A little vent about my most recent game.
My DM seems to be going easy on us, and I don’t know how to tell him that for me, it makes the world feel more real and role play/mechanics more satisfying when NPCs aren’t always forgiving and obliging.
Our party was outside of town when we got word that our barbarian’s NPC love interest had been kidnapped and taken to a noble’s manor in a violent altercation that left bystanders severely wounded. We hurried back to town, and broke into the manor to rescue her. Most of us wanted it to be a stealth mission. I came in the front door as a scout, lookout and distraction (bard asking about auditioning for an upcoming festival, and then asking to use the washroom upstairs), but the barbarian couldn’t wait - she killed two guards and left the lady of the house tied up and unconscious. The fairy ranger cast Charm Person on the nobleman, and the druid panicked and summoned a swarm that caused lots of chaos and property destruction.
Turns out it had all been a misunderstanding - the NPC had been safe the whole time! The man who kidnapped her isn’t evil, he’s basically a sad self-sacrificing puppy who only wants to have a scary reputation so that he doesn’t actually have to hurt anyone!
The NPC and her “kidnapper” emerged from another room, saw the chaos and convinced the nobleman (who had broken out of the charm and was furious at being mind-controlled) to let us go. So ultimately some NPCs saved us from other NPCs/the consequences of our actions. It certainly was a relief not to have the nobleman call down a squadron of guards on us, sure, and it was the end of the session anyway. I wasn’t bothered yet.
In the morning, then nobleman sent us an invitation to meet with him. We already had plans for the day, and when we asked to delay the meeting, we were told “sure, tomorrow is fine too”. Maybe the DM wanted to give us some breathing room after the chaos? It felt like meeting with the nobleman was important to get around to, but not urgent at all.
The NEXT day (so, a good 36 hours after invading the mansion), we arrived for brunch with the nobleman. I prepared an eloquent apology before the session, using my in-character knowledge of his pride and sense of duty to the town, his violent tendencies (we had found a prisoner in a closet, whipped within an inch of his life), the importance of maintaining the “all is well” facade, etc. As the bard and party Face, I am already pretty charismatic, but I cast Enhance Ability on myself to be extra persuasive.
The DM never asked for a single persuasion roll.
And it wasn’t like I got “wow, that was great, you don’t even have to roll for that” kind of feedback. The nobleman didn’t act proud or violent or delusional like we’d been told he was by every other NPC in town. He seemed like an exhausted parent, like as long as we weren’t outright rude to him and acknowledged that what we did was wrong, he would have let us off the hook. He even mentioned he knew we had met with a rival noble house after the altercation in his home, but that didn’t seem to bother him. He barely seemed angry and made no real demands of us - letting us choose between community service and time in the stocks as punishment. And when we said we had been planning to leave town to help some local merchants, he said, “sure, that counts as community service. “
After the session, it took me a few days to realize why I felt kind of deflated after that session. I felt superfluous.
I don’t know if this is anything worth bringing up to the DM, and if so, how I should do it.
He knows I’ve run this adventure as a DM before, and I want to be clear that this has nothing to do with “your version of the characters is wrong”.
How do I say “when NPCs save us, or don’t make us earn our victories, it can feel like the work I’ve put into my character is wasted” and “do the nicer-than-expected versions of all these NPCs mean something in-game? Is this a sign that this noble is actually a flawed yet ultimately good and trustworthy guy? Or do you as a DM just not like role playing bad people but our characters should still be afraid of them? Informed evil, vs visibly evil?”
K this is long, thanks for getting this far. Thoughts welcome, just be nice to me, please.

By Shaman I'm talking about using the elements fire, ice, lightning. Closest comparison is Shamans from wow enhancement to be specific
I'm thinking Dragonknight would be best for this with skills like
Molten weapons Stonefisy Stone fist Spiked armor Lava whip Fiery breath/grip Inferno Ash cloud
Basically most of earthen heart and ardent flame. All would fit the fire element.
For Ice and shock, you'd pretty much have to use a destruction staff(weapon skill line) in one hand or both and use skills with only ice or shock morphs as fire is already covered. Maybe some mage guild skills too.
Warden could be another class but in thinking it would be a better HealeTank where Dragonknight would be the better DPS/Tank and have more elemental like skills.

Hello fellow readers and writers :)
Is anyone up for a beta read of a small coastal town cosy? Tagline: As dark family secrets are uncovered, old passions and hatreds are reawakened. And someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried.
Blurb: Jill never expected to inherit a farm from a grandfather she barely knew, but life is full of surprises. At first, it seems like a dream come true: a chance to escape the city, and start anew on the picturesque South East English coast. Urged on by her adult daughter, Jill makes a leap of faith, determined to make the most of this fantastic change of fortune.
But dreams can turn into nightmares in the blink of an eye.
After a furious row with her ex-fiancé, Leo, followed by a sleepless night, Jill glimpses a mysterious woman flitting around the farmyard. Following the wraith through fields and woodlands, Jill reaches a waterfall, slips and almost drowns – in the same spot where her mother drowned, thirty-odd years ago. It’s all downhill from there, when the farm burns down and Leo turns up dead.
Suddenly, Jill finds herself caught up in a web of intrigue and murder. Lurking among the neighbours and family who welcomed her back to her childhood home, is a killer. No longer certain who she can trust, but certain that her mother’s death was not the accident it seemed, Jill must solve the mystery of her mother’s death, if she is to survive and carve herself a new life in the not-so peaceful countryside.
Excerpt: (This is Chapter 3; Yesterday, Jill received a mysterious letter from a solicitor, decided it could only be bad news, and promptly shoved it in a drawer).
TW. Mild bad language, reference to a police officer finding cannabis.
CHAPTER THREE
From downstairs crockery rattled; a female voice on the radio croaked about the joys of being lost in France. My daughter’s more dulcet tones drowned out the chorus with her own ‘Oh-la-la-las.’ Groaning, I rolled out of bed, then remembered it was the first of February today – I’d made it through January – at last!
Minutes later seated at the kitchen table, I stared with bleary eyed envy at the fruit of my womb. Oh, to be young again! Sophie’s light blonde hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, her clear green eyes sparkled, her cheeks glowed with health. Talk about bushy haired, bright eyed and eager to greet the day. Out-loud I said, ‘What time did you get in last night?’ ‘Oh don’t!’ Sophie rambled on about stopping someone for speeding, only to find the driver was disqualified and driving around with enough weed to be classified as a dealer. ‘Wouldn’t you think they’d at least stick to the speed limit? I mean! And it was ten minutes from dismissal. Instead I had to find a custody cell and start a report. This new system’s horrendous. It takes forever to load! In the writing room … oh, that reminds me. I need a couple of pens.’ She jumped up to rummage through kitchen drawers, still chattering on: ‘In the entire writing room, only one terminal in ten connects to our tablets …’ her voice trailed away. A drawer slammed shut. ‘Mum, what’s this?’ She pointed the envelope towards me as though it were a warrant. I squinted, then waved it away. ‘Nothing. Nothing to do with you.’
‘It’s from a solicitor.’
‘I know.’
‘A solicitor in Sussex.’ She slapped the envelope onto the table, directly in front of me.
I stifled a yawn. ‘I know. Any chance of a cuppa?’
‘Don’t change the subject.’ She folded her arms. ‘It’s something to do with your granddad isn’t it?’ The old bastard who’d rehomed me like an unwanted puppy after my mum’s death. I smiled grimly, pushed back from the table and nudged at Sophie to step away from the worktop where the kettle lived. Knowing as soon as my back was turned, she’d pounce on the envelope. ‘So he’s finally kicked the bucket. He’s probably left me some hideous knick-knacks. I’m not interested.’ Amazingly, my hand didn’t shake as I poured boiling water into the mugs; then hurriedly added a tea-bag to each. I glanced over my shoulder, hoping Sophie hadn’t noticed my senior moment. She wouldn’t have noticed if an elephant had waltzed in and demanded breakfast. The torn envelope was on the table, the letter in Sophie’s hand. Good. She could deal with whatever it was the solicitor wanted. Or give me a synopsis. I slopped the tea-bags into the sink and reached for the biscuit barrel. ‘Mum … mum …’ Sophie’s voice sounded hollow, as though summoned from the bottom of her stomach. I turned; she clutched the letter in one hand, the other clutched, white knuckled at the table. Oh lawd, the old man had died and somehow saddled me with all his debts. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ I demanded. Wide eyes fixed on me, Sophie whispered, ‘He’s left you everything. Lower Beechcroft Farm, outbuildings, land, fishing rights, it’s all yours. You’re a property millionaire.’ I stumbled over to the nearest chair, missed the seat and went sprawling to the floor. ‘Mum!’ Sophie crouched beside me, while I shook my head in disbelief. Unexpected tears stung against my cheeks. No more pretending to care about the displays of cheese at Fresh Fields … I can sign this house over to Sophie, maybe even pay off the remainder mortgage. Things seemed to be getting serious between her and Robert … most likely he’d move in, but that was none of my business … Reading from the same hymn sheet, Sophie sang, ‘No more crappy jobs for you, you’ll be lady of the manor, have a few paying guests, a few cream teas…’ ‘Wine evenings!’ I corrected and suddenly we were laughing through the tears, hugging each other tightly. At that moment, a voice echoed from the hallway. ‘What’s wrong? Has someone died?’
Sophie recovered first. ‘Hi Uncle Leo – no … well, yes, but no-one we really knew.’ Grasping Sophie’s arm I hauled myself up with a warning squeeze and an urgent shake of my head to say keep quiet. ‘Leo. What do you want?’ I stared accusingly at my ex-fiancé. Long ago, back in the dark ages, we’d been briefly engaged. By brief, I mean blink and you’d miss it. Part of his charm had been the easy going friendship he’d formed with a then fourteen year old Sophie – she’d started calling him ‘Uncle’ off her own bat. As for the other part of his charm … that would be the easy going friendship he formed with other women. Neat crew cut hair, twinkly blue eyes and a talent for making knock-off gear from the local market look like designer clobber, Leo had a lot going for him. And he was right – I couldn’t blame him if other women found him irresistible. What I did blame him for was his inability to resist sleeping with them – in my bed – on my sheets! At first I wanted to kill him. But that was long ago. These days, I tolerated him, because to give the devil his due, he’s always been decent to Sophie. ‘Wow, that’s not very welcoming. I can drop by to see the most beautiful girl in the world, can’t I?’ He grinned, hitched a buttock onto the table, and corrected himself, ‘The two most beautiful girls in the world.’ He did look good, in a pale pink shirt, grey blazer and faded denim jeans. But I hardened my heart. ‘It’s my house, Leo. You don’t just walk in.’ Sophie shot me a half-pleading, half-warning look. ‘I’ve got a court appearance today. Uncle Leo wanted to use the car, so he said he’d drive me into court, and pick me up.’ The car was in Sophie’s name – but Leo had put the money for it up front – so I could hardly say anything. ‘Well, he should at least knock.’ ‘Yes, mum. Sorry, mum. Can you wait outside, Uncle Leo? I’ll be ten minutes.’ She rushed for the stairs and thundered up to her room.
Making no move to haul his arse off the table, Leo swung his leg and smiled at me. ‘If you’re trying to get your feet back under my table, forget it!’ I said crossly, and felt even crosser when he laughed. Trying to ignore him, I slammed around the kitchen, pulling out a Tupperware pre-packed with sandwiches from the fridge and adding a banana, before making fresh coffee for Sophie to take – Neasden magistrates’ courts didn’t have a café, only vending machines. ‘Tea for me. Two sugars,’ Leo quipped. ‘You were told to wait outside.’ ‘Jill, don’t be like this.’ Settling back further on the table, he twisted his head to peer at the opened post. ‘Off the table.’ I folded the all-important letter back into the envelope. ‘Hmm, solicitors, eh? Who have you pissed off now? And why were you on the floor, crying?’ Laughing, and any tears were tears of joy. ‘Off the table, for the last time!’ I snapped. The coffee perked; I decanted it into a travel mug, and added, ‘If you must know, I’ve got the sack. So I’m broke.’ Hands on hips, I taunted, ‘Can you lend me two hundred quid?’ We glared at each other. Sophie walked in, breaking the tension, 'Mum? Uncle Leo?' With a quick smile for Sophie, who looked so smart and official in her best uniform, I handed over the lunchbox and travel mug, ‘Knock ‘em dead. Take care.’ Sophie kissed my forehead, 'Thanks, Mum. It’s all on body-worn and I’ve made the case watertight. This guy’s an idiot trying his luck. Anyhow, I'll call you later.’ That meant Sophie was staying over at Robert's tonight. I forced a tight smile and nodded. Puckering his lips, Leo leaned in for a kiss. I turned away. He chuckled and followed Sophie into the lounge. The front door slammed shut; a childish parting shot from my ex-fiancé. 'Arsehole,' I muttered.
With the house to myself, I examined the letter – twice. It looked kosher. If it was a joke, I was about to find out. Pen and paper ready, I tapped the solicitor’s number into my phone, took a deep breath, and pressed dial.
End of Chapter three & excerpt. Thanks for reading! If you'd like to read on, please DM me. Edit: Formatting.

Gonna write a 10-page essay for 2 comments and a 33% upvote rate but whatever
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It's true.
The Ace Attorney fanbase is generally more analytically intelligent than most other visual novel fanbases, so it's very disappointing to see so many people lulled by AAI2's cheap parlor tricks while failing to grasp the beauty of AAI. Truly the biggest L for this subreddit.
Let's start with the overarching story: AAI is about an international smuggling ring, and AAI2 is about a man who tricks people into committing murder. That alone should dictate which game is better, but everyone seems to love Simon Keyes because of how random and unpredictable the twist was. I fail to see why the smuggling ring is so slept-on; perhaps it's too realistic or down-to-earth and the community would rather have a final villain plotting to steal the moon? But more on that later.
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AAI has the biggest cases of "Seinfield is unfunny" in the series, because AAI2 is an unofficial translation and thus more accessible to people. On the other hand, AAI is only available as a DS cartridge (rather expensive), the only game not available on the 3DS eshop or Steam. Of course most people played AAI2 before AAI. SO MANY things got ruined by AAI2. I honestly think this is one of the reasons AAI2 did not get a localization.
EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION: Given all the discussion and media on AAI2, and lack thereof for AAI, the mass amounts of lurkers who don't comment will definitely have experienced (maybe played, maybe watched a playthrough) AAI2 before AAI. And those people vote on polls and decide by upvoting which opinions they like. So sure, more power to you if you played AAI before AAI2, but I still stand by my point that your 200 lurking supporters have never even played Ablaze and the overall community opinion is skewed by the mass exposure of AAI2 and the obscurity of AAI.
Let's see some of the highlights:
The Great Thief Yagatarasu - Hit the hardest by this. Kay Faraday parading around the fact that she is the Yagatarasu in AAI2 is vastly different from her doing the same in Kidnapped and Ablaze. In AAI, starting from the first case, the Yagatarasu is this mysterious thief that supposedly has a lot of intel on the smuggling ring and we only get to see his silhouette and calling card. And don't forget his theme, Yagatarasu - The Gentleman Thief, which really does set the mood and fit him perfectly during the fleeting moments it plays. Kay only pretended to be the thief in two cases. I think the scarcity of the Yagatarasu appearances is what really makes the reveal so intriguing.
Yeah, and the final reveal: be honest here. The twist of it being Byrne, Calisto and Badd would have hit much harder on everyone's first playthrough of AAI without knowing anything from AAI2. What really dampens the Yatagarasu is the fact that he is brought up too many times by Kay in AAI2 (and even just her soundtrack name). Also the fact that the Yagatarasu calling card is the inverted version of the smuggling ring leader's instruction cards, to send a message that the Yagatarasu was only a few steps behind the ringleader, was absolutely brilliant and a much better last-minute twist than anything else the series ever came up with.
Calisto Yew/Shih-na - She was with Lang for his first appearance, and every consecutive one. That's what made her reveal so impactful. After AAI2 came along, she was just another one-off character. To be honest, the twist that she was Calisto Yew was completely unexpected, although maybe I should have realized beforehand. I also think the way she is finally cornered is pretty awesome. Setting alight the coat to reveal the Bahbalese ink burning green, pretty symbolic of her smuggling acts finally brought to light.
Shi-Long Lang character development - I'm surprised how no one mentions this. It's on the same level as Sebastian's development, and I think the only reason it's so slept-on is because in AAI2, the cases are normally so dull that you have no other choice but to focus on the characters, while AAI Lang shares the stage with the rest of the plot. The way he goes from respectfully hating on prosecutors as a super serious officer to "Lang Zi says: ...just go already!" and supporting Edgeworth in his trial after the credits is super awesome. Him losing his position in Interpol is worse than Yuri Cosmos getting demoted after Turnabout For Tomorrow in terms of discomfort food. I feel like the way Lang is introduced in AAI2 really does discredit all his character development in AAI.
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Now let's compare all aspects of each game:
Case 1 (general): Visitor > Target. Visitor is the most underrated case in the series, and Target is a 3-hour long snooze-fest. Target is a case 1 yet fails to be an intro case and thus is not good, that's what it boils down to.
Case 1 (witnesses): Visitor == Target. Visitor brought back Maggey who is one of the blandest characters in the series, but Target's defendant wasn't any better. Target also managed to fumble de Killer's appearance into a very boring confrontation, so they are about tied.
Case 1 (culprit, single-case): Portsman > Knightley. The prosecutorial interactions were much more fun than that overconfident bodyguard.
Example --
Portsman: It's a possibility. Maybe your salary's been cut so much that life is getting a little too rough to handle...?
Gumshoe: I'll have you know that I eat three square meals every day, pal! ...OK, so all three of them happen to be instant noodles, but...
Portsman: Poor thing. What an evil prosecutor you were paired up with. And what a motive, no?
Case 1 (culprit, whole game): Knightley > Portsman. Sure. The case 1 culprit can have a huge impact on the overarching story. Knightley was one of the better plotwise characters of AAI2.
Case 2 (general): Airlines > Imprisoned. Airlines just edges out Imprisoned slightly, but I admit Imprisoned is the only AAI2 case that deserves all the praise it gets. But I think the twists and turns were just a bit better for Airlines, especially the final Logic flashback segment as Lablanc slowly fell over the railing.
Case 2 (witnesses): Airlines > Imprisoned. Zinc Lablanc carries the entire case, like Luke Atmey did. Rhoda Teneiro was also cool. Jay Elbird and Frank Sahwit can't compare, and even Keyes' performance in this case, even knowing that he manipulated Knightley's death, doesn't quite reach Airlines' level of beautiful simplicity here. Dogen was just a plot device in this episode.
Case 2 (culprit, single-case): Meele == Roland. Both had godawful motives and mild characters.
Case 2 (culprit, whole game): Roland > Meele. Of course, because Roland got a whole other backstory while Meele stayed the same.
Case 3 (general): Inherited > Kidnapped. Yeah, alright. Who knew that letting you play as Gregory Edgeworth in the events leading up to DL-6 would be more interesting for the audience than actually coming up with an original idea? F for effort, I guess.
Case 3 (witnesses): Inherited > Kidnapped. Mainly because Ema Skye was absolutely useless in Kidnapped. Lauren Paups was also pretty bad. Inherited only had some meh witnesses, nothing outstanding, but still better than Kidnapped.
Case 3 (culprit, single-case): Gustavia > Lance. Well, yeah. Lance did kill only in self defense, while Gustavia and Dover had a whole storyline going. I feel like Kidnapped was meant to be a breath of fresh air from the constant murder grind, like Stolen. Too bad neither case ended up being great.
Case 3 (culprit, whole game): Lance > Gustavia. Well, not quite Lance himself, but the effect it had by prompting Ernest Amano to forge evidence, get caught and questioned, and give up the evidence to the KG-8 incident was pretty impactful. Gustavia, while the first of many things that ticked off Keyes, was also the only part of his story that wasn't really carefully intertwined with anything else.
Case 4 (general): Reminiscence == Forgotten. Interestingly, the one case everyone seems to like in AAI is actually not that great, all things considered. Forgotten was a very slow case with boring investigation sequences all around, but Reminiscence had terrible character interactions and was paced horribly.
Case 4 (witnesses): Reminiscence > Forgotten. Detective Badd blows everyone else out of the water. The Judge was alright, and Gumshoe was pretty subpar. But still, better than whatever AAI2 was trying to do with Lotta Hart and Nicole Swift.
Case 4 (culprit, single-case): Calisto == Blaise. I can't really say one was better than the other. Calisto's double murder and escape managed to top the previous 3-4 for "best loose end", but Blaise was no slouch either.
Case 4 (culprit, whole game): Calisto > Blaise. Doesn't need an explanation.
Now for the opinion that will get me downvoted. Turnabout Ablaze is a better case than The Grand Turnabout, both as a finale and in general.
Firstly, Colias Palaeno was a better final plot device character than John Marsh. Palaeno was introduced as this very suspicious character, only to later become the most helpful witness in the entire series, and the only person who didn't lie, ever. Despite overdoing his coupon-dealing gimmick, it never really got old or tedious. And come on, he was just a cool guy all around. His interactions with Alba were also very interesting considering the history between their countries. Palaeno is the perfect example of how to write a compelling plot device character.
On the other hand, John Marsh never really made an impact and his edgy teenager persona was just meh. Him refusing to take revenge on Dogen in the end was cool, but he was still not as good a character overall. His kidnapping was mainly to develop Courtney's character, but even she was not that interesting in the end. And his twist of being the president's son was very underwhelming, if I'm being honest.
Every case 5 is traditionally the resolution of two different murders. For AAI, it was Ka-Shi Nou murdered in the Allebahstian embassy, and Manny Coachen murdered in the Bahbalese embassy on the same night. For AAI2, it was the body double's murder out of the blue and the real president's murder 12 years ago. Surely Ablaze has a much better premise already.
Ablaze is a very symmetrical, well-organized case with the themes of duality. Allebahst has strict migration laws and an old army general as the ambassador, who appears to be a kindly old man. Bahbal is a very lax tourist country with a young advertising ambassador who is suspiciously cheerful. And yet, Ambassador Alba is the villain behind the smuggling ring while Ambassador Palaeno is hopelessly clueless about his secretary Coachen. I really like the dynamic amongst the characters here. Even Coachen gets characterization from Palaeno's relationship with him and sadness at his death.
Honestly, I thought the premise of the country split in two was a very intriguing setup. Even for people who aren't super interested in history-esque topics, the case should provide a novel setting. The competition to see which embassy had the legitimate statue, the goodwill ambassadorship involving the Steel Samurai, the reuniting of Cohdopia, everything really felt like something big and exciting was happening.
How many people actually played Ablaze fully? I bet half the people who hate on Turnabout Ablaze here don't even know that the embassy was set on fire in the case. They only watched Alba's breakdown, went on the wiki to find out the two victims, and called it a day before formulating their opinion. They missed out on everything, like the safe-opening puzzle and the secret of the Yagatasaru key/"knife", and figuring out how the two statues and the body got transported between the embassies.
Unlike Ablaze's very uniform and straightforward setup, The Grand Turnabout is just a speed-rap of a case with very sporadic events that feel like it's just thrown at you randomly so you never get bored of one single topic. So right after exposing Blaise as the killer, you find the president of Zheng Fa is murdered. You go to question someone, but she is currently judging Roland's trial for the murder of Knightley. Then Blaise turns out to not get in any trouble for what happened in Forgotten. Then Marsh gets kidnapped and you decide to join the trial and help Sebastian. He then runs away and you stall for time until Marsh is found and Sebastian comes back and proves that Blaise tampered with evidence. So he gets arrested after all and Roland is guilty. Then you get a mysterious radio call telling you to go to an orphanage, where you find out that the real president (along with some other guy) was killed there 12 years ago. With a very tedious Little Thief investigation sequence. Now you trace back who called you on the radio and pin every single crime in the game onto him. And Dogen helped, a bit. The end.
There were zero compelling aspects of the case. It feels like the case was entirely written to showcase character development for half the cast, and the actual plot points are half-assed and not bothered with. The final reveal is just a cheap cop-out by going "oh actually A and B are connected. Wow!". I feel like The Grand Turnabout is actually the worst-written case of AAI2 in terms of sheer writing. Every event is random until the final reveal. The way the events proceed is also very weird and feels very unpolished. The investigation drags on way longer than Alba's confrontation does. No way people like this mess of a case more than Ablaze just because it has more rewarding/overstimulating moments at times and uses shock value.
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It's funny that AAI has the overarching plot be straightforward and each individual case have its twists and turns, while AAI2 is the exact opposite. Each case basically feels like the game just leads you along a long, drawn-out and boring path to the answer while the actual overarching plot is this convoluted, improbable steaming mess of a story.
I really don't think Keyes was all that special. Sure, there were minute hints scattered throughout the game before he is revealed to be the mastermind. Sure, he had a compelling motive. But in the end, it all boils down to "oh remember all that? well, the major twist is that they are connected!". Just a weak cop-out finale that manages to be flashy enough to woo half the audience. But what I really dislike about Keyes is the way he was caught. I personally think that final villains should try to not get caught. Keyes was so cocky that he was toying with Edgeworth on purpose. Kidnapping Kay and John, teasing Edgeworth over the radio, he basically flew too close to the sun and paid the price. Alba, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Edgeworth or the rest of the cast.
I think half of what makes a compelling villain is how they try to avoid being caught. Alba managed to stay low and avoid detection for 10 years, while still running the smuggling ring. His confrontations felt very calm and collected, and just overall very professional at maintaining his innocence. Unlike Keyes who just keeps laughing at you and mocking you. Sure, both characters had high egos, but bottom line: Keyes got too cocky from a few successful manipulations while Alba maintained his confidence in his position which he has decades of experience in.
Yes, Alba was very stubborn and makes the final fight drag on, but that should be a good thing for his character. Shows he is very experienced and well-prepared for law enforcement. Honestly, my one complaint is that his fight didn't drag on even longer; I think that him losing his ambassadorship was a bit too easy and he should have put up more of a fight regarding that. People say Alba was too generically evil, but I think that he is actually unique in the way that he is the first pure villain as a final villain. Remember, von Karma and Gant were not full-time criminals; they were law enforcement who killed once and then were caught trying to cover up their crime. Engarde was an actor who only cared about publicity. Godot was, well, not exactly a criminal. Gavin was a lawyer who did anything to win his case and held grudges. Up until then, we never had a professional criminal as a final villain until Alba. Taking someone like him down should be expected to be difficult, long and tedious. Also his breakdown was much more rewarding than Keyes' getting beat up by animals, mostly because Keyes kinda deserved more than that. If Keyes had been punished harder, his breakdown might have been more satisfying than Alba's, to be fair.
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AAI also has a better soundtrack than AAI2, and you can fight me on that. AAI2 may have some earwormy tracks, but it's like this: AAIs soundtrack actually sounds like it was composed for the game. Tracks like the Yagatarasu's theme (not Kay, the actual Yagatarasu) and Torn Apart Countries fit the mood and set the grandiose atmosphere perfectly. AAI2s soundtrack is just the artist taking a picture of the character, showing it to a composer, and going "make a theme for him". The Man Who Masterminds the Game may be more catchy than The Enemy Who Surpasses the Law, but the latter definitely suits its respective character and confrontation as a whole more. And I just gotta appreciate a fitting theme more than an earwormy one.
Honestly, Objection 2009 was better than Objection 2011 just because it felt so much more satisfying in a calm, procedural manner, like "Okay, so we figured this out. Make a mental note of this for later". Objection 2011 is a TV-show opening for Edgeworth. It might be very catchy, but I honestly think it doesn't fit a single moment in which it is played and is just an overstimulation.
Also I will get ostracized for saying this, but Lying Coldly was a perfect take on how a pursuit theme for Edgeworth would sound, that Wanting to Find the Truth completely ruined in favor of sounding more like a generic pursuit theme. It may be a good song, but it has none of the charm that Lying Coldly had.
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AAI2s translation team, to be honest, did a pretty bad job. (Preface: yes I know criticism like this is mean and uncalled for but since AAI2 isn't even their game, I think it is fair to criticize their take on it after they imposed themselves onto Capcom's game.)
Let's start with the voicelines. Sebastian Debeste's voice actor was the only one who did a good job. Everyone else's voices were way too "high-quality sound" to fit AAs theme. Like, especially ProZDs take on Gregory Edgeworth, who sounds like a 20 year old with a smoking problem and a mouth that's 2cm in diameter. It especially contrasts von Karma's voice in Inherited and is clearly out of place. Sorry, but ProZD was an absolute garbage casting choice for Gregory. I don't care what you say, Courtney is not British. Knightley and Shields' voices are just too realistic and not AA sounding. Keyes and Blaise are the only other objections that almost fit the bill, almost.
Again, though, massive props to Sebastian's voice actor. He absolutely nailed his voiceclip.
On a related note, I think Alba and Calisto's objections are actually not bad because remember, they are (Alba definitely, Calisto I assume so since she works for him) foreigners who originate from Cohdopia. It makes sense for them to have an accent when speaking English, and with only one word to go off of, their accent sounds exactly like one would expect. It's surprising how most people can't make that basic connection and instead go straight to mindless hating. Ace Attorney's fanbase is supposed to be smarter than that.
Okay now back to the translation team, the overall dialogue for AAI2 feels much more dry. It's not as easy as you'd expect to capture the tones of each character during the translation, and the translation team kind of failed at that. The dialogue for the returning characters, especially Gumshoe and Kay, feel much more uniform and really lack the charm that AAIs official translation had. Try playing AAI and AAI2 in alternating cases side-by-side and the difference becomes clear as day.
Not just the dialogue in general, but also the quips and banter during the investigation sequences between main characters. Especially that one time in Inherited in which young Shields quotes Godot's "blacker than a moonless night" soliloque, for Gregory to think to himself "note: coffee has a bad effect on lawyers". If you really think about it, this took place before T&T and there is no way Godot would just quote Shields, so it's a really weird continuity plothole that both people say the same thing, like a 4th wall break. It's supposed to be a joke, but come on. Capcom wouldn't actually do something so unprofessional like that, and the translation team really had to make that weird joke a permanent part of Capcom's game. It's an official game so it's supposed to be more professional than using 4th wall breaks like that. This may seem nitpicky, but again - official Capcom game.
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Of course, people can like whatever they like. You may prefer a culprit that is over-the-top crazy more than a down-to-Earth one. You can like an unpredictable, convoluted overarching story more than a well-written one. But objectively, from a critical, unbiased point of view, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is a much better-written, higher quality work than Gyakuten Kenji 2. No amount of rose-colored glasses can change that, sorry.

