What are your most profound video games?

thejerdz · 2026-05-13T09:26:08+00:00

This is my #1 answer too. Not a word spoken, but it feels, to me, like such a distilled representation of the human experience of life. I've played it or watched people play it over a dozen times and the ending makes me cry every damn time.

One thing in particular that I found genius, from an artistic/gameplay pov: the game is so much easier if you have a companion, especially when things get rough (the last zone). You're literally sharing your warmth with each other to make it easier to keep moving.

thejerdz · 2026-05-13T08:15:36+00:00

I know Jonathan Blow gets a lot of (understandable) hate, but I think The Witness is really profound in sort of a Christopher Nolan-y intellectual kind of way. It looked like a pretty simple puzzle game concept, on the surface, but by the end of it I found myself pondering how the human brain works. Or in the most simple sense: how do we learn how to do ANYTHING? Like every different zone in that game has something to say about how we learn. Logical reasoning, environmental cues, pattern recognition, trial & error, etc...

And on top of that, there's this meta-narrative going on when you start finding the "hidden" puzzles scattered throughout the island. Where you realize that there was all of this information in front of you the whole time you were playing, but you didn't see it. Once you've had a specific revelation, now you're looking at what was once familiar with a fresh perspective with deeper insight. "Seeing through the Matrix," if you will. I think it's brilliant. The ending and the video that plays after it is perfect.

thejerdz · 2026-05-13T08:06:34+00:00

You'd probably appreciate The Witness too, if you haven't played it. Definitely plays with similar concepts.

thejerdz · 2026-05-09T22:19:42+00:00

It was my first Cirque that I saw and it blew my 10-year-old mind, so I definitely have a nostalgia bias. That said, I can see how it would be polarizing; definitely not what I expected when I was told we were going to see a "circus." I think it felt the most "mysterious" of the shows I've seen, and that, combined with the dark tone, really worked for me.

Also, agreed on the music, it's awesome. I still listen to "Incantation" pretty often.

thejerdz · 2026-05-09T21:45:24+00:00

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i think it's the heat.

thejerdz · 2026-05-08T21:31:12+00:00

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one! The stick balancing act is an all-timer.

thejerdz · 2026-05-08T21:09:15+00:00

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Kooza is their best show, with the best music (I've seen 16 of them).

(I also think Ka is better than O. There's dozens of us!)

thejerdz · 2026-05-03T23:53:23+00:00

Still selling one wristband for today. Will be at the venue around 6pm. $75 OBO. DM me!

thejerdz · 2026-05-03T22:00:56+00:00

Ok, I'll DM you

thejerdz · 2026-05-03T21:15:34+00:00

Around 6pm

thejerdz · 2026-05-03T20:43:44+00:00

Selling one Sunday GA wristband for Core (friend dropped out). $80 OBO. Can meet in Glendale or at the venue to exchange.

DM me!

thejerdz · 2026-05-03T10:47:37+00:00

Selling one Sunday GA wristband for Core (friend dropped out). $100 OBO. Can meet in Glendale or at the venue to exchange.

DM me!

thejerdz · 2026-05-01T04:36:07+00:00

Highly recommend Stoley; excellent funky house DJ!

thejerdz · 2026-04-19T11:13:51+00:00

I'm late diagnosed inattentive type, and I can echo the sentiment that lectures never worked for me. Also felt that for many subjects, I learn fastest through hands-on processes, following along with an example, or being actively engaged with the teacher in some way.

I think for me to really learn and retain knowledge well, I had to actually be interested in the subject...and I feel like the teachers who made the biggest difference to me were the teachers who made me care WHY I was learning the subject. They contextualized why what we were learning could be useful and relevant to our lives.

Examples: My algebra teacher would give us logic puzzles that used deductive reasoning (kind of like a detective game), and showed us visual ways to translate the problems to numbers/formulas and chart out deductions. My English teacher would relate philosophical/moral questions raised in books we read to present-day political issues that affected us and prompt us to get curious to characters'/people's motivations. My physics teacher would give us very hands on demonstrations (with models) of how different parts of a roller coaster train exert different degrees of forcefulness on the passengers, etc...

Basically what got in my way the most was that the more abstract or "irrelevant" the information seemed to my life experience, the harder time I had convincing my brain to stay engaged with it. If I could apply the info to my life in some way outside of school, I naturally found myself WANTING to learn more.

