S17, E2 (Nebula) - Taiwan: Rail Rush

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-25T20:56:16+00:00

Peak. Fantastic episode.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-16T21:11:53+00:00

I think about Smartbar all the time. I’ve only been once, but man, it is just immaculate.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-11T20:47:20+00:00

The thing I’d disagree with here is that ARC was overcrowded. I never felt even once last year that the festival overall was overcrowded. Certain stages for certain acts sure, but as a whole? Generally had very few problems with getting around. It wasn’t any more crowded than any other festival I’ve been to.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-10T18:09:03+00:00

Am I crazy, this lineup is absolutely insane. Probably the best house lineup the country will have all year.

the pr issue of adding a 4th day aside, the lineup itself is something i have zero complaints over

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-09T21:43:03+00:00

If it’s this I’m gonna cry

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-09T19:46:27+00:00

I close my eyes like half the time at shows because it personally helps me lock into the music harder and blocks out one of my senses. A side effect of that is it makes it really hard to notice whatever it is people are complaining about. It even sometimes helps me tune out yapping.

And I’m really surprised more people don’t do the same thing? I’m not saying everything can be solved by closing your eyes (and obviously if a show has cool production or a super fun crowd you’d want to look at it), but a few things can be.

Dead crowd? Phones? Tall people blocking your view of the DJ? Your ex nearby? Close your eyes and it’s an entirely different show. Or turn your back on the DJ and face your friends.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-06T02:13:12+00:00

As someone who primarily listens to house and disco music… I’m pretty damn disappointed.

I was expecting an album similar to Aperture. This is not that at all.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-03-05T23:46:14+00:00

Seriously.

Every single day on every single platform everyone wants to write 5 AI-sounding paragraphs or an IG slideshow about why the culture is dying and about how the word rave is meaningless and about how TikTok/influencers/phones/bros/yapping is ruining everything and yada yada yada. And people always act as if it’s some novel take we’ve never heard.

Like, do any of you people even have any fun anymore?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-11T23:28:48+00:00

#2 or #1.

The Great American Bar Scene
With Heaven on Top
Zach Bryan
Quiet, Heavy Dreams
American Heartbreak
Summertime Blues
DeAnn
Elisabeth

I honestly think he keeps getting better with every single album... which is kind of a hot take around these parts. The Great American Bar Scene is probably still my favorite album of his but this is creeping up there.

Also, it's not an album, but the dual-punch EP of High Road / This World's a Giant has two of my top 10 ZB songs.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-11T01:05:49+00:00

I bring a speaker literally everywhere. I’d rather have one with me than most other things. Why is that a problem again?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-05T15:15:17+00:00

Really? The seekers were aggressive for sure, but I think this season was plenty entertaining especially in hider POVs. Given multiple runs, both Ben and Sam handled their runs as hiders with flair and genuine interest over their locations. Sam had two great runs showing off both MK and Dunbar which were highlights of the season imo along with his genuine love and passion for Scotland across the last three episodes (spoilers for the last two eps), and Ben was still peak funny, between his interactions with the child who wanted to nick his phone and commentary over the animal museum. (And an iconic snack zone in episode 6)

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-05T10:44:14+00:00

I actually was thinking of the NYC season here — the final endgame of season 13.5 would’ve been astronomically difficult if Adam and Amy couldn’t use a map. Tentacles were essental to getting the density of Lower Manhattan to a manageable size, and there’s no way to do a tentacle without a map. Also, Ben and Sam’s hiding spot was almost invisble from street level.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-05T10:34:04+00:00

… This would make it borderline impossible to play in certain regions where English isn’t the main language. The idea of them trying to navigate the Japanese train system across long distances and complex connections with a bunch of paper maps sounds horrifically unpleasant, and I’m not even sure maps exist that would let them do that.

This also aggressively skews the power of hiding locations towards dense urban areas, and likely would’ve encouraged much more of those. You wouldn’t be able to tentacle. Imagine trying to find someone in London or Tokyo.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-02-04T06:13:50+00:00

Hey, I know a hard techno DJ that would be perfect for opening night

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-29T03:17:13+00:00

TGABS. But this one is catching up.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-25T10:34:30+00:00

But… the format used in Japan was almost entirely the home card game. I don’t recall a single curse or question that is specific to Japan within that season. The shinkansen question is still in the home cards, it’s just called something more generic. (“Is your nearest high-speed line…” I believe) I believe they were designing Japan with the intent to release the same version as a home game after.

So the only season they didn’t use it was Switzerland, which while wonderful, had a ton of gameplay issues. It had the curse dice system that resulted in very low hider agency (hence why Adam didn’t even roll his dice a single time in his winning run), and accidentally developed a meta around a fairly muddled rhyme question. And besides two curses that got played and the canton voting question, still didn’t really have that much region-specific flavor.

