This House is Haunted 🏠 Night in the Woods [Geeks & Grounds #070]
In today’s newsletter:
part 1 of our night in the woods discussion, "home again"
notable indie releases from the last week (ish, cause we missed last week, sorry!)
a cautionary read against single narrative frameworks
the answer to one of my biggest questions about Possum Springs
last week's recap 🎧
our podcast discussion of the game + other media we've gotten into over the last week.
the episode is out now on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple podcasts!
Possum Springs feels more familiar to me than I was initially anticipating. While I grew up in the suburbs and city, a solid chunk of my adult life has been spent in communities like Possum Springs, and the details and memories it's evoking are quite surprising to me. I wasn't expecting it!
Just getting started with Geeks & Grounds? Check out the playthrough guide I've set up for Night in the Woods -- it's never too late to join the discussion!
I'm also already seeing so many thematic threads to pull. A wider backdrop of economic downturn; a loss of unifying spaces, opportunity, and faith; and a once prosperous area becoming a shell of itself. Not to mention the specific stories we encounter with each of the characters. I already love them all, especially Bea. But honestly, Gregg and Angus are too adorable too!
This game has LAYERS, and in a year where we've played some powerful narrative games (I'm still not over 1000xRESIST, let's be real), it's pretty inspiring to be playing yet another experience that has already evoked such strong feelings in me. I can't wait to hear what you all think!
Listen to today's episode to hear more about our initial thoughts as we hopped into the game (like Joel's search for THE ONE NIGHT in the woods) 😆💛 and if you haven't already, join the Discord to chat about the game as you play with the rest of the community. See you there!
🥐☕ the pastry case (additional links from this week's podcast)
PAX West was a weekend chock-full of inspiration and excitement! Thank you to those of you who found me at the Wholesome Games booth and said hi (and mentioned Geeks & Grounds!! SERIOUSLY: I still get the warm fuzzies thinking about it).
A couple of the games that really caught my eye included this adorable metroidvania about a cat finding her mom, this precision platformer where you defy gravity (and a selfish god), and this cozy mouse-scaled survival game.
For fans of K-pop, there are two mini-series out right now that delve into the reality of pursuing fame in the genre. I was not expecting this series to be as critical as it was (I was anticipating it to be much more marketing-speak) while the other openly explores the challenges of the industry across multiple artists and groups.
Need more shows to binge? The jury still out is on this one (although Joel loves a good Jeff Goldblum appearance) but Fleabag Season 2 has definitely caught his attention. He recommends just hopping into the second season and avoiding the first!
👀 🎮notable indie releases (aug 1 - 10)
Selfloss| 5
(PC, PS, Xbox, Switch)
Fantasy Puzzle
Embark on the journey of the healer, Kazimir, and his magical staff as he fights a mysterious Miasm in search of a ritual to cure his wounded soul.
WHAT THE CAR? | 9
(PC)
Physics Comedy
An absurdly silly adventure full of racing, laughs, and unexpected surprises. Roll, sprint, jump, fly and sneeze your way to victory on the racetrack and beyond!
Elsie | 9
(PC)
Platformer Rogue-like
Elsie is a technicolour, hyperkinetic, rogue-like action-platformer filled with procedurally generated levels, an army of robots to blast through, and a wide scope of items & weaponry to make each run unique.
I Am Your Beast| 10
(PC)
FPS Arcade
Hunt the military-industrial complex across stylish comic book micro-sandboxes in this fast-paced covert revenge thriller FPS from the developers of El Paso, Elsewhere.
this week's brew ☕
the section of the game we're playing and pondering this week.
forget work -- let's just chill on the tracks and talk about night in the woods! episode drops on Thursday, Sept 12th
This week, we're focusing on part two, "Warm Autumn", where each of our playthroughs will likely diverge a little bit! You'll have the opportunity to live a few days in the life of Mae, waking up, visiting with friends, and heading back home.
The cozy slice-of-life vibes are there, but the truth is, not all slices-of-life are comfy and cute: amidst moments of calm, you'll find pockets of tension and history that show how life (particularly social structures) in a small community is incredibly complex. Whether you choose to spend time and chat with Bea, Gregg, Angus, Germ, Selma, Mom, Dad, or any number of the characters, take time to consider where each of them may be coming from. What have they gone through that colors their relationship and feelings towards Mae -- and how does Mae interact back with them?
See you on Thursday with the second part of our discussion! Next week, we'll be back to our regular once-a-week timing 😁
reflection question 💭
reflect on a question related to the game by drawing on your experiences, other media, and the game itself in your response. If you'd like, leave a voicemail here (or email me) -- if you give the okay, we'll do our best to share them in the next podcast!
Mae is back home and spending time reconnecting with old friends, like Gregg and Bea. While some of these relationships seem fine, others -- like the one with Bea -- are strained. While we're still learning why, community member Catherine (aka cutedevil) posed a question I feel bears reflection and repeating for this week: How do you salvage a broken relationship? Feel free to reflect specifically on the relationships in the game or from your personal experience.
(Credit and thank you to Catherine/cutedevil for this question!)
pour over ☕
additional links, activities, and resources to expand your understanding of the game
“Appalachian” as a ‘god-like’ term is a fascinating line of thought to me, particularly seeing how religion and faith seem to be cropping up increasingly as themes in the game. This article addresses the danger in seeing identities (such as ‘rural America’ and ‘Appalachia’ specifically) solely through single narratives and representations, providing data to construct a more nuanced frame of reference as we discuss this area, it’s people, and stories.
Why animals? Thanks to Lisa in the Discord for asking this question at the Night in the Woods post-mortem so that the answer can be recorded for all time! 😀 (don’t worry, she kindly time-stamped it so there are no spoilers at that portion of the video). And, when you're done with the game, you can have a watch to see one of the devs reflect on the making of the game.
Okay, so I’m not saying you should watch Cars, BUT. Cars was the first piece of media I thought of when first walking through Possum Springs, and I found myself doing a bit of compare and contrast with how that movie portrays the rural community of Radiator Springs compared to Possum Springs (here’s a summary of Cars as a refresher). Other media that could serve as interesting compare and contrasts to the portrayal of small town life and a ‘return to home’ include Thirsty Suitors (a previous G&G brew), Kentucky Route Zero, and What Remains of Edith Finch, if you’re looking for additional games to play.
