Games that Won't Leave the Dark

[@JacobGeller]

Hey! My book, "How a Game Lives: The Annotated Essays of Jacob Geller" is available for pre-order, but only until May 10! Check it out here: www.lostincult.co.uk/howagamelives

[@GeneralTaco155555a]

Do you have a steam recommended list, or would you consider making one?

[@vice-cent6639]

will it be available passed pre-order? i would love to get it but i cant spare the money at the moment. (also the video was great :D)

[@callmetired2294]

You're a wonderful person

[@Lolfire]

Don't suppose there's any plans to release more signed deluxe versions? Also DAMN, smashed the goal by 1241%

[@JacobGeller]

@@vice-cent6639 the standard one will continue to be available! only the deluxe one is exclusive to the pre-order period

[@finfamous2546]

I can't believe I was challenged to not know a single game, yet when hearing "Golf horror" I got excited only to be presented with a different golf horror game than the one I know.

[@stm7810]

which 1 do you know?

[@greenhydra10]

...Are you implying there's multiple that can be described as "golf horror"?

[@madweenerdog8403]

@@greenhydra10 @stm7810 there's a game called Gone Golfing thats in the genre of Golf Mascot Horror (you mini golf while a golfball mascot chases you with murderous intent)

[@dopey473]

THERE'S MORE THAN ONE

[@MelMelodyWerner]

were you thinking about Gone Golfing too?

[@bjornblankenheim6517]

About the end of "White Shadows": I am very sure that ‘A38’ is a very obscure reference... to the French animated film ‘The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (Les Douze travaux d'Astérix)’ (1976). One of the main character Asterix's tasks is to obtain the 'A38 permit' from the prefectural administration, the 'house that makes madmen'. In a Kafkaesque odyssey from application office to application office, he slowly begins to lose his mind. Only when he simply invents a new form ‘A39’ himself does he manage to escape the house. In my generation - I come from Germany - we watched this film over and over again on television, so that the expression 'A38 permit' is synonymous with the impossibility of escaping the bureaucratic madness. And the development team of "White Shadows", Monokel, comes from Cologne, Germany.

[@KrazyKaiser]

This is really good to know

[@throstlewanion]

In Italy this movie is also well known! Lasciapassare A38!

[@doyleharken3477]

oh wow, very good catch! i wouldn't have made the connection, even tho i watched those movies on sat.1 all the time. this ties in nicely with the interpretation posited by another commenter. the A39 permit allows the bird to overcome the oppressive bureaucracy that keeps their kind down.

[@Aburaishi]

So maybe the character change to an identical bird represented the protagonist reinventing themself to escape the oppressive society, much as Asterix invented the new permit to escape the house that makes madmen?

[@emilia885]

that makes SO much sense- A39 bird being the one to get to go and turn off the lights, which are a huge tool of the bureaucratic system, is symbolic of him escaping the system and then shutting it down, or even simply regaining control over his life again. after all, if there are no lights to see who is a pig vs a bird, then you cannot discriminate

[@NecoLumi]

My favorite part about any Geller essay is how much he clearly savors every work of art that comes his way. Silly spooky golf game? Hell yeah. Come and See but it's a dark European fairy tale? You betcha.

[@deikay5414]

I firmly believe that cynicism is the killer of passion. There is almost always something to gain from every piece of media. There's a billion videos about the worst games people have played, but those don't appeal to me. Even if I don't care about a specific piece of media, listening to someone get genuinely excited about it gets me bouncing up and down. It's that feeling when discussing something you're passionate about makes your heart beat faster and stumble over words because if you don't get to that next sentence as fast as humanly possible you could literally explode

[@014Darkness]

Mine is when he goes slightly insane because of one of the games he's talking about, the ending of White Shadows in this one lol

[@ghostleyd8153]

@@deikay5414 I thoroughly agree! CinemaWins was my first introduction to this passion-based approach to media and as dramatic as it sounds, it genuinely changed my approach to life in general. Every movie is someone's favourite. Every experience can be appreciated. I am so grateful for people like Geller that highlight their enjoyment of media and share it with the world.

[@theviniso]

​@@ghostleyd8153 I was just about to mention CinemaWins as well! While there's a lot of entertainment to be had in drama and outrage, as I get older I've been getting less and less interested in these things and more into people talking about stuff they enjoy. And the reason is simple: as CinemaWins so eloquently puts it, liking things is simply more fun than not liking things.

[@lordseriphus]

​@@deikay5414 this is me taking to people put in public when they ask me anything about a topic I love! xD I always feel so bad, because I can rant for hours. But if I apologize people are just like, "Keep going." Passion and excitement are way easier to listen to and engage with than negativity for sure. Sometimes it makes people wanna listen even if the topic isn't their taste. I've stuck around just to hear people talk about something I didn't know about or enjoy, just for their perspective. Usually walk away with more appreciation for the subject.

[@jultejock7185]

As a swedish person, I kind of find it interesting that the micro genre "young child + dangerous world" is almost entirely scandinavian. Limbo and Inside were both created by PlayDead, a Danish studio, while Little Nightmares, Bramble, Fran Bow and Little Misfortune were all created by Swedish studios. I wonder why that is honestly.

[@BeleuchteteBrueder]

Just take a look a scandinavian literature, movies and TV series... I do sense a cultural pattern here :) - I guess it is those long and dark northern winters that inspire these feelings in creative people. An then intertextuality kicks in.

[@arsena5209]

I love Swedish people, y'all are great and have great metal bands which is a big + imo

[@zakkymiftahurrahman1665]

Can we extend the genre to "Small-sized person/people + a dangerous dark world"? Because then Deep Rock Galactic (actually an action game rather than a horror one) made by a Danish studio will fit in too.

