Tag: featured

Geekly Casting: Mega Man Film

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Happy Monday, Geekly Gang! We’re bringing back the Geekly Casting series, and today’s subject is a live-action Mega Man film. There were talks about a Netflix Mega Man film, but we haven’t heard much about this project since late 2021. A lot has changed since then. Mega Man even had an episode in Amazon Prime’s Secret Level series, a television series based on random video games. But the Blue Bomber deserves a big screen adaptation. Kyra Kyle here. As usual, I’ll start this post and share modern actors who could play the various roles, and Skye, our movie geek, will search Hollywood’s past and present for the best possible actors to play each role.

Our first order of business is figuring out which characters we need to cast. We’ll keep Rock’s supporting cast short: Dr. Light, Roll, and maybe another character or two. We won’t bother casting Rush. He’ll be a robo-dog, so they’ll record random dog noises. Dr. Wily’s an obvious inclusion. We’ll skip casting Yellow Devil; he’ll mostly grunt. The Robot Masters pose a difficult challenge. Skull Man must make the cast because he was a main antagonist in Mega Man’s manga, but the other Robot Masters should have a balanced power set and come from popular games in the Mega Man series. This is a tall order. We’ll do our best.

Mega Man/Rock: Cameron Crovetti

I considered several actors to play the title role in Mega Man. Malachi Barton’s range intrigued me. I could even see an unknown take on the role, but I landed on Cameron Crovetti.

Crovetti is best known for his role on the Amazon Prime series The Boys. He portrays Homelander’s son, so Crovetti has experience with characters with questionable backgrounds. While Mega Man doesn’t go as dark as The Boys, Rock has a conflicted relationship with humanity. Crovetti has several comedic roles under his belt, too, so he has range. I could see him portray the Blue Bomber.

Honestly, the Crovetti family could sport more than one role in Mega Man. Cameron’s twin brother, Nicholas, portrayed Max Wright in Big Little Lies. If Mega Man included Copy Robot, and the production company wanted to avoid using CGI to make Copy Robot look eerily similar to Mega Man, Nicholas Crovetti makes sense. The Crovetti brothers have an older sister, Isabella, who could portray Roll. Roll and Rock (Mega Man) are considered siblings in the Mega Man universe, so it makes sense for Isabella Crovetti to play Roll, but let’s go with a different actor.

Roll: Lulu Wilson

Lulu Wilson is best known for horror films and television series like Ouija: Origin of Evil, Annabelle: Creation, The Haunting of Hill House, and Fall of the House of Usher. Wilson even portrayed a young Gloria Steinem in The Glorias. Despite a short career, she has an impressive filmography. Wilson also has a handful of comedic roles under her belt, specifically the dark comedy Wyrm. So, Wilson has the range to pull off Rock’s older sister Roll.

Typically, Roll comes off as compassionate and patient, but Mega Man 11, the most recent entry in the mainline Mega Man series, shows her giving Auto (another Mega Man side character who could make an appearance) a hard time. Let’s face it. Roll can be brutal toward Auto in Mega Man 11. Roll also doesn’t mind joining Rock (Mega Man) in battle. Lulu Wilson could pull off a Roll who looks overtly demure, but has a hidden edge, begging to be set free.

Dr. Thomas Light: Pierce Brosnan

Honestly, I could’ve gone with the Mega Man fan consensus and picked Jeff Bridges. Bridges has been the lovable bearded man for decades; he would make a great Dr. Light. Instead, I’m going with Pierce Brosnan. Mega Man depicts Dr. Light as a kind-hearted father figure and little else. After all, Light created Rock, Roll, and X. Brosnan has portrayed father figures in the past, but he may bring another layer to the character that a generic fatherly actor wouldn’t. Don’t ask me what that layer is. That’s up to Brosnan to pull deep from his acting experience.

Dr. Albert Wily: Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe as Dr. Albert Wily may be typecasting. Who cares? I went off-center with Brosnan as Dr. Light; Dafoe is at his best when his character has a tenuous grasp on reality. Whoever portrays Dr. Wily needs a disconnect with reality. Only a madman would put the world at risk by turning robots (who were minding their own business) against humanity. Dafoe could easily pull off an unhinged Dr. Wily.

Skull Man: Javier Bardem

We’ve reached the Robot Masters. Woo hoo! Whoever fills these roles won’t need to match the look of their counterpart. The Robot Masters will predominantly be CGI.

We begin with Skull Man. Unlike most Robot Masters, Skull Man was designed specifically for combat. Dr. Wily built Skull Man to take down Mega Man. While other Robot Masters have personalities outside of “must destroy Mega Man” (other Robot Masters are coerced or brainwashed), Skull Man is a killer who will stop at nothing to end Mega Man. Again, this may be typecasting, but Javier Bardem has been that level of cold-blooded killer.

Skull Man shows little emotion. He struggles to make a connection with any of the other Robot Masters. He has a hollow, inhuman affect. Like many other actors on this list, Bardem would give Skull Man an extra layer of character.

Metal Man: Peter Dinklage

Even when he isn’t brainwashed, Metal Man is a jerk. Sarcasm is Metal Man’s first language. He treats the other Robot Masters like buffoons, cracking jokes at their expense. To be fair, few of the other Robot Masters figure out they’re the butt of Metal Man’s joke. Yep. Peter Dinklage could easily pull off an affable, wisecracking Metal Man. Dinklage could find the perfect blend of fun and danger. Couldn’t you see Dinklage tossing saw blades like they’re Frisbees?

