Category Archives: Tech/Games

Body image and the media

By: Brogan Frey and Abisola Dosunmu

Image created with Wonder

If you’ve been on social media in the last decade, you’d recognize the constant push and pull for our brains attention, interest, and money. For some, it’s blatant, with the ads pulled from what you’ve liked or previously engaged with, on what you’ve shared or reposted. For others, it’s more subtle, with notifications to get the rush of dopamine into our brains, and the constant and never ending stream of content that keeps us on our phones scrolling (and makes what we’re scrolling through more personalized). It’s all led to an almost dystopian reality, a social epidemic of “perfect” faces and bodies beaming up at us through our screens.

The media is constantly impacting our daily lives. Our society greatly relies on the media to get all or most of our information, and that includes teenagers. According to a 2023 survey, 29% of teens get news from social media everyday, with another 23% getting news from YouTube. And while this is understandable, after all, using social media can help relieve the hardships of navigating through several websites and articles to find one source, this can also be quite harmful. The risks of social media are great. While on social media, people can be exposed to harmful or inappropriate content, dangerous people, they can be cyberbullied, they are at risk for identity theft, and that’s just naming a few. But the largest one that affects so many young people, is the interference with sleep, exercise, homework, or family activities.

If you asked a group of teenagers what the ideal body looked like, could you guess what they’d say? The majority of teenagers that we have asked described a very specific body type for men and women. For women, they said that the ideal body type is extremely thin, much like fashion models. For men, they said that the ideal body is tall and slender, but also muscular and toned. These body types are quite hard to acquire, but many will spend their whole lives trying.

When we look at images in magazines, on tv, or on social media, what we’re seeing isn’t real—it’s all edited and airbrushed to look perfect. These “perfect” bodies set up unrealistic expectations for how both men and women should look. As a result, many people end up spending a fortune on products trying to match these impossible standards. Some go to extremes and develop eating disorders or become ill in their pursuit to resemble the models and influencers they see online.

All of this quickly culminates into self esteem issues, anxiety about your appearance, and eventually body dysmorphic disorder, a condition defined by anxiety about how you look and the things you feel are “wrong” with your body.

Now, this frenzy about one’s appearance isn’t only limited to children and young adults. Anyone can experience this, though it may be more acute in anyone under the age of twenty-one due to the time period adolescents spend on social media affecting their still developing brains.

So, how do we stop this? There are countless resources available online and in schools, aiming to help people who idealize these bodies develop a realistic idea of what bodies are really supposed to look like. There are also several self help options that may not completely eradicate the self esteem issues at once, but will definitely help with time.

  1. Take brain breaks – knowing when to take time off of social media is vital to improving your self esteem. Implement that by limiting and scheduling your screen time, and recognizing when to drop the phone.
  2. Find what you like about yourself – find things that don’t necessarily include your looks, (like your personality) and capitalize on them. Focus on what you like about yourself, not what you don’t.
  3. Appreciate what your body can do – things like laughing, dancing, and making yourself and other people happy are things our bodies do everyday that don’t involve feeling conventionally attractive. Instead of looking at what you feel your body can’t do and feeling insecure, research what your body does everyday to keep you alive.

Below are some resources you can use if you need someone to talk to. A counselor is always available in the counselor’s office, in room 1303. If you need more support, here are a few therapists and counselors in the Twin Cities who specialize in body image:

Norris Vorasane – provides therapy to a diverse range of adult clients, including, but not limited to, BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, military, students, and immigrants.

Dr. Alina Aloma – she is a bilingual Latina psychologist specializing in multicultural, gender, and LGBTQ affirming care.

Anna Stern – she is more interested in who you are than helping you be normal. Antiracist, affirming, social justice oriented and accountable.

For more information, please visit:

JOYSTiCK empirical non-review – Ranking every ‘Minecraft’ Music Disc

By: Daniel Kendle

In the game ‘Minecraft,’ a rare set of items are the 19 Music Discs. These discs can be found in a few ways, such as monster drops and loot in structures. They can be played in a block known as the Jukebox, causing a song to play. These songs are by various composers, including the artists Daniel Rosenfeld (commonly known as C418), Lena Raine, Samuel Aberg and Aaron Cherof.

However, just because they’re rare doesn’t make every disc “good.” That’s natural, and there’s definitely some that are better than others, and some that are worse. So, here’s a ranking of every ‘Minecraft’ Music Disc, listed from worst to best.

Discs will have 1 category they’ll be reviewed in: how good the actual song is. I was originally going to also judge them on how the disc looks and how hard it was to obtain, but I removed them as categories due to being too biased for my article. However, if I have anything to note about their looks or rarity, I’ll mention it in their section.

Finally, I should also mention that I have a very loose grasp on music theory, so lots of jargon and terms used in the medium will be absent here. Maybe that makes me unqualified to make this report, but what I do have is a very strong grasp on ‘Minecraft,’ as well as knowing what I like and what I…don’t but with that out of the way, let’s begin.

…..

No. 19 – “Stal” 3/10

“Stal” is easily the worst out of the lineup, and it’s clear to see why. The main instrument of the track, a recorder, is played without much of a melody or tempo, just screeching throughout. The song definitely feels like it was going for an ironic appeal, but just sounds cruel to the ears and never truly becomes what it sets out to be. As a 1-time listen it’s alright, but anymore and it becomes a dread to finish.

No. 18 – “Thirteen” 4.5/10

This is the first of 3 “story discs,” as I’ve come to call them. The trio don’t focus on traditional music, but instead audio that is used to tell an ambiguous story. There are fewer melodies and rhythms throughout the 3, instead there are sound effects that emphasize a horror aesthetic. These are cool, but due to the fact that they’re not so much “music” as audio horror, it’s hard to rank them higher than other songs here.

“Thirteen” is my least favorite of the trio, however. While I can appreciate the composer going for something different compared to his other discs, this never has much of a scary vibe for me. The other 2 at least have collective moments of both intensity and quiet somberness, but here it’s just a flat tone throughout. Strange siren-like noises are heard, but other than that and a couple other types of sounds, it’s very uninteresting and pretty boring.

No. 17 – “Chirp” 5/10

Now that the obvious worst 2 are gone, we can finally get to the harder discs to place. “Chirp” isn’t bad by any means, but compared to the rest of its family, it never reaches the highs that others hit. Interestingly, the main instrument at hand here is the Octigan, a piano-like keyboard from the ‘70’s that sounds unique, to say the least. I do like its usage though, but it nonetheless doesn’t save this track from being pretty forgettable.

