#again i have never drawn bowser it was super fun

[mintyfrostyart]

Yo happy (late) pride month <3

I have actually never drawn Bowser before so apologies for the low quality EFIOWDHIOHEFO

[lizardtaro]

New Super Mario Bros. Wonder Review

Just a short review, not even structured or anything. I might flesh it out in the future.

So, I played SMBW with a couple online friends and… it's alright. It's a good game. If you like Mario, then you will like this game, too. Hear me out though. What Nintendo did with Mario Wonder is THE BARE MINIMUM! Yes, you read that right! SMBW is everything New Super Mario Bros U on Wii U should have been, 10 years ago. Yes, the new graphics certainly look wonderful, but all these new expressions and animations should have been here a long time ago, to be honest. It's good that they changed up the graphics a bit, but I kinda hoped for something like Wario Land: Shake It!!, where it's 2D drawn graphics. Instead we get the New Super Mario Bros. style again, although with much-needed improvements. The Wonder Seed mechanic is pretty good, but also gets a little tiring after a while. There is one in literally every level, which kinda makes this whole thing not special anymore. What I find baffling is the level design. Without the Wonder Seeds which trip up everything, the level design is as bland, simple and generic as it can get. I can't really remember a single level that stood out. In that regard, it is actually much worse than even New Super Mario Bros.!! Too much emphasis on the Wonder Seeds, instead of making interesting levels. Heck, I even consider the talking flowers the BEST new introduction instead of the Wonder Seeds. It's all style and no substance, like the animated Mario movie. Mario's new voice actor (yes, quite surprisingly, Charles Martinet has been replaced) needs to do a little more work on his Mario impression. However, if you aren't a hardcore Mario fan like me, you will likely not notice a difference in Mario's voice. Yoshi and Nabbit are inexplicably locked behind "easy mode" as they take no damage (although this hasn't been bothering me too much). Still no playable Wario and Waluigi. The boss battles are very disappointing (it's just Bowser and Bowser Jr. all over again… how about we bring back Tatanga or some other villain who's not just Bowser)? I kinda wished for a lot more levels. There's enough content to justify your purchase, but… you know… a couple more levels or one or two more worlds wouldn't have hurt. There's no time limit anymore, so you have plenty of time to explore the levels, although as I've already mentioned, there isn't a lot to explore due to their basic design. The HUD has been reduced accordingly. I kinda wished the big purple flower coins would have been shown, as I have to pause the game in order to look if I missed any. Sadly there's no way to adjust the sound. The talking flowers were a bit low on volume sometimes. In multiplayer, there is no collision between players anymore, which is a welcome change. What isn't a welcome change is the fact that the screen is focused only on one player (the one with a crown symbol above their head). That makes it difficult for the other players to catch up if they are behind. Unlike New Super Mario Bros., the screen does not zoom out anymore when the other players are further behind, so they get pushed out of the screen and turn into ghosts. Not really fun if the player with the crown rushes through the game, while the other players want to explore the levels further. The music is alright. Only two tracks really stood out for me, the rest is just fine background music. All in all, a step in the right direction, but Nintendo never goes all the way anymore, I feel. Everything in the Mario brand must be "safe" now for the Normies. This game is no different. It is fun, yes. But it also feels like it's lacking something. 7/10

[freckled-words]

Repost: Delightful Spite

This was a request piece I wrote last year, I think, I have no memory of who requested it, but its for everyone to enjoy regardless.

Just a heads up: this is a reader insert with “she/her” identifiers.

Edited by @the-wild-ego​

Mare was the friend a girl could count on to have her back. 

Bad break up? Here’s a variety of alcohol and ice cream, plus, “Do I need to go pay him a visit?”

Working late and don’t feel comfortable walking home? He’ll show up in front of your work, decked out in the most punk-ass outfit he could put together. If anyone ever thought to give you a hard time outside of the store, they’d think twice.

When it came to being your matchmaker/wingman, he really needed to give it a rest.

So far he had tried to set you up with an unbalanced doctor, an over eager showman, and a robot clone of himself. 

When he approached you about another friend, you shut him down immediately.

“Mare, I love you, and I trust you with my imaginary children, but I’m never letting you set me up again.” You said this without breaking your focus on the TV screen. You’d been bored and had started in on an all day Mario Kart endeavor. You were neck-and-neck with Yoshi, with Baby Bowser riding on your ass. 

Mare sat next to you on the couch, his eager smile still in place with the offer he came in with, “So they weren’t your type, but this guy, I promise, will be your perfect match. For example, it took me weeks to get him to agree to go on a date.”

“Fuck you, Yoshi!”

“He’s got a twisted humour, just like you.”

“Take that red shell and shove it up your ass!”

