The thing about getting into game dev as a hobby is that basically now you have no time to actually play other games! 😭

When I do get time, Deep Rock Galactic is a fave for those days when you just want to shoot something in the face but you don't want to do it surrounded by aggressively sexist 12 year old boys. A new season just dropped this week, which makes it sound like a typical money-hungry microtransactional mess but I swear it's not like that at all, the devs are great people and everyone should give this one a go. ROCK AND STONE!

More chill days I like to investigate the unending backlog of cozy indie games from Epic (never touched them until I got a Steam Deck but it's been great for those). Or revisit Mini Metro which on the surface is a simple af puzzle game but it's surprisingly immersive and deep.

Of course it's Steam Next Fest atm, I've only tried a couple of demos so far (Station to Station and Laysara: Summit Kingdom) but was thoroughly underwhelmed by both of them. On the other hand my husband tried the demo of Memori and got super into it, he says anyone who liked Celeste should give it a try.

Also last mention goes to Outer Wilds, I'm not "playing" it as such because it's pretty one-and-done, but it's impossible not to recommend it whenever even a slightly appropriate opportunity allows. One of the most amazingly crafted and emotionally impactful games I've played in my 30-odd years of gaming and if you've never tried it, please just trust me and go in blind it is so worth it.