No. 16 – “Precipice” 5/10

One of the newest of the bunch, “Precipice” is a disc that I’ve flip-flopped on since its introduction a couple weeks ago, as of writing this. My main issue with it stems from its overbearing melody; the entire track, from start to finish, consists of blaring synths that make the song very… boring? Repetitive? Either way, it’s definitely my least favorite of this new wave of music discs that’s been happening since 2020.

No. 15 – “Eleven” 5/10

The second story disc on this list. While iconic within the community and certainly a spooky listen, it has even less elements of standard instruments and notes. Instead, we have heavy breathing, matches clicking, and – my favorite – the sound of an unknown beast at the very end. It’s interesting, but again, not being a traditional song hurts its rankings here.

No. 14 – “5” 5.5/10

The final story disc! Not a lot to say here that I haven’t in the past 2, but I like the sound effects in this the most; they definitely build from the previous 2 discs in neat ways, but alas, this is the highest on the list that I can put it.

Also, this is the only disc that can be crafted, which is cool. That also helps it a bit due to being more unique. You craft it with 9 Music Disc Fragments, found in Ancient Cities underground, which are one of my favorite structures in the game.

No. 13 – “Mall” 6/10

This is the most relaxing of the discs, and I can see why. It veers into the LoFi area of song: a relaxing, quaint melody supplemented by synths and beats. In “Mall” it can be a bit forced and repetitive, but it’s all-around a good listen. Not one I’ll listen to over and over, but once and twice every blue moon; it’s solid.

No. 12 – “Mellohi” 6.5/10

“Mellohi” is an interesting one. Using a vibraphone, trombone, and accordion (among other instruments), it’s definitely one of the most unique discs here. It has what some call a “swing” vibe, to my knowledge named after the dance, but what do I know? Anyways, I like it, but it’s a bit out of place next to the rest of the discs, even the newer ones. Like, it doesn’t flow well if you listen to them all one after another. Nonetheless a solid disc.

No. 11 – “otherside” 7/10

This is the most controversial pick in this article, by a landslide. This was one of the first “new music discs” that have been coming since 2020, as I said before. A lot of people seem to like this one more than I do, and usually call it among the best discs. For me, I’m not so sure; it’s definitely good, but is a bit too slow for me, and I just find it to be repetitive, much like “Precipice.” Again, it’s a nice song though. I really like how it’s much more cheerful than other songs before, and has an optimistic vibe throughout that I enjoy.

No. 10 – “Blocks” 7.5/10

Pretty simple and laid-back, “Blocks” is the antithesis of older discs: a retro-esque track that uses some wacko instrument to give it a unique flavor compared to others of its kind. With that out of the way, I think this song in particular could’ve improved with some more dramatic elements, since the final product almost feels a bit too retro without much substance. Then again, maybe its simplicity is what’s fun about it, I don’t know. The bottom line is: this is really fun, and cool, and I like it!

No. 9 – “Cat” 7.5/10

“Cat” is a great track. One of the earliest, it’s another very happy and bubbly song that makes you feel as if you’re just discovering the ins and outs of ‘Minecraft,’ like you’ve built some stuff, looked around, and now you’re finally getting to exploring this vast world. Granted, another song later on in this article does this “vastness” idea much better, but for now this is really great. Bordering on an 8, but I do wish it had some louder instrumentals in the beginning, and throughout the song, to be honest.

No. 8 – “Wait” 8/10

Another short review. “Wait” is a quiet little disc, but is great for background melodies if you’re busy doing something else in-game and want to put a disc on. It’s not rocket science, but a lovely song overall.

No. 7 – “Creator (Music Box Version)” 8/10

Basically a shortened, simpler version of “Creator,” this disc is one of the few that’s a riff on another. It’s cool, and while maybe a bit high for a song who’s only real instrument is an actual music box, I think it’s very fun, and a bit creepy, which is perfect. It and its brother disc have such unique and different vibes when put against other discs, which gives them both high marks.

No. 6 – “Strad” 8.5/10

This was the most surprising disc on this list, partially because I get it mixed up with “Stal” all the time (which isn’t a good thing). Despite that minor setback, “Strad” is so cool and funky, and arguably uses the most synths out of any song on this list, which is really cool! Not ground-breaking or the best thing ever, but a sick track that I CAN listen to over and over.

No. 5 – “Ward” 8.5/10

When I say that “Ward’s” best moments are its first 3 seconds, that may seem like an insult. Well, it’s not. Those first moments begin with a haunting organ, followed by an eerie, yet much more suave and cool-headed song that’s also distinct from others. These top 5 discs all do something very different when looked at as a standard music disc in ‘Minecraft,’ and for “Ward,” it’s balancing both the grotesque and the funky. While I do wish it kept to the organ and creepy vibe, it’s still a great song.

No. 4 – “Pigstep” 9/10

“Pigstep” is easily the most popular of the newer music discs. Obviously a parody of dubstep music, it’s found in Bastions, one of the hardest structures in the game inside another dimension. It’s super great, and such an already-iconic track that it’s scary. It’s funky, it’s bold, and feels so unique. I really like it, as I imagine most others do. However, while it may appear at the top of almost all Music Disc rankings, it’s got a couple of nitpicks that bring it down slightly for me.

No. 3 – “Creator” 9.5/10

This is another one of the newest discs, and is the “normal” version of its music box version. It’s really great to see multiple variants of 1 song make it into the game, since the only times this has happened in the past are small parts of some songs referencing others. Granted, this is easily the best variant of the original disc. Pretty much everything from the music box applies here, except for that this one introduces electric guitar into the fray and it sounds really neat. What a lovely song!

No. 2 + 1 (Tie) – “Far” and “Relic” 10/10

I’m grouping the best 2 songs together because they’re the only 10/10’s on this list, and are each amazing. #2 is “Far,” the oldest of the pair. This one is similar to other relaxing songs here, but compared to those this feels much more somber, yet still holds a lot of optimism. Once again it’s primarily a song that emphasizes the vastness of this virtual world, but is just so good at it that it makes second place in the ranking.

