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 didn’t realize this, but you can rent e-books from the library through Libby and read them on your Kindle. That’s so slick! I was exclusively listening to audiobooks on Libby and didn’t realize that renting e-books was an option. To test this out, I rented We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark. I found out about this book from thtgrlreads as she read this book earlier this year and loved it. We Who Will Die is a solid first book in a series, and I’m excited for the next book to come out.
Spoilers for We Who Will Die Below
“Because a man has wronged you. Women have been each other’s sword and shield since the beginning.”
Arvelle Dacien lives a rough life with her brothers. Her brother, Evren, has a lung disease, which Arvelle doesn’t have the resources to treat. Arvelle is offered a deal: Evren can be healed if Arvelle can kill the Emperor. To do so, Arvelle has to enter a competition called the Sundering, and if she wins, she could be placed on the Emperor’s guard. While Arvelle may be offered a losing deal, she would do anything to make sure her brother gets the cure that he needs.
This might be a longer book review, but I have a lot of thoughts! Starting with Arvelle, I like how she’s portrayed as being rough around the edges. She isn’t this sweet protagonist. She’s cold-hearted and has trouble trusting people in her life. This comes from the death of her friend Kassia, who died in a competition both she and Arvelle were competing in. When Arvelle agrees to this deal, she takes Leon with her to act as her mentor. Leon happens to be Kassia’s father. There are times when I genuinely don’t like Arvelle, nor do I agree with her actions. However, I understood why she was the way she was. The way that Arvelle treats Maeva, another competitor in the Sundering sucked and Maeva calls her out for it later in the book. As the story unfolds, Arvelle matures and grows as a person. She starts to build upon her relationships and realizes she can’t keep living her life this way. I liked seeing that growth from her. It leaves potential for Arvelle to grow in future books.
While this is Arvelle’s story, another thing I liked about the book was all the side characters. Maeva is one character I highlighted already, and I adore her. Give Maeva her own book. I liked her story and her family dynamic, which led to her competing in the Sundering. Maeva and Arvelle end up becoming good friends. There are all the other gladiators, like Hester, who gets what’s coming to her. If you know, you know. Leon, what a gem. Leon keeps Arvelle in line and calls her out when she isn’t paying attention or is planning on doing something she shouldn’t. While we don’t get to meet Kassia, she plays a crucial role for both Arvelle and Leon. There are so many interesting characters in this book, which adds to my enjoyment of the series.
With this book being advertised as romantasy, I have to talk about the romance. Our book boyfriend is Tiernon, a former lover from Arvelle’s past who left her without warning. There’s a lot to unpack there since he did leave for a reason, which is revealed later. I think it’s safe to say there’s a love triangle being built with Tiernon, Arvelle, and Rorrik, Tiernon’s vampire brother. I am waiting for the ball to drop for Tiernon. I think he’s hiding something, and he doesn’t want to tell Arvelle about it because he’s afraid that he will lose her. I could be wrong, but something doesn’t feel right about him. The romance is fine, but I think it needs more time to develop.
When I write a book review, I like to read other reviews from other readers. There were a few critiques other readers brought up that I agreed with. The first is that Arvelle is portrayed as almost too weak at times. This goes beyond being out of shape and having an ankle injury. It seemed that every physical fight she was in, she struggled. It was almost to the point where I was questioning how on earth she won the Sands? There was never a moment when Arvelle won her fight by a landslide. This might be me being too nitpicky, but if she won this competition, why does she seem like such a beginner during her training? The last thing I wanted to say was how I feel like there’s too much going on in this book. Dare I say that vampires felt out of place? This book features vampires, gladiators, sigil magic, gods, pixies, centaurs, and wyverns. I think if Stacia had taken two of these things and honed in on them, it would have made the book better.
We Who Will Die is if the movie Gladiator had vampires. I think this was a great first book in a series, and there’s a lot of hype for the second book. If anything happens to Maeva, I will rage quit this series. I rated We Who Will Die four stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.
When was the last time you read a magazine? I asked myself this same question, and I genuinely can’t remember. I used to read Seventeen and Teen Vogue when I was younger, and then transitioned to Cosmopolitan. I haven’t had a true magazine subscription in years. I was delighted when I discovered Cozy Companion, a cozy games and fiction magazine published by game studio Snowbright Studio. What drew me to Cozy Companion was getting more cozy game recommendations. It didn’t matter to me if those recommendations were video games, board games, or TTRPGs. I have since read two of their digital issues, and I can’t recommend the magazine enough.
Starting with gaming, there are different games being featured and interviews with game studios. In the October 2025 issue, I found out about Dredge, a sinister fishing game. I have since added it to my wishlist on Switch. It was interesting reading the interview with the developers to understand why they made the game and what drew them to the cozy horror genre. When reading this section, I saw some of the other recommendations, including the board game Mysterium, Call of Cthulhu, and Arkham Horror,which are all games I either own or have played extensively. In the November 2025 issue, there’s an exclusive interview with Archeron, who’s publishing Pumpkin Spice, a cozy RPG set at a coffee shop. I had this system on my radar as I had signed up to follow their campaign on BackerKit. Each issue of Cozy Companion I have read so far has been entertaining to read.
Besides gaming, there’s more that each issue has to offer. There’s a section on crafting, either with crochet, and one issue featured how to make a felt dice tray. I have a lot of admiration for those who are crafty because it can’t be me. The crafts don’t interest me, but I think they would probably interest other people. There are also short stories, recipes, and interviews with the artists who design the cover of each magazine. There’s something here for everyone, even if you are a casual gamer.
