#the bullets reduce line height and make it harder to... well it's a list and

[ask-bts-directory]

BTS Art Askblog Directory

Okay. So.

HERE’S A GIANT LIST OF ART ASKBLOGS, THEIR SUBJECTS, AND THEIR AUS. 

*Will be updated as/if more come out or things change*

NOTES:

This blog does not currently catalog non-art askblogs.

I don’t follow all of these blogs, and sometimes I’m not sure what their specifics are, so feel free to inform me of any clarifications or updates on various askblogs. 

I include askblogs that were deleted/changed as a record of their existence

Last Updated: April 27, 2017

* = recently added/updated

  o   OT7

Ask Bangtann (nonAU, multiship)

Ask Pocket BTS (nonAU) // Changed to Ask-Angel-Jiminie

Ask Bangtan Fam - formerly ask-hitman-bang (non-idol AU, DJ AU?, radio AU?)

Ask BTS Stuff (nonAU, multiship)

AskSuperBTS (superpower AU, multipairings) // Hiatus

*AskBongtan (Changed to - dark circus AU, multiship)

AskJinHarem (nonAU I think, Jin/Everyone, “ships only lol”)

Ask Dope BTS (jobs AU?, blog with a plot, RP open tho)

Ask ChibiBangtan (mini AU)

AskNyoomtan BTS (idk AU)

Ask Got Bangtan - with Got7 members too (not sure au) // Changed to Ask-Slytherin-Jungkook

AskBangtanDorks (multiship probs right idk)

AskFemBangtan (fem!Bts)

Ask Highstreet BTS - Jimin runs the blog tho (shopkeeper AU, blog with a plot)

Ask BTS Pls (nonAU)

*Ask Fab BTS (idk au, fab au obv)

*Ask Bumtan (changes AU every month!) // Hiatus

*Ask BTSBoys (nonidol AU) - also AskMermaidHobi

*Ask BangtanCoven (witch AU)

*Ask Fantasy BTS (supernatural fantasy AU, multiship)

*AskBangtansDamn (smol!Bangtan AU, from the smol!Yoongi universe)

*Ask Soulmate Bangtan (soulmate AU, romantic ot7, blog with a plot)

*BangtanHostClub - Jincentric, not sure if should put here or there (host club college AU, blog with a plot, Jin ships, Yoonjin)

*Ask BangtanSonyeondan (fem!AU, flowers... and stuff)

*Ask Abstract BTS (??? art?? abstract?? blobs of color AU, multiship)

*Ask Overwatch BTS (Overwatch AU, E-sports AU < I think that one)

*Ask Magic BTS (various magical creatures fantasy magic AU)

*AsktheJiminHarem (idk AU, Jimin/Everyone)

*Ask SoulEater Bantan (Soul Eater AU, Namjin) // Hiatus

*AskBangtanSound (cops and robbers 20s AU, blog with a plot) - also Ask-Seokjinnie

*Ask Bangtan School Idol Festival (high school idol group AU) - also AsktheMinYoongi

*Ask the Gods of BTS (greek gods AU)

*Ask Gangtan (gang AU, dark AU) - also AskJeon

*Ask BTS Mystery - previously Ask-College-Taegi (blog with a plot)

*Ask BTS AU (2 AUs, Hybrid AU & demon/dragon AU)

*Ask Bathhouse BTS (Spirited Away AU)

*BangtanHospitalAU (fem!BTS psychiatric hospital AU, dark AU) // Hiatus

  o   Seokjin

Ask Artist Jin (artist AU, nonAU I think, nonship (but still answers ship asks)

Ask Seokjinnie (teacher AU, Namjin I think) - also AskBangtanSound

Ask College Seokjin (med student college AU, Namjin)

Ask TattSeokjin (tattoo artist AU)

Ask Princess Jin - formerly SeokjinsKitten (nonAU (??))

Ask ByulJin (space AU)

Ask Veterinarian Seokjin (vet AU)

Ask Jinnie Hyung (Actor AU)

Ask Momma Jin (fem!Seokjin, mom au??)

Ask KimSeokjin (idk au)

AskWitchJinnie (witch AU)

Ask Summoner Jin (college AU, demon summoner AU, demon AU)

Ask Owner of EatJin (cafe AU, chef AU)

*Ask Gryffindor Jin (Gryffindor!Seokjin, HP AU)

*Ask JinLuigi (Mario AU?)

*Ask Jinnie Boy (college AU)

*Ask Fairy Seokjin (fae!SEokjin)

*Ask Camboy Jin (camboy AU, NSFW)

  o   Yoongi

Ask SmolYoongi (mini AU)

Ask FlowerboyMin (flowershop AU)

AsktheMinYoongi (prince AU, Yoonseok??) - also Ask-Bangtan-School-Idol-Festival

Ask Sweater Yoongi (non AU)

Ask Fem Yoongi (fem!Yoongi)

Ask ArchitectYoongi (architect student college AU, Yoonkook) // Ended, archived here

Ask RadioYoongi (radio AU, producer/rapper) // Changed to Ask-WriterYoongi

Ask MinYoonji (Yoonji AU (or, in addition to Yoongi?), high school AU, no member ships cos she gay although maybe Kim Army/Yoonji)

*Ask Witch Yoongi (witch AU) // Archived here // Changed to Ask-Ghost-BTS

AskYoonji (Yoonji AU, high school au, Yoonji/guns)

*Ask WriterYoongi - formerly ask-radioyoongi (writer AU, producer/rapper)  // Deleted

Ask Yoongs (librarian AU)

Ask New Witch Yoongi (witch AU)

*Ask Yoongis (rapper AU, the blog says “rapper, part-time cyber-kinetic super soldier” so...?, idk au honestly)

*Ask Deity Yoongi (deity AU, Yoongi is the god of night and sleep)

*Ask Slytherin Yoongi (HP AU, Slytherin!Yoongi)

*Ask YoongisSight (photography AU, nonRP) // Deleted

*Modern Prince Yoongi (gang leader Yoongi, gang AU)

*Ask MinGenius (nonAU) // Changed to Ask-MinTwins

*Ask Sociopath Yoongi (sociopath!Yoongi, psychiatric hospital AU)

*Ask Agust D (Agust D AU/persona)

*Ask Warlock Yoongi (warlock!Yoongi, magic AU, blog with a plot)

*Ask Mintography (social media photographer AU - wait a second I saw something about ghosts what idk)

*Ask MusicMajorYoongi (music major college AU, multiship)

*Ask Single Parent Yoongi (single parent Yoongi, child!Seokjin

*Ask Deer Suga (hybrid AU, deer!Yoongi, poly Yoongi/Hoseok/Jungkook)

*Ask Mintwins - previously Ask-MinGenius (Yoongi & Yoonji, twin AU, college AU) // Ended/Closed, archived here

*Ask Hoodie Yoongi (idk AU) // Deleted

*Ask Stripper Suga (stripper AU, NSFW)

*Ask Camboy Yoongi (camboy AU, NSFW)

*Ask Ghost BTS (ghost AU, everyone but Yoongi is ghosts)

 o   Hoseok

Ask Dancing Hobi (dance student college AU, Yoonseok) // Changed to Ask-Hufflepuff Hobi

Ask JungHoseok (nonAU (???), Yoonseok, multiship (?))