Meanwhile, “Relic” is my personal favorite music disc in the entire game, with no discernible reason why. It’s just so good that it makes the top. It has some cool synthesizers throughout that makes it purposefully old-sounding. These make it different from all the rest, and lead it to being my favorite Music Disc in ‘Minecraft.’

The potentially large upcoming horror game (Zoochosis)

By: Julia Yang

Warning: The game discussed will contain hyper-realistic mutant animals, distorted bodies, unsettling sounds, blood, and possibly death. This is a physiological horror game with horror elements.

‘Zoochosis’ is a game that is being published and developed by Clapperheads. Clapperheads is a less known game development company but is recognized for their most popular game ‘Sparky Marky’. Zoochosis’ official announcement was on January 13th and is said to be released in Q2 2024.

The idea of ‘Zoochosis’ is that you’re a zookeeper doing your nightly shift of creating a vaccine to cure mutated animals. From what it looks like, throughout the game you’ll have to notice small shifts or differences within all animals to be able to tell who’s mutated or not.

Based on the game trailer, animals will try to fool you by acting as their average selves, the reason why is unknown as of now.

People who have watched the trailer, or maybe seen stuff about the game floating around on the internet, are really looking forward to ‘Zoochosis’. People like the idea, design, premise, and overall vibe of the game.

Something people seem to have a few worries about is the delivery. The game itself and the idea is awesome, but delivering this game and story well could be challenging. There are many games like ‘Zoochosis’ that have an incredible trailer and outlook, but when released, are total a letdown. A possible example of this could be Scott Cawthons ‘FNAF: Security Breach’. It looked great and everyone looked forward to it, but when it was released, many people had complaints and issues about the characters, story, and overall gameplay.

I hope ‘Zoochosis’ doesn’t go down the same path as some other games and it actually lives up to it’s fame.

Warning: this game will contain hyper-realistic mutant animals, distorted bodies, unsettling sounds, blood, and possibly death. This is a physiological horror game with horror elements.

Once it gets released, it’ll be on PC via ‘Steam’.
Official trailers listed below.

Announcement trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx76uvIDU3s

Exclusive gameplay teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5XutwxCIYY

JOYSTiCK Empirical Ep. 11: ‘Cocomelon: Play with JJ’ – Machiavellian Science Theatre 3000

By: Daniel Kendle

Babies are nice. Babies are cute. Everyone likes babies (except for those who don’t). Some babies, however, are different. Some scream, cry, wail to get attention. Some can’t do simple mathematics, read, or assert their viewpoint on a topic through civil debate. Thus, babies aren’t all that exciting to me, as a person who fancies such activities. I don’t care for the infants, nor do they for me, if I may ponder.

Granted, I’ve noticed something in our most recent generation of children. They seem to linger towards a heinous cryptid, an entity that feeds on their short minds – feeding them sludge in return. Yes, it’s time we talk about the dreaded horseman that has taken control of our youth.

Everyone, welcome back to JOYSTiCK, a serial that (usually) reviews any video game our grubby mits come across. Today’s mini-review is about the white whale of my time here writing articles: ‘Cocomelon.’

‘Cocomelon’ is a multimedia enterprise that came about in the 2000’s. The brand focuses on preschool nursery rhymes available on YouTube and other media sites, and is one of the most successful children’s entertainment companies in the world. It’s been estimated that the organization is worth around $500 million.

Now, I should note that I’m not exactly the target audience for these videos, let alone the game I’ll be reviewing today. I can’t say I’ll be getting a new fix on life from “Who Took the Cookie? Puppy Song!” or “Tortoise and the Hare Race” anytime soon. I mean, I have so many other things to do, like betting on horse races! When watching the latter example, I can’t have even half the fun because I can’t feverishly lose money [under ethical circumstances]. What’s a guy to do?

Well, for an adequate amount of fun, (and return on investment), you can play the all-new game in the franchise: ‘Cocomelon: Play with JJ.’ Released fairly-recently, the games are pretty basic: you play as JJ, the main character toddler in the ‘Cocomelon’ universe, as he explores various parts of his house and plays minigames. There’s also a collection mechanic, since you can get stickers after completing these games and/or exploring the house.

As a mini-review, I don’t have too much to say on the game. For a mobile game it’s pretty competent, actually. Because of the limited environments the designers had to create, each feels slathered in detail, and “hardcore fans” might be able to recognize certain elements in the rooms, but I couldn’t. All I can say is that the game is alright on the visual front.

In terms of gameplay…it’s fine? Like, when you’re 16 and playing a game designed for toddlers, things can’t be the most “invigorating.” You control the main character, dragging them around box-shaped places looking for stuff to do. Sometimes you can click on something to have it do a little animation, but these usually just act as a little distraction, probably for little kids to click on and lose their minds over. You can also find various members of JJ’s family, who also perform an action.

The nursery rhymes were pretty boring. Basically just think of a bog-standard kid’s song, slap a small little game onto it and repeat that a dozen times. For example, the “Yes Yes Vegetables” song has you feeding JJ. The “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” song lets you control a spider navigating a bathtub. Very simple stuff; you also get a sticker at the end of each.

In conclusion, ‘Cocomelon: Play with JJ’ is so small of a game it has basically nothing of note to discuss. Even if it was an ironic pick to review, the game’s still pretty lame. It could’ve used some combat or grotesque themes, because as it stands it’s a lame kids game. I give it a 4/10, which is probably more than it deserves.

COCOMELON DEMON: Are you sure about that?

THE REVIEWEE: Wha-? Who are you?!

COCOMELON DEMON: I am the very being that lives in your soul.

THE REVIEWEE:

COCOMELON DEMON: I’ve been the one watching you since you were born.

THE REVIEWEE: But…I’ve never seen you before in my life.

COCOMELON DEMON: That’s the point.

THE REVIEWEE: But-!

COCOMELON DEMON: Shh…(strokes finger over The Reviewee’s cheek)

THE REVIEWEE:

COCOMELON DEMON: (softly) Don’t let the voices hear you.

THE REVIEWEE:

COCOMELON DEMON: Come. I have much to discuss with you (opens portal to Cocomelon dimension).

THE REVIEWEE: …okay.

(The pair disappear to the Cocomelon dimension).