[@HeyJoJoTF2]

Lots of similar folklore, which probably has a bigger influence in those cultures. Hansel and gretel for example

[@thediamondcutter9185]

Guess Scandinavian places must be pretty scary lol

[@hwosaidicantfreerun]

I REMEMBER WHITE SHADOWS my read on the ending was something along the lines of .... everyone having a part to play. even in a revolution, even in a massive societal shift, the actual nitty gritty the pushing of the smallest domino is done by normal people. the tickets the birds collect, both the player character "A38" and the bird who comes after, "A39" are both revolutionaries. The ticket booth, feels less polished than the rest of the city, and feels like a holdout made by an underground (hehe) organization of other revolutionaries camping out in the city, rather than an intentional part of it. there are hundreds of floodlights. and they're all on separate platforms that are powered individually, and fly individually. one character cant shut them all off all at once. it needs to be a concerted effort. the serial numbers are the individual birds who have to go to each separate lamp. one bird, one set of artificial wings, and one number, per lamp. and the phone call is the go-signal. to me it felt like the game was saying "you aren't the only one who has to go through danger and trials and tribulations to get to where you are. revolution is built by community. and every single one of you has faced the same danger. you may not be the lone standing hero, but you were never alone in your struggle." having you change characters at the last second made me feel like it was telling me to recognize that camaraderie. that they're all fighting the same fight.

[@HadalStreetlights]

I love this reading so much.

[@MarxSoul2001]

Ohhh that's a really good reading! I can totally see it!

[@KrazyKaiser]

Holy shit that's such an incredible reading, this comment makes me want to go play that games again.

[@stm7810]

brilliant idea, this will now be my head canon.

[@noviatoria2436]

++

[@asjacc4557]

To clarify (as a scandinavian who has studied folklore), a myling isn’t necessarily a child that was sacrificed. Usually the story goes that an unmarried woman has a newborn child she doesn’t want, so she kills the baby and buries it somewhere near the house or by a church (sometimes inside the church walls). Since the baby wasn’t baptised or buried in accordance with the church’s rules, they become a myling. Most stories about them involve the myling appearing before a crowd to reveal their mother’s crimes as an act of vengeance (sometimes at her wedding, it’s all very dramatic).

[@innocentbystander3317]

Wow, appreciate the context! I love learning cultural legends and stories like this, gives real insight into how people think, and what they value as a community. As dark as the context may be, it inspires strong family values. I can appreciate that. Once again, thank you very much.

[@bunbuntheevil]

I'm pretty sure that the midwife in the section is based on the " angel maker " a lady who " took care " of unwanted babies by drowning them, an extremely chilling story to say the least.

[@asjacc4557]

@@bunbuntheevil could definitely see that, ofc unlike a myling änglamakerskor were actually a thing in real life but they 100% fit the vibe of a dark fantasy story based in scandinavian folklore

[@felixw19]

A38 is a reference to "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix" in which one of the tasks for the heroes is to receive the "permit A 38" from a system of infinite bureaucracy

[@SusanIvanova2257]

I was about to say. A game that wears it's inspirations on the sleeve and then uses specifically A38 for a bureaucracy madness scene? That's definitely an Asterix reference

[@oroboros4437]

Also used in The Witcher 3 - Blood and wine in the bank sidequest !

[@felixw19]

@@oroboros4437 this is also just a reference to Asterix

[@xoxivory]

the twitter “screenshot” at 2:17 is the funniest shit ever. “who else can’t regain their childhood!” by “she liminal on my space”

[@liamross340]

@mostlyshoppingmalls

[@2006jhz]

She back on my room until I liminal my spaces

[@normalman6078]

one BILLION likes 😨 😱

[@kittymoo3297]

I just wanted to draw a bit of attention to these lines here. "The game traps you between the gears, makes you feel that you're the problem in this system otherwise perfectly optimized for mechanical efficiency. The massive scale of many of the levels further alienate you from the city, stumbling through a society that's designed you out of it." It's not the focus of the video I know, but these lines really hit me hard. Such a wonderful description of something I've felt my whole life.

[@Stampybampy]

*Insert obligatory neurodivergence/disability comment/assertion/observation here*

[@FunnyLittleFella]

@@Stampybampy came here to say this lol

[@madixus38]

That's just my personal story, but when I found out pretty late in my life that I have ADHD i was devastated. Everything finally made sense, but the sensation that I struggled for so much time because no one ever thought that maybe there are people that exist on schedule outside of norm made me... sad. Since then I've stumbled across many neurodivergent people and everyone with late diagnosis has had similar experiences. A few years later and I can't talk about it in normal experiences. Being neurodivergent is who I am, but it does not define me. Yes, I struggle, everyone struggles, industrial capitalism is just made for no one and the whole system sucks. Let's revive the punk culture

[@VultureSkins]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@Stampybampythat, but also like, any other minority group lol. American society was designed in such a way that many, many people feel/are left out of what we see as “normal life” :p

[@devynnhanson]

@@madixus38I was literally thinking the exact same thing. I got diagnosed with adhd after I got into college, and I just stopped functioning. Everything made sense. All the times in school I was made fun of by both students and teachers alike, why I couldn’t focus, why I was different. I knew all of that growing up, but once I realized why it was like that, I felt all the pain I had been ignoring. It’s like the quote from the video, I could now fully see the extent of the machine that was built to exclude me. And it was just too much to handle. Thankfully I’m doing better now. Part of that is because my mom, who got diagnosed at the same time as me, changed her plans and started getting certified as an ADHD coach, and she’s helped me a lot

[@marsverb]

Contextualizing tiny indie games like these as short stories is brilliant - it'll be an absolute gamechanger when it comes to explaining my tastes to people who demand 500 hours of content out of every single game they play.

[@Cilibi]

It’s also a good explanation for people who refuse to read any fanfiction that isn’t a 50 chapter epic, they miss some really well written one shots

[@marsverb]

@@Cilibi Oh my god as a fic writer who mostly writes oneshots I feel that

[@Laikafan02]

Rimworld is just that! It’s a story generator!

[@coagmano]

I just find it the most useful way of describing my facination with games to a non-gamer. Especially ones that can be snobby about art

[@thismissivemisfit]

I used to work with the publishing industry, and one of the things I wanted for traditional writers back then was for them to experience writing for various media such as video games. This would have been a perfect comparison.

[@AnInnocuousBlueCube]

The Bonbon jumpscare reminds me that every indie game is a horror classic if you're a distrusting paranoid wreck who's worried to turn around like I am.