Ask Hoseokie (café AU, Yoonseok, multiship)

*Ask Writer Hobi (writer AU) // Changed to Ask Cannibal-Hoseok

Ask - - Hobi (idk au)

Ask Counselor Hobi (high school counselor AU not sure about ages but Hobi mentioned Yoongi being a student)

Ask Hufflepuff Hobi (hp AU, Hufflepuff!Hoseok, multiship)

Ask Witch Hoseok (witch AU)

Ask Undead Hobi (zombie AU? reanimated - supernatural, Yoonseok?)

*Ask JungHoseokie (Heathers AU, Hoseok is Veronica)

*Ask Sunshine Hoseok (idk aU)

*Ask Hobii (nonAU ??)

*Ask Cannibal Hoseok - formerly Ask-Writer-Hobi (cannibal AU, dark AU)

*Ask Choreographer Hoseok (choreographer AU, ballet AU)

*Ask Sweet Hobi (fem!Hoseok, college AU, model AU) - also Ask-Gryffindor-Jin

*AskMermaidHobi (mermaid!Hoseok) - also Ask-BTSBoys

*Ask Camboy Hobi (camboy AU, NSFW)

o   Namjoon

Ask Joonie (art student college AU, Namjin)

AskPinkMon (nonAU)

Ask Joon (music shop AU)

AskNamJun (college AU, multi, poly hyungline, nonBTS member)

Ask Student Joonie (music student AU)

Ask Witch Namjoon (witch AU, Namjin, multiship?)

Ask KimDaily (college student AU, fashion blogger AU, musician AU, blog with a plot)

Ask PinkMonster (idk au)

*Ask Gryffindor Joonie (Gryffindor!Namjoon HP AU)

  o   Jimin

Ask ChimChim (flowershop AU, multiship)

Ask Blogger Jimin (dance student college AU)

MiniesFlowerShop (fem!Jimin, fem AU, flowershop AU)

Ask Witch Jiminie (witch AU, multiship?, is this Minjoon idk 4 sure)

Ask Angel Jiminie - formerly Ask-Pocket-BTS (angel AU, college class president Jimin, multiship but mostly Jikook & Yoonmin)

*Ask SlytherinJimin (Slytherin qudditch keeper Jimin HP AU)

*Ask Fem Mochi (fem!Jimin)

*Ask Wyrimen Jimin (alien!Jimin, space AU, wyrimens => alien species)

*Ask Dancer Jimin (dance major college AU)

*AskJiminnie (nonidol AU)

*Ask Camboy Jimin (camboy AU, NSFW)

*Ask CamboyMinie (camboy AU, NSFW)

  o   Taehyung

Ask Model TaeTae (art student college AU, model AU, Taekook)

Ask KimTaehyung (college AU, petstore AU, multiship

Ask Artist Taehyung (art student college AU, anime enthusiast, NON RP, within ask-blogger-jimin AU)

Ask Hufflepuff V (hp AU, Hufflepuff AU)

Ask Cottoncandy Tae (candyshop AU, Taekook)

Posi-Tae-Vity (post office AU)

AskTaetheCollegeKid (college AU)

Don’t Hug Me (college AU)

Ask GangTae (gang AU, college AU)

Ask TeaTae (psych major AU)

Ask Fanboy Tae (college AU)

*Ask Fab V (idk au) // Deleted

*Ask Schariot Tae (Little Witch Academia AU, multiship)

*Ask Actress Tae (fem!Taehyung, college student actress AU)

*Ask Taee (performance arts major college AU)

*Ask Camboy TaeTae (camboy AU, NSFW)

*Ask Priest Taehyung (priest/demons AU)

  o   Jungkook

*AskJeon (Changed to: superhero!Jungkook, college AU, Taekook) - also Ask-Gangtan

Ask Jungcookie (coffeeshop AU, nonship/platonic)

*Ask JeonJJK - formerly ask-dabbing-jeon (???AU, Taekook) // Closed, still accessible

AskGuk (college AU)

Ask Bunny Jungkook (bunny ear headband, student AU)

Ask JungShOOk (nonAU, undecided AU lol)

Ask College Jungkook (college AU, photographer, Taekook)

AskBadlyDrawnJungkook (idk AU)

Ask Jung Kookie (idk AU) // Deleted

*Ask the Jeon (angst AU? Idk lol will update when I know) // Closed

Ask Dragon Kookie (dragon!Jungkook, magic AU)

*Ask Jedi Jeon - formerly ask-minyoongerz, ask-jeonn (Star Wars AU, Taekook, Sugakookie) // I have my suspicions on who it changed to but oh well

Ask Playboy Jungkook (idk au)

AskKook (changed? to college AU)

Ask Slytherin Jungkook - formerly ask-got-bangtan (Slytherin HP AU)

Ask Witch Jungkook (witch AU)

*AskPrinceJeon (royalty AU) // Changed to AskCollegeJeon

*Ask Dancer Jungkook (dance major college AU)

*Ask Fem Kookie (fem!Jungkook)

*AskTokkie Kook (nonAU)

*Ask Jungcoco (what... is... this AU? is he really a coconut? what... go ask...)