Splash Woman: Kristen Bell

Splash Woman first appeared in the Mega Man comic book. She began as a hero. The Mega Man comic built up Splash Woman’s stakes ahead of Mega Man 9, so when she gets brainwashed in the game, players would care. Splash Woman is Mega Man’s karaoke-loving bestie. She may have been constructed for underwater repairs, but musical theater is Splash Woman’s passion. Kristen Bell has the musical training and comedic timing to pull off Splash Woman. Bell’s Splash Woman could be a villain in the first Mega Man film, or she could be converted in the sequel. Hmm.

Fire Man: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage could have a mini Game of Thrones reunion. That would be fun. It would also be fun to watch Coster-Waldau take on Fire Man, a Robot Master who believes he’s the hero. That’s right. Fire Man suffers from main character syndrome. Game of Thrones had several “main characters,” so Coster-Waldau as Fire Man works on a meta storytelling level. I can see Mega Man jokingly follow Fire Man as the main character for a scene. I can also see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau playing a hot-headed–a little on the nose–Fire Man.

Elec Man: Joaquin Phoenix

Were some of these Robot Masters brainwashed, or were they nudged? Conceited and egotistical, Elec Man walks a tightrope between kindhearted and sadistic freak. Joaquin Phoenix has portrayed his fair share of characters like Elec Man. I can hear Phoenix pull off a line like, “To watch my beautiful bolts fly to the top of your head. To hear your delightful shrieks.” Woah! Elec Man may have some issues.

Ice Man: Neil Patrick Harris

Ice Man loves to show off for the crowd. The world’s a stage, and he’ll give Splash Woman a run for her money as Mega Man’s best singer. Neil Patrick Harris has a flair for the dramatic. I’ve heard he’s a good singer, too. Wink. Harris’s Ice Man and the actor who I have playing Bomb Man could have more than one musical number. One of them needs to be a Mega Man variant of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.” Make it happen.

Guts Man: Terry Crews

Built for construction, Guts Man takes his job seriously. While he may perform physical labor, Guts Man is smarter than he looks. He can be over-dramatic with a penchant for sudden outbursts, but Guts Man cares deeply for his coworkers. Underneath his bulky exterior, Guts Man’s a big softy, just like my pick to portray him, Terry Crews. Sure, I want to see Crews in more films. But you read Guts Man’s description. Tell me that doesn’t scream Terry Crews.

Bomb Man: Wayne Brady

Bomb Man is another Robot Master with a flair for the dramatic. While he doesn’t necessarily sing in the Mega Man series, who says he can’t in the movie? I have mixed feelings about How I Met Your Mother, but Wayne Brady and Neil Patrick Harris would be another fun reunion. Brady and Harris’s chemistry is undeniable, and I’d love to see how Bomb Man and Ice Man would interact with each other. They’re too similar, fighting for the same spotlight. Anything you can freeze, I can explode!

That’s the cast I have for Mega Man. Let’s check in with our film geek, Skye.

Skye’s Picks

I’m not well-versed in the Mega Man game series. I’ve beaten the first one and gotten halfway through the second, so my knowledge of the lore and characters is limited. Because of that, all my picks for this post were actors who made me giggle. My version of Mega Man is more kid-friendly and goofy. I hope these picks aren’t blasphemous. Either way, enjoy my picks for a Mega Man feature film adaptation.

Mega Man/Rock: Mark Hamill (Young)

Let’s see, someone who’s fresh-faced, eager to explore, lovable in his ignorance with just the right amount of whininess sprinkled in. I couldn’t help but imagine young Mark Hamill playing Mega Man. I’m unsure if that’s the best representation of Mega Man’s character (please refer to my intro), but it’s at least compelling. If nothing else, we know Hamill started his career playing that exact archetype. Seeing him learn and upgrade himself as he “cuts” (hehe) through the various bosses would be believable. With the tutelage of Obi-Wan–I mean Dr. Light–young Hamill could easily become another iconic sci-fi protagonist.

Roll: Dakota Fanning (Younger)

Roll was tricky for me to cast, but I remembered I had cast Fanning’s sister in a previous casting call (Geekly Casting: X-Men in the MCU). Since I prefer not to repeat actors I’ve already cast, why not Dakota? Like her younger sister, Elle, Dakota Fanning has had a storied acting career. I could see her pulling off Roll’s kind-hearted and bubbly personality. Since I cast young Mark Hamill as Mega Man/Rock, I thought it would make more sense to cast Fanning in her 20s. Rock n’ Roll are meant to be siblings, so it’d be a bit weird if they weren’t close in age. She’s got the look, style, and personality, so let’s give her the Roll. See what I did there?

Dr. Thomas Light: Patrick Stewart

I shouldn’t have to explain this one. Come on, it’s Patrick Stewart. Patrick Stewart is one of the go-to actors for good-natured, smart old dudes. Dr. Light would be no exception. Stewart has unrivaled on-screen charisma, a decades-long career under his belt, and the ability to make any movie he’s in better. Stewart works as Dr. Light. I won’t even bother naming them all, y’all already know. The only issue is his distinct lack of hair, but it’s Hollywood. They can figure out something.

Dr. Albert Wily: Ian McKellen

After casting Patrick Stewart as Dr. Light, it only felt right to go with Ian McKellen as Dr. Wily. If you’re a member of the Geekly Gang, you probably know why I made this choice. Not only are Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen two peas in a pod, but they work off each other in ways unlike any other acting duo in Hollywood. They’ve had several roles and done countless productions together, but the rivalry between Light and Wily is mostly why I went with McKellen. Given their past playing Professor X and Magneto, Stewart and McKellen would foil each other perfectly for the Light/Wily rivalry. Now, I badly want to watch this Mega Man movie. Make it so, Hollywood!