JJ: Hey gang, it’s me: JJ! Now that the regular person writing for this serial is gone, I’ve finally got a body to control to voice the gospel of Eldresassigul, Flesh-Bringer of the Peasentfolk. My first objective is to proclaim ‘Cocomelon: Play with JJ’ as a 10/10 game. With such stunning graphics, tight gameplay, and witty dialogue, it’s clear that the game is set up to be the most influential of this decade, and I’m shocked by how underrated it is. After all, I’m the star!

Anyways, those who oppose the label will be sent down to the mines of the underworld to be sacrificed to cryptids of decay and famine handed off to our support team to receive a small talk about their “misdirection in life.” Until then, I’ll leave until my next review: ‘Cocomelon: Shadows Die Twice.’ See you then!

Games I believe should be talked about more

By: Julia Yang

There are loads and loads of games that have an increasing amount of popularity, resulting in wide ranges of community. Many of these games’ attention is extremely well-deserved, but some I feel like deserve more; these games have had many popular streamers and YouTubers play them but for some reason have yet to gain a large following like others. These games are usually known by most, and talked about by none.

I’m just here to raise the awareness of said games.

This article is basically suggesting games and reviewing them, so be aware of spoilers.

(These games are not ranked in any specific order)

Number 1, ‘Detroit: Become Human’ (DBH)

‘Detroit: Become Human’ is just such a fantastic game considering all of its attributes like visuals, plot line, and overall gameplay. Not only is it a stunningly beautiful and realistic game, you truly connect with the characters as DBH is a decision based game that has 82 endings.

In DBH, you play as 3 androids in the year 2038; Connor, Marcus, and Kara. Each android has their own stories and conflicts, all of which you decide how they deal with them.

All androids have a possibility of becoming “deviant”. An android becoming deviant basically means that the android has broken out of their original code and has a consciousness of their own.

Connor is a detective android. Your job as Connor is to capture all deviants and track down the reasoning behind all of the rapidly increasing deviant cases. Connor is a conflicting character to play and empathize with as you’re supposed to do your job to capture all of the surrounding deviants, but as you continue the story, Connor may begin to feel emotions for others; something completely forbidden of him to do.

Marcus is a caretaking android. His job was to take care of his owner and friend, Carl. An incident between Carl and his son results in Marcus being thrown into an android dump yard, where Marcus goes deviant and his story begins.

Marcus believes that all androids should have rights, that they should be treated the same as humans. You follow Marcus in his story as you make choices between life and death to save his declining kind.

Kara is also a caretaking android. Kara is in an abusive setting as her owner threatens to hurt his daughter— Alice— and herself as a result of his unfortunate past. Kara goes deviant to escape with Alice where they begin their relationship as a family. Kara’s goal is to escape the country where it’s safer for androids, thus, safer for her new found family. You make decisions to sacrifice or not, to tell the truth or lie, to do anything to leave the country or think about the lives of others.

I have not played this game myself, but I’ve watched multiple gameplays. Every single one of them is unique in their own way as they each make their own decisions that end up in different scenarios. I love watching them make choices based on their own experiences and quick reactions.

Before you think of watching/playing this game, be warned; this game touches upon death, suicide, violence, abuse, and oppression.

I’d rate this game a shining 10/10, I really believe that nothing about this game can be rated lower. You can play DBH on the PS4 and PC.

Number 2, ‘Stray’

I’ve not known many people who know ‘Stray’, but trust me when I say it is a masterpiece. It’s such a unique story that speaks upon what may happen if humanoid robots outlived mankind, I’ve yet to see anyone make a story even remotely close to the one told in ‘Stray’.

In ‘Stray’, you play as an orange cat without a known name. The cat travels through the underground filled with a robot ran civilization where they’re blocked off from the outside world. Your job as the cat is to help the robots reach the outside as this’ll benefit you and the future as you are from the outside.

You’ll discover that the world you’re exploring needs more aid and has more depth than you first believed, eventually forming a large understanding of the game and the world it built up.

I wish I could think of more to write about, but this game is so complex that I don’t even know what to say. What I can say is that this game definitely needs a larger audience.

As someone who played this game, I rate ‘Stray’ a 9/10. Everything about it is wonderful, but I will say, a few minor things are hard to comprehend— also because the ending made me sad. You can play ‘Stray’ on multiple platforms, just not Nintendo’s Switch.

Number 3, All ‘Little Nightmares’ games

I’ve talked about ‘Little Nightmares’ in a past article since they’re coming out with a third game, but I’m here to bring up the existing two since nobody else seems to wanna do it.

The ‘Little Nightmares’ series only has open endings for interpretation and theories. There’s no dialogue, or known personality for characters. It’s a game of mystery, skill, and strategy. When you play these games, you better have the patience and reaction of a mouse, because things happen fast. You solve puzzles whilst also being chased by unbelievably creepy humanoid things 10x your size.

In ‘Little Nightmares I’, you play as Six. Six wears a yellow raincoat and carries around a lighter to see in the dark. As Six, you encounter a variety of monsters to escape the place she’s put into called ‘The Maw’. When you’re Six, you have to jump, climb, swing, and harm. Nothing can get in the way of your escape plan.

In ‘Little Nightmares DLC: Secrets of the Maw’, you play as a boy simply named The Runaway Kid. He wears a blue shirt, dirtied up pants, and a chain around his ankle. The Runaway Kid also seeks to escape the Maw, but uses the help of interesting little creatures named the Nomes to aid him in his puzzles. The Runaway Kid seems to get a lot more help in his journey than Six does.

In ‘Little Nightmares II’, you play as Mono. Mono wears a brown paper bag over his head, a brown trench coat, and brown pants. Mono encounters more complex and new characters than the past ‘Little Nightmares’ games. These characters seem to have special abilities, unlike the majority of previous monsters. ‘Little Nightmares II’ is a prequel to ‘Little Nightmares I’, meaning that the events in this game had taken place already by the time ‘Little Nightmares I’ had happened. Mono saves and travels with Six to survive in this world.

‘Little Nightmares III’ is yet to come, but deserves all of the hype it can get since the past games were so iconic. The people I’m surrounded by don’t know about ‘Little Nightmares’, but can recognize it. People online on the other hand, know all about it. I always wonder why it doesn’t get talked about.

I played these games with my siblings (they’re all single player, we just switched off the controller), and the gameplay was extremely fun. We love this franchise so much.

I rate all games a 10/10. ‘Little Nightmares’ can be found on all platforms.

