In today’s newsletter:

• the nominees for the 2025 community selections
• announcing December's brew
• new game releases to keep an eye on

podcast recap 🎧
​our podcast discussion + other media we've gotten into over the last week.

The holiday season is upon us which also means we're preparing for 2025! This is one of my favorite times of the year -- I'm setting up my planner, finishing up this year's game journal, and prepping the ranked-choice ballot for Geeks & Grounds voting. eye💛🥳
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Today's podcast episode is all about the final nominees for next year's community selection, and how to vote for the games you'd like to play most. Have a listen as we go through the selections and share our thoughts (spoiler alert: y'all pick some very good games)

Ready to vote? Rank your top six titles from the list of 23 nominees in our official ballot (click the button). Be sure to submit your vote before 11:59 pm PT on December 8th! (psst, if you vote, you'll get an all-important, exclusive "I voted!" sticker! Don't miss it! 😎)

Please note: to help prevent spam accounts and multiple voting, you'll need to record your name and email to view the ballot and vote. It's NOT signing you up for anything - it's to help prevent duplicate entries. ​
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In more fun and good community news: I wanted to add THANK YOU - from the bottom of my heart - to the many G&G community members I saw come through during the Intelligame fundraiser last week for the Lebanese Red Cross. We raised just over 20K (!!!!) which all goes directly to the organization. Both Intelligame and Geeks & Grounds were founded in the hopes that our passion for games, discussion of media, and interest in making the world a better place could all find a way to combine. This is an example of that happening, and I couldn't be more honored or proud. Major shoutout to Josh of Intelligame for making this happen (go check out his Twitch if you haven't already)!

A reminder that our monthly hangout is on Saturday, November 30th at 3 pm PT in Discord. We'll discuss November's game, Slay the Princess (be sure to bring your ranking of the princesses), catch up on the G&G 2025 plans, and generally just chill together for a bit. 😊 Hope to see you there!
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🥐☕ the pastry case (show links)
​what we're reading/watching/listening to outside of the monthly brew.

• Jenny
  • Okay. Hear me out. Arkane is …. good, actually? I also know I’m super late to the game as they’ve got a Season 2 already, but that means if you’re like me, there’s more to binge!
  • The update every cozy game, farming-sim-loving person should pay attention to is out now: Fields of Mistrea has its first major content update!
  • I’ve just begun I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying by Youngmi Mayer, and it’s filling my cup (and making me cry) in all the best ways.
• Joel
  • The Sanderlanche - My brother and I were just texting as he finishes up Edgedancer and I finish up Rhythm of War. Wow, I have forgotten SO much.
  • The new season of Dropout’s Very Important People has dropped and the first episode is killer.
  • What game do you play with someone that doesn’t game to pique their interest? This week I chose Florence! This extremely short game pulls on the heartstrings and is a great primer in using a video game controller for a person who hasn’t gamed.

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👀 🎮notable indie releases this week
​games to keep an eye on if you're looking for more to play.

Luma Island | 20​ ​Co-Op Farming Travel to Luma Island to go on an epic adventure by yourself or with your friends and family. Build your dream farm, master professions, collect magical Lumas, find treasures, and unravel the island's mysteries.

On Your Tail | 21​ ​​Wholesome Mystery Embark on an intriguing seaside getaway you’ll never forget in On Your Tail™, a sleuthy story-driven 3D life sim of relaxation, investigation, and knowing how to play your cards right.

next week's brew ☕
​our final game for 2025 is free, isn't yet finished, and is a twist on a much-beloved universe!

​DELTARUNE is about a human teenager, Kris, who is destined to save the world with Susie - a monster - and Ralsei - a prince from the Dark World. I will caveat that it isn't yet complete: only the first two chapters are out, and the game doesn't yet have a release date. But, these first two chapters have a lot to dig into, and I thought it'd be fun to play a game that allows us to speculate, make predictions, and perhaps be able to revisit once fully out to see how we did! Bonus: these first two chapters are free, which means playing this month should be easier on your pocketbook (as we move into the holiday season).
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Very early in the game, you'll see the line "Your choices don't matter". Is that really the takeaway? Themes of choice, control, and freedom do play prominently in these first chapters of the game, and as we discuss, we'll see if we can reveal any underlying connections or analysis that expands upon these initially presented ideas... or new core themes that emerge as we dig into our playthrough.
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​Note: DELTARUNE takes place in a parallel world/universe to UNDERTALE. Any pre-existing knowledge or experiences with UNDERTALE will certainly provide context and a richer experience, but I believe you can still have a great time playing through DELTARUNE even if you haven't gone through it.

To give you an idea of our December schedule as well as find out more details about DELTARUNE, check out the playthrough guide!

If you poke around, you'll see the framework for the major website update and overhaul I'm working on ~ thanks to Alannah and Delaney at DNA Creative for working Notion WIZARDRY to help me get it set up! Anticipate the new and improved version of the website releasing in 2025!

reflection question 💭​
​reflect on what we're playing/considering this week and share your thoughts.

If you'd prefer to respond via email (by replying to this message) that's great too!
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​Just be sure to submit your response by Dec 1st to be included in the upcoming podcast.

pour over ☕​
​sift through and savor these additional resources + media as you play this month's game.

• ​UNDERTALE: For what it's worth: UNDERTALE takes about 6-8 hours to playthrough (if you're mainlining) so if you wanted to sneak in a playthrough ahead of starting December's official selection, it is doable!
• ​Chapter 1 OST: Not only is Toby Fox's music simply top tier, but we have a Geeks & Grounds c-c-c-croooossover! Laura Shigihara (we played her game, Mr. Saitou in 2023) is featured on Track 39: "Don't Forget". You love to see it!
• ​Designing Player Agency: We're going to be talking a lot about agency, and so here's a quick beginner's primer about how developers can think through designing for player agency, specifically. Please note: having high or low levels of agency does not = good or bad game. Rather, this article is to help us gain further understanding about the tools developers can use to create specific types of experiences for their players.

Stay in the loop -- listen to the weekly podcast on Spotify and Apple, hang with the community in Discord, and find us on Instagram and Bluesky!

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Thanks for visiting our digital café this week -- talk soon!

Jenny