“He’s not too bad looking, even has a bit of an edgy thing going for him. You like edgy right?”

You smiled in satisfaction and relaxed as you crossed the finish line in first place. Finally facing Mare, who’d dropped his smile, you told him point blank, “If it took you weeks to convince the guy, then I’ll one-up and make you work at it for a month.”

This decided, you got off the couch to get a drink. 

Mare followed after you and leaned against the door frame as you went digging in the fridge, “I promise to never try and set you up again if this guy falls flat.”

A bottle of water in hand you rebuffed, “That’s what you said with the last guy.”

“How was I supposed to know an android could be embarrassed enough to shut himself down?!” Mare had genuinely thought Mal would have been a good match. They were different enough from each other, that it would have been like she was dating his twin brother. 

You went back to the living room and took up your controller, “Mal was too innocent for me, and you knew it. Now you either pick up the other controller, or you entertain yourself some other way. We’re done talking about this.”

Mare pursed his lips in thought, looking at the controller you offered he got an idea, “I’ll play you for it.”

“Play me for what?” You narrowed your eyes, seeing the familiar smug twitch to his lips.

He sat on the couch and grabbed the second Switch controller, “If I win, you go on this date. You win, and I’ll never try setting you up again. Deal?”

This was an interesting gamble. So far Mare was tied with you on wins. You were both super competitive, and wouldn’t refrain from physically blocking each other to win. 

On the one hand, the worst event was going on this date and suffering another awkward experience. On the other, Mare would stop trying. 

“Very well, you have a deal. If you cheat, I win by default, got it?” 

Mare repositioned himself into, what you called, his 'serious gamer pose’. His eyes already on the screen, he nodded, “Deal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh stop pouting already, I won fair and square.” Mare chided from the driver’s seat.

You were pouting. You hadn’t stopped pouting since he’d beaten you two days ago. 

“I still think you cheated without me noticing.” You grumbled back.

Mare rolled his eyes, “Whatever, just don’t be pouting through your date. You don’t want him to think your bad mood is his fault. Besides, you shouldn’t be pouting when you’re all dressed up.”

He had a point there. You were dressed in your favorite black dress that stopped at your knees, the skirt was loose and flowy with red roses along the hem. The top half clung to you in a way that was flattering, with a sweetheart neckline, and off the shoulder straps. For a bit of comfort, instead of appeal, you chose to wear your nice, new, black combat boots. You’d drawn roses on the side with a metallic, red sharpie. 

To finish it off you’d applied ruby, red lip gloss; a dusting of shimmer, pink eyeshadow; and a flawless application of eyeliner. 

You labelled the look, ‘Badass Beautiful’.

“We’ll just make fun of you instead.” You finally quipped back.

You’d decided from the start, that regardless of the guy, you were going to hold a grain of salt against him the entire night. Petty as it was, you couldn’t convince yourself otherwise.

The car came to a stop outside your favorite restaurant, The Spaghetti Factory. Your stomach growled in anticipation of their three cheese and mushroom ravioli. 

Mare gestured towards the building, “He’ll be in there already, the reservation is under my name.”

You opened the car door and a strong wave of garlic bread hit you. Your stomach gave another ravenous growl. You hopped out of the car and gave Mare one more pout, “If he ruins my ravioli, I will make you pay.” This warning given, you slammed the door.

Mare immediately took off, giving you no chance to change your mind.

Holding onto your purse strap a bit tighter, you went inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were in trouble.

Your entire plan was going down the drain. 

Your petty inner self was seething that Mare was winning.

Antisepticeye, the guy you’d been set up with, was just your type.

Dressed in black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black blazer, he was a perfect match to your outfit. On top of that, his hair was green. With your own hair being dyed a vibrant red, the two of you must look like gothic Christmas enthusiasts. 

Until you reached the table, he’d been resting his elbow on it with a surrely pout. Once his sight fell on you, his eyebrow had raised and a spark of something had lit up in his eyes. 

You’d awkwardly gotten through introductions, leading into the amusing subject of Mare forcing this arrangement. 

“That arse tried setting me up with another chick a couple months back. I wanted to stab myself before we even placed our orders.” Anti groaned, his fingers twitching towards the butter knife on the table.

You giggled, leaning forward to eagerly share, “She couldn’t have been as bad as the doctor he put me with. He kept calling the waiters ‘NURSE!’ It was ridiculous. I didn’t talk to Mare for a week I was so embarrassed.” 

Anti looked incredulous, “I know that guy, what the fuck was Mare thinkin’?!”

“Thank you!” 

The waiter came over then, and you were pleased when Anti ordered the same thing as you after you recommended it.

A complimentary basket of fresh made garlic bread rolls were left on your table. You loved these rolls, especially when they were still warm, which these were.