[@DJET723]

Tbh the fear that he was describing was something I felt up until I was a teenager. Now still paranoid but less so.

[@valeoncat13]

I feel like with algorithms behind all the stuff we interact with nowadays, people lean a little too much into waiting for good art to fall into their lap...and when that doesn't work, they assume good art no longer exists. So I really appreciate that you mention how important putting in effort to find/seek out art, is!

[@SemekiIzuio]

Thats the reason why I dont like how Google tracks everything from what you search what you watch what you interact with to your locations. Its to cater to keep us constantly engage and never leave. But at the same time we are in a bubble to whatever the algorithm we created feeds us.

[@AlienToppedPancakes]

The golf game and mixing of genres really reminds me of the trend of "retail horror"-games lately. Like monsters aren't scary anymore. But the stress of dealing with the endless amount of new and entitled people that think they can take advantage of you, that scary!

[@Cudddlefish]

And it’s increasingly realistic that you’ll be the only person around when things go down, but no one else will come to help you and you’re not allowed to leave.

[@DeadBoneJones]

I would put them both as subtypes of a new genre I’ve observed, that also includes stuff like Iron Lung; “Task horror.” The idea that things are falling apart, monsters are hunting you, the world is turning into a nightmare, but there’s still this *one job* you have to focus on long enough to get done. It works on multiple levels; the requirement to focus on something provides opportunities to scare you, and on a more narrative level it captures the feeling of what it’s like to try and perform your daily routine when you know what’s going on in the world.

[@z-beeblebrox]

@@DeadBoneJones YES that's a good observation, and I feel like it really took off - or maybe even spawned - because of the pandemic, and the way it revealed a situation nobody had really given much thought to: that if your job isn't directly impacted by the current world-ending threat that's going on, you will probably be expected to come into work during the apocalypse.

[@scootmaloot4583]

13:47 jumpscares don’t usually get me and jacob geller was literally talking over this one but somehow i still got scared

[@MasDouc]

That was on purpose, if he paused for dramatic effect you would have expected the scare but his enunciation of BonBon right at the scare made it even scarier.

[@Amoechick]

Conversely, I was reading this comment on my second watch of the video and got jumpscared by a commercial for a Pikmin game.

[@thirdcoinedge]

Same, it's like that Vox video about Victorian mansions ending with a Pennywise jumpscare. You think it's just going to be a somewhat disturbing but informative video essay about a niche topic and then BAM! you get jumpscared.

[@zbsfm]

literally scared me for days after watching this video for the first time

[@WinterGray8888]

The monthly release schedule is truly the best way to do it. Not so often that I get oversaturated, but also not so infrequent that I forget you exist. I’m always excited to click on a new Jacob Geller video

[@phryg2035]

i agree! just earlier today i found myself craving a new jacob geller vid, rewatching some old favourites, and here he is with a new one. perfect timing

[@quntface1518]

Honestly, I'd be okay with even 1 every 2 months, if it was needed.

[@ReysaAdam]

It's not even like you can expect essay videos like Jacob Geller quality to be daily.. no offense, these videos are hard to make hence why they take like a month or two to be done.

[@c0diz]

he’s always got such perfect timing, i routinely find myself thinking « hm i want a new jacob geller video » and then find one at the top of my recommended

[@SwedishGhostLovers]

Thanks for mentioning us and our video on Bramble!

[@Aanzeijar]

As for A38. You may not know that, but A38 is pretty famous in Europe from the film "The Twelve Tasks Of Asterix". In it, one of the tasks is to get into "The Place That Sends You Mad" and retrieve Permit A38. It turns out to be a government agency in which everyone just redirects everyone to somewhere else until they go insane. It entereed common knowledge in Germany, France and a lot of other European countries as a shorthand for insane Kafkaesque bureaucracy.

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

So 'the system has failed make your own'?

[@newsystembad]

I had no idea it was that well-known there! My parents are from India, so even though I grew up stateside, I got a lot of European comic influences (Asterix and Tintin, primarily). Glad to hear that others enjoyed them so much as well!

[@buggibii]

silly horror is one of my favorites. you are being chased by a killer, you are alone, it is dark, you're in danger- but you just _have_ to finish your round of golf. you are faced with eldritch horrors beyond your very imagination, your universe as you know it is to be completely destroyed by them- but you find these horrors... attractive, and in fact, your one End of World wish is to kiss them. you find out your neighbor is a murderer, someone you have had many a friendly interaction with, and you fear you might be next on the chopping block- how do you know this? you're a peeping tom, and as it turns out, you both have been eyeing the same people. you are being hunted by unknown assailants in broad daylight, all you can do is run for your life in terror- you are a duck. love it.

[@ZhaneDFrost]

You can't just describe the other games without actually giving us their titles, y'know...

[@josephmanty6855]

Reminds me a lot of Sunless Sea. Oh, the terros from the endless deep are trying to eat your boat? Mondays, am I right? If you haven't played it already, I strongly recomend that you give it a try. (Or the related games, Fallen London and Sunless Skies.)

[@raindio7169]

DESPERATELY need the names of the other games you've referenced here, would much appreciate it

[@mcslender2965]

Hi can I get the name of the games? I think I realized Hello Neighbor as one of the games

[@tevildo7718]

@@raindio7169 I'm pretty sure one of the games this commentator referenced is the Lovecraftian dating sim, I don't remember the name but Markiplier played it.

[@raspberry_wiskey6999]

bonbon has always really stuck with me. the titular bonbon looks shocking like a reoccurring nightmare trauma creature I had when I was a kid. it's weird to see it outside of my dreams

[@JEEJ_MUSIC]

"It's actually called fore-play" *Dammit Geller, that one got me good.*

[@Cudddlefish]

And here I was gonna joke about me and the boys whacking it on the green for hours on end.

[@Pirateyware]

@@Cudddlefish We go out there, and we play with our balls. We take stroke after stroke. And we make use of the holes.