Skull Man: Ken Page (Posthumously)

If we’re going the kid-friendly and goofy route, Ken Page as Skull Man makes a marketable, mildly intimidating, and memorable choice. I admit it. I was thinking about Page’s role as Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Skull Man wouldn’t have to sing, per se, but Ken Page could still bring a unique voice to the character. I can easily imagine kids growing up watching this Mega Man adaptation and having their sense of villainy shaped by Page’s interpretation of Skull Man, like Oogie Boogie. Hopefully, Skull Man would receive more screen time, allowing Page to properly define his character. Rest in peace.

Metal Man: Robert Downey Jr.

Just lean into it. That’s the theme of my picks. Since Robert Downey Jr. is more available than he was 10 years ago, why not take the opportunity to be another metal man? This time literally Metal Man. As soon as I heard about a jerky robot in a metal suit, I picked Robert Downey Jr.. Downey Jr. has also shown interest in expanding his types of characters, as we’ve seen with his new role as Dr. Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Yes, join Ethan Hawke on the dark side. I hear they have cookies. If they do happen to make a legitimate Mega Man film adaptation, getting Robert Downey Jr. would also be a highly marketable first step. The kids would have to see it then!

Splash Woman: Halle Bailey

Anyone who’s forced to act in a Disney live-action remake deserves a better role. Is Splash Woman that role? Splash Woman could be a better role than Ariel in a live-action Little Mermaid. Splash Woman could also be a good opportunity to set the record straight for Halle Bailey and show how talented she is when Disney isn’t putting her on a self-righteous diversity pedestal. Imagine the not-so-subtle jabs Bailey could take at Disney in the role of a robot mermaid. I’m already laughing!

Fire Man: Jason Lee

This choice is difficult to defend, even for me. After researching boss robot personalities, Jason Lee came to mind. Fire Man is more of a wannabe hero with a short temper. Does that sound like Lee’s character from The Incredibles, Buddy Pines/Syndrome? Lee has experience. Also, Jason Lee hasn’t been given many major roles in recent years. Considering (arguably) his best role was Syndrome in 2004, I’d like to see him make a comeback. Like Brendan Fraser, he has untapped potential for high-profile films. I don’t want to remember him as Dave from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Can I get some brain bleach for those movies?

Elec Man: Tom Hiddleston

Like my last choice, Tom Hiddleston as Elec Man was a fitting conclusion after some light research. And why not one more Marvel actor? Elec Man is an arrogant, overdramatic narcissist, which sounds like Loki in the MCU. While Hiddleston has experience playing these character types, he’s been branching out. I’m confident that Hiddleston would give a good performance as Elec Man. Given my layperson’s perspective, Hiddleston seems like a good fit.

Ice Man: David Bowie (Posthumously)

Ice Man was a fun role to cast. Sure, I still don’t have a solid understanding of his character, but I got the idea after Kyra discussed their pick. They had chosen Neil Patrick Harris for the role in part due to Ice Man’s flair for the theatrical. It doesn’t get more theatrical than David Bowie. That and Ice Man would’ve been a great way to reintroduce Bowie to another generation as a kids’ movie icon. They would need to let Ice Man sing. Bowie would probably write the song too, and I’d buy the vinyl. Rest in peace.

Guts Man: André the Giant (Posthumously)

Here comes another choice influenced by Kyra’s pick. Thanks, Kyra. You helped me out a lot on this one. They described Guts Man as a lumbering meat-head with a soft and gentle side. If he was still with us, I would’ve enjoyed watching André the Giant in this role. The iconic ex-wrestler had both in equal measure, and that was depicted in his personality and role choices. I fell in love with André’s personality after watching The Princess Bride. If he brought the same energy to his portrayal of Guts Man, it would’ve been great. Who knows, he could’ve been as big a star as Dwayne Johnson is today if he were still with us. Rest in peace.

Bomb Man: Dwayne Johnson

Speaking of Dwayne Johnson, he happens to be my pick for Bomb Man. Like Guts Man, Bomb Man is a larger robot intended to carry heavy loads and work primarily in construction. Based on physique alone, Johnson is a solid fit. Although, I mainly picked Johnson for Bomb Man for his personality. Bomb Man seems like a lighthearted robot with a good sense of humor, which would make Dwayne Johnson a great choice. Bomb Man and Guts Man are also supposed to be close friends, because their abilities play off each other. I wanted Dwayne Johnson to play Bomb Man since I think he and André the Giant would make great on-screen friends. I struggle to process the cuteness.

Kyra Kyle here again. That’s all we have for today’s Geekly Casting. Who would you cast in the various roles, Geekly Gang? Would you like to see a part two for any of these castings? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1990s

Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1998

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another Top 5 Tabletop Games throughout the years. 1998 saw the continued dominance of collectible card games (CCGs). Fewer CCGs were released this year, but established ones kept board game stores afloat. 1998 had a lot of great board games, but many of them didn’t have the same staying power as previous years in this series. There may be more than one forgotten gem on today’s list. We’ll get to the games in a minute, but first, let’s look at our criteria.

1: Cultural relevance plays as much of a factor as overall quality. A game might make a list that doesn’t hold up to others of its type, but you must admit the game is everywhere.

2: Only one game from a franchise makes the list. This will become more of an issue the closer we get to games with expansions.

3: Longevity plays a role, too. A game doesn’t have to fly off the shelves today, but it had to have some widespread appeal for a decent time.

