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Monday Mini: A Cozy Monster · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and I'm going to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Stephane never told your production of iHeartRadio, And y'all, we
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: are back with another Monday mini and it's my journey
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: because you know, we're taking little turns and I'm like,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: let's see what's on the internets and then I'm going
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to talk about it. Whether I'm confused or excited or
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: just really need more context all of those things. And well,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I hate to tell y'all, you and my partner have
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: created a monster, a very cozy monster. However, yes, I'm
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: talking about me because I have become a little obsessive.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Any I may have stayed up to three thirty last
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: night playing a few games, making sure all of my
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: creatures were okay, oh why oh wild wild White. I
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: I have woken up every morning, done my coffee and
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: then jumped into my games because a couple of them
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: are in real time, so certain things are available only
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: at certain times, so I'm trying to hit it all.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: That's a problem. I just want that to be said.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: It's one reason I don't play him. Perhaps so those
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: but I still love it. And I shout out to
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the listeners who are sending some amazing recommendations and giving
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: some amazing contexts in info. First of all, Helena, thank
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: you for the follow up on Delicious Emily, I knew
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: it was a big thing. This world is huge, or
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: so it seems from York Information. And then yes, and
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tackle the storyline outside of my little
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: phone game soon. I'm very excited to do it. But
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I am a little overwhelmed about the amount of stuff
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: that Helena you told me about. So but I'm going
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to do it because I'm involved now. I feel like, Okay,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I'm involved with Emily and Patrick who may or may
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: not be in together and some of these things, okay.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: And then also shout out to Jude that list is amazing,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: like impressively amazing. My partner was really, He's like, oh,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: these are some good games, y As, you have to
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: do this, And I will be downloading several today and
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: we'll be looking at a Steam option soon. I am
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: suddenly acquiring all of these different avenues because I'm starting
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: to like it. Yeah, well I told you to. I
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: purchased a Steam deck yeah, on a whim, and I
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: love it. It's really cool. I didn't know what it was.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I had no idea in my head it was a box.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: This is how little I know things, and then I
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: realize it's kind of similar to a switch. And then
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: the availabilities, and because we do have like Xbox subscription,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of crossovers. So I'm like, okay, options,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: very options, I'm gonna I'm gonna try these. So I'm very,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: very excited, and we're gonna talk about some of the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: specific games that Jude has recommended, and I'm really pumped
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: to look at these as well. But it's been a
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks since I did the dive. Obviously head
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: first into cozy gaming specifically. Right now, I'm really into
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Animal Crossing, only a few years behind as Fine as
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Fine is Fine, Cozy Grove, which has become one of
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: my favorites. I love Ghost Bears, like I don't know
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: what else else than to tell you that it has
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: ghost bears and that's amazing. And Coffee Talk, which I've
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: talked to you about any specifically, I'm like, you need
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to try this because it threw me off as to
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: what it was, and as you suspected, Jude specifically, Stardo
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Valley was a bit too much for me. There's a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: lot of battling things in caves. Apparently my partner's really
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: into it, like really into it. So what I'm sitting
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: there playing Animal Crossing, He's sitting next to me on
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the PC with Stardo Valley. This quality time to him,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: and I'm okay with that. I like it too. But
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: this is a whole like another episode where we talk
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: about love languages, which is kind of a myth, and
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: we'll break it down, but with the idea of quality
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: time and what that actually means to individuals. But this
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: is something that he thinks is quality time. That we're
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: sitting together and able to look at each other's stuff
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: and giggle about it, but then playing on our own right,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: but in the same room. Yeah, it was. I got
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: to see the setup and very lovely. It looked like
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: a very comfortable, cozy setup he was, And we'll talk
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: about that a bit. But I think it's really kind
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: of funny that there's so much to this conversation about
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: like quality time, conversational friendships, build ups, what does us
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: look like at how this became from an individual play
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: to millions of people who are viewing you or to
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: you doing with friends and being friend time or partner time.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: So that's a whole different conversation I wouldn't look into
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: because that's been like stewing in my head. I'm like, huh,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: this is a different avenue because I would have never
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: put that as quality time hang time. I always put
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: that as individualized. Now interesting, I think that might be
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: a difference in the type of games you play. But
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: even with the Last of Us, you wanting people to
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: play it for you, you having people come over to
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: play it with you was a fo concept, even to
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the point that I'll fall asleep or leave the room
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: because I don't find for the people that I'm with
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: who loves that that is like things right, and it
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: is like, oh please, can we do that? Like we play,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: we hang out? That's what I mean. That's what I mean.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Like like you say that I know, but I'm like,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: this is new to me as being a thing, like
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: I've heard of being a thing, but I'm like, huh,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: it really kind of has grown into a bigger thing.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: So this is a whole conversation for a different episode.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: So I really do want to come back to it
