Monkeytennis

I really enjoyed it, it’s not a challenge, more an interactive story with amazing visuals

Haha, oh. I can’t remember if you’re literally in someone’s mind, but it’s a psychedelic guitar fantasy. It’s a very pretty game.

Last credits I saw was Mass Effect 1 (legendary edition on gamepass), last 100%ed was Psychonauts 2 - both last month(ish)

The Artful Escape?

Great recommendations there, each got under my skin. I feel the same about David Lynch films, they connect with something inside me, and lodge permanently in my brain.

I’d put What Remains of Edith Finch, Dear Esther, Talos Principle, Stanley Parable, Metroid Prime and maybe Portal 1+2 in there too - they share an authentically mysterious vibe.

Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds hit me hard, they nailed the atmosphere perfectly. Haven’t actually played DE, was a bit put off by the sheer amount of dialogue, but I need to try it.

I’m a UX product designer and a major issue I’ve encountered within FOSS is extremely opinionated developers, who regularly sacrifice usability for features and configurability, which is instantly off-putting to a general audience.

I’m painting a very broad picture there, and I’m not criticising - I’m a staunch advocate for Linux and FOSS in general, the technical execution and intent is usually brilliant.

Apple is extremely opinionated in their design by limiting options and complexity, that’s one way they achieve a solid foundation, by offering few options (both in terms of software and hardware). They don’t make their users think too hard.

There’s plenty of low hanging fruit that could be addressed (use of plain language, clear actions, other tried and tested design principles) but that’s not enough, and it often relies on strong UI dev skills, which the team doesn’t necessarily have.

I’ve seen some appetite for making FOSS projects easier for a general audience, but things fall flat when it comes to making hard decisions (stripping out or hiding complexity, making decisions to promote simplicity, spending considerable effort on UI instead of features).

I’d love to be more involved in it, and maybe I’m being unfair, but it can be demoralising work for a designer.

If you haven’t tried it, I’d recommend Cascadia for a couples game. Also, Tuscany adds some pleasant complexity to Viticulture … Not that you were asking for recommends, I just couldn’t resist…