So, the wife and I were at an event this weekend, daytime pool, suntanning, a bit of day drinking (very little with this group, which was fine) and had a blast. Hung out with a bunch of nekkid folks, chatted, for us it was purely social, but very sexy. After a little break, it became a somewhat normal party, but it was like everyone turned into wallflowers at night. I am not usually aggressive at meeting new people, but i am not shy. I tried turning on the charm, not in a creepy way, but just a friendly party vibe…nothing. Like a room full of mannequins. And I am not the only one…the folks we already knew who were there got the same reactions (or lack thereof). The hosts did NOTHING to assist in encouraging interaction, it was just music playing (no DJ, so it was some music service, tunes weren’t bad, but inconsistent for dancing), the pools and hot tub were open (I was able to encourage some people to get in the pool when my fat ass got in with one of my female friends I don’t fuck) but the couples that came in for a swim still seemed to be aggressively distant. Not looking for encouragement, but rather ideas of some type of activity or game or something that you may have experienced in the past to help crack the ice. General attempts at conversation were epic fails, and I am already 3/4 bridge troll, so my devastating panty dropping physique has never wowed anyone, and I am NOT above stealing a gimmick. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them, and we have all been to that event that just doesn’t flow right. I am not asking for a spell to summon orgy demons (I’m not saying “no” to that) but just ideas to make the party fun, get the scared newbies or small cliques to crack open and let the interactions happen.

Few gifts can compare to jewelry's classic elegance and sentimental importance when it comes to showing your wife how much you care and how much you appreciate her. Choosing the ideal jewelry gift can make her heart flutter, whether it's for her birthday, your anniversary, or another significant occasion. We'll look at a variety of alluring jewelry selections in this post that will make your lady feel appreciated and adored.

Symbolic Necklaces and Pendants:

Wearing a symbolic pendant necklace is a lovely way to show your wife how much you care about her. Select a necklace with a charm that has special meaning for you and your partner, such as a heart-shaped pendant signifying your everlasting love or a charm that symbolizes a hobby or memorable event. To add an additional layer of tenderness, engrave a unique message on the pendant. Because of this kind deed, the necklace will become a treasured keepsake that she can wear dear to her heart.

Brilliant Earrings to Wow Her:

A timeless and adaptable piece of jewelry, earrings can instantly upgrade your wife's look and make her feel unique. Choose from a variety of options, including diamond stud earrings for a classic and elegant look or dangling earrings with her favorite jewels for a bit of glitz. Think on her particular preferences and style to determine whether she favors bold statement pieces or subtle elegance. Whatever style you select, she will be mesmerized by the shimmering brilliance of your earrings, which will serve as a constant reminder of your love.

Bracelets and Bangles for Elegant Adornment:

Bracelets and bangles make beautiful gifts that give your wife's outfit an air of elegance and sophistication. Select a bangle that is adorned with diamonds or precious stones, a delicate chain bracelet with a special charm, or both. Personalized bracelets imprinted with her name or a touching message are another option. She will always be reminded of your love and appreciation for her by the soft tinkling of a bracelet on her wrist.

Timeless Timepieces:

A classy and sophisticated watch is not only a useful accessory but also a symbolic present that conveys the enduring essence of your love. Choose a watch that matches her sense of fashion, whether she favors a traditional design with a leather strap or a contemporary look with a stainless steel bracelet. Think about adding a personal message or your anniversary date to the watch's rear engraving. She will be reminded of the priceless memories and your eternal friendship each time she checks the clock.
In conclusion, give your wife jewelry store visit as a token of your admiration and love. The ideal piece will make her feel treasured and adored, whether it's a meaningful necklace, glittering earrings, a graceful bracelet, or a timelessly elegant watch. Pick a piece of jewelry to give her that showcases her individual style and has sentimental meaning to help you create enduring memories of your love for years to come.

Since we're still technically before the initial release and the game isn't "solved" yet, I'm curious what builds people are running.
Mine is full on Greymane from HoTS (yes I know he's from WoW but I don't play WoW).
Basic Skill - Wind Sheer - Pow pow pow
Core Skill - Werewolf - Which is a great gap closer
defensive - Earthen Bulwark - With unstoppable because F being CC'd
Pet - Wolves of Course
Wrath Skill - Rabies - With full poison boosting
Ultimate - Wolf blender.
​
And of course the wolf pack/Pact.
​
Is it good? No clue, I'm not good enough to figure it out.
​
So what's yours?

Grabe di ko e-expect na madadaan ko rin gawin na ililibre ko yung guy in exchange for a cuddle pero scam. Guy has a charm though pero ni-hindi nga ako nakaranas kahit sandali madikitan lang siya.
Una, umokay pa ko na libre ko kahit mumurahin pero pupunta ako sa place niya na may dalang Krispy Kreme at sagot lahat ng pamasahe papunta sa place niya. He didn’t initiate na hatian ‘man lang ako like wow hahaha. Compound kasi lugar nila at puro kamag-anak kasama niya. Pagkarating namin, settled down na mga kamag-anak so di siya naitriga rin. After that, we watched a movie and nagpahinga dahil pagod.
Nakakainis lang in the first place, sabi ko kahit cuddle nalang kapalit sa treats ko. Na-off ako kasi I just gesture na mag-hug na kami instead he find it weird and I apologize right away. He even set a boundary na wag dikitan nung kakarating lang namin kasi naiinitan siya ng malala at want to cool-off. May bed kasi siya and long sofa so dun ako sa sofa. Nirespect ko naman yun.
Nakatulog siya eventually when watching the movie. Nagpakabusy nalang ako mag-phone kasi di na ko nag-rereact sa comments niya sa film na pinapanood namin. Mabait pa ko sa kanya at wala akong ginawang masama. Gusto ko nalang nga mag-sapatos and lumayas agad kaso naka-lock kasi yung main gate papunta sa room niya so kailangan ko talaga siya gisingin. Pangit niya.
Ang hirap maging mabait at mapagbigay at the same time. He really take advantage of it and I get nothing in return. Happy Pride Month I guess. 😂

I'm keeping track of all the VR games I’ve played this year to catalogue them in hopes that they may give fellow VR gamers some fresh games to try out, or reasons to revisit older games that have had big updates. I'm currently up to 52 different VR games played this year. The first 22 that I played from January to March can be found here. The latest 30 games are mostly on the Quest, but many are available on PCVR.
Some of the games listed below, I can see playing all year long, others are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 30 games I’ve played during April and May of 2023.
TLDR: My top 5 games to check out are at the bottom and so is some info for a game giveaway.
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1. ARK and ADE $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A fun shooter with Pistol Whip vibes that is absolutely worth the price of admission. From the store page: “ARK and ADE is an action-jammed FPS shooter in which you get to experience the glory of the 80’s arcade era in a neon fused setting. Shoot your way through retro-futuristic levels filled with enemies, iconic over the top bosses and never ending bullets!” I played this game back when it was in App Lab before it graduated to the full store. It was such a fun shooter back then, and I’d look forward to new levels coming out every few months. Now that it made it out of app lab, has a bunch of levels and had the gameplay polished, it’s absolutely worth a pickup, especially for that price.
   
2. Project Third Eye $9.99 Quest My quick take: A game where you make your own fun. From the store page: “Project Third Eye is an action physics sandbox with a built-in visual scripting panel to apply logic to spawnable items. This allows you to build your own modifications to the game and customize behaviors as you like.” Just like the description says, this is more of a proof of concept and sandbox game more so than a full fledged game with objectives. There are certainly neat ideas here and there, and the dev is really active with updates on Reddit. If you like to experiment and see how concepts develop in a game, you may enjoy this, but there’s no real direction beyond experimenting, so I dropped off fairly quickly.
   
3. Jousting VR Demo $9.99 Quest / Steam Quest Demo My quick take: A bit light on gameplay, but there is some charm here. From the store page: “XIII century, Europe, royal market courtyard. You are a knight who joined the medieval tournament. Your task is 'simple.' Jump on your trusty steed, grab your lance & defeat the enemy. Take into consideration speed, accuracy, strength. Equipment is also important. The better gear the easier the task. Oh, and other knights - they want to win as much as you do.” As advertised, it's a jousting game in VR. I enjoyed the demo, but honestly it was a bit too finicky at times and just not worth a full buy to me. The atmosphere was fun though and there was a progression loop for those who get into it.
   
4. Demeo $39.99 Quest and Steam (flatscreen as well) My quick take: This is a great game that I revisited from start to finish with four players. A must own. From the store page: “Adventurers, it’s time to unite! Gather your friends and fight monsters in Demeo, the turn-based tabletop strategy game of battle and glory. Roll dice, pick up miniatures, and free the world of Gilmerra in round after round of tabletop board game fun. With a huge assortment of monsters, playable classes, and environments to explore, it’s never the same game twice." I finally got a chance to play through the entirety of the game in VR with four friends, through each world, while trying a variety of characters. We even made a video ranking the best players and levels. It really is a solid dungeon crawling adventure. With 2 or more friends, this game really shines and is such a fun ride, despite how punishing the bosses can be. This is the closest you can get to D&D in VR without having a dungeon master. Well worth the asking price.
   
5. Build and Drive Racing Demo Free Quest / Steam My quick take: Early days in development, maybe something to keep an eye on to see how it improves. From the store page: "Get ready for a new experience on Windows desktop and VR, where you get to build your ultimate racing machine, tailored to your driving style and optimized for performance, or race to the finish line with a monster what makes you smile. With stylised graphics and arcade-like physics, every turn, straightway and ramp will put your skills to the test. Feel the thrill of the race like never before in VR, as you immerse yourself counting the seconds on the home stretch." An early demo that has seen some updates. Maybe worth looking at in a few months after a bit more development. I did like what I saw, but honestly, if you’re looking for a finished racing game, try Mini Motor Racing X instead or some of the other heavier PCVR games available.
   
6. Les Mills Body Combat $29.99 Quest My quick take: No subscriptions, great coaches and fun workouts that will make you sweat. From the store page: “Work out at home with a premium fitness app. LES MILLS, the world's leading fitness company, brings the BODYCOMBAT experience to your VR headset with an extensive workout portfolio, top-quality coaching, innovative mechanics, and different intensities.” With no subscriptions or hidden fees, lots of workouts, motivating coaches and the ability to compete with friends on leaderboards, this really is a dynamite workout app. I was working up a good sweat during my workouts, so be sure you have good facial insert and a fan ready. Highly recommended if you want a workout in VR for just the price of entry.
   
7. Interkosmos 2000 $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A difficult puzzle game, but rewarding if you have the patience. From the store page: “Go to space. Save the Future. Try not to Die. Welcome (back) to the world of Interkosmos for an even wilder, weirder and more wondrous adventure. Experience the intense exhilaration of spaceflight. Explore the awe-inspiring interiors of a realistic space capsule. Master the crucial systems that will keep you in orbit (and breathing). And while you’re at it, try your best not to die. Should you complete your mission, you just might save the future – and yourself. Should you fail? Let’s not think about that.” An intense puzzle game where you’re piloting a space ship with some very finicky controls. I found the experience way too difficult and exacting. Along with a bit of bugginess, that didn’t help in me determining if the error was my fault or the game's. If you have the patience, there certainly is some rewarding gameplay here, and an interesting story, but I found it all a bit too much to see to the end.
   
8. The Light Brigade $24.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: In a world of rougelikes, this is one that stands out. From the store page: “As a member of The Light Brigade, humanity’s last line of defense, brave ruins bathed in darkness and free the trapped souls who need the salvation only your gun can provide. Shoot, master spells, and upgrade your capabilities to herald the Sun’s return in this roguelike VR shooter.” There’s quite a lot of rouge shooters on Quest and despite the plethora of choices, this one stands out. Be warned, it starts out slowly, but gets quite fun after you get to know the systems after about an hour in. While I did make it to the last boss, I died and never went back to finished it. The gameplay loop and dynamic levels were solid though. The slight upgrades and different classes during each run were interesting and kept me going for a while. The most frustrating time I had was learning the little tips, tricks and finer gameplay points, but it was worth the push through that initial rough patch.
   
9. Resident Evil 4 $39.99 Quest My quick take: One of the best games in VR. A must own. From the store page: “Explore the world of Resident Evil 4, entirely remastered for VR. Step into the shoes of special agent Leon S. Kennedy on his mission to rescue the U.S. President’s daughter who was kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Come face to face with enemies, and uncover secrets with gameplay that revolutionized the survival horror genre. Battle horrific creatures and face-off against mind-controlled villagers while discovering their connection to the cult behind the abduction.” I forgot so much about this game from when I first played it 18 years ago on the GameCube. The long length, fun characters and how exciting the gun play is, all just came together perfectly. The development team spent a ton of time getting the VR feeling just right, and it’s absolutely one of the best on the Quest and well worth the price of entry. Additionally, once you play through the game the first time it really changes from survival horror to a whole new type of game action game. Simply outstanding.
   
10. Mini Golf Hustler Free Quest My quick take: Early days in development. Some good ideas, but a bit too rough around the edges. From the store page: “Challenge Slick Willie Puttman in this FREE nine hole demo of Mini Golf Hustler. Hazards include armed torpedoes, tentacled arms, ornery tikis and more! Multiple betting games, including skins, match play and the fearsome traveling snake. All played at the same time.” I thought I’d check out another mini golf game to see what other ideas there might be outside of the king - Walkabout Mini Golf. While there were some solid ideas for holes, the betting felt uneven, and everything else felt in their very early stages. To be fair, no other mini golf game feels even close to the accuracy of Walkabout, so I think it’s a tough go for any other games to match. It's probably best to stick with the champ for now, but I applaud the dev for trying something different.
    
11. Pin City Free Quest (open beta on Discord) / Steam My quick take: Early days, but wow, worth a download and one to watch in the future. From the store page: "Pin City is a bowling game unlike any other bowling game you’ve played before. We strove to bring the spirit of mini-golf into the world of bowling. We’ve taken the standard bowling setup (straight lane, 10 pins, 1 ball) and expanded, transformed, and evolved it. We wanted to give people a chance to bowl in ways that would be impossible, illegal, or extremely impractical.” An early alpha game, but boy, what a great start, I’m really looking forward to the team getting the physics feeling right with weight and feel of the bowling balls and seeing how much more gameplay they can add. Really worth the download or heading over to their Discord to get a Quest key for free to try it out. The quirky bowling, physics and gameplay they're experimenting with really got me excited to see how this one comes together in the next several months.
    
12. Mash Me Up Free Quest My quick take: Please devs, add more multiplayer support! From the store page: “Do you want to play party games with your friends or meet someone new? All is just one button press away with Mash Me Up. One button, multiple games. Will it be Air Hockey, Pier Pong, Flingball, or… Get ready for a surprise! Press, Play, Enjoy and Go Again!” If this game got a bit more development love it would be incredible. As it stands now, there are several mini games you can play against one person. Most are just okay, but a handful are real gems, and one particularly is incredible - Geo Guesser. Hands down the best mini game in the pack. With four, or six players and some new content, they could easily charge for just this one game. As it stands now, it’s a great two player game, but you’ll need to bring your own friend as the servers are pretty barren. Worth a download though for sure as you’ll get a night of fun out of it.
    