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: because it's not just about necessarily gaming, but the way
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: it has reached social media socialization in general. And I
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: think it's good to come back and look at because again,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: our entertainment and sources of entertainment have changed vastly over
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: the years, and I know it always has. It went
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: from like hanging out on the street biking with your friends,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to going two malls to maybe going onto animal crossing
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and hanging out at each other's eyelands virtually. What let's
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: take a little deeper dive again, and a good question
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: that I've seen across platforms is is cozy gaming a
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: gendered thing? And it does seem like marketing maybe more
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: geared toward women. Now, I will say now, because as
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: we've talked about previously, people consider cozy gaming may have
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: come out in the seventies eighties and that it's been around.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: We just never called it cozy gaming. It was just
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: gaming or easy gaming, or open world gaming, a lot
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: of things that I still did not quite understand and
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: just learning about today. And like I said, this, the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: other big question to this, because we don't like anything gendered.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: We really, I think all of us would just wishould
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: just move on to being as just as is. I
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: think when we talk about women, like being the first
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: woman to do this, or being the only Black women
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: to do this, or the only Asian woman to do this,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: and having to celebrate that as a niche instead of
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: being celebrated as whatever you have done, being good at right,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And that's kind of the same thing with this. But
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: you know, that's the conversation is is this being gendered
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: a bad thing or is it just really more of
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: a starting point the article we mentioned last conversation around
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: cozy gaming, they talked about the fact that though it
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: does seem games like Animal Crossing and others may seem
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: to be aimed toward women, it's not necessarily a bad thing,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: and that it actually has shown that hey, oh women
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: actually want to play people who are not typically geared
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: like men, people who young boys have always been geared
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: at these advertisings in all marketing has suddenly switched to
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: being like, okay, women like it too, and actually being
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: considered gamers. And again we talked about that last time
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: and how this is a good change but still like
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: annoying change, I think, And also just as a reminder,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: not too much information on whether all of these numbers
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: are accurate or any of these statistics are accurate. That
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: article we were talking about earlier from the Game Industry
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: dot biz. They said a recent study showed a marked
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: genre preferences between genders. Cozy games were not featured, but
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the two genres in which women made up a majority
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: was casual and mobile, and I know we talked about
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: that because you know, I love a mobile game. Among developers,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: there's a general agreement that why the cozy audience excused
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: slightly towards women and girls. The genre's future demographic is
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: unclear for sure. Plenty of men enjoy cozy games. Animal Crossings,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: New Horizons players gender split was about even, but online
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: fan communities tend to be majority women. So we did
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: have another recommendation from another listener about Animal crossing pocket gaming.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know this and I need to go back,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and I was trying to read what this was and
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: whether it connects to Animal Crossing. I am interested. I
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: think she must have jumped in at the beginning because
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: since then no Kelsey talked about Nintendo really trying to
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: make it ugly and profit off of it and gate
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: keep a lot of things. So I'm not really sure
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: if it's gotten better or worse. Because there was a
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: lot of reviews like Hey, they changed it in and
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I hate it so but I do want to look
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: at it because that sounds interesting because I am again
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: obsessed for them. And yeah, and that conversation that the
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: cozy gaming isn't going anywhere, as in fact, he and
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I talked about the fact just before we started recording,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: how yes, cozy gaming kind of came around when we
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: were more sheltering in plays quarantining. Again, it's been around
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: before then, but since then the popular has grown so
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: much so that has grown its own genre or category.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm like, what qualifies cozy gaming? We already
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: said the vibes and stuff, but there's other games that's
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: like storytelling that's not necessarily cozy, right, that's what we
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: would say. Yeah, yeah, I think you say any lights
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: if you can't tell by our faith, oh you can't
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: see your paper? Well no, I just a lot of
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: the I think I think it has to be kind
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: of like the graphics are important, the music's important, and
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I think sort of the vibe of like for most people,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: not for me apparently, but for most people like a
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: low key vibe. Low key vibe, that's yes, it is,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: that's the low key vibe, which is the one that
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: makes you kind of panic a little bit, right, Yes,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: that's interesting to me. So the code, like I said,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: it's not going anywhere. And the fact that the estimated
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: word for gaming industry is more than three hundred and
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: twenty billion dollars of should this should have happened by
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, so three years from now, with a
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: chunk of that coming from casual gamers or social gamers,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: it seems like it's only going to get bigger. I've
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: seen more and more advertising, more and more going into
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: this category. I think for a while. I don't know
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: if Xbox doesn't have that category right now, but Switch
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: absolutely has jumped in one hundred and twenty thousand percent.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: It looks like Netflix may have bought a company that