5: Kahuna (1998)

Kahuna fits the bill of a forgotten gem. This two-player game has players assume the role of ancient sorcerers of the Pacific. You compete for dominance of an archipelago consisting of twelve small islands. Players use cards to place bridges between islands and remove opponent’s bridges. If you get the majority of bridges around an island, place one of your marker stones on it and remove any of your opponent’s bridges to that island. This could, in turn, cause your opponent to lose a bridge majority on an adjacent island.

Kahuna plays in three rounds. A round ends when all cards from the face-down deck and the three face-up cards have been used. Kahuna is a fast-paced area control/majority game. It’s one of the better two-player games from this era, but Kahuna’s status as a two-player only game may have prevented it from seeing wider gameplay. Still, Kahuna was a finalist for the Spiel des Jahres (the German game of the year).

4: Elfenland (1998)

We go from a Spiel des Jahre finalist to 1998’s Spiel des Jahre winner, Elfenland. Elfenland is a redesign of the original White Wind game Elfenroads. The game is set in an elvish world. Players begin in the Elf capital, draw one face down movement tile, and are dealt eight transport cards and a secret “home” city card that they must reach at the end of the fourth round or lose points for each city space away from “home” they are at the end of the game.

Elfenland’s designer, Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride), has a knack for route-building games. Elfenland marks the first time Moon has made one of these lists. I may have just spoiled the game, but this won’t be the last time we’ll see Moon on one of these lists. Elfenland shares some similarities with Moon’s more popular Ticket to Ride. Elfenland is another forgotten gem.

3: Guillotine (1998)

Guillotine is yet another forgotten gem, and its theme is one of the most macabre and interesting of 1998. Players take the role of executioners during the French Revolution. In Guillotine, you’re doing your best to manipulate the execution line and score as many points, claiming the lives of nobles, clergy, and former military as you can. Off with their heads!

If you like Gallow’s humor, you’ll love Guillotine. I say this a lot, but this will not be the last Paul Peterson design to make one of these lists. Peterson has a knack for taking traditional card games in strange and exciting directions. Guillotine is bloody fun.

2: Cranium (1998)

Cranium marks the first mass market board game (a game one can find in department stores) to make one of these lists in several years. While it may have faded in popularity, Cranium took elements from various party games and formed what it claims is “the whole-brain” game. Cranium identifies four main party quiz game elements and gave them names: Creative Cat, Data Head, Word Worm, and Star Performer.

Creative Cat involves sculpting and drawing. Data Head is trivia. Word Worm has players unscrambling words, challenging them to spell a word, and guess definitions. And Star Performer includes whistling songs, impersonating a celebrity, or acting out a clue. Cranium managed to assemble as many party quiz game elements into one game as one can. In fact, I still don’t think a party quiz game has managed to include as many elements as Cranium’s into a single game design.

1: Through the Desert (1998)

Reiner Knizia takes another top spot on one of these lists with Through the Desert. Through the Desert is one of those games players remember fondly and hold in high regard. But I rarely see anyone playing Through the Desert, making it yet another forgotten gem on this list. I’d argue Cranium, despite its status as a mass market board game, is another forgotten gem. This entire list is made up of forgotten gems. Getting back to Through the Desert, it takes inspiration from the classic game of Go. Through the Desert also completes Knizia’s tile-laying trilogy of games: Tigris & Euphrates (1997), Samurai (1998), and Through the Desert (1998).

In Through the Desert, players attempt to score the most points by snaking caravan routes through the desert, trying to reach oases and blocking off sections of the desert. Two to five players control a tribe of nomads vying for control of the desert. Strategy is key in building your tribe’s caravans. There are multiple paths to gain points, but Through the Desert manages to keep its cognitive load low, meaning it’s easy to learn but difficult to master. Through the Desert is deserving of its Spiel des Jahres recommended status.

Did we get the list mostly correct? Let us know which games you’d add in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Whatcha Watching, Geekly: November 2025

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Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. Today, our writers share what they’ve been watching over the past month. You’re welcome to join the fun and share what you’ve been watching, Geekly Gang. I’ll get us started with the movies I watched.

Kyra’s Movies

All our geekly writers watched the two movies I’ll be discussing. I’d like to see what Season and Skye have to say about each of these films.

In short, Weapons had too many point-of-view (POV) characters. If you’re like me and you thought Weapons started strong, dragged in the middle, and found its footing at the end, that’s because the movie had too many POVs. The teacher made the best choice as the first POV. Good job there. The audience needed at least one parent’s POV. Great choice to include one, but I question this POV’s placement in the movie’s sequence. I didn’t like how the parent immediately followed the teacher. Director Cregger didn’t trust his audience to remember someone painting “Witch” on the side of the teacher’s car. This will be an ongoing issue.

Then, we get a few POVs we didn’t need. The cop adds nothing. The junkie actively made the story worse. How cool would it have been if the first time the audience saw the kids in the basement was when the father found them? Instead, a random junkie undercuts that potential emotional weight. And the principal’s POV is repetitive. And what was with making the principal gay? This inclusion reeks of tokenism. Within ten minutes of learning the principal is gay (which we only learn because we’re in his POV), the principal kills his husband. Hollywood needs to uphold the tired trope of Bury Your Gays.

Weapons gets back on track with the kid’s POV, and then it’s relatively smooth sailing–from a story perspective. Weapons is a good movie, but it’s overhyped. It doesn’t deserve a 93% fresh rating. Limiting Weapons to three POVs (the teacher, the kid, and the father, and in that order) and bouncing between the three would’ve given Weapons a chance to dig deeper into these characters. Weapons is praised as a “smart film,” but it treats its audience like imbeciles. Writer/Director Zach Cregger doesn’t trust his audience to piece together things, which is why the movie spells out everything in the principal’s POV, even when all the information delivered in the principal’s POV can be obtained through the other POVs. We’re left with puddle-depth characters and inconsistent world-building.

