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theinvinciblenoob · 6 years ago

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2018 has been a big year for big games, and with new titles from the Assassin’s Creed, Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty, and Battlefield franchises all competing… it’s enough to make a gamer want to just quit and play something a little more low key. Here are some of the smaller, independent games we liked from this year and who they might appeal to.

Bonus: many of these can be gotten for less than $30, making them super solid/easy gifts. They aren’t for any particular platform or in any particular order, except that I’ve been playing the heck out of Ashen for the last couple days, so it’s first.

Ashen – for “Souls” lovers

Available on: Xbox One, Windows

(To be fair, this is less of an “indie” than the others on this list, some of which were made by one person, but it’s just off the beaten path enough to qualify.)

If you’ve ever heard your loved one talk about “builds,” really hard bosses, or which helmet completes their outfit best, they probably play games of the Dark Souls type. Ashen is a new action-adventure-RPG in the same vein but with a few notable twists. It has a lovely art style, a streamlined (but still byzantine) progression system, and an interesting multiplayer style where other players drop into your game, and you drop into theirs, with no real warning or interaction. It works better than you’d think, and I’ve already had some great experiences with it.

Yoku’s Island Express – for people who like both pinball and Metroidvanias

Available on: Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows

Don’t be fooled by the cuteness of Yoku’s Island Express. This game is both unique and well-crafted, a fusion of (believe it or not) pinball mechanics and gradual exploration of an enormous map. It’s definitely weird, but it immediately clicks in a way you wouldn’t expect. It’s a great break from the grim environments of… well, lots of the games on this list.

Dead Cells – for action fans who won’t mind “roguelike” repetition

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Windows, Linux, macOS

The “roguelike” genre has you traversing procedurally-generated variations on a series of levels and progressing farther by improving your own skills — and sometimes getting a couple shiny new weapons or abilities. Dead Cells takes this genre and combines it with incredibly tight side-scrolling action and platforming that never gets old even when you’re going through the sewers for the 20th time. The developers were very responsive during Early Access; the game was great when I bought it early in the year, and now it’s even better.

Below – for atmosphere fans who won’t mind “roguelike” repetition

Available on: Xbox One, Windows

In some ways, Below is the opposite of Dead Cells, though they share a bit of DNA. This game, the long-awaited follow-up to Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP by Capy, is a slow, dark, tense descent into a mysterious cave; it’s almost totally wordless and shown with a pulled-back perspective that makes things feel both twee and terrifying. The less said about the particulars of the game, the better (the gamer should discover on their own), but it may be fairly noted that this is a title that requires some patience and experimentation — and yes, you’re going to die on a spike trap.

Cultist Simulator – for the curious

Available on: Windows, macOS, Linux

It’s very hard to explain Cultist Simulator. It’s an interactive story, different every time, told through cards that you draw and play, and which interact with each other in strange and wonderful ways. One card might be a place, another an action, another a person, all of which can be used, investigated, or sacrificed to other cards: ideas, drives, gods… it’s really quite amazing, even if you rarely have any idea what’s happening. But the curious and driven will derive great satisfaction from learning the way this strange, beautifully made machine works.

Return of the Obra Dinn – for the observant (and dedicated)

Available on: macOS, Windows

This game absorbed me completely for a few days earlier this year. Like the above, it’s a bit hard to explain: you’re given the task of determining the identities and fates of the entire crew of the titular ghost ship by using a magic watch to witness their last words and the moment of their death. That task, and the story it reveals as you accomplish it, grows increasingly disturbing and complex. The beautiful 1-bit art, great music and voice acting, and extremely clever construction make this game — essentially made by one person, Lucas Pope — one of my favorites of the year. But it’s only for people who don’t mind banging their head against things a bit.

Dusk – for connoisseurs of old-school shooters

Available on: Windows, Switch

If your loved one ever talks about the good old days of Quake, Half-Life, Unreal and other classic shooters, Dusk will be right up their alley. The chunky graphics are straight out of the ’90s but the game brings a level of self-awareness and fun, not to mention some gameplay improvements, that make it a joy to play.

