I used to believe that gaming meant only using a console, handheld, or using a PC. This summer, when I stayed in Winona, I discovered a cute little gaming store called River Quest.
My roommate got a job working there, so I was in the store at least once a week or every other week. I got to know the owner, who is one of the coolest guys in the Winona area. I was opened up to a world of a different type of gaming.
I’m creating a Bucket List of Board Games that I haven’t played yet, but I intend to. I will sticky this to the front page of the Gaming Section and I plan to update it as I play new games. Also, I hope to post a review on some of these board games especially the ones with the strikeout through the name. In the meantime, enjoy my bucket list! Also, feel free to comment with various board games that I can add to the list.
I came across an article in which Paradox, the company aiding in the release of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, reported lower profits due to Bloodlines 2 not performing well. I finished Bloodlines 2, and I don’t feel at all surprised by this admission. It’s unfortunate, considering Bloodlines 2 had a lot of potential to bring new players into White Wolf and the other World of Darkness TTRPG games. There will be additional DLC released later in the year focusing on Benny and Ysabella. Once that happens, I think Bloodlines 2 will be left alone. This made me think about White Wolf as a company and what I’d love to see for the franchise’s future.
I’d love to see more marketing of these games, specifically Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Hunter: The Reckoning. It feels like these games aren’t being marketed well, or that there aren’t many live plays where groups are actively playing them. To play devil’s advocate, it might be that I don’t know these live plays exist, and these games could be played more often than I’m made aware of. If so, help a girl out. Feel free to drop any live play recommendations for these games in the comments below. In scrolling through the World of Darkness YouTube channel, there are a few live plays for these games, but they are far and few in between. I’d love to see World of Darkness promoting and boosting smaller creators who livestream these games, as I think it’s a win-win for everyone. White Wolf can promote channels playing their games, and small creators get more viewers from other gamers, like me, who want to watch these games being played. I feel that there isn’t enough of that right now, which is a shame. It’s a big missed opportunity as Vampire: The Masquerade is arguably the more popular game, but it also has more content, which helps people buy more TTRPG books.
Speaking of promotion, I’d like to see more TTRPG books that highlight a specific city. I’m reading Chicago By Night now, and I find the book fascinating! I have been to Chicago several times, so it’s been fun to see specific areas of the city being highlighted and which vampire clan has control. I think it helps build up more lore for the games if there were more books dedicated to highlighting various cities around the globe.
The other thing that I notice is how much is invested into “Month of Darkness”. “Month of Darkness” is when World of Darkness has various prompts throughout the month in honor of Halloween and the spookier season. This creates a lot of buzz and excitement for the franchise. Once October is over, though, it seems like nothing happens. I went to the World of Darkness YouTube channel, and since October of last year, there have only been eight videos uploaded, the most recent one uploaded a month ago. Without being repetitive, it would be great to see something happening on the channel in the other months.
Now that Bloodlines 2 has been released and the financials are public, I’d like to see more live plays and advertising from White Wolf and World of Darkness for both Werewolf and Hunter. If they don’t invest in these games, why should I?
I bought Vagrant Song at Gen Con in 2023. I was drawn to the game originally because of the art, which reminds me of the game Cuphead. I liked how this game is cooperative, and that there are several different scenarios to play. I get the most value out of board games that offer a ton of replayability. Vagrant Song is a game I occasionally bring to my family’s board game days. We succeeded in playing two different scenarios, “When You Dig My Grave” and “Suffocation Station”. Eventually, I’d love to say that I played every single scenario in the base game.
Vagrant Song is one of those games where you have to relearn how to play the game if it’s been a few years since you last played. When we last played, we took pictures of our characters to save our game and items. These pictures were dated from November 2023. It’s wild to me that it was almost three years ago. It makes sense since we rotate out the games we play. It took about an hour to re-read the rules and set up the scenario. In the first scenario, “When You Dig My Grave”, we had to put the haint, the terminology Vagrant Song uses to describe a ghost, to rest. Each scenario includes a series of rituals, and if you complete the ritual, you can unlock various power-ups after the scenario concludes. In one such ritual, we unlocked a vial of poison that my character has on their character card. It’s neat to be able to take items into future scenarios in the game. Once we finished the scenario, we realized we played the game wrong. We had all our characters take a turn, then the haint would take their turn. Instead, the haint should have had a turn after each of the characters. Oops. If I type this out in this blog post, maybe we will remember to play the game correctly in the future.
