Jesy nelson before surgery
Job dilemma
2023.03.22 17:31 kaitlencs Job dilemma
I work at a outpatient surgery center as an RN in the PACU. I’ve been here for a year and a half and I do love it, however it often feels like I’m working harder than my coworkers and it’s very frustrating. I took a pay cut to be here, currently at $23.50. Living pay check to paycheck. Living with my boyfriend and have no kids. Looking to get married next year.
This job is M-F, I sometimes get off as early as 12:30 pm, sometimes as late as 9 pm. The work environment is very flexible, but it is also very inconsistent and I don’t know what time I am expected to be at work until the night before.
One of our anesthesiologists came up to the desk and asked “do y’all know any LPNs looking for a job? My office is hiring.” He is having a hard time filling the position, And we were asking the basic questions you know why aren’t the people staying, how much do you pay them, etc. well finds out they pay $24/hr for an LPN, and I’m like wait, that’s more than I make here as an RN.
I’m just at a standstill. His office job will be m-f 8-5. No early offs or anything. I really do love my current job, I just do not feel like I get paid enough. I’m not sure how to go about asking for a raise, is that what I should be doing?
🤦🏻♀️I never should have accepted 23.50 but I was desperate to get out of the hospital.
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2023.03.22 17:29 chloeweirsoprano My Experience
I usually wouldn't post about this in the WLS subreddits, since my experience is pretty average, and no one needs an 900th story about "Have gas pain, food feels stuck, it's been three weeks and I haven't lost anything :( :( :( "
But since there's not too many posts on this sub, here's my experience so far with my DS.
My clinic does it in 2 phases, most of the time. I had my sleeve in April 2022, and my DS at the end of Feb 2023. About 10 months in between. My surgery was covered by my province's free healthcare.
My hospital asked if I'd like to be part of a study that measures the efficacy of the traditional DS (double anastomosis) versus the SADI (single anastomosis). I was having trouble deciding between the two anyway, so I agreed, since it meant that I would be randomly assigned either double or single on the day of surgery. I ended up with single, which I'm perfectly happy with.
The DS surgery was MUCH easier than the sleeve. I felt like a human again so much quicker, and the pain was minimal. I had very little nausea this time around, when for my sleeve, I couldn't swallow anything for a few days without it coming back up.
This was great for my recovery, but not great for my appetite, lol. I had a very hard time sticking to the staged-reintroduction of food...in fact...I didn't stick with it at all. Within a week I was trying foods I wasn't supposed to have, because my appetite was perfectly fine. Don't be like me. Follow your doctor's advice, especially if you're getting the sleeve at the same time as the DS. It's HUBRIS.
But tbh it all worked out for me, luckily. I haven't eaten anything that caused me great distress, even rice/bread/sugar. I'm about 4 weeks out from surgery now, and while I might have felt some rumblings in the beginning whenever I would eat, those are completely gone now. It's just like the sleeve.
As for the smelly flatulence problem...they were not joking. It's not all the time, though. Usually about an hour before a bowel movement, but not EVERY bowel movement (which happens 2-3 times a day, pretty close to my normal.) Every day, my BMs get a little more firm, but not concerningly so. Every once in a while, I strain, but a bidet helps with that IMMENSELY. (Seriously. Treat yourself to a bidet attachment on your toilet.)
I'm just one person, so not an expert, but if anyone has questions about a highly individual two-stage SADI surgery, feel free to hit me up.
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2023.03.22 17:25 michellemellon Who does fat transfer boob jobs?
I got up to a C cup on hormones, and they were at a D cup at the end of year one. But two and a half years in now they shrunk even though I gained a whole lot of weight from antidepressants in the last six months. They look like man boobs after gaining 40 lbs, and the giant hips I took so much time to balance out my upper body with before, like cis woman curvy, are overshadowed by my giant arms and flabby back now. It looks fake again. And I am so scared that my boobs are going to mostly disappear in six months when I finally lose the rest of this weight. And even if I did stay at a C cup, I want visible cleavage from the front so that people that clock me at least know it isn't padding. And between this and bone surgeries, I want to future proof my transition so I can just live without needing to worry about my figure being what makes or breaks me passing. So my upper body isn't too big when I get fat, my boobs never look like woobs on my frame, and my lower body isn't too small when I'm too skinny.
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2023.03.22 17:21 chronicphd Nearly all BC methods make me suicidal: anyone else?
I am feeling lost and not seeing anything on search engines and want to see if it’s just me or if this has happened to anyone else. I have endometriosis and my pain is extremely severe. I have had excision surgery, the pain is back only a year and a half later. To manage my endo pain, I have tried:
- Combo pill (multiple)
- progesterone only pill (multiple)
- Mirena IUD
- Depo shot
- nuvaring
I experience so many awful side effects. Pain level 8-10 migraines from BC with estrogen, extreme hunge30 lb weight gain/eczema from the depo shot that took almost a year to go away from just 1 shot, extreme sharp pain like I was being cut inside trying to have sex with the Mirena IUD (ultrasound confirmed to be properly placed) as well as acne and other more minor side effects.
However, the worst has been within days of starting a new hormonal method in the past few years I become so intensely depressed and suicidal that I don’t recognize myself and can’t function at work or home. I just had to take my nuvaring out because I was scared I was going to hurt myself. Before I started the nuvaring, my mental health was fairly good and I had good health habits in place. I’m going to now have to start again from square one.
I have tried explaining this to my gyno, and she thinks my pain is just “health anxiety” and that I should just deal with birth control and that she got all my endo in the surgery so it couldn’t be that. It feels like she doesn’t believe me.
It’s been years and so many gynos just trying to get the endo surgery, and so facing additional years and more gynos feels so daunting. It’s seeming like if you have issues with BC, gynos get annoyed with you because they don’t know what to do with you if it doesn’t solve all your problems.
Just want to see if someone else has had some similar experience of being intolerant to seemingly almost every method of BC. I would rather just live with the pain at this point, but I wish I didn’t have to.
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2023.03.22 17:20 weatherjack_ Lab
16 years you left me two weeks before spinal cord surgery. You told me I would have to pay someone to wipe my but you wouldn't take care care of me. I gave you a home and still taking care of three cats of yours. Are you ever coming home? [In SC] Can I have the rings back? Are you going to take the cats. I need to free my mind of you. I wish the best for you. I really do. Those are the only things I ask. I have to go back to work.
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2023.03.22 17:13 JohnWick464 Help with Elder financial abuse
I'm fairly certain my father has become a victim of elderly financial abuse.
I will try to cut the story as short as possible, but it will be a bit long. In 2021 my father had a stroke, he lived in my home prior to the stroke, due to vaccination mandates, I was unable to visit him in hospital, unable to take him to hospitals for his surgeries, as he got diagnosed with lung cancer during the same period, it was found while he was in hospital for the stroke, he spent 2 months in hospital and a female friend visited him often in the hospital during these 2 months, this female friend turned my father against most of his children. After he got out of the hospital, he stayed with me for 3 weeks and I took care of him, his sisters (my aunts) got involved with taking him to appointments and the hospital for his surgeries as again, I couldn't due to vaccine mandates.
They did not return him home, he stayed with my aunt for around 6 weeks for both operations, then they didn't tell me anything and just put him in an old aged home, due to mandates, I couldn't do anything, this was early 2022. During this period, this female friend had got access to his bank book and his keycard and the pin number to it, I couldn't find out any information, I tried talking to the age care home numerous times and said I wanted to discharge him and bring him home and take care of him, they refuse to tell me any information, stating that I was not the authorized person, they could not tell me any financial information, nothing, my brother has been in contact a lot with this female friend, I suspect he is an accomplice to the financial abuse taken place on my father. The aged care facility were also trying to talk me into stepping down with pulling him out by trying to offer cheaper packages and things also.
During the period of me trying to get him out of this aged care facility, his female friend kept accusing my aunt of elder financial abuse on my dad, saying she was stealing his money and the age care costs were not getting paid and that they were apparently trying to take her to court over it, during this time my aunt was definitely the authorized person on the list at the age care facility, they contacted her and advised her about what I was talking to them about and that I was wanting to get my dad out of the aged care facility, my aunt did not say anything, never made contact with me, in fact they went out of their way to disconnect my father's phone so I couldn't speak to him anymore. (Initially this made me believe that my aunt was up to no good, despite knowing that my father's friend is no good, my initial thoughts were both my aunt and this female friend were committing the financial abuse on my dad, but turns out I was wrong, more to this later on).
I noticed a lot of my father's mail was not coming here at my address anymore, it use to, I managed to get a financial statement and some of the transactions were quite questionable and looked like signs of elderly financial abuse, for example he is living in an aged care home, why would he need to spend 150$ at a supermarket? He had a stroke and cannot drive anymore, why on earth would he need to spend like 100$ a time at a gas station? Not to mention some of these gas station transactions are close to where that lady lives.
I heard my mailbox go off a few times, so someone was stealing mail out of my mailbox and driving off as I would look out the window to see who it was, clearly taking any evidence from my mailbox, such as financial statements, as I said, I managed to get one. I suspect this was happening usually when I wasn't at home.
The people I suspect of the abuse advised me of the fees that apparently my father has to pay to the aged care facility, which are extremely high, way higher than his pension can even cover, I did some investigation of my own and my father is quite mobile, doesn't need much care at all, just needs meals provided and someone to make sure he takes his meds and that's all, he doesn't have assets and things, he is quite poor, and I spoke with my sister who works in aged care and she even said, his pension should be covering his fees and meds, which I worked out shouldn't be anymore than about 2,000$ a month, the people I suspect said he is paying anywhere from 3,000-4,000$ per month, those fees are for the Deluxe packages etc.
My brother was bragging to me about a will being put in place, I know there is no will and it's a lie. Recently my brother just showed up coercing my father to take belongings away, telling my father lies, saying that I was moving soon and taking his things with me, my father's belongings have been in my possession for more than 1.5 years and I have not taken or sold any of his property without full permission from my father. And any funds I have got from this have not gone in my pocket directly what so ever.
I have advised if the property isn't brought back, I will be contacting my lawyer, they have agreed to bring the property back, as I need to sell these items to pay for my father's funeral expenses, which I have had a conversation with my father about this. I also told them if they do this again, I will be calling the police for trespassing and stealing. The fact my brother acted impatiently and started taking things means, there is no will in place, I asked my father have you done a will?, he said no, your brother tried to get me to do it but I refused.
At this stage, I do not know who the power of attorney is, I suspect it's his female friend, my dad has told me that she has his bank book and keycard and she is handling his finances, now I have found someone who has been a previous victim of this said female friend, this person advised me that the female friend was ripping them off for money, maxing out their credit cards etc. I was also advised by them that the said female friend of my father's has a history of fraud and has been taken to court for defrauding Centrelink for a lot of money in the past, a huge amount of money to be exact.
My sister found out by talking to one of the aunt's involved previously, that the money was being taken out of my dad's account before the aged care place could take the fees out to pay for my dad's expenses there. Bit strange to me, if they are not getting paid, why haven't they reported this as suspicious?
My brother has told me that apparently my father owes the aged care home a crap load of money, many many thousands. How can he know this, I can't even find out this information, the aged home refuse to tell me anything about financials, telling me I was not an authorized person, despite being his son.
Anyway, the female friend has turned my father against his sisters now, as well as his children, except my brother. This is my theory, the female friend used my aunts as a scapegoat, convinced them to put him in an aged care home, to isolate him from me and my siblings to set the stage for financial abuse. I think then by getting my aunts out of the way, the female friend of my dad's has then taken control completely. She has turned my father completely against his sisters and children, except the brother as stated.
I found out, he is being given some pocket money to buy smokes, that's pretty much it.
For quite a while this female friend was trying to make out like she wanted him out of the aged care home, but hasn't put up any further fight for that since she got my aunts out of the way.
Does anyone know a good starting point for me? I am seriously looking at taking this person to court because if I don't, my father will suffer, he won't get a proper funeral when he passes away, he will be in severe debt etc, it's not fair on him and I want to correct all of this and fix this for him.
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2023.03.22 17:06 StandardDragonfly Our dog is sick and I just need to blubber and vent
My son is 20 months. Before he was born we had two small dogs, a daschund poodle mix named Walter and a terrier mix named Yankee. Our terrier mix had a lot of health problems. Like so grateful we had pet insurance and were the ones to adopt him kind of problems.
About two week before I gave birth to my son, Yankee had some severe gastro issues. He stopped eating and had rounds at the vet. He had just been to a specialist for a CT scan about three weeks before that so it was all pretty baffling both to our normal vet and the emergency vet he had to spend time at after hours. They determined there was some kind of blockage late in the game but he passed before they were able to get him in surgery. It was so hard and really broke my heart.
Now, I'm pregnant with my second son and Walter is sick and I'm having the worst deja vu. Walter hasn't eaten in a week and has basically been interred at two vets again. They called me to tell me the tests they ran with what they suspected it was came back negative and they wanted us to meet with the vet at 4pm. My husband is out of town for work so I'm going to have to go on my own but he did say he would call and be on the phone.
I'm just really scared and preparing for the worst news that they can't help him. I know dogs don't live forever but Walter has never had major health issues and he's only 7. Weirdly I was always more prepped for terrible news with Yankee because we knew he had problems when we adopted him and he kind of weirdly survived like six miracles before he actually passed so I always felt like each win was a blessing rather than a given. Walter is also our first dog, we adopted him as a puppy when we were engaged.
I wasn't really prepared to have to deal with pet death with a toddler. I don't even know why I'm doing this, I don't even know that it's the way it's going to go but it's all I can think about. And I don't want to have to do this by myself today but my husband won't be home until tomorrow.
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2023.03.22 17:03 Laundry_and_taxes Is it disrespectful or emasculating for me (F25) propose to my partner (M31)?
I (F25) have been dating my partner (M31) for a bit over a year. Prior to meeting him, I could never imagine myself finding someone I respected and trusted enough to be by my side for life. I'm loud, opinionated, and generally intimidating to a lot of people (often told I'm "too much" by my religious mom ). My partner breathes kindness, never makes me feel like my passions are overbearing, and frankly just exudes optimism and encouragement for my goals. We volunteer together, and both feel like we want to polish the turd of this world a bit by helping others/rescuing animals. I'm applying for medical school, studying, and working full time, and not once has he complained about my limited time to hang out. We both have been practicing communicating with each other better, every day (wasn't modeled well for me by mine or his parents). When roe vs. wade was overturned, he helped design posters and volunteered to march with me in protests. When I had my hysterectomy, after 3 months of knowing him, he took care of me the week after surgery (we're both adamantly childfree), walking my dog and cooking/cleaning.