*AskCollegeJeon - formerly AskPrinceJeon (music theory major college AU)

*Ask Camboy Jungkook (camboy AU, NSFW)

o   Multi

Ask College 2seok - Seokjin & Hoseok (college AU, photographer AU, vet AU, 2seok)

GayAsks - Taehyung & Jungkook (but also ot7?? Not sure) (city AU, college AU(?), Taekook, blog with a plot)

Ask Planet Flower Vmin - Jimin & Taehyung – formerly ask-kook (kidAU, supernatural AU (no, not that Supernatural), family AU)

Ask Vmin - Jimin & Taehyung (roommates, not Vmin)

Ask BTS Rapline - Namjoon, Yoongi, & Hoseok – formerly ask-jhope (nonAU)

*Ask College Taegi - Yoongi & Taehyung (theater major poet punk Taehyung, lit major poet Yoongi, Taegi) // Changed to Ask-BTS-Mystery

Ask HobiJoon - Hoseok & Namjoon – formerly askkookie (art school AU, artist Hobi, photographer writer Joonie)

Ask 95z - Jimin & Taehyung (idk au, Vmin)

AsktheWeirdTrio - Yoongi, Taehyung, & Jungkook (roomates AU, social media AU - aesthetic blogger musician Yoongi, 80s aesthetic Youtuber Taehyung, “vampire” emo kid Jungkook)

Ask Jikookie - Jimin & Jungkook (idk au yet, Jikook)

Ask the Yoonseok - Yoongi & Hoseok (college AU, library AU, Yoonseok)

Ask Business Jikook - Jimin & Jungkook (CEO Jungkook, secretary Jimin, Jikook)

*Ask Minjoon - Namjoon & Jimin (florist incubus Namjoon, tattoist somekindoffox Jimin)

*Ask Cupid Yoonseok - Yoongi & Hoseok (cupid AU) // Deleted

*Ask Hybrid Roommate Taegi - Yoongi & Taehyung (roommates, cat!rapper!Yoongi, hybrid AU, college AU, Taekook actually...also Yoonseok mayb)

*Ask Hybrid Parents Yoonkook - Yoongi, Jungkook, & daughter (parents AU, cat!Yoongi, cat!Jungkook, Yoonkook, omegaverse, omega!Yoongi, alpha!Jungkook)

*Ask SNamjoon - Namjoon, Jimin, & Taehyung (Snake god Namjoon, poly Namjoon/Jimin/Taehyung, blog with a plot I think maybe idk)

  o   Misc?????

Ask Student Kumamon - Kumamon (student AU, ????)

*Ask KimArmy (high school AU, Yoonji/KimArmy)

I hope this was helpful for someone!

[i4z-0892-il]

Monster House 7

Summary: Posing as Newlyweds Sam and Y/n set out to investigate what’s killing the visitors of a secluded Inn, and attempt to keep their working relationship professional.

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Word count: 4884

Warnings: NSFW, 18+ Only, suggestive themes, language, smut

A/N: tropes, tropes, tropes!! Well here’s another wall of text y’all! 

Immerse yourself in the story, Buy Sam’s Scent Here from @scentsfromthebunker (And damn does it smell goooooood)

I live for feedback, comments and reblogs! It is the fire that fuels me! The pep in my step! The Adrenaline in my veins! It is the tap of my fingers to a keyboard.

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Masterlist stays updated with each new chapter.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

No one wants to tell you how much effort is involved in digging up a six foot deep grave armed with nothing but a couple of old rusty shovels and sheer willpower. No one wants to tell you how long it takes either. The Sun was going to be up in the next hour or so, and the cover of darkness was a necessary precaution when it came to gravedigging. When Sam’s shovel struck something hard and hollow you could not have been more thrilled. Your eyes met his, as he moved to get a better angle. 

Sam jammed the spade of his shovel between the lid of the coffin and the side prying it open with creaking wood and a crack of relief as the lid came loose. 

“…The hell?” Sam’s face twisted in confusion as he lifted the top, hazel eyes moved back to you as he shoved the lid to the side of the hole revealing an empty coffin.

“Well that can’t be a good sign.” You announced, just as puzzled as Sam.

“You’re sure he said he was buried here?”

“No Sam, I just made it up so we could pointlessly dig a hole in the middle of the night for fun.” You rolled sarcastic eyes at him.

“Hey, I know how much you love digging holes. So if he’s not here-”

“Then just where the fuck is he?”

Together, you and Sam dug up the next grave, Mrs. Wellington’s body- also gone.

 In less than an hour the night sky would turn and Sunrise would come all too quickly. Time was up, none left to double check the coffins of the children, but the conclusion was that it would be a fruitless effort regardless. They would likely be gone. The two of you shoveled the dirt back into the holes and set to hike back to the Inn.

“So… How do we stop a ghost that doesn’t have bones?” You asked, wiping sweat from your brow with the back of your dirty hand.

“Better question is what took them?” Sam replied. 

The snap of a branch echoed through the trees and you both stopped in place, cautious eyes scanning the woods around you. In an instant you were transported back to the Wilderness of West Virginia, that fateful day. Had it followed you? Was that even possible? Was there more than one? You never spoke about it, never spoke aloud what happened to your family in fear that the White Thing would somehow find you again to finish the job. 

Sam put a large hand on your shoulder, gathering your attention and pointing about thirty yards north to a little blip of light strobing between the trees. You certainly weren’t alone, but your anxiety quelled at the notion of it being literally anything other than the White Thing. When you and Sam moved it was in stealth, following the light back to the rotting house you found the day before. The light turned off, and the shadow of a tall man wrestled with the lock on the door for a moment before the loud clattering of chains fell to the forest floor.

“Same guy from yesterday.” You said. Same height, same hunched over posture. The bag he dragged behind him had a body in it no doubt. The stench from the kitchen was far to foul to be anything other than a body, it wasn’t a far leap to guess what this bag was filled with too. He disappeared into the house followed by the sound of clacking locks. You followed Sam to the back of the house to the busted basement window. It was easy going in when no one was home, far harder to screw up the courage when you didn’t quite know what was locked in the house with you.

“Are you strapped?” Sam asked, you gaped at him. What nerve. You tugged up the back of your shirt where your handgun was tucked into the lining of your jeans.

“Uh, yeah Sam. I’m not an amateur.” You snarked, it came out a little bitchier than you’d intended, but Sam didn’t seem too bothered giving you a dimpled grin in response. To be fair you had a right to be sarcastic. You’d been doing this just over half your life. Left home at 15 and never looked back. It was rough in the beginning, learning the ropes. Thankfully you were a pretty quick study; save for some bumps, bruises and scars along the way, you managed. 

Sucking in a deep breath you readied yourself to climb back into that dank basement. Sam was looking at you, you could see him in your peripheral, sizing you up and gauging your reactions. Surely he noticed your hesitation, but he gave you the much needed moment before offering to step in for you. The idea of Sam, gigantic, humongous, Sam trying fit through that tiny ass window? Ha! You’d pay good money to see him try but now wasn’t the time.

