Taylor Bauer
@taylorbauer.bsky.social
He/Him / Chicagoland nonprofit comms / games and culture writer @PhenixxGaming.bsky.social / prev. SB Nation, NPR
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
Rolling Stone put up a piece about celebrities speaking out against ICE and one of the top comments said “since when do we care what celebrities have to say” so I clicked on her profile and a month ago she was telling everyone how excited she was to get Snoop Dogg’s cook book.
January 28, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Rolling Stone put up a piece about celebrities speaking out against ICE and one of the top comments said “since when do we care what celebrities have to say” so I clicked on her profile and a month ago she was telling everyone how excited she was to get Snoop Dogg’s cook book.
Cozy Caravan is out for #NintendoSwitch and I had the opportunity to review it for @phenixxgaming.bsky.social
Check it out below 😊
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/27/c...
Check it out below 😊
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/27/c...
Cozy Caravan (Nintendo Switch) Review | Phenixx Gaming
Cozy Caravan is a cozy crafting game with a ton of great anthropomorphized NPCs and charming world. Read our Nintendo Switch review here!
web.phenixxgaming.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Cozy Caravan is out for #NintendoSwitch and I had the opportunity to review it for @phenixxgaming.bsky.social
Check it out below 😊
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/27/c...
Check it out below 😊
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/27/c...
I’m so bad about sharing work here, but I’m going to try and be better!
Anyway, everyone thank @luckshotgames.com for kicking off the new year with the first truly great game of 2026 🫡
Big Hops is fun to play and feels great to play too.
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/20/b...
Anyway, everyone thank @luckshotgames.com for kicking off the new year with the first truly great game of 2026 🫡
Big Hops is fun to play and feels great to play too.
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/20/b...
Big Hops (Nintendo Switch) Review | Phenixx Gaming
Lockshot Games’ next game, Big Hops, is a 3D platformer starring a charming froggy friend and ’90s charm. Check out Taylor’s review for details!
web.phenixxgaming.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:09 AM
I’m so bad about sharing work here, but I’m going to try and be better!
Anyway, everyone thank @luckshotgames.com for kicking off the new year with the first truly great game of 2026 🫡
Big Hops is fun to play and feels great to play too.
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/20/b...
Anyway, everyone thank @luckshotgames.com for kicking off the new year with the first truly great game of 2026 🫡
Big Hops is fun to play and feels great to play too.
web.phenixxgaming.com/2026/01/20/b...
The only thing making me feel less like shit with the state of ✨everything✨ is reading so please consider this my application to be involved in #booksky thank you for your consideration.
January 27, 2026 at 1:50 AM
The only thing making me feel less like shit with the state of ✨everything✨ is reading so please consider this my application to be involved in #booksky thank you for your consideration.
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.
January 24, 2026 at 7:23 PM
I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.
Final Fantasy VII Remake runs like a charm on Switch 2.
I kinda expected more slip-ups, but 4 hours into gameplay for review over at @phenixxgaming.bsky.social, it’s looking and feeling great.
I kinda expected more slip-ups, but 4 hours into gameplay for review over at @phenixxgaming.bsky.social, it’s looking and feeling great.
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Final Fantasy VII Remake runs like a charm on Switch 2.
I kinda expected more slip-ups, but 4 hours into gameplay for review over at @phenixxgaming.bsky.social, it’s looking and feeling great.
I kinda expected more slip-ups, but 4 hours into gameplay for review over at @phenixxgaming.bsky.social, it’s looking and feeling great.
Since the update, my pre-bed routine has been daily Animal Crossing chores and then a few rounds of Mario Kart World.
Seems way cooler now that @lawoftd.bsky.social says they’ve been doing the same thing!
Killed it on @kindafunnyvids.bsky.social content today, huge fan of your work 🙏🏼
Seems way cooler now that @lawoftd.bsky.social says they’ve been doing the same thing!