In the second scenario, “Suffocation Station,” the goal was not to free the haints, but to complete all the rituals or the events on the board. I liked this a lot. It made the game different since our strategy had to change. Most of the scenarios in the game include giving humanity to the haints, so they can be put to rest instead of wandering the train, which is why this scenario was unique. After completing this scenario, we packed up, took pictures of our characters, and saved the game.
Vagrant Song remains one of my favorite board games in my collection. I like how there is still so much of the game that we haven’t discovered yet. This has become one of our favorite games we play, and hopefully, we will get to the point where we have played every single scenario in the scenario book.
Last month, Animal Crossing: New Horizons released its new update. The main addition was adding the hotel, which sits on the ocean alongside the pier. With the hotel, players can now decorate hotel rooms and see different villagers visiting their island. The update has invigorated my love for Animal Crossing, as I have been playing the game every chance I can. I have gone through a recent slump where I went eight months (the game reminded me of this) without playing. With the update, I have been playing Animal Crossing regularly, and I feel motivated to go back and accomplish things that I was missing.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Hotel! – Screenshot taken by me in-game.
Starting with the hotel, I like being able to decorate the rooms. I find the task itself to be relaxing. When beginning to decorate a room, you can choose two different themes. From there, each room has various furniture items, flooring, and wallpaper, so you can choose how you want the room to look. I find that I do this every time I log into the game. The more rooms that are decorated, the more items are unlocked in the hotel’s souvenir shop. One of my favorite items I unlocked is a cat plushie that sits in my LEGO-themed room. I’m not sure how many more items I could unlock, but it’s been fun to see what else is included in the update. Another task that’s kept me busy is crafting items. Outside the hotel is a box where you can craft items to put into the box that are shipped off the island. It’s an easy way to get more currency to spend at the hotel.
Speaking of the update, another feature I like is the multi-craft feature. Before the update, you could only craft one item at a time. Now, you can craft multiple of the same item. For example, I’m trying to complete my fish encyclopedia, so having fish bait on hand can help attract the fish I need. Before, I could craft one fish bait, but now I can craft seven at once as long as I have the materials needed. Another way that I’m using the multi-craft feature is to craft flimsy tools, so I can break them to earn more Nook Miles I was missing. The last thing I will say about this is the ability to use items from your home storage. This is so slick! I don’t have to carry everything in my pockets anymore. As long as it’s in my home’s inventory, I can pull it to craft with it. Crafting has been made so much better thanks to this update.
The final thing I have done is create a guide to everything I still need to unlock in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I have a table of all the fish, sea creatures, and bugs I need to catch, along with the Nook Miles I haven’t unlocked yet. I have highlighted certain creatures that are available this time of year and what time I need to play to unlock them. This has been super helpful! Since I created the guide, I have caught at least two fish and two insects I was missing. My husband asked me if I could change the date and time on my Switch to the times of year I need, and I could, but that’s cheating! I want to unlock this fair and square.
The new update has made Animal Crossing: New Horizons fresh again! I’m glad that this update was made for both Switch and Switch 2. I don’t think I would have upgraded to the Switch 2 solely because of this update had it not been made available on the Switch. I’m not sure how long I will keep playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but I know this update will keep me busy for the next month at least.
The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent is the third book in the Crown of Nyaxia series. What’s interesting is that each portion of the series is categorized on Goodreads as a duet, meaning two books complete that story. Each duet is centered on one of three vampire houses: the House of Night, the House of Shadow, and the House of Blood. Oraya and Raihn’s story was the first duet taking place in the House of Night, while The Songbird & the Heart of Stone begins the story from the House of Shadow. The Songbird & the Heart of Stone follows Mische, who was a standout character from the first two books. I’m happy to say this book lived up to the hype and might be my favorite in this series so far.