Oh, and what was with dropping the machine gun references and imagery outside of the teacher and father’s POV after the beginning? Again, if we only got three POVs (specifically, the three I mentioned), the idea that Weapons is a metaphor for school shootings would’ve been clearer.

Objectively, Weapons is a better movie than The Monkey, but I had a lot more fun watching The Monkey. Even though it’s a horror comedy, The Monkey does a better job setting up stakes for its characters (we actually have a ticking clock of the father losing visitation rights with his son after the weekend) and building emotional resonance than Weapons. So, maybe The Monkey is the better film.

Make no mistake. The Monkey is ridiculous. Its acting is over-the-top but in the best possible ways. I laughed out loud during Elijah Wood’s scene; he’s a treasure. Some of the lines and character choices are jarring, but in a deliberate, self-aware manner. I loved watching the Final Destination-like deaths occur, preceded by the titular wind-up monkey drumming its tune. I especially like the bus filled with cheerleaders at the movie’s end. I won’t say any more, but it’s hilarious. And the nods to other Stephen King stories were fun.

The Monkey doesn’t have a lot to say, but doesn’t need to have a greater message. Sometimes you just want–or need–a good laugh.

Kyra’s Show

I’m back to watching true crime. While writing this post, I’m eagerly awaiting the final episode of Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family. I first learned about the Murdaughs when Netflix released its documentary series years ago, so I was somewhat familiar with what to expect. But Hulu’s docudrama Murdaugh: Death in the Family lives up to the craziness surrounding this case.

I forgot a lot of the specifics for the Murdaugh Murders. I’m fighting the urge to rewatch the Netflix documentary before finishing Murdaugh: Death in the Family. Going in blind must be a treat. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the Murdaugh Murders are perfect fodder for true crime series, movies, and much more. There are so many elements to this story. Money laundering. Drug abuse. Infidelity. Wire fraud. Witness tampering. Wrongful deaths–plural. And this all happens before Mags and Paul Murdaugh are slain. The suspect pool for the Murdaugh Murders is limited to the entire state of South Carolina. Who wouldn’t be a suspect?

At least, that’s what I would’ve thought if I hadn’t watched the other content before watching Murdaugh: Death in the Family. If you haven’t seen anything else about the Murdaughs, refrain from doing so until after watching this series. The acting is on point.

That’s all I have for this month. What’ve you been watching, Season?

Season’s Movie

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t watch much this past month. I’ve been busy and haven’t had time to sit down and watch something. However, I do like to have something playing in the background while I fall asleep. For that, A Goofy Movie is perfect.

I’ve been feeling nostalgic, and I remember owning A Goofy Movie on VHS. I watched it so much, my mom eventually hid it. I remember jamming out to Tevin Campbell’s music (“I2I” and “Stand Out”), which was the main reason I watched A Goofy Movie. This time, I focused on the parent-child relationship. It holds up, even after removing nostalgia glasses. A Goofy Movie is a good watch for all ages.

What are you watching, Skye?

Skye’s Movie

The Monkey was my introduction to director Osgood Perkins. I’m not dissatisfied. Kyra came to me on Halloween and told me about this ridiculous horror comedy that had to be seen to be believed. Funny thing: I’ve seen it, but I’m still not sure I believe it. Did I enjoy The Monkey? Without a doubt, yes. The Monkey was the most insane horror comedy I’ve seen in recent years, which kept me laughing even when the screen was covered in gore. Yeah, this movie loves its body parts. Everything is just the right amount of wrong, and the fact it all revolves around a monkey doll turns the absurdity up to 11. I highly recommend The Monkey, just not too soon after mealtime.

Skye’s Show

Um, sure. Since I watched Monster: Ed Gein last month, Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer felt like the next logical step. Technically, Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer is better than Monster: Ed Gein, but that’s a low bar. Simply put, it’s obvious why people call Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer insensitive. It’s dead set on violating the stories of real-life murder victims, and some episodes were downright infuriating. True crime has always fascinated me, but there’s a right and a wrong way to do it. Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer is definitely the wrong way. If you’re curious about these true stories, it’s better to watch documentaries or read dissertations about them. Don’t be Ryan Murphy.

Kyra Kyle again. It looks like Skye enjoyed The Monkey. Yay! Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Holiday Helpers: Sugar Daddy

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Happy Turkey Day, Geekly Gang! Season here. Are you worried the food comas in your family will get too intense next week? Never fear! I’ve got the perfect solution to get you and your family active after next week’s feast. Or, at least, annoy the crud out of them. Let’s get smacking with this month’s plushie review: Sugar Daddy.

Before we begin, let’s review the categories. I’ll be looking at size, softness, kid-friendliness, and cuddliness. There won’t be an aggregated score.

Size

The Sugar Daddy plushie is more on the medium side. It’s slightly smaller than Chibithulhu and is perfect for whacking unsuspecting victims on the backside.

Softness Versus Firmness

Sugar Daddy has a bit of softness, but it isn’t a plush I’d recommend substituting for a pillow. It’s definitely a plushie I’d recommend hitting a wall with for stress relief. Also, definitely keep it out of arm’s reach from mischievous house guests.

Kid Friendly Versus Adult Only

I’m leaving this one in the middle. It’s really open to interpretation and how you use it. Kids and adults alike can have a lot of fun with the Sugar Daddy plushie. I recommend a scavenger hunt. Whoever finds the Sugar Daddy plushie gets to smack the person they want to hide it next. How would you use it, Geekly Gang?