Killed it on @kindafunnyvids.bsky.social content today, huge fan of your work 🙏🏼
January 22, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Since the update, my pre-bed routine has been daily Animal Crossing chores and then a few rounds of Mario Kart World.
Seems way cooler now that @lawoftd.bsky.social says they’ve been doing the same thing!
Killed it on @kindafunnyvids.bsky.social content today, huge fan of your work 🙏🏼
Seems way cooler now that @lawoftd.bsky.social says they’ve been doing the same thing!
Killed it on @kindafunnyvids.bsky.social content today, huge fan of your work 🙏🏼
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
hey guys, just to confirm this is my fundraiser. i didn't want to ask for help, but i do need it.
my cancer is back. i am going through a lobectomy next week, the same surgery Walter White undergoes. i can't express how grateful i am. thank you so much everyone.
www.gofundme.com/f/support-ge...
my cancer is back. i am going through a lobectomy next week, the same surgery Walter White undergoes. i can't express how grateful i am. thank you so much everyone.
www.gofundme.com/f/support-ge...
Donate to Support Gene Park's Cancer Surgery and Treatment, organized by Gene Park
Hi, my name is Gene Park. I’m a games critic at The Washington Post, and I’… Gene Park needs your support for Support Gene Park's Cancer Surgery and Treatment
www.gofundme.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:44 AM
hey guys, just to confirm this is my fundraiser. i didn't want to ask for help, but i do need it.
my cancer is back. i am going through a lobectomy next week, the same surgery Walter White undergoes. i can't express how grateful i am. thank you so much everyone.
www.gofundme.com/f/support-ge...
my cancer is back. i am going through a lobectomy next week, the same surgery Walter White undergoes. i can't express how grateful i am. thank you so much everyone.
www.gofundme.com/f/support-ge...
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
Nintendo gets it. 40 minutes, you're in you're out. Show 15 Koizumis falling out of a tree. Ask "what do you think so far?" exactly one time.
December 12, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Nintendo gets it. 40 minutes, you're in you're out. Show 15 Koizumis falling out of a tree. Ask "what do you think so far?" exactly one time.
That Silksong comment from Geoff felt a little shitty lol #thegameawards
December 12, 2025 at 2:39 AM
That Silksong comment from Geoff felt a little shitty lol #thegameawards
Pretty soon you’re gonna be able to harness the power of AI to make that Geoff Keighley and Mrs. Piggy Bora Bora trip a reality thanks to the visionaries at Open AI and Disney.
#TheGameAwards
#TheGameAwards
December 12, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Pretty soon you’re gonna be able to harness the power of AI to make that Geoff Keighley and Mrs. Piggy Bora Bora trip a reality thanks to the visionaries at Open AI and Disney.
#TheGameAwards
#TheGameAwards
“The Simpsons really got me back into Fortnite” is a sentence that would have made no sense 8 years ago.
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
“The Simpsons really got me back into Fortnite” is a sentence that would have made no sense 8 years ago.
I want to pick up Octopath Traveler 0 very badly, but I haven’t finished either of the first two and I fear I’ll bail on this one 20-30 hours in as well.
December 10, 2025 at 11:45 PM
I want to pick up Octopath Traveler 0 very badly, but I haven’t finished either of the first two and I fear I’ll bail on this one 20-30 hours in as well.
You are all being so dramatic about AI in the media you consume. It’s literally just taking artistic originality out of the picture and replacing it with something immediately recognizable as fabricated and lifeless, how could that be a problem?
December 8, 2025 at 3:35 AM
You are all being so dramatic about AI in the media you consume. It’s literally just taking artistic originality out of the picture and replacing it with something immediately recognizable as fabricated and lifeless, how could that be a problem?
ThE #fnaf2 Rotten Tomatoes score gap between fans and critics is a great reminder that while criticism as an exercise has its merits, it’s not why art should exist or be created.
