itch.io

I just bought my copy of GRIM and I'm so excited to play it.

I really recommend this game, it's got those Old School boomer shooter vibes to a T in its really fun and flavourful communication design, it's got some really tight yet well fleshed out combat design that I'm itching to play because it feels like it's going to be so quick and explosive, and the world and lore design peppered throughout that asks more questions than it answers (primo tabletop design imo).

I'm really impressed with GRIM because it hits that level of game design that feels like it vibrates to its core with potential energy that's jumping to come alive at the table and energise the room.

Because of the balance of design depth and the way it's communicated throughout, GRIM doesnt feel heavy – it really feels primed to pick up and hit the ground running and gunning and I get the impression that it's going to be a joy to discover the mechanical interactions and really crack open its potential.

There are a lot of things to love about GRIM and I truly can't wait for my chance to play it.

🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙/🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙

That's right there are 3 days left and I'm getting dangerously close to missing the submission deadline for my own jam because of course I am! But fear not, I'll be adding a whole bunch of little mushrooms and wizards and weird little dudes to grace your game covers and interiors!

Some reflections:

Looking back on this jam it's been truly amazing how many people have gotten behind it. When @penflowerink and I started talking about this I'm not sure either of us could have hoped that such an explicit (and imho very constructive) response to the emergent threat of "AI" art in indie ttrpg spaces would receive such overwhelming support from our weird & wonderful art movement.

I'm proud that what is a relatively small amount of work from 93 people (at time of writing) can amount to a loud & confident signpost to a better future for our indie scene.

Sure it's small in the big picture, but when the annals of our art movement are written we probably at least deserve a mention in the passages about the emergent threat of AI art and how it shaped us, our work and our communities moving forward.

Frankly it's much harder to provide a constructive response and alternative to AI art tools than it is to get mad at people using them, but I'm proud that in our small way we've made it as clear as we can that there is a significant contingent of people who would rather build towards a future where we choose to support each other with our labour rather than undercutting ourselves with stolen art, and I'm proud that we did that off our own backs, from a place of compassion, and that we managed to rally so many people behind our simple message:

There is no excuse for the use of malignant ai art tools in indie ttrpgs because a better alternative with the lowest possible barriers to access is moments away from within your very own community.

Thank you to everyone who shared and contributed to this jam, who got excited for it when they saw it cross their dash, and to everyone who came out to defend our art movement against "AI" labour exploitation.

Together we've made a significant attempt to inoculate ourselves (including anyone tempted to use AI art tools specifically) against the degradation that AI art tools represent to our art movement/scene/hobby/industry/labour/communities/peers.

Hell yeah. You all rock. Ai art? That shit does not rock.

https://www.tumblr.com/penflowerink/715768067627646976?source=share <-- link to the original post over on tumblr if you want to share. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has submitted, seriously you're all amazing and i'm so proud of the statement we're making here and the path we're laying out to a better future for ttrpg creators. It couldn't have happened without you <3

https://itch.io/t/2139630/we-seem-to-be-having-server-problems-right-now-please-...

Think I put this in the wrong place, it probably belongs here instead of in Jam. Any help appreciated.

Text from link:

I keep getting this message whenever i try to click "Create Jam & Preview" at the bottom of Dashboard>>Jams>>Host a new jam page (that's https://itch.io/jams/new). Any ideas why or what I can do? This is the first time I've ever done a jam.

I keep getting this message whenever i try to click "Create Jam & Preview" at the bottom of Dashboard>>Jams>>Host a new jam page (that's https://itch.io/jams/new). Any ideas why or what I can do? This is the first time I've ever done a jam.

Thanks for this experiment and I'm glad it was such a success! I loved it every step of the way!

For feedback: I wonder if there's some way to incentivise players into the forest beyond their own machinations? Obviously the adventure's a powder keg ready to pop and there's a thousand unthought of ways they could end up in there, but it might be neglected by many players when it feels like such an important place to the mystery, as well as being full of fresh opportunities for them to sink their teeth into it. Maybe some more direct objective to lead them in there so they have a thread to pull on if they're feel a bit directionless? Something something a bear has been coming down from the forest trying to scratch into the meadery's hives & it could mean work for any idle hands willing to help stand a few knocked fences back up (and a surprisingly freshly painted "visitors: keep out of the forest!" sign) at the forest edge or even hunt down the bear itself: good thing there are plenty of idle hands about town. Some sort of hook to pull them in there maybe?

The only other thing that might be worth adding is a two-column table of evocative prompts for the labyrinth move, to give players something to go off when coming up with a room? Maybe single words or phrases that can provide the foundations for an idea.

That's all to say fantastic job, I gasped when I read the daily entry about the other visitors in town and everything clicked together for me. Thanks Chris, I'm glad I got in on day one, it's been a great way to read an adventure and a great adventure at that!

★☆☆☆☆ Different But Also Not Different - a road trip movie about genetic ethics and pigeons

Josh Blincow, Film Critic

@Goblincow 3/10/21 09:00

18 months ago I had the dis/pleasure of reading the earliest draft of Different But Also Not Different, Adam Driver's directorial debut, but nothing could have prepared me to see it brought to life on the big screen.

Spoilers ahead.

In one of the most agonising viewing experiences of my humble existence, I forced myself to watch as grieving father William Miller (Driver) traveled by taxi across a surrealist California to collect his freshly genetically reborn son Jake (also Driver) in the hopes of repairing his failing marriage to Monica (also Driver).