You let out a huff, breath coming out as mist dissipating in the air, before setting to your task and climbing into the window again. Boots hit the dirt floor with a soft thud as you allowed time for your eyes to adjust to the pitch. Barely visible shapes of shelves bloomed in your sight, your hands slid along the wall careful of your surroundings as you tried to make it blindly to the cellar door. Sam watched you disappear into the dark, moving to the door for the tell tale sound of the log being moved. 

A full minute passed, and the edges of paranoia crept in. You were still trying to find your way, it was too dark in there, he should have given you a light.

30 more seconds. He’d give you 30 seconds to find the door. Much too impatient for that he stepped back to the broken window, whistling a bird call. When you didn’t reply with a call of your own his panic was full blown. Something was wrong. 

He wouldn’t fit through the window. He couldn’t break through the log sealing the cellar doors, and even if he thought he could, it would waste too much time trying. The open window on the second floor was too high, even for his height. There was no way he’d break through the locks on the front door. The windows were all boarded from the inside. The scenarios whipped through his head like a meteor shower, all of them landing back exactly where he was, helpless. 

A loud crash from inside the house ripped him from his thoughts, then gunfire. And another crash. Before he had a chance to think again his feet moved, following the sounds of struggle, and pain. Fingers dipped into a soft spot along the outside of the wall, he stopped on the spot, brow furrowing in thought. The wall was squishy there, bloated with water, mold, and old termite damage. He pressed both hands into the wall and like a sponge it gave way, just enough to give him hope.

Another scream ripped from your throat, and it was all the confirmation Sam needed to plow his shoulder into the wall, and tear through it like tissue paper. He stumbled into the room with the closet pulling his gun from the back of his jeans. Another scream, more in pain than the last, and he rounded the corner into the kitchen, a struggling body writhed on the table, as something pinned it to the table face down.

“Y/N!” Sam shouted, unloading three rounds into the back of the shadowed figure. It stood upright, and turned on heel to face him, taller, and broader than even Sam was.

“Sam! Ghoul!” You screamed as you rolled off the table , hitting the ground with a thud. Sam adjusted his aim, Ghouls meant headshots. With a bang the silver bullet let loose ripping through the forehead of the shadow, reducing it to a heap on the ground. Over as quickly as it had begun. On instinct Sam found you, pulling you into his arms.

“Hey, you alright?”  He asked, helping you to your feet. Out of breath and exhausted you let out a laugh.

“Just fuckin’ peachy.” You muttered. You snagged the ends of the body filled plastic bag the Shadow had drug in, clutching the tender spot at your side with a grunt. “Lets’s get the fuck out of here.”

Sam agreed, grabbing the body of the Shadow, and leading the way out the front door. The moonlight illuminated your attacker. Probably the groundskeeper based on the coveralls, and the smell of sweat, dirt, body odor and death; you were now sure the putrid scent wouldn’t wash off no matter how many showers you took.

“Jinkies. Why is it always the groundskeeper?” You said, enthusiasm lacking severely in your tone. Sam crouched tearing a hole in the black plastic trash bag. Sure enough, a body,

“Nolan…” He sighed, disappointment setting in. The man from the parlor earlier that night. “He said his wife was sick, he looked pretty rough himself.”

“Worse now.” You replied.

“How did this happen right under our noses?” Sam questioned. He should have seen it coming. Sam usually got more involved in cases than you did. He always found a way to connect with people, always cared. People trusted him, it was the puppy dog eyes you thought. He just had a specific charm that cut through the walls of anyone. You loved that about him. Other people loved that about him. On the other hand, you were not so warm and fuzzy. Of all the descriptors in the world “people person” was not among them; you never knew what to say to make it better when he beat himself up over a loss. But you admired that he gave a damn enough to still feel anything anymore.

“Sam, we were out digging graves all night. We couldn’t possibly have known. Hell, we were pretty sure it was a ghost until like literally right now.” You said, dropping a hand to rest on his shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. Looking past him at the body it became clear what Sam meant. The body was still warm, but Nolan was sickly looking, not just the dead kind of sickly, spent, and sallow, greying in pallor even for a freshly dead body. The Ghoul hadn’t even gotten the chance to chomp into him yet. “Did he say how long he was sick for?”

“No. But I got the impression that whatever the Wife was sick with hit her pretty quick.” Sam said with a shake of his head. This explained how parts of the bodies were being found. The Ghoul ate what it wanted and scattered the rest throughout the grounds.

“ If I’m right, and I usually am- If this was the groundskeeper, how much do you want to bet he was talking to one of the Overly-Friendly Innkeepers yesterday?”

“Think they’re in on it too?” He asked.

“I have some suspicions.” You answered. Fucking. Esmeralda. That woman rubbed you the wrong way from the first second, if there was something else fishy going on you’d stake your life on the claim that she was behind it. Something wasn’t adding up, and it stunk, like Esmeralda. Ugh, no. She probably wears designer perfume and smells amazing.

Disposing of the bodies was quick but messy. Nolan deserved to be salted and burned, but the ghoul… just to be sure it was dead you and Sam dismembered it, and buried it in the dirt basement. Time seemed to speed up with the Sunrise, and you barely made it back to the Inn before the sky lit up entirely.

Sam helped you shrug out of your jacket. A fresh, but shallow bite mark on your left shoulder was just one of two injuries you sustained, The other was a piece of wood sticking out just over your ribcage. That was going to suck. Bumps and bruises aside you walked away from the fight in pretty good condition. You’ve suffered far worse on hunting trips, this was cake.

“What happened in there?” He asked, the shame in his voice was palpable. It was guilt. Guilt that he wasn’t the one who climbed in and got hurt. Guilt over the fact that you didn’t even want to be there, that you hated this job, that you hated this lifestyle, and he put you in danger. It should have been him.

“I don’t know- he grabbed me out of the black, and the next thing I knew he was trying to take a bite out of me.” You answered. Sam’s  fingers brushed over the supple skin at the back of your neck raising goosebumps in the wake of his touch as he pulled the collar of your blood soaked shirt to the side to inspect the bite. Turning into a monster was the last thing you wanted to worry about, but you couldn’t remember if Ghoulishness was communicable or not. No, of course it wasn’t. Well… maybe. No. It’s not. But it could be. How the fuck were Ghouls even formed? You couldn’t think straight with Sam’s hands on you. “Is it bad? I’m not going to turn into a Ghoul am I?” 

“Uhm… I don’t think this is a bite.” Sam replied, humor in his tone, as he looked at three large dots in a perfectly straight line just above your shoulder blade. Either it was the oddest bite mark on Earth or…

“Well what is it then?”

“Best guess. A fork?” He answered.

“What?”