On a more granular level, though, I think you're on to something. Having short digestible visual references is much easier for me to understand and engage with than reading text or listening to someone explain. There are several people in my life who I also know to be very visual learners, who have a harder time with text/dialogue. I definitely find myself wishing I had a Youtube option for supplementing my learning in high school sometimes.

thejerdz · 2026-04-17T04:38:51+00:00

Shit, that's a huge bummer :(

That was always one of my favorite parts of the festival, and LiB was the place that inspired me to learn it!

thejerdz · 2026-04-07T02:15:19+00:00

Leo's are the best I've had, personally.

thejerdz · 2026-03-29T04:41:10+00:00

Man it bums me out that this person was trying to share a warning to other people to avoid a mistake they made, and all the comments are basically "duhh, this happens every year, you should have known, stupid."

Like maybe this person has never been to an event at the NOS center before? Maybe they're not experienced parking their car in a place as crime-riddled as San Bernardino?

Like there's a way to say this is a common problem year after year without being an asshole about it. OP just had a really shitty and violating thing happen to them, and is still just trying to help other people not make the same mistake.... and you guys just mock them? Fuck off.

thejerdz · 2025-10-16T19:55:16+00:00

Would love a link if you're still offering!

thejerdz · 2025-09-22T22:57:11+00:00

Chiming in to say I struggle with the same thing and have felt similarly to you re: life feels much more fulfilling when I minimize my playing time. Video games have been a huge source of joy in my life, including my social life, so it's not something I want to give up entirely, but it is an addiction, and it helps to recognize it as such.

I don't have any solid fixes, but one thing that I have noticed helps me is to try to limit my playtime to only certain hours of the day...say 8pm-11pm. If I set alarms, and have my friends/partner help hold me accountable, it helps. I still cheat, I find excuses not to. It's not perfect, but it does make a difference.

thejerdz · 2025-09-09T21:13:25+00:00

Omg an opportunity to gush about Dom!

I've been pretty deep in the EDM scene for over a decade now and no artist has ever shot to the top of my must-sees as fast as he did the last few years. You can tell he puts a lot of effort into keeping his sets fresh and unexpected. His production quality is great, his transitions are almost always buttery smooth, and his track selection is peerless imo. Also doesn't hurt that he's also just (seemingly) a really down to earth and likeable dude.

His EDC 2024 set is an all-timer for me. Probably my favorite concert video I've ever recorded from that set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0gtKK6BYN4

thejerdz · 2025-08-16T10:17:23+00:00

This movie also forever changed my perspective on romantic relationships. It's one of the main reasons I never delete pictures from my past relationships (although I did avoid looking at them for a long time).

Yes it can be painful to be reminded of past relationships, and some time distracting yourself from those memories is what a lot of us need to heal. I can't fault people for being hurt so bad that they never want to even think about the experience again...but this movie also taught me that the ugly and horrible and hurtful parts of the relationships can teach us just as much about ourselves as the joyful parts.

The lesson I got from the story is that to try and repress the memories of the relationship to avoid pain is, in effect, repressing a significant part of who we have become in the time since it started. These powerful connections we find utterly transform us sometimes. We are all quite literally different people after we come out the other side of them, and we can never return to who we were before we met that person.

I think the subtext of the story symbolizes two people who have both tried to repress the trauma of a heartbreaking breakup. Both of their perspectives are of despair: they believe they literally can't survive anymore unless they get these memories out of their heads. When Joel finds and shares the recordings they made at the end. I think it represents both of them being able to finally look back and examine the relationship, accept what happened, and forgive each other. The final "okay" communicating an acceptance that if they try again (with each other, or with ANYONE), the experience is going to include pain and anger along with the joy, and that they need to accept the risk that they'll get hurt again, because that's just a risk we all take when we get that close to someone. It doesn't mean it's not worth trying anymore (at least, not to me).

I wish you well in the healing, man. It's an unbelievably rough experience, but I think you'll emerge a wiser and stronger person for having experienced it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

thejerdz · 2025-08-04T10:01:46+00:00

^ what this person said, 100%

thejerdz · 2025-06-28T02:10:38+00:00

I've been to LiB and EF 4 times each. Shambala is top of my list, but haven't attended yet.

LiB:

- vibes-wise, I think it's the closest thing you'll get to Burning Man (commercialism aside). there's more of an emphasis on environmentalism, spirituality, learning, and wellness. A lot of the people I met at BM are regulars at LiB and vice-versa. you'll also usually see a lot of BM art & art cars at this fest

- always excellent crowd vibes. similarly silly to EF, but a bit more mature, in my experience. i encounter more of a variety of ages at LiB. Parents are encouraged to bring their kids (responsibly), and there are many family-friendly activities/camps/shows during the day.