13. THZZLS - Treasures Lost In Time $4.99 Quest My quick take: A unique puzzler that can be pretty relaxing, but repetitive. From the store page: “Our first THZZLE is called "Der Bazar", the world's first VR toy theatre puzzle game. The Bazar is a VR puzzle game where you have to place furniture and props in the right places in old-fashioned rooms according to an old picture you see. The game is set in 19th century Germany and each room has objects taken from the German lifestyle magazine "Der Bazar", published in Berlin.” This one used to be free, with paid content, but it has since changed as they added more content. You recreate a scene with cutouts of people and furniture in a 3D space. It seemed to have endless puzzles with randomization of scenes. I could see someone going to this for a relaxing 10-15 minutes, but it is a lot of the same each time and didn’t grab me fully. If you’re looking for a puzzle game that’s outside of the usual ones you find in the store, it’s not a bad choice for the price. Keep in mind though its hand tracking only, so for some that may be a non starter, even though it felt just fine.
    
14. Barbaria $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: What I imagine Gorn is like with a solid game loop of RTS. From the store page: “Do you have what it takes to be the Mightiest in Barbaria? Welcome to a brutal world where visceral motion-controlled combat blends seamlessly with god-scale base-building and asynchronous multiplayer raids. Use fists, axes, swords, bows, rocks, or anything you can grab to dominate your foes in intense 1st-person combat. Then jump out to your immortal form and watch your minions carry on the battle while you rain down meteors from above. Systemic combat, versatile enemy AI, and player-created defenses make every battle unique.” I recognize there is a lot here to do in this game - if you like the game loop. Unfortunately, it really didn’t do much for me. I was expecting more RTS than Gorn style gameplay and was not pulled in by the fighting or quests offered. I have to say that the humor was spot on, and it certainly had good visuals, the game was just not for me. All that being said, there is a lot of content here and you could be playing this for quite some time if you think this could be your jam.
    
15. Toy Monsters Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: Plants vs Zombies in AR with hand tracking that does enough unique stuff to be worth it. From the store page: “Toy Monsters VR is a mixed-reality tabletop tower defense inspired by classic Plants vs Zombies. Built from the ground up with hand tracking and passthrough in mind. As you progress through the 20 levels, you'll unlock new toys with unique special powers. You can enhance your toys with magical potions and use crystal power to unleash magic beams from your hands, transform your fingers into flamethrowers, and more.” This game has come a long way since its initial release. It’s a solid hand tracking Plants vs. Zombies game with its own twist on powers and uses passthrough quite nicely. My biggest complaint is that you really need to complete the game all in one go (about an hour or so) as it doesn’t keep track of your upgrades if you quit. Essentially, trying to pass a later level without prior upgrades or powerups is near impossible. Despite that one issue, give at least the demo a try and if you like it, the price is pretty fair for what you get.
    
16. Exit Condition One Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: A bit rough around the edges, but escape room fans will find fun with it. From the store page: “You awake from cryo in a mysterious museum. A robot refers to you as a curator and the security system is malfunctioning. Can you get things back to normal and escape? There are no jump scares. The game is designed ground-up for roomscale VR on the Quest, but supports all locomotion modes. Most objects can be interacted with, it fully uses physics, and the hands don't ‘ghost out.’” According to the description, this is still a work in progress. That being said, it was a neat escape game that I felt I got my money’s worth from. It certainly was a bit rough around the edges with its gameplay and had some obscure puzzles to work through, but I did finish it and had a good time with it. Try the demo for sure, and perhaps when it’s finally finished, some of those rough edges will be polished up, but as it stands now, it was pretty solid.
    
17. Hyperdash Free Quest / Steam My quick take: A solid online shooter, but you'll have to put in the time to get good to find the fun. From the store page: “Hyper Dash is a free VR multiplayer team based shooter. Payload, Domination, Control Point, (Team) Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Elimination, Ball and remix them with Mutators! Dash, sprint, and rail grind your way across the arenas to engage the enemy in fast-paced combat and secure the objective for your team. Offline mode/Bots, Dedicated servers, Private servers, Rebind-able controls, Left hand support, Voice chat.” For a free to play shooter, this one had great controls, nice graphics, a good gameplay loop, plenty of comfort options and a solid player base. All that being said, every player I faced off against were top tier, so I spent my time just dying round after round. This is a good game with a solid player base and there's fun here - if you’re willing to learn the ropes. It's bad for newbies like me just looking to have a good time and get a few kills.
    
18. Please, Don’t Touch Anything $9.99 Quest / $4.99 Steam My quick take: A game for escape room devotees only. From the store page: "Please, Don’t Touch Anything is a cryptic, brain-racking button-pushing puzzle game. Covering for a colleague taking a bathroom break, you find yourself in front of a mysterious console with a green screen monitor showing a pixelated live image of an unknown city. Also present is an ominous red button with the simple instruction to not touch anything! Push the red button once or press it many times. Your choices and actions will lead to outrageous and frightening consequences and over 30 unique puzzle endings.” This is a weird one. A really obscure puzzle game that rewards experimentation, but is absolutely punishing with difficulty. If you’re really good at escape games and don’t get frustrated easily, you may enjoy the tedium. If not, you’ll end up like me, watching a tutorial to find out how to get different endings. But if you find yourself doing that, why not just watch a playthrough.
    
19. Eleven Table Tennis $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Still one of the best, but there’s so much untapped potential. From the store page: “The ultimate Table Tennis simulator. Play opponents in online multiplayer or practice against the advanced AI. With physics designed to be as real as ever achieved in a Table Tennis simulator, you will forget you are in VR." I finally got back to this game after the new UI was implemented. It looks much more user friendly, but much to my disappointment, there were no new arenas, music, or official doubles options. There is so much potential for expanding this game, and I feel like the devs are just content to have it remain in the state it currently is. Which, to be fair, is a perfect implementation of table tennis in VR. It’s still one of the best VR games out there and absolutely a must own. I just really wish they would add an officially supported doubles mode and expand out the game a bit more because the unofficial doubles mode is a real pain to get set up and only barely worth the struggle. If you'd like to see how to set that doubles up currently, here is a video I was a part of.
    
20. Breachers $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Come one, come all, this is 5 v 5 at its finest. From the store page: “In Breachers, you plan your assault or orchestrate your defense as a team through intense close-quarters combat. Whether you play as an enforcer or a revolter, master your nifty gadgetry, customize your powerful weaponry and beat your opponents in stunning environments. Intuitive to grasp. Endlessly playable.” Wow, wow, wow. This officially launched and is such a polished game. With multiple maps, intuitive movement and full lobbies, this game is simply spectacular. Despite the difficulty curve in being good at the game, it’s still a fun time even if you’re not the best, which is something special that few games manage to pull off. Where this game especially shines is with friends. If you can muster up a team of five to take on other random players, you’ll be playing this game for months. Give this a go, and if you're not any good, that's okay, because you'll still be better than the bots and a welcome addition to someone's team.
    
21. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Outcast (Sidequest mod) Free Demo on Quest / $9.99 (Full Game on Steam) My quick take: Come for the lightsaber play, stay if you can tolerate the puzzles. From the store page: “JK XR is a standalone VR port of the popular Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast game by Lucasarts and Raven Software. Brought to VR by Team Beef & Friends. There are lots of mods and access to the free demo level available through the JK XR Companion App, which is automatically also installed alongside JK XR on your headset.” I never played this game when it first came out on flatscreen in 2002, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first part of the game you’re playing essentially as a Han Solo type - a smart talkin’ gun slinger. The next part, you’re a cool Jedi chopping off limbs. Absolutely great execution as always by Team Beef, and you can’t beat the price. There is even a free demo to try out to see if you like it. All that being said, the game’s old puzzles, navigation and gameplay felt every bit of 20 years old. After dying multiple times because of missing an exact jump, getting lost and backtracking because I didn't see an obscure elevator and wasting time trying to navigate odd puzzles, I just found it to be too much to overcome to continue to the end. This is no slight on Team Beef and the great work they did with this port, the game just hasn’t aged the best.
    
22. CoasterMania $9.99 Quest My quick take: Early days, but still some fun to be had. There could be something special here after a few updates. From the store page: “CoasterMania is a physics-based VR rollercoaster game where you create the ride of your life! Use wacky contraptions and elements to fly through the sky, then experience your creation by jumping in the front seat. Sandbox mode: Build your dream rollercoaster without any rules but the rules of physics. When you're done, share your coaster or experience the engineering marvels of others. Design your own rides and upload them online.” You know, this game is just silly fun. It's early days for sure, and the tracks don't twist and come together as easily together as I’d hoped, which makes for a difficult time creating exactly what you want. It is satisfying though to have a roller coaster leap from one track to another over a gap. At this point the game is more of a sandbox than a full game with objectives (which is coming). The coasters other people have created are fun, so if you’re not into creating, there is that option to play with other people's designs, plus you can ride them in first person. I look forward to more updates and think it's worth looking at for sure, but if you’re looking for something a bit more fleshed out currently you can try Stunt Track Builder.
    
23. David Slade Mysteries: Case Files $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: You’re a forensic cop, here are your tools. Good luck dummy. From the store page: “Take to the dark and violent streets of downtown Riverside, where you investigate gruesome and violent homicides using a range of Forensic tools and your wits! Inspired by the classic Police Quest adventure series, reborn & reimagined for VR. Includes two epic episodes!” Slade is a murder mystery game that is ruthless in it’s difficulty. Honestly, there are several play throughs of this game on YouTube and none have beaten the first case because it was too hard, they all gave up. This game offers no hints, is super abstract and insanely difficult. Why did I keep playing? Well, the game’s tools were implemented quite well, the story was compelling, and I just felt I had to see this through to the end for my own sanity. Despite being as hard as nails, I somehow managed to finish the first case, then moved on to the second. No real spoilers, but the second case does a complete 180 and essentially becomes a horror game where you’re only weapon is your wits. A real departure from the first case. Again, I found myself frustrated, confused and turned around, but again, I had to power through it because something kept pulling me in. If you’re a masochist for puzzle games, I’d recommend this game.
    
24. Home Detective Free w/IAP - Quest My quick take: Fun use of AR, but pretty basic. From the store page: “Use your own living room to solve the crime! Using passthrough, the crime scene is overlaid onto your play area, leaving you free to explore and find clues. Use the patent-pending Residual Heat Scanner to detect the criminals' recent movements, and then dust for fingerprints or try to find evidence left behind. With your wits, and your trusty sidekick Steve Dobbins' snarky comments, you're sure to get to the bottom of these confusing crimes.” I appreciate the interesting use of passthrough and AR in this game. The first case is free to try, so if you’re into AR and passthrough, it’s worth a try. It's $3.99 for another case if you’re into it, but right now, it’s a pretty basic, but solid idea. My biggest complaint is that all my tools were on a shelf that was inaccessible because they were in my wall. I guess AR is still not quite there yet.
    
25. Vertigo Remastered $24.99 Steam My quick take: A fun and wacky ride from start to finish. From the store page: “It's a classic premise - a massive subterranean scientific facility full of mysteries, with aliens bursting in from alternate universes to wreak havoc. The twist? You're one of those aliens. But you're not here to wreak havoc (collateral damage disregarded), you're just trying to get home. A difficult endeavor, as it turns out this facility is more than prepared to deal with extraterrestrial threats.” Because I heard such great things about Vertigo 2, I thought I’d try out this game before I played the sequel. I was really blown away by how fun the game was and pleasantly surprised that it holds up so well. Considering its a 2016 remake, and VR was still figuring out a lot of things like movement, this still felt fresh. With lots of unique ideas, upgrades and areas to play in, I heartily recommend this one and am looking forward to playing the sequel.
    
26. Playin’ Pickleball $19.99 Quest My quick take: Solid physics, but really only for pickleball fans, or a group of four friends. From the store page: “Playin’ Pickleball is an authentic reproduction of Pickleball in Virtual Reality! Physics, sounds and mechanics have been carefully mapped from actual Pickleball game play. Even the scoring and rules are based on the USA Pickleball Association’s Official Rulebook.” Pickleball is sweeping the nation and if I recall correctly, even ForeVR is getting in on the game with an upcoming title. I’m much more of a tennis than pickleball guy, but I have to say, this game has pretty solid physics. Like most games, this is exponentially better with one or better yet, three other people you know. The AI players can be pretty uninteresting hitting it back and forth without much variance. Also the environments are a bit basic. I have to applaud the movement, physics and customizable items though as they all felt very well implemented. If you want something a bit less daunting than tennis, this might be what you're looking for.
    
27. Pong $6.99 Quest My quick take: A neat take on Pong, but you’ll have more fun with Cybrix. From the store page: “Classic paddle game reimagined for VR. Destroy all the bricks. Use your paddles to swing at the balls and the balls have built-in assistance to return back toward you. Take advantage of the pistol and magneto power-ups to cause major damage. Or just swing hard at the balls to create large blast radius. Oh and watch out for those mines going for your head. Lean left/right or crouch to avoid.” I appreciated the ideas the developers had in this modern take on Pong, but it was ultimately quite short and not nearly as fun as Cybrix. That being said for the price, I got my money’s worth and would love to see it get a bit more polish and levels in an update.
    
28. Extreme Escape $4.99 Quest / Steam (Early Access) My quick take: One of those special games where you really feel like you're in the environment. From the store page: “Have you ever wondered how it would feel to travel in a hot air balloon and fly above clouds? Have you ever wanted to face your fear of heights and enclosed spaces? Perhaps you wanted to become a pilot and test your critical thinking skills. Looking for a breathtaking experience? Try Extreme Escape.” The game says “early access,” but honestly I believe this has been abandoned. For the price, you get an extremely short, but fun and unique escape room experience. You’re not going to find this game too hard, but I was brought into its world and completely immersed - I had a true sense of dread and panic. The even shorter “demo” inside the game puts you on a sinking submarine and was extremely memorable. Seldom have I felt so immersed in a game. I’d recommend it for this price, just because of how it made me feel, but it’s a real shame about the very short length and that it’s abandoned.
    
29. The Last Worker $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Gaming with a heavy message, but mediocre gameplay. From the store page: “The Last Worker is an immersive narrative adventure centered around a lone worker’s last stand in an increasingly automated world, The Last Worker is a unique blend of work simulation and stealth strategic gameplay. The game is set in a lonely, oppressive but strangely beautiful environment, with characters designed by comics legend Mick McMahon. Kurt works for the world’s largest retailer and is forced to choose between capitalism or activism. Having dedicated his life to work, Kurt’s loyalty is put to the test when a group of activists ask him to dismantle Jüngle from the inside.” I really wanted to like this game. It had an interesting concept, but navigating, fail states and some very annoying bugs frustrated me to the point where I just said it wasn’t worth my time. That and the story wasn’t speaking to me. It’s well rated, so I’m probably on the opposite side of this one from most people. It's unique in many ways, so check out the teaser and see if it might be for you.
    
30. Shadow Point $19.99 Quest My quick take: Fisherman’s Tale vibes with an excellent story and puzzles that makes you feel smart. From the store page: “Built for VR, Shadow Point is a story-driven puzzle game set between a mountaintop observatory and an ever-changing fantasy world. Explore a vibrant kingdom, cast shadows and solve mind-bending puzzles as you uncover the mystery of missing schoolgirl, Lorna McCabe who vanished from Shadow Point Observatory twelve years ago. As your adventure unfolds, you will manipulate gravity, play with your own reflection, walk on walls, peer through a magical lens to reveal an alternate reality and much more.” I had this game on my wishlist forever and finally pulled the trigger, and boy am I glad I did. I really enjoyed the story, gameplay and ended up marathoning it in one session (which I don't recommend doing). It is a few hours long, and there are extra puzzles to go back to if you’d like. It had some serious Fisherman’s Tale vibes, so if you like those type of puzzle games, this is for you. The puzzles make you stop and think, and more importantly, progress nicely. I was never stuck, but certainly had to really contemplate how to solve some of them. It is slightly finicky with having to line up the shadows exactly to progress, but that is a minor complaint. Give this one a go for sure.
    

I hope you find a few games on this list that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know here or on the Ruff Talk Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
Also, the week this is posted, I'm hosting a contest where one winner gets a $29.99 or less, Quest game of their choice. You can enter on the discord channel above, but will need to have five posts on the discord channel within a week to enter, so if that interests you, feel free to join. The Ruff Talk guys usually have giveaways every week and it's some solid VR chat if you're looking for like-minded individuals in a non-toxic space.
TLDR: Top five games to check out - Ark and Ade, Pin City, Breachers, Shadow Point, Vertigo Remastered

I'm keeping track of all the VR games I’ve played this year to catalogue them in hopes that they may give fellow VR gamers some fresh games to try out, or reasons to revisit older games that have had big updates. I'm currently up to 52 different VR games played this year. The first 22 that I played from January to March can be found here. The latest 30 games are mostly on the Quest, but many are available on PCVR.
Some of the games listed below, I can see playing all year long, others are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 30 games I’ve played during April and May of 2023.
TLDR: My top 5 games to check out are at the bottom and so is some info for a game giveaway.
​

1. ARK and ADE $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A fun shooter with Pistol Whip vibes that is absolutely worth the price of admission. From the store page: “ARK and ADE is an action-jammed FPS shooter in which you get to experience the glory of the 80’s arcade era in a neon fused setting. Shoot your way through retro-futuristic levels filled with enemies, iconic over the top bosses and never ending bullets!” I played this game back when it was in App Lab before it graduated to the full store. It was such a fun shooter back then, and I’d look forward to new levels coming out every few months. Now that it made it out of app lab, has a bunch of levels and had the gameplay polished, it’s absolutely worth a pickup, especially for that price.
   
2. Project Third Eye $9.99 Quest My quick take: A game where you make your own fun. From the store page: “Project Third Eye is an action physics sandbox with a built-in visual scripting panel to apply logic to spawnable items. This allows you to build your own modifications to the game and customize behaviors as you like.” Just like the description says, this is more of a proof of concept and sandbox game more so than a full fledged game with objectives. There are certainly neat ideas here and there, and the dev is really active with updates on Reddit. If you like to experiment and see how concepts develop in a game, you may enjoy this, but there’s no real direction beyond experimenting, so I dropped off fairly quickly.
   
3. Jousting VR Demo $9.99 Quest / Steam Quest Demo My quick take: A bit light on gameplay, but there is some charm here. From the store page: “XIII century, Europe, royal market courtyard. You are a knight who joined the medieval tournament. Your task is 'simple.' Jump on your trusty steed, grab your lance & defeat the enemy. Take into consideration speed, accuracy, strength. Equipment is also important. The better gear the easier the task. Oh, and other knights - they want to win as much as you do.” As advertised, it's a jousting game in VR. I enjoyed the demo, but honestly it was a bit too finicky at times and just not worth a full buy to me. The atmosphere was fun though and there was a progression loop for those who get into it.
   
4. Demeo $39.99 Quest and Steam (flatscreen as well) My quick take: This is a great game that I revisited from start to finish with four players. A must own. From the store page: “Adventurers, it’s time to unite! Gather your friends and fight monsters in Demeo, the turn-based tabletop strategy game of battle and glory. Roll dice, pick up miniatures, and free the world of Gilmerra in round after round of tabletop board game fun. With a huge assortment of monsters, playable classes, and environments to explore, it’s never the same game twice." I finally got a chance to play through the entirety of the game in VR with four friends, through each world, while trying a variety of characters. We even made a video ranking the best players and levels. It really is a solid dungeon crawling adventure. With 2 or more friends, this game really shines and is such a fun ride, despite how punishing the bosses can be. This is the closest you can get to D&D in VR without having a dungeon master. Well worth the asking price.
   
5. Build and Drive Racing Demo Free Quest / Steam My quick take: Early days in development, maybe something to keep an eye on to see how it improves. From the store page: "Get ready for a new experience on Windows desktop and VR, where you get to build your ultimate racing machine, tailored to your driving style and optimized for performance, or race to the finish line with a monster what makes you smile. With stylised graphics and arcade-like physics, every turn, straightway and ramp will put your skills to the test. Feel the thrill of the race like never before in VR, as you immerse yourself counting the seconds on the home stretch." An early demo that has seen some updates. Maybe worth looking at in a few months after a bit more development. I did like what I saw, but honestly, if you’re looking for a finished racing game, try Mini Motor Racing X instead or some of the other heavier PCVR games available.
   
6. Les Mills Body Combat $29.99 Quest My quick take: No subscriptions, great coaches and fun workouts that will make you sweat. From the store page: “Work out at home with a premium fitness app. LES MILLS, the world's leading fitness company, brings the BODYCOMBAT experience to your VR headset with an extensive workout portfolio, top-quality coaching, innovative mechanics, and different intensities.” With no subscriptions or hidden fees, lots of workouts, motivating coaches and the ability to compete with friends on leaderboards, this really is a dynamite workout app. I was working up a good sweat during my workouts, so be sure you have good facial insert and a fan ready. Highly recommended if you want a workout in VR for just the price of entry.
   
7. Interkosmos 2000 $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A difficult puzzle game, but rewarding if you have the patience. From the store page: “Go to space. Save the Future. Try not to Die. Welcome (back) to the world of Interkosmos for an even wilder, weirder and more wondrous adventure. Experience the intense exhilaration of spaceflight. Explore the awe-inspiring interiors of a realistic space capsule. Master the crucial systems that will keep you in orbit (and breathing). And while you’re at it, try your best not to die. Should you complete your mission, you just might save the future – and yourself. Should you fail? Let’s not think about that.” An intense puzzle game where you’re piloting a space ship with some very finicky controls. I found the experience way too difficult and exacting. Along with a bit of bugginess, that didn’t help in me determining if the error was my fault or the game's. If you have the patience, there certainly is some rewarding gameplay here, and an interesting story, but I found it all a bit too much to see to the end.
   
8. The Light Brigade $24.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: In a world of rougelikes, this is one that stands out. From the store page: “As a member of The Light Brigade, humanity’s last line of defense, brave ruins bathed in darkness and free the trapped souls who need the salvation only your gun can provide. Shoot, master spells, and upgrade your capabilities to herald the Sun’s return in this roguelike VR shooter.” There’s quite a lot of rouge shooters on Quest and despite the plethora of choices, this one stands out. Be warned, it starts out slowly, but gets quite fun after you get to know the systems after about an hour in. While I did make it to the last boss, I died and never went back to finished it. The gameplay loop and dynamic levels were solid though. The slight upgrades and different classes during each run were interesting and kept me going for a while. The most frustrating time I had was learning the little tips, tricks and finer gameplay points, but it was worth the push through that initial rough patch.
   