“It uh- it looks like you were stabbed with a fork. You’re up to date on your tetanus I hope?”

“Are you serious? I got fucking stabbed with a fork?” You questioned, standing up to inspect it yourself in the mirror hanging on the wall. 

“Better than being bitten right?”

“Ah ha ha ha. You think you’re funny don’t you?” You snarked, a pleased little smile graced Sam’s lips as he poured alcohol over the little punctures, like pouring lemon juice over papercuts, and then placed a single wide bandaid over it. “Thanks, Doc, am I cured now?”

“Not yet, let’s see those ribs.” He commanded. A little more than happy to oblige you struggled to tug your soiled t-shirt over your head. Some of those stains weren’t coming out, and it was one of your favorites. Sam stepped up to help, fingers grazing over your bare skin as he freed you. There it was, over your left rib cage a large black and purple bruise, with a large chunk of wood buried deep under the skin and out the other side. Hed it been any less intriguing to look at his eyes certainly would have fixed lower than you face. He could see you half naked a thousand times and you would never stop taking his breath away. But he was a gentleman, and you had made your professionalism clear, even though you called to him in your sleep. 

“Oh gross.” You exclaimed upon seeing the biggest splinter you’d ever gotten. No, not a splinter, you straight up got stabbed with a piece of wood. 

The struggle was real, he caught you completely off guard, you didn’t hear him, didn’t know the houl was down there in the dark with you until he clamped a large hand over your mouth and wrapped you up in arms too thick and strong for you to do much. But he wasn’t counting on you giving him the struggle of a lifetime. 

“I’ve never had living flesh before.” He taunted. Kicking and biting all the way up the stairs you finally saw an opportunity and dug your feet into the doorframe refusing to go any further, pushing back hard enough to knock him off balance and drop you. You hit the floor and rolled yanking your handgun from the back of your jeans and unloading 3 rounds into his chest, but he kept coming stalking towards you getting angrier with each bullet. He whipped a hand across your face, before grabbing you by the shoulders and slamming you onto an end table which collapsed beneath you splintering into shards, then pain. Yanking you up by the hair he threw you into the kitchen table and then he was on you. That sick rancid smell of rotting meat and death permeating every sense. Until gunfire, and Sam.

“You know this means we have to stay longer.” Sam stated, as he set to work trying to figure out the best extraction method. It was deep but nothing punctured, a clean through and through. Best thing to do was just pull it out. 

“Yeah, I figured as much. I’m not thrilled about it, gotta say.” You replied. Sam responded with a  half smile, focused on the task at hand, with a quick motion he yanked the shard of wood straight out of your side. “OW!” You yelped, and shoved his shoulder in mock offense.

“Hard part’s over now.” He said, before pouring more whiskey over the open wound. With a wince you shoved him again. Sam just smiled, and began the less than fun process of sewing up the two large puncture wounds. It would have been easy to watch him work forever. It would have been easy just to watch him do literally anything forever.

“Why are you nervous in the woods?” He asked, out of the blue, and feeling like walking straight into a wall.

“What kind of question is that? You know why, you know what’s you there.” A half truth. Sam saw through it, saw through you.

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s just that. You’ve been on edge since we pulled in.”

“To be fair I could be back home stuffing my face with pizza rolls with a six pack, binge watching Outlander. But instead I spent the night digging graves. You should be on edge too.” Mmm… Jamie. You had a full docket, wasn’t that enough reason to not want to go traipsing around the woods digging up empty graves under the scrutiny of the weird Staff and getting stabbed with a fork? It was more than justifiable to you.

“That’s how you’d spend your week alone?” Sam asked with a chuckle, snipping the ends of the suture.

“Pfft, I’m not telling you all my secrets.” You replied. Oh but he could imagine the things you might do by yourself. Did you ever think of him? Just once even. What he wouldn’t give for confirmation. The little sounds as you touched yourself, the things you might be thinking in your own head. The thin layer of sweat glistening in the cool night air. His name falling from your lips in a gasp as you came apart. But there was only one secret he was truly interested in.

“Okay, then just tell me one. What’s going on with you?” He said snipping the ends off of the final stitch.

“Look, Sam I’m not going to give you my damn- origin story. I just don’t care much for the woods is all.” You snipped. End of conversation. Shut that shit down. You never told anyone what happened. It was something you intended to take to the grave. It was something you intended to keep locked away even from yourself. So much time and effort went into fighting the memory of that day, you couldn’t just drudge it up for anyone. Sam wasn’t anyone. Could you do it for him?

“Okay. Maybe I misread you. But- uh… If you did. Want to give me your origin story, I would be more than happy to listen.” He reassured, taking your hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Suddenly you felt guilty for not sharing. It was your story to give if you wanted to, but now it felt like you were just hiding something.

“It’s violent, and bloody, and traumatizing, like everyone else’s. There’s nothing more to it.” You dismissed, moving to grab clean clothes to sleep in, and a towel.

“I don’t think you’re like everyone else.” Sam replied, stopping you in your tracks. If you turned around, if you looked at his face, you’d cave. So you didn’t.

“That doesn’t matter. It’s the same old song and dance. You see something, you lose someone, you search a little too hard and then you get sucked in.” You said and disappeared into the bathroom.

After a night like this, the best cure for any ailment was a steamy shower with the water cranked as hot as you could stand it. Letting it wash over you, carrying away the dirt, the blood, the sin, it was as close to tranquil as you’d ever get. And you were not one to miss out on a shower at a nice hotel. Great water pressure, perfect temperature. Ah, it was like heaven. The nagging in the back of your mind was impossible to ignore. Open up. Just tell him. Just do it. You might feel better. You’ve only kept this secret for a decade and then some. Speaking it into reality doesn’t make it any more or less real or true. It happened, it couldn’t un-happen. You can’t undo it, and it wouldn’t make the pain of that any more bearable if you shared it with someone. And of all people… it was Sam. 

Stepping out of the bathroom finally your eyes immediately landed on Sam pouring over John’s journal. There you were again getting lost in his visage, still covered in dirt, and exhausted beyond measure. You walked up behind him and leaned over his shoulder, between the sweet and floral scent of your shampoo and the feel of your breasts as you leaned against him, he could have melted into your arms. Soft, and warm, if he paused in his mind he could trick himself, for a brief moment, that this was how it always was. 

“Someone’s been busy.” Your eyes scanned the various papers and notes spread over the table in front of him, picking up one of the papers your brow nit at the list. “Vampire, Vetala, Djinn… What is this?”

