This time, I've got some new things to share.
In Bananza, you play as DK, whose strength is now so great that he can smash right through any ground in his way – and boy is it fun to do. The most critical thing about this game is the juice in every single punch, pressed fresh from the sound effects, visuals, and rumble which ooze out from every hit.
I think one of the things in this game which isn't talked about enough is the menu, which is almost as satisfying to navigate through as the ground is to punch. Each button press is accompanied by a firm sound and the button you pressed cracks like DK just punched it, in an immensely satisfying fashion.
One thing to criticise is the way that the objectives feel a bit… mindless. My interaction with the game's story essentially comes down to pressing the left trigger every now and again, and then walking towards the yellow marker which appears. To add insult to injury, the progression is pretty much as linear as progression can be, since the main objective of the game is literally to decend futher along a line.
Still, the game is a bunch of fun, and I look forward to playing more over the coming days.
Even though I've just started, it's really nice putting your thoughts into text, and I feel I have more motivation to do so than if I was say, journaling, when I know that what I write will go onto the internet for all to see.
If you haven't already got a place to put your thoughts where others can see, I can't recommend it enough. The internet really is the perfect place for this kind of thing, so if you have the time and technical knowledge, I would definitely recommend self-hosting a blog, and if not you should definitely get one from a hosting provider. I've heard good things on Daring Fireball about Ghost.
Since starting one of my own, I've been searching around and adding a few blogs into NetNewsWire, the RSS reader app I use, and it's been great!
If you're not familiar with RSS, it's essentially podcasts, but for reading – in fact podcasts actually use RSS! To get started, in the RSS app you use (typically called an RSS "reader"), you add a new feed to your subscriptions by going to some publication you enjoy and finding the URL for its RSS feed (typically linked with either the word RSS, or an icon similar to that of WiFi, except the waves emanate from the bottom-left corner). Next, you copy that URL into your reader of choice and – voilá! – you can now view their recent posts, and any new ones will automatically appear in the app.
It's really nice to have something silent to do on your phone, but which isn't as endless as social media. I guess gaming also fits that bill, but often games require some level of time commmitment, even if it's very short. It feels bad to start a Balatro run, and get off your train 30 seconds later, before you even beat the first boss – but with something like this, you can start reading an article (or even finish it if it's a short one) and return the magic rectangle to your pocket, satisfied.
Citymapper is a mapping app only for getting public transit directions. It's not great at everything else, but at that one thing, it excels.
Firstly, Citymapper has a great way of showing you the steps of your journey. Instead of having one long scrolling list like Apple or Google Maps, it splits your journey into segments, which each get their own small-sheet-sized page in a horizontal list. This lets you more easily see each part of your journey and simultaneously get a visualization of that part on the map. This is definitely a feature optimized for transit.
One of my favourite features of the app is its "Best Section" suggestion. When getting on a subway train, it tells you whether it's best to get on at the front, middle, or back. This suggestion isn't based on how busy the train is, but based on the layout of the train station, to help you optimise your exit or transfer. This feature is honestly awesome. It's so satisfying to leave the train and be standing right in front of the very staircase you need. Again, optimized for transit.
Easily the best feature though is that you can make the dot for your current location be a potato. Once again, optimized for tr– okay fine, maybe this one wasn't optimized for transit.
The app really isn't good to explore the map and work out where you want to go - a normal mapping app lives on my home screen for that - but if you've got a destination, Citymapper will take you there lightning fast, and that's what I love it for.
Where I live we don't have any underground trains, but recently I went on a trip to a city which does, and I am continually shocked at how fast they go.
They be zoomin'!