Potential Spoilers for The Previous Crown of Nyaxia Books & The Songbird & the Heart of Stone
Mishe’s life changed when she was forcibly turned into a vampire. Now at odds with the god she devoted her life to, she still tried to appease him whenever possible. When revenge fell into her lap, she took it. She was eventually captured by the House of Shadow, and when she was about to be executed, she was rescued by Asar. Asar needs Mishe’s help with a secret mission, which involves undergoing the trek to Morthryn, the journey into the Underworld. The Underworld is not a kind place, and as Mishe and Asar journey through Morthryn’s depths, they start to care for one another.
Ride or die for Luce, Asar’s necromantic dog companion. She’s the best girl. If something happens to her in the next book, I’m going to be livid. I love how much this book feels like Mishe’s story. Asar is there, but the focus is clearly on Mische, which is what she deserves. She was always this ray of sunshine, evident in her friendships with Oraya and Raihn, and that’s clearly continued in this book. I like how the power dynamic is illustrated through Atroxus, the god that Mishe worships, and Mishe’s devotion to him. It’s incredibly toxic and shows how religious trauma is a core theme of Mishe’s story. At times, I felt so angry on Mishe’s behalf with the way Atroxus treats her. It wasn’t her fault that she was forcibly turned against her will, and Atroxus blames her at times, despite Mishe wanting to support him. Karma comes full circle for Atroxus, though, and it was so satisfying to read, go Mishe.
Asar, what a gem. I didn’t mind Raihn, but I am all in for Asar. I thought Asar’s story was interesting, especially with his ties to necromancy. I like how he also hated Malach because Malach sucked. Malach was the one who forcibly turned Mishe. This mutual hatred was what brought both Asar and Mishe together in the first place. Asar and Mishe’s relationship was slowly built and didn’t feel rushed to me. I don’t think they even got together until the last 100 pages, which I thought was perfect.
I loved reading about the Underworld. This book reminded me of Persephone and Hades in the best way. I’m sure that was intentional by Carissa when she wrote this. I liked reading about all the creatures, like the undead wraiths who aren’t put to rest. Mishe sees that one of her friends, Eomin, was one of the wraiths she saw. Asar, feeling bad about it, takes the time to put his soul to rest, so Mishe doesn’t have to be constantly tormented by him, and Eomin can be at peace. I thought each layer in Morthryn was fascinating, like how one layer would focus on memories while the other showed various individuals from both Mishe and Asar’s pasts. It was all interesting to read about.
There are so many cliffhangers at the end of this book. I felt like this book didn’t go in the direction that I had thought, which left me wanting more. I knew this would probably be the case, so when I started reading The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, I ordered the other two books I haven’t read yet. I’m planning on reading those in March, so I’m fully caught up on the series. The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is the epitome of why I love reading, and I’m curious to see how everything unfolds in the next book. I rated The Songbird & the Heart of Stone five stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.
In my bedroom, there’s a tall white shelf. On the shelf are all my favorite video games from all different consoles. These are games I loved or games that mean a lot to me. I didn’t realize this, but my husband told me that the Xbox Series X can play Xbox 360 games. Once I realized that, I went to my shelf to figure out what I wanted to play first. My eyes immediately went to BioShock, and without any hesitation, I pulled it off my shelf. This is the year that I will spend replaying games that carry sentimental value for me.
I treated video games like I treated books, where once I finished playing the game, I’d move on to something else. It was rare for me to replay a video game or re-read a book. I want to be better about this. If I loved something, why would I only experience it once? BioShock is an exception to the rule, as I have replayed this game several times, although it’s been a while since my last play-through.
I’m looking forward to continuing to replay games I enjoy. I will still buy new games and play new releases if something suits my fancy, but for now, I’m going back to reliving the games that brought me joy many years ago.