Anti watched you expertly rip the roll down the middle and apply butter. 

Half of your roll in your mouth, you watched amused as he tried to copy your trick. 

The roll turned into a deformed mess in his hands. 

His eye twitched, a sign of his annoyance. 

Before you could offer to show him the trick, he shoved the bread lump into his mouth. As he chewed, he grabbed another roll. Instead of trying your trick again, he showed you one of his own.

In awe, you watched him take out a pocket blade, stab it into the very edge of the roll and into the table, and yank on the roll. It sliced down the middle, leaving the edges neat and clean. He withdrew his blade and put it back in his pocket, giving you a wink as he smoothed out the table cloth to cover the new hole he’d made. 

You bit your bottom lip, glancing around to check if anyone saw this happen. Seeing that you were in the clear, you snickered, “Oh my god, you can’t just whip out a knife! If you’d started a panic, I wouldn’t get my ravioli.” You tried to end on a pout, but his smirk made it impossible to hold.

After that little knife trick, you started asking him about his interests and what else he could do with it. 

That lead into him asking about your interests, and then back to him.

The conversation kept going right up until the ravioli was served. At which point, you were both too engrossed with your pasta to keep long sentences going.

You were nearly finished eating, and debating on dessert, when you felt your phone go off. 

Looking at the screen you rolled your eyes, which Anti noticed.

“Bet you the last roll I know who that is.”

“Help yourself, but only if you promise to go along with my story.” You smiled as you said this, your thumbs already at work typing out your lie to Mare.

Anti didn’t take the bread roll, instead choosing to lean forward and try to read your screen. You finished the text and showed Anti.

Mare: How’s it going? You staying for dessert?  ;) 

You: Yes I’m staying for dessert. Only because their apple crumble is amazing. It’ll also make me feel better after this new crap experience. You will never play matchmaker for me again. 

Anti was grinning by the time he finished reading. He then broke into laughter when he pulled out his phone. He turned the screen towards you and you were right beside him in a fit of giggles.

Mare: Dude, what did you do?! 

Anti: Whipped my knife out and offered to butter her roll.

The dirty implications were not lost on you, which only made it that much funnier. 

You nearly had tears streaming down your face as you calmed yourself when the waiter came over.

“We’ll get an apple crumble to split please.” before this, Anti had agreed it sounded good.

Anti coughed trying to keep his laughter in check, “Two coffees, too.”

You hadn’t thought to include coffee, and it did sound like a good addition. Especially since this new game would be going on for a while, judging by the frantic texts you were getting from Mare in apology.

Once the waiter left, you managed to ask through more giggles, “H-how long do you think we can keep this up?”

Anti shrugged, grinning still to the string of cursing text messages Mare was sending him, “Until he catches on?”

“Well I don’t intend to tell him anytime soon.” 

Anti’s smirk was all teeth and delighted interest, “Thatta girl.”

[builtbysnowman]

Snowman’s Favourite Games of 2017

It seems like we find ourselves saying it every December, but it really is true: this year was a spectacular one for games. 

From inventive new entries in blockbuster series to deeply resonant games crafted by independent creators, and everything in between, we were constantly inspired by this industry’s talented creators.

As we reflect on all the great titles we had a chance to experience, some in particular continue to linger in our hearts and minds. Whether they made us laugh with delight, cry out in frustration, or in some cases just cry, these games were our favourite of 2017 (in no particular order). 

What Remains of Edith Finch

In our Snowman Review of the game, we said, of Giant Sparrow’s masterpiece:

The deeper I dove, the more I was surprised by how resonant the whole experience was on a personal level. How despite getting lost inside it, the magical Finch house never lost its grip on me. How, underneath all of the Rube Golbergian mystery of it, What Remains of Edith Finch was ultimately a tale of loss, and of how we deal with it. Of finding perfection in our own fallibility, and the fallibility of the people we love. And maybe most of all, of forming the shape of our future out of more than the contours of our past.

Even as the year comes to a close, we constantly find ourselves bringing up Finch. Full of haunting, sometimes heart-wrenching vignettes, this is a game which is best experienced completely unspoiled. If you’ve yet to visit the Finch house, do yourself a favour and take a trip there as soon as possible. 