Cuddle Buddy Versus Desk Buddy

Sugar Daddy is easy to cuddle with, but I wouldn’t recommend it due to its firmness. It’d make a great couch decoration, but I can also see someone keeping it locked away in a safe to avoid mischief. Honestly, I think Sugar Daddy makes for goofy decor anywhere in the house. It’s one of those things that makes people question why you have it. Keep them guessing.

Final Thoughts

Sugar Daddy is a fun plushie to have around. We’ve had many a giggle fit in my family whenever we chase each other around the house with it. I’m not sure if they’re in circulation anymore, but you can purchase a Sugar Daddy plush between $7 and $30 on eBay. I highly recommend getting one for fun, or if you’re a candy lover looking to add a Sugar Daddy plushie to your collection.

Do you agree with my assessment of the Sugar Daddy plushie? Would you like me to cover more candy/food-related plushies in the future? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading and have a relaxing time with your families.

P.S. This year, I’m thankful for all of you, Geekly Gang. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedules to read our posts and leaving us likes and comments. I hope we can continue to bring you content you enjoy reading.

Geekly News: November 16, 2025, New Releases

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Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. I’m still on a pseudo-hiatus with Novel in November. I just shared a writing update a couple days ago, but this means that Geek News will mostly be video game and board game new releases. Let’s begin with board game new releases.

Exactly as Planned Sneaks Onto GameFound

I love it when a publisher/designer allows players to demo their game. Exactly As Planned offers a solo, cake-walk heist to whet gamers’ whistles. You can play the game by checking out Exactly As Planned’s GameFound page. And it won’t take long. Exactly As Planned lasts exactly 5-minutes. Gamers on the clock, attempting to play the correct cards to pull off their semi-coordinated heist.

I love Exactly As Planned’s box art. The off-centered “As” is hilarious. Once gamers become accustomed to Exactly As Planned’s ruleset, they can add a little spice to the proceedings. One team member may be speaking only in questions, a second might have to stare at the ceiling, and a third may be restricted to saying only “yes” and “no.” If Exactly As Planned sounds like chaotic fun, check out its GameFound page.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread Journeys to GameFound

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread is another big box, fantasy, open-world, and open-ended exploration board game. So, what separates Arydia from other board games like it that we’ve covered over the past handful of months? Prowess.

Publisher Far Off Games and designer Cody Miller of Xia: Legends of a Drift System are well known for immersive, exploration board games. Despite being over a decade old, Xia maintains a top 200 spot on BGG. And Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread brings this same scale and grandeur to a fantasy setting. This GameFound campaign is Arydia’s second printing. The game sports a whopping 9.1 out 10 on BGG, where most games are lucky to get a 7. And I love the idea of a “green legacy” game. Far Off Games notes that Arydia features all the hallmarks of a legacy game–packages to open, hidden information, progression, discovery, and exploration–but allows you to reset the game when you complete it so that you can start again or pass it on to someone else.

We need more “green legacy” games. While it can be cool to burn your board game after playing (like I’ve seen others do with Pandemic Legacy), it’s also a waste. And look at the dice. I don’t know if the dice signal how a unit can move or where a spell casts its area of effect, but I’d like to find out. Arydia comes with plenty of detailed miniatures and other game components. If you’re interested in Arydia, check out its GameFound page.

Chants for the Old Ones Lurks on GameFound

Chants for the Old Ones is another second printing making its way onto GameFound, this time with two new expansions: The Eye of Dagon and The New Orders’ Reckoning. Players control unique cults with various paths to earn victory and unleash the power of the Old Ones. Perform dark rituals. Control key areas of the city. Do your worst in this deck-building and worker placement game set in the Cthulhu Mythos.

I like Chants for the Old Ones’ combination of deck building and worker placement. Those are two fantastic game mechanisms. Playing a Lovecraftian cult is a bonus. And I like how The New Orders’ Reckoning expansion adds a playable cult for the King in Yellow (Hastur) himself. If you’d like to get your Cthulhu on, check out Chants for the Old Ones’ GameFound page.

Elements of Truth Launches on KickStarter

Elements of Truth shakes up the traditional trivia game. The game includes four question types for each of its 250 cards: More or Less, Multiple Choice, Number Line, and True or False. Multiple Choice and True and False need no introduction. More or Less has players choose whether one “fill-in-the-blank” has more or less of something than another “fill-in-the-blank” thing. But Number Line has me most intrigued. Players write an answer on the (provided) whiteboard to see if they can get as close to the numerical correct answer.

Elements of Truth offers five expansion packs (four pictured above). Each question pack includes an additional 200 question cards in a particular subject. My history of playing Trivial Pursuit makes me wonder if gamers will want to pick up at least one of these expansion packs. 250 question cards are easy to memorize after a few plays. The base game pledge is $39. Players can get the first question pack (Veritasium, which isn’t pictured above) in addition to the base game for $59. Or go all-in for $99. If you’re interested in Elements of Truth, check out its KickStarter page.

Anno 117: Pax Romana Releases

The Anno series of city-building real-time strategy games continues with the earliest setting for the franchise. Gamers are given the choice to build the Roman Empire (Latium) or the Celtic kingdom (Albion). You’ll have the choice between paths of loyalty or rebellion. You can focus on military might or economic growth. And, for the first time, gamers will be able to play Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person.