Number 4, ‘A Way Out’

‘A Way Out’ is a really rare game for someone to know about. It stars two inmates working together to escape prison and get revenge on someone named Harvey.

This game requires two players, it cannot be played otherwise.

One person will play as Leo Caruso. Leo is sarcastic, brash, overly confident, comedic, loud, and hardheaded, always resorting to violence before anything else. He escapes to see his family and seek revenge on Harvey, a past companion who betrayed him. He belongs to a family of 3; his wife Linda, his son Alex, and himself. Leo makes crass decisions and enjoys the thrill of fighting, which makes him a super funny character to play as.

One person will play as Vincent Moretti. Vince is reserved, respectful, calm, rational, controlled, cool, and a pacifist. Unlike Leo, Vince thinks about the consequences of his actions— you can say he’s the brains of the two. Vince belonged to a family of two before his wife Carol gave birth to their newborn daughter while he was on the run. Vince doesn’t like to fight, he likes to talk his way out of situations if possible. Vince is the more, I guess, realistic option of the two characters.

In the end, it takes a turn for the worse and it doesn’t matter what character you choose as in the last chapter you both end up in the same situation no matter what decisions were made in the past. You end up in the same situation at the end, but the ending is still the player’s choice. There are two possible endings in total, and they make it worse for both Leo and Vince. Let’s just say; there is no good ending.

I played this game with my little sister, and it’s just outstanding. The end was totally unexpected, which ended up with both me and her absolutely hating one of the main two. I played as Vince and she played as Leo, it was so fun.

Before you think of watching/playing this game, be warned; this game touches upon death, (gun) violence, vulgar language, and partial nudity. (Rated M+)

I rate this game a 10/10, this game is super enjoyable for both players. You can play ‘A way out’ on multiple platforms, but not Nintendo’s Switch.

Number 5, ‘It Takes Two’

‘It Takes Two’ was made after ‘A Way Out’ and they even added a little Easter egg as a salute to the game.

In this game, the two main characters get turned into toys, created by their daughter Rose, by a sentient book named the Book of Love due to their doomed relationship with each other. As the two characters, you and a friend will help them repair their family by traveling through different experiences with one another resulting in them falling in love all over again.

This game also requires two players, it cannot be played otherwise.

One person will play as May. May is cocky, intelligent, loving, and rational. May is quick to think about responses and plans in difficult situations, which often gets disrupted by her husband or the Book of Love. She finds she has no time to herself and whatever Cody does somehow messes her day up. When May encounters something, she can’t help but think aloud. She’s smart and is excellent at negotiating with the enemy.

One person will play as Cody. Cody is loud, comedic, sarcastic, and understanding. He enjoys making jokes and lightening the mood, even though sometimes it’s better to just not speak at all. Some of his past choices come up in this game frequently since Cody often does things without thinking or he didn’t do something correctly and it comes back to bite him.

Even so, they’re both married and need to figure things out. That’s where you and a friend come in, or possibly you and your significant other. Even though I’m not with anyone, I think this game would be an excellent game to play with your significant other since it touches upon usual issues and fights that may appear in your own relationship and how to repair anything possibly broken.

I played this game with, again, my younger sister. We had a really fun time playing since the characters are super entertaining and the gameplay was interesting.

I rate this game a 10/10. ‘It Takes Two’ can be found on all platforms.

Number 6, ‘INSIDE’

‘INSIDE’ is another no-dialogue-mysterious-game like the ‘Little Nightmares’ games. The art style is really unique— and even though I’ve played it multiple times, I still don’t know what this game is about.

‘INSIDE’ is a game that I know people don’t know because absolutely no one brings it up anywhere. There’s not even that many YouTubers/streamers that played this game. I only know one.

In ‘INSIDE’ you play as a boy with a red shirt and black pants. He seems to be running away from the police/any authoritative figure, for what I know, an unknown reason. I’m actually not too sure if it was the police either. The kid just seems to be wanted by everyone.

The kid travels through the disturbing world, encountering pigs, brain dead humans, water creatures, deadly dogs, and complicated puzzles. When I say complicated, I mean it. There were several puzzles I had to look up because I was so lost.

Again, I wish I could say more, but I really don’t know what’s going on in this game. I don’t know the story, the characters, or the world. All I know is that it was a really good game.

Before you think of watching/playing this game, be warned; this game may make some uncomfortable as it shows rag doll-like humans, dead pigs, clumps of sentient meat including human meat, and just overall large amounts of floppy physics. I know that physics like that in games can make people nauseous or unsettled.

I rate it a solid 8/10 even though I’m lost. I think the reason I want more people to talk about this game is because I want to know what was going on and I can’t find any answers or common knowledge if no one talks about it. You can play ‘INSIDE’ on most platforms.

Number 8, ‘Twelve Minutes’

‘Twelve Minutes’ is definitely an…interesting game. In ‘Twelve Minutes’, you get stuck in a time loop and you have to figure out how to break out of it in twelve minutes (shocker).

You almost immediately start off by your apartment being broken into by a police officer accusing your wife of murdering her father and looking for a pocket watch. When your wife denies being a murderer, the police officer murders you as a threat to her life, thus; your loop begins. It’s your job as her husband to get rid of the cop and stop him from harming you or her in the name of getting out of this loop.

With every loop, you learn something new. With every loop you go deeper and deeper into the real situation, the real story behind the murder and the pocket watch.

This game is phenomenal. I’ve watched and played this game, and the twists and turns are always so jaw dropping. I’ve never played a game like ‘Twelve Minutes’ before, and it was an incredible experience.

I rate this game a 10/10. ‘Twelve Minutes’ can be found on all platforms.

I hope by writing this article more people will watch/play these games which will result in more people talking about them. I hope these games spread around the world like rapid fire one day.

More features added to the ‘Minecraft’ 1.21 update

By: Daniel Kendle

Since my last article on this subject, Mojang (the company that heads ‘Minecraft’) has continued adding features to the 1.21 update, of which is still unnamed. I was originally going to post a comment under my first review explaining the new additions, but there were enough that they warranted an entire follow-up all together.

This recent batch of features have been said to be the last major components of 1.21, so I probably won’t have to make a 3rd article. Once we get a name drop alongside some possible smaller features I’ll then post a comment under this article reviewing the new stuff. Until then, however, let’s begin!

