The August 2025 Brew for Geeks & Grounds: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist! Join us as we discuss what it’s like to create a society from (almost) scratch, and remember: the choices you make, make you.

I’ve been keeping an eye out for Wheel World: a cycling game that normally wouldn’t capture my attention…but the Steam Next Fest Demo had such smooth controls that I couldn’t help but await the full release, eager to see if there was finally a racing game that I would enjoy. Was it all a breezy coast through sunlit vineyards? Not quite, but it still is a game I enjoyed my time with while playing.

This week’s discussion is all about our descent into truly dangerous areas of the Oldest House, like the aptly named Panopticon, a prison complex housing Objects of Power…and a familiar face.

We’ll start the year with a new job title: Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. Time to figure out what exactly that means!

Here’s the first newsletter for Geeks & Grounds 2025!

What’s this year’s game of the year?

Most anticipated October 2024 Releases 🎃 October means I’m primed to look for darker games to play, but even with my current desire for scarier titles, I’ve got a quite a few indie games I’m looking forward to that don’t involve ghosts or other things that go bump in the night.

Weird Autumn culminates in a heated argument with your mom and a pivotal event after the Harfest play that feels like it has potentially changed the trajectory of the game.

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.

NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world.

Pine: A Story of Loss wears its (broken) heart on its sleeve, and it feels almost more like a graphic novel come to life than what I'd traditionally consider a video game.

Great God Grove is a bit of a tongue twister to say and a wonderfully weird demo.

I never thought that when I made it to the pearly gates, I would be sentenced to an afterlife of janitorial duties, but here we are!

All in all, the demo for Afterlove EP is a pleasant slice-of-life experience that begins to take you through the process of rediscovering how to go about life when someone you love isn't there anymore.