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: is specific to cozy gaming, which is interesting to me.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Big companies are trying to jump in on this. I
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: don't know if they're going to be able to because
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: part of the appeal is that indie aspect with their
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: art and such. But that's a different conversation also. And
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: then there's companies like wholesome Games, which literally they that's
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: kind of the categories either cozy gaming or wholesome gaming
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: they kind of just jumped in at first, they've been
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: around for a minute. They even tackle even bigger things,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: including talking about like whether or not mental health issues
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: should be addressed, conversations about inclusivity. There's a lot that
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: this is really big opportunity for and I'm hoping that
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: includes storytelling, cozy games. I'm really digging the storytelling and
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: one of those that I was talking to you about
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: all weekend, I think All week Annie is a coffee
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: talk which actually is but pretty highly rated game and
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: recommended by so many when I looked up cozy gaming,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: and it isn't what I expected. Have you looked at
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: that at all? Eighty? I played it? Yeah, okay, your thoughts.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I named my barista Disco Luke, so that was fun. Yes,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I'm so literal. I just named it my own name. Oh,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I like to mess with the names. What's so funny
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: is like, you haven't finished it, right, It's only a
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: couple of hours. I think two or three hours. I
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: finished it. Oh you did? So did it kind of
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: fit in with the ending to it? Right? Oh? Yeah?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Well I was like, Disco Luke is perfect for this. Yeah.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: And plus this is a fan fiction popular trope where
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: you're working at the coffee shop and they come in
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: and you're like, really, I didn't notice, Yes, And then
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: my partner was like, this seems like fan fiction coffee shop. Yes,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: I did not know this. Look at things I'm learning.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I really liked it. Uh. And it wasn't like I
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: said would expect it. With the conversations about immigration acceptance
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and uh, and then study of human behavior, there was
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of things. I was like, what is he?
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: What does hat? They're talking about condoms and how to
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: like and love and dating and what. I really enjoyed that.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: For some reason, it made me a giggle. Yeah. Well,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: I've told you the story about mass Effect too, which
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: is very much not a goesy game. But you do
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: have to go and learn how to have sex with
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: an alien species. If that's what you want, you have
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: to go to the doctor and ask um. And it's
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: really fun. I mean, it's cool. It's cool. I will say.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: This made me realize I know nothing about coffee. They'd
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: be like, make me an espresso. I'm like, um, okay,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: to be fair, going coffee, coffee, coffee and listeners. If
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: you haven't played this, essentially you have a primary and
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: two secondaries, and this makes that coffee and the way
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: you made an espresso was literally coffee, coffee, coffee. I
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: was like, that's not that's not okay, that's well I did.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I was even like, I think that must be what
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: it is, because I know it's kind of like caffeine
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: in it, so it must be that, but I didn't
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: know for sure. Yeah, there was a lot of drinks.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I'm like, what is this? And I actually had to
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: ask and my partner looked it up and it just
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: literally just comes from coffee talk. That's what it is.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, okay, okay, but I really really
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: enjoyed it and it was a really entertaining and perfect
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: bedtime read slash play. I was like, oh, yeah, this
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: is nice. I felt really relaxed, and I want more.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I want more. And Jude did give a couple of
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: more recommendations. I saw on the list a short hike,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: which is supposed to be a small, a short game,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: and then I think story of a season's story of seasons,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: maybe storytellinge I'll look into it, but juded to tell
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, And I find that very very
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: fascinating because I think of video games once again being bustling,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: constantly on the move, constantly looking finding the next mission.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: This is why I don't like it. I'm like, if
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: it's too complicated, I don't want to be on this anymore.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: And to have a game literally coffee talk is you
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: listen to a story and maybe make two or three
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: drinks in a chapter. That's it. And I really like this.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: And then there was another game that I looked up
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: called Florence, and the graphics are gorgeous. I'm so excited.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Apparently I think that the creators are from Australia, and
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: apparently it's a puzzle game. So you go through in
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: this puzzle game about love, and it goes through this
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: whole story about this couple. So once again, I really Annie,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I'm really digging these games. Yeah, I mean they're very,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: very pretty. Yeah, lots of good storytelling happening. I love
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: and I love a game that kind of messes with gaming,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: so that's cool to see. Yeah, there's a couple of
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: other games, like The Witchy Life as well as Potion
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Making I Believe, which apparently has a conversation about mental health,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: like you have to crew different potions to help address
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: specific knees of the villagers and the witches, and it
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: could include elements like mental health elements and in all
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: of these things. I haven't played this, so I can't
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: tell you exactly what it's about, but it does tackle
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a little bit about mental health within a gaming system,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: as well as talking about relaxation and taking a moment
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: to look deeper. There's a lot of games I know,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: any I think you've talked about a few that takes
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: you through the process of grieving, and I find that fascinating. Again,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: we know it's bigger than what it is. I mean,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: maybe I don't know. Last of Us is also about grieving,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yes you would say this. I don't know if it