I haven’t signed up for a regular subscription yet, as I have been buying some of the back issues as digital copies. Each subscription allows you a choice of either digital or print. Once I get caught up on their back issues, I see no reason why I wouldn’t subscribe to Cozy Companion.
I have talked about Private Nightmares in various blog posts, but I haven’t dedicated an entire post to talking about this live play. It’s about time I write about Private Nightmares because it’s one of my favorite TTRPG live plays I have watched. I found out about Private Nightmares last year through an announcement by Alexander Ward, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite players and now storytellers to watch. In partnership with Joey Rassool, a player on NY By Night, they launched Project Ghostlight, a home for Vampire: The Masquerade live streams, specifically Private Nightmares. Private Nightmares is so unsettling and perfectly captures the horror of Vampire: The Masquerade.
Private Nightmares follows a thin-blood coterie. Naomi (played by Mayanna Berrin), Katie (played by Aabria Iyengar), Gable (played by Xander Jeanneret), Eddie (played by Luis Carazo), and Jade (played by Gina DeVivo) are a thin-blood coterie who are trying to discover what that actually means in LA, and establish their place in vampire society. For those who aren’t sure what I mean when I say thin-blood, thin-bloods are Kindred who have diluted vampire blood, so they aren’t seen as full vampires. As such, they are often looked down upon. It makes for an interesting story to see how these characters view the Camarilla and vampire society as a whole.
The whole cast is amazing at what they do. It’s hard to choose a favorite character, because everyone has their own story. I think it’s easy to say Jade is a standout. The way she approaches situations with this innocence is realistic in finding out what she’s capable of as a vampire. I was reading some comments online about how her sire may be Malkavian, and that fits. Katie and Naomi have had a ton of great moments together. Another thing I like about this actual play is how they navigate missing players at the table. For example, Naomi wasn’t around for several episodes, but when she came back, she stated how she owed the Camarilla because of the catastrophe at the museum. It keeps the story moving and still keeps the cast engaged if they can’t film every episode together.
Alexander Ward, as the storyteller, is easily another strength of the series. The way that this is filmed is unlike any actual play I watched. I appreciate the way Alexander portrays the beast in the characters. He will sit on the back of the player’s chairs or lean down close to them to whisper dialogue. It’s unsettling, which is how it should be. I’m not sure where they film this series, but I like how the players can get up and walk around, too. It feels like I’m watching a theater production in addition to a TTRPG being played.
Private Nightmares is one of my favorite Vampire: The Masquerade live plays I have ever watched. I’m curious to see how long this coterie will go for and if they will do more live plays in the future. If you haven’t checked it out, you need to, or if you have always been interested in Vampire: The Masquerade, this is a great live play to watch to dip your feet into all things World of Darkness.
I read Mallory Marlowe’s first book, Love and Other Conspiracies, last year, and I loved it. I like how her books are standalone, meaning you don’t necessarily need to read the first book to understand the others. There will be small references here and there, but not enough to distract you from reading. Her second book, Love at First Sighting, was released last year, so I knew I wanted to read it eventually. As a Christmas present last year, I received Love at First Sighting, so I ended up saving it for February, as that’s when I read romance. Love at First Sighting was adorable, albeit the plot is a little far-fetched, but I don’t care.
Influencer El Martin truly believes she saw aliens. She posts it in her livestream, not really thinking much of it. However, this is quickly put on Agent Carter Brody’s plate as he works for the government to cover up all potential alien sightings. He meets her and is floored by who El is. She isn’t like what he sees of her online. They both end up finding commonality in figuring out what El saw that day. When they investigate, they realize something more sinister is happening, especially when it comes to what happened to Carter’s father all those years ago.
I loved Carter; he’s such a sweetheart. When Carter was young, his father passed away, and Carter saw something that day. Carter’s story is arguably more interesting than El’s because of wanting to find answers. Carter is a gem, and he needs to be protected at all costs. El grew on me eventually, but I did find her grating at first. She’s an influencer, and she has that attitude of advertising products she doesn’t believe in, but it’s fine because it’s for Instagram. Her friends are insufferable, and while El realizes this, she doesn’t stick up for herself. She lets her friends be shitty people. El eventually comes around and calls out her friends and sticks up for Carter. This book does a great job at portraying influencer culture as being as cringe as it is.
This was adorable. Mallory Marlowe’s books have all been great, and I look forward to reading whatever she publishes. I rated Love at First Sighting four stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.
This is one of the few blog posts where I’m turning off comments. I’m not interested in debate, and since this is my space on the internet, I’m allowed to control that if I so choose. I write for Bizarre Brunette as a hobby and a way to distract from the world that we live in. With that said, I can’t stay silent about what’s going on in Minneapolis these past few weeks. Our communities have been thrown into turmoil, and human rights are being violated. All thanks to ICE being brought to Minnesota. I do not stand or condone what ICE has been doing, and they need to leave Minnesota.
Since ICE has arrived, two people have been murdered. Their names are Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. If you don’t believe that they were murdered, I have nothing else that I want to say to you. If you are watching what’s happening and it’s horrifying to you as well, say something! We, as the people of this country, can come together and speak up about the atrocities that ICE is committing. If you’re able to financially donate, I have been making contributions to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, which is a non-profit that provides free legal representation to low-income immigrants.
ICE is not the good guys. It doesn’t matter if they are federal agents; we cannot forget what they have done to Minnesota.
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.
Bizarre Brunette 