Beginning with changes to existing gameplay, let’s talk about Wolf Armor and wolves in general. The former has had some neat additions, such as being able to be dyed by the player for further customization. The armor also works differently now; instead of reducing the damage taken by the wolf, it now absorbs all damage that would have normally been taken by the hound until it breaks. This means that, if your dog “accidentally” falls off a 1,000 meter drop, it’ll survive (but probably without any armor now).

We’ve also gotten 8 new wolf variants, each spawning in its respective biome. This is a feature that players have been asking for since cats got new coats in the game a few years ago, so this and the armor change make for great additions.

There’s also an updated way to get Wind Charges from the Breeze mob. Instead of dropping them plainly, the slain monster will now drop a Breeze Rod, which can be crafted into a few things. One of those are Wind Charges, and placing a single rod into your crafting grid interface nets you 4 charges. They function identically to how they did before.

That’s a good segway into the new stuff added. Probably my new favorite feature added in this update is a new weapon: the Mace. Crafted with a Breeze Rod under a new block called the Heavy Core (which doesn’t have a big use right now), it’s unique because of how you fight with it. The weapon’s main quirk is that it scales in damage dealt to an enemy depending on how high you fall with it. From my research there’s no cap to the scale, so you can rack up obscene amounts of damage from a tall fall.

Maces also come with 3 new enchantments, special buffs that can be applied using Lapis Lazuli at the dedicated Enchanting Table. The first is Density, which heightens damage dealt when falling, making it even stronger. The enchantment ranges from level 1 (I) to level 5 (V). The second is Breach, which bypasses the armor protection of an opponent by 15% each level (I – IV). Finally, there’s an enchantment that you can’t obtain from the table, being exclusive to the Trial Chambers: Wind Burst. The enchantment spawns a Wind Charge under your feet every time you hit a foe with the Mace, launching you in the air and allowing for combos.

The Mace is one of my new favorite features from this update, maybe even my favorite. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a new weapon in the game, the last being the Crossbow from 2019.

5 new paintings have been added to the game: “Unpacked,” “Prairie Ride,” “Meditative,” “Humble,” and “Baroque.” The 5 paintings all look pretty great; it’s been over a decade since new variations were added to the game. There’s not a lot to say about them, however. While a lot more different from past paintings, they fit into the game’s aesthetic well.

2 new Armor Trims have been added. Armor Trims are items that can be applied to your armor with a gemstone or ore to give it a colorful trim. There’s upwards of a dozen different trims, found in structures throughout the world. The new pair are found in the Trial Chambers, and are called the “Bolt” and “Flow” templates. The former looks like sheets of metal with screws built in, and the latter spirals of wind. I prefer “Bolt,” personally.

There’s also 3 new sherds. Pottery Sherds (“sherds” being a term in archeology for a piece of ancient pottery) are normally found through brushing Suspicious Sand and Suspicious Gravel in structures in the game. These new sherds vary, since you can only find them already-built into pots found inside the Trial Chambers. The sherds depict a Breeze, a spiral, and an ax.

2 banner patterns have been added, which, when used, imprint a specific picture onto banners. The patterns depict a Breeze and a spiral, the same as the sherd designs.

The last part of this “New Additions to Older Features” section are 4 new potions. Potions can be drunk or thrown, and grant specific effects to those with the drinks. The Potion of Infestation has a chance to spawn a Silverfish every time the affected entity is hit. The Potion of Oozing causes 2 Slime mobs to spawn after the entity dies. The Potion of Weaving makes cobwebs appear after an entity dies. Finally, the Potion of Wind Charging lets loose a Wind Charge after the entity dies.

Each of these effects has a splash variant (letting you throw the potion at others), a lingering variant (the same as the splash variant, but leaves behind a cloud of the effect) and an arrow tipped with the potion.

The final major feature is Ominous Trials. These events can be triggered in a Trial Chamber by drinking an Ominous Bottle, and cause nearby Trial Spawners to spawn beefier, stronger mobs with better armor and weapons. Some of the potions from earlier will routinely spawn above you or opponents, causing more havoc. These new trials will give much better loot, however, including the Heavy Core. This is the only way to get the item, and therefore the Mace.

Ominous Trials have a new type of vaults, too: Ominous Vaults. These contain the core, as well as the Flow Armor Trim, Flow Banner Pattern, Wind Burst enchantments and some valuable older items, like blocks of diamonds and Golden Apples.

Also, just as I’m writing this part, it’s been revealed that new music is coming to the game. None has been released yet, but I’m excited to hear the new tracks.

While ‘Minecraft’ 1.21 isn’t out yet, it’s likely to come within the next couple months, and I’m still very excited.

Top 3 phones of 2024

By: Hyde Moua

Image created with Imagine

As of right now, these are the best phones of 2024 and I think they are worth their prices, especially with all of their unique features and specs they have within their slim design of a device, I think that these phones deserve to be the best phones of 2024. I personally feel that Android phones and Samsung phones are better than iPhones due to more benefits but overall these are amazing phones that everyone should try if they have the chance to use them.

Coming in at the number one spot is the “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra”. The “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra” takes the number one spot due to a better overall performance in design, display, performance, and battery life compared to other Samsungs and iPhones. The “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s” main advantage is its longer battery life which can last 56 hours when used normally, and 15.5 hours under heavy usage.

In the number two spot is the “iPhone 15”. The “iPhone 15” takes the second place spot because of its similar performance to the “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra” and its better camera quality compared to other phones. The “iPhone 15” also has a long software support system, which means it will be supported with updates, bug fixes, and security patches over longer periods of time.

Lastly, the number three spot for best phones of 2024 as of right now is the “iPhone 15 Pro Max”. The “iPhone 15 Pro Max” takes the third place because of its similar features to the “iPhone 15”, but isn’t as good because of its slightly slower features. The “iPhone 15 Pro Max” has a slower screen and slightly less battery life compared to the first two phones. In my opinion, this phone is just as good as the “iPhone 15”.

HOW TO MAKE CAMOUFLAGE PATTERNS USING ‘PHOTOPEA’

By: Hoaseng Thao

Ever wanted to make a camouflage pattern but don’t know how? Well this article is for you, because this article will go through the process of how to make different camouflage patterns using the free editing website, ‘Photopea’.