[@sophiaro4593]

Okay so concerning the A38 moment in White Shadows. I really cannot explain the way it plays into the narrative here, but at least I can give a little more information on it. The A38 and A39 are WEEEELL known numbers to anyone in Europe who grew up watching Asterix and Obelix films. In The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (probably everyone's childhood favourite and for good reason, it's a fantastic comedy), one of Asterix' herculean tasks is getting "permit A38" at "the house that makes lunatics". It's a fantastic riff on the beaurocratic insanity of getting any kind of form at an administrative office in France - and it rings even truer as a German watching it, because our system is just...yes, it makes lunatics. And after getting bossed around and sent through the bowels of this house a dozen times over, Asterix eventually beats the system by instead asking the officials why they don't offer permit A39, turning their games on themselves. So I would say the A38 part is definitely an hommage to that, but how it works in the grand structure and narrative of the game...dunno. But perhaps this little nugget of info helps?

[@gaycheems7643]

A39 (the bird) destroys the status quo by turning off the lights, just like asterix asking for the permit A39. A38 is part of the status quo and traps people in the system

[@11equalsfish]

Nice explanation!

[@stevem5814]

The White Shadows ending reminds me of a conversation I had with a student who had been trying to find a part time job for 2 years. He would emphasize just how hard he worked on improving and working on his resume. He would say "I got hundreds of hours of volunteering experience. I spent days on my resume. I talked to tons of people on how I can improve my resume. The place I am applying to needs new employees, why haven't I been accepted?" I told him that he probably feels like he's given his 120% effort to be the very best candidate, but what he has to realize is that everyone else who applied likely tried just as hard as him, if not even more. They probably have gone through just as many stressful days as he has, even if he feels like he's the most hard working or qualified candidate around. No matter how hard you've tried, someone who wants the same thing as you tried just as hard and you can't be surprised if you don't achieve your goal. The ending seems to be describing this concept. The identical bird has artificial wings given by people who genuinely believe that they will succeed just like the main character and has probably gone through a journey just as harrowing as them. The identical bird has been chosen instead of you despite everything you've been through, because all the tough days just weren't enough. The market is just too competitive and the higher ups want someone just a little better than you and so all your effort has been for naught. PS: The wings represent the gifts that friends and family have given you in the hopes that you suceed. Light represents the false hope of the higher ups. The phone calls similarily represent the offers and promises of a better life the higher ups are offering, which the higher up use to lead the protaganist on until the very end, until he has been evaluated to be inferior to A39, someone just slightly better. A39 rejects(?) the higher ups' offer at the very end, having experienced their own journey and understanding the corrupt system the higher ups have created. A39 decides to shut off the light (the false hope of the higher ups) and the game ends.

[@dawsonbalencia3119]

I just have to be that person here and say it made my day to see Bramble brought up in this video. I’ve seen so few people talking about it and with the vast majority of my family being “Scandihoovian” (Great-Grandma’s term) it’s such a special game for me. It brings to life a lot of stories I heard when I was little, stories I still seek out today as an adult to learn more of my family’s culture and to get a hit of pure childhood nostalgia. And by nostalgia yes I mean hearing happy stories about little Norwegian or sometimes German kids suddenly become absolute horror before being told goodnight. 😂😂

[@beanbag8449]

I loved bramble, fantastic game. One of those rare games that I just sat down with and got totally absorbed into. And that I was learning Scandinavian folklore was awesome too.

[@kaltsssit]

13:04 "Your unseen room could contain any brand of evil" Look behind myself to see my cat staring back at me. Seems about right.

[@zUJ7EjVD]

A Day of Maintenance by bighandinsky is actually a game nobody is talking about, and that sucks because the ending left me grinning from ear to ear while I simultaneously bawled like a child. That's the emotional state I love the most and it's so incredibly rare. As a solo developed open-world game it's impressive technically too.

[@dashiethebunny]

As someone who played Greener Grass Awaits myself, one part that stuck with me the most was the soundtrack. It reminded me so much of early Silent Hill games, how it had that odd balance of relaxing, soothing synth while still having a very "haunting" feeling to it, which represents the early game wonderfully, before devolving into surrealist, untuned, industrial synth electronic that matches the nightmare aesthetic of the latter half perfectly. I would KILL for a physical release like a vinyl of it someday, because it might genuinely be the best part of the game for me. Plus, I've had the ending song stuck in my head for nearly months, so there's that too lmao.

[@palemourningrose2463]

I explored the dark these past few days. With a game that was 70% off on Xbox, Endling: Extinction is Forever. The only game I have ever played that made me genuinely misty-eyed and deeply emotional not even ten minutes in. The game that left me with such a hollow, all-consuming sadness at the end, that for a half an hour I was literally too sad to cry. The game with some of the most simplistic graphics I have ever seen and yet moved me to tears with its stylization, simplicity, and riveting music. The game about motherhood, sacrifice, and pain at the end of the world. Please, please play it. Because it has wounded me in such a deeply personal way that I HAVE to talk about it.

[@TheNickmista]

I've added it to my list :). I think i was interested in playing it around release but it didn't make the cut and i forgot about it with so many games in my backlog.

[@majejejenta]

your comment moved me so much. I'm going to play it.

[@Aerinis]

I played this game a couple months ago and it was absolutely incredible. About as subtle as a brick to the head in regards to its themes and messages, but I think it's probably the best game I'll never be emotionally strong enough to play again. Definitely recommend checking it out if you've ever played the Shelter series and thought "what if this was even more emotionally distressing"

[@morganlinesart9625]

I LOVED that game! I was there when they won the games for change most significant impact award. I went home and played it immediately. I also cried so much playing it.

[@avryantoinette]

Added to my list. Thanks!

[@mischibee]

The concept of bonbon and the explanation Jacob gives about the “fright that lurks when you’re not looking”-gives me the same fear as when I was asleep facing a mirror only for my reflection to get up and stare at me while I sleep. 💀

[@Oriol-oo7jl]

Wow that's terryfing. This and other many thoughs are what keep me away from sleeping in a room with any mirror. Mirrors have something

[@respectthefish4992]

girl didn't your mama tell you to cover your mirror when you got to sleep??

[@The_Libationist]

I miss the “Fear of” series but at least these examinations of horror games serve as a spiritual successor.