I have been using Goodreads for a long time. It’s been an excellent way for me to track my reading, set goals, and write reviews on the books I have read. With that said, Goodreads is owned by Amazon, and there has been a lot of discussion about moving away from Goodreads because of this. The challenge is that I have been using Goodreads since 2014, and that’s a lot of book information to re-enter somewhere else. There would need to be something equitable in size, and have the online book library Goodreads has. With that said, The Storygraphmight be a suitable option to switch to.
I have been using Storygraph on and off, and I think there are vast improvements over Goodreads. The first one is the ability to rate books in half or partial stars, where Goodreads only offers one through five stars in its reviews. The spoiler tag in Storygraph actually works. To hide notes under spoilers, you would add <spoiler> include the text that’s a spoiler and end it with </spoiler>. It wasn’t brought to my attention until a few years ago that spoiler tags don’t work on the mobile app version of Goodreads. All this time, the reviews I thought were hidden from spoilers weren’t. I have now been hiding my entire reviews on Goodreads for this reason. In Storygraph, my content is hidden where it needs to be. Storygraph also offers more stats on the books you read. It shows the pages you read in the year, genres you read from, and what books you gravitate to on average. I didn’t think I would be as interested in the stats as I thought I would, but I find them intriguing to read.
One thing I recently completed was transferring my Goodreads books to Storygraph. I didn’t realize this, but you can go into Goodreads and export your library. Storygraph allows you to upload this file and adds your books from Goodreads into Storygraph. I had a large upload as I have over 800 books that I have read. The file took a few days to process, but sure enough, I received an email from Storygraph once this was completed. For the most part, everything was accurate. There were about seventy books where I had to manually add in dates read and copy and paste a review. It didn’t take long, as I would work on this when I came home from work, editing a few books at a time. It’s really slick.
Will I ever move away from Goodreads? I don’t know. I feel similarly to Goodreads as I do to Facebook. I never post on Facebook, yet it’s one of the ways that I keep in touch with relatives I don’t see often. I deleted Facebook from my phone, so I’m barely there anymore. Goodreads, I feel more nostalgia for because I’d attribute Goodreads as one way I was able to get back into reading after not reading for a few consecutive years. With that said, I think Storygraph has a ton of potential, and I’m looking forward to utilizing it more going forward.
Steam had a major sale for their event called Steam Detective Fest. All detective, noir, or puzzle games were on sale. I played several game demos, and oddly enough, the demo I liked the most wasn’t a detective game at all. As I browsed through their sale, I saw almost every single Nancy Drew PC game was over 40% off. I purchased eight games that I don’t own yet. This should keep me busy for a bit. I decided to play Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice first. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice was one of my favorite Nancy Drew games that I played.
Nice cosplay Nancy! Screenshot taken by me in-game.
Nancy is sent to Venice to investigate a series of art thefts. The art thefts are linked to a person called The Phantom of Venice, who wears a mask and a cape during the heists. The Italian Police tell Nancy of a potential suspect, so she spies on them from a nearby building. From there, Nancy is sent all around Venice and even has to perform a heist herself!
I’m biased, as someone who went to Italy last year, I like the setting of the game. While I haven’t been to Venice myself, I thought the game captured the city well. Nancy takes the gondolas to get from place to place and will often walk to the various Piazzas that she needs to get to. Speaking of navigation, I thought this was straightforward. There’s a map of the sites in Venice, and Nancy needs to click on a location that’s adjacent to her. Depending on the location, she may walk, take public transit, or take a gondola to get places. I liked being able to explore multiple locations, unlike some Nancy Drew games, where she’s stuck in one place for the game’s entirety.
Speaking of straightforward, I think this Nancy Drew game was one of the easier games to follow. There are some Nancy Drew games where I spend an hour talking to people, calling Ned, or trying to advance the plot because the next thing I need to do hasn’t been unlocked. I like how this game sends Nancy exactly where she has to go, and each to-do list in her notebook leads exactly where it should. It makes for an easier gameplay experience.
