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The original N is from 2004, you’re right. N++ is the modern incarnation and follow up to N+.

It has that quintessential Flash energy!

This is the 3D-printable replacement bumper mechanism I used in my controller. And by “I”, I mean my friend, who did the printing and installation for me. The click is a bit stiffer and sounds deeper than the original, but it works fine again.

Also check out Cassette Beasts and Beastieball!

As usual, I haven’t even played anything yet. I’ve just been thoroughly browsing for games to put on my list, and it’s a long one this time. At the top of my list of games I want to try are:

• Bubsy 4D
• Ultimate Sheep Raccoon
• Mesmalie
• Time Snatcher Handy
• Myths are 100% True
• FUNKYHEART
• MONUMENTUM

Roughly ordered by my interest levels:

Man, every black thing I photograph close up in decent lighting looks so ugly and dusty. I had to get funky to get a good angle and lighting setup for my photo here.

Good thing I ordered two thumbstick caps!

I actually damaged the left bumper of this one playing Nine Sols since I used that as the parry key. I had to get a friend to 3D print a new flexible mechanism and swap it in for me.

Yes. My killer motivation on day one was to be able to play point-and-click games like Puzzle Agent on a couch. Being able to emulate a mouse with trackball-style physics in a controller was so cool.

I’ve stuck with it over the years. The two trackpads are just so nice to use, especially once you get familiar with the crazy wizard tricks you can do with Steam Input.

Yeh, that’s not supposed to happen

My best friend is Zircon Zip

Books

For a game that’s themed as space battles and isn’t an action game, check out Cobalt Core. It’s a deckbuilding adventure about a space crew trying to escape from a time loop. The characters and story moments are fun and combat is like a turn-based puzzle of trying to position the ship to line up with enemy weak spots or to dodge missile barrages.

Elec Head. It’s a puzzle platformer that exemplifies the best design philosophies of puzzle games. It has only a few mechanics but explores them deeply.

It’s a short game. I finished the core game in only a few hours but there are still collectibles that require clever usage of the mechanics.

I actually got it because it was cheap in a bundle with the dev’s newer game, Öoo, which I tried during a recent Steam Next Fest.

The hype has clearly faded from like 2016 when the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift were hot new tech. There are still games with great production value around and they’ll give you emotional and visceral experiences you’ll never feel in flat games.

Is it worth getting into currently?

For PC-based VR, you can get a used Vive for a few hundred dollars, and you’ll need a PC with modest gaming power. I’ve run Half-Life Alyx acceptably fine on an RX 580, a medium graphics card from 2017, which is often listed as the minimum required.

In VR games, everything feels more intense. Scary parts, sad parts, action-packed parts. Characters making direct eye contact with you feels really gripping. Being able to see and hear the game world all around you is a level of immersion you’ve probably not felt before.

Whether the entry price is worth accessing this niche of highly immersive games is up to you.

The secret behind many great party games is that they facilitate improv and it’s really the players making the fun for each other

Aïe quante beulive its naute romantique!

Psychonauts has the most creative level concepts of any platformer. Forget about forest-ice-fire levels, I want more of this.

I played, liked, and 100%ed Grapple Dog.