[@saotiago]

tbf those videos all came within years of each other, so, who knows! maybe he will do anither one

[@TheNickmista]

I like them as just rare entires when he feels it's appropriate. There are few things i hate more than video formats serialised to the point of being a useless gimmick that bear no relevance to the content/title (No shade but see UpIsNotJump - X Is an absolute Nightmare). If he just kept making "Fear of X" videos inevitably they'd become so contrived or detached from the concept of fear they'd be meaningless. I think it's better he just makes the entries when he finds content that has a relevant theme and warrants it.

[@boxofspoons8867]

I saw the Bramble thumbnail and I had to watch. Absolutely one of my favorite games from last year, not only because it’s essentially Little Nightmares but with fairy tales, but also because of how darkly cinematic it is.

[@greenhydra10]

You know they did something either incredibly right or incredibly wrong when Olly's mental state is likely as concerning as Runaway Kid's.

[@wittypseudonym]

immediately began vibrating in my seat when this opened with Greener Grass Awaits. hell yes.

[@charliemelton885]

A lot of my favorite pieces of media “succeed in far more interesting ways than they fail.” Great way to describe why we love things that are imperfect

[@zp6182]

Not me sitting down with pen and paper ready to write down Jacob's recommendations to add to my artsy game backlog (it is now too big to ever finish)

[@johncameron1935]

It's not about completing the backlog. It's about striving to.

[@Treia24]

you aren't kidding about the familiarity of the setting of Bonbon! There's just something extra terrifying I wouldn't really have expected in seeing horror set with a child protag about the age I would have been when I had most of those exact same toys, almost the same TV, my favourite babysitter's sofa, etc.

[@UndeadMozelle]

Am I a big, overly-literal baby for reading White Shadows as being about animal agriculture? The big, jagged, mechanical environment connected by conveyors and pipes seems very evocative of a slaughterhouse; the light baths to keep darkness away seems very similar to how most farmed animals have limited (sometimes entirely theoretical) access to sunlight or stimulation, which can be psychologically and physically devastating; the rat who just stops regarding you to take a call you're not privy to while you're fighting to escape but also completely powerless to, like a worker dealing with a scared animal; the feeding live chicks into a grinder which is just straight up standard industry practice; even the replaceability of the protagonist at the end, whose number is called and they're never seen again, and how the lights go out for the 'new' protagonist after their number comes up.

[@Cilibi]

I don’t think you’re overly-literal. Games are meant to be understood on many different levels, so while Geller is prone to looking towards obscure symbolism, you are making more direct connections. Both are correct :)

[@aslandus]

I mean, themes can be about more than one thing at once. A lot of abuse can look very similar, regardless of whether the victims are minorities, children, or animals.

[@alexp8785]

@@aslandus equating minorities to children and animals is crazy LOL

[@enemycrumbles]

Jacob Geller using a Bo Burnham reference and then using World of Goo background music is the combo I didn’t know I needed. God I love World of Goo.

[@Tazarul]

Same, I was looking to see if anyone else noticed the world of goo music too

[@hadriandwyer2191]

World of goo goty sweep 2024

[@Tazarul]

@@hadriandwyer2191 looking forward to world of goo 2

[@gorecrystalhellfire3770]

as someone who is friends with the lead dev of world of goo, it has influenced my life way more than it should

[@finechinaplates1101]

28:30 This moment reminds me of Aldia, that is: "There is no path beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of dark. What could possibly await us? And yet, we seek it, insatiably. Such is our fate..." Thats my interpretation of this ending.

[@krixkhaos]

I am not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, so when Jacob said we probably wouldn't have heard of all of the games he was going to talk about, I very readily believed him and anticipated never having heard of ANY of them. So colour me surprised when the VERY FIRST GAME he talks about was one that I watched Dan and Phil play in its entirety during Spooky Week last year.

[@gracecollins6891]

My personal "dark game" like this is a criminally overlooked dark souls inspired roguelike called 'In Celebration of Violence'. It places you down into the world as an amnesiac, and challenges you to travel out and slay the minions of the thousand-faced god of violence - and without any spoilers, the final battle against said god is quite possibly the most fascinating way I've ever seen a game of this type end. On top of this, the way that the game reveals its lore to the player through rare 'missing page' drops from enemies and the further details of said lore are what have kept me coming back to this game for almost 200 hours at this point.

[@Oriol-oo7jl]

I just wish-listed it. Thanks :)

[@gracecollins6891]

@@Oriol-oo7jl I'm glad to hear it! Really, if even one person plays this game because of me then I'm more than happy

[@FijianSouljah1312]

Jacob, I hope one day you feel the grateful joy I feel whenever you upload, I extend that gratitude by saying your videos bring me solace while I go through my Opioids withdrawal and with that, my deepest and darkest times in life. I am stuck in a well filled with water, I don’t know the depth of this well nor the water. I’m getting tired of trying to stay above the water but sometimes, I see a sliver of light piercing through above me and that gives me hope, although I don’t know what’s eclipsing it or how hard the challenge will be to break it; what I do know is that facing problems that aren’t problems yet is pointless and I should be trying to challenge the problem at hand right now. Even if I crawl, even if I move by hands and knees, it’ll be better to move then to not.

[@FijianSouljah1312]

I would also like to ask you if you’ve heard of ‘Void Stranger’ & if you’ll be talking about it in ANY detail in a video planned?

[@sawyerstudio]

The true challenge awaits outside the well. But the challenge is simple, just be you. You're worthy of love and the first, last and most important love is that we give ourselves. Take care of your body and replenish your spirit, you'll never know what you are if you don't give yourself the grace to find out. When you're really and truly out of that dark place, you'll have a strength and insight that can keep you out, actually, you'll find that that experience is something you can continue to draw upon for the rest of your life to nourish the life you won back from the darkness.

[@calebcrumlish1670]

Hang in there. What you're doing is one of the hardest things there even *is* to do, but the fact that you've managed to come this far and not give up is so, so impressive and important. I don't know anything about your circumstances, but I am going to be thinking about you, and hoping you make it.

