The air quality danger is down to “very unhealthy,” so I can probably go for a walk!
I’m still going to a rock concert tonight (Temples — very good!).
Hey, now I can use some of my leftover N95 masks! Or maybe I can really get stylish and break out my old cloth masks!
Are we getting used to the kind of thing we used to read about in dystopian novels and post-apocalyptic films like The Road Warrior?
People often ask me if this kind of thing inspires me to write. Honestly, what it inspires me to do is to retreat into a popcorn video game like Marvel’s Midnight Suns or an optimistic TV show like Ted Lasso. Ah… fictional England, all they care about there is the next soccer football match!
I have been working, slowly, on a new novel. I am not addressing the COVID-19 pandemic or our imminent environmental doom. Those are great topics for other authors, but not much of an escape for me.
Yes, I’m still writing in the dystopian genre, and it’s not another comedy (though writing a political satirewas a great escape from a depressing series of years!). I’m having a good time figuring out what makes my characters tick, as well as spending more time on the world building as well. In other words, I’ve been taking a lot of notes. However, I’m feeling optimistic that the end product from all this will be worth the effort.
Recently, a great dystopian game took me by surprise.
But before I get to that, I want to give you a geeky origin story about the PC upgrade that enabled me to play it and some other awesome games! See, I’ve always enjoyed games but had started to get a little behind on the hardware. Sure, I have a Nintendo Switch and that’s always fun, but there were an increasing number of PC games I wanted to give a try.
A couple of months ago, I finally went ahead and upgraded my graphics card to an AMD Radeon 6700 XT. Not the best you can get, but definitely a good mid-range card to help me get my gaming fix, and more than enough to play some of the indie titles I was eager to try. To complement the card, I also upgraded my monitor to a 32″ screen with 1440p resolution and a silky smooth 165Hz refresh rate.
Upgrade complete, one of the first games I enjoyed on the new system was…
Stray
Why wouldn’t I want to play a cat in a dystopian future? Credit: Annapurna Interactive
I write dystopian fiction, so obviously I had to try this dystopian game. Stray was a short but sweet game with engaging storytelling throughout. The game begins with a cat slipping into an underground city where humans went to hide when the planet became inhospitable. However, the only life left down there is artificial. Well, that and radioactive rat things. As the cat, you help a little robot remember its past and try to help a group of sentient robots escape to the surface.
It’s cute! And scary! What really makes it unique is you explore the Blade Runner-esque world from the perspective of the cat. Messing around in the feline way (scratching doors, leaping from the floor, to a table, to a shelf, to a…) keeps the gameplay feeling fresh. And the neon-lit world looks absolutely beautiful.
Definitely worth a play if you’re looking for a sci-fi game that’s not about a beefy soldier shooting up aliens.
Oh, and by the way, I probably didn’t need a big PC upgrade to play Stray, but it sure does look good with the graphics settings turned up to 11. I definitely did need the upgrade, however, to play…
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Planning your next move is half the fun. The other half is the KAPOW that follows. Credit: 2K
This one isn’t a dystopian game, but I did have a dystopian experience when I bought it not long after launch. After a couple really fun introductory battles, Midnight Suns started crashing … and crashing … every 15 minutes. I learned on Steam that some other players were having the same problem. But when I checked with 2K support, they basically gaslit me, forcing me to do all kinds of tests of my system rather than entertaining the idea that it might be their software that was the problem.
Then one day, 2K released a patch and the crashing stopped! Guess it wasn’t my system’s fault. Hopefully, my countless crash reports helped some other players out as well.
But I digress. While I could have let all that irritation stop me from playing Midnight Sun at all, the truth was those 15-minute play sessions were blissful while they lasted.
Midnight Suns is by the creators of XCOM and similarly has turn-based tactical fights. As a somewhat older gamer with a young child in the house, that kind of thing is really more my speed these days than a faster-paced action game. Anyway, Midnight Suns is like chess with superheroes and explosions! What’s not to like?
While this isn’t a dystopian game like Stray, it does focus on the darker, magical side of the Marvel Universe. While you still get to have heavy hitters like Iron Man and Spider-Man on your team, it’s cool to see a game feature this less frequently adapted side of the comics.
My only complaint (now that it’s stopped crashing) is that there is a whole lot of time between battles spent talking with heroes and wandering aimlessly around a mansion. It’s not unenjoyable, but the battles are so much more fun, and sometimes I just want to play a few of these in the row. I often only have an hour to play, and I feel like I end up spending 45 minutes of each of these periods outside of battle. The game could just use a little balance.