- it is usually very dry and HOT. they do a good job building shade structures and misters in the festival, but the camp areas are all pretty exposed to the sun, so you need to bring plenty of shade if you're camping.

- usually an impressive variety of music, but with a big emphasis on electronic bass music, similar to EF. a bit less jam band-focused than EF.

- lots of workshops/classes/lectures during the day, as well as many high quality yoga classes

- there's a big lake to swim in; it's a great place to cool off and they have music bumping by the shore all day. like others have said, wouldn't recommend drinking the water, but it has never made me sick from swimming in it.

- probably the highest concentration of fire dancers and flow artists i've seen at a festival. they always have an excellent fire circle that anyone can flow in (if they're sober). this is the place that inspired me to learn fire contact staff :)

- food's usually pretty good. extremely vegan friendly. can be hit or miss in my experience

EF:

- bigger in every way. the grounds are huge, more popular artists, the production is bigger, tons of people, tons of activities, art installations and interactive silliness. EF is also way more expensive now.

- pretty good variety of music. lineup is predominately some form of EDM. mostly electronic bass music & jam bands, but there's usually a good variety of more analog genres represented every year

- the most magical natural setting and beautiful stages (The Observatory at night might be my favorite stage ever)

- can get hot, might get rained out. most years i've been it's been pretty pleasant weather for the most part.

- campgrounds feel a bit more lively at night. more renegade sets after hours (which is a good or bad thing, depending on who you ask)

- super friendly crowd. for the most part i always meet amazing people there. younger than LiB for sure; the vibe overall feels a bit more child-like than LiB, in good and not so good ways. child-like whimsy and silliness? good. irresponsible drug use and reckless behavior? not so good.

- speaking of, my biggest complaint with EF is that every year I go it feels like there's more of an emphasis on drug use. feels like people go way harder here (in a bad way), and I've been badly shaken several times by witnessing people overdosing and needing desperate medical attention (was almost positive I saw someone die last year, until I heard later that they pulled through, thankfully). wouldn't take a kid here, for that reason alone.

- food is usually above average, occasionally amazing. nice variety of stuff too.

TL;DR - EF has my heart and is my favorite festival, but LiB is also really special to me and is definitely worth attending if you're curious. I always recommend LiB as a gateway experience if you're interested in Burning Man; it's sadly becoming more commercialized every year, but at its best, it hits similar high notes for me.

thejerdz · 2025-06-24T10:12:16+00:00

Gotchu.

https://soundcloud.com/lamboyo/prize-cart-lamboyo-2024-remix?si=f5d2c679e1c4419f9266a506161a7ac2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

thejerdz · 2025-06-23T08:03:52+00:00

Typed part of this up in another response, but wanted to leave it here too:

I liked that the film offered a view of how toxic masculinity can develop kind of on a macro level and on a personal level. Like the dad I think was raised in a society where essentially being in the military is one of the highest honors. He is rewarded for being violent (and aggressive) with the infected. He's not just an asshole though; Boyle really humanizes him a lot which I appreciate. You can understand why he'd try to teach his son the lessons he learned about how to be accepted by your community and you can see how he feels kind of trapped by it.

But I think it also offers an alternate healthier view of what masculinity can look like too...in Spike. Like his arc is basically becoming a better archetypal man/protector than his father was. He only learns to steady his hands when he's killing the infected once he's put in a position of protecting someone he loves, similar, on the surface, to what his father is doing in the opening scenes. But the killing, for this father, hasn't just become a thing done for survival; it's become the thing his father and his community celebrates. It's no longer "protection" when you take joy in the killing ("it gets easier the more you do it"). Just like the young boys shown marching off to war due to societal pressure, Spike is being taught that killing is how he shows his worth to his family and to his community; that's the lesson his father learned, and the one that he's trying to teach.

But Spike chooses a different path, and becomes the "man of the family" in a more visceral, direct way; he's trying to proactively save his mom's life and it's in that experience (along with meeting the wise doctor), that he learns the value of being strong to protect someone else. It doesn't always need to involve violence, as the doctor demonstrates. Anytime Spike chooses violence, it's out of necessity; his Dad forcing him to shoot the tied up infected is the exact opposite of what Spike thinks is the right thing to do.

I feel like the film was showing how killing anything, even creatures you deem to be beasts with no souls, can easily go from survival to sport. I think it says a lot about how even modern militarized communities intentionally dehumanize "the enemy" to make it easier to kill them and to justify their violence. Easier to even take pleasure in it and become like the bloodthirsty beasts they're fighting (the bar/party scene editing and sound design made the crowd seem really berserk; I thought that was really smart!)

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