CrossCode – for anyone who spent more time playing SNES Classic than AAA games this year

Available on: Windows, Linux, macOS

This crowd-funded RPG was long in the making, and it shows. It’s huge! A fusion of SNES and PSX-era pixel art, smooth but furious top-down action a la Secret of Mana, and a whole lot of skills and equipment. I’ve played nearly 20 hours so far and I’m only now starting to fill out the second branch of four skill trees; the overarching story is still just getting rolling. I told you it was huge! But it’s also fabulous.

Celeste – for the dexterous and those not inclined to anger

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, macOS, Windows, Linux

Celeste is one of those games they call “Nintendo Hard,” that elusive combination of difficulty and control that cause you to be more disappointed in yourself than the game when you die. And you will die in Celeste — over and over. Hundreds of times. It gleefully tracks the number of deaths on each set of stages, and you should expect well into three figures. The platforming is that hard — but the game is also that good. Not only is its pixel art style cute and the environments lovingly and carefully crafted, but it tells a touching story and the dialogue is actually pretty fun.

Overcooked! 2 – for friendships strong enough to survive it

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Windows, macOS

Much like the first Overcooked, the sequel has you and your friends attempting to navigate chaotic kitchens, hazards, and each other as you try to put together simple dishes like salads and hamburgers for never-sated patrons. The simple controls belie the emergent complexity of the gameplay, and while it can be frustrating at first, it’s immensely satisfying when you get into the zone and blast through a target number of dishes. But only do it with friends you think you can tolerate screaming and bossing each other around.

Into the Breach – for the tactically minded

Available on: Switch, Windows, macOS, Linux

The follow-up to the addictive starship simulator roguelike Faster Than Light (FTL), Into the Breach is a game of tactics taking place on tiny boards loaded with monsters and mechs — but don’t let the small size fool you. The solutions to these little tableaux require serious thinking as you position, attack, and (hopefully) repel the alien invaders. Matt says it’s “perfect for Switch.”

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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jackmonkeygames · 7 years ago

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Actual play podcasts are a hot thing right now.

It seems that anyone with a microphone is and a set of dice with more than six sides is recording a podcast. Now I have been spending time on this topic doing research yah research ....that is it research. I have gathered a list of some of the best to cross my earbuds. Some of these have poor audio quality and some have full production value and a budget. I ask you to ignore that and listen to the content. Most shows will start off small and when they start to get backers on pateron will upgrade their podcasting equipment to something a little more professional. I happen to know one podcast that recorded their entire first season on the gamemasters Samsung phone. (Star-Fall cough cough)

I would like to note that any comments by me will be in Blue

Why should you listen to an independent RPG Podcast?

Independent podcasters are the lifeblood of the Podcasting world. These creative people are doing what they love and inviting you to the table as a spectator. These Gamemasters and players come up with the most creative adventures. Some are true to the rules and some throw the rules out the window. Listening to these podcasts you will learn all kinds of great GM/Player skills. Most of all these podcasts are just fun. I highly recommend that you listen to at least five episodes as it takes a little while for everyone to really get into character. by then it will be too late as you will be addicted to the podcast :

Great way to learn new games you have not purchased yet. Think of it as a free sample.

Why should you support an RPG Podcast?

Podcasting is not free. it's Cheap, not free. Many of these gamemasters are spending their own money to produce their podcast. Many will have products, Patreon pages and or Ads in order to keep the show going. If it was not for our backers we would not be able to publish our show at all. Become A Patreon backer even if its just $1 a month. It adds up trust me.

Other ways to support the show are free and perhaps more important. Tell someone about their show. Getting the word out is such a difficult task that there are entire forums and Facebook groups dedicated to this problem. Simply telling someone about the show or posting an episode on Facebook or Twitter is a huge help.

Contact the Podcaster!! Trust me they will love it. There have been a few times where I was thinking that nobody cared about the show and I received an email from a listener. It does wonders to inspire the cast.

What RPG podcast is on my Player Right now?

I'm going to start off with the shows that are actually on my phone at the moment. These shows are near and dear to my heart.

Steam Rollers actual play Podcast

Each show takes you on a rollicking Steampunk adventure filled with mystery, monsters, and steam-powered machines! Follow along as our party of role-playing adventurers finds themselves in one adventure after another where their decisions, and the luck of the dice, determine what happens next!

This Podcast is on top of the list because I just love it that much. It just happens this is the show that inspired me to start my own. The use of sound effects to accent the show is well done. The WORLD BUILDING is amazing almost like the creator is an author ... oh wait he is!!!. The co-host Robby grows on you quickly. The cast, as well as the story-crafter (Steampunk for Game Master), are likable though Jameson Mayfield is an evil bastard. Even if you know nothing about steampunk you are going to want to download this one.

