What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

Seinfeld Simulator (Pico-8)

May 9th, 2025

After getting off work tonight, I camped out on the floor to unwind and work on a jigsaw puzzle. It's not a video game, but I'll probably post about it here tomorrow. It's relaxing in the same way a casual game can be, and it gives me an excuse to take progress photos.

Last night, I freed myself of the curse that was Seinfeld Simulator over a bowl of spaghetti, seeing the same jokes repeated dozens of times as I tried to get the "best" punchline for each in a winning game. By the end, I was very frustrated at the RNG and not enjoying it at all, but I had to finish anyway. Now I am free.

I played a couple more levels of Charm Studies, too, which is still a very cute picross visual novel. I still feel compelled to drag this out so I can enjoy it longer, but that is just my brain working in a different weird way.

Right before bed, I played Baking Time on Switch, too, which is another blue stick guy numbers goin' up casual game. This one is baking themed, as the title implies, and it is just as nice at helping me sleep as the rest of these are. It does exactly what I want it to.

May 8th, 2025

All day, I've had the strange feeling that I had an unsettling dream last night and it's still just below the surface of my mind. I think I'm just sleepy, but it's a really strange feeling! Whenever I try to think about it, I remember dreams where I visited a too-big, maze-like version of this mall I used to frequent when I lived in Japan. I didn't think of it as that important while I was there, but I dream about it a lot. Having a grocery store, a bookstore, and a KFC under the same roof must have been too much for me to process.

Anyway, in terms of games, I've had my hands on Pico-8, a "fantasy console" for a while, and have thought that it seems very interesting. It lets users make and play 8-bit games, and it seems like people have used it to try out a lot of interesting concepts! I looked at the game making side of it a few years ago and felt overwhelmed, but last night, I decided to redownload it and just play other people's games.

I tried Buns: Bunny Survivor, a difficult, but cute little enemy swarm roguelike first, and stuck with it for quite a while. I could only make it three or so minutes, but today, I found out a successful run only lasts ten minutes. I don't know if I'll focus on this too much quite yet, but I did favorite it so I can keep going later.

I also tried Seinfeld Simulator, a game that approaches stand-up comedy through connecting setups with punchlines. I really got set on getting 100% in this game, but I don't exactly like the jokes or the gameplay too much. It's an interesting idea, though, and the games move so fast that it's easy to try again over and over. I fell asleep before I could finish last night, though, as I didn't realize that getting 100% was locked behind switching out of "kids mode."