Gushing done; I want to go through life with this wonderful human being at my side, and thus have been thinking about proposing to him. However, my sistebest friend said to "wait and give him the chance to!" And my brother said that he would've said no to his wife proposing to him, just to be able to ask her himself. My family is more traditional in this aspect, so I want to hear others opinions. My partner is Vietnamese, his family is lightly Buddhist, but not strict. Do I tell his mom before asking? (I think it's a bit outdated/misogynistic for the whole father permission thing on my end, but if I propose, I want to do it as respectfully as I can to his mom/family).
I don't want to emasculate or disrespect him by proposing, but I do want him to know how I feel and ask him to be in my life. Has anyone proposed to their partner in a similar situation? What did you (as the guy) think/feel about being proposed to?
TLDR: I want to propose to my boyfriend, but my close relatives think I should wait until my male partner proposes. Recommendations/stories of this working (or not working out!) Greatly appreciated.
Edit: We've talked about long-term life together, and he has hinted to me about weddings/proposing. We've discussed a courthouse wedding, similar ideas on traveling instead of a big wedding.
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2023.03.22 16:57 Voltron2017 Not losing as much weight as I thought I would
I had surgery on Feb 1. Since that day I have lost 25 pounds. 7 weeks and 25 pounds gone. That seems really low. I thought I would be at least 40 pounds. I’m so disappointed. This was a major lifestyle change and I’m losing less than 4 pounds a week. I was doing that on my low carb diet before this surgery. I feel like I made a huge mistake.
For info: I had gastric sleeve I eat about 400 calories a day I may not get all my protein (60 g) each day. More like 30-45 I can’t drink more than 40 Oz water a day. I try to drink more and I start getting burps, and stomach pain. I’m not eating sugar or high carbs.
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2023.03.22 16:53 Tasty_Case_374 NMom has Cancer
About 18 months ago, in the fall of 2021, my mom was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. There have been many factors that have made the situation difficult to process, understand, and accept.
10 days before my mom was diagnosed, I had just moved home from California. I was experiencing a bit of burnout in my career, wasn’t in love with the city I was in, and as cheesy as it may sound, something told me I needed to go home. In August/September nothing was working out. My car battery got stolen, I ended a relationship, I accidentally flushed my keys down the toilet (automatic flush will get ya), my car got towed because I parked in a construction zone, the same day that I picked my car up from the tow lot I got in a wreck that totaled my car. After the car wreck, I was certain that the universe was sending me signs that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. My lease was set to end in October so I finished a small project I was working on, paid October rent, and moved home at the end of September.
Once I was home, the worst year of my life began. In the couple weeks that I was home before my mom was diagnosed, I allowed my parents to make me forget who I was.
I didn’t know what I was going to do next, but I had an idea that I wanted to work for the college I went to. I have always had some sort of job/income since I was 15.
My dad told me, “you did nothing at (school I went to)” despite being a tour guide, being a part of a sorority, going on service-based trips, and working really hard on my academics as a first-generation college student. I’m not saying I’m perfect and I haven’t made mistakes, but I am saying that in most everything I do, I have good intentions.
My mom once said, “well you think you’re smarter than everybody else because you went to college” which is not the case nor have I ever acted like that. Some of the most intelligent people I know don’t have a formal education.
Shortly after her diagnosis an exploratory surgery was scheduled for the following month in November. The doctors were unable to do any sort of debulking surgery due to the cancer metastasizing. They said it would be too dangerous to operate and her quality of life would be too low. In December, she started chemotherapy which she had every three weeks up until the beginning of February 2023. She has stopped chemo due to her white blood cell count being too low, and is now on a hormonal medicine to combat the spread. I feel that chemo has stopped for reasons other than just her white blood cell count being too low. I think the oncologist knows the reality of the situation and my dad knows more than he says. My mom is emotionally-immature and I think it would be very difficult for her to hear that her disease is terminal. My dad is in denial, and doesn’t go with her to the her appointments. My grandma will go with her which is effective for my moms emotional support, but not for taking notes/helping my mom understand/remember what’s going on. I have gone to a couple chemo sessions/appointments with her, but I live in a different state. My dad is also an alcoholic who hasn’t once asked me about how I’m doing with processing what’s going on with my mom. About two weeks ago he told her that he could “use some help” around here, was the only one who brings in income, and that she needed to get a job. I told her that’s the last thing she needed to worry about, and that I would get a second job/send her money so she doesn’t have to work. I can’t imagine having cancer and my husband telling me I need to work. I felt so bad for her.
I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have stage four cancer. I should not be the judge of how my mother handles her situation, and how she expresses herself, but I am extremely unsettled about the way things have gone. I understand that the situation is not about me, and I need to be there for her.
It’s like my mom has empathy for everyone but me. I don’t feel like her daughter a lot of the time. She constantly talks about how she feels bad for my one of my little cousins because she doesn’t have a mom, and of course I feel bad for her too. Recently I went to one of my cousins weddings in Mexico.
She cried at the wedding because she felt bad for my cousin whose mom wasn’t there but is alive, and she made sure everyone knew why she was crying. I felt bad for my adult cousin too but I just feel forgotten about. I’m about to lose my mom too, and my mom can’t see that. I am watching her actively die and it’s almost like she’s incapable of understanding how that must feel. She never drinks and got ridiculously drunk the night of the wedding. She’s really insecure about her now pixie-cut short hair from the chemo. Once she was beligerated she went up to every group in the hotel bar and told them that she “wasn’t a lesbian” just because her hair was short and that she had cancer. Then she wanted to dance on the stage and was upset because the music was playing anymore. She got the attention of a manager and asked him if he could play music and make an exception because she has cancer. Then, with the help of our family friend and one of my other cousins we took her back to her room because she was getting out of control/was just too drunk. She got emotional and said how she was said she wouldn’t get to see my little cousins grow up, to be sure to take care of my dad and my brother when she’s gone, and that I needed to get started making a family. I am so tired of my worth/success being equated to getting married/having kids. It’s like our family and especially my mother doesn’t take me seriously because I don’t have those things yet. And the sad thing is I do want those things, just not yet.
I feel like such an outcast in my family. Deeply alone. Like I don’t fit in or belong anywhere and I want to so badly.
Yesterday my mom called me and goes, “grandma and I think you’re depressed, you need to get on an antidepressant” with a tone like I’m in trouble or I did something wrong. Anytime I try to talk to her “it’s always something with you” “don’t be so sensitive” “I never said that” I’m just exhausted. Anytime I ask for help she rejects me. I just wanted somebody to talk to.
Today I reached out to a friend who’s going to help me find some counseling services. I don’t know. I just needed to get this out.
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2023.03.22 16:46 prettybbychim inflamed areolas for 9 months+ need second opinions
21 AFAB
medications: ambien, azelastine, ativan, effexor xr, hydroxyzine, lo loestrin fe, omeprazole, singulair, wellbutrin, zyrtec
surgeries: appendectomy (2018), cholecystectomy (2022), top surgery (2022)
issue: inflamed nipples and areolas. bright red, hot to touch, extremely itchy
pictures are of both left and right nipples, before and after vaseline application:
https://imgur.com/a/RS1mNYM i had top surgery on july 12 2022, in other words, a double mastectomy with nipple grafts and liposuction. i’ve had issues with nipple chafing prior to surgery and saw a breast specialist who prescribed a steroid that cleared it right up (march 4 2022)
as my nipples have healed, i’ve experienced very similar symptoms to the chafing. i have tried: lanolin, vaseline, hydrocortisone ointment and cream, cocoa butter, and body moisturizers such as cerave and cetaphil. these were all done at the suggestion of my surgeon. nothing has made this issue go away. some of these improve it for a time and then it comes back full force. others make it worse (like the lotions).
my surgeon told me this month to once again try more moisturizing lotions more frequently throughout the day. that’s why i’m using cetaphil on the area because i use that for the rest of my body. it makes it worse
it’s so irritated and itchy, it’s driving me insane. i want to claw them off at this point. i love my surgeon but none of his suggestions have improved anything. i need second options please
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2023.03.22 16:46 spartachilles Social Democratic Convention of 1936 A House Divided Alternate Elections
| The Social Democratic Party has come far from its humble beginnings as a splinter of the Populist Party. Capturing the public imagination of the American left after the ignominious collapse of its predecessor during the Second Civil War, the Social Democratic Party defined the country’s relationship with the dictatorship both when its disputed 1908 defeat led to the collapse of democracy and when its triumphant 1912 victory allowed President John M. Work to guide its restoration. After a following decade of disappointing electoral returns and frustrating compromises with Solidarity to counter the Federalist Reform Party, the election of President John Dewey heralded a rejuvenation of the beleaguered Social Democratic Party. Amid the perfect storm of public dissatisfaction with the capitalist system, innovative new campaign tactics, and floundering opposition, the party further shocked pundits across the political spectrum by securing an absolute majority in the popular vote and trifecta control of the government during Dewey’s reelection campaign in 1932. In the two years that followed, the Social Democratic Party achieved accomplishments decades in the making including a national workmen’s compensation scheme, tripartite negotiations between major labor union leaders and representatives of industry shepherded by the federal government, and the nationalization of the railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. However, despite these impressive successes, increasingly apparent cracks in the party threaten to tear it asunder. At the center of its internal controversy lies the 1934 Declaration of Principles authored by Connecticut Senator Devere Allen, demanding a radical turn of the party platform and a strict adherence to pacifism in foreign affairs. Thus, tensions run high as a crop of faces both new and familiar struggle to succeed President Dewey. The Candidates New York Governor Norman Thomas Norman Thomas: As the focal figure of the internal party opposition to President Dewey, 52-year-old New York Governor Norman Thomas has amassed a formidable political coalition heading into the primary elections. Raised by a pastor in a deeply religious family, Thomas became convicted in his pacifistic beliefs from a young age, conscientiously objecting to serving in the Second Civil War and leaving for a missionary trip abroad rather than becoming embroiled in the Resistance to the dictatorship. Drawn into the world of politics after volunteering for the successful 1917 New York City mayoral campaign of Morris Hillquit, Thomas quickly attracted attention within the Social Democratic Party for his impressive oratory and writing skills and was soon elected as a State Senator. However, Thomas’s rise would be frustrated by a combative relationship with the urban Tammany Hall political machine which dominated much of the Social Democratic Party in New York. It would take a decade of building relationships with upstate leaders and anti-Tammany politicians for Thomas to finally secure the gubernatorial nomination in 1930, which proved to be fortuitous timing as Thomas rode the Social Democratic wave into the Governor’s mansion. In an effort that presaged President Dewey’s Great Community program, Governor Thomas implemented a highly ambitious relief program to give work to the unemployed and construct strong state-owned banks, power companies, and grain elevators. Beyond his record as governor though, Thomas became famous (or perhaps infamous) across the nation for his opposition to President Dewey on the basis of his stringent pacifism. Closely collaborating with Devere Allen on the authorship of the 1934 Declaration of Principles, Thomas also famously met with union leaders Harry Bridges and John L. Lewis to organize a large-scale political strike against shipments of aid to Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Reflecting the tripartite makeup of his political coalition, Thomas’s campaign for the presidency has three primary facets. The first, and perhaps most pronounced, is his strictly pacifistic isolationism. Attacking international war as the “fruit of the perpetual economic warfare of capitalism”, Thomas has strictly opposed any type of military build-up or program and instead endorsed the use of tools such as trade embargoes and general strikes to combat the outbreak of war abroad. Secondly, Thomas has endorsed an even more radical direction for the party’s economic and political goals. Economically, Thomas has supported the widespread socialization of the economy under the model of worker’s self-management, declaring in favor of the immediate nationalization of industries such as banking, insurance, mining, and other “trustified” industries with the eventual goal of fully transferring to the people the ownership of industry, land, finance, and natural resources. Politically, Thomas has thrown in with radicals in the party by denouncing the “bogus democracy of capitalist parliamentarism” and calling for the abolition of the Senate and judicial review. To this end, Thomas has been critical of the amendments arising from the Second Constitutional Convention, instead preferring a more radical transformation of the country’s government to achieve a worker’s republic. Last but certainly not least, Thomas has strongly denounced the Dewey administration’s record on corruption, promising to disentangle the party from political bossism and corrupt bureaucrats and restore an honest administration to the country. Unsurprisingly, Thomas has been strongly attacked for his uncompromising radicalism and pacifism, which many of his opponents see as entirely unworkable. Secretary of the Interior Sherwood Eddy Sherwood Eddy: 65-year-old Secretary of the Interior Sherwood Eddy has been tapped by President Dewey as his heir apparent. Deeply religious from a young age and independently wealthy from his inheritance, Eddy took up theological studies through which he became absorbed by the incipient Social Gospel movement. This led him to join a missionary group after he completed his studies, a choice that brought him to spend the next thirty years abroad under the auspices of the YMCA to spread the gospel. Exposed to crushing poverty and political oppression while working in India, disappointed by the development of the dictatorship in his home country, and horrified by the atrocities he witnessed as a volunteer medic during the Great War, Eddy’s Christian socialist ardor only grew more pronounced in his years abroad. Thus, Eddy founded the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order to promote his ideals, becoming well acquainted with the inner circle of the Social Democratic Party through his travel seminars bringing American politicians to socialist countries such as Spain and Russia. Among those influential party men that he met was Secretary of Education John Dewey, and the two soon formed a close relationship with Eddy staunchly supporting Dewey’s 1928 campaign and helping to deliver the support of the crucial religious left constituency. Regarded as a capable administrator and loyal supporter of the president’s program, Eddy was appointed as the Secretary of the Interior and confirmed after a drawn-out battle with the opposition Congress. Thus, over the past eight years Eddy has served as one of the President’s chief lieutenants, driving the implementation of Dewey’s relief program and perhaps most famously promoting the cooperativization of agriculture across the nation. Believing Christian ethics to be incompatible with the current capitalist system, Eddy has advanced a program similar to that of President Dewey’s although tinged by his deep religiosity. To combat the continuing Great Depression, Eddy has called for the full achievement of President Dewey’s “Great Community”, including continued deficit spending for relief, the nationalization of monopolistic industries such as electric power, gas, utilities, and mining, and substantial increases in the land value tax. Beyond just such economic proposals, Eddy has also unambiguously endorsed the amendments to implement semi-presidentialism and federal direct democratic reforms, strongly supporting the drive to rebalance the separation of powers and bring government closer to the people. However, in an assertion of his independent political identity, Eddy has also emphasized a strongly moralistic outlook on social issues, including support for the national prohibition of alcohol as well as stronger governmental action to control vices such as gambling and prostitution. As a part of this drive, Eddy has also promised to direct a greater level of public works spending towards the replacement of slums with sanitary public housing, the construction of public health facilities, and the establishment of adult educational facilities. On the ever-controversial matter of foreign affairs, Eddy has strongly opposed the aggression of the Japanese Empire on a moral basis but has shied away from suggestions of military rearmament and preferred the continued application of sanctions and international pressure. With Eddy largely staying true to the orthodoxy of the popular President John Dewey, most attacks against him have centered around his deep-seated religious morality, which his opponents claim is inappropriate to advance on a national scale, as well as his relatively advanced age compared to many of his opponents. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace Henry A. Wallace: Those supporting a more moderate path for the party have rallied around the party’s icon of compromise: 48-year-old Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace. Born into a successful farming family, Wallace was too young to have fought in the Second Civil War and instead spent those tumultuous years in high school with a particular interest in agricultural science. Rumored to have privately supported the dictatorship while studying in college due to his lack of noted resistance activities, Wallace only became truly exposed to the political world after the death of his grandfather, which allowed him to take a leading role in the family’s influential agricultural journal Wallace’s Farmer. Personal tragedy would produce political gain for the young Wallace, as President Tasker H. Bliss had planned on appointing his father Henry C. Wallace as the Secretary of Agriculture before the elder Wallace’s untimely death from the complications of gallbladder surgery, and opted instead to appoint the younger Wallace. Becoming known as “Mr. Agriculture” for his exceptional 12-year tenure in the position through both the Bliss and Dewey administrations, Wallace has overseen a revitalization of the Department and tackled issues such as a farm overproduction crisis and series of droughts in the Midwest with vigor. Not just content with being known as an able administrator, Wallace also famously stepped beyond his role to propose the compromise which led to the transformative Banking Act of 1933. However, Wallace’s time in the administration has not been free from controversy, with tabloid newspapers harassing his increasingly close relationship with the mysterious Russian mystic and exile Nicholas Roerich. True to his reputation as a compromiser, Wallace has supported a more moderate direction for the party. Rather than outright nationalization of electric power companies and other utilities, Wallace has instead endorsed the creation of publicly-owned regional economic planning and utility companies that would compete with private companies to offer cheap power while also driving rural electrification and flood control improvements. However, Wallace has not wholly shied away from nationalization of industry, and has in fact advanced nationalization proposals for industries not targeted in the plans of his opponents, including the merchant marine, the aircraft industry, and the oil industry. A strong supporter of the National Labor Relations Act, Wallace sees the government leadership of negotiations as a crucial way to advance the rights of labor in areas of working hours, workplace safety, and benefits, and has called for amendments to the act to better protect the rights and representation of agricultural workers. To further support agricultural workers, Wallace has championed a federal guarantee of a minimum income to farmers through price supports, federal purchasing programs, regulations to limit overproduction, and export to impoverished regions through global economic planning. A supporter of continuing deficit spending on public works with a particular focus on public housing, Wallace has suggested that the increases in the land value tax could help offset the growing federal debt and that otherwise the federal government should use price controls to control potential inflation. As a committed internationalist, Wallace has strongly endorsed President Dewey’s International Labor and Development Commission which would institute a level of global centralized economic planning. Furthermore, Wallace has strongly denounced the aggression of Integralist Italy and Japan, though he has cautioned against reckless expansions of the military if they would endanger the pro-democratic reforms advanced by President Bliss. The attacks against Wallace have often targeted his personal foibles, as Wallace is well known to be fascinated by spiritual matters such as Theosophy and the occult, with many believing that his close acquaintance Nicholas Roerich might have undue influence over Wallace. New Jersey Senator Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair: Long discussed as a potential presidential candidate, 58-year-old New Jersey Senator Upton Sinclair has finally thrown himself into the running for the nation’s highest office. Having grown up fascinated with writing, Sinclair achieved his breakthrough success with the 1906 publication of The Jungle, a dramatic exposé of poor working conditions in the meatpacking industry. Leveraging the funds and fame from the book into a successful run for Congress in his home state of New Jersey, Sinclair continued to make a name for himself by sponsoring legislation to tackle food safety and worker’s rights in the industry. Unfortunately, Sinclair’s political success put him on a collision course with General Grant, and Sinclair was one of many Social Democratic politicians arrested and held for the duration of the dictatorship. After being freed from his confinement, Sinclair ran for and won a Senate seat representing New Jersey, which he has held ever since. Although many saw Sinclair as an up and coming politician who might well succeed President Work, such aspirations were dampened after Sinclair took a highly controversial stand against Work’s embargo of the warring powers in the Great War. Having thus burned many bridges within the party, Sinclair supported his friend and political sponsor Joseph Ray Buchanan at the party’s 1920 convention while slowly rebuilding his political reputation. A strident interventionist, Sinclair most recently gained fame for his harsh denouncement of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in Congress, demanding that the country provide aid to the beleaguered Russians. Devoting great attention to the increasing importance of primaries and caucuses, Sinclair has embarked on a nationwide campaign titled “End Poverty in Columbia”. The signature proposal of Sinclair’s campaign is for the federal government to create a program to nationalize any idle farm or industry and convert it into a worker’s cooperative. In parallel with such a program, Sinclair has suggested federal legislation guaranteeing the right of workers to purchase their workplace and transform it into a worker’s cooperative should their employer seek to close it down. In further development of these worker’s communities, Sinclair has called for a greater investment into public housing, community kitchens, and communal social spaces. To fund such an expansive program, Sinclair has suggested that new forms of taxation such as taxes on stock transfers or capital gains would be necessary alongside the issuance of more government bonds and increases to the land value tax to support this program. As another method to stimulate the economy on the demand side, Sinclair has proposed a dramatic reduction in the retirement age to 50 years of age, increases in pensions paid out under the social insurance system, and a taxation scheme that would encourage the immediate expenditure of such pensions. Sinclair has supported the amendments of the Second Constitutional Convention, seeing them as a means to accelerate the passage of his EPIC program. The other facet of Sinclair’s campaign is his uncompromising interventionism; Sinclair is one of few Social Democrats to have openly endorsed military rearmament and has suggested that military intervention might be necessary in a global war to guarantee the safety of democracy. This position has proven highly controversial, with many attacking such a plan as a reckless way of stoking the fires of Grantism in the country once again. Moreover, many have questioned Sinclair’s suitability for office due to his well-known interest in the occult and his promotion of his wife’s supposed telepathic powers. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello LaGuardia: While most of the so-called “sewer socialists” of the party have lent their support to Norman Thomas, those opposed to his candidacy have instead rallied around 54-year-old New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Born to a family of Italian immigrants that moved around the country due to his father’s service in the military, LaGuardia attempted to follow his father to war upon the outbreak of the Second Civil War. However, after being denied for military service on account of his short stature, LaGuardia instead found his way to the frontlines in a different capacity: as a war correspondent for the St. Louis Dispatch. With a passion for public service, LaGuardia secured a clerical position in the State Department after the war, and in a pattern of service oft-criticized as collaboration with the Grant regime, spent the next decade in several low-level governmental administration roles. With the amnesty offered by President Work, LaGuardia pursued a seat in Congress as a Social Democrat in 1916, and won several successive terms thanks to his strong appeal among ethnic minorities and tireless advocacy for the rights of labor. After losing re-election in the Federalist Reform wave of 1928, LaGuardia was approached to run a third-party fusion campaign for Mayor of New York City by a wide-ranging coalition of anti-Tammany Social Democrats, disaffected Solidarists opposed to the urban planning initiatives of Mayor George McAneny, and moderate Federalist Reformists fearful of a more radical candidate winning in a landslide. With such broad-based support, LaGuardia easily won the 1933 election and his tenure has been hailed for his pristine anti-corruption credentials, wide-ranging relief efforts, and crackdown on the infamous labor sluggers of the city. Portraying himself as a master administrator, LaGuardia has centered his campaign around bringing about a more honest Social Democratic government. Thus, alongside economic proposals to expand the scope and scale of public works spending and nationalize electric power and utilities, LaGuardia has also emphasized the necessity of clamping down on corruption and crime in the country. To this end, LaGuardia has emphasized an overhaul of the country’s civil service protections to be in line with the massively expanded scope of the federal government and called for stronger application of anti-corruption laws. Furthermore, LaGuardia has promised to work with local authorities to disseminate best practices to clamp down on urban crime across the country. Himself a child of immigrants and having strong political roots among ethnic minorities, LaGuardia has championed the relaxation of the country’s harsh immigration laws even despite much opposition from within the party. LaGuardia has also strongly opposed prohibition and the Interstate Spirits Trafficking Act, as well as strongly opposing the criminalization of marijuana. Although LaGuardia has maintained an internationalist outlook favoring cooperation among the nations of the world, his foreign policy positions have raised many eyebrows within the party. While much attention has been focused on the aggression of the Japanese Empire, LaGuardia has strongly denounced the antisemitism of Kaiser Wilhelm III and the German Empire even as others have suggested that Germany might form a natural ally against the Integralist powers. More controversially, LaGuardia has lavished praise upon Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, going so far as to personally raise money in support of Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia. Already accused of being a collaborationist, such an action has led LaGuardia’s opponents to attack him as a Grantist and Integralist. Vice President Howard P. Lovecraft Howard P. Lovecraft: No doubt one of the most controversial figures of the Social Democratic Party, 46-year-old Vice President Howard P. Lovecraft has launched a bid for the presidency in the culmination of his feud with President Dewey. Formerly a reactionary supporter of aristocratic rule with sympathy for the Grant dictatorship, Lovecraft made a dramatic political transformation to become a committed socialist after personally witnessing the horrors of the National Patriot League’s suppression of worker’s strikes. Writing his newfound political views into novels such as The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft soon became an icon of the American left in the world of popular culture. Having increased his political profile by giving a keynote speech at the 1924 National Front Convention, Lovecraft was the subject of a major draft movement at the Social Democratic Convention eight years later to replace William M. McDonald as the party’s vice presidential nominee. Reluctantly accepting the call to public office, Lovecraft thus found himself elected as Vice President of the United States in the Social Democratic landslide of 1932. However, many in the Social Democratic Party would come to regret this move. Disdainful of the duties of the Vice President, Lovecraft spent little time on his duties presiding over the Senate and even less attending cabinet meetings of the Dewey administration. Perhaps worse yet, Lovecraft has openly fought against his own President on matters of public policy. In one notorious incident, Lovecraft derailed the proposed nationalization of electric utilities in the Senate after his demands for their management by bureaucratic government experts instead of worker’s cooperatives was not met. Moreover, Lovecraft has also denounced the direct democratic amendments advanced by the President’s allies in the Second Constitutional Convention, wielding his writer’s pen to attack the amendments as surrendering control of the government to incompetent masses. Allying himself with the Formicist movement that has been left politically homeless since its effective expulsion from the Federalist Reform Party, Lovecraft has strongly questioned foundational precepts of the Social Democratic Party, perhaps best summarized in a statement made while announcing his campaign: “Obviously government by the people is now a joke or a tragedy, although government for them remains as the most logical goal. Though the wider distribution of resources must be accepted as a cardinal policy, the narrower restriction of power will be a necessary corollary.” To this end, Lovecraft has wholly rejected the consensus of the Second Constitutional Convention, instead demanding the restriction of office-holding to those with high technical training and the limitation of the right to vote to those who have passed educational and intelligence examinations. To further this transformation, Lovecraft has called for elective offices to be largely abolished, with the levers of government turned over to bureaucratic experts charged with efficient management of the government. Lovecraft hopes to have such a government seize control of virtually all industry and agriculture in the nation in order to operate it at maximal efficiency and ensure a redistribution of resources through liberal social welfare spending. Although rather isolationist in outlook, Lovecraft has endorsed a purely defensive military buildup to guarantee the protection of the United States and even gone so far as to suggest an interest in universal military training. With such outright authoritarianism marking him as anathema to the rest of the Social Democratic Party, Lovecraft has been relentlessly attacked as a borderline Grantist for his ideology. Like some of his opponents, Lovecraft has also been criticized on the basis of his interest in the occult, thanks in large part to the subject matter of his famous novels but also due to his association with the eccentric Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich. View Poll submitted by spartachilles to Presidentialpoll [link] [comments] |
2023.03.22 16:41 SlowShoes There are no games to play! (January-March Edition 2023)
https://www.rufftalkvr.com/blog/there-are-no-games-to-play-january-march-2023-edition/ When I read posts about how there are no games to play on the Quest, I simply can’t relate. I’m a voracious consumer of VR games, experiences and demos and currently have over 330 of them on my headset (not including my PCVR library). These experiences are a combination of both old and new items, and my wish list and library just keeps growing week after week with new releases, recommendations and game updates. This year, I wanted to keep track of all the games I’ve played and keep coming back to and catalogue them here in hopes that they may give you some fresh ideas of games to play, or reasons to revisit older games due to their updates or improvements.
Some of the games listed below, I can forsee playing all year long, and to be fair, others I've tried are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 21 games I’ve played so far from January to March of 2023 along with links to them on the store.
- Bocce Time! ($8.99) From the developer: In Bocce Time! you'll head down to a peaceful park or atmospheric pier to test your bocce skills across 12 distinct courts. Jump into a quick match to 1v1 a random opponent online, create and join private rooms with up to 8 players, or play against AI across 3 difficulties to unlock additional ball customization options. With full cross-play, everyone's invited to join the fun! It's Bocce Time! My thoughts: This game has seen so many updates since it’s release and if you haven’t checked it out, there’s a free trial that opens up the whole game so you can try it out for yourself. With two parks (10 courses), an AI bot to challenge (that has great quips), collectible balls and support for up to eight people, this is a wonderful social game to play with friends. The Walkabout Mini Golf vibes are strong with this game, so players of that game will feel right at home. The latest update unlocked the entire park as a play area, and ensures that you and your friends will have unlimited options for where to play from. Along with Discord tournaments available if you're feeling competitive, this game is a real hidden gem and has grown a lot since its release. Absolutely worth a go, especially at that price point.
- Golf+ ($29.99) From the developer: GOLF+ is the ultimate VR Golf experience and the exclusive VR Golf game of the PGA TOUR. Join your friends for a round on Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, TPC Sawgrass and more. Want something more casual? Hang out at Topgolf for a night of music and games. My thoughts: Simply one of the best games on the app store. With all the great new updates such as Beat the Pro and new courses dropping every so often, it's one game that will be on my Quest until the next headset comes out. With the official PGA licenses, a variety of match options and support for four players, it’s an essential Quest game to play alone or with friends.