9. Resident Evil 4 $39.99 Quest My quick take: One of the best games in VR. A must own. From the store page: “Explore the world of Resident Evil 4, entirely remastered for VR. Step into the shoes of special agent Leon S. Kennedy on his mission to rescue the U.S. President’s daughter who was kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Come face to face with enemies, and uncover secrets with gameplay that revolutionized the survival horror genre. Battle horrific creatures and face-off against mind-controlled villagers while discovering their connection to the cult behind the abduction.” I forgot so much about this game from when I first played it 18 years ago on the GameCube. The long length, fun characters and how exciting the gun play is, all just came together perfectly. The development team spent a ton of time getting the VR feeling just right, and it’s absolutely one of the best on the Quest and well worth the price of entry. Additionally, once you play through the game the first time it really changes from survival horror to a whole new type of game action game. Simply outstanding.
   
10. Mini Golf Hustler Free Quest My quick take: Early days in development. Some good ideas, but a bit too rough around the edges. From the store page: “Challenge Slick Willie Puttman in this FREE nine hole demo of Mini Golf Hustler. Hazards include armed torpedoes, tentacled arms, ornery tikis and more! Multiple betting games, including skins, match play and the fearsome traveling snake. All played at the same time.” I thought I’d check out another mini golf game to see what other ideas there might be outside of the king - Walkabout Mini Golf. While there were some solid ideas for holes, the betting felt uneven, and everything else felt in their very early stages. To be fair, no other mini golf game feels even close to the accuracy of Walkabout, so I think it’s a tough go for any other games to match. It's probably best to stick with the champ for now, but I applaud the dev for trying something different.
    
11. Pin City Free Quest (open beta on Discord) / Steam My quick take: Early days, but wow, worth a download and one to watch in the future. From the store page: "Pin City is a bowling game unlike any other bowling game you’ve played before. We strove to bring the spirit of mini-golf into the world of bowling. We’ve taken the standard bowling setup (straight lane, 10 pins, 1 ball) and expanded, transformed, and evolved it. We wanted to give people a chance to bowl in ways that would be impossible, illegal, or extremely impractical.” An early alpha game, but boy, what a great start, I’m really looking forward to the team getting the physics feeling right with weight and feel of the bowling balls and seeing how much more gameplay they can add. Really worth the download or heading over to their Discord to get a Quest key for free to try it out. The quirky bowling, physics and gameplay they're experimenting with really got me excited to see how this one comes together in the next several months.
    
12. Mash Me Up Free Quest My quick take: Please devs, add more multiplayer support! From the store page: “Do you want to play party games with your friends or meet someone new? All is just one button press away with Mash Me Up. One button, multiple games. Will it be Air Hockey, Pier Pong, Flingball, or… Get ready for a surprise! Press, Play, Enjoy and Go Again!” If this game got a bit more development love it would be incredible. As it stands now, there are several mini games you can play against one person. Most are just okay, but a handful are real gems, and one particularly is incredible - Geo Guesser. Hands down the best mini game in the pack. With four, or six players and some new content, they could easily charge for just this one game. As it stands now, it’s a great two player game, but you’ll need to bring your own friend as the servers are pretty barren. Worth a download though for sure as you’ll get a night of fun out of it.
    
13. THZZLS - Treasures Lost In Time $4.99 Quest My quick take: A unique puzzler that can be pretty relaxing, but repetitive. From the store page: “Our first THZZLE is called "Der Bazar", the world's first VR toy theatre puzzle game. The Bazar is a VR puzzle game where you have to place furniture and props in the right places in old-fashioned rooms according to an old picture you see. The game is set in 19th century Germany and each room has objects taken from the German lifestyle magazine "Der Bazar", published in Berlin.” This one used to be free, with paid content, but it has since changed as they added more content. You recreate a scene with cutouts of people and furniture in a 3D space. It seemed to have endless puzzles with randomization of scenes. I could see someone going to this for a relaxing 10-15 minutes, but it is a lot of the same each time and didn’t grab me fully. If you’re looking for a puzzle game that’s outside of the usual ones you find in the store, it’s not a bad choice for the price. Keep in mind though its hand tracking only, so for some that may be a non starter, even though it felt just fine.
    
14. Barbaria $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: What I imagine Gorn is like with a solid game loop of RTS. From the store page: “Do you have what it takes to be the Mightiest in Barbaria? Welcome to a brutal world where visceral motion-controlled combat blends seamlessly with god-scale base-building and asynchronous multiplayer raids. Use fists, axes, swords, bows, rocks, or anything you can grab to dominate your foes in intense 1st-person combat. Then jump out to your immortal form and watch your minions carry on the battle while you rain down meteors from above. Systemic combat, versatile enemy AI, and player-created defenses make every battle unique.” I recognize there is a lot here to do in this game - if you like the game loop. Unfortunately, it really didn’t do much for me. I was expecting more RTS than Gorn style gameplay and was not pulled in by the fighting or quests offered. I have to say that the humor was spot on, and it certainly had good visuals, the game was just not for me. All that being said, there is a lot of content here and you could be playing this for quite some time if you think this could be your jam.
    
15. Toy Monsters Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: Plants vs Zombies in AR with hand tracking that does enough unique stuff to be worth it. From the store page: “Toy Monsters VR is a mixed-reality tabletop tower defense inspired by classic Plants vs Zombies. Built from the ground up with hand tracking and passthrough in mind. As you progress through the 20 levels, you'll unlock new toys with unique special powers. You can enhance your toys with magical potions and use crystal power to unleash magic beams from your hands, transform your fingers into flamethrowers, and more.” This game has come a long way since its initial release. It’s a solid hand tracking Plants vs. Zombies game with its own twist on powers and uses passthrough quite nicely. My biggest complaint is that you really need to complete the game all in one go (about an hour or so) as it doesn’t keep track of your upgrades if you quit. Essentially, trying to pass a later level without prior upgrades or powerups is near impossible. Despite that one issue, give at least the demo a try and if you like it, the price is pretty fair for what you get.
    
16. Exit Condition One Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: A bit rough around the edges, but escape room fans will find fun with it. From the store page: “You awake from cryo in a mysterious museum. A robot refers to you as a curator and the security system is malfunctioning. Can you get things back to normal and escape? There are no jump scares. The game is designed ground-up for roomscale VR on the Quest, but supports all locomotion modes. Most objects can be interacted with, it fully uses physics, and the hands don't ‘ghost out.’” According to the description, this is still a work in progress. That being said, it was a neat escape game that I felt I got my money’s worth from. It certainly was a bit rough around the edges with its gameplay and had some obscure puzzles to work through, but I did finish it and had a good time with it. Try the demo for sure, and perhaps when it’s finally finished, some of those rough edges will be polished up, but as it stands now, it was pretty solid.
    
17. Hyperdash Free Quest / Steam My quick take: A solid online shooter, but you'll have to put in the time to get good to find the fun. From the store page: “Hyper Dash is a free VR multiplayer team based shooter. Payload, Domination, Control Point, (Team) Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Elimination, Ball and remix them with Mutators! Dash, sprint, and rail grind your way across the arenas to engage the enemy in fast-paced combat and secure the objective for your team. Offline mode/Bots, Dedicated servers, Private servers, Rebind-able controls, Left hand support, Voice chat.” For a free to play shooter, this one had great controls, nice graphics, a good gameplay loop, plenty of comfort options and a solid player base. All that being said, every player I faced off against were top tier, so I spent my time just dying round after round. This is a good game with a solid player base and there's fun here - if you’re willing to learn the ropes. It's bad for newbies like me just looking to have a good time and get a few kills.
    
18. Please, Don’t Touch Anything $9.99 Quest / $4.99 Steam My quick take: A game for escape room devotees only. From the store page: "Please, Don’t Touch Anything is a cryptic, brain-racking button-pushing puzzle game. Covering for a colleague taking a bathroom break, you find yourself in front of a mysterious console with a green screen monitor showing a pixelated live image of an unknown city. Also present is an ominous red button with the simple instruction to not touch anything! Push the red button once or press it many times. Your choices and actions will lead to outrageous and frightening consequences and over 30 unique puzzle endings.” This is a weird one. A really obscure puzzle game that rewards experimentation, but is absolutely punishing with difficulty. If you’re really good at escape games and don’t get frustrated easily, you may enjoy the tedium. If not, you’ll end up like me, watching a tutorial to find out how to get different endings. But if you find yourself doing that, why not just watch a playthrough.
    
19. Eleven Table Tennis $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Still one of the best, but there’s so much untapped potential. From the store page: “The ultimate Table Tennis simulator. Play opponents in online multiplayer or practice against the advanced AI. With physics designed to be as real as ever achieved in a Table Tennis simulator, you will forget you are in VR." I finally got back to this game after the new UI was implemented. It looks much more user friendly, but much to my disappointment, there were no new arenas, music, or official doubles options. There is so much potential for expanding this game, and I feel like the devs are just content to have it remain in the state it currently is. Which, to be fair, is a perfect implementation of table tennis in VR. It’s still one of the best VR games out there and absolutely a must own. I just really wish they would add an officially supported doubles mode and expand out the game a bit more because the unofficial doubles mode is a real pain to get set up and only barely worth the struggle. If you'd like to see how to set that doubles up currently, here is a video I was a part of.
    
20. Breachers $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Come one, come all, this is 5 v 5 at its finest. From the store page: “In Breachers, you plan your assault or orchestrate your defense as a team through intense close-quarters combat. Whether you play as an enforcer or a revolter, master your nifty gadgetry, customize your powerful weaponry and beat your opponents in stunning environments. Intuitive to grasp. Endlessly playable.” Wow, wow, wow. This officially launched and is such a polished game. With multiple maps, intuitive movement and full lobbies, this game is simply spectacular. Despite the difficulty curve in being good at the game, it’s still a fun time even if you’re not the best, which is something special that few games manage to pull off. Where this game especially shines is with friends. If you can muster up a team of five to take on other random players, you’ll be playing this game for months. Give this a go, and if you're not any good, that's okay, because you'll still be better than the bots and a welcome addition to someone's team.
    
21. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Outcast (Sidequest mod) Free Demo on Quest / $9.99 (Full Game on Steam) My quick take: Come for the lightsaber play, stay if you can tolerate the puzzles. From the store page: “JK XR is a standalone VR port of the popular Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast game by Lucasarts and Raven Software. Brought to VR by Team Beef & Friends. There are lots of mods and access to the free demo level available through the JK XR Companion App, which is automatically also installed alongside JK XR on your headset.” I never played this game when it first came out on flatscreen in 2002, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first part of the game you’re playing essentially as a Han Solo type - a smart talkin’ gun slinger. The next part, you’re a cool Jedi chopping off limbs. Absolutely great execution as always by Team Beef, and you can’t beat the price. There is even a free demo to try out to see if you like it. All that being said, the game’s old puzzles, navigation and gameplay felt every bit of 20 years old. After dying multiple times because of missing an exact jump, getting lost and backtracking because I didn't see an obscure elevator and wasting time trying to navigate odd puzzles, I just found it to be too much to overcome to continue to the end. This is no slight on Team Beef and the great work they did with this port, the game just hasn’t aged the best.
    
22. CoasterMania $9.99 Quest My quick take: Early days, but still some fun to be had. There could be something special here after a few updates. From the store page: “CoasterMania is a physics-based VR rollercoaster game where you create the ride of your life! Use wacky contraptions and elements to fly through the sky, then experience your creation by jumping in the front seat. Sandbox mode: Build your dream rollercoaster without any rules but the rules of physics. When you're done, share your coaster or experience the engineering marvels of others. Design your own rides and upload them online.” You know, this game is just silly fun. It's early days for sure, and the tracks don't twist and come together as easily together as I’d hoped, which makes for a difficult time creating exactly what you want. It is satisfying though to have a roller coaster leap from one track to another over a gap. At this point the game is more of a sandbox than a full game with objectives (which is coming). The coasters other people have created are fun, so if you’re not into creating, there is that option to play with other people's designs, plus you can ride them in first person. I look forward to more updates and think it's worth looking at for sure, but if you’re looking for something a bit more fleshed out currently you can try Stunt Track Builder.
    
23. David Slade Mysteries: Case Files $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: You’re a forensic cop, here are your tools. Good luck dummy. From the store page: “Take to the dark and violent streets of downtown Riverside, where you investigate gruesome and violent homicides using a range of Forensic tools and your wits! Inspired by the classic Police Quest adventure series, reborn & reimagined for VR. Includes two epic episodes!” Slade is a murder mystery game that is ruthless in it’s difficulty. Honestly, there are several play throughs of this game on YouTube and none have beaten the first case because it was too hard, they all gave up. This game offers no hints, is super abstract and insanely difficult. Why did I keep playing? Well, the game’s tools were implemented quite well, the story was compelling, and I just felt I had to see this through to the end for my own sanity. Despite being as hard as nails, I somehow managed to finish the first case, then moved on to the second. No real spoilers, but the second case does a complete 180 and essentially becomes a horror game where you’re only weapon is your wits. A real departure from the first case. Again, I found myself frustrated, confused and turned around, but again, I had to power through it because something kept pulling me in. If you’re a masochist for puzzle games, I’d recommend this game.
    
24. Home Detective Free w/IAP - Quest My quick take: Fun use of AR, but pretty basic. From the store page: “Use your own living room to solve the crime! Using passthrough, the crime scene is overlaid onto your play area, leaving you free to explore and find clues. Use the patent-pending Residual Heat Scanner to detect the criminals' recent movements, and then dust for fingerprints or try to find evidence left behind. With your wits, and your trusty sidekick Steve Dobbins' snarky comments, you're sure to get to the bottom of these confusing crimes.” I appreciate the interesting use of passthrough and AR in this game. The first case is free to try, so if you’re into AR and passthrough, it’s worth a try. It's $3.99 for another case if you’re into it, but right now, it’s a pretty basic, but solid idea. My biggest complaint is that all my tools were on a shelf that was inaccessible because they were in my wall. I guess AR is still not quite there yet.
    
25. Vertigo Remastered $24.99 Steam My quick take: A fun and wacky ride from start to finish. From the store page: “It's a classic premise - a massive subterranean scientific facility full of mysteries, with aliens bursting in from alternate universes to wreak havoc. The twist? You're one of those aliens. But you're not here to wreak havoc (collateral damage disregarded), you're just trying to get home. A difficult endeavor, as it turns out this facility is more than prepared to deal with extraterrestrial threats.” Because I heard such great things about Vertigo 2, I thought I’d try out this game before I played the sequel. I was really blown away by how fun the game was and pleasantly surprised that it holds up so well. Considering its a 2016 remake, and VR was still figuring out a lot of things like movement, this still felt fresh. With lots of unique ideas, upgrades and areas to play in, I heartily recommend this one and am looking forward to playing the sequel.
    
26. Playin’ Pickleball $19.99 Quest My quick take: Solid physics, but really only for pickleball fans, or a group of four friends. From the store page: “Playin’ Pickleball is an authentic reproduction of Pickleball in Virtual Reality! Physics, sounds and mechanics have been carefully mapped from actual Pickleball game play. Even the scoring and rules are based on the USA Pickleball Association’s Official Rulebook.” Pickleball is sweeping the nation and if I recall correctly, even ForeVR is getting in on the game with an upcoming title. I’m much more of a tennis than pickleball guy, but I have to say, this game has pretty solid physics. Like most games, this is exponentially better with one or better yet, three other people you know. The AI players can be pretty uninteresting hitting it back and forth without much variance. Also the environments are a bit basic. I have to applaud the movement, physics and customizable items though as they all felt very well implemented. If you want something a bit less daunting than tennis, this might be what you're looking for.
    
27. Pong $6.99 Quest My quick take: A neat take on Pong, but you’ll have more fun with Cybrix. From the store page: “Classic paddle game reimagined for VR. Destroy all the bricks. Use your paddles to swing at the balls and the balls have built-in assistance to return back toward you. Take advantage of the pistol and magneto power-ups to cause major damage. Or just swing hard at the balls to create large blast radius. Oh and watch out for those mines going for your head. Lean left/right or crouch to avoid.” I appreciated the ideas the developers had in this modern take on Pong, but it was ultimately quite short and not nearly as fun as Cybrix. That being said for the price, I got my money’s worth and would love to see it get a bit more polish and levels in an update.
    
28. Extreme Escape $4.99 Quest / Steam (Early Access) My quick take: One of those special games where you really feel like you're in the environment. From the store page: “Have you ever wondered how it would feel to travel in a hot air balloon and fly above clouds? Have you ever wanted to face your fear of heights and enclosed spaces? Perhaps you wanted to become a pilot and test your critical thinking skills. Looking for a breathtaking experience? Try Extreme Escape.” The game says “early access,” but honestly I believe this has been abandoned. For the price, you get an extremely short, but fun and unique escape room experience. You’re not going to find this game too hard, but I was brought into its world and completely immersed - I had a true sense of dread and panic. The even shorter “demo” inside the game puts you on a sinking submarine and was extremely memorable. Seldom have I felt so immersed in a game. I’d recommend it for this price, just because of how it made me feel, but it’s a real shame about the very short length and that it’s abandoned.
    
29. The Last Worker $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Gaming with a heavy message, but mediocre gameplay. From the store page: “The Last Worker is an immersive narrative adventure centered around a lone worker’s last stand in an increasingly automated world, The Last Worker is a unique blend of work simulation and stealth strategic gameplay. The game is set in a lonely, oppressive but strangely beautiful environment, with characters designed by comics legend Mick McMahon. Kurt works for the world’s largest retailer and is forced to choose between capitalism or activism. Having dedicated his life to work, Kurt’s loyalty is put to the test when a group of activists ask him to dismantle Jüngle from the inside.” I really wanted to like this game. It had an interesting concept, but navigating, fail states and some very annoying bugs frustrated me to the point where I just said it wasn’t worth my time. That and the story wasn’t speaking to me. It’s well rated, so I’m probably on the opposite side of this one from most people. It's unique in many ways, so check out the teaser and see if it might be for you.
    
30. Shadow Point $19.99 Quest My quick take: Fisherman’s Tale vibes with an excellent story and puzzles that makes you feel smart. From the store page: “Built for VR, Shadow Point is a story-driven puzzle game set between a mountaintop observatory and an ever-changing fantasy world. Explore a vibrant kingdom, cast shadows and solve mind-bending puzzles as you uncover the mystery of missing schoolgirl, Lorna McCabe who vanished from Shadow Point Observatory twelve years ago. As your adventure unfolds, you will manipulate gravity, play with your own reflection, walk on walls, peer through a magical lens to reveal an alternate reality and much more.” I had this game on my wishlist forever and finally pulled the trigger, and boy am I glad I did. I really enjoyed the story, gameplay and ended up marathoning it in one session (which I don't recommend doing). It is a few hours long, and there are extra puzzles to go back to if you’d like. It had some serious Fisherman’s Tale vibes, so if you like those type of puzzle games, this is for you. The puzzles make you stop and think, and more importantly, progress nicely. I was never stuck, but certainly had to really contemplate how to solve some of them. It is slightly finicky with having to line up the shadows exactly to progress, but that is a minor complaint. Give this one a go for sure.
    

I hope you find a few games on this list that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know here or on the Ruff Talk Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
Also, the week this is posted, I'm hosting a contest where one winner gets a $29.99 or less, Quest game of their choice. You can enter on the discord channel above, but will need to have five posts on the discord channel within a week to enter, so if that interests you, feel free to join. The Ruff Talk guys usually have giveaways every week and it's some solid VR chat if you're looking for like-minded individuals in a non-toxic space.
TLDR: Top five games to check out - Ark and Ade, Pin City, Breachers, Shadow Point, Vertigo Remastered

I'm keeping track of all the VR games I’ve played this year to catalogue them in hopes that they may give fellow VR gamers some fresh games to try out, or reasons to revisit older games that have had big updates. I'm currently up to 52 different VR games played this year. The first 22 that I played from January to March can be found here. The latest 30 games are mostly on the Quest, but many are available on PCVR.
Some of the games listed below, I can see playing all year long, others are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 30 games I’ve played during April and May of 2023.
TLDR: My top 5 games to check out are at the bottom and so is some info for a game giveaway.
​

1. ARK and ADE $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A fun shooter with Pistol Whip vibes that is absolutely worth the price of admission. From the store page: “ARK and ADE is an action-jammed FPS shooter in which you get to experience the glory of the 80’s arcade era in a neon fused setting. Shoot your way through retro-futuristic levels filled with enemies, iconic over the top bosses and never ending bullets!” I played this game back when it was in App Lab before it graduated to the full store. It was such a fun shooter back then, and I’d look forward to new levels coming out every few months. Now that it made it out of app lab, has a bunch of levels and had the gameplay polished, it’s absolutely worth a pickup, especially for that price.
   
2. Project Third Eye $9.99 Quest My quick take: A game where you make your own fun. From the store page: “Project Third Eye is an action physics sandbox with a built-in visual scripting panel to apply logic to spawnable items. This allows you to build your own modifications to the game and customize behaviors as you like.” Just like the description says, this is more of a proof of concept and sandbox game more so than a full fledged game with objectives. There are certainly neat ideas here and there, and the dev is really active with updates on Reddit. If you like to experiment and see how concepts develop in a game, you may enjoy this, but there’s no real direction beyond experimenting, so I dropped off fairly quickly.
   
3. Jousting VR Demo $9.99 Quest / Steam Quest Demo My quick take: A bit light on gameplay, but there is some charm here. From the store page: “XIII century, Europe, royal market courtyard. You are a knight who joined the medieval tournament. Your task is 'simple.' Jump on your trusty steed, grab your lance & defeat the enemy. Take into consideration speed, accuracy, strength. Equipment is also important. The better gear the easier the task. Oh, and other knights - they want to win as much as you do.” As advertised, it's a jousting game in VR. I enjoyed the demo, but honestly it was a bit too finicky at times and just not worth a full buy to me. The atmosphere was fun though and there was a progression loop for those who get into it.
   
4. Demeo $39.99 Quest and Steam (flatscreen as well) My quick take: This is a great game that I revisited from start to finish with four players. A must own. From the store page: “Adventurers, it’s time to unite! Gather your friends and fight monsters in Demeo, the turn-based tabletop strategy game of battle and glory. Roll dice, pick up miniatures, and free the world of Gilmerra in round after round of tabletop board game fun. With a huge assortment of monsters, playable classes, and environments to explore, it’s never the same game twice." I finally got a chance to play through the entirety of the game in VR with four friends, through each world, while trying a variety of characters. We even made a video ranking the best players and levels. It really is a solid dungeon crawling adventure. With 2 or more friends, this game really shines and is such a fun ride, despite how punishing the bosses can be. This is the closest you can get to D&D in VR without having a dungeon master. Well worth the asking price.
   