Star-Fall Actual Play Podcast

Star-Fall is a Science fiction RPG podcast that is told using Short stories, audio dramas, and Actual Roleplay. What happens when A new oppressive religion invades your planet? You run and that is exactly what the characters do. The unlikely group of heroes consists of a Male Escort, his father, A Alcoholic doctor, a bartender, a massive lizardman, a psychic alien introvert and a four-armed fish ant. This comedy is filled with character development. This is not the podcast to listen to if you like strong female characters.

Mech battles, daring escapes from asteroid belts, Space Pirates and Aliens who discuss human mating habits by getting it all wrong. We are an LGBTQ & Polyamory friendly podcast.

Norkek and Hedda are a spinoff animation part of the Star-Fall Universe. These two Aliens talk about human nature while eating fast food. This is my first attempt at animation and I am having a lot of fun with this.

Yes, I listed my own podcast. Every podcaster should .. helps you make a better show. We start off with a very low budget and basic knowledge of editing and roleplaying but we get better. I know that if you can keep listening to episode 5 you will be hooked. The cast has a mix of experience but all have become really amazing roleplayers. Season two is almost ready.

1 Billion years in the future, the Earth is a truly unfamiliar place. A hodgepodge of strange creatures, bizarre devices, and relics of past civilizations. It is a beautiful and cruel world in equal measure. In this land of wonders, four people will begin a journey that, by its end, may shake the planet to the very core. Of course, they will have to survive that journey first..

I am a huge fan of this show! As most of you should know on Twitter I am a big fan of anything Monte Cook Games. This podcast really does Numenera Justice. I love the characters. The humorous banter between the characters is amazing and I love the GM. OH, and they have a Were-hedgehog !!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!?!

Fantasy & Scifi Podcasts

Now I have only had a short listen to these at the moment. but they have been added to my listening list. Many of these podcasts are part of a group of RPG Podcasters called TTRAPS on facebook

Tails from The Dark Dragons Inn is a long-form, serialized, high-fantasy, improv fiction podcast driven at its core by tabletop role-play.

It tells the tale of a band of heroes called “The Scales of Justice”, seeking to learn more of their world, and themselves as they race to intervene in the plans of the Cult of the Dragon and their cataclysmic ambition. Season two leads quickly to Baldur's Gate where a dark shroud lies over the city and a mystery awaits, with the heroes in the center of its tangled web.

Featuring a diverse cast and released weekly on Sundays, with its heavy focus on storytelling over gameplayTails from The Dark Dragons Innis the perfect gateway from Audio Drama to RPG podcasts and comfortably appeals to audiences of both. Find out more and subscribe through http://tftddi.co.uk

I had to add this one to my playlist right away. It sounds a lot of fun. I have not had a chance to listen beyond the first 10 min but I think that I'm already hooked. I will update this post once I have had a chance to give it the listen it deserves.

Very Random Encounters

We call ourselves a chaotic actual play podcast. Each season, we pick a pen and paper RPG system and a GM, and then randomized as many things as possible. We randomize plots, villains, our characters, the places, the events, and anything else we can think to could be random. Then see what happens. We are an LGBT+ created and positive podcast that isn't always safe for work.

Why would someone who has never played an RPG want to download your podcast? Because of the format of our show, since we don't stick to one game system, we probably covered some genre that they are interested in. We show how you can be handed a character, which you haven't made, and make that a fully fleshed out person.

Our seasons so far have been:

- D&D 5th edition

- TSR's Marvel's Superheros

- Call of Cthulhu

- Uncharted worlds

We've also done mini-season with a special guest. In those seasons we've played:

- Monster of the Week

- Fiasco

- In Plain Sight

Our standard cast is:

Lee (she/her) - @YoSaphBridge

Logan (he/him) - @LoganJenkins

Greg (he/him) - @whitewing

Travis (they/them) - @TheTravisW

Our Website: VRE.show

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/vrecast

Facebook: facebook.com/vrecast

Twitter: twitter.com/vrecast

We release shows every monday, as soon as Soundcloud will let us go.