[@TomMinnow]

28:41 I wonder if even the "hero" bird that rises above the others is an orchestrated way to keep the birds below passive, waiting for the one that will save them when really it would require so much more than an individual's actions. Will the next bird fly up, bathed in light to restore the city, the birds below recognizing that what tiny scraps of light they got were better than pitch black? Satiated for a time they do not rebel against an unjust system, only for another generation to be sold the same heros tale?

[@Oriol-oo7jl]

Like in Matrix the trilogy movies, where Neo seems to be the hero against machines, but he is himself part of the computer system, a way to purge errors or smthing like that (i might be wrong i only fully unserstand the first one)

[@Rehjun]

That Bonbon jumpscare removed every inch of sleepiness I had watching this at 12am

[@PixelRoserade]

this isn't related but somehow i misread sleepiness as elephants and was willing to accept that.

[@zbsfm]

It got me so bad, I never thought I'd experience a jumpscare like that in a video essay

[@royalknightsleipmon2345]

The way you talked about the bed scene in Bonbon made me think of "The blanket never did anything" from the Magnus Archives.

[@Olivia-pj9wy]

I meant to comment this earlier, but the fear of “unlocking” whatever is waiting in the darkness where you aren’t looking is something that still affects me and horror that uses it well is *so* effective

[@katehucks774]

Weirdly, I only ever get this feeling when I’m outside in the dark, especially in the woods. I think it just triggers something deep in my animal brain like “you have extremely low visibility in an open area with many hiding places, the ONLY place you KNOW does not contain predators is directly in front of you” The simple solution to not wanting to turn over in bed in case something is there, waiting to be perceived, is to have your bed in a corner and only ever sleep facing the room. Then nothing can be behind you, because there’s a wall there. I did have intrusive thoughts as a kid that aliens could be right outside my windows at night, looking at me through the blinds, but I realized eventually that if there WERE, they clearly didn’t mean to harm me, because if they did, they would have done so by now, or that they weren’t capable of getting in through the windows, in which case I had nothing to worry about!

[@sapphirewolf4031]

Bramble: The Mountain King is the only one of these I'd heard of--and I can confirm that initially, before I'd seen more than some initial footage on it, I was FULLY convinced it was a cozy fairytale game. It wasn't until I saw that bog-chase scene in a TikTok that it really clicked for me

[@JonathanXLindqviust]

24:10 I think this is somewhat unfair because you've never been in Scandinavia. But I can't begin to describe how they've entirely nailed exactly how our woods and stories feel- and look. It's as if they've taken all the fairytales from my childhood, all my walks in the dark forests up north to the light forests in the south, every painting, and made it real. But for someone who hasn't been there I can understand that it looks just like a generic forest. But we know our own woods.

[@JacobGeller]

I really appreciate this perspective!!

[@doctorsmex]

as someone who enjoys a lot of indie comics, stepping just outside the spotlight and scouring smaller indie sites is how i've found some of my favorite art pieces ever. seeking out lesser known artwork in any medium is one of my favorite pastimes and there are some real gems out there just waiting to be found. not every title you find will be life changing but they are all worth experiencing because someone made them, and that means something

[@Frosty_tha_Snowman]

I really wish that Dark Souls 2 would have added a toggle for the darkness - because, originally, it was a game that was made to make you rely on your torch to see in the dark in certain areas, but upon release, they changed it so that you could see just fine in those areas.

[@robertenbre8188]

i thought of dark souls 2 a lot since playing it, and last time i replayed dark souls 3, i did it with reshade and settings that makes darker areas so dark on my monitor that i have to use torch and it's been fun.

[@Nacalal]

12:40 I used to have the exact same sensation, it's part of the reason I still sleep with my bed lodged in the corner of my room all these years later.

[@kylem.9525]

wake up babe, new jacob geller video

[@thirdiprodigy3579]

Beat me to it 😅

[@paradoxicallyblue]

I was gonna say lol

[@sporeham1674]

We're awake sugarcakes

[@adamevaskevich5528]

Much better meme than the "*Insert Views* man, this guy's fallen off"

[@iHaveTheDocuments]

Wake up babe, another generic npc comment just dropped 😂

[@nautilume7114]

One game that would've been perfect for this lineup is "Shady Part Of Me", where you control a girl and her shadow both hoping to find "a way out." The catch is that the girl can't handle the light, and the shadow can't exist in the dark. You have to play with the clever functions of light and shadow in order to progress, what's one character's path is the other's obstacle. Much of the game acts as trading off navigable space between the two in order to help each other progress. The shadow and the girl are constantly compromising some of their space to help the other progress, and that gameplay function makes it feel like you're experiencing and playing out the story, not just witnessing it. I was barely interested when I picked it up and absolutely loved it. Another game metaphorically in the dark is the narrative puzzle platformer "Mo: Astray" Where like in White shadows, you are an accident in the cogs of a world that was designed without you, however, this game takes place after an apocalypse that left the people in an ecosystem not fit for them. It's my favorite platformer in existence as the controls feel super... "crisp?" I've never seen a game where the main character feels this good to control and jump around with, and that combined with many of the cinematic moments leaving you to play out the near-death escapes just makes this game feel amazing. The world, ambience, and the story are also 10/10, just save the comics you get after each boss for the end.

[@no-lifenoah7861]

Huge shout-out to this comment. Shady Part Of Me was fuckin' awesome.

[@dsizzle7859]

Bramble: The Mountain King actually reminds me a lot of the game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Both games put me through a roller coaster of emotions.

[@JacobGeller]

Yeah there's definitely some common DNA there

[@Tunality]

This is why I watch Jacob Geller, like, seriously, where else can I get an engaging and informed breakdown of a golf-horror game that makes me actually want to play said golf-horror game, which are two concepts that are so wildly dissonant, when the horror set in I was legit amazed but how clever the mechanics and set-up were. Thanks for the wonderful videos 👍🏼

[@jckpth]

I got to listen to this video while on a long car ride on nebula and it was so captivating. Wonderful writing man!

[@Shomi_The_Way]

Please make more videos like this!!! As a game designer this is sooo needed. Incredible way to present the unique aspects of each of these projects.