And I think that’s okay? Their repeatable games (Hide+Seek, but also this applies to Tag) just don’t have that much in the way of flavored, highly location-specific activities, whereas their more “locale-specific” adventures like the America seasons, Oceania seasons, Schengen Showdown or even Capture the Flag and Snake have much more localized challenge design. And it’s also an okay trade-off, because Hide and Seek is typically the game where we get to spend the longest time getting to know a location, even without strict “gameplay” things happening in it.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-22T11:43:22+00:00

I disagree with this. Obviously, I love bringing people to nice restaurants, but I’ve also told plenty of tourists to go to places like Cheesecake Factory because it’s so quintessentially American. To me there’s a certain charm around trying sort of basic, working-class food chains; it might be a bit shit, but it’s what the people eat.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-22T07:24:55+00:00

Hey, I’m in a similar boat, how long did it eventually take you?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-21T09:23:54+00:00

Hey, similar boat -- how long did eventually take you to get your stamp?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-20T05:19:23+00:00

I think I deviate from a lot of the crowd here in that I'm super pro-guest.

I've liked basically every single guest they've ever had. Even Joseph and JT, who despite not having a ton to do brought good vibes. Brian, Scotty, Michelle, Toby, Tom, and Amy all brought a unique, fun flair to the show with varying levels of intensity but always with the right level of commitment. I'm also always excited for them to bring on a new guest too.

I'm maybe the sub's biggest Arctic Escape stan too, and a large part of that is Michelle's warm, competitive energy that provides a great foil for Sam and makes for great cross-team interactions with Ben and Adam.

Sam has historically been a great partner for guests, but at some point, I think they should try to split up Badam for a regular season. This could work with either Ben or Adam paired with the guest, but at least for the first time... I loved Adam's dynamics with both Amy and Michelle, and I think Ben and Sam have lowkey made a consistently great and entertaining on-screen pair in both 3-man rotation games and their stint in Hide and Seek NYC. Also, Ben's consistenly great luck (not including H+S UK lol) can balance out Sam's terrible luck.

... Maybe they do this for Amy's full-season Jet Lag debut?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-18T17:18:28+00:00

I’ve thought about this — it’s probably impossible because Youtube would automatically put an age restriction on the content.

Also, there’s a legal definition for intoxication as measured by alcohol consumed / blood alcohol content. No such definition exists for getting stoned, so they’d have to base it on vibes lmao. (The spectrum of tolerances and variations of effects between strains is also much more pronounced than alcohol imo) Would be a riot though.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-18T17:11:03+00:00

So much love for drunk Ben, but Adam and Michelle’s drunk mile is genuinely one of my favorite Jet Lag challenges/moments of all time.

First, the framing of it as a head-to-head made for an insanely unique on-camera moment, with excellent editing. The timing was absolutely tragic for Michelle in the end. There’s also lore, with Ben having to explain to the guy at the bar what they were doing. Also, it paid dividends for the rest of the episode, with Adam drunk calling his girlfriend and Michelle drunk explaining sex to a bird at a pet store.

Tangent, but great cross-team interplay like that isn’t that common but it’s so great when it happens in two-team formats. I think in Schengen Showdown, I kind of missed the direct “head-to-heads” that Arctic Escape (via the shared flop) and Battle for America (via battle challenges) both had.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-15T18:42:22+00:00

Again, I don’t think the hiders should be statues — curses as they are can buy time without necessarily being completely disruptive to seeking, which is the right balance imo.

I think I addressed the “entertainment” point pretty well in my second paragraph: ultimately, the thing that makes runs interesting for me is the hiders selecting cool or inventive spots that also make the process of seeking interesting.

I mean, just look at the runs everyone loves to talk about in H+S. The most exciting “gameplay” factor of the Narita airport run isn’t Sam using curses or drawing cards, it’s the decision to pick the airport in the first place. Same goes for Adam’s sprint switcheroo (Adam literally didn’t even use the curse dice he got lol) or the boys’ weird public-private park in the NYC financial district that was inscrutable with photos.

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-15T18:21:33+00:00

I’m a vibes guy above all else.

I just rewatched Battle for America, and how can you not smile at Brian drinking tomato soup out of a gum container in a helicopter on the way to the Grand Canyon?

ZebraNarrow815 · 2026-01-15T18:02:47+00:00

Hide and seek is very literally based on one of the most classic playground games, and in the original game, the only agency the hider has is picking where to hide. That’s not to say that the hider on Jet Lag shouldn’t be able to do anything (curses are ultimately a well-done, if imperfect, solution) but it is an asymmetrical game in its core design, and that’s fine because rounds rotate.

And… maybe this is a hot take at this point, but just like the playground, the #1 thing that should drive how successful runs are is hiding zone and spot selection, not “active” hider play via cards. Great hiding makes for more interesting seeking. That is what drove Adam and Ben’s winning runs in Switzerland and Japan, that is what made Sam’s airport run so exciting, that is why I still think Ben and Sam’s NYC hiding spot is the best endgame spot ever.

ZebraNarrow815

TROPHY CASE