December 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
ThE #fnaf2 Rotten Tomatoes score gap between fans and critics is a great reminder that while criticism as an exercise has its merits, it’s not why art should exist or be created.
Hope I’m not the latest in a line of annoying podcast fans to tell you this @jasonsheridan.bsky.social but Epic Mickey for Switch is on sale for Black Friday 🫡
November 21, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Hope I’m not the latest in a line of annoying podcast fans to tell you this @jasonsheridan.bsky.social but Epic Mickey for Switch is on sale for Black Friday 🫡
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.
I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 7, 2025 at 10:55 PM
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.
I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
We know what The Game Awards is: a way to keep one foot in the “announcements as events” past while staring the over-commercialization of the industry that is causing direct harm to those who literally create its content in the face and saying we will ignore the latter for the former.
November 7, 2025 at 2:33 AM
We know what The Game Awards is: a way to keep one foot in the “announcements as events” past while staring the over-commercialization of the industry that is causing direct harm to those who literally create its content in the face and saying we will ignore the latter for the former.
Baseball is the greatest sport long live baseball.
November 2, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Baseball is the greatest sport long live baseball.
Pokemon Z-A is the latest in a string of examples that if you don’t let everyone complaining ruin something for you, you can have a good time. Gripes are valid but you would have thought Game Freak personally harmed from some of these folks online.
October 20, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Pokemon Z-A is the latest in a string of examples that if you don’t let everyone complaining ruin something for you, you can have a good time. Gripes are valid but you would have thought Game Freak personally harmed from some of these folks online.
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
For National Disability Employment Awareness Month at @motherjones.com, I spoke to four disabled federal workers who were laid off about how their old jobs were very accessible—and what the federal government loses out on by having fewer disabled employees. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The human costs of Trump's war on government
For many disabled workers, federal jobs were decent, human, and accommodating: everything the president hates.
www.motherjones.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:29 PM
For National Disability Employment Awareness Month at @motherjones.com, I spoke to four disabled federal workers who were laid off about how their old jobs were very accessible—and what the federal government loses out on by having fewer disabled employees. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Hi everyone I paused the cubs game after the top of 1st inning to celebrate the strong start and take the dogs on a walk everything is still all good right 🙃
October 7, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Hi everyone I paused the cubs game after the top of 1st inning to celebrate the strong start and take the dogs on a walk everything is still all good right 🙃
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
I had to write more about Ghost of Yotei because I couldn't stop thinking about ecofeminism, women as a deadly force of nature, and Atsu's love for animals.
www.gamespot.com/articles/gho...
www.gamespot.com/articles/gho...
Ghost Of Yotei's Star Is A Deadly Force Of Feminine Nature
Sucker Punch's sequel is all about Atsu, a woman who can summon wolves and spear enemies with ease
www.gamespot.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I had to write more about Ghost of Yotei because I couldn't stop thinking about ecofeminism, women as a deadly force of nature, and Atsu's love for animals.
www.gamespot.com/articles/gho...
www.gamespot.com/articles/gho...
Reposted by Taylor Bauer
SCOOP — Pennsylvania prosecutors were alerted to possible voting irregularities by one of MAGA's leading voices against voter fraud. A long paper trail shows Jack Posobiec has been living in Maryland but voting using his parents' PA address for years.
From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:
From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:
MAGA’s “Voter Fraud” Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There.
A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec casts a ballot in one state and lives in another.
slate.com
October 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
SCOOP — Pennsylvania prosecutors were alerted to possible voting irregularities by one of MAGA's leading voices against voter fraud. A long paper trail shows Jack Posobiec has been living in Maryland but voting using his parents' PA address for years.
From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:
From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:
I let Game Pass Ultimate go in June for the first time since its launch. Can’t say I’m regretting that after today’s announcements 😞
October 2, 2025 at 12:23 AM
I let Game Pass Ultimate go in June for the first time since its launch. Can’t say I’m regretting that after today’s announcements 😞