![]() Part of the fantastic Antholojam, Planet of a Poisoned Past is the classic sci-fi story of a mining expedition on a dangerous planet, gone ever so slightly awry. After all, how can any solutions be found when the problem seems to make so little sense? Planet of a Poisoned Past (by Sophie Houlden) Less an angry takedown of the conflict between art and commerce, Off-Peak is more an attempt to understand the conflict itself. But although the art thrives, the artists are desperate, and you cannot afford to pay. Nobody knows what The Station is or why The Station is there, but there it is, and its you must reckon with its existence if you are ever to leave.Īs you learn the open halls and corridors, as you scour every corner for the shreds of a ticket you cannot afford, you come to realise that The Station is a paradise for those passing through, filled with the finest art, entertainment and food that you could wish for. Sad, surreal and slightly terrifying, Off-Peak is the tale of The Station. I guess what I’m saying, is it’s good to be back. When I see the brilliant things that people are making, that people are writing, that everybody is creating, I get hopeful, and I feel like it could truly be possible. By building up a scene within games which cultivates a different set of values, maybe we’ll be able to slowly switch off that part of our brains that gives us that twinge of guilt. Maybe I won’t always be struggling, maybe everybody I follow on twitter won’t always be struggling either. They are alternative, not as in radical, but as in viable.Īnd that gives me hope. It’s why I love altgames as a concept: a space within games which doesn’t feel the need to engage with skinnerboxes, with harmful industry structures, with a broken status quo. But it is something I have to constantly keep in mind, that there is value in taking a moment to breathe, taking a moment to process, and doing that within the context of play. The answer is obvious, and has been explained many times by those far smarter than me. When I am seemingly unable to work, to earn, then what is the purpose of play? ![]() So it is for all of us who are poor and struggling, every iota of energy that doesn’t keep us moving forward could be the one we needed to stop us from drowning, as we look at those sailing past us and wonder why we have to swim at all. It’s good to be back into the swing of things, but I know my head’s barely above water. It’s difficult for my brain to reach a place where I can centre whatever is in front of me, rather than retreating in panic into my to do list. I often come back to this one Lana Polansky article (I think it’s the most mentioned article on this entire website at this point, which should tell you a lot about Matt and I) about Wasting Time, to attempt to overcome my own insecurities about productivity. February has been somewhat of a rollercoaster month for me, and I’ve been almost entirely unable to find the time to play games, let alone write about them. And in those moments where my plate was empty, it was difficult to focus on any kind of relaxation.
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