November Newsletter

How we kicked off the fall season

November Newsletter

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

November marks the second month of Lawrence and Goliath's existence as a little corner of the internet where I can talk about video games. Honestly, that short time has given me a chance to reflect on a lot of things regarding my writing and how I approach looking at games as art. It's been a busy year that's taken a lot of adjusting, but it's all been slowly coming together one piece at a time.

For these monthly newsletters, I want to focus on highlighting the works that were published here, as well as some external essays and other reading materials that left an impact on me this month.

FROM LAWRENCE AND GOLIATH

This month's feature article was my review of Kirby and the Forgotten Land. This game was my life for the few weeks that I played it. It's fun, creative, and looks gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch OLED (speaking of, how come they haven't made an OLED Lite? I'd buy one of those in a heartbeat). I avoid number scores on reviews because I think they detract from the actual substance of what I thought worked about a game and what didn't. I'd say the hardest thing about this review was not spoiling most of the endgame content, but perhaps I'll go back one day to highlight that section and how much fun it is.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land Review
Jumping into Nintendo’s newest bout for the pink guy

While I published this in October, it was the first essay that I wrote for Lawrence and Goliath, so why not include it in the first newsletter? I went to Portland Retro Gaming Expo in September thanks to SUPERJUMP, and I had a blast! This wasn't my first convention, but it was my first time going across the country alone for a trip, and it's one that will stick with me for ages.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2024: A Celebration of the Past
Before I go any further, welcome to GameFlip! This is the first independent article posted on this site after integrating my work from Medium, and I’m excited to get the ball rolling with this essay! My goal is to post on here monthly to update you all with my various,

FROM BEYOND THE VEIL

Still speaking on PRGE, all of my developer interviews have finally been published on SUPERJUMP! I conducted these a few days after getting home from the event, and it was incredible to talk to everyone about their experiences. Everyone I interviewed was a member of PIGSquad, a collection of indie developers working together as a community to collaborate, uplift each other, and feed into the inherently artistic nature of Portland's culture.

Thomas McGrath wrote to me on Discord about his time as Lead Programmer for Super Dungeon Designer, a Zelda-inspired dungeon builder the likes of which I'd never seen until now!

Diving Deep with Super Dungeon Designer’s Lead Programmer
Ever wanted to create your own Zelda-esque dungeons? Now you can!

Viktor Krause and Julia Barnacle sat down with me to talk about Initial Daydream, their retro-inspired Playdate RPG. I loved hearing them talk about their relationship with JRPGs and how that influenced the game's design. I even managed to get an exclusive lore bit from them!

Initial Daydream: An Interview with Viktor Krause and Julia Barnacle
The story behind the Playdate JRPG

Chloe Charlotte discussed her time with Retromine as a freshman game developer, and what it was like moving to Portland to pursue full-time game development.

Digging for Cards: An Interview with Chloe Charlotte
The story behind Retromine, the mining deckbuilder

And I still can't get over how Red Thread was described as a mix of Disco Elysium and Mario Party. With a demo that's available now, Cerise Pomme and Alex Sheppard talked about their time with PIGSquad, moving across the country to develop games, and the impact on diversity they want to instill with their games.

Red Thread: Sitting Down with Cerise Pomme and Alex Sheppard
Behind the scenes of the relationship strategy card game

Game of the Month

Okay, so a short story time: PRGE is a three-day event, with Saturday being the big highlight like most conventions, right? At some point in the middle of the afternoon, the fire alarm goes off after I've been sitting at one table for a good 10-15 minutes, spending way too long on my turn with this game. When I came back inside, my seat was taken, and that game didn't make a Sunday appearance. That game was Retromine!

This has become my "Solitaire when I bring my personal laptop with me to work. There have been moments where I just can't stand to think about files and paperwork, and Retromine comes in to discretely save the workday. It's insane how I've built a genuine appreciation for this game, not only because it's fun, but because of the sheer convenience and replayability it offers.

I was so close...