“I don’t think Nolan and his wife were sick. You saw his corpse he looked sucked dry. I’m trying to find anything that takes the life force to feed. It happened fast, but over time. So it’s not a wraith, or Okami, or a Banshee.” He explained. Something just wasn’t adding up for him, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

“That’s a pretty short list.” 

“No kidding.”

“You’re brilliant, it’ll come to you.” You said, dropping the paper back on the table, and moving to the chair beside him. Pausing and starting and pausing again, you struggled to find the words. Being vulnerable was not a speciality of yours, in fact you did your damndest not to let yourself feel that way. It only led to pain and digging up shit you’d buried for reasons.. But with Sam you weren’t afraid. You knew his story, yours was just as unbelievable, it was only fair. “So, uhm… When I was 15, I was walking through the woods behind our house, it was basically a straight shot home from school, and I used to play in those woods, like… all the time as a kid. But one day it was like the forest was alive and threatening me.”

You made the mistake of looking at his face, fixed in confusion, concern, maybe even adoration. He’d dropped everything, the monsters in the book before him suddenly meant nothing.

“I know how it sounds, but trust me, they- the trees moved, and switched on me, and I got lost, and then. Then there was this stillness, like a vaccuum sucked out all of the air, you could hear a pin drop. And the… White Thing. “ A chill ran down your spine, raising goosebumps, he took your hands in his. “And it was the most terrified I’d ever been, I thought I was going to die, but it handed me this little stone.”  He didn’t believe you, or you were convinced he didn’t. Either way it didn’t matter, you had proof. You stood and walked to the bed, yanking your bag from under it, and rifling through the pockets, finding it with an ah-ha you returned to the table and set the little green stone with a carving in it on the table. Sam’s brow creased as he picked up the stone, his mouth moving to speak, but you cut him off.

“I left it there in the woods. I didn’t touch it. I ran straight home, and eventually passed out I guess. In the morning I got up and uh-… I went to find my brothers, and my parents, It was a blood bath, They were dead, all of them, and this stupid fucking rock was left there. That thing killed them, it was in my home… I was asleep. I didn’t even know.” Sam gave your hands a reassuring squeeze thumbs running over your knuckles as he leaned in until there was nothing but him in your vision. There was empathy in his eyes, no pity, or disbelief. You took in a breath to steady yourself, emotions beginning to peak more than you were comfortable displaying. You sniffed back the tears that threatened to gather.

“I tried to throw it out, back into the woods. Down a well. I buried it. I smashed it. I threw it into a river, a lake, the ocean. I threw it out of a car. Sam I’ve tried to get rid of this thing for almost 15 years. It just keeps coming back.” You said with an exasperated sigh attempting to catch your breath, gripping his fingers tightly. “Anyway… It wasn’t long after that I went searching for answers, and found the life.”

“And here you are.” He said, eyes like a field of sunflowers fixed on yours mesmerized by you.. Heart jumping into your throat you leaned in, closing the space between you to practically nothing.

“Here I am.” You whispered. He was close enough you could feel the warmth from him, you could practically taste him. You wanted more than anything in the entire world to know how his lips tasted. More than anything he wanted to know what yours tasted like.

Knock! Knock!

Nearly jumping out of your skin, and now boiling you turned a rage filled head to the door stomping to it more than happy to give that perfect little shit a piece of your mind. It was barely past 6am and Esmeralda was already trying to sink her claws into Sam? Yanking the door open you started in.

“Look I don’t know what your deal is but-” It was Derek! And he looked mortified. “Oh, shit I’m sorry! I  thought you were someone else.” Not that it made it any better.

“Good morning, Mrs. Wesson, I thought you might be awake. Pardon the interruption. Breakfast will be served shortly, but I wanted to deliver you this. For the Masquerade Ball tomorrow night.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Masquerade?” The dumbfounded look on your face must have been entertaining because Derek chuckled and handed the box to you. Sam stood up and walked to the door, hearing Derek’s voice and hearing about a delivery was more than enough for his interest to pique past disappointment at what just transpired- or rather, what didn’t. He stepped in close resting a hand at your hip, happy to play the territorial husband.

“Yes, in carrying on the tradition set down by the Wellington’s. This year’s theme is Heaven and Hell.” Derek explained.

“How charming. If there’s one thing I love more than a Ball, it’s a Masquerade. What is this box for?” What’s in the box? What’s in the boooxxx?! Brad Pitt. No, but really there better not be a human heart or something weird.

“Well, forgive the assumption, but you don’t strike me as the type to typically shop for such occasions, I sent for a few things for you.”

“You- I’m sorry, you sent for a few things?” You clarified, because clearly there was blood in your ear or something. Peeking into the box you gasped, and shook your head trying to hand the box back. “This is like a lot of money’s worth of a few things Derek. I’m sorry I can’t accept this.”

“But I insist, you may return them after the night is over, but in the meanwhile I think they will suit you.” Derek said, not taking no for an answer and stepping away from the door.

“Thanks…” You replied, unsure and a little confused. Turning to face Sam you kicked the door shut.

“There’s a really fancy dress and jewelry and stuff in this box.” Panic. You were in panic mode now. You were expected to wear that stuff- and lets not even touch how creepy-weird it is that the fucking Innkeeper just “sent for a few” really expensive, but also really pretty things for you! Ew! Weird! Pretty… You were expected to wear high heels.

“Well, if we’re going I guess I need to go into town later.” Sam said.

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[builtinadaygames]

Games on itch: what I played this month

Hi, my name is Kevin Beissel.  I make game projects under the name ‘builtinaday’ and lurk on Twitter @builtinadayKB.

The purpose of this post is to cover some of the free games on itch.io, from a developer and fan perspective.  I'd like to make it a recurring series, maybe a monthly breakdown but who knows.  Like Douglas Adams said, the best part of deadlines is the great WHOOSHING sound they make while flying by.

Before we get to the games, I just want to clarify why I'm doing this and what I hope it accomplishes.  So here's the what, why and how:

The WHAT

Discuss free games available on itch.io

I've got a list of profiles to check out, but please send along any recommendations.

There are no restrictions on genres.  The whole point of this is to be curious and ask questions.  So no dumb rules like "No walking sims" or "No puzzle platformers", which would prolly eliminate half of the available games anyways.

The WHY

I want to become a better developer and playing experimental/small/art/trash games could help.

Getting an audience is hard and getting constructive feedback is even harder.  I can't help the devs covered in these posts with the former but maybe I can with the latter.

The HOW

There is no rating system.

There is no alter ego here, these are not 'angry' reviews.

These aren't even really reviews.

