The Spotlight is a monthly summary that encapsulates some of the more notable media experiences I’ve had over the past thirty days. From insights on games played, to articles worth checking out, and even cool stories from tabletop role-playing games, it all has a place in the Spotlight.

Following in the footsteps of September, October has been just as hectic, which didn’t leave me with a ton of free time for video games. Slim pickings once again, but next month will hopefully calm down a bit.

For the month of October, 2024, here’s what I’m shining the spotlight on.

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Games

The Case of the Golden Idol

I absolutely am in love with The Case of the Golden Idol and its brand of puzzle solving and storytelling. I haven’t beat it yet, but I’m super into everything it’s doing from its unsettling art style to its puzzle design.

The story follows the titular Golden Idol, a little statuette of immense arcane power. You follow the location of the idol and those who have held onto to it through the years, charting not only its owners, but the consequences of its usage.

It isn’t clear who or what you play as in The Case of the Golden Idol, but you inhabit some sort of third party spectator who arrives at the moment of, or shortly after a grizzly murder has taken place. Through a point-and-click interface, you explore each heinous tableau, rooting around pockets, cupboards, and trashcans for pieces of information that can steer you towards identifying who people are, who was present, and what motives existed. At the end of each level you input your assumptions into a Mad-Libs-styled notepad, filling out the story with its key figures, items and whatever other relevant information is needed.

I do wish there was an easy way for me to catch up on the story so far, considering every time I do manage to play the game, I found that I’ve forgotten a lot of key information I would have retained had I just blasted through in a sitting or two.

Regardless, I’m absolutely smitten by The Case of the Golden Idol and am eager to wrap it up before its sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol releases in just a few short weeks.

Kind Words 2

Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you and tell you that you aren’t alone and your feelings are valid. That’s the promise of Kind Words 2, a game that’s made me tear up on more than one occasion.

In Kind Words 2, people from all over the world will toss their concerns and issues out into the void, a handful of which sail right onto your desk. With little more than a letter indicating who wrote what, you can read and respond to any of the notes that come your way, offering wisdom, solidarity, or just support to a random human being.

People are kind and thoughtful, bearing their souls to random people on the internet. I’ve sent some stuff out and gotten some truly wonderful responses back. It’s a lovely little application that’s all about promoting good vibes while listening to dope lo-fi beats.

It is worth mentioning that the responses you get might not be what you hope them to be. For instance, did you know that there’s a highly contentious election going on in America right now between someone who wants to not destroy our democracy and someone who actively courts Nazis? I may have expressed my general anxiety to the void at one point, only to be returned with some great answers like, “you don’t have to vote” and, “both candidates are just as bad as one-another.” These kind of sage nuggets of wisdom weren’t overly comforting, as you can imagine.

But that’s hardly the fault of Kind Words 2. Aside from that miserable example, the community is largely supportive and kind, and when it came to other things I sent out, they were much more endearing and helpful.

Escape From Mystwood Mansion

Escape From Mystwood Mansion isn’t a particularly long or difficult game, but it is the exact level of complexity I needed from puzzle game this month. Escape From Mystwood Mansion is a first-person escape room styled game, where you’re quite literally escaping from the titular mansion and its many rooms. There honestly isn’t a ton to say about it beyond that I enjoyed my time with it, and if you need a mildly challenging puzzle game, Escape From Mystwood Mansion is a pretty good choice.

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Watch List

Over the Garden Wall

In about 100 minutes or so, Over the Garden Wall manages to not only build out an impressive fantastical world with interesting lore while balancing humor and tension effortlessly, but it does all that while also having Elijah Wood and Christopher Lloyd in the cast. Over the Garden Wall is my annual Halloween tradition and I think it should be yours too.

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Listening Party

Counting Sheep – Anxious

On Melancholy Hill – Gorillaz

L.S.F – Kasabian

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The Rest

Still Unpacking

Why do we own so much stuff? Fuck.

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News

Of Course the Cops Would Blow Money on a Cybertruck

A Pokemon Leak Sounds Yucky But it Isn’t

Chick-fil-A is Launching a Streaming App With Original Content… For Real.

Capitalism is Alive and Well as Microsoft CEO Gets Huge Pay Bump in Spite of Massive Layoffs

Concord is Dead and its Developer is Dissolved

The Day Before Studio is Undefeated in Thinking it Has Community Support, Hosts Unpaid Design “Contest“

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Thanks for checking out The Spotlight. We’ll be back at the end of November with another installment. Consider subscribing to The Bonus World so you can get an email updating you whenever we publish something new.