Before we get into the tutorial, I must explain what is needed for a camouflage pattern to work as a functional camouflage pattern; here are the two rules I’ve made to explain this:

  1. The pattern must be created for a specific (or varieties of) environment, i.e. Woodland, Desert, Tropical, or Arctic environments.
  2. Colors cannot be too bright or too saturated, military camouflage patterns are designed to deceive the eye, not entice them.

STARTING OFF WITH THE CLOUDS

STEP 1

Go to https://www.photopea.com/ and start off with a new project, usually I prefer using 2000 pixels for both height and width however you can change this if you want.

STEP 2

Go to your layers tab, which should be on the right side, and click on the sticky note symbol on the bottom to create a new layer. There should already be a layer when you start the project, named “Background”, and we’ll be using that layer for the background color of the camouflage by using the paint bucket too by pressing “g”.

STEP 3

Select your new layer and go to the “Filters” tab at the top. There go to the “Render” tab and click the “Clouds”. Repeat this process again but instead of clicking “Clouds” you click on “Difference Clouds” twice.

IMPORTANT NOTE

This is the part where I’ll split this tutorial into three sections on how to create different types of camouflage patterns. The first section will go over how to make what I call, traditional camouflage patterns, which consists of round and blobby shapes.

The second section will go over how to make what’s called “Digital Camouflage” which uses more pixelated shapes than rounded blobby shapes, and examples of digital camouflage patterns are the Canadian CADPAT, the American UCP, and the Estonian ESTDCU.

The third and final section will go over how to make Flecktarn like camouflage patterns. For those who don’t know, Flecktarn is the camouflage pattern used by the German military and is distinct for using spots scattered across the pattern.

TRADITIONAL CAMOUFLAGE

STEP 1

Select the layer that has the clouds filter and go back to the filters tab then to the “Blur” tab. There you will select the “Gaussian Blur”. When clicked you’ll be greeted with a window asking how intense you want the blur to be, with the more blur resulting in a more rounded and blobby shape while less blur will result in a more erratic blob.

STEP 2

Now with the selected layer, you go to “Image”, “Adjustments”, and finally “Threshold”. Upon clicking “Threshold”, you can choose how intense the threshold would have on the layer, with the higher the intensity leading to less blobs and vice versa.

So, in this example 160 is more intense than 121

STEP 3

Selecting the layer you now go to “Select” then click on “Color Range”, where you’ll see a window pop up with the options to select specific colors or areas that are bright or dark, but depending on what you want for your pattern, you can select any of the options.

STEP 4

After selecting the color, you can now press the delete (or if you don’t have a delete button, you can go to the “Edit” then click on “Clear”) to  remove the selected area. With this, you can now change the color using gradient map or adding a new layer and pressing alt click to enable clipping mask, which would allow you to paint over the layer.

STEP 5

Now repeat the previous steps, which should try to be in different sizes and should try to disrupt the other layers. Here are a few examples of camos that I’ve created while following the steps above.

DIGITAL CAMOUFLAGE

STEP 1

Select the layer, go to “Filter”, “Pixelate”, and then “Pointillize”. I usually use 25px when using pointillize but you can change this depending on what you want. From here, you press “alt+ctrl+T” to free transform the layer, then you can hold “shift” and drag the bottom of the layer till it snaps to the middle of the image.

STEP 2

Duplicate the layer with “ctrl+J”, then move it to the bottom before merging with the original layer by selecting both layers and do “ctrl+E” to merge layers. Now you can do “Gaussian Blur” and go to “Filter”, “Pixelate”, and “Mosaic”. From here you can change the size of the pixels to your liking.

STEP 3

Now use the “Threshold Edit” to change how many white or black pixels would appear on the screen which you can delete by using the color range selection, and finally you can copy steps 4 and 5 from the traditional camouflage pattern section to create a digital camouflage pattern.

FLECKTARN CAMOUFLAGE

STEP 1

Select the layer, go to “Filter”, “Pixelate”, and then “Pointillize” and from here you can choose the size of the spots seen on Flecktarn camouflage patterns and its many variants. Now go apply “Gaussian Blur” to the layer, and I recommend that you keep the “Gaussian Blur” below 12px to avoid merging all the spots together.

STEP 2

Now repeat step 1 and color in the layers, and you now get yourself a Flecktarn style camouflage pattern.

CONCLUSION

There are many other ways to create different types of camouflage patterns but these three are the most common found throughout the world, and I hope that this tutorial helps you when it comes to designing your own camouflage patterns.

Here is a link to the website if you haven’t clicked on it before: https://www.photopea.com/

JOYSTiCK empirical non-review – Everything being added in the Minecraft 1.21 update

By: Daniel Kendle

Every year, the game ‘Minecraft’ implements a series of new features into the game as part of a themed update. While we don’t have the name for the newest update, update 1.21, we do have a good amount of features already-showcased in snapshots for the game, where players can test and report feedback on the new additions. Today we’ll be looking at the features that have been announced so far.

The first item of interest is a new block, called the Crafter. It’s a variant of the Crafting Table, a legacy feature that lets players craft items, placing materials in a 3-3 grid. It’s arguably the most useful block in the game, and the crafter promises to be an interesting alternative. The Crafter lets you automatically craft things, having items be input into the machine by means of hand or pipeline.

You first open up the interface of the block and click on any of the 9 gridded squares to let input items not go into the slots. Then, you connect a line of Hoppers (an equivalent of pipes) and send items through them. Just give the crafter a pulse of energy and you’ll have items flying out of its output slot. It’s a fairly-complex system, but one that’s a lot easier to use in game than how I write it here.

The Crafter will be great for automatic farms, since in the past you could only harvest raw materials like pumpkins from a pumpkin farm, eggs from a chicken farm, and sugar from a sugarcane farm. But with the new block, you can combine the 3 into a single Crafter to dispense pumpkin pies, which can speed up the process of manually-crafting. This is just an example of how the block will impact farms in ‘Minecraft,’ and I’m excited to use it in the future.

The next feature is actually a new animal, or “mob,” as the game officially calls creatures in the game. The Armadillo is a passive creature that spawns in the variants of Savannahs and Badlands, and brings with it a new type of armor, not for you, but for your pet wolves or dogs.

