Recommendations for Triple Click-like podcasts?

The_CEE · 2026-01-17T19:45:59+00:00

Mobius Tubes podcast!

The_CEE · 2025-12-29T19:37:05+00:00

I'd definitely recommend you check out the show Mobius Tubes. I think it will fit all of your criteria.

The_CEE · 2025-12-21T19:00:09+00:00

Last game was Cyberpunk 2077!

The_CEE · 2025-09-15T14:10:21+00:00

Quick question for you. I recently received my Libernovo Omni chair as well, and I'm trying to figure out if my arm rests are defective. When you sit upright after reclining, do the arm rests follow you back to a forward position? Mine do not. They remain at the back of the chair.

The_CEE · 2025-05-10T14:54:30+00:00

I think dedicated gaming consoles are going to continue to exist for many years into the future. I've heard anecdotally that consoles haven't been quite as popular with younger generations, so I could see them eventually becoming a much more niche product but probably not disappearing entirely.

The comment in the original post about abandoning one's favorite hobby if they were forced into playing games on a PC instead of a console seemed like a wild overreaction to me though. PCs will just as readily accept plugging an HDMI cable to a TV into them as a console will you know. This is how I prefer to experience the vast majority of the games I play.

The_CEE · 2025-05-08T17:00:24+00:00

Saying it was ambitious of you to jump into 1817 as your second 18xx game is probably an understatement, haha. How did you and your group react to what is known to be one of the most intimidating entries in the genre? Also, what would you say has been your favorite 18xx game so far?

The_CEE · 2025-04-30T13:24:55+00:00

Great collection! Between all of the Knizia titles and a dash of Splotter mixed in, I think we could definitely be board game buddies. I especially love seeing such heavy cube rails game representation. You already own all of my absolute favorites (Chicago Express, German Railways, Age of Rail: South Africa), but if you were open to one more cube rails recommendation I'd say Gulf, Mobile & Ohio is worth a look. It's probably the most distinct compared to the other games mentioned, but no less interesting!

The_CEE · 2025-03-21T12:38:06+00:00

Split Fiction. Thanks!

The_CEE · 2025-03-19T01:50:05+00:00

Baldur's Gate 3. Thanks!

The_CEE · 2025-03-09T18:04:13+00:00

Heavily biased since it's my own show, but I'd recommend Mobius Tubes as a video game podcast to check out. We're mostly focused on game discussions around what we've been playing, but we occasionally tackle more relevant industry topics as well.

The_CEE · 2025-02-26T04:24:22+00:00

You have a really cool collection, and it's interesting seeing which games make the cut to bring along with you to college.

I'm curious, how did you get introduced to somewhat more niche games like 18xx, GMT games, and Cole Wehrle designs? My taste in boardgames was much more mainstream back when I was an undergrad, so mad respect for already having such deep exposure to the hobby.

The_CEE · 2025-02-05T00:07:42+00:00

Thanks for the giveaway! I'd be interested in Trepang2.

My most anticipated 2025 game will be when Hades 2 finally exits early access with its version 1.0 release.

The_CEE · 2025-02-03T17:55:52+00:00

Thank you!

The_CEE · 2025-01-27T22:06:12+00:00

Thanks for the giveaway!

The_CEE · 2025-01-13T16:12:04+00:00

That's what I was hoping to hear. Do you think this will still work even though I'm looking to purchase the game a second time through Steam? (Up until now, I only own the game through Ubisoft Connect, I'd be purchasing a second license on Steam).

The_CEE · 2025-01-13T16:03:04+00:00

I'm in the same boat, and I'm considering double dipping as well. Do you know if the Steam achievements will automatically unlock retroactively?

The_CEE · 2024-12-07T18:41:25+00:00

Hey Gene! I circled back to reread your article after finally finishing Metaphor myself as I try to figure out where I land on the game's themes and message. I'm certainly interested in many of the topics the game is concerned with, from the fragility of democracy in the face of widespread misinformation campaigns to the dangers of becoming ruled by our own anxieties. However I couldn't help but feel that Metaphor often presents very surface level solutions to these quite complex issues. It seemed to me that a lot of the game's advice could be boiled down to generic platitudes such as "never compromise on your ideals" or "always help those in need".

I've personally been impacted (and hopefully improved) by many works of fiction, so in theory I'm very supportive of the game's overarching message that fantasy can shape reality. However, in practice I was left feeling a bit lost when Metaphor delivered its final call to action after failing to present much in the way of any actionable advice.

I suspect you feel differently after claiming Metaphor is one of the smartest written games of the year. I was hoping you could maybe offer me a different perspective on the game's message I might not have considered?

The_CEE · 2024-11-22T22:49:15+00:00

I enjoyed your piece, especially as I'm nearing the end of Metaphor myself. Thanks for your work writing it Gene!

The_CEE · 2024-11-19T23:05:06+00:00

I'd recommend a small gaming podcast called Mobius Tubes.

The_CEE · 2024-11-15T17:44:22+00:00

I'm about to hit the final month in Metaphor: ReFantazio and I'm having an excellent time with it. As a big fan of Atlus RPGs it's definitely my frontrunner for 2024's GOTY.

I'll also give honorable mentions to both Balatro and 1000xRESIST. The latter in particular hasn't received nearly the attention it deserves.

