I like the sound of this! The Starfield coffee article was funny. $7 a month miiiight be a little bit much for me - but I’ll keep an eye on this and if the journalism is decent and they put out a fair number of articles I’ll definitely consider it. I guess I used to spend around that amount on gaming magazines…

There’s a German term for nostalgia for a place you’ve never been, fernweh. Perhaps that has some connection?

Path of the Wind from My Neighbour Totoro gives me a similar feeling.

Yeah I guess that’s my take on ‘gamifying things’, but there’s probably a few different ways to do it. I’ve heard that in psychology, rewards are a lot more effective than punishments - so maybe frame it slightly differently. Personally I wouldn’t base things on how well you do in the game, because that could get frustrating - in the worst scenario you’ll already be annoyed at doing poorly in the game, and that’s followed by having to do more work. Instead I’d spin it, so if you do all the tidying reward yourself with an hour of gaming. If you get all your chores done, you get 2 hours of gaming etc.

I agree with what others have said about gamifying life. For example, ‘oh it’s 5pm, I need to spend 30 minutes doing some tidying before I can play a game again’. And for games with no clear end point, set yourself goals so you know when to take a break. ‘Once I’ve built this factory, I need to take an hour’s break before I can play again’.

The first two games that came to mind are unfortunately only available on PS4. I’ll mention them anyway, just in case they come to PC in future or someone else that has a PS4 is interested: Tearaway Unfolded is a really sweet game in a paper craft world. You manipulate paper scenery to help with platforming and really customise your character in creative ways. Just a unique and charming game. And Gravity Rush 1&2. These games let you alter gravity to fly around a beautiful open world - I’ve never played something with a traversal and combat system like this.

I agree with Obra Dinn and the Witness as mentioned by others!

This is probably a weird suggestion, but you could emulate Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (PSP game). It’s a stealth game (like the rest of the MGS series) mixed with a deck builder, so your actions are dictated by the cards that you play. The second one in particular perfects the formula IMO. It’s super satisfying and I’d love to see more games of this type!