5. Build and Drive Racing Demo Free Quest / Steam My quick take: Early days in development, maybe something to keep an eye on to see how it improves. From the store page: "Get ready for a new experience on Windows desktop and VR, where you get to build your ultimate racing machine, tailored to your driving style and optimized for performance, or race to the finish line with a monster what makes you smile. With stylised graphics and arcade-like physics, every turn, straightway and ramp will put your skills to the test. Feel the thrill of the race like never before in VR, as you immerse yourself counting the seconds on the home stretch." An early demo that has seen some updates. Maybe worth looking at in a few months after a bit more development. I did like what I saw, but honestly, if you’re looking for a finished racing game, try Mini Motor Racing X instead or some of the other heavier PCVR games available.
   
6. Les Mills Body Combat $29.99 Quest My quick take: No subscriptions, great coaches and fun workouts that will make you sweat. From the store page: “Work out at home with a premium fitness app. LES MILLS, the world's leading fitness company, brings the BODYCOMBAT experience to your VR headset with an extensive workout portfolio, top-quality coaching, innovative mechanics, and different intensities.” With no subscriptions or hidden fees, lots of workouts, motivating coaches and the ability to compete with friends on leaderboards, this really is a dynamite workout app. I was working up a good sweat during my workouts, so be sure you have good facial insert and a fan ready. Highly recommended if you want a workout in VR for just the price of entry.
   
7. Interkosmos 2000 $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A difficult puzzle game, but rewarding if you have the patience. From the store page: “Go to space. Save the Future. Try not to Die. Welcome (back) to the world of Interkosmos for an even wilder, weirder and more wondrous adventure. Experience the intense exhilaration of spaceflight. Explore the awe-inspiring interiors of a realistic space capsule. Master the crucial systems that will keep you in orbit (and breathing). And while you’re at it, try your best not to die. Should you complete your mission, you just might save the future – and yourself. Should you fail? Let’s not think about that.” An intense puzzle game where you’re piloting a space ship with some very finicky controls. I found the experience way too difficult and exacting. Along with a bit of bugginess, that didn’t help in me determining if the error was my fault or the game's. If you have the patience, there certainly is some rewarding gameplay here, and an interesting story, but I found it all a bit too much to see to the end.
   
8. The Light Brigade $24.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: In a world of rougelikes, this is one that stands out. From the store page: “As a member of The Light Brigade, humanity’s last line of defense, brave ruins bathed in darkness and free the trapped souls who need the salvation only your gun can provide. Shoot, master spells, and upgrade your capabilities to herald the Sun’s return in this roguelike VR shooter.” There’s quite a lot of rouge shooters on Quest and despite the plethora of choices, this one stands out. Be warned, it starts out slowly, but gets quite fun after you get to know the systems after about an hour in. While I did make it to the last boss, I died and never went back to finished it. The gameplay loop and dynamic levels were solid though. The slight upgrades and different classes during each run were interesting and kept me going for a while. The most frustrating time I had was learning the little tips, tricks and finer gameplay points, but it was worth the push through that initial rough patch.
   
9. Resident Evil 4 $39.99 Quest My quick take: One of the best games in VR. A must own. From the store page: “Explore the world of Resident Evil 4, entirely remastered for VR. Step into the shoes of special agent Leon S. Kennedy on his mission to rescue the U.S. President’s daughter who was kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Come face to face with enemies, and uncover secrets with gameplay that revolutionized the survival horror genre. Battle horrific creatures and face-off against mind-controlled villagers while discovering their connection to the cult behind the abduction.” I forgot so much about this game from when I first played it 18 years ago on the GameCube. The long length, fun characters and how exciting the gun play is, all just came together perfectly. The development team spent a ton of time getting the VR feeling just right, and it’s absolutely one of the best on the Quest and well worth the price of entry. Additionally, once you play through the game the first time it really changes from survival horror to a whole new type of game action game. Simply outstanding.
   
10. Mini Golf Hustler Free Quest My quick take: Early days in development. Some good ideas, but a bit too rough around the edges. From the store page: “Challenge Slick Willie Puttman in this FREE nine hole demo of Mini Golf Hustler. Hazards include armed torpedoes, tentacled arms, ornery tikis and more! Multiple betting games, including skins, match play and the fearsome traveling snake. All played at the same time.” I thought I’d check out another mini golf game to see what other ideas there might be outside of the king - Walkabout Mini Golf. While there were some solid ideas for holes, the betting felt uneven, and everything else felt in their very early stages. To be fair, no other mini golf game feels even close to the accuracy of Walkabout, so I think it’s a tough go for any other games to match. It's probably best to stick with the champ for now, but I applaud the dev for trying something different.
    
11. Pin City Free Quest (open beta on Discord) / Steam My quick take: Early days, but wow, worth a download and one to watch in the future. From the store page: "Pin City is a bowling game unlike any other bowling game you’ve played before. We strove to bring the spirit of mini-golf into the world of bowling. We’ve taken the standard bowling setup (straight lane, 10 pins, 1 ball) and expanded, transformed, and evolved it. We wanted to give people a chance to bowl in ways that would be impossible, illegal, or extremely impractical.” An early alpha game, but boy, what a great start, I’m really looking forward to the team getting the physics feeling right with weight and feel of the bowling balls and seeing how much more gameplay they can add. Really worth the download or heading over to their Discord to get a Quest key for free to try it out. The quirky bowling, physics and gameplay they're experimenting with really got me excited to see how this one comes together in the next several months.
    
12. Mash Me Up Free Quest My quick take: Please devs, add more multiplayer support! From the store page: “Do you want to play party games with your friends or meet someone new? All is just one button press away with Mash Me Up. One button, multiple games. Will it be Air Hockey, Pier Pong, Flingball, or… Get ready for a surprise! Press, Play, Enjoy and Go Again!” If this game got a bit more development love it would be incredible. As it stands now, there are several mini games you can play against one person. Most are just okay, but a handful are real gems, and one particularly is incredible - Geo Guesser. Hands down the best mini game in the pack. With four, or six players and some new content, they could easily charge for just this one game. As it stands now, it’s a great two player game, but you’ll need to bring your own friend as the servers are pretty barren. Worth a download though for sure as you’ll get a night of fun out of it.
    
13. THZZLS - Treasures Lost In Time $4.99 Quest My quick take: A unique puzzler that can be pretty relaxing, but repetitive. From the store page: “Our first THZZLE is called "Der Bazar", the world's first VR toy theatre puzzle game. The Bazar is a VR puzzle game where you have to place furniture and props in the right places in old-fashioned rooms according to an old picture you see. The game is set in 19th century Germany and each room has objects taken from the German lifestyle magazine "Der Bazar", published in Berlin.” This one used to be free, with paid content, but it has since changed as they added more content. You recreate a scene with cutouts of people and furniture in a 3D space. It seemed to have endless puzzles with randomization of scenes. I could see someone going to this for a relaxing 10-15 minutes, but it is a lot of the same each time and didn’t grab me fully. If you’re looking for a puzzle game that’s outside of the usual ones you find in the store, it’s not a bad choice for the price. Keep in mind though its hand tracking only, so for some that may be a non starter, even though it felt just fine.
    
14. Barbaria $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: What I imagine Gorn is like with a solid game loop of RTS. From the store page: “Do you have what it takes to be the Mightiest in Barbaria? Welcome to a brutal world where visceral motion-controlled combat blends seamlessly with god-scale base-building and asynchronous multiplayer raids. Use fists, axes, swords, bows, rocks, or anything you can grab to dominate your foes in intense 1st-person combat. Then jump out to your immortal form and watch your minions carry on the battle while you rain down meteors from above. Systemic combat, versatile enemy AI, and player-created defenses make every battle unique.” I recognize there is a lot here to do in this game - if you like the game loop. Unfortunately, it really didn’t do much for me. I was expecting more RTS than Gorn style gameplay and was not pulled in by the fighting or quests offered. I have to say that the humor was spot on, and it certainly had good visuals, the game was just not for me. All that being said, there is a lot of content here and you could be playing this for quite some time if you think this could be your jam.
    
15. Toy Monsters Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: Plants vs Zombies in AR with hand tracking that does enough unique stuff to be worth it. From the store page: “Toy Monsters VR is a mixed-reality tabletop tower defense inspired by classic Plants vs Zombies. Built from the ground up with hand tracking and passthrough in mind. As you progress through the 20 levels, you'll unlock new toys with unique special powers. You can enhance your toys with magical potions and use crystal power to unleash magic beams from your hands, transform your fingers into flamethrowers, and more.” This game has come a long way since its initial release. It’s a solid hand tracking Plants vs. Zombies game with its own twist on powers and uses passthrough quite nicely. My biggest complaint is that you really need to complete the game all in one go (about an hour or so) as it doesn’t keep track of your upgrades if you quit. Essentially, trying to pass a later level without prior upgrades or powerups is near impossible. Despite that one issue, give at least the demo a try and if you like it, the price is pretty fair for what you get.
    
16. Exit Condition One Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: A bit rough around the edges, but escape room fans will find fun with it. From the store page: “You awake from cryo in a mysterious museum. A robot refers to you as a curator and the security system is malfunctioning. Can you get things back to normal and escape? There are no jump scares. The game is designed ground-up for roomscale VR on the Quest, but supports all locomotion modes. Most objects can be interacted with, it fully uses physics, and the hands don't ‘ghost out.’” According to the description, this is still a work in progress. That being said, it was a neat escape game that I felt I got my money’s worth from. It certainly was a bit rough around the edges with its gameplay and had some obscure puzzles to work through, but I did finish it and had a good time with it. Try the demo for sure, and perhaps when it’s finally finished, some of those rough edges will be polished up, but as it stands now, it was pretty solid.
    
17. Hyperdash Free Quest / Steam My quick take: A solid online shooter, but you'll have to put in the time to get good to find the fun. From the store page: “Hyper Dash is a free VR multiplayer team based shooter. Payload, Domination, Control Point, (Team) Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Elimination, Ball and remix them with Mutators! Dash, sprint, and rail grind your way across the arenas to engage the enemy in fast-paced combat and secure the objective for your team. Offline mode/Bots, Dedicated servers, Private servers, Rebind-able controls, Left hand support, Voice chat.” For a free to play shooter, this one had great controls, nice graphics, a good gameplay loop, plenty of comfort options and a solid player base. All that being said, every player I faced off against were top tier, so I spent my time just dying round after round. This is a good game with a solid player base and there's fun here - if you’re willing to learn the ropes. It's bad for newbies like me just looking to have a good time and get a few kills.
    
18. Please, Don’t Touch Anything $9.99 Quest / $4.99 Steam My quick take: A game for escape room devotees only. From the store page: "Please, Don’t Touch Anything is a cryptic, brain-racking button-pushing puzzle game. Covering for a colleague taking a bathroom break, you find yourself in front of a mysterious console with a green screen monitor showing a pixelated live image of an unknown city. Also present is an ominous red button with the simple instruction to not touch anything! Push the red button once or press it many times. Your choices and actions will lead to outrageous and frightening consequences and over 30 unique puzzle endings.” This is a weird one. A really obscure puzzle game that rewards experimentation, but is absolutely punishing with difficulty. If you’re really good at escape games and don’t get frustrated easily, you may enjoy the tedium. If not, you’ll end up like me, watching a tutorial to find out how to get different endings. But if you find yourself doing that, why not just watch a playthrough.
    
19. Eleven Table Tennis $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Still one of the best, but there’s so much untapped potential. From the store page: “The ultimate Table Tennis simulator. Play opponents in online multiplayer or practice against the advanced AI. With physics designed to be as real as ever achieved in a Table Tennis simulator, you will forget you are in VR." I finally got back to this game after the new UI was implemented. It looks much more user friendly, but much to my disappointment, there were no new arenas, music, or official doubles options. There is so much potential for expanding this game, and I feel like the devs are just content to have it remain in the state it currently is. Which, to be fair, is a perfect implementation of table tennis in VR. It’s still one of the best VR games out there and absolutely a must own. I just really wish they would add an officially supported doubles mode and expand out the game a bit more because the unofficial doubles mode is a real pain to get set up and only barely worth the struggle. If you'd like to see how to set that doubles up currently, here is a video I was a part of.
    
20. Breachers $29.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Come one, come all, this is 5 v 5 at its finest. From the store page: “In Breachers, you plan your assault or orchestrate your defense as a team through intense close-quarters combat. Whether you play as an enforcer or a revolter, master your nifty gadgetry, customize your powerful weaponry and beat your opponents in stunning environments. Intuitive to grasp. Endlessly playable.” Wow, wow, wow. This officially launched and is such a polished game. With multiple maps, intuitive movement and full lobbies, this game is simply spectacular. Despite the difficulty curve in being good at the game, it’s still a fun time even if you’re not the best, which is something special that few games manage to pull off. Where this game especially shines is with friends. If you can muster up a team of five to take on other random players, you’ll be playing this game for months. Give this a go, and if you're not any good, that's okay, because you'll still be better than the bots and a welcome addition to someone's team.
    
21. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Outcast (Sidequest mod) Free Demo on Quest / $9.99 (Full Game on Steam) My quick take: Come for the lightsaber play, stay if you can tolerate the puzzles. From the store page: “JK XR is a standalone VR port of the popular Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast game by Lucasarts and Raven Software. Brought to VR by Team Beef & Friends. There are lots of mods and access to the free demo level available through the JK XR Companion App, which is automatically also installed alongside JK XR on your headset.” I never played this game when it first came out on flatscreen in 2002, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first part of the game you’re playing essentially as a Han Solo type - a smart talkin’ gun slinger. The next part, you’re a cool Jedi chopping off limbs. Absolutely great execution as always by Team Beef, and you can’t beat the price. There is even a free demo to try out to see if you like it. All that being said, the game’s old puzzles, navigation and gameplay felt every bit of 20 years old. After dying multiple times because of missing an exact jump, getting lost and backtracking because I didn't see an obscure elevator and wasting time trying to navigate odd puzzles, I just found it to be too much to overcome to continue to the end. This is no slight on Team Beef and the great work they did with this port, the game just hasn’t aged the best.
    
22. CoasterMania $9.99 Quest My quick take: Early days, but still some fun to be had. There could be something special here after a few updates. From the store page: “CoasterMania is a physics-based VR rollercoaster game where you create the ride of your life! Use wacky contraptions and elements to fly through the sky, then experience your creation by jumping in the front seat. Sandbox mode: Build your dream rollercoaster without any rules but the rules of physics. When you're done, share your coaster or experience the engineering marvels of others. Design your own rides and upload them online.” You know, this game is just silly fun. It's early days for sure, and the tracks don't twist and come together as easily together as I’d hoped, which makes for a difficult time creating exactly what you want. It is satisfying though to have a roller coaster leap from one track to another over a gap. At this point the game is more of a sandbox than a full game with objectives (which is coming). The coasters other people have created are fun, so if you’re not into creating, there is that option to play with other people's designs, plus you can ride them in first person. I look forward to more updates and think it's worth looking at for sure, but if you’re looking for something a bit more fleshed out currently you can try Stunt Track Builder.
    
23. David Slade Mysteries: Case Files $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: You’re a forensic cop, here are your tools. Good luck dummy. From the store page: “Take to the dark and violent streets of downtown Riverside, where you investigate gruesome and violent homicides using a range of Forensic tools and your wits! Inspired by the classic Police Quest adventure series, reborn & reimagined for VR. Includes two epic episodes!” Slade is a murder mystery game that is ruthless in it’s difficulty. Honestly, there are several play throughs of this game on YouTube and none have beaten the first case because it was too hard, they all gave up. This game offers no hints, is super abstract and insanely difficult. Why did I keep playing? Well, the game’s tools were implemented quite well, the story was compelling, and I just felt I had to see this through to the end for my own sanity. Despite being as hard as nails, I somehow managed to finish the first case, then moved on to the second. No real spoilers, but the second case does a complete 180 and essentially becomes a horror game where you’re only weapon is your wits. A real departure from the first case. Again, I found myself frustrated, confused and turned around, but again, I had to power through it because something kept pulling me in. If you’re a masochist for puzzle games, I’d recommend this game.
    
24. Home Detective Free w/IAP - Quest My quick take: Fun use of AR, but pretty basic. From the store page: “Use your own living room to solve the crime! Using passthrough, the crime scene is overlaid onto your play area, leaving you free to explore and find clues. Use the patent-pending Residual Heat Scanner to detect the criminals' recent movements, and then dust for fingerprints or try to find evidence left behind. With your wits, and your trusty sidekick Steve Dobbins' snarky comments, you're sure to get to the bottom of these confusing crimes.” I appreciate the interesting use of passthrough and AR in this game. The first case is free to try, so if you’re into AR and passthrough, it’s worth a try. It's $3.99 for another case if you’re into it, but right now, it’s a pretty basic, but solid idea. My biggest complaint is that all my tools were on a shelf that was inaccessible because they were in my wall. I guess AR is still not quite there yet.
    
25. Vertigo Remastered $24.99 Steam My quick take: A fun and wacky ride from start to finish. From the store page: “It's a classic premise - a massive subterranean scientific facility full of mysteries, with aliens bursting in from alternate universes to wreak havoc. The twist? You're one of those aliens. But you're not here to wreak havoc (collateral damage disregarded), you're just trying to get home. A difficult endeavor, as it turns out this facility is more than prepared to deal with extraterrestrial threats.” Because I heard such great things about Vertigo 2, I thought I’d try out this game before I played the sequel. I was really blown away by how fun the game was and pleasantly surprised that it holds up so well. Considering its a 2016 remake, and VR was still figuring out a lot of things like movement, this still felt fresh. With lots of unique ideas, upgrades and areas to play in, I heartily recommend this one and am looking forward to playing the sequel.
    
26. Playin’ Pickleball $19.99 Quest My quick take: Solid physics, but really only for pickleball fans, or a group of four friends. From the store page: “Playin’ Pickleball is an authentic reproduction of Pickleball in Virtual Reality! Physics, sounds and mechanics have been carefully mapped from actual Pickleball game play. Even the scoring and rules are based on the USA Pickleball Association’s Official Rulebook.” Pickleball is sweeping the nation and if I recall correctly, even ForeVR is getting in on the game with an upcoming title. I’m much more of a tennis than pickleball guy, but I have to say, this game has pretty solid physics. Like most games, this is exponentially better with one or better yet, three other people you know. The AI players can be pretty uninteresting hitting it back and forth without much variance. Also the environments are a bit basic. I have to applaud the movement, physics and customizable items though as they all felt very well implemented. If you want something a bit less daunting than tennis, this might be what you're looking for.
    
27. Pong $6.99 Quest My quick take: A neat take on Pong, but you’ll have more fun with Cybrix. From the store page: “Classic paddle game reimagined for VR. Destroy all the bricks. Use your paddles to swing at the balls and the balls have built-in assistance to return back toward you. Take advantage of the pistol and magneto power-ups to cause major damage. Or just swing hard at the balls to create large blast radius. Oh and watch out for those mines going for your head. Lean left/right or crouch to avoid.” I appreciated the ideas the developers had in this modern take on Pong, but it was ultimately quite short and not nearly as fun as Cybrix. That being said for the price, I got my money’s worth and would love to see it get a bit more polish and levels in an update.
    
28. Extreme Escape $4.99 Quest / Steam (Early Access) My quick take: One of those special games where you really feel like you're in the environment. From the store page: “Have you ever wondered how it would feel to travel in a hot air balloon and fly above clouds? Have you ever wanted to face your fear of heights and enclosed spaces? Perhaps you wanted to become a pilot and test your critical thinking skills. Looking for a breathtaking experience? Try Extreme Escape.” The game says “early access,” but honestly I believe this has been abandoned. For the price, you get an extremely short, but fun and unique escape room experience. You’re not going to find this game too hard, but I was brought into its world and completely immersed - I had a true sense of dread and panic. The even shorter “demo” inside the game puts you on a sinking submarine and was extremely memorable. Seldom have I felt so immersed in a game. I’d recommend it for this price, just because of how it made me feel, but it’s a real shame about the very short length and that it’s abandoned.
    
29. The Last Worker $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: Gaming with a heavy message, but mediocre gameplay. From the store page: “The Last Worker is an immersive narrative adventure centered around a lone worker’s last stand in an increasingly automated world, The Last Worker is a unique blend of work simulation and stealth strategic gameplay. The game is set in a lonely, oppressive but strangely beautiful environment, with characters designed by comics legend Mick McMahon. Kurt works for the world’s largest retailer and is forced to choose between capitalism or activism. Having dedicated his life to work, Kurt’s loyalty is put to the test when a group of activists ask him to dismantle Jüngle from the inside.” I really wanted to like this game. It had an interesting concept, but navigating, fail states and some very annoying bugs frustrated me to the point where I just said it wasn’t worth my time. That and the story wasn’t speaking to me. It’s well rated, so I’m probably on the opposite side of this one from most people. It's unique in many ways, so check out the teaser and see if it might be for you.
    
30. Shadow Point $19.99 Quest My quick take: Fisherman’s Tale vibes with an excellent story and puzzles that makes you feel smart. From the store page: “Built for VR, Shadow Point is a story-driven puzzle game set between a mountaintop observatory and an ever-changing fantasy world. Explore a vibrant kingdom, cast shadows and solve mind-bending puzzles as you uncover the mystery of missing schoolgirl, Lorna McCabe who vanished from Shadow Point Observatory twelve years ago. As your adventure unfolds, you will manipulate gravity, play with your own reflection, walk on walls, peer through a magical lens to reveal an alternate reality and much more.” I had this game on my wishlist forever and finally pulled the trigger, and boy am I glad I did. I really enjoyed the story, gameplay and ended up marathoning it in one session (which I don't recommend doing). It is a few hours long, and there are extra puzzles to go back to if you’d like. It had some serious Fisherman’s Tale vibes, so if you like those type of puzzle games, this is for you. The puzzles make you stop and think, and more importantly, progress nicely. I was never stuck, but certainly had to really contemplate how to solve some of them. It is slightly finicky with having to line up the shadows exactly to progress, but that is a minor complaint. Give this one a go for sure.
    