The goal is to focus on the design choices that were made and discuss the reasoning behind them.

I don't really care about being right, I don't really care about sounding smart ("Yeah, no shit" the reader grumbles), I don't really care about agreeing with you. I'm more interested in looking at the hierarchy of ideas (to borrow a phrase) that form game design.  By working at the ends and working in the middle we can find out more about it, right?

Enough with the formalities, let's get started.

Profile: Steven Miller (@stevenjmiller37, steven-miller.itch.io, 30 projects available)

Game: Calor

Genre/Style: Strategy, base building and combat modes

Strategy games are tall orders, especially as jam submissions, but Calor has plenty of good things going on.  The visuals are charming, the two game modes are fun, and it has some of that 'one more turn' gameplay you want in a good strategy game.

It sort of reminds me of FTL and X-Com, except it's also nothing like those games.  I still caught echoes of them, like an eerie trumpet call over a lost battlefield.  Except there's no sound in space, or so I've heard.

Hey, what spins faster: the planet in Calor or Hunter Thompson in his grave after I just mangled his 'eerie trumpet' line?

The base building mode revolves around placing resources (farms, solar panels, factories) on sections of a planet.  Every turn the planet rotates, and the direction can be changed with wind turbines.  Part of the planet has sunlight and resource tiles produce plus-1 per turn in sunlight.  Sun spots pop up every 7 or 8 turns and will destroy any resource on a tile or damage the player, but a warning message pops up when the sun spot is three turns away.

Enemies can't damage tiles but can attack the player.  It's better to move onto the enemy's tile and initiate combat, especially if the tile contains a resource.  Letting the enemy move onto your tile has a combat penalty.

The combat mode has two parts to consider: a top section with three bars that contain the enemy's attack and shield points and a bottom section laid out like a hex-style grid.  The grid has three starting nodes on the left and three ending nodes on the right with bonus nodes in the middle.  You can choose whether to use a shield node or an attack node during your turn, but not both.

If the top section has a shield in any bar, connecting to the corresponding ending node reduces your attack points.  So you have to plan paths that pick up as many bonus nodes as possible and avoid ending on a penalized node.

Both modes are good and it would be cool to see them expanded on.  There's a few things I'm curious about though, like the attack only/shield only choice you have to make in combat.

If you start a fight with low health, the enemy will prolly wipe you out with one attack.  So I suppose the design incentivizes you to keep moving away from the enemy until your health is refilled during the base building mode, then turn around and engage.  I just wish there was away to use both a shield node and an attack node on the same turn.  I know upgrade systems can be tricky and usually avoid them in my projects, but this ability would be a great addition.

Forgive me if there is this ability, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

And I gotta ask: if you can't combine the abilities, then what's the point of including a shield option at all?  If you're low on health to start, using the shield just creates an endless loop of defensive turns.  Does health regenerate between turns in combat or only outside of combat?  Could I block the enemy's attack enough times until I'm healed and then switch to attack nodes?  What am I missing here?

I know that sounds negative, but I swear it's just curiosity.  Calor is fun to play and also gave me some challenging design questions to consider.  There are plenty of games that fail to do either of those things.

Game: Capture Horizon

Genre/Style: Puzzle platformer, side-scroller

This is a puzzle platformer that requires you to manipulate the level by taking photos of it and arranging them to form a path to the exit.  I played Camera Obscura on Steam, which uses a simiilar idea, and it's a cool concept.  I like that it relies on spatial design/reasoning skills, instead of using oblique hints to solve unfair challenges based on muddy logic/lazy rulesets.

The photo taking/placing mechanic is easy to understand.  You can't take a new photo while on an existing one and you can have up to three at a time.  It seems simple but I quickly became stumped, especially on levels five and six.

The platforming is OK, but it leads to many cheap deaths.  Most levels have two sections you need to reach; the first is relatively easy and the second is much harder.  The harder section requires a lot of trial and error, due to both photo placement and jumping issues, which means you have to redo the easy section a lot of times which is tedious.

Traditional difficulty progression states that a level should have an ascending scale of difficulty, not a descending scale.  But for short, self-contained levels like this, inverting that formula might have worked well.

And since we are here to inquire within about everything and not here to disparage, let's consider some alternative solutions to this problem:

New speed setting:  I hate when people suggest new settings for traversal speeds in my own work, because there is usually a bunch of connected factors to consider/change that they aren't aware of.  What sounds like a small tweak is actually a much larger change.

So, even tho I hate being THAT GUY, I too often found myself running right off of a platform or, even worse, jumping way too early to compensate for the fast movement.  A walk/run control setup might have fit nicely.

Change the jump mechanic:  Something like the style of jumping used in Gunpoint would have made the platforming simpler, but much more satisfying.  For those who don't know, the Gunpoint-style allows the player to activate a jumping stance, adjust the height/distance of the jump and then confirm or cancel the jump.

This style would eliminate most of the frustrating trial and error sections.  You could place a photo and test whether your jump could reach it, instead of placing a photo and jumping one pixel short and having to retry the whole level.

What helpful advice, huh?  "Ripoff a more popular game to make your own work seem better" is just about the most lazy advice you could give an artist.  And yet here I am, handing out shopworn cliches faster than Michiko Kakutani.  So where the hell is my goddamn Pulitzer?

Game: Entropy

Genre/Style: Roguelike, 8-bit isometric view

Lately I've been seeking out games that put a strong emphasis on combat, like "Superhot" or "Deadbolt".  Roguelikes usually have a heavy emphasis on combat and Entropy certainly does.

You have a fast-moving, low-damage ranged shot that repeats quickly but you can charge up a power shot.  The charged shot literally turns you into a bullet, and can be used offesnsively or defensively.  You could knock out a powerful enemy or escape from a crowd by firing to a safe spot.  You can also use the charge shot for traversal, usually shooting across gaps filled with spikes.

If I could transform into anything, I'd transform into a machine that could make ANYTHING.  I would make anything then transform back into myself and enjoy whatever (or whoever) I just made.  That might seem like an awfully large loophole, a loophole so large you could drive a Pagani Zonda thru it.  A carbon-fiber supercar loaded with guns, cash, and women (or MEN) you made in your ANYTHING machine.

But what are you?  A lawyer?  I don't remember making any of those in that ANYTHING machine.

Or you could turn into a bullet.  That is also a pretty cool thing to do.

The character movement speeds are nicely balanced.  Strafing a lone enemy is fun and juggling large crowds is intuitive.  Some enemies felt like bullet sponges, but I wasn't using the charge shot enough.  Moving around till I had space and time to get it off made those enemies easier to deal with.  The enemy design is good too, with variations in size/speed/strength that feel balanced.  They have a nice spectral, eerie look to them.