TumbleSeed

On the surface TumbleSeed is a game about rolling a small seed up a big mountain. But in reality, TumbleSeed is so much more than that. It’s a game about learning to delight in intrinsic rewards. A game where the high score isn’t a point value, but the realization that you’ve become a more patient person — a person who deals better with small setbacks, who breathes deeper for a little longer before becoming agitated. TumbleSeed is a shining example of a game created with singular conviction. It’s an experience some players will bounce off of. But for those who stay, it’s that wonderful type of game which gets under your skin, and into your bones — always calling you back for one more try. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The term “open-world” gets bandied around a lot for games with large maps, lots of quests, and long checklists of things to do. Breath of the Wild, however, is something altogether more brilliant. A game that presents the player with a massive playground full systemic interactions, and sets them loose to craft their own adventure. Climb to the top of a snow-capped mountain, use your shield to snowboard down, jump into the air above a camp full of enemies, and electrify them all by shooting a lightning-powered arrow into their tin cooking pot. Then go do a hundred other things you haven’t yet planned on your way to another mysterious peak in the distance. Breath of the Wild is a return to and revitalization of the sense of wonder that’s so central to the Zelda series. It’s a shining example of why Nintendo are such masters of their craft.

Gorogoa

There’s no other way to say it: Gorogoa is perfect in every conceivable way. It is a profound experience so clever that it’s actively hard to believe it exists as it’s happening. As a puzzle game, it’s a master class in how to teach people what to do as they do it, all while ensuring that nothing ever feels unfair or too far out of reach. But our advice when playing this - and you must immediately go play this if you have a couple hours to spare - is not to get too hung up on what type of game it is. Instead, enjoy getting lost in every resplendent, hand-drawn frame, as the game’s concept and story unfold before you one layer at a time. 

Stagehand: A Reverse Platformer

Sometimes you stumble on a game whose concept is so elegant and intuitive that you wonder how it hasn’t been done before. Stagehand is one such gem. Part platformer, part runner, the game has you moving the landscape to guide intrepid hero Frank to safety amid a gaggle of classic obstacles like spikes and lava. Moment to moment, Stagehand is a constant delight with clever design, pixel-perfect art and nostalgia-inducing sound design. Developer Big Bucket Software continues to impress as a creator of modern classics for phones and tablets. 

Cuphead

Much has been made of Studio MDHR’s seven-year journey to bring Cuphead to life, and playing it, you can instantly see why. The game is a Silly Symphony in your hands: a playable Fleischer-era cartoon that leaps off the screen and into your heart. It’s almost impossible not to root for the adorable Cuphead and Mugman as they run and gun their way through inventive boss battles to earn their soul back from the devil. We say almost, because the game’s brutal retro difficulty might just have you throwing your controller. Good luck!

Old Man’s Journey

In our review of the game earlier this year, Snowman founder Ryan Cash sums up why this game is such a treasure:

So much of the [game’s] emotional journey is wrapped up in the beautiful art style — the pastel colours flowing around the screen in wisps. Subtle animations pepper the painterly flashbacks of the main character, stirring up wistfulness and nostalgia. A children’s storybook with an adult heart, brought to life...Truly, the title of the game says it all. Life can pass us by so quickly, and this game was a beautiful reminder of that. A chance to pause, and do something we often forget to do — reflect.

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

In the trailer for Getting Over It, the game’s creator Bennett Foddy says that he created it “for a certain type of person...to hurt them.” This game, about ascending a massive mountain as a man stuck inside a pot using an axe, more than lives up to Foddy’s aspirations. There are no checkpoints, the landscape is deliberately designed to rebuff attempts to find clear patterns in movement, and nearly any misstep can result in tumbling all the way to the very bottom. Why then, does it make our list? Because there’s something intoxicating about the oft-unexplored feeling of friction and frustration that Getting Over It captures. Of all the games on this list, it’s perhaps the most fun to play with a group of friends, delighting in one another’s misery, and - somewhat inexplicably - your own.

Monument Valley 2

We’d be remiss not to include ustwo Games’ followup to the gorgeous Monument Valley. This second kaleidoscopic journey into the world of sacred geometry continues the series trend of taking your breath away in every shot. This is the the type of game that makes the devices you play it on feel more beautiful — any isolated shot could be a painting hung on your wall. This time around, take particular note of the transcendent, transportive sound and music from artist Todd Baker.

Super Mario Odyssey

It may seem biased because we have our own Odyssey title on the horizon, but we promise: this game is spectacular. In a series known for its tight controls and balletic movement, Super Mario Odyssey is a crowning achievement. A game where every hop, skip, and jump is so responsive it will put a smile on your face, and where the rewards for mastering the controls feel nearly endless. Speaking of endless: this is the kind of game you hibernate with. Every nook and cranny of its bright, ebullient world is filled with secrets and treasures to find, so make sure to keep playing even after Bowser’s been defeated.

Perhaps the greatest shame of all is that for every game mentioned on this list, there are probably three that we’ve forgotten or which we didn’t even get a chance to play. Then again, that will just make discovering them later all the more joyful. 

Here’s to a 2018 that’s even half as filled with amazing experiences as this year was – a few them even from yours truly.