Tabletop Potluck

Tabletop Potluck born when a diverse group of friends found themselves wishing for more representation in their actual-play podcasts. The team chose to be the change they wished to see in the world, striving to showcase representation in all forms: players, characters, and games. Just like at a delicious potluck, different people can bring a vast variety of experiences to the table. Now, every Monday, Tabletop Potluck brings diverse stories to their listeners, as well as in-depth sessions and discussions of various tabletop roleplaying games.

Our episodes go a bit like this: we play a game on air, usually for the first time ever for at least one member, and then we all create a smorgasbord of recipes related to the game's themes, and discuss what we like and dislike about the systems. With both examples of gameplay and reviews, we hope to give our listeners everything they might need to decide to try a brand new RPG.

We're so thankful for all of the support we've gotten so far and we can't wait to continue this journey with you all.

You can find us at tabletoppotluck.libsyn.com, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

We're a great choice for someone who has never played an RPG before because we're also new to most of the systems we play. That being said, we keep it fun and interesting by bringing in the storytelling dynamic of a tight-knit group of friends (many of whom are actors). Our discussion potlucks are helpful for people who want to learn more about the mechanics of the system, while our storytelling episodes give good examples of what gameplay might be like.

Shuffle Quest

is a comedy actual-play RPG podcast set in a variety of pop culture worlds. Olmec, an extradimensional stone head, has discovered the multiverse of fiction is collapsing, and recruits three fantasy adventurers from the world of Dungeons & Dragons to act as his agents and save reality. Each arc focuses on the cast’s adventures in a single pop culture universe, as they grapple with danger, mystery, and a hilarious dose of culture shock. The players use the RPG system most closely representative of the world they’re in (we always try to use officially licensed games if possible)! Currently, our heroes have rescued the universes of Men in Black, Dragon Ball Z, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mad Max from certain doom.

Shuffle Quest arcs are six episodes long and are separated by single episodes focused on the cast recovering in Olmec’s head (in addition to being their quest-giver, he also acts as their means of transportation between universes). Episodes range from 50-90 minutes.

Our show is professionally recorded and mixed, and thoroughly edited to trim digressions and rules logistics. Shuffle Quest is ad-free and is funded by listeners like you through Patreon.

Why would someone who has never played an RPG want to download your podcast?:

The shifting pop culture settings keep the show both fresh and familiar, allowing listeners unused to the settings of RPGs to quickly understand the context due to the pop culture touchstones we play with.

I tend to avoid Pop Culture focused podcasts. We even go out of our way to avoid them in our own podcast. I'm saying this because EVEN I ENJOY THIS PODCAST !!! I am only a few episodes in and enjoying it the whole time. This is a must for new players!

Quest Friends!

LINK: http://questfriends.podbean.com

PROMO VIDEO: https://youtu.be/9b7wf7GAwvI

"Quest Friends!" takes place ONE BILLION years in the future, after multiple advanced civilizations have risen and fallen. From their ashes, four foolhardy adventurers face off against ferocious foes, including robot cowboy shopkeeps, vision-inducing skin spiders, and really awful kazoo playing.

The show has been praised by fans for superb pacing that keeps listeners anxious for the next episode, a cast of players and characters that are "cinnamon-roll pure," and a world that is bright, vibrant, and farcically goofy. It's also very accessible for listeners unfamiliar with roleplaying games, as the focus is on the world and story being told, with the actual gameplay systems taking more of a backseat.

The second part of a two-episode mini-arc starring one of the main characters is dropping today. It's a completely isolated story that gives a great taste for what Quest Friends! is about!

We are a 5e, D&D, actual play, narrative focused, sometimes funny podcast. You know, like 95% of all the other podcasts, but we've got eldritch horror. We also have guests on occasionally to play their own characters that we incorporate into the narrative.

Welcome brave traveler to Sylandrian, a city steeped in murder, mystery, and madness. Stagnation and complacency have run rampant, and something monstrous churns behind the dark. A group of private investigators are the only thing that stands in the way of injustice and despair. Let us join them now, for another exciting episode of The Beholder's Eye!

Our podcast can be great for people that don't play ttrpgs, because we focus on the narrative and try to make the gameplay/ mechanics side of things as unobtrusive as possible. We can also be a great introduction to what makes ttrpgs amazing, collaborative storytelling.

iTunes link - https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-beholders-eye/id1343673492?mt=2

SoundCloud link - https://soundcloud.com/thebeholderseye

Side Character Quest

Elevator Pitch:

A one-on-one improvised fantasy adventure podcast. The host stays the same, but every few episodes, we rotate in a new guest playing a new character in the same world.