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: works it out, but it takes you through grief. Yeah,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: it's a real examination of it and how it can
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: go wrong. I don't think we're gonna be ever like
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: as skilled as any of them to kill our enemies though.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: That's not realistic, so I'm just saying that. But clearly
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I can't make coffee either, so I'm screwed. It's true.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: I do have to set up the coffee machines just perfect,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: just for you. Specific instructions I love, But yeah, like
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: and then we talked about some of these games, which
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I really really do love the fact that they are
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: being very inclusive, realizing that the people who are gaming
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: once again are not just as white men, and that
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: it opens up a whole different world of who they
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: want to see in these games and who they want
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: represented in these games and how. And I know we've
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: talked about that previously with your characters that you've talked
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: about any as well as the games that you do
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: love or find problematic, and some of these issues are
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: absolutely to this level, but here we have an approach
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: where it is comforting instead of challenge and necessarily fighting.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I'd say it depends. So there's apparently a game called
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: It Gets a Better Project which helps affirm LGBTQ plus teens,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: and I'm interested in what that looks like. It as
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: one of the articles from Hope lab dot org says,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: it's a mission to add diverse perspectives and voices because
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: teens wanted a tool that was more accessible to more people.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, yeah, this is cool, this is absolutely
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I think such a perfect way and perfect medium to
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: find these types of conversations being had, and I want
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: that to be bigger I am so excited about what
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: that could be. And then in this middle of this
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: conversation Annie, as I've been giving Annie, like do this
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: for me, do this with me, tell me what you think.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: You've sent me a small recommendation this. There's a few
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: that I will look at. There's a few probably won't
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: look at. I am really interested in one of them.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Gone Home. Yes, gone Home sounds like the one you
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: were just talking about, because that is like it's a
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: coming out story, but you think it's a ghost story.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: So you're visiting home and you you not your family
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: isn't there, and you go through and try to figure
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: out where they are, and through like reading journals or exploring,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: you discover the kind of this your sister going through
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: this coming out story and what happened. And it's really
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: it's just like an interesting it's not long, it's not hard,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: but it was an interesting take on that. I will say,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: like a lot of these I sent you, and I
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: think you should just look them up. But I wouldn't
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: play them because I just know they're not for you.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: But they are really cool, and I the reason I
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: sent them to you. I call them like not cozy
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: cozy games, because I think they're similar in terms of, like,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: here's your puzzle aspect. Maybe there isn't an overarching story.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Maybe there is, but they're just darker. Although like the
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: first one I listened listed, Braid is very beautifully animated,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: but it's also kind of a complicated puzzle game. Don't
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: have to shoot things. You don't have to shoot things,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: but it's like imagine like a scroller like Mario or
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: the screen's always moving, but you have the power to
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: reverse the screen. So your puzzle aspect is you can
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: you have this ability to reverse, and then it adds
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: a really cool slash dark message at the end. But
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: I like it. Yeah. I also oxen Free. I love
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned it before. Oxen Free. It's essentially like a
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: game where you go to this island. It's like five
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of you high school teenagers, and the island has like
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: this time travel frequency thing, and there are speech bubbles
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: you can choose, so it will be like, how do
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: you feel about this person? There's five speech bubbles. I
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: bet you can slow it down, but the reason I'm like,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure you'd like it is because it's kind
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: of the speech bubbles go quickly, so you have to
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: be like, but I love it and every time you
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: play it it takes into account what you did in
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the last time because it's time travel. Okay, okay, but
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: yeah it's pretty cool. Yeah yeah, all right, I'll be
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: in for that. I'll be in for that. I'll try that. Wait,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: so where's that? Where would I find that? I played
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: it on Steam, but I think you can play in
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: a couple of places. If anybody wants my whole list
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: that I sent, you can get it because it's quite
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: a bit. I would also say Journey Journey is very pretty.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It came out in twenty twelve. It was made by women. Um,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I play it on PlayStation, but I think it's in
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: other places too. But that this essentially a game where
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: you just explore a really pretty landscape and seeing to communicate.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: It's interesting. Okay, I'm down for that too. I want
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: to try that. Yes, oh yes. We love these recommendations
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: so so so much. Thanks for taking the time to
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: do them, to make them and send them to us.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: If you want any from us, let us know. Um
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: you can email us at Stuff Media, mom Stuff at
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on Twitter at
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: moms a podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: One Never told. You can also listen to us on
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: YouTube if that is something that you would like to do. Yes,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Thanks as always to our superproducer Chris Data. Thank you, Yes,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. Stuff and I told
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: you the protection of Ihart Radio. For more podcast in
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, you can check out the Ihear Radio
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: app Apple Podcast wherever you listen to your favorite ships.