I hope you find a few games on this list that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know here or on the Ruff Talk Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
Also, the week this is posted, I'm hosting a contest where one winner gets a $29.99 or less, Quest game of their choice. You can enter on the discord channel above, but will need to have five posts on the discord channel within a week to enter, so if that interests you, feel free to join. The Ruff Talk guys usually have giveaways every week and it's some solid VR chat if you're looking for like-minded individuals in a non-toxic space.
TLDR: Top five games to check out - Ark and Ade, Pin City, Breachers, Shadow Point, Vertigo Remastered

I'm keeping track of all the VR games I’ve played this year to catalogue them in hopes that they may give fellow VR gamers some fresh games to try out, or reasons to revisit older games that have had big updates. I'm currently up to 52 different VR games played this year. The first 22 that I played from January to March can be found here. The latest 30 games are mostly on the Quest, but many are available on PCVR.
Some of the games listed below, I can see playing all year long, others are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 30 games I’ve played during April and May of 2023.
TLDR: My top 5 games to check out are at the bottom and so is some info for a game giveaway.

1. ARK and ADE $9.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: A fun shooter with Pistol Whip vibes that is absolutely worth the price of admission. From the store page: “ARK and ADE is an action-jammed FPS shooter in which you get to experience the glory of the 80’s arcade era in a neon fused setting. Shoot your way through retro-futuristic levels filled with enemies, iconic over the top bosses and never ending bullets!” I played this game back when it was in App Lab before it graduated to the full store. It was such a fun shooter back then, and I’d look forward to new levels coming out every few months. Now that it made it out of app lab, has a bunch of levels and had the gameplay polished, it’s absolutely worth a pickup, especially for that price.
   
2. Project Third Eye $9.99 Quest My quick take:A game where you make your own fun. From the store page: “Project Third Eye is an action physics sandbox with a built-in visual scripting panel to apply logic to spawnable items. This allows you to build your own modifications to the game and customize behaviors as you like.” Just like the description says, this is more of a proof of concept and sandbox game more so than a full fledged game with objectives. There are certainly neat ideas here and there, and the dev is really active with updates on Reddit. If you like to experiment and see how concepts develop in a game, you may enjoy this, but there’s no real direction beyond experimenting, so I dropped off fairly quickly.
   
3. Jousting VR Demo $9.99 Quest / Steam Quest Demo My quick take:A bit light on gameplay, but there is some charm here. From the store page:“XIII century, Europe, royal market courtyard. You are a knight who joined the medieval tournament. Your task is 'simple.' Jump on your trusty steed, grab your lance & defeat the enemy. Take into consideration speed, accuracy, strength. Equipment is also important. The better gear the easier the task. Oh, and other knights - they want to win as much as you do.” As advertised, it's a jousting game in VR. I enjoyed the demo, but honestly it was a bit too finicky at times and just not worth a full buy to me. The atmosphere was fun though and there was a progression loop for those who get into it.
   
4. Demeo $39.99 Quest and Steam (flatscreen as well) My quick take:This is a great game that I revisited from start to finish with four players. A must own. From the store page: “Adventurers, it’s time to unite! Gather your friends and fight monsters in Demeo, the turn-based tabletop strategy game of battle and glory. Roll dice, pick up miniatures, and free the world of Gilmerra in round after round of tabletop board game fun. With a huge assortment of monsters, playable classes, and environments to explore, it’s never the same game twice." I finally got a chance to play through the entirety of the game in VR with four friends, through each world, while trying a variety of characters. We even made a video ranking the best players and levels. It really is a solid dungeon crawling adventure. With 2 or more friends, this game really shines and is such a fun ride, despite how punishing the bosses can be. This is the closest you can get to D&D in VR without having a dungeon master. Well worth the asking price.
   
5. Build and Drive Racing Demo Free Quest / Steam My quick take: Early days in development, maybe something to keep an eye on to see how it improves. From the store page: "Get ready for a new experience on Windows desktop and VR, where you get to build your ultimate racing machine, tailored to your driving style and optimized for performance, or race to the finish line with a monster what makes you smile. With stylised graphics and arcade-like physics, every turn, straightway and ramp will put your skills to the test. Feel the thrill of the race like never before in VR, as you immerse yourself counting the seconds on the home stretch." An early demo that has seen some updates. Maybe worth looking at in a few months after a bit more development. I did like what I saw, but honestly, if you’re looking for a finished racing game, try Mini Motor Racing X instead or some of the other heavier PCVR games available.
   
6. Les Mills Body Combat $29.99 Quest My quick take: No subscriptions, great coaches and fun workouts that will make you sweat. From the store page: “Work out at home with a premium fitness app. LES MILLS, the world's leading fitness company, brings the BODYCOMBAT experience to your VR headset with an extensive workout portfolio, top-quality coaching, innovative mechanics, and different intensities.” With no subscriptions or hidden fees, lots of workouts, motivating coaches and the ability to compete with friends on leaderboards, this really is a dynamite workout app. I was working up a good sweat during my workouts, so be sure you have good facial insert and a fan ready. Highly recommended if you want a workout in VR for just the price of entry.
   
7. Interkosmos 2000 $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take:A difficult puzzle game, but rewarding if you have the patience. From the store page: “Go to space. Save the Future. Try not to Die. Welcome (back) to the world of Interkosmos for an even wilder, weirder and more wondrous adventure. Experience the intense exhilaration of spaceflight. Explore the awe-inspiring interiors of a realistic space capsule. Master the crucial systems that will keep you in orbit (and breathing). And while you’re at it, try your best not to die. Should you complete your mission, you just might save the future – and yourself. Should you fail? Let’s not think about that.” An intense puzzle game where you’re piloting a space ship with some very finicky controls. I found the experience way too difficult and exacting. Along with a bit of bugginess, that didn’t help in me determining if the error was my fault or the game's. If you have the patience, there certainly is some rewarding gameplay here, and an interesting story, but I found it all a bit too much to see to the end.
   
8. The Light Brigade $24.99 Quest / Steam My quick take: In a world of rougelikes, this is one that stands out. From the store page: “As a member of The Light Brigade, humanity’s last line of defense, brave ruins bathed in darkness and free the trapped souls who need the salvation only your gun can provide. Shoot, master spells, and upgrade your capabilities to herald the Sun’s return in this roguelike VR shooter.” There’s quite a lot of rouge shooters on Quest and despite the plethora of choices, this one stands out. Be warned, it starts out slowly, but gets quite fun after you get to know the systems after about an hour in. While I did make it to the last boss, I died and never went back to finished it. The gameplay loop and dynamic levels were solid though. The slight upgrades and different classes during each run were interesting and kept me going for a while. The most frustrating time I had was learning the little tips, tricks and finer gameplay points, but it was worth the push through that initial rough patch.
   
9. Resident Evil 4 $39.99 Quest My quick take: One of the best games in VR. A must own. From the store page: “Explore the world of Resident Evil 4, entirely remastered for VR. Step into the shoes of special agent Leon S. Kennedy on his mission to rescue the U.S. President’s daughter who was kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Come face to face with enemies, and uncover secrets with gameplay that revolutionized the survival horror genre. Battle horrific creatures and face-off against mind-controlled villagers while discovering their connection to the cult behind the abduction.” I forgot so much about this game from when I first played it 18 years ago on the GameCube. The long length, fun characters and how exciting the gun play is, all just came together perfectly. The development team spent a ton of time getting the VR feeling just right, and it’s absolutely one of the best on the Quest and well worth the price of entry. Additionally, once you play through the game the first time it really changes from survival horror to a whole new type of game action game. Simply outstanding.
   
10. Mini Golf Hustler Free Quest My quick take: Early days in development. Some good ideas, but a bit too rough around the edges. From the store page: “Challenge Slick Willie Puttman in this FREE nine hole demo of Mini Golf Hustler. Hazards include armed torpedoes, tentacled arms, ornery tikis and more! Multiple betting games, including skins, match play and the fearsome traveling snake. All played at the same time.” I thought I’d check out another mini golf game to see what other ideas there might be outside of the king - Walkabout Mini Golf. While there were some solid ideas for holes, the betting felt uneven, and everything else felt in their very early stages. To be fair, no other mini golf game feels even close to the accuracy of Walkabout, so I think it’s a tough go for any other games to match. It's probably best to stick with the champ for now, but I applaud the dev for trying something different.
    
11. Pin City Free Quest (open beta on Discord) / Steam My quick take: Early days, but wow, worth a download and one to watch in the future. From the store page: "Pin City is a bowling game unlike any other bowling game you’ve played before. We strove to bring the spirit of mini-golf into the world of bowling. We’ve taken the standard bowling setup (straight lane, 10 pins, 1 ball) and expanded, transformed, and evolved it. We wanted to give people a chance to bowl in ways that would be impossible, illegal, or extremely impractical.” An early alpha game, but boy, what a great start, I’m really looking forward to the team getting the physics feeling right with weight and feel of the bowling balls and seeing how much more gameplay they can add. Really worth the download or heading over to their Discord to get a Quest key for free to try it out. The quirky bowling, physics and gameplay they're experimenting with really got me excited to see how this one comes together in the next several months.
    
12. Mash Me Up Free Quest My quick take: Please devs, add more multiplayer support! From the store page: “Do you want to play party games with your friends or meet someone new? All is just one button press away with Mash Me Up. One button, multiple games. Will it be Air Hockey, Pier Pong, Flingball, or… Get ready for a surprise! Press, Play, Enjoy and Go Again!” If this game got a bit more development love it would be incredible. As it stands now, there are several mini games you can play against one person. Most are just okay, but a handful are real gems, and one particularly is incredible - Geo Guesser. Hands down the best mini game in the pack. With four, or six players and some new content, they could easily charge for just this one game. As it stands now, it’s a great two player game, but you’ll need to bring your own friend as the servers are pretty barren. Worth a download though for sure as you’ll get a night of fun out of it.
    
13. THZZLS - Treasures Lost In Time $4.99 Quest My quick take: A unique puzzler that can be pretty relaxing, but repetitive. From the store page: “Our first THZZLE is called "Der Bazar", the world's first VR toy theatre puzzle game. The Bazar is a VR puzzle game where you have to place furniture and props in the right places in old-fashioned rooms according to an old picture you see. The game is set in 19th century Germany and each room has objects taken from the German lifestyle magazine "Der Bazar", published in Berlin.” This one used to be free, with paid content, but it has since changed as they added more content. You recreate a scene with cutouts of people and furniture in a 3D space. It seemed to have endless puzzles with randomization of scenes. I could see someone going to this for a relaxing 10-15 minutes, but it is a lot of the same each time and didn’t grab me fully. If you’re looking for a puzzle game that’s outside of the usual ones you find in the store, it’s not a bad choice for the price. Keep in mind though its hand tracking only, so for some that may be a non starter, even though it felt just fine.
    
14. Barbaria $19.99 Quest / Steam My quick take:What I imagine Gorn is like with a solid game loop of RTS. From the store page: “Do you have what it takes to be the Mightiest in Barbaria? Welcome to a brutal world where visceral motion-controlled combat blends seamlessly with god-scale base-building and asynchronous multiplayer raids. Use fists, axes, swords, bows, rocks, or anything you can grab to dominate your foes in intense 1st-person combat. Then jump out to your immortal form and watch your minions carry on the battle while you rain down meteors from above. Systemic combat, versatile enemy AI, and player-created defenses make every battle unique.” I recognize there is a lot here to do in this game - if you like the game loop. Unfortunately, it really didn’t do much for me. I was expecting more RTS than Gorn style gameplay and was not pulled in by the fighting or quests offered. I have to say that the humor was spot on, and it certainly had good visuals, the game was just not for me. All that being said, there is a lot of content here and you could be playing this for quite some time if you think this could be your jam.
    
15. Toy Monsters Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take:Plants vs Zombies in AR with hand tracking that does enough unique stuff to be worth it. From the store page: “Toy Monsters VR is a mixed-reality tabletop tower defense inspired by classic Plants vs Zombies. Built from the ground up with hand tracking and passthrough in mind. As you progress through the 20 levels, you'll unlock new toys with unique special powers. You can enhance your toys with magical potions and use crystal power to unleash magic beams from your hands, transform your fingers into flamethrowers, and more.” This game has come a long way since its initial release. It’s a solid hand tracking Plants vs. Zombies game with its own twist on powers and uses passthrough quite nicely. My biggest complaint is that you really need to complete the game all in one go (about an hour or so) as it doesn’t keep track of your upgrades if you quit. Essentially, trying to pass a later level without prior upgrades or powerups is near impossible. Despite that one issue, give at least the demo a try and if you like it, the price is pretty fair for what you get.
    
16. Exit Condition One Free Quest Demo / $4.99 Quest My quick take: A bit rough around the edges, but escape room fans will find fun with it. From the store page: “You awake from cryo in a mysterious museum. A robot refers to you as a curator and the security system is malfunctioning. Can you get things back to normal and escape? There are no jump scares. The game is designed ground-up for roomscale VR on the Quest, but supports all locomotion modes. Most objects can be interacted with, it fully uses physics, and the hands don't ‘ghost out.’” According to the description, this is still a work in progress. That being said, it was a neat escape game that I felt I got my money’s worth from. It certainly was a bit rough around the edges with its gameplay and had some obscure puzzles to work through, but I did finish it and had a good time with it. Try the demo for sure, and perhaps when it’s finally finished, some of those rough edges will be polished up, but as it stands now, it was pretty solid.
    
17. Hyperdash Free Quest/Steam My quick take: A solid online shooter, but you'll have to put in the time to get good to find the fun. From the store page: “Hyper Dash is a free VR multiplayer team based shooter. Payload, Domination, Control Point, (Team) Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Elimination, Ball and remix them with Mutators! Dash, sprint, and rail grind your way across the arenas to engage the enemy in fast-paced combat and secure the objective for your team. Offline mode/Bots, Dedicated servers, Private servers, Rebind-able controls, Left hand support, Voice chat.” For a free to play shooter, this one had great controls, nice graphics, a good gameplay loop, plenty of comfort options and a solid player base. All that being said, every player I faced off against were top tier, so I spent my time just dying round after round. This is a good game with a solid player base and there's fun here - if you’re willing to learn the ropes. It's bad for newbies like me just looking to have a good time and get a few kills.
    
18. Please, Don’t Touch Anything $9.99 Quest / $4.99 Steam My quick take: A game for escape room devotees only. From the store page: "Please, Don’t Touch Anything is a cryptic, brain-racking button-pushing puzzle game. Covering for a colleague taking a bathroom break, you find yourself in front of a mysterious console with a green screen monitor showing a pixelated live image of an unknown city. Also present is an ominous red button with the simple instruction to not touch anything! Push the red button once or press it many times. Your choices and actions will lead to outrageous and frightening consequences and over 30 unique puzzle endings.” This is a weird one. A really obscure puzzle game that rewards experimentation, but is absolutely punishing with difficulty. If you’re really good at escape games and don’t get frustrated easily, you may enjoy the tedium. If not, you’ll end up like me, watching a tutorial to find out how to get different endings. But if you find yourself doing that, why not just watch a playthrough.
    
19. Eleven Table Tennis $29.99 Quest/Steam My quick take: Still one of the best, but there’s so much untapped potential. From the store page: “The ultimate Table Tennis simulator. Play opponents in online multiplayer or practice against the advanced AI. With physics designed to be as real as ever achieved in a Table Tennis simulator, you will forget you are in VR." I finally got back to this game after the new UI was implemented. It looks much more user friendly, but much to my disappointment, there were no new arenas, music, or official doubles options. There is so much potential for expanding this game, and I feel like the devs are just content to have it remain in the state it currently is. Which, to be fair, is a perfect implementation of table tennis in VR. It’s still one of the best VR games out there and absolutely a must own. I just really wish they would add an officially supported doubles mode and expand out the game a bit more because the unofficial doubles mode is a real pain to get set up and only barely worth the struggle. If you'd like to see how to set that doubles up currently, here is a video I was a part of.
    
20. Breachers $29.99 Quest/Steam My quick take: Come one, come all, this is 5 v 5 at its finest. From the store page: “In Breachers, you plan your assault or orchestrate your defense as a team through intense close-quarters combat. Whether you play as an enforcer or a revolter, master your nifty gadgetry, customize your powerful weaponry and beat your opponents in stunning environments. Intuitive to grasp. Endlessly playable.” Wow, wow, wow. This officially launched and is such a polished game. With multiple maps, intuitive movement and full lobbies, this game is simply spectacular. Despite the difficulty curve in being good at the game, it’s still a fun time even if you’re not the best, which is something special that few games manage to pull off. Where this game especially shines is with friends. If you can muster up a team of five to take on other random players, you’ll be playing this game for months. Give this a go, and if you're not any good, that's okay, because you'll still be better than the bots and a welcome addition to someone's team.
    
21. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Outcast (Sidequest mod) Free Demo on Quest / $9.99 (Full Game on Steam) My quick take: Come for the lightsaber play, stay if you can tolerate the puzzles. From the store page: “JK XR is a standalone VR port of the popular Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast game by Lucasarts and Raven Software. Brought to VR by Team Beef & Friends. There are lots of mods and access to the free demo level available through the JK XR Companion App, which is automatically also installed alongside JK XR on your headset.” I never played this game when it first came out on flatscreen in 2002, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first part of the game you’re playing essentially as a Han Solo type - a smart talkin’ gun slinger. The next part, you’re a cool Jedi chopping off limbs. Absolutely great execution as always by Team Beef, and you can’t beat the price. There is even a free demo to try out to see if you like it. All that being said, the game’s old puzzles, navigation and gameplay felt every bit of 20 years old. After dying multiple times because of missing an exact jump, getting lost and backtracking because I didn't see an obscure elevator and wasting time trying to navigate odd puzzles, I just found it to be too much to overcome to continue to the end. This is no slight on Team Beef and the great work they did with this port, the game just hasn’t aged the best.
    
22. CoasterMania $9.99 Quest My quick take:Early days, but still some fun to be had. There could be something special here after a few updates. From the store page: “CoasterMania is a physics-based VR rollercoaster game where you create the ride of your life! Use wacky contraptions and elements to fly through the sky, then experience your creation by jumping in the front seat. Sandbox mode: Build your dream rollercoaster without any rules but the rules of physics. When you're done, share your coaster or experience the engineering marvels of others. Design your own rides and upload them online.” You know, this game is just silly fun. It's early days for sure, and the tracks don't twist and come together as easily together as I’d hoped, which makes for a difficult time creating exactly what you want. It is satisfying though to have a roller coaster leap from one track to another over a gap. At this point the game is more of a sandbox than a full game with objectives (which is coming). The coasters other people have created are fun, so if you’re not into creating, there is that option to play with other people's designs, plus you can ride them in first person. I look forward to more updates and think it's worth looking at for sure, but if you’re looking for something a bit more fleshed out currently you can try Stunt Track Builder.
    
23. David Slade Mysteries: Case Files $9.99 Quest/Steam My quick take: You’re a forensic cop, here are your tools. Good luck dummy. From the store page: “Take to the dark and violent streets of downtown Riverside, where you investigate gruesome and violent homicides using a range of Forensic tools and your wits! Inspired by the classic Police Quest adventure series, reborn & reimagined for VR. Includes two epic episodes!” Slade is a murder mystery game that is ruthless in it’s difficulty. Honestly, there are several play throughs of this game on YouTube and none have beaten the first case because it was too hard, they all gave up. This game offers no hints, is super abstract and insanely difficult. Why did I keep playing? Well, the game’s tools were implemented quite well, the story was compelling, and I just felt I had to see this through to the end for my own sanity. Despite being as hard as nails, I somehow managed to finish the first case, then moved on to the second. No real spoilers, but the second case does a complete 180 and essentially becomes a horror game where you’re only weapon is your wits. A real departure from the first case. Again, I found myself frustrated, confused and turned around, but again, I had to power through it because something kept pulling me in. If you’re a masochist for puzzle games, I’d recommend this game.
    
24. Home Detective Free w/IAP - Quest My quick take:Fun use of AR, but pretty basic. From the store page: “Use your own living room to solve the crime! Using passthrough, the crime scene is overlaid onto your play area, leaving you free to explore and find clues. Use the patent-pending Residual Heat Scanner to detect the criminals' recent movements, and then dust for fingerprints or try to find evidence left behind. With your wits, and your trusty sidekick Steve Dobbins' snarky comments, you're sure to get to the bottom of these confusing crimes.” I appreciate the interesting use of passthrough and AR in this game. The first case is free to try, so if you’re into AR and passthrough, it’s worth a try. It's $3.99 for another case if you’re into it, but right now, it’s a pretty basic, but solid idea. My biggest complaint is that all my tools were on a shelf that was inaccessible because they were in my wall. I guess AR is still not quite there yet.
    
25. Vertigo Remastered $24.99 Steam My quick take: A fun and wacky ride from start to finish. From the store page: “It's a classic premise - a massive subterranean scientific facility full of mysteries, with aliens bursting in from alternate universes to wreak havoc. The twist? You're one of those aliens. But you're not here to wreak havoc (collateral damage disregarded), you're just trying to get home. A difficult endeavor, as it turns out this facility is more than prepared to deal with extraterrestrial threats.” Because I heard such great things about Vertigo 2, I thought I’d try out this game before I played the sequel. I was really blown away by how fun the game was and pleasantly surprised that it holds up so well. Considering its a 2016 remake, and VR was still figuring out a lot of things like movement, this still felt fresh. With lots of unique ideas, upgrades and areas to play in, I heartily recommend this one and am looking forward to playing the sequel.
    
26. Playin’ Pickleball $19.99 Quest My quick take:Solid physics, but really only for pickleball fans, or a group of four friends. From the store page: “Playin’ Pickleball is an authentic reproduction of Pickleball in Virtual Reality! Physics, sounds and mechanics have been carefully mapped from actual Pickleball game play. Even the scoring and rules are based on the USA Pickleball Association’s Official Rulebook.” Pickleball is sweeping the nation and if I recall correctly, even ForeVR is getting in on the game with an upcoming title. I’m much more of a tennis than pickleball guy, but I have to say, this game has pretty solid physics. Like most games, this is exponentially better with one or better yet, three other people you know. The AI players can be pretty uninteresting hitting it back and forth without much variance. Also the environments are a bit basic. I have to applaud the movement, physics and customizable items though as they all felt very well implemented. If you want something a bit less daunting than tennis, this might be what you're looking for.
    
27. Pong $6.99 Quest My quick take:A neat take on Pong, but you’ll have more fun with Cybrix. From the store page: “Classic paddle game reimagined for VR. Destroy all the bricks. Use your paddles to swing at the balls and the balls have built-in assistance to return back toward you. Take advantage of the pistol and magneto power-ups to cause major damage. Or just swing hard at the balls to create large blast radius. Oh and watch out for those mines going for your head. Lean left/right or crouch to avoid.” I appreciated the ideas the developers had in this modern take on Pong, but it was ultimately quite short and not nearly as fun as Cybrix. That being said for the price, I got my money’s worth and would love to see it get a bit more polish and levels in an update.
    