Description:

Side Character Quest (SCQ) is an improvised fantasy adventure podcast. Like other shows, it uses tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons as a framework for the improv, but unlike other shows in this genre,* the games are played with the host/DM and onlyoneguest/player. The guest goes on a quest over the course of several episodes, and when the quest is complete (or when they fail), they leave and a new guest comes on! The new guest plays a new character on their own journey, but the setting stays the same. As the show goes on, more of the world is revealed.

Episode titles all begin with the name of the guest's character, so new listeners can easily see where a new character arc begins. Listeners can start with any character arc, but it is recommended they start with Season 1 Episode 1, "Sir Rodrick Begins His Quest."

Twitter Handle: @SCQpodcast

Website: www.sidecharacterquest.com(Right now this just redirects to our Twitter page. We plan to update this when our rebranding is complete.)

iTunes Page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/side-character-quest/id1332525305?mt=2

"Why would someone who has never played an RPG want to download your podcast."

The unique (I think) format of our show makes it really easy to pick up. Though there is a larger story being built, each arc has been designed to be self-contained. You might get more out of it by listening to all of them, but maybe you want to start with a particular guest! Maybe you don't want to commit right away to listening to the entire backlog of a new show? Don't worry! With SCQ, each self-contained arc aims to be between only 2 and 8 episodes long.

(The small number of people on the show (just the host and a single guest) also means it is easy to learn who's who.)

Fate and the Fablemaidens is an all-women, family-friendly actual-play D&D 5th edition podcast created by four friends who love goofs and games. You could say we have goofs on goofs on goofs... and dragons. And new episodes every other Monday.

Under the unpredictable guidance of Fate (Renee Rhodes), three adventurers – Merryweather (Rebecca Eckert), the gnome artificer; Wynni (Laura Hutton), the halfling bard; and Twyddle (Samantha Turley), the changeling barbarian – are thrown together on a fateful trip. When they set sail that day, all they planned for was a relaxing, three-day boat tour – a pleasure cruise. Instead, the world starts falling apart around them – literally.

++++Bonus+++++ We hope to be accessible to anyone, even those who have never played a TTRPG. To that end, we try to explain our rule-based actions, but also just have fun in the hopes that our audience can have fun with us.

I just subscribed to this one! I have also encouraged my Daughter who wants to start running Dungeons and Dragons 5e to listen.

PAN, the Pagan Angel Network, brings you original, fast-paced horror stories using the tabletop role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Player FM, SoundCloud, iTunes, or CastBox for a new episode every Sunday!

PAN's ongoing flagship series, Millennium, follows a network of innocents in the year 1999 who uncover an international conspiracy to bring the world under the worship of an all-consuming, prehistoric god. The emphasis is on player choice in a sandbox-y open world, and although the comedy flies fast and thick, the campaign is ultimately a dark (though fantastical) simulation of how humanity might reach its end. In addition to Millennium, PAN has already aired the dystopian coming-of-age limited series The Scrud and the three-part, audio-drama-by-way-of-found-footage The Oklahoma Coast.http://paganangelnetwork.comWhy would someone who has never played an RPG want to download?PAN is about storytelling, not game rules, and although it makes great use of the unique storytelling possibilities that come with collaborative tabletop RPGs, it never spends much time on crunchy combat or other things that might lose the RPG-uninitiated. Above all, PAN wants to immerse you in the story. In the summer of 2018, PAN will also begin to air multiple non-RPG-based horror series, since its creators know that their listeners' tastes are as broad as their own!

Mystery Fantasy Dungeon 9000

MFD9K is a Dungeons and Dragons real play podcast. It's a home-brew sandbox world, with a 22-year rich history in the making by previous adventurers who have become both myth and legends, saints and deities.

This Podcast is set around 2nd edition rule (Thac0/Saves/Class creation/XP Charts) while working in rules from 3.5/D20/4/Next and so on. Using Themes from all Realms of Sci-fi and Fantasy. It's also a big HOMEBREW - and we welcome any content anyone wishes to let us playtest for you!

