Rynling R&D

Return to Grace (on Steam here) is an atmospheric sci-fi walking sim that takes about an hour and a half to finish.

You play as Adie, a space archaeologist who’s searching for a legendary AI named Grace on the Ganymede moon of Jupiter. Inside the immaculately preserved ruins of a structure built to worship Grace, Adie encounters various aspects of Grace’s personality, who communicate with her through her digital wristband. As she explores the beautifully appointed space station, Adie searches for the answer to a mystery that’s gone unsolved for more than a hundred years: why did Grace suddenly disappear?

The game’s story is well-paced and engaging, and the voice acting is excellent. Return to Grace also showcases one of the most visually striking examples of retro futurism I’ve encountered. The references to everyday 1960s architecture and interior design fit the world and its themes perfectly, as do the more elevated hints of Art Deco.

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In the end, Return to Grace is a short but thought-provoking narrative adventure filled with uniquely stylized artistic flourishes, and I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re a fan of What Remains of Edith Finch and Outer Wilds.

Step by Little Step
https://summerorigins.itch.io/step-by-little-step

Step by Little Step is a short visual novel made in Renpy that takes about three or four minutes to play. The game reimagines the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, with you playing as Orpheus and Eurydice being your recently deceased elderly cat.

The game is about coming to terms with grief and learning to let go, and it’s just the right length to get its message across without being unnecessarily sentimental. If it had been longer, I probably would have cried at the end, so I’m happy the creator devoted such careful attention to the craft of discussing a potentially sensitive subject. It’s a very sweet and well-considered little game.

It occurred to me that this story could never work with a dog, though. If you happen to be in the company of a dog, there is zero doubt that the dog is going to be next to you at all times; and, in any case, the problem would be that the dog is going to run ahead and look behind at you at least once every five seconds. But that’s a moot point, because dogs don’t go to hell lmao.

Cassette Boy
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2334330/CASSETTE_BOY/

Cassette Boy is an isometric Zeldalike adventure game with Game Boy style retro graphics. It’s like a combination between Tunic (in its isometric Zelda-ness) and Fez, in that you can freely switch the perspective at 90-degree angles.

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The conceit of solving spatial puzzles by making objects “disappear” through perspective shifts is a neat idea, I guess, but I ended up returning this game for a refund.

To briefly return to the topic of "pro-psychotic" discourse, I want to add that it's entirely possible to handle these neurotypes compassionately + responsibly and still tell amazing stories about Lovecraftian sanity slippage.

Night in the Woods is a really, really good example.

Also, a short graphic novel I recently read and very much appreciated is Where Black Stars Shine, which is a super fun reworking of "The King in Yellow," a nineteenth-century short story (famous in Lovecraft circles) about a play that induces madness in anyone who watches a performance or even reads the script.

I feel like, if you present an actually realistic depiction of schizophrenia, it can add an incredible layer of nuance (and poetic beauty) to the broader theme of "madness." In any case, it's always cool when people feel comfortable telling stories about their own experiences with the full range of artistic tools at their disposal.

Last night I finished my third playthrough of Echoes of Wisdom. I really love this game!

I think it’s super fun to be able to treat each enemy encounter like a puzzle. Though Zelda not having a sword of her own can be difficult during the first hour or so, I appreciate that the game's primary verb isn’t “kill,” especially because it’s such a joy to follow Zelda around Hyrule in the company of all sorts of creatures. It’s neat that defeating Ganon doesn’t really solve anything in the larger cosmology of this world, whose magical nature necessitates constant small acts of maintenance from countless unsung heroes.

Echoes of Wisdom is a simple game for kids, but I feel like director Tomomi Sano was able to get directly at the heart of what makes the lore and gameplay of the Zelda series so compelling.

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Company
(Final Fantasy XII, Gen, 450 words)
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletidemadness2025/works/76192301

Miracle of miracles! The same author who gifted me the story about Penelo on the Phon Coast also wrote a subtle but lovely vignette about Ashe and Vaan, specifically about how Ashe gradually begins to view Vaan as a younger brother.

To me, there could not be a more perfect interpretation of these two. I usually cringe when I see tropes related to "found family," but I think that's exactly the right way to describe the relationship between most of the principal characters in Final Fantasy XII.

Except for Cid and Vayne. Those two are fucking. Obviously.

Anyway, I hope this author is okay with me binge-reading their work once creators are revealed. 🍹

I also want to share this illustration from the developer's page on Itch.io, because it's a mood.

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Il Mistero di Felina
https://spesknight.itch.io/felina

Il Mistero di Felina (The Mystery of Felina) is a free-to-play 2D narrative horror game that takes about twenty minutes to finish. The story follows Lara Lorenzi, a travel influencer who’s been invited to the small island of Felina to participate in a festival that celebrates the island’s cats.

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The game has a convenient autosave function, but you can easily play Il Mistero di Felina in one sitting. The story is enjoyably campy but also legitimately creepy, with excellent pacing and a tidy conservation of detail. I’m a fan of the unique aesthetic, whose bright colors work brilliantly to enhance the horror. I love every indie horror game I play, but this one is something special.

I can’t resist closing this without at least one cat pun, so here you go: Il Mistero di Felina is a purrfectly spooky cautionary tale that knows exactly how to sink its claws into contemporary anxieties.

Misao
https://store.steampowered.com/app/691450/Misao__2024_HD_Remaster/

Misao is a short 16-bit indie survival horror game originally released in 2011 and then published on Steam as a remastered edition in 2024. The game is set in a high school that’s been transported to a demonic realm by the vengeful spirit of the eponymous Misao, a beautiful but quiet girl who mysteriously disappeared three months prior to the opening of the story.

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If you’re not a completionist, Misao takes about two hours to finish, allowing the story to make an impact without testing the player’s patience through needless puzzles or gameplay challenges. The haunted high school setting is creatively rendered and a lot of fun to explore, even if the open-world structure is admittedly a bit overwhelming at the beginning.

The deaths are all very disturbing, but the retro graphics allow the game to feel campy instead of creepy, so much so that Misao sometimes feels more like a comedy than a horror story. I grew to feel a begrudging sort of affection for the characters, but I can’t deny that I had a huge smile on my face as I watched them get picked off – and really, good for Misao. I support her.

Here are a few books + games + zines that made me happy this month:

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