28. Extreme Escape $4.99 Quest / Steam (Early Access) My quick take:One of those special games where you really feel like you're in the environment. From the store page: “Have you ever wondered how it would feel to travel in a hot air balloon and fly above clouds? Have you ever wanted to face your fear of heights and enclosed spaces? Perhaps you wanted to become a pilot and test your critical thinking skills. Looking for a breathtaking experience? Try Extreme Escape.” The game says “early access,” but honestly I believe this has been abandoned. For the price, you get an extremely short, but fun and unique escape room experience. You’re not going to find this game too hard, but I was brought into its world and completely immersed - I had a true sense of dread and panic. The even shorter “demo” inside the game puts you on a sinking submarine and was extremely memorable. Seldom have I felt so immersed in a game. I’d recommend it for this price, just because of how it made me feel, but it’s a real shame about the very short length and that it’s abandoned.
    
29. The Last Worker $19.99 Quest / SteamMy quick take:Gaming with a heavy message, but mediocre gameplay. From the store page:“The Last Worker is an immersive narrative adventure centered around a lone worker’s last stand in an increasingly automated world, The Last Worker is a unique blend of work simulation and stealth strategic gameplay. The game is set in a lonely, oppressive but strangely beautiful environment, with characters designed by comics legend Mick McMahon. Kurt works for the world’s largest retailer and is forced to choose between capitalism or activism. Having dedicated his life to work, Kurt’s loyalty is put to the test when a group of activists ask him to dismantle Jüngle from the inside.” I really wanted to like this game. It had an interesting concept, but navigating, fail states and some very annoying bugs frustrated me to the point where I just said it wasn’t worth my time. That and the story wasn’t speaking to me. It’s well rated, so I’m probably on the opposite side of this one from most people. It's unique in many ways, so check out the teaser and see if it might be for you.
    
30. Shadow Point $19.99 Quest My quick take:Fisherman’s Tale vibes with an excellent story and puzzles that makes you feel smart. From the store page: “Built for VR, Shadow Point is a story-driven puzzle game set between a mountaintop observatory and an ever-changing fantasy world. Explore a vibrant kingdom, cast shadows and solve mind-bending puzzles as you uncover the mystery of missing schoolgirl, Lorna McCabe who vanished from Shadow Point Observatory twelve years ago. As your adventure unfolds, you will manipulate gravity, play with your own reflection, walk on walls, peer through a magical lens to reveal an alternate reality and much more.” I had this game on my wishlist forever and finally pulled the trigger, and boy am I glad I did. I really enjoyed the story, gameplay and ended up marathoning it in one session (which I don't recommend doing). It is a few hours long, and there are extra puzzles to go back to if you’d like. It had some serious Fisherman’s Tale vibes, so if you like those type of puzzle games, this is for you. The puzzles make you stop and think, and more importantly, progress nicely. I was never stuck, but certainly had to really contemplate how to solve some of them. It is slightly finicky with having to line up the shadows exactly to progress, but that is a minor complaint. Give this one a go for sure.
    

I hope you find a few games on this list that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know here or on the Ruff Talk Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
Also, the week this is posted, I'm hosting a contest where one winner gets a $29.99 or less, Quest game of their choice. You can enter on the discord channel above, but will need to have five posts on the discord channel within a week to enter, so if that interests you, feel free to join. The Ruff Talk guys usually have giveaways every week and it's some solid VR chat if you're looking for like-minded individuals in a non-toxic space.
TLDR: Top five games to check out - Ark and Ade, Pin City, Breachers, Shadow Point, Vertigo Remastered

pals, friends, writers, designers, stickerers, mailers, all of YOU: thank you so much for this beautiful spring mail! i'm sorry that i'm gonna speed through this but please know that i treasure each card i get, i look at all of its details and whistle appreciatively at the artistry and choices that you put into you mail. it continues to be awesome!!! to be a part of this community.
u/wabisabi_sf - thank you for the loupaper earth day postcard, such bright happy colors
u/Lethbridge-Totty - thank you for the spring time flowers meta mail, so pretty
u/caknuck - thank you for the washi meta mail, many sparkling tapes, i loved it!
u/KoreWrites - thank you for the we moved colorful postcard, i hope you're enjoying the settling in and creating a home <3
u/jane_q - thank you for the most amazing smutty novel cover, it took my breath away, i adore it and slapped it on the wall of my home office - this postcard collection must be fantastic, it's a set right?
u/xxturtlepantsxx - thank you for the corning museum of glass postcard, i can just imagine the wonders you saw
u/blue-wanderer-quartz - thank you for the amazing tiny flower postcard with haiku! about grapes i think!
u/HexagonalRainbow - thank you for the spring cat in flowers postcard, looove the glittery silver stickers (your stickers seem to always be in line with my taste!)
u/comingtogetyoubabs - thank you for the RAoC anniversary postcard with cute the brazil yellow truck stamp - heart eyes!
u/shipping_addict - thank you for the NYC postcard with some nice books mentioned
u/retrorabbit79 - thank you for the bunny hug card! i used it as a bookmark for awhile, so cute
u/likeablelobster - thank you for the washi moles meta exchange card! and for giving me some of my own washi. ahhhh. it's really just ingenious the way the moles have human items in use at their own scale in their homes, like the wristwatch face used as a wall clock. the most clever washi i've ever seen for sure
u/PinkPengin - thank you for the random kindness friday, which i actually received on a friday. i need to integrate kindness friday into my life. i really like it. thank you so much for this idea that makes the world a better place.
u/-random_ness- - thank you for the hedgeHUG card, now i know that a group of them is called a prickle !! :O
u/DianaPenPal - lovely intriguing image of a leafy plant that reminds me both of the night sky and the deep ocean
u/RideThatBridge - omg i forgot i claimed this for Reading is Fun week, so cute, the library card envelope and notecard, thank youuuu
u/not_napoleon - national postcard week - thank you - your door photography is really really cool, i like how you included the background info about the doors’ art features
u/hato_mailing - national postcard week - thank you - did you design this ? it’s really charming!
u/mumbagoespainting - thank you for the meta exchange size card, WOW, this is not only beautiful (i stared at the watercolors for quite awhile, felt like i was in a museum) but it was very clever how you took on the "size" prompt and made three cards in one of different sizes. i'm really grateful and admire your creativity!
u/KeenEvergreen, u/PinkPenguin, u/todayisfab, u/sebisrude x2 - thank you for the for meet up postcards! hope you all had so much fun carding and getting to know each other more! lol, this group and the meet up group below both wrote about the snacks they were snackin' on
u/littlemermaidxx, u/ninajyang, u/wabisabi_sf, u/shadesoflanternhill, u/luxsloth - thank you for the for the meetup postcard! hope you all had so much fun carding and getting to know each other more!

This question just crossed my mind.
If that's true. What actually is resistance really?
i mean, many who get into LOA it doesn't work just for the mere reason of subconscious resistence to their desires. That's why so many recommend to start with Self Concept, while letting go, or going to forget about their manifestation,
while
they are working on living their most fulfilled and happy life as possible even without their wanted Desire.
Upon this raise, and change in frequency they're emanating cause they are starting to actually feel fulfilled, happy and whole on their own. Belief systems change and their known or unknown resistances which held them back from allowing their Desire to come into existence, just melt away like it's never been there in the first place.
Their manifestations naturally are showing up in their life in areas and forgotten manifestations are going to hunt them down. For some it takes a couple days, some months and others even years. (Seen so many success stories, who were like they got it after 4 or even more years and now they didn't even wanted it anymore. In case for a sp it's really sad imo, but also really awesome since well wow they are happy regardless.)
My thought was just. When Resistance, is nothing more than, a conscious or unconscious Belief about something which contradicts your Desire you want to manifest.
What would be the most easiest, and fun way to let your resistances melt away. Since resistance is coming from some kind of Belief.
The chain is like
subconsciously stabilized Beliefs > (create) thoughts > (create) Emotions
Beliefs > (create reality)
Imagination (= reality = subconscious mind = god according to neville ) > (impresses) subconscious mind / Beliefsystems (cause the mind looks at an imagination/visualisation being literally the same as an event actually lived through if it where happening in the physical reality)
Though
From a affirmation view:
You can impress your subconscious mind & belief system just from even "robotic affirmations" > affirmations repetition & persistency > (impresses) your Mind through repitition and accepts it as being true eventually (some isntantly, some take longer) > (impresses) subconscious mind > creates reality.
​
Sorry just getting thoughts out here now lmao.
When someone is plagued by recurring thoughts which are not in alignment with their Desire.This means, they still got some resistance aka belief which produces these types of thoughts.
Ways to change these Resistances/Beliefs the fastest. Through a little bit of Self Concept work, or people call it shadow Work. Options:

Note: Not every strategy works for everyone, though it could, but everyone is wired differently therefore certain techniques just work like a charm for someone, while others seem to just not be their cup of tea. And that's just great as it is.
Don't know who said it but probably many great teachers.
"No techniques are required, anything can manifest with just 1 mere thought about it, and it's done."
"any technique is just a Tool, to get us into the state of our wish fulfilled." (and hell yeah find your one or even make your own tools, use what works and discard anything which doesn't vibe with you. That's why there are up to unlimited tools for creation. Also that's why this path of living a conscious life of manifestation is called the Pathless Path. Cause there is no right or wrong, just different Tools for working good or better for differently wired people.)
Note 2: All of them require. Trust. Trust in the Universe that everything works out better than expected. Trust that it is so after Claiming it to be this way. Without a shadow of a Doubt and without Judgement of your Desire.
When i say trust the Universe, it could be God for you. It could be the Source of all existence. Take whatever fits your worldview. Nothing is outside of You. Neville says your Imgination is reality, is God. You are God. In a course of Miracles or 40 days and nights a teaching of love, its said supposedly channeled Jehoshua Ben Joseph aka jesus, that everything said in these books should be looked at as if you are saying these things to yourself to make yourself remember who you are, cause you quite in a literal sense are God, Jesus, Buddha anyone. When everyone is You, you develop love, for you can only love yourself, you wouldn't want to hurt yourself right, so treat everything as you want to be treated. If you can start to love yourself, you can love everyone, and everyone can loves you. This came to mind "They love Jesus because jesus loved them first." it was something like that. So ultimately you can trust yourself, for "the son is within the father, and the father is within the son. They are one." So are you one with God. It's okay to Trust in yourself as being God. I say that because it can feel very weird for some people to claim I Am that I am. Which means I am God as god is referred to I am. I looked at it like some ego thing, how could someone say i am god that's narcistic. But no it isn't it's just the truth even though publicly you would never say that might be weird, but for yourself, for your inner Power for your true might. You are worthy, we are all the Universe, we are all Brahman, we are all God, put ourselves into an human experience making ourselves belief we forgotten that we are god to have a fun experience in remembering ourselves to who we actually are. with these words, just whatever belief systems fits you the best Trust that the Universe or God or Source the infinite intelligence within ourselves is creating everything we manifest for. Without the Shadow of a doubt. And all we have to ever do is, ask for it. "ask and it shall be given unto you." If you just believe it to be true, and give thanks to it as if it's already yours. It's yours. Sorry if it's too bible heavy but i kinda dig jesus words here even though im more leaned into a yogic hindu type of concept.

1. Do nothing. Yeah lol literally do nothing, and just keep doing your Favorite technique which puts you into a State fulfilled. It's how neville teaches it. Through just Persistence, and Trusting the Universe, living from the end. Your Wishfulfilled over a longer period of time. Beliefs change, and therefore old beliefs starting to vanish therefore their resistances too.From the book Seth Speaks also A Course in Miracles talks about it saying: "There can only be 1 belief at a time." or for those who like the Bible more "You cannot serve 2 Masters." as in You cannot have 2 opposite beliefs at the same time, one is going to take over and it's your choice which one it will be.
2. For those who Option-1 doesn't work. I found Revision, also teached by Neville, and Mental Imagery by Colette Aboulker-Muscat or dr. jerry epstein. Can work wonders. Simply look at one of your neurotically reoccuring undesired thoughts. And ask yourself:"Is there any type trauma, event involved which creates these thoughts?" For you already thinking about that past event, or memory.Now Visualize take 3 deep Breaths, make it a short one, if you prefer longer then longer, but shorter ones tend to be just as effective like 1 round of a 10 second scene which you may want to just loop once or 3 times.- Make this scene and turn it into an event how you would have liked it to have turned out, your ideal case. try to live it, with all your senses, feel it. (if you can't visualise or see images, You can, but it still works even if you can't feel anything about it, your intention counts.) feel this scene to be real up to a point where you just think, okay i felt it, it's done, for some reason i just know it's done.- Then. Take a deep breath in and out. Start to get back into your body wiggling your toes and stuff you know it. Open your eyes.- Just feel happy, be grateful and Trust that is how it happened. Usually, for many at this point. It's done, you might even totally forget whatever you thought about it before. For others, if it still comes back, start to relive your REVISED version every time and feel grateful for this day and event because it played out exactly like that. After some time, you'll start to forget about it, or even just get reminded of this revised version.- Note here: "Whatever you can Visualize. Literally exists in a timeline. Everything is already created, as neville says. The Fact that you are even able to visualize it, is the fact that it exactly happened like that in one of the infinite universes so Claim it, it's yours anyway." "Also we are not here on earth to be punished by the universe, We are the universe and the only person who is going to be able to punish you is yourself. Karma is not a thing, any karma is self inflicted as Bashar says."
3. Affirmations: With a pencil Write down whatever undesired thoughts and beliefs trigger you.Let empty a few spaces. You gonna need it afterwards.Keep going, write everything on it which relates to that.Now take a Pen and write down the opposite Desired state of this belief or thought.This sentence has to be an I AM in the Present tense desired outcome statement. LikeNobody loves me > "Everyone and everything loves me."Money doesn't grow on trees > "I'm great with Money. Large sums of money always flows to me from all kind of different sources."My dad spanked me with a tree branch on christmas eve in a scary nikolaus costume while saying bad kids don't get gifts. That's why i believed myself to be unloving and evil. > "I'm the most loving person. People around me always keep telling how loving and kind i am." (yeah that's a real one, shame lul)- On Day 1 you this paper, and read both of it. Without any judgement. Read your pencil writing once and just don't judge it, read it as its the most normal thing to read, without any reaction, just acceptance, okay cool. (The purpose is to take off any resistence or loaded energy you got on them, by just reading it without reacting or judging it, just acceptance, you just made meets and with it, became indifferent to it, took your power back and dislodged charged energy from it, freed it to be put into something else. Congratulation, unknowingly your problem might have just been solved by itself. Sometimes, these thoughts, or beliefs, are just like a crying inner child which wants to be acknowledged and once it got its acceptance, love and attention, its free to go and make room for another child."Whatever you observe without judgement, is instantly accepted and healed." If we would understand the weight of this saying i think it's from Zen Buddhism, we could literally just observe our thoughts and they would vanish like clouds into nothingness just by looking at them once with acceptance and without any judgement.)- On day 2 take a rubber and remove what you have written down in pencil.Now read your new Beliefs, statements like Affirmations. You can do it robotically or put emotion into them, your choice. Read them once in the morning and once before you go to bed. Some may just feel a sense of piece after day 1 or after day 2.- Keep on reading it once or twice daily. You are done when your old stuff vanished, or your new beliefs and thoughts align with your desired statements, or just got that type of feeling of peace knowing it just doesn't bother you anymore. Or even all of those 3 together or even just one.- Your can start a new list, if new things come up you want to change.
4. The Blank State: Joe dispenza does that, in his meditations. Recreate your Life meditation. Other youtubers made a Blank State meditation too. I like that one from Neyah how she explains it, you can do it on your own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fklEEqW0mtA. Her version is like a Hooponopono approach but put into a Blank state joe dispenza style meditation.
5. The Hooponopono. Whatever thought is bugging you. Look at it nonjudgmental, accept it. Say to it.I'm sorry.Forgive me.Thank You.I love you.- trust it's released now.- Note: On forgiveness, the only one you really ever have to forgive is yourself. If you can forgive yourself, you have forgiven everyone. Everyone is You, Separation as yogic teachers say, everyone of them. There is nobody else than You. If you Forgive yourself, everything has forgiven you. Also makes us understand that everything we inflicted upon ourselves. And Before that triggers some people, because it just can seem like a brutal truth, how could i have brought this upon myself rage, or sadness. i gonna jump to another topic swiftly and get schwifty. Just some words though, It's not your fault, especially being unconscious about it or being a kid and stuff happened. At some point we just have to take responsibility for it and accept it, for whatever reason it may have happened, we have the opportunity to make sure it never happens again by taking responsibility, taking our own power back to us and off the charged event, circumstance or thought and belief. I don't know how it works and nobody can give like proof for it, but Dolores cannon, and others who claim to be able to channel and stuff. They say we kind of chose things we are going through even before we decide to incarnate into an body, for reasons i don't really get, but it's supposed to just have this experience, or just learn something from it. Even though on a grand scale, we are the means to give live meaning. Even though i don't belief in Destiny, there seems to be something like a destined life path some people are going to follow through. The best astronomy life readers in india, there was one who always been accurate and he said, it's very rare that someone differs from his destined life path, people are always on it, even without knowing it, most people he got he can tell their past to a accuracy of 99% like weird stuff, when they found their partners, how many partners how it turned out, what type of injury they or illnesses they gotten at what age, and stuff like that. And it only differs as for the people he was able to read from like 1%.Now even though there might be a path of destiny, it doesn't matter. Because it's the season of Aquarious of truth, of breaking from Chains, and everyone got the right, and ability to life your life how you want to be at all times and it ever has been like that. It really doesn't matter if there is destiny or not. You are always exactly where you want to be right now, it's what neville says. (This sentence is quite more profound then it seems like, but everything up to this point, we have manifested, we are literal masters of manifesting and we don't even wake up to that fact. Because we are flawless in creating our life second by second. Even if some might not like to belief so we always manifest it couldn't be any different. So when do we chose to manifest what we do want and get out of our victim state, into the state of wishful filled. And that starts by being Happy and fulfilled now, by working on yourself, start to do things which excites you the most, having a short manifestation session of our desire and keep on focusing on what does make us happy right at this moment at all times. Then our beliefs change, our thoughts, our frequency vibration raises, and things we desire are starting to chase us because we are fulfilled and happy with ourselves. Desires start to chase us even without doing manifestation techniques because that is our natural state Abundance and Love.)
6. Rip your Contract. From Dolores Cannon about karmic relationships. Here is a nice explanation of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE4tJOUvhp8&t=9s
7. Invocation:Choose your subject of Trust, the Universe, God, Buddha, Jesus, angels. And just sayI'm giving all of my worries, all of my burdens to You, to transmute it. Thank you for taking care of everything.- Just trust in your heart it's done. You might feel a sense to weight having taking off your shoulders.
8. Burning a piece of paper:- write down whatever bothers you.- read it again observingly, non judgmental, accepting without reaction.- If a reaction comes up, Observe it, its a thought? a Emotion? Pain somewhere in your Body?feel into this sensation, try to focus on it in your Body like if you would go with your mind into that sensation as a small soul ball energy ball like in a way. Stay there non judgmental just having mere presence pure awareness of it until this feeling, this pain subsides.- Say or think: I forgive you, I thank you for your Service and what i learned from it, I don't need you anymore, You can leave now. I love you.- And just burn the paper.
9. EFT - Tapping also a great tool for releasing Trauma, a lot of stuff on it on youtube.
10. Emotion Coding 2.0 - Look it up or watch the Series on Gaja on it.
11. Please show me your coolest techniques, im striving to be something like a coach some day and appreciate to learn new things at all times, to have in store what flows, vibes best for all types of people :D

Just put down my thoughts here, i don't expect any replies regarding this chit chat, just about the titles question. Kinda written all of that and now i just leave it. May it be helpful for someone who comes across lmao.