In this podcast, the Dungeon Master/Father teaches his coming of age son how to Role Play with good close friends and a long time player of the DM's world.

-----------------------------Bonus Content---------------------------------

"If you want to hear a good story, or people having fun playing D&D...take a listen!"

Tales of Swordfall is an actual play podcast that hosts players of many different experiences. We a have a cast of 4 inexperienced players to Dungeons & Dragons in our original Purple Group. A great group to listen to for interested players as we play and take the time to explain rules. We also have 7 DMs in our Blue group! This group we try to take D&D narrative to the next level in a role play heavy experience! Finally, we have the Short Shot group with various guests! What's a short-shot? Its when we try to play a one-shot campaign but end up playing it for 2 or 3 sessions!

Join the fun as we love, learn, and play Table Top RPGs.Listen to Tales of Swordfall!

Links:

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/c/TalesofSwordfall

if that link for youtube doesn't work:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7xX1n5WrXvnZKXpwzGFiqw

Anchor.fm:https://anchor.fm/swordfalldnd

#IFTTT #Homerpg artist gamemaster gamedev

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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We know chemistry when we feel it with another person, but we don’t always know why we’re drawn to one person over another. Is it just a cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones conspiring to rush you toward reproduction? Is it attraction borne of a set of shared values? Or is it bonding over specific experiences that create intimacy?

It’s probably a combination of all three, plus ineffable qualities that even matchmaking services can’t perfectly nail down.

“Scientists now assume, with very few exceptions, that any behavior has features of both genetics and history. It’s nature and nurture,” Nicole Prause, a sexual psychophysiologist and neuroscientist, tells Mental Floss. She is the founder of Liberos, a Los Angeles-based independent research center that works in collaboration with the University of Georgia and the University of Pittsburgh to study human sexual behavior and develop sexuality-related biotechnology.

Scientists who study attraction take into consideration everything from genetics, psychology, and family history to traumas, which have been shown to impact a person’s ability to bond or feel desire.

THE (BRAIN) CHEMISTRY OF LOVE

Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University, Match.com’s science advisor, and the author of Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray, breaks down “love” into three distinct stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. In each stage, your body chemistry behaves differently. It turns out that “chemistry” is, at least in part, actual chemistry. Biochemistry, specifically.

In the lust and attraction phases, your body is directing the show, as people can feel desire without knowing anything personal about the object of that desire. Lust, Fisher asserts in a seminal 1997 paper [PDF], is nothing more than the existence of a sex drive, or “the craving for sexual gratification,” she writes. It’s a sensation driven by estrogens and androgens, the female and male sex hormones, based in the biological drive to reproduce.

Attraction may be influenced less than lust by physiological factors—the appeal of someone’s features, or the way they make you laugh—but your body is still calling the shots at this stage, pumping you full of the hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine, effecting your brain in a way that’s not unlike the way illicit substances do.

Fisher has collaborated multiple times on the science of attraction with social psychologist Arthur Aron, a research professor at Stonybrook University in New York. Aron and his wife Elaine, who is also a psychologist, are known for studying what makes relationships begin—and last.

In a 2016 study in Frontiers in Psychology, the researchers proposed that “romantic love is a natural (and often positive) addiction that evolved from mammalian antecedents by 4 million years ago as a survival mechanism to encourage hominin pair-bonding and reproduction, seen cross-culturally today.”

In the attraction phase, your body produces increased amounts of dopamine, the feel-good chemical that is also responsible for pain relief. Using fMRI brain imaging, Aron’s studies have shown that “if you’re thinking about a person you’re intensely in love with, your brain activates the dopamine reward system, which is the same system that responds to cocaine,” he tells Mental Floss.

Earlier, Fisher’s 1997 paper found that new couples often show “increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship.”

The attachment phase is characterized by increases in oxytocin and vasopressin; these hormones are thought to promote bonding and positive social behaviors to sustain connections over time in order to fulfill parental duties.

There is no hard and fast timeline for how long each phase lasts, as it can vary widely due to gender, age, and other environmental factors, Fisher writes.

Additionally, while oxytocin has long gotten the credit for being the love hormone, Prause says that scientists are now “kind of over oxytocin,” because it has broader functions than simply bonding. It also plays a role in the contraction of the uterus to stimulate birth, instigating lactation, and sexual arousal; low levels have been linked to autism spectrum disorders.