The game also opens with a short cutscene.  My favorite part was the "standing" animations.  All the characters constantly bounce up and down, which is fun to watch.  I love this choice.  Animations more sophisticated than this aren't really the point of LD jams and if they stood still that would be boring, so it's a nicely off beat decision.

The one minor problem I had was the reticle color.  It's green, which would be fine except some levels have patches of grass that make it hard to track the reticle.  Otherwise, the game has the color palette nicely split up between player, enemy and enviromental assets.

Remember:  Split up the colors, but don't split up your pants!  Why do people breath in when trying to squeeze into jeans?  If you breath out you get thinner, or at least that's what my bitchy mother-in-law keeps telling me.  I get it, Joan!  Also, get Entropy and shoot stuff.

Profile: Tooth and Claw (Dan McGrath, @daninfiction, toothandclaw.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Valley of the Moon

Genre/Style: Walking sim, puzzle

You are supposed to collect four relics to reactivate your ship and leave the planet.  Despite the walking sim label, there's a couple of nice platforming sections too.  But the real point of this type of game is to create a distinct atmosphere, a space worth getting lost in.

Of all the games in this post, this is the one that gave me the purest moment, or at least the type of moment you can really only get with a videogame.  The game starts up and I see a nearby building with a large door.  Since its a puzzle game and I've just started, I assumed the door was locked.  But I went over anyways, intent on asking one of the fundamental questions videogames can offer: "Can I do that?"

Turns out, I could do that.  The door popped open, and I got a little thrill out of it.  Seems silly maybe, that something so simple could feel that rewarding, but it did.

Inside the building is one of the relics and another nicely put together moment.  You climb the final step and see a platform with a relic on it, and a giant orange moon lined up right above it.  The symmetry of the relic and moon is really nice and its a striking visual moment.

The only question I would ask is about the ending:  Why not try something wild or unexpected, something totally abstract or bizarre?

I don't mean this as a criticism, because it's quite good and I'm glad I played it, it's just a question.

If you've played other walking sims all the way through, like "Dear Esther" for example, then you know how a surprising and offbeat ending can really resonate with the right type of players.  I happen to really like the way that "Esther" ends, and can more strongly recall that odd, poetic moment better than I can recall some of the other supposedly famous moments in recent games.

A unique and challenging ending can make a lasting impression on the player and, whether they loved or hated it, that player will remember your work.

So, in the case of this game, why not do something more eccentric?  Like when you take off and leave this peaceful planet behind you end up crashing onto an uninhabitable, hostile planet?  Or you take off and safely land on a new planet, only to find out its exactly like the one you left?  Is that too 'Twilight Zone' for you?

Or maybe you take off and turn into a freaking Star Child?  Then the Star Child grows up and becomes Galactus?

Anyways, that's what happens when you leave the audience hanging.  They start out reasonable enough and end up arguing about Galactus and his big, dumb headgear.

The point being: not every game needs a meaningful or profound or abstract ending, but some do.

Game: Zealot

Genre/Style: FPS, looks like a 90s shareware game

Other Info: made in 3 days

This is a dope throwback to shareware-era FPS games.  Zealot is like a resurrected title from this era, with glorious visuals and punishing combat.

There was a wider range of titles than most people remember, mainly because the iconic titles of the time (DOOM, HEXEN) loom so large.  I was flipping thru an old PC game magazine (prolly circa 1995) and there was pages and pages of ads for obscure shareware titles, some looking totally generic and others beyond bizarre.  I prolly spent more time looking at those ads recently than I did when those games came out.  Sorry, marketing geniuses!

There was also an article about how advanced stats would become important in sports.  Something about how coaches, players, fans, journalists and gamblers would be interested in new ways to analyze performance and predict outcomes.  Who would have thought?  You know besides Paul Allen and his 300-foot yact and his investment stake in STATS LLC.  Also, fuck Paul Allen, fuck his yact, fuck his Dorsia reservations, and fuck me while we're at it.

But don't fuck Zealot!  Do play Zealot, it's quite fun.  You run and jump around on a floating platform blowing up various types of demons.  You play until you die.  My best time was 74.67176 seconds.  It was much more fun once I realized I could hold down the attack button to autofire, which seems obvious but hey, if you're so smart how about you come over and unclog this drain?  I've tried nothing man, and I'm all out of ideas.

Thankfully Dan McGrath isn't out of ideas, tho!  And Zealot is a pretty good idea.  I've never had a bad idea.  I've had great ideas that turned out horribly wrong, but never any BAD ideas.  I've also stolen ideas/entire jokes from 30 Rock, but Dan McGrath hasn't yet!

Profile: Trasevol Dog (@TRASEVOL_DOG, trasevol-dog.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Blast Flock

Genre/Style: similar to Luftrausers, but more colorful

This is the profile to check out if you like games with bright color palettes and visuals that really pop off the screen.  It helps that the gameplay is excellent, too.

And hey, people who care soooo much about what engine a dev uses: this game wasn't made with Unity, so try to find something else to complain about.

Blast Flock is a variation on Luftrausers, which is an OK game.  I really wanted to like Luftrausers, but whenever I play it I'm always left with the same two questions:  Where is the rest of the game and how come it isn't more fun?

Luftrausers felt like it was all about keeping your multiplier at 20 which feels like a chore, like an uncreative grind.  I was more interested in finding fun and interesting ways to attack enemies, especially since it had such great body/weapon/engine variety.  It felt like they incentivized creative approaches, but instead only rewarded you for following a narrow path.

Well, Blast Flock doesn't have more content, but it certainly is more fun.  The controls are intuitive and allow for a lot of experimentation.  Your group of ships always flies towards the reticle, with fire and boost mapped to lmb/rmb.  You can shoot down enemies and save them as they fall, expanding your group.

Building your squadron up and tearing thru a huge group of enemies at top speed with guns blazing feels so great.  Whipping the mouse around the screen and creating total chaos also feels great, like orchestrating your own bullet hell symphony.

Or you could conduct a symphony of the night.  But how the hell am I supposed to read music in the dark?  My conductor baton glows in the dark, but I don't want people to know that.  It only does that in case I drop it during a performance and have to find it on the ground real quick.  Symphony of the night?  How about a 'symphony of the comfortable recliner' instead?  Or ‘symphony of the better jokes’?

Thanks for reading!  If you liked this then maybe check out my itch profile, too.