Geeks & Grounds is an asynchronous, monthly game club where we play video games and brew good conversation, together! β Each week, receive a newsletter with a reflection question and curated materials meant to help you thoughtfully connect with the games we play.
September Indie Highlights & Chants of Sennaar π¬ INDIESCOVERY [Geeks & Grounds #99]
this week's brew π§
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I've returned from a quick work trip (visiting the beautiful Olso and Copenhagen!) and am beyond excited to share this week's episode with you all!
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Kate and Emily -- co-founders of No Small Games -- are folks I've been wanting to collaborate with for a while. They also have a podcast where they cover both individual indie games in deep dive episodes as well as through curated round-ups each month! So, it's only fitting that we kick off some time with them by talking through some of our most anticipated indies for the month of September.
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βListen to the episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts!
β¨ September Indie Games Highlighted β¨
next week's brew β
βwhat we're playing for the month of September
The second half of our discussion was to prime ourselves for the deep dive into this month's brew: Chants of Sennaar. I chose this game because of it's short(ish) runtime, striking art style, and unique puzzles that'll have us thinking about language, meaning, and communication.
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The deep dive podcast releases on September 23rd ~ and we'll have our community hangout to discuss it together in-person on September 27th. Find all the details and schedule for this month in the playthrough guide:
| Check out the Playthrough Guide |
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Reflection
Share your response by writing back to this message, submit a voice recording to be included in next week's episode, share in the community Discord, or simply ponder as you play. Of course, if you have other thoughts on the game you'd like to share not related to the question, please do so!
- How critical is shared language for impactful communication?
Pour Over
Supplementary books, articles, games, and resources to expand on what we're playing this month ~
- Godspell (Original Broadway Cast) -- Most notably, the first song that represented the philosophies and chaos of the myth of Babel.
- βThe House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski) because the game is about the ways we communicate, this book instantly came to mind with it's layered layers of horror and unique format.
- βTower of Babylon (Ted Chiang) is a short story about a man recruited to climb the tower and of the civilizations he finds there.
- βReturn of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope) and The Talos Principle (Croteam) were both significant game inspirations.
- And, of course, a wiki article that dives into the actual mythology and tales surrounding the Tower of Babel
the pastry case π₯
βour grab-bag of topics related to the industry and other media we're into right now.
Jenny -
- Play: Ambrosia Sky (PAX Demo), Arcane Eats (PAX Demo), Sacrifire (PAX Demo)
- Read: The Gate of the Feral Gods (Matt Dinniman)
Emily -
- Play: Herdlingβ
- Listen: RoguePod LiteCast, Date with Us: A Dating Sim Podcastβ
- Read: Algospeak by Adam Aleksic
Kate -
- Play: Flowers and Favors, Woodo (Demo)
- Watch: Women Wearing Shoulder Padsβ
- Listen: (Singles) Year Of The Optimist (Beach Bunny), Subway (Chappell Roan), (Album) Straight Line Was a Lie (The Beths)
- Read: The Twentieth Century (Howard Zinn)
Stay in the loop -- listen to the weekly podcast on Spotify and Apple, hang with the community in Discord, and find us on Instagram!
βThanks for joining our digital cafΓ© this week -- talk soon!
Jenny
Jenny | Geeks & Grounds
Geeks & Grounds is an asynchronous, monthly game club where we play video games and brew good conversation, together! β Each week, receive a newsletter with a reflection question and curated materials meant to help you thoughtfully connect with the games we play.
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