Scopa! Screenshot taken by me in-game
It’s not a Nancy Drew game without mini-games and puzzles. One of my favorite games is a card game that Nancy plays in a nightclub called Scopa. The game itself is pretty straightforward, and while I lost the first game, I was able to win the second fairly easily. There are two instances in the game where you have to play Scopa to get information. I looked this up, and the rules in the game appear to be accurate representations of how Scopa is played. I could have spent multiple rounds playing Scopa for no other reason than I enjoyed the game. The puzzles in this game were also interesting. It’s funny, there’s a locked door in the lobby where Nancy stays. I took the time to pick the lock because if I have learned anything from a Nancy Drew game, if there’s something locked, it’s probably important. Oh, there was nothing. I ended up getting a chicken egg for my efforts and an award at the end of the game. I think that’s the one time I have ever experienced that in a Nancy Drew game.
After I complete a Nancy Drew game, I sort it into one of three Steam folders: Games Completed, Games I Love, and Not Super Interested in Playing. I’d list Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice in the Games I Love folder. This was one of the easier Nancy Drew games to follow. I loved the location, and the mini-games kept me entertained. The next Nancy Drew game I will play will either be Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand or Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch.
CW: Torture, Rape, Dark Web, Snuff Films, Animal Cruelty (The dog does not die!)
Spoilers for Killman Creek below
I recently finished reading Killman Creek by Rachel Caine. This is the second book in the Stillhouse Lake series. I went into reading this book expecting I would love it. I loved the first book, and I felt this was a series I would complete. This changed when I finished Killman Creek. It’s not that I hated this book, but I felt this book was so dark to the point where it felt like a chore to finish. I like reading thrillers and mysteries, but occasionally, I will read a book that goes to those places where it feels like it’s a bit too much for me. How dark is too dark in thrillers?
I will be spoiling Killman Creek and touching on some of these darker themes in the book. If any of the content warnings are upsetting, this might be a blog post to skip. As mentioned, Killman Creek was dark. The premise of the book is that Gwen is raising her two kids from the aftermath of her husband, Melvin, being a serial killer. At the end of the first book, Melvin breaks out of prison, so in Killman Creek, Gwen is going to face her ex-husband. Gwen uncovers a fake video created on the dark web where she is shown as an accomplice to Melvin’s crimes. This fake video is seen by someone close to Gwen and the FBI. If that wasn’t gross enough, this video was sent to her two children, so now they think Gwen is a murderer. If you’re like, wow there’s no way this book can get any darker, you would be incorrect. At the final climax of the book, Gwen is kidnapped, held captive, and is going to be tortured on video on the dark web by Melvin.
Listen, I’m all for the protagonist of a story of any genre to go through their perils. I expect Gwen to face an uphill battle while going after her ex-husband, but this? I would have been fine if the fake video existed, and Gwen fights Melvin to be exonerated in the end. I think where this book went further than I would have wanted was to send it to her children, so they are exposed to the violence of it all, and the ending. When I think about this topic, it boils down to one thing: if there is no way for the protagonist to win, or the protagonist wins, but at a cost to their humanity or sanity, why am I reading this series?
With that said, Gwen is successful and kills Melvin. My thought after finishing Killman Creek was, well, maybe this is a blip. Gwen can finally start over. I read through the other plot summaries of the books remaining in this series. One plot summary mentions how her town turns on Gwen, and another mentions how her kids are put in danger. I’m out. I already read about Gwen overcoming this massive event from her past, and she is put through so much.
It saddens me to not continue with this series, but it’s for the best. I know I wouldn’t be able to read these books without thinking negatively about them, and I have so many other series I want to read. There’s nothing wrong with thrillers and mysteries having dark themes, but when it comes to continually putting the protagonist in several awful situations with little to no hope of seeing them win, then I have to ask myself why I’m bothering to continue with their story.
The Minnesota Vikings are not in the playoffs this year. As a result, the last few Vikings games of the season had cheaper ticket prices. My husband had seen a news clip advertising that Vikings tickets were cheaper. One of the last games of the season was the Vikings playing the Green Bay Packers, and on average, tickets were $70 each. We decided to go to the game at U.S Bank Stadium, and it was a blast.