This option alone piques my interest for Anno 117: Pax Romana. I’ve played numerous city-building games and always wondered what it would be like to experience my city at ground level. Anno 117: Pax Romana has received good reviews from critics. Rome has been built (and torn down) in many video games. I may try my hand at building the Celtic Kingdom. Anno 117: Pax Romana is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Lumines Arise Releases on Steam and PlayStation

I’ve been a fan of the Lumines series ever since it was first released on the PlayStation Portable, and Lumines Arise is the first new title in the series since 2012. More than just a Tetris clone, Lumines gives the familiar formula a new twist. Every block is 2×2, but they contain up to two colors. The blocks slide into spaces left in the puzzle, and gamers must match colors (in 2×2 blocks or better) before they explode.

I’ve always enjoyed Lumines’s slick design. At first glance, you may find Lumines confusing, but you’ll get used to the game’s aesthetics soon enough. Lumines Arise includes numerous game modes, ensuring ample replayability. The classic Journey mode returns. Gamers will play over 35 stages, called skins. Each skin has its own theme with music and visuals to match the stage’s vibe. I love the themes that use vegetables. What?

After gamers complete the Journey, they unlock a new mode called Survival. Players play endlessly–or at least until they top out–with the skins transitioning as they reach certain milestones. That could get trippy with Lumines Arise’s bizarre skins. Lumines Arise also offers Training Missions, Challenges (various game states with goals and some variations on gameplay), Time Attack (clear enough blocks in the allotted time), and Dig Down where the blocks come from below. Trippy.

I can’t wait to get my hands on Lumines Arise. It’s received good to great reviews from most critics, with a slight edge given to the PlayStation 5 version over the PC version. Honestly, I always intended to pick up this title for PS5 anyway.

That’s all the Geek News we have for this week. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Quirky Video Game Review: Ratropolis

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Happy Spooky Season, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and while Ratropolis doesn’t exactly fit the horror aesthetic for this month’s theme, it is an interesting blend of deck building, tower defense, and real-time strategy. That’s right, it’s time for another quirky video game review. Relatively new, Korean video game design group, Cassel Games, combines so many disparate themes and mechanisms that they couldn’t possibly work together. Could they? Let’s put Ratropolis against our video game review criteria.

Mechanisms

Game Mechanisms: 9/10

Ratropolis does manage to merge its separate parts into a cohesive whole, but I don’t imagine players unfamiliar with deck building to fare well. Sure, Ratropolis begins with slow waves of enemies. The deck-building is somewhat pared down, but this game retains most of a deck-building game’s complexity, and the time constraint can be intimidating. The real-time strategy meets tower defense work well together. They’re almost seamless.

The deck-building does get streamlined to a point. Ratropolis splits cards into specific leader types: Builder, General, Merchant, Navigator, Scientist, and Shaman. Each leader type has a male and female variant with their own special powers, so this specializes each potential deck even further. You begin the game with the Builder, which allows for upgraded buildings and extra building cards that provide sustained benefits, even resources over time. Ratropolis has addictive gameplay and since it offers so many avenues to customize your deck, once you get hooked, you’ll lose several hours and not even notice.

I can’t believe how well Ratropolis blends its various game mechanisms. Each leader takes advantage of different design spaces, and I love that. Different avenues for victory make a great deck-builder, and Ratropolis is a great deck-building game without the added wrinkles of an RTS and tower defense.

Speaking of tower defense, Ratropolis does an excellent job of ramping up its difficulty from one wave to the next. Gameplay balance like that is difficult to find. Each city run lasts up to 30 waves of enemies. The furthest I’ve ever gone has been level 25 or 27. Each new enemy type adds a new threat for the player to manage, and while these new challenges can feel unfair when first introduced, runs don’t take too long (players can even send in a new wave early to earn extra in-game money), and a quick look at Ratropolis’s card library should reveal a strategy to deal with each one. The only reason Ratropolis doesn’t get top marks in game mechanisms is that the deck-building can–at first–be overwhelming.

Gameplay Loop: 10/10

I spoiled this entry in the last one. Yes! Ratropolis has an addictive gameplay loop. I spent hours playing the game, not knowing I had spent hours playing the game. Not only does Ratropolis start players with one leader type, but you can unlock other leaders and extra cards for each deck by gaining experience. Ratropolis manages to add a little bit of Pokémon to its gameplay. Gotta catch ’em all! These new cards tend to be more complex, but they also break the game in fun ways. Ratropolis is one of those video games where you’ll be arguing to play one more game.

Story or Narrative

Narrative/Storytelling: 6/10

One wouldn’t think a deck-builder, real-time strategy, tower defense video game would have much of a story, but that’s not the case with Ratropolis. The game has a loose story that adapts to the events of your game. Did you recently have a lot of rat citizens die during an enemy raid? You may get approached by grieving parents who want burials for their children. You decide how your rat leader reacts. Do you give them a proper burial? Do you ask the parents for a death tax? Yikes! That got dark, but so does Ratropolis’s story. This game paints its story in its liminal spaces, but there isn’t much in the way of an overarching narrative.

User Interface: 7/10

Ratropolis’s user interface is well designed, but a lot is going on in this game. Too much. I don’t know how Ratropolis could fix this issue, but it is an issue and drags down the game’s user interface score a hair. Currently (I’m writing this review in June 2025), Ratropolis is only available on Windows (and by extension, Steam). I can’t imagine Ratropolis on a console or mobile device, despite deck-building games running well on smartphones. Information pockets form in all four corners. The screen is cut into two sections: the top is the city (which players can scroll from side to side, making this space even larger and unwieldy), and the bottom center shows the player’s hand. Many cards have extensive text, so that adds even more cognitive load (how much information one’s brain must compute at one time).