“Miss Alexandria?” The child called out, tugging on the warrior’s dress. She had been asleep in her rocking chair, enjoying the small amount of rest she got from the chaotic orphanage. She opened her one good eye, staring down at Bronson.
“Did Lucy hit you with her training sword again? Honestly, she’s going to make a feisty warrior someday.” Alexandria chuckled, only to squint when she noticed the look of fear on Bronson’s face. She immediately stood up from her chair, staggering a little as the chair violently rocked from the sudden movement. “What happened?”
“Robed people. Lots of them! They came out of the woods and grabbed Lucy and the others. I… I wanted to help, but…” Bronson teared up, wiping his snotty nose on the edge of her dress.
“No, no, dear. You did good. Now I can rescue them. If you didn’t tell me, I might never have known. Now, where did they go?”
“T-towards the waterfall. The one near the big dumb dumb rock.”
“The dumb dumb rock? Oh, right, the one you all drew a face on. Never thought the dumb dumb rock would become a marker. Stay here and keep quiet. If anyone comes to the door that isn’t me, hide. If they find you, stab em with something pointy.” Alexandria instructed.
Alexandria went and found her sword, sliding it into its sheath. As she was about to leave, she heard Bronson call out. The child was already rummaging through the kitchen, looking for something sharp to hide with.
“Are they monsters?”
“Worse.” She headed out, following the path the kids took, finding her way quickly towards the dumb dumb rock. From the rock, she followed the water, seeing bloodstains along the way. As she continued to follow the stains, she finally came to the slavers’ camp, noticing that the blood hadn’t come from a child. Instead, it came from a slaver who was holding his shoulder.
“She stabbed me. The little brat stabbed me with my dagger. What sort of kid does that?” The slaver whined to his unsympathetic friend. “Not to mention she was biting my arm the whole time I carried her, calling me all sorts of names. Who raised that monster?” Alexandria smirked, unable to help feeling a little proud of what she was hearing. “Good job, Lucy.” She whispered to herself as she pushed past the nearby trees, stepping out into the clearing. As soon as she stepped out, she drew her blade.
She swiftly beheaded the wounded slaver, not bothering with a grand entrance. The slavers’ friend too stunned to move after the strike. With the first slaver down, she went straight for the other man, driving the blade into his knee before he could even think about getting up. Alexandria leaned her weight onto the handle of the blade, pushing it deeper.
“Where are they?”
“Where are who?”
“My kids.” She put more of her weight onto the handle, staring into his eyes as she did. “Where are they?”
“Boss has them. I’m only the one that grabs them. I don’t have any other role in the-“ She swung her fist, cracking it against his jaw. After the hit, she pulled her blade free and held the sword to their chest.
“And the boss is?”
“Right behind you.” A grizzled voice laughed. A hand went to wrap around her throat, only to miss as she ducked and sent an elbow flying into the man’s stomach. Alexandria glanced back at the man, noticing a dagger in the man’s scabbard. She pinched the dagger and drove it into his stomach.
“Attack before speaking. That would be my advice to you if you weren’t a dead man. Now I’ll ask once this only once. Where are my kids? The answer will determine how quick this all is.” Her attention was pulled away from the common slaver, focusing on their boss. She shoved the man to the ground and placed her foot on the wound, applying unhelpful pressure, digging the hell of her shoe against it.
“Go to hell.” He said, coughing up blood. Trying to keep some bravado in this situation.
Alexandria saw something strange on the man’s face. That split second smirk. She knew what was coming. Her back was turned and that idiot behind her had found a weapon. She could easily kill him before he attacked, but she wanted to give them a brief glimpse of hell before they went there. As the sword pierced her toned body, she didn’t even flinch, feeling the hot pain that she had felt hundreds of times. The confident grin of the boss fading as the grey-haired warrior still stood over him.
He couldn’t speak, but there was something about his look that amused her. The boss’s eyes were wide, filled with fear as he squirmed beneath her foot. Alexandria turned her head, peering over her shoulder at the slaver behind her. They had already released the sword and were fleeing back towards the dumb dumb rock. As they were about to escape, a small child jumped out wielding a sword nearly as big as herself. She swung it, almost taking her own arm off with the weapon. The blade collided with the slaver, hitting their side, throwing them to the floor.
“LUCY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
“I… hah.. heard your voice, so I escaped from the rope they tied us up with.” She hunched over, panting, trying to get her breath back.
“Look away for a moment, dear.” She said as she placed her foot over the boss’s mouth, trying to muffle his screams as she killed him. Once she was done with the boss, she went over to the other slaver. Alexandria making quick work of them, too. When she turned back to Lucy, she could see her peeking through her fingers.
“Wow, you were so cool. You were like. Swing! Woosh, bang.” Lucy cheered.
“I was not like swing, whoosh and bang. It was swing, slash, chop.”
“Whatever, it was cool. When are you going to teach me that?”
“Aren’t you a little scared? You were just being held by slavers?”
Lucy placed a finger to her lip, thinking about it. Before responding with a loud.
“NOPE. I knew you would save me. Plus, Bronson escaped. It was only a matter of time before you got here.”
“Your confidence in me is charming. Now, where are the others?”
Alexandria followed Lucy to a tent, helping to free the others. When she finished freeing the last child, she found herself a little confused. Why did they all look so afraid of her? Had they heard the screams? Alexandria couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious about her warrior ways. She was trying so hard to be a good caretaker. Sadly, a scarred and one-eyed warrior didn’t make the most motherly figure.
“Um, Mom?” Lucy said.
“Yes, dear?” Alexandria felt her heart jump for joy at being called mom, those worries leaving her for a moment, as she crouched before Lucy. “What is it, dear?”
“You have a sword stuck in you… Wait, I’ll get it.”
“Wait, Lucy!”
Without wasting a moment, Lucy tugged on the sword, pulling it out, much to the horror of the other children. The others assuming they had just watched their caretaker get brutally killed in front of them. When the sword was pulled free, the wound closed.
“I’m ok. I promise. It’s a magic trick. Please stop crying.” Alexandria gave Lucy a cold, motherly stare. The child guiltily looking away, pretending not to notice it.
Eventually Alexandria calmed the children down, guiding them all home. As they neared the orphanage, she noticed someone had forced the door open. She released her grip on the children’s hands, rushing into the orphanage.
“WHO THE HELL IS IN HERE? I’M IN A BAD MOOD, SO UNLESS YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR OWN INSIDES I WOULD SUGGEST LEAVING.” She screamed, hoping she was out of earshot of the children. As she glanced around the room, she would notice a rather proud Bronson holding a fork while a man sat in her rocking chair, nursing his shoulder.
“Trent? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, hey. I just heard some slavers were in the area and wanted to warn you. When I noticed the door was locked, I assumed the worst and broke it open to offer my support. Well, seems you didn’t need my help. Your guard valiantly stabbed me with a fork.” Alexandria turned to Bronson, who triumphantly held his fork up, showing her. She let out a giggle as she walked over to Bronson, ruffling his hair before turning to her friend.
“You let yourself get stabbed by a fork? Your reflexes have gotten slow. Were all my years of training you for nothing? Also, what is with that beard? How do you ever expect to find a nice wife if you can’t keep yourself looking tidy? Oh, is that mud on your shoes, too?” Alexandria grinned, giving him a lecture. She could see him sliding down deeper into the chair, in more pain from the lecture than the fork wound. When she finished tormenting him, she finished it with. “It’s good to see you again, friend. I’ll be right back.”
“I kept him here all by myself.” Bronson smiled.
“Yes, you did. Now be a good boy and make sure the others are ok when they get inside.”
The rest of the children entered, Lucy still holding the sword that she had pulled from her mother. When she saw Trent, she threw the sword aside, jumping onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Uncle Trent, it’s so good to see you again. I stabbed someone today.”
“Huh? Oh, um. That’s nice.” He said, patting her back, before giving the other kids a smile.
“Uncle Trent? Where?” Bronson muttered, staring at the man.
“Right here. How could you not tell it was him? He’s Mom’s friend. He used to travel with her a lot. She said he was hopeless. Remember?”
“Ouch, you didn’t have to repeat that part. I’m more of a historian than a fighter. It’s not my fault I’m a little hopeless with a weapon. I can carry my own in a fight, though.” He tried to defend himself. Wanting to remind them that being an adventurer was secondary to his work as a historian.
“Uncle Trent? You’ve gotten fatter.” Bronson said with a harsh, unfiltered bit of childish honesty.
“Oh, um.”
“I didn’t know you had a beard.” Bronson joined the hug, getting on the other side of Trent.
“I thought it made me look more sophisticated. Don’t you agree?”
“It makes you look old.” Bronson responded.
“Ah. Maybe I should shave it.” He laughed, only to see Alexandria watching him, a smile on her face as she threw the bandages on his lap.
Aren’t you going to fix me up?”
“It’s just a scratch. You can handle it. I have to make sure the kids are alright, anyway. You can stay for dinner if you would like to, Uncle Trent.”
“Don’t you start calling me that, too.”
“You should be happy. It means they think of you as family. I guess you spend a lot of time around here. “
“Of course I do. I record history and you’re the best source of it I can find. No one else has lived-“
“Shhh.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. I should be going. I just wanted to make sure you’re safe.”
“Make sure I’m safe? I appreciate it, even if it’s unneeded.”
“Aww, you’re going already, Uncle Trent. I was hoping you would spar with me. Mom’s too strong.” Lucy whined.
“Next time. I promise. I’ll bring some presents too.”
“Yay. I want a castle.”
“A little out of my budget. How about a replica sword?”
“Yes. Make sure it looks dangerous.”
“What do I get?” Bronson asked.
“A new fork.”
“Aww, I don’t want a fork.”
“Fine, maybe I’ll find you something else. If you promise to behave.”
“Promise.”
“Ok.” Trent stood up and made his way to the door, giving them a wave. “I’ll see you later. Maybe next week if I’m not busy.”
“Ok, bye Uncle Trent, sorry about stabbing you.” Bronson said.
“It’s ok. I appreciate the apology.”
When he left, Alexandria gathered the children, making sure they were all ok. When she was certain they weren’t hurt, she asked them what they would like to help cheer them up. Lucy tried to get the group to agree on a new sword, but she was outnumbered by the vote for cookies. A vote she wasn’t upset about losing. The kids went to play as Alexandria went to the kitchen, preparing the treats.

The 2022-2023 season just came to a close in New Orleans. I’m so thankful to have seen almost all of the shows the past two seasons. Im feeling inspired so here is my combined ranking AND rating for the 21-22 and 22-23 season.
1) To Kill A Mockingbird 4/4 stars I was blown away by the writing, acting, and pace. I tend not be a crier and I balled my eyes out. When it comes down to it, I think I’m just more impressed and engaged with an amazing non-musical than musical and wish we had more of them. My eyes were glued to the stage and my ears were clinging to every word.
2) Hamilton 4/4 stars This was my third time seeing Hamilton and I probably have a bit of Hamilton burnout from listening to the soundtrack so often a few years ago but told myself not to let that effect my rating. All that’s been said about Hamilton has already been said and I will always adore it. It’s such a detailed amazing piece of work. I just love the breadth of lyrics.
3) Six 4/4 stars I went into this knowing nothing about it and was captivated. I’m kind of in my Hamilton listening phase with Six and the writing gets more clever the more I listen to it. I would see it again, it’s such a fun but clever ride.
4) Fiddler On The Roof 4/4 stars I had vague memories of this, probably from seeing the movie and possibly an off Broadway production as a kid. But this is my first time appreciating it as an adult. It can be a bit by the books, but I found it profound and sad and have thought about it often since. Our Teve was incredible I might have given it a 3.5 right afterwards, but all that it’s given me since pushes it to a 4, kind of the opposite of..
5) Hadestown 4/4 stars I left Hadestown in awe. The music was beautiful, chilling. I love an orchestra on stage. But now that some time has passed, it hasn’t really done much for me emotionally and the plot is a bit weak. I’ll keep it as a 4 for how it made me feel after the show. Maybe it needs a rewatch.
6) Jesus Christ Superstar 3/4 stars
I didn’t know a lot about this beforehand but I can’t say I wasn’t engaged and intrigued throughout. In moments, I thought it was too weird and at others I thought it wasn’t weird enough. In moments I thought it was cerebral and other moments thought it was a high production Christian rock concert. Overall it was memorable and I often wonder how those of different faiths would view it.
7) Mean Girls 3/4 stars
This exceeded expectations for me. I like the movie a lot and grew up with it but honestly assumed the show might kind of be trash. I remember after it was over saying wait, was that pretty good? Overtime it’s not that memorable to me but I remember laughing often and really enjoying the fun choreography.
8) Moulin Rouge 2.5/stars
I left this thinking, “wow a lot of people who don’t like theater would adore this.” Actually for some reason I left with a lot of specific thoughts: I wish it was weirder and more circusy. I don’t like Jukebox musicals but this was well done for a Jukebox musical. I tend to love simple understated sets but boy was it kind of fun to see an extravagant set with grandiose lightning and design. The plot is so boring/non existent (I think that’s supposed to be besides the point).
9) Tootsie 1.5/4 stars
I think this did everything it was supposed to do and was well acted but it was profoundly unfunny to me. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
10) Anastasia 0/4 stars
No. I’ve never been so bored watching theater in my life. Was it a musical? I don’t remember one song. I left ranting about the awful set design and then looked it up and read it won all kinds of awards for the set and projection. I don’t get it. I hated that it was all projectors- and even if I Was to accept it, I didn’t find the projection engaging either in an impressive technical way or a charming older way. For fans, I don’t mean to offend. Would love to hear a different perspective.
Did not see: Cats, Frozen, Pretty Woman, Tina Turner

I joined this subreddit a few days before the show started, and there was a post that I found really interesting where u/TeeeeCeeee looked back at the previous Produce seasons + GP999 + Idol School and analyzed some of the most common archetypes found in Mnet survival shows, and I thought that it'll be interesting to go back to that post and try and see which Boys Planet contestants best fit the archetypes they predicted would appear.
(Note: I did not watch any of the Produce seasons nor GP999 nor Idol School so I have no idea what OP is talking about when they list their examples for each archetype but I trust that they’re right)

The Hero/Heroine: This is the protagonist of the show. In some seasons, Mnet's protagonist is a little less easy to identify, but I'll focus here on the most blatant examples. The hero/heroine is youthful and charming but there's some growing they still need to do. This weakness is typically presented in the first couple episodes, and their overcoming this weakness is usually one of the most major storylines in the season. Mnet's heroes and heroines always debut, and they get so much screen time it's difficult for them not to. They're often one of the first contestants we see, but usually not the actual first.

OP listed Somi (S1), Chaeyoung (IS), Sakura (48), Yohan (X), and Dayeon + Chaehyun (GP999) as examples.

It's a little early to know for sure who Mnet's hero will be (ep.1 will certainly make it clear) but there's a pretty good chance it will end up being Sung Hanbin, or any of the shiny boys.

I’d say that they were pretty spot on with Sung Hanbin in terms of the fact that he was the protagonist of the show from the moment that he walked into the Star Level test stage. However, I’m not sure if the show really focused on his weaknesses. We did see him struggle during Tomboy and Say My Name, but those weaknesses weren’t present in the beginning and didn’t really have a storyline during the entire show.

The nation's leader: The trainee who takes charge in the leader role time and again and shows compassion for their teammates, but also leads them to greatness. Someone who makes level-headed calls and also helps out the weak trainees. This is a niche that several trainees will fill early in the season, but only one of them typically makes it to the finale and becomes the nation's leader. It's also an archetype that the contestants seem to know well and gun for frequently, but it's success rates aren't actually fantastic.

OP listed Nayoung (S1), Kim Jonghyeon (S2), and Bora (GP999) as examples.

The nation's leader is usually one of the older trainees, and Ichika and Hui are already looking to be likely candidates. Keep an eye on trainees in the eye contact battle that seem to be very doting on their partner and helpful, especially those helping them translate. Hui's speaking Japanese for the much less confident Hyo is a classic nation's leader move.

I agree with Hui as he was the leader for every single mission in the show and people liked his leadership skills. Ichika was eliminated pretty early on nor was he ever a leader so he doesn't fit OP's definition. Dongyeol was also a contestant who got the leader role in every single mission he was in, but he also didn’t get a lot of screentime and not a lot of people talked about him so unfortunately he doesn’t really count. I’d argue that Park Hanbin was also a nation’s leader as many people liked his military-style training and he ranked first in leadership in that one subreddit talent survey. On top of that, his K-Group Hot Sauce team was the only team whose members all survived the first elimination. People also liked Zhang Hao and Jiwoong as leaders and they both made it into the final lineup, but neither of them actually ended up becoming the leader of the group.

The faildol: Often going hand in hand with the leader archetype is the trainee who seems to be way out of their league, looking lost and generally failing at every mission they try to do, but not failing too hard. Being endearing is the primary factor that makes the faildol such a successful archetype, and it's one of Mnet's absolute favorites … Somebody who isn't talented (yet) but they're down to earth and likeable.

OP listed Sohye (S1) and Hyewon (48) as examples.

Early candidate is Lee Daeul, who fans are already noticing can't dance, but at least he's cute! In kpop, for many, that's what really matters.

Daeul fits OP’s definition of a “faildol” pretty well; he didn’t have a lot of training but he was endearing, and Seunghwan (who you can also argue as someone who fits the leader archetype) took good care of him when they were both 2-stars. Unfortunately, he was not one of Mnet’s favorites as he got a really bad evil edit in episode 4 that caused his rank to plummet down to 46th after the 1st elimination ended and the votes resetted. Another example might be Takuto, who also lacked training but was very cute and charming. Mnet constantly edited him with cute sound effects, but they also focused on him struggling in the missions a lot as well.

The wonder kid: Opposed to the last few archetypes, the wonder kid never debuts, but an Mnet show isn't complete without them. The trainee who's young, probably too young to be on the show, but wow, they sure can dance. You're kidding, they can sing too? This kid's going places … Surely these kids are too talented to overlook, until their age holds them back, but they often work wonders for this next archetype.

OP listed Woojin (S2) and Haeun (48) as examples.

Likely candidates are any of the 07/08 kids, we'll have to see which one gets that golden ep.1/ep.2 edit.

I’m not sure if there were really any contestants in Boys Planet who fit this archetype. The closest example would be Yujin, who dances well especially for someone who was born in 07 and has only been dancing for a year, but that’s pretty much it (edit: also Yujin debuted so actually I’m not sure if he really fits OP’s definition).

The Ideal Hyung/Unnie: They're effortlessly cool and pretty, down to earth in a believable way, and are always looking out for the little guy, whether that be the faildol or the wonder kid. They're probably a little doting too, but it's not quite motherly/fatherly. A little tomboyish or distinctly masculine. The sort of person you'd want to have your back, the perfect older sibling … This archetype has been watered down and more of a micro-archetype in recent seasons, but I think it's pretty likely to make a resurgence this time around, especially with the contesants skewing older.

OP listed Sejeong (S1) and Daniel (S2) as examples.
I think a good example for this archetype is Jiwoong. He’s definitely masculine and has a “cool” vibe, but he’s also down to earth and has a goofy side to him. He also has almost a fatherly relationship with Yujin, whom I listed as a potential example for the Wonder Kid.

The One True Main Vocal: Is pretty self explanatory. It's the trainee who can hit high notes like no other. Every kpop group needs a main vocalist and this trainee is essential for the debut team. Typically this means they barely scrape by to the final elimination and get panic-voted into the lineup. It's also key for there to be several contestants of this archetype, so Mnet can pit them against each other for drama. This archetype can even pretty consistently make the debut team even after getting some bad edits.

OP listed Yeonjung (S1), Jaehwan (S2), Yuri, Goeun, Haeyoon, and Chowon (S3) as examples.

Kim Taerae seems like he'll be in the running, but there will definitely be many more alongside him.

I’m honestly pretty impressed with how OP managed to predict Taerae, as not only was he one of the contestants who were highlighted as a main vocal, but he also made it into the final lineup. On top of that, they also managed to predict that he would get panic-voted into the lineup since that's kinda what happened after the final interim rankings dropped. Other candidates for The One True Main Vocal were Hui, Jay, and Seungeon (OP also predicted the “pit them against each other for drama” correctly, especially with Hui and Jay during LMR), but ultimately it was Taerae who rose on top.

The Born Dancer: Also self explanatory, these are the trainees that are the best dancers on the planet and Mnet is going to make sure you know it, even if you don't know anything about dance whatsoever. They've probably been dancing since they were a baby, and they probably also learn choreography in 30 seconds … Unlike when it comes to main vocals, there will probably only be one main dancer push from mnet, despite many potential candidates.

OP listed Chungha (S1) and Chaeyeon (48) as examples.
There were a fair amount of main dancer candidates during this show (Sung Hanbin, Park Hanbin, Zihao, etc.) but honestly I feel like this show didn’t really focus that much on who can dance well? I feel like whenever the show did focus on dance it was more focused on who dances poorly and is “hindering” the rest of the team, but idk I could be wrong. Anyway, I think Park Hanbin fits this archetype the best. Idk if he’s been dancing since he was a baby, but Mnet put a lot of focus on him being a very fast learner (cue to him learning both the En Garde and Switch choreos) and a very good dance teacher.

The Underdog: There's something inherently underwhelming about his trainee, but when they come on stage they come alive. Maybe they're meek and shy, maybe their visuals aren't up to snuff, but that just makes them more relatable. Maybe they just aren't ranking as high as the objectively should, and that just makes you root for them harder.

OP listed Yoojung (S1), Hyeongjun (X), and Youngeun (GP999) as examples.
I… honestly don’t know who to put for this archetype. Maybe Jay? Since he unfortunately had quite the hate train going but that also made his supporters root for him even more. He did rank pretty high throughout the show though, so I’m not sure if he was really an “underdog.”

The Vitamin: Endlessly energetic, naturally funny, and always optimistic. Mnet loves to have a tense scene of team conflict then immediately cut to a vitamin doing something endearing for the cameras. The vitamin is the variety star to be … While the success-rate for vitamins has definitely gone down over time, their frequency has not wavered, and there will surely be several this season as well.

OP listed Yena (48) and Seungyoun (X) as examples.
This is definitely Seowon. That one scene during the reevaluations when everyone was stressed and anxious meanwhile here comes Seowon happily doing his audition and going “this is so fun :D” afterwards… yeah this archetype belongs to him. Woongki also fits this archetype as well; he’s funny and very energetic and is Seowon’s partner in crime. Both of them were the variety stars in the show (unfortunately they also didn’t make it into the final lineup).

The Flower Boy: A little effeminate, probably very comfortable doing aegyo. They're usually a bit of a toned down vitamin, and they're often a big victim of mnet forcing shipping. Smiley and upbeat and will probably be put into a fluffy sweater at some point.

OP listed Jihoon + Daehwi (S2) and Dongpyo + Hyeongjun (X) as examples.

Woonggi and Sungmin were World Klass' flower boys so there's a decent chance they'll take up the mantle again. From what I've seen, Seo Won or Jung Hojin might also fit this archetype well.

Alright I know I literally just listed Seowon and Woongki as examples for the Vitamin archetype but they also kind of fit the Flower Boy archetype as well. I don’t think they were “toned down vitamins,” but they’re pretty feminine and comfortable with doing aegyo. I think OP might be right with Hojin (based on that one dorm scene where Woongki, Seowon, and Hojin danced to Hype Boy), but he also didn’t get a lot of screentime so it’s a bit hard to tell. Same thing with Sungmin.

The Big 3 Dropout: A trainee once from a prestigious company but who got overlooked for debut and is now on the rocks, desperate for debut. Mnet makes sure you know they're a bit different from the rest, there's something inherently better about them. They must be talented to have been in such a big agency, but they're also a built in underdog for having failed already … Being from a Big 3 agency isn't a guarantee you'll get this archetype either, you just have to get lucky and hope Mnet picks you to be the lucky one, there's always many who get overlooked.

OP listed Herin + Seoyeon + Jiwon (IS), Chaeyeon (48), and Chaehyun + Mashiro (GP999) as examples.

The Loud contestants have a good chance of getting this archetype for this season.

To be honest, I don’t think this show really focused on which companies/survival shows the contestants have trained/participated in before. There’s no/barely any mention of some of the contestants being in Loud or being former Cube trainees, so I don’t think this archetype is really present in the show.

The Desperate Idol: Maybe their group is struggling, maybe it's already gone. Regardless, this is a trainee who's already made debut but has struggled to find success for one reason or another. Every season has a ton of contestants who have already debuted in one way or another but you've got to be from a decently high profile group to score this archetype. What's important that you know about this contestant is that it might just be their last chance. Don't you feel sorry for them? Aren't they too good to let slip through the cracks? The likelihood of a very nugu group member getting this edit is very unlikely.

OP listed Chaeyeon (S1), NU’EST (S2), Kaeun (48), Wooseok (X), and Yujin (GP999) as examples.

Hui is a given for this edit, but it's also possible the guys from Up10tion might get it too. Woonggi and Sungmin are unlikely to get this edit due to the circumstances of their leaving the group, and Seunghwan is also unlikely due to be the winner of an MBC survival show. Can't be promoing the rival networks. The other contestants from other groups are likely all much too nugu for mnet to name drop them.

OP was right about Hui getting this edit as well as Woongki and Seunghwan not getting this edit. Sungmin did briefly mention “leaving” TO1 and saying that this is his last chance during the Rush Hour conflict though. Up10tion and NINE.i were also very briefly mentioned during Hui’s segment but that was kinda it, so yeah it was mainly Hui who got this edit.
This was pretty fun to write lol