Speaking of balance, I feel like I’ve spent more time complaining about this game than praising it. Honestly, though, I do recommend it! If you’re a Marvel fan or like turn-based fighting with big production values, give this game a try.
Update (4/3/23): I jinxed it! After running fine for a couple of months, Midnight Suns tonight began crashing again for no apparent reason. Be warned.
More to Come!
When I started writing this blog post, I planned to feature a couple more games, but this is starting to feel a bit long! How about instead, I do a part two in not too long? In the meantime, let me know in the comments your thoughts on the above games or any recommendations you have about what I should play next on my upgraded PC!
Did you know?
I created two games based on my first novel, We, The Watched.
Dystopian authors like dystopian books! The fine folks at Shepherd, an up-and-coming competitor to Goodreads, recently asked me to write a list of five favorites from the same genre as my debut novel, We, The Watched.
For some reason, a lightning strike seemed appropriate after that title.
And no, I didn’t just list all my novels. It’s a mix of classics and some newer books. When you finish, also check out Shepherd’s dystopia bookshelf for more great reads recommended by other authors.
Please sound off in the comments if you’ve read any of my picks, or if you’d like to make some recommendations of your own. I’m always looking for my next read… After all, dystopian authors like dystopian books!
Celebrate the New Year by grabbing the headphone editions of my dystopian novels at a more than 50% discount in my audiobook sale!
I’m running an audiobook sale for the first three months of 2023 on my political satire UTOPIA PR(Now $3.99) and near-future western THE WANDERER AND THE NEW WEST(Now $5.99) audiobooks at Apple, Google, Chirp, B&N, and Spotify! Click the store links below to access the audiobook sale!
The Wanderer and the New West was one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018. A rogue vigilante known only as the Wanderer seeks redemption in a lawless, near-future America that fully protects the rights of armed citizens to stand their ground against mass shooters and motorcycle gangs. $5.99 ($12.50) for a limited time only!
Utopia PR is a sci-fi satire about seeking work-life balance while doing public relations for an authoritarian president. PR extraordinaire Blake Hamner (the n is silent) put off his honeymoon for his big break: joining a major political campaign for president. Now, the “Hammer” struggles to make time for his marriage as Crisis Communications Manager for Our Leader, who since taking power has become increasingly mad and totalitarian. $3.99 ($8.99) for a limited time only!
This deal ends March 31, 2023, so makes sure to act fast!
So, I got off of Twitter. You probably know why. I think I just couldn’t stand all the toxicity and chaos, and honestly I was getting worried about the privacy and security of staying on, too. I know some people are waiting for the ship to literally sink all the way beneath the surface of the water, but honestly, I didn’t see the point of holding out another month or two. It’s not like there aren’t any lifeboats.
Respect to the folks playing out the sinking ship, I guess!
One lifeboat? Mastodon! Take a look at my brand new profile! I look forward to chatting with you there! I’m also still on Instagram and Facebook, but finding myself spending less time there due to the never-ending barrage of ads and sponsored content. I’m going to try to do better to keep this blog updated and be more regular with my newsletter. Those are probably the best ways to keep posted on my current projects.
Speaking of, I recently blew the dust off a first draft of a short story I wrote years ago called “Six Straight Roads.” It’s not dystopian or sci-fi like I usually write. It’s kind of a nostalgic piece about playing Capture the Flag with my friends when I was kid. I brought it to a local writers’ group about a year ago, and got a lot of great feedback, but then I procrastinated on actually revising the thing. That was, until a couple weeks ago when I got COVID-19 again and got in some quality quarantine writing time! (Note: I do not recommend getting COVID-19; quarantines are the worst). Long paragraph short, I made a lot of progress getting “Six Straight Roads” into shape. I just need to do another proofread and it should be ready to go. I’m considering submitting this one to some mags before self-publishing it, so that could delay its release a bit more. However, my goal is to have it out to you all in some form this spring. Stay tuned!
I’m also in the early stages of writing a new novel. I’ve done a whole lot of notes and outlining, and have even written a few chapters, but it’s still pretty early days. I hope to share more soon.
For those of you looking to pick up one of my books on the cheap, Smashwords is about to launch their end-of-year sale. It runs Dec. 15 to Jan. 1. I will have some great deals on eBooks for all my novels, including my debut duology We, The Watched and Divided We Fall for free! You’ll also be able to get The Wanderer and the New West and Utopia PR for less than $1.50. That means you can get all four of my novels for the price of coffee, and maybe less, depending where you get coffee!
