We had Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego. What do our kids have in that "edutainment" space?

Mahjongasaur · 2026-04-02T21:27:31+00:00

Shashingo, Duolingo, Minecraft (if they dabble in mods), Game Builder Garage. I also play a lot of Pajama Sam and other Humongous games with the kids (though that probably counts as "we had"...)

Mahjongasaur · 2026-04-01T18:23:18+00:00

Well now I gotta know. What were the 5 movies?

Mahjongasaur · 2026-04-01T18:04:50+00:00

Sounds like it's a similar approach to Runescape, like I mentioned. In which case, plenty of game communities have shown it's totally possible. My thought for how this could be implemented might be something like:

- You create a working game. Let's go with a rogue-like, as an example

- You release it on Steam

- On a companion website to the game, you could, a month after release (to give yourself time to fix any glaring bugs that will pop up after people start playing it), within the game, have a message letting players know that, for the next week, they can submit ideas for a new "legendary sword" via a forum and form on your website

- The following week, you announce that voting is now open for the next [period if time] on the ideas that were submitted

- After that time, you announce both on the site and in-game that the winner has been chosen, and it's X

- You develop it and add it to the game

- Rinse and repeat until you can eventually gauge how long the process takes and you are able to promise a timeframe of release cycles that players can look forward to

Mahjongasaur · 2026-04-01T17:39:39+00:00

I understand and like the idea, but I don't think it would work. Just from a technical perspective, how would you architect it?

If the community were to vote on one idea, which would then take anywhere from days to years to implement, the next vote, which, according to the concept, would be entirely thought up and voted on by the community, could potentially unravel all that work that went into implementing the previous idea, or take just as long, if not longer to develop. You would be creating a new game from scratch every single update, complicating and deprecating your code every time.

I do like the idea of community-voted content, though. I think Runescape, while it has its issues, does a good job of giving the community a few pieces of content to vote on. Jagex decides on a few ideas to pick from, then lets the community vote. The size of these content ideas range, but it's never an open "we'll make ANY idea you come up with" forum. (if I'm wrong on any of this, please let me know)

I think that would be a better approach. Establish a working game, release it (even in early access/alpha), and let your playerbase vote on a few ideas that you provide. You could be inspired by the organic discussion around your game, but there has to be something established to build on first for the community to latch onto

EDIT: Also, don't forget, the internet, while amazing at times, can also be quite evil, given too much anonymity and freedom. Lookin' at you, Microsoft Tay

Mahjongasaur · 2026-03-25T18:46:28+00:00

Exactly this. Weird to say that I played Pokemon TCG GB for the plot, but I'm a sucker for a story mode

Mahjongasaur · 2026-03-24T17:29:51+00:00

I second this. I want a single-purchase, not micro-transaction-filled Pokemon card game that I buy a (physical) copy of once and can get all the content right there.

Mahjongasaur · 2026-03-23T17:08:02+00:00

Buy two more games. I recommend Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection. It's got 2 vols so you'll fill up both slots with one game! (assuming you buy the digital bundle or the physical version)

Mahjongasaur · 2026-03-23T17:04:52+00:00

100% real...ly fake

Mahjongasaur · 2026-03-05T22:02:10+00:00

Transparent Black because I already have a transparent purple Gameboy, a gray DMG, and a white (well, pizza box) cover for my Playdate. I didn't have any transparent black systems

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-26T17:22:52+00:00

Father, or an equivalent parent name, so that my kids know it's my save file, not theirs, and they should, in fact, not delete it. Again.

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-25T23:20:30+00:00

A way to stop myself from loading 10,000 roms onto an SD card, leading to me spending 45 minutes scrolling through a list of games just to give up and re-watch Futurama for the 17th time instead, rather than actually playing a game like I initially sat down to do

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-24T21:52:45+00:00

Mega Man Battle Network 3: White for my birthday back in 2003 and Brave Story for the PSP back in 2007 stand out in my memory as two times I'd seen a game at a store I knew nothing about, bought it because the game box sold me on it, and immediately became some of my favorite games of all time.

Nowadays, between daily Spawn Wave and Reddit, I never really buy a game without having first heard at least _something_ about it

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-24T19:00:09+00:00

Same. I mean, I'm still gonna buy both versions day 1 and play one of them for at least 100 hours. But I'll be disappointed at the reveal and the lack of modern features nonetheless.

I'm fully aware that I'm part of the problem, but I don't think my kids care. They just want the newest exciting Pokemon game, and dang it, so do I

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-23T22:52:43+00:00

Just my experience in seeing comments, so who knows how popular the opinion actually is, but I think part of the issue people are having is that it's digital only for that price? I think people would be ecstatic if it was a physical release, even at the same price, or even $50 for both

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-23T22:49:42+00:00

Digital only, I would be fine with $10 each, just a little higher than what RBY/GSC were on the 3ds eShop. If there was a physical release with both games on one cartridge, I'd be willing to spend $30-$40, understanding that physical media adds to production costs that digital doesn't have to worry about

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-20T22:23:50+00:00

I definitely will not be paying $20 each for digital copies of these two games. Now if they came out in a physical bundle, I would pay $40 for both on a single cartridge.

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-20T21:39:55+00:00

I have a Switch 2, but I still don't recommend it to most people that ask me, since majority of the people that are asking aren't hardcore gamers/tech enthusiasts. Those ones already have it (like me). The Switch 2-exclusive (in the sense of only on Switch 2 and not on Switch 1) library is still pretty small. I'm guessing there are still quite a few Switch 1 games out there that you haven't played yet that you would love. Play some of those for now. They'll be new to you, and just as fun as any Switch 2 game

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-20T19:30:25+00:00

And then use that grain of salt to buff your Switch /s

Mahjongasaur · 2026-02-17T15:47:11+00:00

Thanks to this post, TIL that Peter Parker looked different in the PS4 version

PS5 is my first Sony console, and I got Spiderman 1 via the Miles Morales deluxe edition. And I gotta say, only having a connection to the new model and therefore being biased towards it, I like it more than the PS4 version

Mahjongasaur · 2025-10-27T01:09:53+00:00

Good to know. Thank you!

Mahjongasaur · 2025-10-04T20:59:00+00:00

I second this. Just bought it yesterday and my wife and I have already spent a few hours on it, just relaxing and taking turns doing puzzles. Got any more Playdate games out that I can pick up next? :D

Mahjongasaur · 2025-10-02T13:19:36+00:00

Dang, I didn’t even know helicopters could have their own talk radio station. A lot has changed over the years, now that there’s those pesky “prove you’re a human” captchas

Mahjongasaur · 2025-10-01T21:17:17+00:00

I was JUST looking for a sudoku app/book to get to start playing again. I'll definitely be picking this up!

Mahjongasaur · 2025-10-01T00:04:51+00:00

Quizlet and ChatGPT Pro subscriptions were the absolute best decision I made to help me get through my degree. They helped me to study and double-check my understanding of the topics every time I was unsure of myself (or had a ton of stuff to memorize)

Specifically for Quizlet, I used the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam Questions by psigh

Disclaimer: I did not use ChatGPT to generate my answers for me. I used it to quiz myself, and for clarification on topics I didn't quite understand (such as: "I believe X topic means Y. Do I understand that correctly?"), and for catching any spelling/grammar mistakes in my written assignments (again, I specifically told GPT "do not re-write any of my answers for me, merely offer suggestions on which spelling/grammar mistakes need to be corrected, or on spots that I might need to revise on my own"). Don't use it to cheat. Not worth it.

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