[@rileydport]

Citizen Sleeper OST ACTIVATED me during the greener grass chapter

[@concanthandleme]

Just the CLIP of bonbon by the bed startled the crap out of me. I wasn't expecting to be jump scared in a video essay

[@grahamwalker2168]

Any novice golfer knows that the repressed horror of greener grass awaits it is portraying is the gaze of other golfers as you line up your shot and shank it wildly for all to see. The shame of this impending doom is unbearable to feel.

[@kohtan13kumi]

I love that White Shadows was introduced to me here! I had to leave the essay and come back post-game. The ending reminds me of social climbing. When the system is against you, getting your foot (or wing) in the door is practically a miracle. Making it up is the prophecy from the ancestors who suffered before you. You won’t be the only one to “make it” and not everyone who does will be the revolutionary the old heads were dreaming of…but one will be. I’m coming from a US perspective though. The series others are mentioning down here sounds interesting.

[@Electronica27]

28:39 TBH I think that whole thing with the Bird and Bureaucracy was that it could be that they're quite literally just in line to do the same thing. The world doesn't change, it only goes to the next person up.

[@samchop157]

I feel like we should check on Jacob, there’s so many games he can’t get out of his head and we need to get some out of there.

[@felixdeplanques3614]

Greener Grass Awaits is surprisingly really clever and quite entertaining ! I'm also glad you talked about Bonbon because I feel like it deserves much more attention for how well it handled itself. Bramble is so fascinating in its presentation and both story and symbolism need a full video dedicated to them imo. Also I don't want to be spoiled White Shadows so I didn't watch the full segment of the video dedicated to it since you really intrigued me with this game !

[@creditsong7369]

The ending of this video sent chills down my spine. Thank you for encouraging people to try indie titles! I don't play many video games, but I love finding music from small artists and going through their whole catalog of music. There's something so heartbreaking about finding a truly beautiful piece of music and then seeing that has maybe 1000 streams total. People are always saying that they're tired of pop music or the listening to the same three bands over and over again and I just want to shake them and scream "we are living in a time when it has never been easier for the average person to create something and put it out there for free. There are masterpieces in the dark waiting to be listened to." I think the best song of the 2020s will never even break 1000s views on KZbin. I imagine it's similar with indie games. So thank you for shedding light on these games. Edit: for anyone wanting suggestions, the two songs that have been on repeat for me lately are "Your Sky" by execute.HELI and "Too Late" by DavP.

[@defenestrationstation8051]

You should drop some music recommendations and help spread the love if you want >:)

[@creditsong7369]

@@defenestrationstation8051 Well, I mostly listen to vocal synth producers rn. My current two faves that are on repeat at the moment are "Your Sky" by execute.HELI and "Too Late" by DavP

[@creditsong7369]

@@defenestrationstation8051 Hm, well, I tried to reply to this comment with my suggestions but I think YT deleted it (it doesn't like comments like that because it thinks its spam). Let me see if I can figure something else out

[@defenestrationstation8051]

Oh that’s dumb, you could edit the original comment and add them there I guess?

[@creditsong7369]

@@defenestrationstation8051 Tried it out, let me know if it worked

[@cmckevitt]

Hi jacob I haven't watched the video yet but I just wanted to take this chance to tell you that I'm a silly fella with a very low attention span but you've managed to have me glued to my screen when you talk about video games that sometimes I know nothing about. The way you present your content is incredibly engaging and intricate, so I really just wanted to let you know I think your videos are great.

[@Oriol-oo7jl]

right? he narrates SO GOOD

[@brandonfeltman7429]

putting "find out what that means" with the credits was OH......so so good. man i remember when i first saw the gga game and heard that finale music. i was sat stunned thinking "wait a minute.....this song is actually really good" haha. gonna go watch the exit 8 one on nebula. i wonder with the upcoming changes (maybe already happened) if my nebula subscription changes

[@Osmium78]

Always a good day when this guy posts

[@gothmfsalem]

25:32 I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS SONG TO START PLAYING LOL

[@BoopleSnoot-u5b]

I actually knew about bramble and greener grass prior to this video via youtube channel, although you probably knew about it already. It's AlphaBetaGamer, HIGHLY recommend it, guy reviews ultra niche and really exciting indie games in the best way for a review and not an essay - without any words or commentary

[@Ahnock]

i love the ending message of bringing lesser known art out of the darkness and into the light. we need more people like you jacob, who are willing to take a chance on the dark, even after im sure so many letdowns.

[@BurningTNT]

Recently I played a visual novel, Heaven Will be Mine, completely on a whim. Pretty much entirely because it’s about lesbians and the bits of character dialogue in the screenshot seemed entertaining I was not prepared for the metaphors on alienation, insights into humanity, and just how conceptually *fascinating* it’s world was. Gravity not just as a force, but an enforced boundary on what a human can be, shaped by collective consensus. It’s beautiful, it makes me think in the way the best stories do, I found it by luck. I happened to play it one afternoon whilst looking through dozens of untouched games in my library. It reminds me to go search the dark, because it might contain the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. So here’s me… telling you what I found

[@no-lifenoah7861]

"HEAVEN WILL BE MINE is a visual novel about making terrible life decisions in the midst of a hot-blooded battle between giant robots." Sold

[@iwaslikenope1070]

I will never not be in awe of the way you present these games that "anyone barely talks about". thank you for adding to my ever-growing backlog (affectionately). I will also never not be in awe with your mixture of serious words to the occasional goofy one-can't be always easy to pull off, and yet you nail it every time?? I'm a quiet subscriber but your work inspires me so so much. thank you, Jacob. can't wait for your book. ❤

[@tartra]

28:19 Everything you're describing about White Shadows feels like a Black kid having to perform in their application to university, trying to chase the dream that comes from getting a degree, just to be met with the reality of debt and no job prospects anyway. It's the element of affirmative action that I see in there - everyone has an equal chance to succeed, but Black kids are seen as just "fulfilling a quota" even with how much harder they have to work to get recognized.

