Two months in, and I’ve managed to hit every single issue without missing one — ten issues on the dot. Give yourself a hand~

I’ve put together a table of everything I’ve recommended in the newsletter so far — products, games, articles — and I’ll keep updating it: Airing - Best Product. I’ve also set up a submission form — if you have something worth recommending, fill it out and I’ll share it with everyone. Good things are meant to be shared!

You can also scan to fill in the form:

Games I Love (Vol. 1)

No particular ranking order.

1. Undertale

> You refused to hurt anyone.

Even when you had to run away, you kept smiling.

  • Platform: Steam / Nintendo Switch
  • Playtime: ~6 hours (first run)
  • Genre: Pixel art, RPG, story-driven, music
  • Themes: Warmth (or darkness?), emotional
  • Awards: Countless

Story summary:

Long ago, two races governed the earth equally: humans and monsters. One day, war shattered the peace between them. After a near-genocidal human conquest, humans drove the monsters underground and sealed them there with a powerful barrier cast by seven mages. Humans could enter the underground through Mt. Ebott, but escaping required the souls of both a human and a monster. No human who entered ever came back, giving the mountain a reputation for doom.

I’ve written a review of this game before — it was also my first answer on Zhihu. To avoid spoiling anything, I won’t link it here. This is a deeply moving story, and the music is extraordinary. Playing through it, you don’t feel like you’re playing a game — you feel like you’ve lived through a kind, warm life. Four years later, I can still picture the characters and remember the adventure we went on together.

This is a perfect score game, no question.

PS: Some of the battles are hard, which might frustrate players with less dexterous hands — but I still don’t recommend looking up guides on your first run. The Switch version is a bit pricey and has no Chinese, so I’d suggest the Steam version instead.

2. To the Moon

> And if you ever forget, or you get lost…

we’ll always meet again on the moon.

  • Platform: Steam / iOS / Android
  • Playtime: ~3 hours
  • Genre: Pixel art, story, music, indie
  • Themes: Love, memory, life

Story summary:

In the world of To the Moon, a company called Sigmund Corp. offers a service: they rewrite the memories of the dying so that the deceased can live out a dream in their final moments. Because the artificial memory permanently overwrites real memory, the procedure can only be used on people who are already dying.

The story follows two doctors from Sigmund Corp., Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts, tasked with fulfilling the dying wish of an old man named Johnny — to go to the moon, though he doesn’t know why he wants to go. To accomplish this, the two doctors enter his memories and travel backwards through his life, using significant objects as stepping stones. Gradually, they witness the key moments of Johnny’s past and come to understand the circumstances that led him to where he is. When they finally reach his childhood, they attempt to implant the desire to go to the moon, creating a new set of memories built around that wish, so Johnny can die without regret.

But nothing goes entirely according to plan. The doctors discover that Johnny’s desire, his past, and his late wife River all hold secrets far deeper than expected.

To the Moon is another deeply moving story. What’s remarkable is that the music, writing, programming, and artwork were all created by a single person. The music is beautiful — I’ve downloaded several tracks to listen to on their own. The story is top-tier; it could easily be adapted into a film. Apparently there’s a sequel, but I don’t feel any particular urgency to play it — because this ending is already perfect.

This is a game. A great story. A pure love. If life could be replayed, I would still choose to fall in love with you. I believe this game will teach you what “love” means.

PS: The collectibles section isn’t great design — if you genuinely can’t find something, it’s okay to check a guide. Don’t let the collection mechanics interrupt the flow of the story.

3. Don’t Starve (Together)

  • Platform: Steam / WeGame / iOS
  • Playtime: ∞
  • Genre: RPG, co-op, survival

Story summary:

Don’t Starve follows a scientist named Wilson who is teleported by a demon into a hostile wilderness. He must survive using his wits. Players gather natural resources, craft tools, and fend off the dangers of a hostile world.

The game is great fun with high replayability — especially the multiplayer version, which I used to play with friends. I think it’s genuinely better with other people; solo play leans heavier into pure survival and can get a bit lonely.

PS: New players should probably check a guide first — otherwise you’ll discover a lot of creative ways to die, which isn’t the best introduction to the game.

4. Darkest Dungeon

  • Platform: Steam / Nintendo Switch / iOS
  • Genre: RPG, survival, strategy, turn-based, Lovecraftian, Roguelike
  • Playtime: ∞

Story summary:

Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based RPG with Roguelike permadeath mechanics. A noble ancestor uncovered a portal that pours out monsters without end, unleashing a cascade of horrors. As a distant relative, the burden of restoring the family estate falls to you. You must recruit a variety of heroes, build a party, and clear dungeons crawling with terrifying creatures.

The class selection is varied, and the random events are surprisingly authentic and interesting. Even on normal difficulty it’s punishing — but that’s exactly what makes it compelling.

What makes this game distinctive is that it deliberately doesn’t center your attention on hero leveling and power growth. What you’re actually managing are the quirks and ailments heroes accumulate over time — and the stress system, which can drive heroes to madness or kill them outright. Simply put: the real enemy in this game isn’t the monstrous creatures in the dungeons. It’s each character’s own inner demons.

PS: The late-game experience gets a little rough around the edges; the iOS version apparently has a lot of bugs according to reviews. The Switch version costs significantly more than Steam, but this type of game really is more fun on a handheld.

5. Lost Castle

  • Platform: Steam
  • Genre: Action-adventure, side-scrolling, Roguelike, RPG
  • Playtime: 1–2 hours (single run)

Story summary: Not important.