This is my second Vikings game I have been to. This time, we decided to park at a parking ramp that was farther away and take the Skyway over to the game. For those unfamiliar with downtown Minneapolis, there’s a Skyway system, or walkways connecting several buildings together above the roads. The Skyways connect the Convention Center to Target Field to U.S Bank Stadium. Walking farther away and taking the Skyways was the best way to attend the game. The first Vikings game we went to, we parked close to the stadium, so by the time we left, we were stuck in the parking garage for a lot longer. This time, when the game was over, we were able to walk back to our car and drive out of the ramp at a reasonable time.
It was fun to see the Vikings and Packers play. The Vikings ended up winning, which is funny because the Vikings didn’t need to win since they weren’t in the running to move into the playoffs. It was more important for the Packers to win. Unfortunately, the Packers’ season is now over since they lost to the Bears. As a side note, who would have predicted the Bears to be the team that won the NFC North? Good for them, since they haven’t been good in a while.
Happy New Year! Every year, I like to make New Year’s Resolutions that are specifically centered around my hobbies. I think it makes setting New Year’s Resolutions more fun. This is my fifth consecutive post where I have set resolutions for the year. With that said, here is everything I hoped to accomplish in 2025, as well as what I aim to do in 2026.
2025 New Year’s Resolutions
Finish The Mighty Nein – Complete! I finished The Mighty Nein last year. This was an achievement, considering there are 141 episodes to watch. I’m glad I took the time because The Mighty Nein was a wild ride from start to finish. I’m getting closer to saying that I’m caught up on Critical Role.
Golf at least 3 times This Summer – Nope. I didn’t golf once last year. Golfing is a hobby I have started thanks to my husband. I didn’t think I would ever enjoy golfing, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I like golf because it’s a great way to be physically active, and I like being outside as much as possible during the summer. Unfortunately, we were busy most weekends in summer and didn’t find the time last year.
Travel to 1 State or Country I haven’t been to before – Complete! I went to Italy last May, and it was a great vacation. I didn’t travel to any new US states, but I did go to South Dakota and the Black Hills, which I had never been to before.
Play 4 Different Console or PC Games – Complete! I played three different PS5 games and several Nancy Drew games last year.
Here are my resolutions for 2026.
Finish my Goodreads TBR
As of this post, I have one book left on my TBR that I plan on reading next month. It’s taken me several years to reach this point, so it will be rewarding once I have achieved it. Once I finish my TBR, I will share how I plan to approach reading differently in the future. I never want to get back to the point where I have hundreds of books on my TBR at once.
Finish the First Season of Fantasy High
I have an annual subscription to Dropout, so in addition to watching the comedy shows, I want to start watching Dimension 20. I decided to start at the beginning with Fantasy High and am a few episodes in to their first season. I have been enjoying it so far! It’s been a nice contrast to Critical Role, as the episodes for Fantasy High are two hours or less on average. I like to watch Fantasy High while I walk on my walking pad after work. I’d like to finish the first season this year, but realistically, I’d love to finish Fantasy High by the end of the year and move to another Dimension 20 series by the end of the year.
Get Halfway Through Bells Hells
I originally wanted to say that I would finish Bells Hells by the end of the year, but I’m only on episode #28, and there are 122 episodes (technically 121, but 121 is split into two parts, so I’m counting it as 122) so I think it’s unrealistic to say I will finish this campaign by the end of the year. Instead, I’m going to try to get halfway through the campaign, so get to episode #61 by the end of the year.
Replay at least One Video Game
This resolution is one I’m particularly excited for. When I play video games, I tend to only play them once. I think it’s a shame, considering that a lot of the video games I play, I love. I recently discovered that the Xbox Series X can play Xbox 360 games, so I decided to go through my collection and replay some of my favorites. I decided to start with Bioshock. I am also replaying Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 as well to unlock some additional trophies.
Bizarre Brunette 