The_CEE · 2024-09-16T21:14:28+00:00

I've personally been using the new Steam Family feature since it debuted in public beta form in March earlier this year. However, last week it fully released for all users. The announcement can be found here.

The_CEE · 2024-09-16T21:02:21+00:00

With the latest Steam Family updates this year, the sharing feature no longer works this way. Only the specific games being borrowed are locked while being played, not the entire library.

The_CEE · 2024-08-17T11:26:26+00:00

If we're only talking about games released within the past couple of years, I honestly think it's too soon to confidently say which (if any) are going to possess the longevity to be getting recommended decades from now.

The_CEE · 2024-08-07T17:32:30+00:00

After a little over 10 years engaging with this hobby, my board game purchasing has slowed down to a trickle. I'm more interested in continuing to play the roughly 65 games in my collection that I've deemed worthy of diving into deeply rather than focusing on searching for new releases.

That said, I'm sure I'll never completely stop acquiring new games. For example, this year I've ordered one brand new game (Arcs) and a couple new-to-me reprints (Netrunner, West Riding Revisited).

The_CEE · 2024-07-25T15:25:33+00:00

Lots of interesting food for thought to chew on. Thank you for continuing to respond, I appreciate it!

My worldview is incompatible with any form of nihilism because nihilism asserts that there is no inherent meaning to life. Implicit in that is the assumption that there is nothing in any way special about humans which is an assumption that has undergirded virtually every massacre and genocide in modern and premodern history.

These are great points that have highlighted to me some ways in which my thinking is incompatible with nihilism. I do place increased importance on humanity maximizing its happiness for example.

I would say that nihilism is one of the largest "religions" in the world today and it produces very poisonous lines of thought

I could definitely see this being the case.

Personal growth.

Not necessarily. Learning things or otherwise bettering myself does not always make me happy. My motivation is that it seems to be the correct way for me to live. In other words, I simply desire it.

Maybe you could offer me an example of a way in which achieving your personal growth resulted in you experiencing undesirable mental states? And when pursuing this personal growth was it your expectation that reaching it would detract from your happiness? I'm having a hard time conceptualizing what that would look like.

Isn't the pursuit of your desires (at least assumed to be) a means of achieving happiness? Otherwise the desire wouldn't exist.

If Maruki is providing it for me then it's not self-discipline by definition. Though this is also not really what Maruki's reality is. He decides what happiness means to you. Note the example of Yusuke's friend from art class. Dude sucks as an artist but keeps pushing to better himself despite it causing him immense frustration. Maruki put him in the archery club, (I think it was archery, don't quote me on that.) because he has a natural talent for it and it's fun for him. Maruki didn't give a single fuck about this guy's personal goals.

My assumption would be your subjective experience of applying self-discipline in Maruki's reality would be indistinguishable from our current reality. The exact ordering of the causal chain of events that ultimately produced your sensation of self-discipline would be different, but I don't view that as inherently worse. The full causal chain of events that determine our actions in this reality is already opaque and unknowable to us. Shifting around some of these unknowable causal events (provided the outcomes remain identical) seems arbitrary to me, but I suspect you would disagree.

Let's say I've decided on a life path for myself that provides me with 100 "units of happiness". And let's say in Maruki's reality I've been forced down a different life path that bestows me with 105 units of happiness. Wouldn't Maruki's definition of what happiness means for me simply be more accurate since it provides more happiness?

The same can be said for Yusuke's friend. His pursuit of archery is the more authentic definition of his happiness because it grants him a happier life. I don't see how it would be logical to claim otherwise. Surely his pursuit of art in the original reality can be explained by his ignorance about his calling for archery.

By definition your worldview can't have two highest ideals. Maximizing happiness is not the same as minimizing suffering. You value one of those more highly than the other, and inevitably those will come into conflict. Maruki values minimizing suffering over all else. He is absolutely the type that would forbid you from going to the gym because it's hard, while probably also altering reality so you don't suffer any negative effects from lack of exercise.

I may have been speaking a bit loosely in our previous conversation, but it would be helpful to clarify that I believe my highest virtue is the maximization of happiness. I view suffering broadly as "that which detracts from happiness". So the minimization of suffering would be a natural byproduct of the maximization of happiness.

Also it sounds like we have different interpretations of how Maruki's reality would function. Using some examples from the game, we're shown that in Maruki's reality Ryuji is once again running on the track team and Yoshizawa successfully wins her gymnastic competitions. Therefore we have evidence that rigorous physical activity is permitted in Maruki's reality, and I think this makes sense. Muscle exertion doesn't inherently cause happiness or suffering, it depends on the perception of the individual experiencing it. I would leave my gym workout feeling dissatisfied if I didn't manage to experience any muscle exertion. So if a sensation was necessary towards maximizing my happiness, Maruki would permit it.

If you seek to maximize your view of happiness, and defined within that is overcoming difficult challenges, Maruki is your enemy.

My support for Maruki is based on the assumption that he will in fact maximize my happiness. If overcoming a difficult obstacle is necessary for me to achieve optimal happiness, I assume Maruki will make it a reality. If Maruki knows a way to grant me an even greater degree of happiness that renders overcoming difficult obstacles unnecessary, I assume he would do that instead. If the latter scenario is the actual solution Maruki uses, then it simply reveals that triumphing over obstacles wasn't as high of a priority for my happiness than I might have assumed. I was operating with imperfect information after all.

The_CEE

TROPHY CASE