- Little Cities ($19.99) From the developer: Escape to the charming world of Little Cities, the most loved VR city building simulation game. Create your own little city and watch it come to life – from a humble village to a bustling metropolis. Design the layout and strategically plot amenities to make a perfect city where your citizens love to live. My thoughts: The latest update added citizens to the game. This adds a lot more flavor to your city and brings more life to your city. It’s a pretty simple SimCity style game that should keep you entertained for a few hours. I enjoyed this one, but wasn’t blown away. The extra DLC courses and achievements will give you more play time if you find yourself enjoying this one though.
- Compound ($19.99) From the developer: "COMPOUND is a randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans. Duck and dodge around enemy fire in a tough-as-nails retro FPS with multiple locomotion options. Prepare to die - a lot - until you are good enough to reach the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone..." My experience: Essentially Doom on Quest. The awesome blocky aesthetics work perfectly in this world. With a great gameplay loop and exciting gunplay this one will easily get its hooks into you. I found myself saying "just one more run" more often than I had time for. This single player shooter has so many achievements and difficulty levels that it kept me busy for quite some time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and still have more to do. A must buy for any fan of the genre.
- Walkabout Mini Golf ($14.99) From the developer: 8 unique 18-hole courses to master. Unlock NIGHT MODE for more challenging versions of all courses. Play solo, 1v1 online quick match, or create a private room with up to 8 players. Extremely accurate physics feel just like the real thing. Collect over 188 custom balls hidden throughout. Solve treasure hunts on each hard course to earn special putters. My thoughts: What more needs to be said about this excellent game? It’s on my constant rotation of games to play alone, with friends, or even with strangers - as the community is so warm and welcoming. The community is truly one of the best, and there are several discord servers for tournaments, weekly meetups and more. An essential game that every Quest owner should have.
- VR Pool ($19.99) From the developer: ForeVR Pool brings the coolest pool halls from around the globe straight to your living room! Challenge friends, family, and in-game pros to a game of 8-ball pool – no table required. Battle 12 bots to level up and take on Legendary challengers. Join a Quick Match or jump into a private multiplayer party! Friend in town? Share your headset with Pass & Play. Up the ante and stake in-game coins in matches against other players. My thoughts: This was pretty feature-light and choppy when it first launched, but it now has 9-ball in addition to 8-ball. If you bought it early, it's worth a quick revisit. It sticks pretty true to the ForeVR formula with its aesthetics and collectibles. The graphics aren’t going to win any awards and frankly put me off of it when I first booted it up, but the physics hold up and it’s a good time against the AI or a friend. With 2v2 matches coming soon, that is where this game could really be worth revisiting for some multiplayer fun and friendly smack talk.
- After the Fall - (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: Welcome to ‘The Line’... Decades have passed since the apocalypse turned 1980s Los Angeles into a snow-crested wasteland, overrun by mutated undead. Starting out in an underground camp with up to 32 other player survivors, you take up arms as a new Harvest Runner. Your mission? Venturing out above ground to expand the Line’s reach into the city and fuel mankind’s survival for another day. My thoughts: What a fun game. The gunplay and sheer amount of enemies on screen via PC is just stunning. You're set in an apocalyptic world and must shoot your way out while gathering resources. The atmosphere is stunning, and the graphics are top notch as well. While I’m sure it’s downgraded a bit to run on Quest, don’t let that hold you back. You can play this co-op with up to three other players and bots will fill you out to four. The teamwork this game offers is wonderful. Find a friend or two and jump in this one, or play with the ever-full lobbies of people looking to join up. The latest Descension update adds two new maps and a ton of other bug fixes and gameplay additions. It's a great time to jump in with a friend!
- Cosmoniuous High (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: From the creators of award winning titles 'Job Simulator' and 'Vacation Simulator', comes a new original creation—the comically catastrophic Cosmonious High! Welcome to your alien high school that's definitely completely free of malfunctions! After crash-landing into your first day, you'll unlock powers, explore the halls, and save the school from cosmic chaos. My thoughts: I would consider this is the third entry in the Job Simulator series - even though it's technically not in the same world. I’d really recommend you play them in order to fully appreciate the experience this game has to offer. Job Simulator was the first game, with jokes and fun interaction. Vacation Simulator expanded on that idea with similar characters, and what Cosmonius does is take the ideas of object interaction and conversations and cranks it up to the max. I had so much fun experimenting, talking with NPC’s, exploring the school and seeing what story the game had to offer. This is one of those games that just speaks to people like me who likes to push the boundaries to see what you can do in a game and rewards players for experimenting. It's a heartwarming game that continues to get quality of life and accessibility updates.
- The Invisible Hours - (Played on PC $29.99, but coming out on Quest, currently available in the Rift store.) From the developer: The Invisible Hours is a complex murder mystery playable with or without a VR headset. Players freely explore an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion. A group of strangers receive a curious invitation from the enigmatic inventor, Nikola Tesla, offering each of them the chance to make amends for their darkest wrongdoings. When the last guest arrives at Tesla’s isolated mansion laboratory, they find him dead – murdered. Disgraced Swedish detective, Gustaf Gustav, vows to find the killer amongst the other guests: a blind butler, a convicted murderer, the world’s most famous actress, Tesla’s former assistant, the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, and rival inventor Thomas Edison. But none of these people are what they seem. My thoughts: I heard so many great things about this game and it's really more of an interactive story than anything. You find yourself moving around the mansion, piecing together the intricate story and learning how all these people relate to one another and their hidden secrets. I had a great time with this game, it had a unique concept that kept me fully engaged throughout.
- Pokerstars VR (Free) From the developer: PokerStars, the world’s leading poker brand, has combined live and online poker in a truly immersive VR experience. Featuring Quest Pro support with face and eye tracking, advanced haptics, and mixed reality passthrough! My thoughts: This is one of my go-to games with friends. Once you get past the initial low-stakes tables where kids play and go all-in on many hands, you’ll find a new set of players that actually play smart poker and like to chat. If you have some friends, you can create your own private room and avoid that all together. It’s a relaxing game where you can meet new people and just chill in VR. It’s my social game where I go to unwind. Recent updates have seen them add craps and social poker rooms with slots and roulette. If you're looking to relax and play some poker, this free to play game will hit the spot. You can easily play this game for free and not ever spend a dime.
- Path of the Warrior ($19.99) From the developer: We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news...chaos in the streets of Rage City tonight! The myriad local gangs, once at constant war with each other have now unified under a mysterious new crime boss...Mr. S. Thugs have flooded the entire city, unleashing a wave of terror. The police are overwhelmed and the public is in imminent danger! Can anyone put a stop to the crime wave? Can anyone save Rage City? My thoughts: This fighting game is one that you can blow off steam with. It harkens back to the old Double Dragon or Final Fight arcade days and I highly recommend you play through this game with a friend as you’ll be laughing your way through it at the absurd combos and interactive objects and scenery you can use to defeat your foes. Find a bit of open room to play in, and punch your way through the game.
- Half Life Alyx Mod: The Undertow - (PC only, Free) From the developer: You play as Alyx, tasked with delivering a mysterious briefcase to the owner of an underground night club, upon arriving you realize this deal might not be so straight forward... Expected Playtime: 50min - 1hr. Features: Full-fledged Story with Voice Acting, Custom Sounds, Assets, and Gameplay, Unique Puzzles & Engaging Combat, Full Single-Controller Support and Drinkable Vodka (Finally). My thoughts: I’ve been working my way through some Half Life Alyx mods that bubble up to the top via Reddit or online posts. This one found its way into my queue and while it had a really unique setting, it was extremely buggy in one spot, to the point where I had to restart a section close to 20 times. I didn't find the end game satisfying, and with so many other great mods, it was a miss for me.
- Sheaf - Together EP (PC only, Free) From the developer: Enter virtual reality to listen to the debut EP “Together” of synthwave producer Sheaf. No gameplay involved -- just sit back, relax, and enjoy the music while you drive through a retro low poly world. The EP features 3 tracks, and each track comes with its own scenery, tailor made to fit its mood. You can start each track separately from the main menu. My thoughts: As noted in the developer description, this is really more a zen-like experience where you’re sitting in a car that drives down a road while chill music is playing. Certainly different from a lot of other “zone out” experiences that focus on geometric shapes, but the blocky visuals really conflicted with the chill vibe it was going for. Not really my jam, but if you like chill experiences, it might be for you. You certainly can't beat the price.
- Shooty Fruity ($19.99) From the developer: Do your job whilst shooting guns! Shooty Fruity combines job simulation with exhilarating combat that makes you feel like a true action hero - whether McClane, Wick or Rambo. Take on new roles and unlock weapons to fight your way through your career. Scan shoot repeat! My thoughts: I kept seeing this game show up in sales and various feeds so I finally tried it out. After 30 minutes I just was not having any fun at all. While the enemies were silly (various fruits and vegetables), the gun mechanics were lackluster. I just did not get into the gameplay loop of shooting and scanning groceries. It was just too repetitive for me and for that reason I can’t recommend it.
- What the Bat? ($24.99) From the developer: From the creators of WHAT THE GOLF? comes a silly VR game about navigating life with baseball bats for hands. Swing your way through over 100 levels of batting, cooking, shooting, smashing, parking, painting, pickling, petting, and WHATnot. My thoughts: I was a huge fan of What the Golf on iOS, and was quite excited when I heard about this sequel. The “high” price point turned me off for a while, but when UploadVR gave it their “game of the year” award, I finally pulled the trigger. I had high hopes, and it was fun… at first, but the gimmick started to wear really thin on me rather quickly. It just didn’t seem to have the same magic the first game had. I kept going through it in hopes that something would change, or capture that original feeling, but honestly, it was a grind to finish such a short game. I understand I’m probably in the minority here, but I was quite disappointed.
- Superhot ($24.99) From the developer: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move. No regenerating health bars. No conveniently placed ammo drops. It's you, alone, outnumbered and outgunned. Snatch weapons from fallen enemies to shoot, slice and dodge through a truly cinematic hurricane of slow-motion bullets. It’s like nothing you have ever played before. Something is different here. Lose track of what’s real. My thoughts: You know it, and you probably love it. Like so many others, so did I. This was one of my first VR experiences years ago and I finally saw it through to the end. This game can be quite demanding for some levels requiring accurate shooting, movement and timing. This game offers a really unique take on gameplay and multiple ways to get through some levels really increase the replayability. With the unique achievements to strive for you have a real winner. A must own for all gamers.
- Tube Be Continued (Demo) (Full game $14.99) From the developer: Hello! Welcome to TUBE Industries: a hamster owned and operated tube puzzle emporium! Prepare for a tube-based, puzzle-filled, HAM-PACKED adventure with our charismatic leader: The BOSS. Here at TUBE Industries we provide the puzzles and you provide… the brains. No shady business here! My thoughts: I like to look at the new App Lab games that come out every now and then and I’m a sucker for a good puzzle game. This is a game where you connect mazes together for hamsters to run through. It was a weird story that sees you working with a Hamster CEO trying to save his company from the Board, which are all hamsters. Really weird stuff, but while the demo was fun, the puzzles were a bit on the simple side and ultimately, I just did not think it was worth buying at this point. That being said, if the demo grabs you I could see this being a fun few hours with new content planning to be added.
- Dart Racer (Free) From the developer: Dart Racer is an arcade racing game where you compete against AI during race and other players on the online leaderboards - features multiple race tracks and environments - steering based on throttle differential - interactive tutorial - customizable game and comfort settings - optional hand tracking. My thoughts: Now this is podracing! It really did feel like I was doing some classic Star Wars podracing, but it was quite tough to learn the controls. Once I got that figured out, there certainly was some fun to be had, but unfortunately, it just was okay for me and I dropped out after a bit. Give it a try for free, and keep in mind there are plenty of motion assists to play with so you don't get sick.
- Nock ($9.99) From the developer: Nock is bow and arrow soccer. Skate and fly around a pitch while using a bow and arrow to blast the ball into the other team’s goal. Compete in multiplayer ranked matches, or play casual custom games with your friends! Like a real sport, Nock is easy to learn but difficult to master. Block arrows let you create obstacles and you can even use your body to make a goal or save. A fast-moving ball can knock you out. Skill-based matchmaking keeps every game extremely close and competitive. Casual modes let you challenge yourself against bots or play with friends in custom matches. My thoughts: Rocket League but with archery. While I’m not a fan of archery games in general, this game really had the physics dialed in. I always felt like I was in full control of my movement and bow and arrow. Nothing ever felt like it was off, and the aiming was spot on. Every hit of the ball, or miss was my fault. An absolute blast with with up to four friends, and that’s how I recommend you play it - with friends. But there are leagues and tournaments readily available if get into the game. That being said, I’m pretty terrible at it, and will only play with friends who can tolerate my terrible skills.
- Into the Radius ($29.99) From the developer: An atmospheric open-world single-player survival shooter. You find yourself in the middle of the blighted zone, cut from the outside world. Your guns and your wits are all you have left. Fight the deadly enemies, dodge dangerous anomalies, and collect wondrous artifacts on your way to the Radius center to find your way out. My thoughts: I found myself constantly saying “I can’t believe this actually runs on a Quest.” The amount of items you can interact with, areas available to explore, systems to learn and missions to accept can be quite overwhelming. Honestly it took me about 5-7 hours of gameplay, tutorials and youtube videos until finally the game “clicked.” After this one fateful mission where I was over encumbered with items, low on ammo with minimal health and dealing with enemies at every turn, I was totally immersed and was having the time of my life. It was an absolute blast and despite being so tense - a joy to play. I did tone down the difficulty a bit, which made it much more playable and less punishing. Truly a great game if you like the loop of scavenging, planning your route ahead and making sure literally every bullet counts. While it lacks in story, it does have a lot of environmental details and little things that you have to find for yourself. If you like survival games, it’s almost perfect.
- Surgineer ($9.99) From the developer: Have you ever dreamed of being a real surgeon? Well… you are not gonna learn that here. Welcome to the most unrealistic surgery simulator where everyone can instantly become a terrible doctor. You will have to solve hilarious surgical procedures ranging from CPR to brain transplant or even removing alien eggs from a poor patient using a robotic arm! You always thought you had that surgeon in you? You better have a bulletproof malpractice insurance before getting your virtual hands on a patient! My thoughts: At such a low price point, I wasn’t expecting much. I remember playing Surgeon Simulator back in the day and this looked like that. Much to my disappointment it was much more terrible than I had hoped. Absolutely no fun was to be had here. I constantly fought with the controls, many times had no clue what to do and finally gave up in frustration. I understand part of the appeal is the wonkiness of it, but this game requires someone with a lot more patience than me to get some fun out of it.