It's time to address the Adam Driver-sized elephant in the room: from its inception, Driver insisted on portraying every character in the film - except for William's curmudgeonly father William Sr., inexplicably played by Star Wars' Ian McDiarmid.

To say it makes for a surreal experience would be an understatement, and while successful reviews typically tend to avoid plot synopses, there's really no other way to talk about Driver's unique debut. I've included a spoiler warning for ardent fans of Driver's work, but I implore you to avoid this film like the plague that inspired Driver to write this film, should it ever curse paying audiences with wide release.

Different But Also Not Different quickly establishes its confused themes with a voice over flashback to William's son playing with his favourite animal, the humble pigeon, as a workaholic William reflects that he never took the time to appreciate that each one is unique, despite their similar ratty appearances. Pigeons as metaphor are a recurring motif throughout, and while it might seem odd, it's easily the least absurd part of the film.

Less than five minutes in, we are introduced to the film's most persistent and horrifying bad decision: William's taxi driver (again, also Driver), whose face is concealed until what I assume is supposed to be a twist reveal at the end of the film, though it's clear who's playing him and exactly what he'll look like when he turns around from silhouette alone. And in a sane world, that would be true. But no. For some reason, the taxi driver is Adam Driver in brownface, doing what I can only assume is supposed to be some sort of an accent that honestly hurts to listen to. I don't know where to begin. I am in no way equipped to discuss the many, many levels on which this is not okay, but I cannot stress enough that I urged Adam Driver to reconsider after reading his first draft, but apparently he had his heart set on it. I regret to say that I expected more from famous actor Adam Driver.

Let's quickly run through the rest, because if I fixate on that it will be the whole review, and at this point surely nothing else in the film can be that bad. Right?

William takes a detour on the way to the genetics lab to drop his father off at a chemotherapy appointment, when the car is accosted by a woman pretending to be in labour (also Driver, don't ask me why). After stabbing William with a knife and being pushed out of the moving taxi, she removes her fake pregnancy bump and hurls it after the vehicle as it drives off. This character shows up in a later scene, but neither she nor William appear to recognise each other, and the scene has no bearing on the rest of the film. I have no idea why it's here.

After convincing the reluctant William Sr. (a racist, misogynist, troll of a man who the film bizarrely tries to portray as endearing) to attend his appointment by emphasizing that William has no time to argue and is bleeding to death, they arrive at the hospital and abandon William Sr., who immediately turns to the camera and exclaims "Thank goodness you were genetically engineered, my son William." Is this an attempt to justify why William is suddenly no longer bleeding by the end of the scene? I'm mystified. Perhaps there is no meaning.

William finally arrives at the genetics lab, meets his new child son (who, just in case you forgot, is also played by the grown adult Adam Driver), and goes to a hotel with him where they bond over pigeons in what might be the single genuinely good scene in the movie if you can get past the uncanny valley of Adam Driver talking to himself acting as a small child. I'd also like to point out that the son is dubbed with the voice of the child actor who we heard at the start of the film. Why, you ask? I don't know. Why even try to explain that which can't be understood? Could it be that I'm wrong about all of this? Does Different But Also Not Different transcend the art of cinema? Is this... kino?

After that screening, mere words have lost all sense of meaning, so I think it's time to wrap this up and finally free myself of Adam Driver's cursed grasp - remember those carefree days when I thought this was a road trip movie? I was so innocent, once.

In a mad rush to make it home in time before Monica's moving van arrives so she can leave William behind for good (yes, I'm still talking about the film, I can't believe it either), William and Jake 2.0 leave the taxi behind in traffic and hurry home on foot. Remember the 'pregnant' woman from earlier? The taxi catches up to them as the traffic clears, and she's inside for some reason. Oh, and it's the same taxi driver even though it's the next day, but honestly that seems like nitpicking at this point. William and the woman don't recognise each other for some reason (could it be that it's a different character and I just couldn't tell?) and they share the taxi on the way home. They're late by the time they arrive to try and stop Monica from leaving, but conveniently her moving van was held up in the same traffic. Also, the pregnant woman disappears mid scene and is never mentioned again. Please don't ask.

Finally (FINALLY) Monica recognises Jake 2.0 as her son when she sees him playing with pigeons in the rain, and as they enter the house as a reunited family, Jake turns to the camera, his eyes glow red, and he explodes a pigeon's head with telekinesis while no one's looking. Yep. Oh, and in the final shot the camera pulls away from the happy family to reveal that the taxi driver was Adam Driver in brownface all along, at which point William Sr. enters frame, passionately kisses him, and with the same red-eyed glare as Jake 2.0, turns the taxi driver into a pigeon. Roll credits.

Final Score: ★☆☆☆☆

Final Review: It would be 0 stars, but it turns out that Adam Driver is a surprisingly good cinematographer, and I'm genuinely impressed that he managed to act all of the parts, direct himself, and operate a camera all at the same time. The racism was weird and bad. Please avoid this film at all costs, or I'll have been through this experience for nothing. I never want to think of famous actor Adam Driver ever again.

Adam Driver was needle-felted by @JiggleLuka.
Disclaimer: This is not about the real famous actor Adam Driver.
Reylo's please don't hurt me, you scare me the same way K-Pop stans do.