I also spent 18 months unemployed throughout the pandemic, and I totally get that impossible feeling you're describing... both a need to break free and a fear that others will break you. It's one part prison escape movie, one part zombie apocalypse prequel. I've got an unvaxxed toddler at home & my own medical stuff making me more at-risk, so I wouldn't personally choose to do what you're doing, but I'm totally living vicariously through you reading your posts.
I'm curious if the few new games you do see reflect anything of the past 2 years of unprecedentedness. Are there a lot of viral apocalypse games? A lot of political debate style games. Any overthow-the-corrupt-government games? Any Tiger King vs Murder Hornet deckbuilder fighting games? Or did the industry swing the other way and realize that folks have had enough harsh reality, so it's making games about stuff totally divorced from the pandemic, or politics, or 2020? Or is there no clear trend, because the industry is not a single entity, and folks will do whatever folks will do likely based solely on a d100 roll?
I also spent 18 months unemployed throughout the pandemic, and I totally get that impossible feeling you're describing... both a need to break free and a fear that others will break you. It's one part prison escape movie, one part zombie apocalypse prequel. I've got an unvaxxed toddler at home & my own medical stuff making me more at-risk, so I wouldn't personally choose to do what you're doing, but I'm totally living vicariously through you reading your posts.
I'm curious if the few new games you do see reflect anything of the past 2 years of unprecedentedness. Are there a lot of viral apocalypse games? A lot of political debate style games. Any overthow-the-corrupt-government games? Any Tiger King vs Murder Hornet deckbuilder fighting games? Or did the industry swing the other way and realize that folks have had enough harsh reality, so it's making games about stuff totally divorced from the pandemic, or politics, or 2020? Or is there no clear trend, because the industry is not a single entity, and folks will do whatever folks will do likely based solely on a d100 roll?