The Fandomentals

1 day ago | thefandomentals.com | Dan Arndt

It’s an angry time right now. Rights being taken away, minorities under threat, and every day it seems we wake up to some new horror that threatens what joy we’ve been able to carve out. And the worst part is that the evil that creates these horrors is often intangible, systemic, and so vast that it feels like challenging them is impossible. But you’re not alone as you think.

2 days ago | thefandomentals.com | Christopher Hutton

Detective-focused investigations are a staple of gaming, with Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright bringing unique energy to the setting. But most are set in the Western or Asian markets, focusing on a particular culture. Detective Dotson, a newly released ‘cozy mystery’ on PC by Indian designer Masala Games, attempts to bring a unique Indian flavor to the genre while keeping things as energetic as your favorite cozy mystery.

3 days ago | thefandomentals.com | Jeremiah Sherman

The Surfer is an effective movie, filled with a visceral and tactile aesthetic that will leave you squirming in your seat. However, once the movie is over, the mood evaporates. It never gets under your skin and sticks to your insides. Still, Lorc Finnegan has made a gorgeous, sumptuous, and for the most part, riveting film about toxic masculinity.

1 week ago | thefandomentals.com | Dan Arndt

Continuing from the first part of our interview, TTRPG designer and screenwriter Banana Chan (Van Richten’s Guide To Ravenloft, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall) and I dig deeper into the strange — and a little gross — way she created a new form of fashionable horror in her solo TTRPG Knockoff. Dan Arndt: One thing I really like about it is that, you know, so, Forge is set in 2023 New York, Knockoff is I think a similar setting. Banana Chan: Oh yeah, 2024. New York 2024 Fashion Week.

1 week ago | thefandomentals.com | Christopher Hutton

What does it take to go against the gods? That’s the prospect that faces a group of unconventional queer heroes in Hectic Electron’s new Kickstarter book Defy the Gods, a unique take on the “sword and sorcery” setting of old. Defy the Gods is written by Chrys Sellers, a game designer whose past work included the GM-less Raccoon Sky Pirates, a book about raccoons raiding a house with a trash ship in a silly yet delightful romp of an adventure.