There you have it, 21 different games played in three months. I would say there are plenty of games to play and enjoy on the Quest. I hope you find a few that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know on the Ruff Talk
Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. You can also find this article on the
RuffTalkVR Blog Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
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2023.03.22 16:40 SlowShoes There are no games to play! (January-March)
When I read posts about how there are no games to play on the Quest, I simply can’t relate. I’m a voracious consumer of VR games, experiences and demos and currently have over 330 of them on my headset (not including my PCVR library). These experiences are a combination of both old and new items, and my wish list and library just keeps growing week after week with new releases, recommendations and game updates. This year, I wanted to keep track of all the games I’ve played and keep coming back to and catalogue them here in hopes that they may give you some fresh ideas of games to play, or reasons to revisit older games due to their updates or improvements.
Some of the games listed below, I can forsee playing all year long, and to be fair, others I've tried are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 21 games I’ve played so far from January to March of 2023 along with links to them on the store.
- Bocce Time! ($8.99) From the developer: In Bocce Time! you'll head down to a peaceful park or atmospheric pier to test your bocce skills across 12 distinct courts. Jump into a quick match to 1v1 a random opponent online, create and join private rooms with up to 8 players, or play against AI across 3 difficulties to unlock additional ball customization options. With full cross-play, everyone's invited to join the fun! It's Bocce Time! My thoughts: This game has seen so many updates since it’s release and if you haven’t checked it out, there’s a free trial that opens up the whole game so you can try it out for yourself. With two parks (10 courses), an AI bot to challenge (that has great quips), collectible balls and support for up to eight people, this is a wonderful social game to play with friends. The Walkabout Mini Golf vibes are strong with this game, so players of that game will feel right at home. The latest update unlocked the entire park as a play area, and ensures that you and your friends will have unlimited options for where to play from. Along with Discord tournaments available if you're feeling competitive, this game is a real hidden gem and has grown a lot since its release. Absolutely worth a go, especially at that price point.
- Golf+ ($29.99) From the developer: GOLF+ is the ultimate VR Golf experience and the exclusive VR Golf game of the PGA TOUR. Join your friends for a round on Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, TPC Sawgrass and more. Want something more casual? Hang out at Topgolf for a night of music and games. My thoughts: Simply one of the best games on the app store. With all the great new updates such as Beat the Pro and new courses dropping every so often, it's one game that will be on my Quest until the next headset comes out. With the official PGA licenses, a variety of match options and support for four players, it’s an essential Quest game to play alone or with friends.
- Little Cities ($19.99) From the developer: Escape to the charming world of Little Cities, the most loved VR city building simulation game. Create your own little city and watch it come to life – from a humble village to a bustling metropolis. Design the layout and strategically plot amenities to make a perfect city where your citizens love to live. My thoughts: The latest update added citizens to the game. This adds a lot more flavor to your city and brings more life to your city. It’s a pretty simple SimCity style game that should keep you entertained for a few hours. I enjoyed this one, but wasn’t blown away. The extra DLC courses and achievements will give you more play time if you find yourself enjoying this one though.
- Compound ($19.99) From the developer: "COMPOUND is a randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans. Duck and dodge around enemy fire in a tough-as-nails retro FPS with multiple locomotion options. Prepare to die - a lot - until you are good enough to reach the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone..." My experience: Essentially Doom on Quest. The awesome blocky aesthetics work perfectly in this world. With a great gameplay loop and exciting gunplay this one will easily get its hooks into you. I found myself saying "just one more run" more often than I had time for. This single player shooter has so many achievements and difficulty levels that it kept me busy for quite some time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and still have more to do. A must buy for any fan of the genre.
- Walkabout Mini Golf ($14.99) From the developer: 8 unique 18-hole courses to master. Unlock NIGHT MODE for more challenging versions of all courses. Play solo, 1v1 online quick match, or create a private room with up to 8 players. Extremely accurate physics feel just like the real thing. Collect over 188 custom balls hidden throughout. Solve treasure hunts on each hard course to earn special putters. My thoughts: What more needs to be said about this excellent game? It’s on my constant rotation of games to play alone, with friends, or even with strangers - as the community is so warm and welcoming. The community is truly one of the best, and there are several discord servers for tournaments, weekly meetups and more. An essential game that every Quest owner should have.
- VR Pool ($19.99) From the developer: ForeVR Pool brings the coolest pool halls from around the globe straight to your living room! Challenge friends, family, and in-game pros to a game of 8-ball pool – no table required. Battle 12 bots to level up and take on Legendary challengers. Join a Quick Match or jump into a private multiplayer party! Friend in town? Share your headset with Pass & Play. Up the ante and stake in-game coins in matches against other players. My thoughts: This was pretty feature-light and choppy when it first launched, but it now has 9-ball in addition to 8-ball. If you bought it early, it's worth a quick revisit. It sticks pretty true to the ForeVR formula with its aesthetics and collectibles. The graphics aren’t going to win any awards and frankly put me off of it when I first booted it up, but the physics hold up and it’s a good time against the AI or a friend. With 2v2 matches coming soon, that is where this game could really be worth revisiting for some multiplayer fun and friendly smack talk.
- After the Fall - (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: Welcome to ‘The Line’... Decades have passed since the apocalypse turned 1980s Los Angeles into a snow-crested wasteland, overrun by mutated undead. Starting out in an underground camp with up to 32 other player survivors, you take up arms as a new Harvest Runner. Your mission? Venturing out above ground to expand the Line’s reach into the city and fuel mankind’s survival for another day. My thoughts: What a fun game. The gunplay and sheer amount of enemies on screen via PC is just stunning. You're set in an apocalyptic world and must shoot your way out while gathering resources. The atmosphere is stunning, and the graphics are top notch as well. While I’m sure it’s downgraded a bit to run on Quest, don’t let that hold you back. You can play this co-op with up to three other players and bots will fill you out to four. The teamwork this game offers is wonderful. Find a friend or two and jump in this one, or play with the ever-full lobbies of people looking to join up. The latest Descension update adds two new maps and a ton of other bug fixes and gameplay additions. It's a great time to jump in with a friend!
- Cosmoniuous High (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: From the creators of award winning titles 'Job Simulator' and 'Vacation Simulator', comes a new original creation—the comically catastrophic Cosmonious High! Welcome to your alien high school that's definitely completely free of malfunctions! After crash-landing into your first day, you'll unlock powers, explore the halls, and save the school from cosmic chaos. My thoughts: I would consider this is the third entry in the Job Simulator series - even though it's technically not in the same world. I’d really recommend you play them in order to fully appreciate the experience this game has to offer. Job Simulator was the first game, with jokes and fun interaction. Vacation Simulator expanded on that idea with similar characters, and what Cosmonius does is take the ideas of object interaction and conversations and cranks it up to the max. I had so much fun experimenting, talking with NPC’s, exploring the school and seeing what story the game had to offer. This is one of those games that just speaks to people like me who likes to push the boundaries to see what you can do in a game and rewards players for experimenting. It's a heartwarming game that continues to get quality of life and accessibility updates.
- The Invisible Hours - (Played on PC $29.99, but coming out on Quest, currently available in the Rift store.) From the developer: The Invisible Hours is a complex murder mystery playable with or without a VR headset. Players freely explore an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion. A group of strangers receive a curious invitation from the enigmatic inventor, Nikola Tesla, offering each of them the chance to make amends for their darkest wrongdoings. When the last guest arrives at Tesla’s isolated mansion laboratory, they find him dead – murdered. Disgraced Swedish detective, Gustaf Gustav, vows to find the killer amongst the other guests: a blind butler, a convicted murderer, the world’s most famous actress, Tesla’s former assistant, the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, and rival inventor Thomas Edison. But none of these people are what they seem. My thoughts: I heard so many great things about this game and it's really more of an interactive story than anything. You find yourself moving around the mansion, piecing together the intricate story and learning how all these people relate to one another and their hidden secrets. I had a great time with this game, it had a unique concept that kept me fully engaged throughout.
- Pokerstars VR (Free) From the developer: PokerStars, the world’s leading poker brand, has combined live and online poker in a truly immersive VR experience. Featuring Quest Pro support with face and eye tracking, advanced haptics, and mixed reality passthrough! My thoughts: This is one of my go-to games with friends. Once you get past the initial low-stakes tables where kids play and go all-in on many hands, you’ll find a new set of players that actually play smart poker and like to chat. If you have some friends, you can create your own private room and avoid that all together. It’s a relaxing game where you can meet new people and just chill in VR. It’s my social game where I go to unwind. Recent updates have seen them add craps and social poker rooms with slots and roulette. If you're looking to relax and play some poker, this free to play game will hit the spot. You can easily play this game for free and not ever spend a dime.
- Path of the Warrior ($19.99) From the developer: We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news...chaos in the streets of Rage City tonight! The myriad local gangs, once at constant war with each other have now unified under a mysterious new crime boss...Mr. S. Thugs have flooded the entire city, unleashing a wave of terror. The police are overwhelmed and the public is in imminent danger! Can anyone put a stop to the crime wave? Can anyone save Rage City? My thoughts: This fighting game is one that you can blow off steam with. It harkens back to the old Double Dragon or Final Fight arcade days and I highly recommend you play through this game with a friend as you’ll be laughing your way through it at the absurd combos and interactive objects and scenery you can use to defeat your foes. Find a bit of open room to play in, and punch your way through the game.
- Half Life Alyx Mod: The Undertow - (PC only, Free) From the developer: You play as Alyx, tasked with delivering a mysterious briefcase to the owner of an underground night club, upon arriving you realize this deal might not be so straight forward... Expected Playtime: 50min - 1hr. Features: Full-fledged Story with Voice Acting, Custom Sounds, Assets, and Gameplay, Unique Puzzles & Engaging Combat, Full Single-Controller Support and Drinkable Vodka (Finally). My thoughts: I’ve been working my way through some Half Life Alyx mods that bubble up to the top via Reddit or online posts. This one found its way into my queue and while it had a really unique setting, it was extremely buggy in one spot, to the point where I had to restart a section close to 20 times. I didn't find the end game satisfying, and with so many other great mods, it was a miss for me.
- Sheaf - Together EP (PC only, Free) From the developer: Enter virtual reality to listen to the debut EP “Together” of synthwave producer Sheaf. No gameplay involved -- just sit back, relax, and enjoy the music while you drive through a retro low poly world. The EP features 3 tracks, and each track comes with its own scenery, tailor made to fit its mood. You can start each track separately from the main menu. My thoughts: As noted in the developer description, this is really more a zen-like experience where you’re sitting in a car that drives down a road while chill music is playing. Certainly different from a lot of other “zone out” experiences that focus on geometric shapes, but the blocky visuals really conflicted with the chill vibe it was going for. Not really my jam, but if you like chill experiences, it might be for you. You certainly can't beat the price.
- Shooty Fruity ($19.99) From the developer: Do your job whilst shooting guns! Shooty Fruity combines job simulation with exhilarating combat that makes you feel like a true action hero - whether McClane, Wick or Rambo. Take on new roles and unlock weapons to fight your way through your career. Scan shoot repeat! My thoughts: I kept seeing this game show up in sales and various feeds so I finally tried it out. After 30 minutes I just was not having any fun at all. While the enemies were silly (various fruits and vegetables), the gun mechanics were lackluster. I just did not get into the gameplay loop of shooting and scanning groceries. It was just too repetitive for me and for that reason I can’t recommend it.
- What the Bat? ($24.99) From the developer: From the creators of WHAT THE GOLF? comes a silly VR game about navigating life with baseball bats for hands. Swing your way through over 100 levels of batting, cooking, shooting, smashing, parking, painting, pickling, petting, and WHATnot. My thoughts: I was a huge fan of What the Golf on iOS, and was quite excited when I heard about this sequel. The “high” price point turned me off for a while, but when UploadVR gave it their “game of the year” award, I finally pulled the trigger. I had high hopes, and it was fun… at first, but the gimmick started to wear really thin on me rather quickly. It just didn’t seem to have the same magic the first game had. I kept going through it in hopes that something would change, or capture that original feeling, but honestly, it was a grind to finish such a short game. I understand I’m probably in the minority here, but I was quite disappointed.
- Superhot ($24.99) From the developer: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move. No regenerating health bars. No conveniently placed ammo drops. It's you, alone, outnumbered and outgunned. Snatch weapons from fallen enemies to shoot, slice and dodge through a truly cinematic hurricane of slow-motion bullets. It’s like nothing you have ever played before. Something is different here. Lose track of what’s real. My thoughts: You know it, and you probably love it. Like so many others, so did I. This was one of my first VR experiences years ago and I finally saw it through to the end. This game can be quite demanding for some levels requiring accurate shooting, movement and timing. This game offers a really unique take on gameplay and multiple ways to get through some levels really increase the replayability. With the unique achievements to strive for you have a real winner. A must own for all gamers.
- Tube Be Continued (Demo) (Full game $14.99) From the developer: Hello! Welcome to TUBE Industries: a hamster owned and operated tube puzzle emporium! Prepare for a tube-based, puzzle-filled, HAM-PACKED adventure with our charismatic leader: The BOSS. Here at TUBE Industries we provide the puzzles and you provide… the brains. No shady business here! My thoughts: I like to look at the new App Lab games that come out every now and then and I’m a sucker for a good puzzle game. This is a game where you connect mazes together for hamsters to run through. It was a weird story that sees you working with a Hamster CEO trying to save his company from the Board, which are all hamsters. Really weird stuff, but while the demo was fun, the puzzles were a bit on the simple side and ultimately, I just did not think it was worth buying at this point. That being said, if the demo grabs you I could see this being a fun few hours with new content planning to be added.
- Dart Racer (Free) From the developer: Dart Racer is an arcade racing game where you compete against AI during race and other players on the online leaderboards - features multiple race tracks and environments - steering based on throttle differential - interactive tutorial - customizable game and comfort settings - optional hand tracking. My thoughts: Now this is podracing! It really did feel like I was doing some classic Star Wars podracing, but it was quite tough to learn the controls. Once I got that figured out, there certainly was some fun to be had, but unfortunately, it just was okay for me and I dropped out after a bit. Give it a try for free, and keep in mind there are plenty of motion assists to play with so you don't get sick.
