this month's brew 🎧
​what we'll be playing for February + supplementary materials to help you dig deeper.

We had a great hangout concluding our playthrough time with Control -- thanks for everyone who made it! It's now time to introduce our February selection, a game that has taken over my mind in a lot of (wonderful) ways:
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​By a la mode games, Sorry We're Closed is a nostalgic, single-player survival horror game with rich lore, deep characters and multiple endings. Explore unsettling locations with fixed camera angles. Fight in first person with demonic weapons. Open your Third Eye to see between worlds, uncover secrets and solve puzzles.​
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What can I say? I was personally hooked after playing the demo last year, and I think that our community’s general love of survival horror meant that this game caught my eye from the jump. I especially loved that beyond the out-there characters and premise, there was a fair amount of depth to the story that is worth digging into, together. We’ll talk all about relationships: red flags, good signs, and when should you let go? Also, what is with our (well, Western society's) focus and fascination on romantic love over platonic love? I can’t wait for us to dig in!
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​Check out the playthrough guide for pacing, and feel free to respond to this email, leave a voicemail, or post your thoughts in Discord about what you're looking forward to or curious about with this game.

Pour Over

Check out a supplementary rec to expand your gameplay experience and understanding!

• Play. If you're looking for something more low lift, why not give The Dark Queen of Mortholme a try? It's our Bonus Brew for the month! Dark Queen is on itch.io, takes about 20 minutes, and has some interesting ties with Sorry We're Closed about relationships, stasis, and change. We'll discuss it officially in a one-shot episode on Feb 25th!

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Reflection Question

As you play this week, take a moment and reflect on this question:

Have a response to the reflection question? Want to share other thoughts on the game? Leave a 60-second voice message and you’ll have the chance to be featured on a future podcast episode!

Next Week’s Brew: Our first discussion episode drops on Feb 4th where we share our own thoughts on the question above as well as kick off our Sorry We're Closed conversation.

the pastry case 🥐
​our grab-bag of topics related to the industry and other media we've engaged with.

In case you missed it, we had an incredibly fun discussion with Josh Boykin last week about our January Bonus Brew: the Blue Prince demo. Be sure to listen to that on Spotify or YouTube, and check out what else we've been engaging with:

Josh:

• Watch: Arrested Development​

Jenny:

• Read: The Hollow and the Haunted​

Joel:

• Watch: Silo

This Weeks' Game Releases

Curated titles to keep an eye on ~

​T​he Stone of Madness | Jan 28​ Tactical RPG Stealth RPG The Stone of Madness is a real-time tactical stealth game set in an 18th-century Spanish Monastery. Five prisoners pool their skills and resources to face their phobias, stave off insanity, uncover the mysteries of the Monastery, and find a way to escape.

​Citizen Sleeper 2 | Jan 31​ RPG Cyberpunk Story-Rich A dice-driven RPG, in a human and heartfelt sci-fi world. You are an escaped android, with a malfunctioning body, a price on your head and no memory of your past. Get a ship, find a crew, and take on contracts while you navigate across the Starward Belt.

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

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

Jenny