[@vincye5605]

Love it when Jacob tackles more indie games in his video's. Don't love it how that, more often than not, means I can barely watch the video because I first need to play the games he discusses haha

[@the_littlewhite_knight6321]

5:49 LOOK AT HIS JAW AND TELL ME THAT WAS A GOLF BALL THAT DID THAT! (I'm not upset it just scared the shit out of me my first time seeing the game)

[@good-sofa]

This video revived, in my head, an idea for a game about avoiding darkness(now that i think of it, it's more about monsters that avoid light) and made me think of a whole new way of actually making the game work and i am really grateful for that, maybe sooner or later I'll actually make it

[@lizardofthestars]

The story at around 13:00 was so relatable. I remember having that exact fear when I was little.

[@cynloh2302]

This dug up an old memory of a game I used to really love called Dark Echo, where you play using sound/echolocation to navigate and avoid enemies. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a unique experience with some great puzzles!

[@cordiebarth8807]

The brief flash of Laika aged through blood gives me so much hope we will get a future video featuring it

[@danielisaac4802]

Okay, I LOVE THE CONCLUSION. I mean, I always love all of your recomendations, but, this time, that conclusion is what I needed to hear

[@CasperTheGhost64]

That bonbon jumps care ended my life

[@D0S81]

BonBon creeps me out because i had most of the toys that are in at one point in time, from the cardboard dog, to the fisher price phone, tea kettle house, and glow worm 13:33 that lit when you squeezed it, and also the wallpaper at 13:11, and also those balls with faces that are actually scented balls.

[@escre]

"show me what you found" came across so heartfelt

[@DJET723]

Felt genuine hopecore from that one

[@geoffreygorgonzola248]

14:55 jesus christ that heart of darkness clip awoke something in me i could never remember. i had that game as a child and it was terrifying and never recalled it at all til that clip.

[@adriftinspace]

Geller essays are my favorite parts of the month

[@Ambiguous9]

very glad you talked about Bramble, I may have problems with the game (I experienced SEVERAL big glitches throughout my short playthrough) but I adore it and it's really stuck with me

[@doyleharken3477]

i don't like how much opaque black-box algorithms dictate what art we consume, be it games or movies or whatever. imagine how many other gems like this linger in obscurity because they didn't fit unknown corporate criteria.

[@CleoHarperReturns]

Sometimes I see Jacob's videos in my notifications and think, Meh, I'm not really interested in that topic. Then I think, Well it's bound to be smarter than anything else I'm watching right now. So I click on it anyway. Then I come around to the same old conclusion every time: By the end of the video I've become wildly interested in the topic. Thanks for continuously expanding my universe, Mr. Geller. (that said, this is not one of those videos -- I was already interested when I saw the title😆)

[@yatoimtop]

thank you for including greener grass awaits!!! 🙏🙏🙏

[@Anotherandoman93]

Came here to try to draw attention on segagaga and I think Jacob geller is the perfect person to make a video on it! It's a Japanese only game without translation, but long story short, little before the playstation 2 came out, sega knew they were on their last legs, so they made a game about it. Don't know much about it cause it's Japanese only, there aren't many videos about it, but the art style is fascinating and the idea is hilarious. Here's one comment I found on Reddit "I saw a section of a Let's Play of the game. The whole thing is both hilariously and depressingly self-aware. The 'monsters' in the game are programmers that have been locked up making games for so long that they're unrecognisable. You have to beat them into submission to get them working again." Here's something I found somewhere I can't remember: "Described as a "Sega simulation", the player takes control of Sega Tarō, who must help save a struggling Sega from losing to its rival DOGMA, who owns 97% of the console market" Guys let's get some attention on this game so we get a Jacob geller video and an English translation.

[@idavid8391]

14:42 YES, BRAMBLE REPRESENTATION, LET'S GOOO! Y'all should totally check out the soundtrack. Some truly entrancing and beautiful songs.

[@cooldude5788]

Wonderful video essay! In the montage of indie game clips near the end I was overjoyed to see Death of a Wish in there! I absolutely love its predecessor, Lucah: Born of a Dream and am super excited to play Death of a Wish (I'm still working through some optional stuff in Lucah). The game's visual style, music, sound effects, combat are all stellar imo and I find its themes incredibly engaging and resonant. I've gushed about Lucah to friends a bunch of times, and it makes me really happy to see melessthanthree's other game get a mention :)

[@carstenpfundt]

I LOVE that we both thought "world of goo" when we played white shadows

[@maddiemare5093]

Bruh you unlocked a childhood memory when you mentioned Bonbon. That game is so unnerving .

[@cheesewombatTV]

Fun fact: Phil Spencer has completed and loves Bramble, which is how I had first heard about it. I now get why he wanted Hellblade 2, dude's just into fucked up 5-8 hour games lol

[@insertcreativenamehere8640]

I heard you say bon bon and I screamed cause that game has been lurking in my brain for years and i hadnt heard anyone talking about it for so long

[@Angzt]

26:48 - The ticket machine saying A38 has to be a reference to the 1976 animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. The titular twelve tasks are impossible efforts, directly inspired by those of Heracles. One of them is obtaining permit A38 from The Place That Sends You Mad, a gigantic government office building which is an absolute nightmare of back-and-forth bureaucracy the heroes must deal with. It is actively designed to make the permit impossible to acquire. Ultimately, they out-bureaucrat the bureaucrats by demanding another permit that doesn't exist, A39. That sends the workers on the same wild goose-chase the heroes have just been on, driving them mad in turn and making finally produce an A38 for our heroes. The whole 10 minute scene is here on youtube. What to make of this? I don't know.

[@Ghoulish_Gaming]

I love how passionately he talks about all these games. This is how I talk about games I adore and I love just picking them apart. I’m so glad I found this video today because it really speaks to me.

[@theflunkoutdude90]

Experiencing Bramble for the first time via OneyPlays maybe wasn't the most impactful way to do so. Even if you aren't a fan, I implore you to watch at least some of their playthrough for the shear juxtaposition of tone.

[@Coffeepanda294]

"It turns out that golf lends itself perfectly to horror" This channel keeps giving me revelations and insights I would never had otherwise :p .