- Nock ($9.99) From the developer: Nock is bow and arrow soccer. Skate and fly around a pitch while using a bow and arrow to blast the ball into the other team’s goal. Compete in multiplayer ranked matches, or play casual custom games with your friends! Like a real sport, Nock is easy to learn but difficult to master. Block arrows let you create obstacles and you can even use your body to make a goal or save. A fast-moving ball can knock you out. Skill-based matchmaking keeps every game extremely close and competitive. Casual modes let you challenge yourself against bots or play with friends in custom matches. My thoughts: Rocket League but with archery. While I’m not a fan of archery games in general, this game really had the physics dialed in. I always felt like I was in full control of my movement and bow and arrow. Nothing ever felt like it was off, and the aiming was spot on. Every hit of the ball, or miss was my fault. An absolute blast with with up to four friends, and that’s how I recommend you play it - with friends. But there are leagues and tournaments readily available if get into the game. That being said, I’m pretty terrible at it, and will only play with friends who can tolerate my terrible skills.
- Into the Radius ($29.99) From the developer: An atmospheric open-world single-player survival shooter. You find yourself in the middle of the blighted zone, cut from the outside world. Your guns and your wits are all you have left. Fight the deadly enemies, dodge dangerous anomalies, and collect wondrous artifacts on your way to the Radius center to find your way out. My thoughts: I found myself constantly saying “I can’t believe this actually runs on a Quest.” The amount of items you can interact with, areas available to explore, systems to learn and missions to accept can be quite overwhelming. Honestly it took me about 5-7 hours of gameplay, tutorials and youtube videos until finally the game “clicked.” After this one fateful mission where I was over encumbered with items, low on ammo with minimal health and dealing with enemies at every turn, I was totally immersed and was having the time of my life. It was an absolute blast and despite being so tense - a joy to play. I did tone down the difficulty a bit, which made it much more playable and less punishing. Truly a great game if you like the loop of scavenging, planning your route ahead and making sure literally every bullet counts. While it lacks in story, it does have a lot of environmental details and little things that you have to find for yourself. If you like survival games, it’s almost perfect.
- Surgineer ($9.99) From the developer: Have you ever dreamed of being a real surgeon? Well… you are not gonna learn that here. Welcome to the most unrealistic surgery simulator where everyone can instantly become a terrible doctor. You will have to solve hilarious surgical procedures ranging from CPR to brain transplant or even removing alien eggs from a poor patient using a robotic arm! You always thought you had that surgeon in you? You better have a bulletproof malpractice insurance before getting your virtual hands on a patient! My thoughts: At such a low price point, I wasn’t expecting much. I remember playing Surgeon Simulator back in the day and this looked like that. Much to my disappointment it was much more terrible than I had hoped. Absolutely no fun was to be had here. I constantly fought with the controls, many times had no clue what to do and finally gave up in frustration. I understand part of the appeal is the wonkiness of it, but this game requires someone with a lot more patience than me to get some fun out of it.
There you have it, 21 different games played in three months. I would say there are plenty of games to play and enjoy on the Quest. I hope you find a few that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know on the Ruff Talk
Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. You can also find this article on the
RuffTalkVR Blog Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
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2023.03.22 16:39 SlowShoes There are no games to play! (January-March)
When I read posts about how there are no games to play on the Quest, I simply can’t relate. I’m a voracious consumer of VR games, experiences and demos and currently have over 330 of them on my headset (not including my PCVR library). These experiences are a combination of both old and new items, and my wish list and library just keeps growing week after week with new releases, recommendations and game updates. This year, I wanted to keep track of all the games I’ve played and keep coming back to and catalogue them here in hopes that they may give you some fresh ideas of games to play, or reasons to revisit older games due to their updates or improvements.
Some of the games listed below, I can forsee playing all year long, and to be fair, others I've tried are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 21 games I’ve played so far from January to March of 2023 along with links to them on the store.
- Bocce Time! ($8.99) From the developer: In Bocce Time! you'll head down to a peaceful park or atmospheric pier to test your bocce skills across 12 distinct courts. Jump into a quick match to 1v1 a random opponent online, create and join private rooms with up to 8 players, or play against AI across 3 difficulties to unlock additional ball customization options. With full cross-play, everyone's invited to join the fun! It's Bocce Time! My thoughts: This game has seen so many updates since it’s release and if you haven’t checked it out, there’s a free trial that opens up the whole game so you can try it out for yourself. With two parks (10 courses), an AI bot to challenge (that has great quips), collectible balls and support for up to eight people, this is a wonderful social game to play with friends. The Walkabout Mini Golf vibes are strong with this game, so players of that game will feel right at home. The latest update unlocked the entire park as a play area, and ensures that you and your friends will have unlimited options for where to play from. Along with Discord tournaments available if you're feeling competitive, this game is a real hidden gem and has grown a lot since its release. Absolutely worth a go, especially at that price point.
- Golf+ ($29.99) From the developer: GOLF+ is the ultimate VR Golf experience and the exclusive VR Golf game of the PGA TOUR. Join your friends for a round on Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, TPC Sawgrass and more. Want something more casual? Hang out at Topgolf for a night of music and games. My thoughts: Simply one of the best games on the app store. With all the great new updates such as Beat the Pro and new courses dropping every so often, it's one game that will be on my Quest until the next headset comes out. With the official PGA licenses, a variety of match options and support for four players, it’s an essential Quest game to play alone or with friends.
- Little Cities ($19.99) From the developer: Escape to the charming world of Little Cities, the most loved VR city building simulation game. Create your own little city and watch it come to life – from a humble village to a bustling metropolis. Design the layout and strategically plot amenities to make a perfect city where your citizens love to live. My thoughts: The latest update added citizens to the game. This adds a lot more flavor to your city and brings more life to your city. It’s a pretty simple SimCity style game that should keep you entertained for a few hours. I enjoyed this one, but wasn’t blown away. The extra DLC courses and achievements will give you more play time if you find yourself enjoying this one though.
- Compound ($19.99) From the developer: "COMPOUND is a randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans. Duck and dodge around enemy fire in a tough-as-nails retro FPS with multiple locomotion options. Prepare to die - a lot - until you are good enough to reach the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone..." My experience: Essentially Doom on Quest. The awesome blocky aesthetics work perfectly in this world. With a great gameplay loop and exciting gunplay this one will easily get its hooks into you. I found myself saying "just one more run" more often than I had time for. This single player shooter has so many achievements and difficulty levels that it kept me busy for quite some time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and still have more to do. A must buy for any fan of the genre.
- Walkabout Mini Golf ($14.99) From the developer: 8 unique 18-hole courses to master. Unlock NIGHT MODE for more challenging versions of all courses. Play solo, 1v1 online quick match, or create a private room with up to 8 players. Extremely accurate physics feel just like the real thing. Collect over 188 custom balls hidden throughout. Solve treasure hunts on each hard course to earn special putters. My thoughts: What more needs to be said about this excellent game? It’s on my constant rotation of games to play alone, with friends, or even with strangers - as the community is so warm and welcoming. The community is truly one of the best, and there are several discord servers for tournaments, weekly meetups and more. An essential game that every Quest owner should have.
- VR Pool ($19.99) From the developer: ForeVR Pool brings the coolest pool halls from around the globe straight to your living room! Challenge friends, family, and in-game pros to a game of 8-ball pool – no table required. Battle 12 bots to level up and take on Legendary challengers. Join a Quick Match or jump into a private multiplayer party! Friend in town? Share your headset with Pass & Play. Up the ante and stake in-game coins in matches against other players. My thoughts: This was pretty feature-light and choppy when it first launched, but it now has 9-ball in addition to 8-ball. If you bought it early, it's worth a quick revisit. It sticks pretty true to the ForeVR formula with its aesthetics and collectibles. The graphics aren’t going to win any awards and frankly put me off of it when I first booted it up, but the physics hold up and it’s a good time against the AI or a friend. With 2v2 matches coming soon, that is where this game could really be worth revisiting for some multiplayer fun and friendly smack talk.
- After the Fall - (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: Welcome to ‘The Line’... Decades have passed since the apocalypse turned 1980s Los Angeles into a snow-crested wasteland, overrun by mutated undead. Starting out in an underground camp with up to 32 other player survivors, you take up arms as a new Harvest Runner. Your mission? Venturing out above ground to expand the Line’s reach into the city and fuel mankind’s survival for another day. My thoughts: What a fun game. The gunplay and sheer amount of enemies on screen via PC is just stunning. You're set in an apocalyptic world and must shoot your way out while gathering resources. The atmosphere is stunning, and the graphics are top notch as well. While I’m sure it’s downgraded a bit to run on Quest, don’t let that hold you back. You can play this co-op with up to three other players and bots will fill you out to four. The teamwork this game offers is wonderful. Find a friend or two and jump in this one, or play with the ever-full lobbies of people looking to join up. The latest Descension update adds two new maps and a ton of other bug fixes and gameplay additions. It's a great time to jump in with a friend!
- Cosmoniuous High (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: From the creators of award winning titles 'Job Simulator' and 'Vacation Simulator', comes a new original creation—the comically catastrophic Cosmonious High! Welcome to your alien high school that's definitely completely free of malfunctions! After crash-landing into your first day, you'll unlock powers, explore the halls, and save the school from cosmic chaos. My thoughts: I would consider this is the third entry in the Job Simulator series - even though it's technically not in the same world. I’d really recommend you play them in order to fully appreciate the experience this game has to offer. Job Simulator was the first game, with jokes and fun interaction. Vacation Simulator expanded on that idea with similar characters, and what Cosmonius does is take the ideas of object interaction and conversations and cranks it up to the max. I had so much fun experimenting, talking with NPC’s, exploring the school and seeing what story the game had to offer. This is one of those games that just speaks to people like me who likes to push the boundaries to see what you can do in a game and rewards players for experimenting. It's a heartwarming game that continues to get quality of life and accessibility updates.
- The Invisible Hours - (Played on PC $29.99, but coming out on Quest, currently available in the Rift store.) From the developer: The Invisible Hours is a complex murder mystery playable with or without a VR headset. Players freely explore an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion. A group of strangers receive a curious invitation from the enigmatic inventor, Nikola Tesla, offering each of them the chance to make amends for their darkest wrongdoings. When the last guest arrives at Tesla’s isolated mansion laboratory, they find him dead – murdered. Disgraced Swedish detective, Gustaf Gustav, vows to find the killer amongst the other guests: a blind butler, a convicted murderer, the world’s most famous actress, Tesla’s former assistant, the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, and rival inventor Thomas Edison. But none of these people are what they seem. My thoughts: I heard so many great things about this game and it's really more of an interactive story than anything. You find yourself moving around the mansion, piecing together the intricate story and learning how all these people relate to one another and their hidden secrets. I had a great time with this game, it had a unique concept that kept me fully engaged throughout.
- Pokerstars VR (Free) From the developer: PokerStars, the world’s leading poker brand, has combined live and online poker in a truly immersive VR experience. Featuring Quest Pro support with face and eye tracking, advanced haptics, and mixed reality passthrough! My thoughts: This is one of my go-to games with friends. Once you get past the initial low-stakes tables where kids play and go all-in on many hands, you’ll find a new set of players that actually play smart poker and like to chat. If you have some friends, you can create your own private room and avoid that all together. It’s a relaxing game where you can meet new people and just chill in VR. It’s my social game where I go to unwind. Recent updates have seen them add craps and social poker rooms with slots and roulette. If you're looking to relax and play some poker, this free to play game will hit the spot. You can easily play this game for free and not ever spend a dime.
- Path of the Warrior ($19.99) From the developer: We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news...chaos in the streets of Rage City tonight! The myriad local gangs, once at constant war with each other have now unified under a mysterious new crime boss...Mr. S. Thugs have flooded the entire city, unleashing a wave of terror. The police are overwhelmed and the public is in imminent danger! Can anyone put a stop to the crime wave? Can anyone save Rage City? My thoughts: This fighting game is one that you can blow off steam with. It harkens back to the old Double Dragon or Final Fight arcade days and I highly recommend you play through this game with a friend as you’ll be laughing your way through it at the absurd combos and interactive objects and scenery you can use to defeat your foes. Find a bit of open room to play in, and punch your way through the game.
- Half Life Alyx Mod: The Undertow - (PC only, Free) From the developer: You play as Alyx, tasked with delivering a mysterious briefcase to the owner of an underground night club, upon arriving you realize this deal might not be so straight forward... Expected Playtime: 50min - 1hr. Features: Full-fledged Story with Voice Acting, Custom Sounds, Assets, and Gameplay, Unique Puzzles & Engaging Combat, Full Single-Controller Support and Drinkable Vodka (Finally). My thoughts: I’ve been working my way through some Half Life Alyx mods that bubble up to the top via Reddit or online posts. This one found its way into my queue and while it had a really unique setting, it was extremely buggy in one spot, to the point where I had to restart a section close to 20 times. I didn't find the end game satisfying, and with so many other great mods, it was a miss for me.
- Sheaf - Together EP (PC only, Free) From the developer: Enter virtual reality to listen to the debut EP “Together” of synthwave producer Sheaf. No gameplay involved -- just sit back, relax, and enjoy the music while you drive through a retro low poly world. The EP features 3 tracks, and each track comes with its own scenery, tailor made to fit its mood. You can start each track separately from the main menu. My thoughts: As noted in the developer description, this is really more a zen-like experience where you’re sitting in a car that drives down a road while chill music is playing. Certainly different from a lot of other “zone out” experiences that focus on geometric shapes, but the blocky visuals really conflicted with the chill vibe it was going for. Not really my jam, but if you like chill experiences, it might be for you. You certainly can't beat the price.
- Shooty Fruity ($19.99) From the developer: Do your job whilst shooting guns! Shooty Fruity combines job simulation with exhilarating combat that makes you feel like a true action hero - whether McClane, Wick or Rambo. Take on new roles and unlock weapons to fight your way through your career. Scan shoot repeat! My thoughts: I kept seeing this game show up in sales and various feeds so I finally tried it out. After 30 minutes I just was not having any fun at all. While the enemies were silly (various fruits and vegetables), the gun mechanics were lackluster. I just did not get into the gameplay loop of shooting and scanning groceries. It was just too repetitive for me and for that reason I can’t recommend it.
- What the Bat? ($24.99) From the developer: From the creators of WHAT THE GOLF? comes a silly VR game about navigating life with baseball bats for hands. Swing your way through over 100 levels of batting, cooking, shooting, smashing, parking, painting, pickling, petting, and WHATnot. My thoughts: I was a huge fan of What the Golf on iOS, and was quite excited when I heard about this sequel. The “high” price point turned me off for a while, but when UploadVR gave it their “game of the year” award, I finally pulled the trigger. I had high hopes, and it was fun… at first, but the gimmick started to wear really thin on me rather quickly. It just didn’t seem to have the same magic the first game had. I kept going through it in hopes that something would change, or capture that original feeling, but honestly, it was a grind to finish such a short game. I understand I’m probably in the minority here, but I was quite disappointed.
- Superhot ($24.99) From the developer: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move. No regenerating health bars. No conveniently placed ammo drops. It's you, alone, outnumbered and outgunned. Snatch weapons from fallen enemies to shoot, slice and dodge through a truly cinematic hurricane of slow-motion bullets. It’s like nothing you have ever played before. Something is different here. Lose track of what’s real. My thoughts: You know it, and you probably love it. Like so many others, so did I. This was one of my first VR experiences years ago and I finally saw it through to the end. This game can be quite demanding for some levels requiring accurate shooting, movement and timing. This game offers a really unique take on gameplay and multiple ways to get through some levels really increase the replayability. With the unique achievements to strive for you have a real winner. A must own for all gamers.
- Tube Be Continued (Demo) (Full game $14.99) From the developer: Hello! Welcome to TUBE Industries: a hamster owned and operated tube puzzle emporium! Prepare for a tube-based, puzzle-filled, HAM-PACKED adventure with our charismatic leader: The BOSS. Here at TUBE Industries we provide the puzzles and you provide… the brains. No shady business here! My thoughts: I like to look at the new App Lab games that come out every now and then and I’m a sucker for a good puzzle game. This is a game where you connect mazes together for hamsters to run through. It was a weird story that sees you working with a Hamster CEO trying to save his company from the Board, which are all hamsters. Really weird stuff, but while the demo was fun, the puzzles were a bit on the simple side and ultimately, I just did not think it was worth buying at this point. That being said, if the demo grabs you I could see this being a fun few hours with new content planning to be added.
- Dart Racer (Free) From the developer: Dart Racer is an arcade racing game where you compete against AI during race and other players on the online leaderboards - features multiple race tracks and environments - steering based on throttle differential - interactive tutorial - customizable game and comfort settings - optional hand tracking. My thoughts: Now this is podracing! It really did feel like I was doing some classic Star Wars podracing, but it was quite tough to learn the controls. Once I got that figured out, there certainly was some fun to be had, but unfortunately, it just was okay for me and I dropped out after a bit. Give it a try for free, and keep in mind there are plenty of motion assists to play with so you don't get sick.
- Nock ($9.99) From the developer: Nock is bow and arrow soccer. Skate and fly around a pitch while using a bow and arrow to blast the ball into the other team’s goal. Compete in multiplayer ranked matches, or play casual custom games with your friends! Like a real sport, Nock is easy to learn but difficult to master. Block arrows let you create obstacles and you can even use your body to make a goal or save. A fast-moving ball can knock you out. Skill-based matchmaking keeps every game extremely close and competitive. Casual modes let you challenge yourself against bots or play with friends in custom matches. My thoughts: Rocket League but with archery. While I’m not a fan of archery games in general, this game really had the physics dialed in. I always felt like I was in full control of my movement and bow and arrow. Nothing ever felt like it was off, and the aiming was spot on. Every hit of the ball, or miss was my fault. An absolute blast with with up to four friends, and that’s how I recommend you play it - with friends. But there are leagues and tournaments readily available if get into the game. That being said, I’m pretty terrible at it, and will only play with friends who can tolerate my terrible skills.
- Into the Radius ($29.99) From the developer: An atmospheric open-world single-player survival shooter. You find yourself in the middle of the blighted zone, cut from the outside world. Your guns and your wits are all you have left. Fight the deadly enemies, dodge dangerous anomalies, and collect wondrous artifacts on your way to the Radius center to find your way out. My thoughts: I found myself constantly saying “I can’t believe this actually runs on a Quest.” The amount of items you can interact with, areas available to explore, systems to learn and missions to accept can be quite overwhelming. Honestly it took me about 5-7 hours of gameplay, tutorials and youtube videos until finally the game “clicked.” After this one fateful mission where I was over encumbered with items, low on ammo with minimal health and dealing with enemies at every turn, I was totally immersed and was having the time of my life. It was an absolute blast and despite being so tense - a joy to play. I did tone down the difficulty a bit, which made it much more playable and less punishing. Truly a great game if you like the loop of scavenging, planning your route ahead and making sure literally every bullet counts. While it lacks in story, it does have a lot of environmental details and little things that you have to find for yourself. If you like survival games, it’s almost perfect.
- Surgineer ($9.99) From the developer: Have you ever dreamed of being a real surgeon? Well… you are not gonna learn that here. Welcome to the most unrealistic surgery simulator where everyone can instantly become a terrible doctor. You will have to solve hilarious surgical procedures ranging from CPR to brain transplant or even removing alien eggs from a poor patient using a robotic arm! You always thought you had that surgeon in you? You better have a bulletproof malpractice insurance before getting your virtual hands on a patient! My thoughts: At such a low price point, I wasn’t expecting much. I remember playing Surgeon Simulator back in the day and this looked like that. Much to my disappointment it was much more terrible than I had hoped. Absolutely no fun was to be had here. I constantly fought with the controls, many times had no clue what to do and finally gave up in frustration. I understand part of the appeal is the wonkiness of it, but this game requires someone with a lot more patience than me to get some fun out of it.
There you have it, 21 different games played in three months. I would say there are plenty of games to play and enjoy on the Quest. I hope you find a few that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know on the Ruff Talk
Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. You can also find this article on the
RuffTalkVR Blog Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
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2023.03.22 16:39 hfloyd25 Help please: I know this isn’t the exact right topic but it’s close and I can’t find any other info.
Hi, I tested positive for e. Coli and e. Faecalis last week. I had surgery 3 weeks before and had been dealing with UTI symptoms and no one would listen since my pee was normal. Thankfully a random urgent care I walked into sent my urine off for a culture and found these. I understand e. Faecalis was most likely from my surgery and is VERY hard to get rid of.
I started Bactrim first, then when the results came they switched me to Levaquin. The first few days it seemed to work, and now on day 5 symptoms are returning (Burning and pain when urinating, pain after urinating, pressure and pain in bladder, back pain). I called my doctors office this morning to explain that symptoms are worsening. I’m waiting for them to call back. Is it possible to get rid of this? It’s making me quite anxious and many resources I read are conflicting about treatment. Do I need to go ahead and ask for IV treatment? Any advice is appreciated.
Edited for grammar
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2023.03.22 16:37 SlowShoes There are no games to play! (January-March 2023)
When I read posts about how there are no games to play on the Quest, I simply can’t relate. I’m a voracious consumer of VR games, experiences and demos and currently have over 330 of them on my headset (not including my PCVR library). These experiences are a combination of both old and new items, and my wish list and library just keeps growing week after week with new releases, recommendations and game updates. This year, I wanted to keep track of all the games I’ve played and keep coming back to and catalogue them here in hopes that they may give you some fresh ideas of games to play, or reasons to revisit older games due to their updates or improvements.
Some of the games listed below, I can forsee playing all year long, and to be fair, others I've tried are not my cup of tea, but they may interest you enough to try them out. In either case, here are my quick thoughts on the 21 games I’ve played so far from January to March of 2023 along with links to them on the store.
- Bocce Time! ($8.99) From the developer: In Bocce Time! you'll head down to a peaceful park or atmospheric pier to test your bocce skills across 12 distinct courts. Jump into a quick match to 1v1 a random opponent online, create and join private rooms with up to 8 players, or play against AI across 3 difficulties to unlock additional ball customization options. With full cross-play, everyone's invited to join the fun! It's Bocce Time! My thoughts: This game has seen so many updates since it’s release and if you haven’t checked it out, there’s a free trial that opens up the whole game so you can try it out for yourself. With two parks (10 courses), an AI bot to challenge (that has great quips), collectible balls and support for up to eight people, this is a wonderful social game to play with friends. The Walkabout Mini Golf vibes are strong with this game, so players of that game will feel right at home. The latest update unlocked the entire park as a play area, and ensures that you and your friends will have unlimited options for where to play from. Along with Discord tournaments available if you're feeling competitive, this game is a real hidden gem and has grown a lot since its release. Absolutely worth a go, especially at that price point.
- Golf+ ($29.99) From the developer: GOLF+ is the ultimate VR Golf experience and the exclusive VR Golf game of the PGA TOUR. Join your friends for a round on Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, TPC Sawgrass and more. Want something more casual? Hang out at Topgolf for a night of music and games. My thoughts: Simply one of the best games on the app store. With all the great new updates such as Beat the Pro and new courses dropping every so often, it's one game that will be on my Quest until the next headset comes out. With the official PGA licenses, a variety of match options and support for four players, it’s an essential Quest game to play alone or with friends.
- Little Cities ($19.99) From the developer: Escape to the charming world of Little Cities, the most loved VR city building simulation game. Create your own little city and watch it come to life – from a humble village to a bustling metropolis. Design the layout and strategically plot amenities to make a perfect city where your citizens love to live. My thoughts: The latest update added citizens to the game. This adds a lot more flavor to your city and brings more life to your city. It’s a pretty simple SimCity style game that should keep you entertained for a few hours. I enjoyed this one, but wasn’t blown away. The extra DLC courses and achievements will give you more play time if you find yourself enjoying this one though.
- Compound ($19.99) From the developer: "COMPOUND is a randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans. Duck and dodge around enemy fire in a tough-as-nails retro FPS with multiple locomotion options. Prepare to die - a lot - until you are good enough to reach the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone..." My experience: Essentially Doom on Quest. The awesome blocky aesthetics work perfectly in this world. With a great gameplay loop and exciting gunplay this one will easily get its hooks into you. I found myself saying "just one more run" more often than I had time for. This single player shooter has so many achievements and difficulty levels that it kept me busy for quite some time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and still have more to do. A must buy for any fan of the genre.
- Walkabout Mini Golf ($14.99) From the developer: 8 unique 18-hole courses to master. Unlock NIGHT MODE for more challenging versions of all courses. Play solo, 1v1 online quick match, or create a private room with up to 8 players. Extremely accurate physics feel just like the real thing. Collect over 188 custom balls hidden throughout. Solve treasure hunts on each hard course to earn special putters. My thoughts: What more needs to be said about this excellent game? It’s on my constant rotation of games to play alone, with friends, or even with strangers - as the community is so warm and welcoming. The community is truly one of the best, and there are several discord servers for tournaments, weekly meetups and more. An essential game that every Quest owner should have.
- VR Pool ($19.99) From the developer: ForeVR Pool brings the coolest pool halls from around the globe straight to your living room! Challenge friends, family, and in-game pros to a game of 8-ball pool – no table required. Battle 12 bots to level up and take on Legendary challengers. Join a Quick Match or jump into a private multiplayer party! Friend in town? Share your headset with Pass & Play. Up the ante and stake in-game coins in matches against other players. My thoughts: This was pretty feature-light and choppy when it first launched, but it now has 9-ball in addition to 8-ball. If you bought it early, it's worth a quick revisit. It sticks pretty true to the ForeVR formula with its aesthetics and collectibles. The graphics aren’t going to win any awards and frankly put me off of it when I first booted it up, but the physics hold up and it’s a good time against the AI or a friend. With 2v2 matches coming soon, that is where this game could really be worth revisiting for some multiplayer fun and friendly smack talk.
- After the Fall - (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: Welcome to ‘The Line’... Decades have passed since the apocalypse turned 1980s Los Angeles into a snow-crested wasteland, overrun by mutated undead. Starting out in an underground camp with up to 32 other player survivors, you take up arms as a new Harvest Runner. Your mission? Venturing out above ground to expand the Line’s reach into the city and fuel mankind’s survival for another day. My thoughts: What a fun game. The gunplay and sheer amount of enemies on screen via PC is just stunning. You're set in an apocalyptic world and must shoot your way out while gathering resources. The atmosphere is stunning, and the graphics are top notch as well. While I’m sure it’s downgraded a bit to run on Quest, don’t let that hold you back. You can play this co-op with up to three other players and bots will fill you out to four. The teamwork this game offers is wonderful. Find a friend or two and jump in this one, or play with the ever-full lobbies of people looking to join up. The latest Descension update adds two new maps and a ton of other bug fixes and gameplay additions. It's a great time to jump in with a friend!
- Cosmoniuous High (Played on PC $29.99, available on Quest $29.99) From the developer: From the creators of award winning titles 'Job Simulator' and 'Vacation Simulator', comes a new original creation—the comically catastrophic Cosmonious High! Welcome to your alien high school that's definitely completely free of malfunctions! After crash-landing into your first day, you'll unlock powers, explore the halls, and save the school from cosmic chaos. My thoughts: I would consider this is the third entry in the Job Simulator series - even though it's technically not in the same world. I’d really recommend you play them in order to fully appreciate the experience this game has to offer. Job Simulator was the first game, with jokes and fun interaction. Vacation Simulator expanded on that idea with similar characters, and what Cosmonius does is take the ideas of object interaction and conversations and cranks it up to the max. I had so much fun experimenting, talking with NPC’s, exploring the school and seeing what story the game had to offer. This is one of those games that just speaks to people like me who likes to push the boundaries to see what you can do in a game and rewards players for experimenting. It's a heartwarming game that continues to get quality of life and accessibility updates.
- The Invisible Hours - (Played on PC $29.99, but coming out on Quest, currently available in the Rift store.) From the developer: The Invisible Hours is a complex murder mystery playable with or without a VR headset. Players freely explore an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion. A group of strangers receive a curious invitation from the enigmatic inventor, Nikola Tesla, offering each of them the chance to make amends for their darkest wrongdoings. When the last guest arrives at Tesla’s isolated mansion laboratory, they find him dead – murdered. Disgraced Swedish detective, Gustaf Gustav, vows to find the killer amongst the other guests: a blind butler, a convicted murderer, the world’s most famous actress, Tesla’s former assistant, the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, and rival inventor Thomas Edison. But none of these people are what they seem. My thoughts: I heard so many great things about this game and it's really more of an interactive story than anything. You find yourself moving around the mansion, piecing together the intricate story and learning how all these people relate to one another and their hidden secrets. I had a great time with this game, it had a unique concept that kept me fully engaged throughout.
- Pokerstars VR (Free) From the developer: PokerStars, the world’s leading poker brand, has combined live and online poker in a truly immersive VR experience. Featuring Quest Pro support with face and eye tracking, advanced haptics, and mixed reality passthrough! My thoughts: This is one of my go-to games with friends. Once you get past the initial low-stakes tables where kids play and go all-in on many hands, you’ll find a new set of players that actually play smart poker and like to chat. If you have some friends, you can create your own private room and avoid that all together. It’s a relaxing game where you can meet new people and just chill in VR. It’s my social game where I go to unwind. Recent updates have seen them add craps and social poker rooms with slots and roulette. If you're looking to relax and play some poker, this free to play game will hit the spot. You can easily play this game for free and not ever spend a dime.
- Path of the Warrior ($19.99) From the developer: We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news...chaos in the streets of Rage City tonight! The myriad local gangs, once at constant war with each other have now unified under a mysterious new crime boss...Mr. S. Thugs have flooded the entire city, unleashing a wave of terror. The police are overwhelmed and the public is in imminent danger! Can anyone put a stop to the crime wave? Can anyone save Rage City? My thoughts: This fighting game is one that you can blow off steam with. It harkens back to the old Double Dragon or Final Fight arcade days and I highly recommend you play through this game with a friend as you’ll be laughing your way through it at the absurd combos and interactive objects and scenery you can use to defeat your foes. Find a bit of open room to play in, and punch your way through the game.
- Half Life Alyx Mod: The Undertow - (PC only, Free) From the developer: You play as Alyx, tasked with delivering a mysterious briefcase to the owner of an underground night club, upon arriving you realize this deal might not be so straight forward... Expected Playtime: 50min - 1hr. Features: Full-fledged Story with Voice Acting, Custom Sounds, Assets, and Gameplay, Unique Puzzles & Engaging Combat, Full Single-Controller Support and Drinkable Vodka (Finally). My thoughts: I’ve been working my way through some Half Life Alyx mods that bubble up to the top via Reddit or online posts. This one found its way into my queue and while it had a really unique setting, it was extremely buggy in one spot, to the point where I had to restart a section close to 20 times. I didn't find the end game satisfying, and with so many other great mods, it was a miss for me.
- Sheaf - Together EP (PC only, Free) From the developer: Enter virtual reality to listen to the debut EP “Together” of synthwave producer Sheaf. No gameplay involved -- just sit back, relax, and enjoy the music while you drive through a retro low poly world. The EP features 3 tracks, and each track comes with its own scenery, tailor made to fit its mood. You can start each track separately from the main menu. My thoughts: As noted in the developer description, this is really more a zen-like experience where you’re sitting in a car that drives down a road while chill music is playing. Certainly different from a lot of other “zone out” experiences that focus on geometric shapes, but the blocky visuals really conflicted with the chill vibe it was going for. Not really my jam, but if you like chill experiences, it might be for you. You certainly can't beat the price.
- Shooty Fruity ($19.99) From the developer: Do your job whilst shooting guns! Shooty Fruity combines job simulation with exhilarating combat that makes you feel like a true action hero - whether McClane, Wick or Rambo. Take on new roles and unlock weapons to fight your way through your career. Scan shoot repeat! My thoughts: I kept seeing this game show up in sales and various feeds so I finally tried it out. After 30 minutes I just was not having any fun at all. While the enemies were silly (various fruits and vegetables), the gun mechanics were lackluster. I just did not get into the gameplay loop of shooting and scanning groceries. It was just too repetitive for me and for that reason I can’t recommend it.
- What the Bat? ($24.99) From the developer: From the creators of WHAT THE GOLF? comes a silly VR game about navigating life with baseball bats for hands. Swing your way through over 100 levels of batting, cooking, shooting, smashing, parking, painting, pickling, petting, and WHATnot. My thoughts: I was a huge fan of What the Golf on iOS, and was quite excited when I heard about this sequel. The “high” price point turned me off for a while, but when UploadVR gave it their “game of the year” award, I finally pulled the trigger. I had high hopes, and it was fun… at first, but the gimmick started to wear really thin on me rather quickly. It just didn’t seem to have the same magic the first game had. I kept going through it in hopes that something would change, or capture that original feeling, but honestly, it was a grind to finish such a short game. I understand I’m probably in the minority here, but I was quite disappointed.
- Superhot ($24.99) From the developer: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move. No regenerating health bars. No conveniently placed ammo drops. It's you, alone, outnumbered and outgunned. Snatch weapons from fallen enemies to shoot, slice and dodge through a truly cinematic hurricane of slow-motion bullets. It’s like nothing you have ever played before. Something is different here. Lose track of what’s real. My thoughts: You know it, and you probably love it. Like so many others, so did I. This was one of my first VR experiences years ago and I finally saw it through to the end. This game can be quite demanding for some levels requiring accurate shooting, movement and timing. This game offers a really unique take on gameplay and multiple ways to get through some levels really increase the replayability. With the unique achievements to strive for you have a real winner. A must own for all gamers.
- Tube Be Continued (Demo) (Full game $14.99) From the developer: Hello! Welcome to TUBE Industries: a hamster owned and operated tube puzzle emporium! Prepare for a tube-based, puzzle-filled, HAM-PACKED adventure with our charismatic leader: The BOSS. Here at TUBE Industries we provide the puzzles and you provide… the brains. No shady business here! My thoughts: I like to look at the new App Lab games that come out every now and then and I’m a sucker for a good puzzle game. This is a game where you connect mazes together for hamsters to run through. It was a weird story that sees you working with a Hamster CEO trying to save his company from the Board, which are all hamsters. Really weird stuff, but while the demo was fun, the puzzles were a bit on the simple side and ultimately, I just did not think it was worth buying at this point. That being said, if the demo grabs you I could see this being a fun few hours with new content planning to be added.
- Dart Racer (Free) From the developer: Dart Racer is an arcade racing game where you compete against AI during race and other players on the online leaderboards - features multiple race tracks and environments - steering based on throttle differential - interactive tutorial - customizable game and comfort settings - optional hand tracking. My thoughts: Now this is podracing! It really did feel like I was doing some classic Star Wars podracing, but it was quite tough to learn the controls. Once I got that figured out, there certainly was some fun to be had, but unfortunately, it just was okay for me and I dropped out after a bit. Give it a try for free, and keep in mind there are plenty of motion assists to play with so you don't get sick.
- Nock ($9.99) From the developer: Nock is bow and arrow soccer. Skate and fly around a pitch while using a bow and arrow to blast the ball into the other team’s goal. Compete in multiplayer ranked matches, or play casual custom games with your friends! Like a real sport, Nock is easy to learn but difficult to master. Block arrows let you create obstacles and you can even use your body to make a goal or save. A fast-moving ball can knock you out. Skill-based matchmaking keeps every game extremely close and competitive. Casual modes let you challenge yourself against bots or play with friends in custom matches. My thoughts: Rocket League but with archery. While I’m not a fan of archery games in general, this game really had the physics dialed in. I always felt like I was in full control of my movement and bow and arrow. Nothing ever felt like it was off, and the aiming was spot on. Every hit of the ball, or miss was my fault. An absolute blast with with up to four friends, and that’s how I recommend you play it - with friends. But there are leagues and tournaments readily available if get into the game. That being said, I’m pretty terrible at it, and will only play with friends who can tolerate my terrible skills.
- Into the Radius ($29.99) From the developer: An atmospheric open-world single-player survival shooter. You find yourself in the middle of the blighted zone, cut from the outside world. Your guns and your wits are all you have left. Fight the deadly enemies, dodge dangerous anomalies, and collect wondrous artifacts on your way to the Radius center to find your way out. My thoughts: I found myself constantly saying “I can’t believe this actually runs on a Quest.” The amount of items you can interact with, areas available to explore, systems to learn and missions to accept can be quite overwhelming. Honestly it took me about 5-7 hours of gameplay, tutorials and youtube videos until finally the game “clicked.” After this one fateful mission where I was over encumbered with items, low on ammo with minimal health and dealing with enemies at every turn, I was totally immersed and was having the time of my life. It was an absolute blast and despite being so tense - a joy to play. I did tone down the difficulty a bit, which made it much more playable and less punishing. Truly a great game if you like the loop of scavenging, planning your route ahead and making sure literally every bullet counts. While it lacks in story, it does have a lot of environmental details and little things that you have to find for yourself. If you like survival games, it’s almost perfect.
- Surgineer ($9.99) From the developer: Have you ever dreamed of being a real surgeon? Well… you are not gonna learn that here. Welcome to the most unrealistic surgery simulator where everyone can instantly become a terrible doctor. You will have to solve hilarious surgical procedures ranging from CPR to brain transplant or even removing alien eggs from a poor patient using a robotic arm! You always thought you had that surgeon in you? You better have a bulletproof malpractice insurance before getting your virtual hands on a patient! My thoughts: At such a low price point, I wasn’t expecting much. I remember playing Surgeon Simulator back in the day and this looked like that. Much to my disappointment it was much more terrible than I had hoped. Absolutely no fun was to be had here. I constantly fought with the controls, many times had no clue what to do and finally gave up in frustration. I understand part of the appeal is the wonkiness of it, but this game requires someone with a lot more patience than me to get some fun out of it.
There you have it, 21 different games played in three months. I would say there are plenty of games to play and enjoy on the Quest. I hope you find a few that you might not have heard of, or that you might find worth revisiting. Let me know on the Ruff Talk
Discord channel if you have a game you enjoy that I should try, I'm always open to recommendations. You can also find this article on the
RuffTalkVR Blog Until then, I hope your next VR experience is a memorable one.
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2023.03.22 16:34 Educational-Row4565 Dating
I had a date the other night. It was the first time I went out with a woman I didn’t meet online (usually online I have it on my profile that I’m trans and it’s never an issue). This person was clearly wanting to hook up and me sorta having a body in purgatory mode. I felt like I had to tell her. Like I have a penis but I’m still needing more surgeries in order for me to feel like my true self. So the night went well and great. I came out and she seemed fine with it and we made out and everything. Later that night I get a text saying that she wanted to get to know me more before doing anything sexual…. But not even 10mins before me coming out she was telling me she wanted to come to my place to have sex… When I sorta prob her more about that message she just says that she’s tired and we will talk about it tomorrow…. So tomorrow she writes me about it and it just doesn’t go well… she just sounded super ignorant and I basically told her politely to just Google stuff. But it started becoming uncomfortable for me especially after she basically turned me down for being trans… like I have a penis so I’m not sure what else she’s looking for especially after we’ve agreed to keep it casual and she seemed fine in person. I just wasn’t going to try to convince her how normal I am. Just a bad first experience in the dating world for me which is sad.
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2023.03.22 16:34 silverlinden Protruding lower jaw to breathe better
Have those who eneded up needing MMA surgery noticed that before the surgery they felt the need to clench their jaw constantly or protrude their lower jaw to breathe better?
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2023.03.22 16:34 PrinceofCanino It is possible to switch from bisalp to tubal weeks before there surgery?
Yes I left a message at my doctor’s office but I’m going to be neurotic until I hear back.
Went with bisalp since family has a history of ovarian cancer and it made sense. Hospital called with my estimate and said I’ll hit my $3500 OOP max on this - congrats.
I was under the impression it was 110% covered but going through the papers my insurance only covers the tubal fully.
Upset and bothered because I didn’t buy groceries this week so I definitely can’t afford $3500.
I already have the time off work and am debating if it’s worth the $3500 even if it takes me years to pay it off.
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2023.03.22 16:33 ChubbyDragonx1 Considering Surgery, a few questions...
Hi!
As the title says, I'm considering talking to my doc about the gastric sleeve. I am pre-diabetic, with t1 diabetes running in my family and I am extremely concerned about it progressing...and shit, I'd like for once in my life -- been obese since I was 12...reaaaally rough childhood, lost a parent to suicide - I've had a hard life in the beginning, and so I went to food to cope (don't so many of us?) rn I weigh 260lbs/118KG. I'd die of happiness to loose 100lbs or so!
I even lost 60lbs on keto a long time ago, but thanks to covid I gained it back and then some. I'm 30 years old, married and my husband is super supportive of me thinking about taking this step which is nice (: We just wanna be healthy.
I just have a few questions that I just dunno... and wanna be prepared when I talk to my doctor about it.
Will I (likely) be able to become pregnant still if I do the surgery? I still want to have a kid someday, and would prefer to do it when I am healthier.
And, once your weight drops...do you keep losing weight or is there a way to stabilize? Maybe they're dumb questions but haha I really want to do this. I am tired of living my life struggling to go up stairs lol.
Also if you have any good links for info I'd super appreciate it! I try to get myself as educated as possible before finalizing my decisions! <3
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2023.03.22 16:09 kommsussertod1 The future of the KarJen
So I was curious how they’ll be doing 10 years from now.
My theory for 2032
Kim - she’ll have a surgery in 2-3 years that will leave her so botched, even she sees how unfixable and bad it is. No more paid paps or daily selfies, she‘ll post a few in a year that are ultra shopped and we‘ll only see the true horror of her face at events when getty comes through with the real deal. She will still post her kids, especially poor Chi. No more North, she will cut ties off with her to live a private life with Kanye.
Khole - will have 1 more kid by Trashcan and another one by a new guy. The cheating story gets so used by Kris, the public gets aware that it was all stories fabricated to make them get more publicity. I personally don’t believe Khole is still in love with him as of now, she knows he ain’t shit but he’s the only thing that keeps her currently famous. And he gets paid for it so there’s no way he’d leave by himself. She‘ll calm down with the surgeries and try a career as author for boring, „how to live happy“ books.
Kourtney - will have a huge lawsuit incoming soon because of Lemme & people reporting health issues and will have a kid with Travis. Story breaks out he cheated multiple times on her, she forgives once but the second time she divorces him. She gets back together with Kris because she’s broke now and they try to milk her cheating story for maximum cash grab. She also writes 2 unsuccessful books about her marriage and life.
Kris - she will be 77 in 10 years and due to health issues, won’t be able to manage their kids life’s as much as before which will explain their even more obvious & worse downfall. Plus her criminal history of money laundering etc. will be talked about more so she becomes private, we‘ll rarely hear from her.
Kendall - will have a kid with a basketball player, becomes as botched as the others and the most hated because her vile personality will finally be revealed with a huge scandal, it’ll make Hailey look like an angel. She will also be in rehab for alcohol addiction, the family tries to hide it but gossip pages & paps will expose her.
Kylie - now this might be the most interesting one. Her depression worsens which will led to her trying psychedelics and having a near death experience, that opens her eyes more than any eyelid surgery could. She realizes how vapid her life is; surgeries, pain killers dependency, sexual selfies and no real friends. We won’t hear from her for a year and she comes back, dissolved all her fillers, vegan and minimalist. Her come back post will be her most liked one and after that, she goes back to irrelevancy again but she doesn’t care about fame anymore. Also she will have 2 kids by a different guy. Ooor, she will go the same exact path as Kim and nothing changes.
Let me hear your theories besties 👀
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