Now they’re focusing on a charmingly named hormone known as kisspeptin (no, really). Produced in the hypothalamus, kisspeptin plays a role in the onset of puberty, and may increase libido, regulate the gonadal steroids that fuel the sex drive, and help the body maintain pregnancy. But Prause says there is a lot more study about the role kisspeptin plays in attraction.

CHEMICAL AND PERSONAL BONDS

Biology may explain our initial attraction and the “honeymoon” phase of a relationship, but it doesn’t necessarily explain why a person’s love of obscure movies or joy of hiking tickles your fancy, or what makes you want to settle down.

The Arons’ numerous studies on this subject have found connection boils down to something quite simple: “What makes people attracted to the point of falling in love—presuming the person is reasonably appropriate for them—is that they feel the other person likes them,” he says.

In the process of doing research for her book How To Fall in Love With Anyone, writer Mandy Len Catron of Vancouver became her own test subject when she came across the research the Arons’ are most well-known for: their 36 questions, which promote bonding.

The questions were originally designed to “generate intimacy, a sense of feeling similar, and the sense that the other person likes you,” Aron explains. Romantic love wasn’t the goal. “It was a way of creating closeness between strangers.”

The Arons’ first tested their questions by pairing up students during a regular class section of a large psychology course, as they related in a paper in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Some students were paired with someone of the same sex, while others were matched with someone of the opposite sex. Each partner then answered a series of 36 increasingly personal questions, which took about 45 minutes each. (Question 2: “Would you like to be famous? In what way?” Question 35: “Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?”) Small talk during class hadn’t made them bond, but the questions made the students feel closer.

In another version of the study, heterosexual, opposite-sex pairs follow the 36-question session with four minutes of staring deeply into each other’s eyes.

Catron decided to test these methods out with a casual acquaintance, Mark, over beers at a local bar one night. They were both dating other people at the time, and no one exclusively. As she answered the questions and listened to Mark’s answers, “I felt totally absorbed by the conversation in a way that was unlike any of the other first dates I was having at the time with people I met online,” Catron tells Mental Floss.

She was ready to skip the four minutes of soulful eye gazing, but Mark thought they should try it. “It was deeply uncomfortable, but it was also an important part of the experience,” she recalls. “It’s so intimate, it requires you to let your guard down.”

The process instilled in Catron a deep feeling of trust in Mark and a desire to know him better. Within three months, they began dating in earnest. Now, more than three years later, they live together in a condo they bought.

The Arons’ questions offer “accelerated intimacy,” she says, in a time of increasingly online-driven dating experiences.

A LITTLE MYSTERY, A LOT OF SHARED VALUES

Despite all that we’ve learned, scientists may only ever be able to brush up against the edge of a true understanding of chemistry. “We understand a fair amount about what happens when [attraction has] already occurred, but we’re really bad at predicting when it will happen,” Prause says. “People who try to claim magical matchmaking, or that they’re going to somehow chemically manipulate an aphrodisiac or something—well good luck! Because we can’t figure it out.”

And anyway, what’s romance without a little mystery?

If you must have a definitive answer to the puzzle of interpersonal chemistry, Prause says to keep this in mind: “The best predictor of long-term outcomes is shared values.”

#Migraines #Months #Relieve #shot #Facts

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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When You Feel "Chemistry" With Someone, What's Actually Going On?

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When You Feel "Chemistry" With Someone, What's Actually Going On?

It’s probably a combination of all three, plus ineffable qualities that even matchmaking services can’t perfectly nail down.

THE (BRAIN) CHEMISTRY OF LOVE

There is no hard and fast timeline for how long each phase lasts, as it can vary widely due to gender, age, and other environmental factors, Fisher writes.

CHEMICAL AND PERSONAL BONDS

In another version of the study, heterosexual, opposite-sex pairs follow the 36-question session with four minutes of staring deeply into each other’s eyes.

The Arons’ questions offer “accelerated intimacy,” she says, in a time of increasingly online-driven dating experiences.

A LITTLE MYSTERY, A LOT OF SHARED VALUES

And anyway, what’s romance without a little mystery?

If you must have a definitive answer to the puzzle of interpersonal chemistry, Prause says to keep this in mind: “The best predictor of long-term outcomes is shared values.”

#chemistry #Feel #Whats #Facts

0 notes