Armadillos are very skittish, and will curl up into a ball if you sprint near it, or if hostile mobs are around. They can still be hurt in this state, so it’s not the most effective defense. However, if you use a brush on the animal or just wait for a time, they’ll drop scutes. 6 of these scutes can be combined into Wolf Armor, which gives your pets some extra defense. This is great for adventurers, and I overall really enjoy the Armadillos and the new items they bring.

On the cosmetic front, we now have some cool new decorative blocks. The Tuff block can now be made into bricks, stairs, slabs and chiseled variants of the porous rock, donning a cloudy-gray texture throughout its family. The chiseled pair of blocks especially are interesting, as Tuff is the first stone to have 2 different chiseled variants, which is fun for building.

The family of Copper blocks have been upgraded too. Prior to update 1.21, Copper blocks consisted of stair, slab, and cut variants, as well as Lighting Rods. Now we have some new types such as Copper Grates, a transparent-ish block that looks like a factory catwalk, or copper trapdoors and doors. Alongside Chiseled Tuff is Chiseled Copper, though I think that the latter is far less interesting of a design.

For the last Copper block added, we have another technical feature like the Crafter: the Copper Bulb. The bulb will light up when a Redstone pulse (the ‘Minecraft’ equivalent of electricity) is received. Interestingly, the bulb doesn’t need a constant source of power to remain lit, just a single pulse. This means the block is effectively a T Flip-Flop, a term in the game’s community for a type of Redstone circuit. As someone who’s not super well-versed on Redstone technology, I’m not too keen on what it does, but after some later nerfs from future snapshots the Copper Bulb isn’t as viable as it once was, so there’s something. But to conclude this portion, I think that the new Tuff and Copper blocks are cool, but nothing super exciting.

The largest part of the update so far – and what the bulk of this overview will be about – are the Trial Chambers, a new underground structure being added to the game. They’re sprawling dungeons that are one of the few structures in ‘Minecraft’ that have a replayability factor to them.

When entering a Trial Chamber, the first thing you’ll see are all of the new Copper and Tuff blocks, as the structure’s made of the families. You’ll also eventually find the new Trial Spawner block – one that spawns hostile mobs for you to fight, and a reward from its lid once they’ve been slain. They appear all throughout the chambers, in the corridors and the chambers themselves.

The chambers have spawners, but also some traps, these can range from trapping snow littering the floor of one to buttons on the walls letting arrows or water spew out. These can be hazardous to your pursuit of loot, and help make the Trial Chambers a difficult challenge. The replay factor comes in how the spawners will respawn another set of mobs around 30 minutes after their previous spawning, letting you get infinite loot and infinite battles. The spawners also scale to how many players are around it, letting however many players join the fight to get equal fighting time.

In addition to rewards from the Trial Spawners and various chests, barrels and pots around the chambers, the coolest source of loot to find is from the Vault, a block similar to the spawners in appearance. From the previous 4 sources of loot, you can occasionally find/receive a Trial Key, which can be used to unlock a Vault, giving you even better rewards than you would otherwise. A player can only unlock a Vault block once, which I do hope they change. It would be cool to have an infinite source of loot, with the only caveat being that you’d have to fight for another Trial Key.

Within the chambers are 2 new hostile mobs, which will round out the features introduced in the update so far. The first is called the Bogged, a variant of the normal Skeleton. It can spawn from Trial Spawners and in swamps and mangrove swamps, and has a murky, rotting texture that looks really cool, honestly. They shoot poison-tipped arrows instead of normal ones, and drop them in addition to damaged bows, normal arrows and bones. To compensate, they’re weaker in health and have a slower cooldown between shots.

The more unique mob is called the Breeze. They’re exclusive to the Trial Chambers, also being summoned from their spawners. They’re similar to the Blaze, another hostile mob, and both are manifestations of their respective elements: fire for the Blaze, and wind (or air) for the Breeze. It’s essentially a head floating on top of 3 rods, surrounded by swirling wind. It shoots a projectile called a Wind Charge at players, and can leap and dash around to evade hits. The charge doesn’t hurt the player unless it hits them, but if it misses close enough to the player they’ll be launched, allowing them to be hurt by fall damage. The charges can also activate buttons, levers, doors and trapdoors, letting the traps in the chambers be all-the-more effective in hindering you.

When slain, the Breeze can drop a handful of Wind Charges, which function similar to how the Breeze itself uses them. You can even throw them to the ground mid-jump and propel yourself further into the air, which is really fun.

Overall, the Trial Chambers, Trial Spawners and Vaults, and the Breeze and Bogged are my favorite additions to the update so far. More will be revealed in the future, but for now that’s all the features revealed right now. The update is scheduled to release in mid-2024, and I’m very excited.

Top 3 online FPS games in 2024

By: Hyde Moua

1. ‘Valorant’ is currently the No. 1 FPS (First Person Shooter) game with 34,840,111 viewer hours. Valorant was released in 2020 and is a team-based first person shooter game with each team having a maximum of 5 players per team. Each player can select a wide range of agents to play, having 22 different agents with different abilities per agent. Each agent is also set with a role that describes the character and what they’re made to do and accomplish for their teams.

    ‘Valorant’ has 8 maps you can currently play on competitively for rankings, but in total there are 13 playable maps in other game modes. ‘Valorant’ is similar to another game called ‘Counter-Strike’, having movement and shooting style very similar to each other. You can get the game here: https://playvalorant.com/en-us/

    2. ‘CSGO: Counter-Strike Global Offensive’ is currently the No. 2 FPS with 15,513,976 viewer hours. ‘CS-GO’ was released in 2012 and is also another 5v5 team game like ‘Valorant’. CS-GO has a more realistic look and feel to the game with everyone having the same use of weapons like grenades, molotovs, smoke screens, etc.

    ‘CS-GO’ has a total of 11 playable maps that YOU can select to play, so you can play on 1 map and 1 map only if that’s what you’d prefer. ‘CS-GO’ is playable on Steam, but here is a link to its offical site: https://blog.counter-strike.net/

    3. ‘Apex Legends’ is currently the No. 3 with 11,261,100 viewer hours. ‘Apex Legends’ was released in 2019 and is a Battle Royale game with 23 Legends for you to play as during your Battle Royales, each with different abilities and skills you can maximize to win every game. Each game there are a total of 60 players per game, which are composed of either 30 duos or 20 squads of trios.

    Playing on the same map every game, you and your squad should try to find the best possible place to land every game because the map doesn’t change. You can get the game here: https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends