Samantha Puc's Blog

Game Thoughts: Catto’s Post Office Is a Short & Sweet Jaunt

Although I gravitate toward long, narrative games I can get lost in for hours (regardless of genre), occasionally I want to play something short, sweet, and warm. Catto’s Post Office, a new casual game from In Shambles Studio and Cult Games, fits that bill perfectly. It took me less than an hour to play through the entire story and I genuinely enjoyed every minute of it.

In Catto’s Post Office, you play the titular character, a gray and white cat who works as a mail carrier. Your goal is to deliv...

Introducing Fat Forward Books

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTRODUCING BINDERY TASTEMAKER PAGE FAT FORWARD BOOKS

...

Game Thoughts: Spirit City Lofi Sessions Might Fix Me

Executive dysfunction often hits me like a wall, large and looming and made of impenetrable bricks. When it happens, I struggle to start any task, no matter how simple or straightforward, and the more balls I drop the more my anxiety compounds until I find myself staring at a massive to-do list that feels impossible to break down into manageable chunks.

This semester, I’m writing my master’s thesis, and I’m anxious about how often executive dysfunction might hinder my progress. I’ve been vocal ab...

2024 in Review

In 2024, I wrote and created zines and learned how to make new styles of art and began to reforge a trusting relationship with my body. I made mistakes and grieved and raged and learned and reprioritized.

I planted and sowed. In 2025, I hope to harvest.

...

Books I Read (and Loved) in Summer 2024

This post contains affiliate links. See the affiliate disclaimer here .

After the audiobook blitz during my hospital stay in May, my reading slowed down over the summer as I pivoted toward physical books. I read a lot of comics, mostly for work, and I also compiled listicles of beach reads, Disability Pride Month reads, and Fat Liberation Month reads [x | x | x | x | x]. I cozied up with fiction, attempted to manifest cooler weather by reading horror (reviews below), and started several books I ha...

Dragon Age: I've Waited a Decade to Romance Scout Harding

Scout Lace Harding will not go to bed with me. This is my thought every time we flirt in Dragon Age: Inquisition, our interactions at first limited to my arrivals in various locations across the game map of Thedas. When the Inquisition moves to Skyhold and she takes up permanent residence in the courtyard, still, she will not go to bed with me. And while I understand that, just like in real life, not every NPC in a video game will want to smooch me, it breaks my heart to flirt with her and hear ...

Game Thoughts: Love, Ghostie

What if, rather than becoming a reaper in the afterlife, you could become a matchmaker?

In Love, Ghostie from Janbeh Games, you take on the role of a newly-deceased ghost gifted an empty manor and tasked with matchmaking its residents as they move in. Your mentor has advertised the manor as being totally not haunted so no one will be suspicious, and it works! Residents move in as you slowly expand the house, interacting with each other through your machinations. In addition to leaving gif...

My Favorite 2024 Wholesome Games Steam Celebration Demos

In 2019, Wholesome Games founder Matthew Taylor started a Twitter feed to curate cozy, comforting, and compassionate games. Five years later, the international community has grown to more than 500 thousand members. Wholesome Games now has a publishing arm and it produces an annual Direct, showcasing new and upcoming games ranging from management sims to puzzles and more. Last week, Wholesome Games had a Steam Celebration to announce release dates, launches, and dozens of demos.

I played as many d...

Game Thoughts: The Crush House

Devolver Digital’s The Crush House has arrived and brings with it an incredibly chaotic, disturbing view of reality TV. It’s like a sci-fi take on UnREAL with no happy endings… and unfortunately, despite an incredible marketing campaign and perfect ‘90s aesthetics, it’s not worth the price or the time invested to see where the story leads.

The Crush House follows 12 cast members across multiple seasons. You play Jae, a producer tasked with casting four individuals for a new season of the p...

Stephanie Cooke Wants to Be the Comics Industry’s Ms. Frizzle

This post contains affiliate links. See the affiliate disclaimer here .

...