL three. Thanks!

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 12h

I really appreciate you taking the time to check it out, and I'm glad I could make you laugh at an entry or two. :)

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 16h

It's wild. I think this happened with Minute Cryptic, then with Crossweird, and now The Browser.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 19h

I think I usually say that if you're going to bother adapting one medium to another, you should find a distinct reason for doing so, but for some stuff that is so distinct, like Yakuza, you can't tell the story (ala Amazon) without having all the wild stuff this stage play absolutely nails.

Aaron Stewart-Ahn @badideas.bsky.social · 1d

Holy shit someone uploaded the entire stage play adaptation of the Yakuza videogame series with English subtitles and it’s glorious and 500x better than the Amazon show youtu.be/Z2Msr4si6dU?...

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 20h

Though the weekly puzzle will be discontinued at the end of the year, the archive should still be up for subscribers at thebrowser.com/crossword-ar... and there are some bangers there and yet to come (next week's is a Bob Weisz; last week's was a @lowdowncryptic.bsky.social).

The Browser Crossword

Every day we read hundreds of articles and recommend five outstanding stories for you to enjoy, so you'll always have interesting things to ponder and fascinating ideas to discuss at dinner

thebrowser.com

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 20h

I've got this week's Browser cryptic crossword! I hope you'll check it out; more importantly, I hope you like it. It's the culmination of everything I talk about in my twice-weekly cryptic evening streams!

After everything else, oil up masculine frat guy in the middle of Instagram scandal (9)

The Browser Crossword Cryptic #242 by Aaron Riccio
October 12, 2025, edited by Dan Feyer

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

Post a film with an excellent soundtrack!

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

That said, and I feel like this has been done before (arguably in some ways by UFO 50 or The Magic Circle or Split/Fiction), but I wouldn't mind a game where the core of the game keeps changing around you as you play it.

Wait, I am describing THERE IS NO GAME: WRONG DIMENSION.

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

How can there be purpose or soul in a game that you immediately start remaking to the audience's whims because it didn't sell well? That "art" is severely compromised. Better to start anew, or work from more open-ended sketches and use Early Access for testing ideas and better balancing.

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

How can there be purpose or soul in a game that you immediately start remaking to the audience's whims because it didn't sell well? That "art" is severely compromised. Better to start anew, or work from more open-ended sketches and use Early Access for testing ideas and better balancing.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

It's really hard to fix a ship once you've set sail, and this statement from Remedy ain't saving Firebreak:

"After the launch, the company rapidly developed the game based on player feedback and released multiple updates."

Even if their gambit had worked, this is a BAD way to make games.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I love the idea of someone picking up a stealth game, then strategizing against Nazis, platforming-by-microphone, and ultimately saving fox cubs; we'd all be better gamers if we treated ourselves to such a mix of styles and stories as opposed to just picking up Annualized Murder Game 4: Remastered.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I wonder if this sort of anthology works, sort of how fiction works for people who might not buy individual short stories but may pick up an end-of-year "Best Of" collection. This isn't that, but it's cool of HandyGames to show off its variety for physical collectors (as digital w/sales is cheaper).

Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 2d

Award Winning Indie Gems Bundle 4 in 1 (Switch) is up for preorder on Amazon ($59.99) buff.ly/1xzMGHR #ad

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

*ANOTHER* month in 2025 jam-packed with must-plays? I thought we were done with that . . . but I'm not really complaining. I'm all in for:

UNBEATABLE
GOODNIGHT UNIVERSE
POSSESSOR(S)
RUE VALLEY
LUMINES ARISE

(Other good-looking stuff, too, like DEMONSCHOOL, CONSTANCE, and BITTERSWEET BIRTHDAY.)

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

It's clearly not that, because I bounce entirely off literally farm-y games like Slime Rancher 2 (even though they arguably have "plots" in both senses); maybe the discovery-by-checklist of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor pulls me in because the mining feels more arcade-like than work-like?

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

See, I don't know about you, but I don't think that "ill-gotten gains" of $18,933 represent "tremendous breaches of the public's trust," and even if James is guilty, the amount of money and time wasted on an indictment to placate a bruised orange's ego are the real "intentional, criminal acts."

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I think DRG:S is an *unhealthy* game. I know it's tapping into an addictive side of my personality, that the unlocks are keyed up to promote "one more run." I'm not gaining anything beyond the ability to play *more*, to learn slightly different synergies and challenges. Would having a plot help?

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I found myself unexpectedly loving Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, which suggests that it's not the *genre* I have an issue with so much as it is the way that other games of its kind leave me feeling aimless (when you're only supposed to be trigger-less). It's repetitive, but each dig gets me deeper.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

That said, I think it's overheating my PC; I'm going to try switching over to a console with it, but does anyone have any suggestions for modifying settings for this title?

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I found myself unexpectedly loving Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, which suggests that it's not the *genre* I have an issue with so much as it is the way that other games of its kind leave me feeling aimless (when you're only supposed to be trigger-less). It's repetitive, but each dig gets me deeper.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

I wanted to take a moment to applaud Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound's New Game + Hard Mode which (a) actually saves your original clear file in case you want to replay easier stuff and (b) is actually harder because the levels have been redesigned to drop more obstacles and foes. I feel like that's rare.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

Had the rare day off (for my birthday) and celebrated by solving DASH 12. Great fun, wild variety, and some interesting hot fixes to solve puzzles that were meant to have more than one physical person in the room (looking at you, This Trivia's for the Birds!).

www.twitch.tv/videos/25872...

Twitch

Twitch is the world

www.twitch.tv

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

So I'm agreeing that what Indie Games+ is doing is important and good. But it feels like what you seem to be asking for would (a) make it harder to find such curated content on Indie Games+ and (b) leave less time for writers to create such insightful coverage. We are *trying*, though.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

I love getting thank-you emails, but it can't JUST be good for a dev; has to be good for the outlet, the reader, and the writer.

indiegames.com currently puts up ~4 articles a week, none of which seem written in 20 minutes, and all of which are pointing to games that look interesting.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

As someone who also been doing this for 10+ years (with very little to financially show for it, thanks), if it works, why isn't everyone doing it? Why are there constant layoffs everywhere, even from studios that are releasing critically acclaimed and well-covered games?

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

(To be clear, when I say "publisher" expectations, I'm talking about the owners/publishers of media sites, although I think we all agree that those making GAMES are also getting hit by problematic expectations; I'm glad nobody expects GOODNIGHT UNIVERSE to do FORNITE numbers--though I hope it does.)

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