This one is also best played with friends. My buddies and I used to run it regularly. Since a single run only takes about an hour, you never get sucked in for too long. Weirdly, despite being a dungeon crawler, the art style feels kind of cute. Apparently this game was made by a college dorm room of students from South China University of Technology — genuinely impressive.

6. The Stanley Parable

> By making a choice, you choose freedom.

  • Platform: Steam
  • Genre: First-person, story-driven, multiple endings, adventure
  • Themes: Philosophy, life, freedom
  • Awards: Many

Story summary:

Through the narrator’s framing, the protagonist is living in a simulated virtual world where his mind is controlled. In the real world, he lives the same day on repeat — office, home, back and forth — while his consciousness exists within the system.

The narrator orchestrates everything, perhaps for a scientific experiment, perhaps for reasons unknown, or perhaps it’s all just a game.

This game has no difficulty. It’s pure story. But it has 22 different endings. It’s also more than a game — its significance extends beyond itself. The beautiful logic and guidance are such that by the time you feel like the narrator is talking directly to you, you’ve already merged with the character. The narrator breaks the fourth wall, or maybe you’ve realized that “Stanley” already lives within you.

The game has no victory ending — much like life, which always seems to be trying to escape fate, yet always returns to the starting point. Every ending in this game is valid. Every one is free, because these are choices we made ourselves. Whether you lock yourself in a room at the very beginning and end your “life” there, or whether you follow the narrator down a four-hour path of silly baby games — that was your choice. The moment “you” leave the room, your “life” has already begun.

Beyond all of this, there’s much more worth thinking about — I won’t spoil it. I hope anyone interested will sit quietly with this unusual “game.”

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

> Freedom is to humanity as Nintendo is to games.

  • Platform: Nintendo Switch
  • Genre: Open world, action-adventure
  • Playtime: 200+ hours (excluding DLC)
  • Awards: Perfect 10 from IGN, GameSpot, and Polygon; 97 Metacritic from 109 outlets — third highest in history.

Story summary:

A great calamity once struck the Kingdom of Hyrule and brought it to ruin. One hundred years later, Link awakens in an ancient underground shrine, drawn by a mysterious voice, and begins a new journey.

I have to rave about this one. It is without question the best game on the Switch — not even close. And personally I think it’s the best open-world game ever made, full stop. It’s incredibly free, remarkably lifelike, visually stunning, endlessly playable, richly detailed, with interactions and thoughtful touches that are almost absurd in their care. The controls are approachable; new players get into it easily. And the game never stops surprising you — every hour it gives you something new to want to explore.

Freedom, spontaneity, and exploration are the absolute core of what Breath of the Wild is. In this game, you’ll rarely find something you want to do that you simply can’t.

8. Hollow Knight

> Hollow Knight is the best! (with Zelda reigning above all)

  • Platform: Nintendo Switch / Steam
  • Genre: Animated art style, Metroidvania, action game
  • Playtime: ~80 hours (excluding DLC)

Story summary:

In the declining town of Dirtmouth lies a vast, abandoned kingdom beneath the earth. Many are drawn there by its mysteries, setting off in search of treasure, glory, or the answer to ancient secrets.

This is an indie game built by three people. Using insects as its world-building foundation, it constructs a complete world of almost unbelievable scope and quality. The care and polish are extraordinary — once you get into it, you start asking: why don’t other games meet this standard? Every area has depth and complexity that leaves you genuinely stunned. The art style is clean and fresh, the story is solid, the setting is original, and the music is fantastic. Countless details and Easter eggs. Most importantly: it’s priced extremely fairly — one purchase covers all DLC forever. On the Switch it’s about ¥30; a game of comparable quality from another studio might run ¥300+. Reviews on Steam have literally begged the developer to raise the price.

Every NPC in the game feels real — the last game to give me that feeling was Undertale. There’s an old beetle who keeps working even in old age, till his last moment. There’s Quirrel, who leaves his nail beside a lake and disappears; if you accompany him, you get a quiet final moment together. And then there’s the Nailsmith, who after forging the final weapon asks if you’ll use it on him — he just wants to know how sharp it is…

The sense of accomplishment this game gives you is unmatched. Unlike Zelda or Odyssey, which in traditional fashion soften things for the player, and unlike deliberately punishing games that torment you for the sake of it — Hollow Knight is hard but fair. It gets a reputation for filtering out players with less precise inputs, but honestly it’s manageable if you put the work in. A tricky boss might take 10 tries; a regular one 2–3. But when you finally beat them, the feeling is like nothing else. That’s what games are for, isn’t it?

Note: On Switch, using a controller in the late game can get awkward — charging the nail art tends to accidentally trigger regular attacks, and preparing for nail art makes jumping harder. This makes the second boss in the colosseum particularly rough in the air. Elsewhere it’s mostly fine.

This Week’s Log

Recent Viewings

  • Watched: Film | Good Will Hunting | ★★★★★
  • Reading: Novel | Silent Parade
  • Watching: Anime | Summer Time Rendering
  • Watching: Anime | Spy × Family
  • Played: Switch | Pokémon Shield

Good Will Hunting deserves its own dedicated post sometime.

Recent Code

TypeScript React  35 hrs 27 mins ██████████████▏░░░░░░  67.7%
TypeScript        14 hrs 46 mins █████▉░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  28.2%
YAML              41 mins        ▎░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░   1.3%
Bash              21 mins        ▏░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░   0.7%
JSON              20 mins        ▏░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░   0.7%