Throw in the random story elements, and Ratropolis can get overwhelming. Still, Ratropolis has a space for everything. It offers a clean interface for players to find most information. I don’t know how the game could improve on its UI design, but it’s missing something.

Graphics: 8/10

Ratropolis’s graphical details are fantastic. The images on the cards are cartoonish but have a well-defined style. Ratropolis is a pretty game. I may have lowered it to average if it wasn’t for the city, slowly building in the space above the cards. Look at the reflection effects in the water. You can see your entire ratropolis reflected in the river. Depending on the location you build your city (Ratropolis offers a handful of places, which can vary gameplay), you’ll be given flourishes that make every rat city unique.

Audio: 7/10

Typically, I play most video games with the sound off. That makes grading a game’s audio difficult. But I have heard plenty of Ratropolis’s audio, and it’s well above average. While the soundtrack does its job (it doesn’t stand out, but it serves the game well), the sound effects, especially the jingling of merchants entering your city or the growls and grumbles of various enemies invading your rat city raise this score. In fact, it’s these unique sounds–that I grew accustomed to–that made managing my city a lot easier. I won’t go as far as to say that you need to play Ratropolis with the sound on, but the sound mixing immerses me in the game’s world. And that’s what you want from a game’s audio.

Replay Factor: 10/10

Unlocking all the leader types, the cards, and the random city generator that makes each playthrough different gives Ratropolis an infinite replay factor. Not since Civilization have I felt this strong of an urge for “just one more turn” or game or unlock one card in my journey of mastering the Merchant leadership style. Ratropolis combines several game mechanisms that lend themselves to replay (deck-building, tower defense, and a varied enemy and environment for a real-time strategy). These mechanisms work together to form a game you won’t put down for hours.

Aggregated Score: 8.14

Ratropolis does the unthinkable and combines deck-building, tower defense, and real-time strategy into one addictive indie game package. This game may not appeal to everyone, but if you’re interested in two or more of the game’s three main mechanisms, you should try Ratropolis.

Writing Brain Dump: November 14, 2025

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Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! I haven’t shared a Writing Brain Dump in a month. Today looks like a good day for a Writing Brain Dump. I’m about halfway through my most recent edit for Rustbucket Riots (working title). And the biggest step I made was reformating the story’s arc.

The Three-Act Structure May Need Tweaking for a Novel

I found Julian Maylett’s YouTube channel a short while ago. Maylett has a great AuthorTube channel, and I like his six-pillar structure. But I adapted this structure so it works better for me. I’ll paraphrase something I said in the previous Writing Brain Dump. What works for someone else’s writing practice may not work for yours. Everyone is unique. So, it made sense that I adapt Julian Maylett’s method to better suit mine. Feel free to do the same.

I boiled down Maylett’s method to a novel’s storyline resembling a heartbeat. The Three-Act Structure (pictured above) begins with an inciting incident, followed by rising action (complications), a crisis, a climax, and falling action (or denouement if you want to be fancy). Maylett claims that (except for a novel’s prelude, which is different from a prologue) each segment within a novel includes its own version of a Three-Act Structure. After mapping out the four segments following the prelude (Trigger Event, Trailer Moments, Journey to Hell, and the Grand Finale), the novel’s shape resembled a heartbeat.

We’re looking at four Three-Act Structures occurring consecutively.

See what I mean. Each segment contains an inciting incident, rising action, a climax, and falling action. But, paraphrasing Maylett, segments will morph what constitutes an inciting incident, rising action, etc., each time, depending on when in the story the segment occurs. One of the examples Maylett gave (for the Trigger Event) was The Hunger Games. We’re talking the first novel (or movie) here. And viewing this novel through Maylett’s lens can be eye-opening. If we view The Hunger Games in the classic three-act structure, one would most likely cite Katniss offering herself as tribute as the story’s inciting incident, but that isn’t the inciting incident when using what I’m going to call the heartbeat method.

The Reaping itself is the inciting incident for The Hunger Games’ Trigger Event (the first full segment). Prim being old enough to participate in the Reaping is a complication (rising action), as is Katniss placing her name into the Reaping multiple times to feed her family. Katniss has a brief moment of doubt when Prim’s name is drawn (the crisis), and she must choose to save her sister by offering herself as tribute or let Prim participate and most likely die. Katniss choosing to offer herself as tribute is the Trigger Event’s climax.

Then, we see the fallout of Katniss’s decision (the resolution or falling action), before the next segment (Trailer Moments) begins with another inciting incident and the process starts anew. I love Maylett’s approach. I took the bones of this approach and applied it to my manuscript.

I’ll press pause on the rest of the segments, so I can edit those and share my thoughts after editing each segment, but there is an odd segment before these four: The Prelude.

The Prelude is Not a Prologue

A prologue’s events occur separately from the rest of the novel, while the prelude sets the novel’s tone. If you’re talking about speculative fiction, the prelude introduces the reader to your novel’s world, while hopefully not inundating them in exposition. Unlike the other segments, the prelude has only three parts: an opening image, a flawed action, and the theme whispered.

Let’s go back to The Hunger Games as an example for the prelude. The novel (and movie) opens with Katniss illegally hunting game. We’re introduced to Katniss’s world through the simple act of survival. Katniss bags a kill. Her family can eat. This hunt is The Hunger Games’ opening image. It’s a concrete image. Then, The Hunger Games progresses to the Flawed Action. In the novel, Katniss shares that she spoke out against injustice, and it got her in trouble, so now, she protects herself and her family by keeping her opinions to herself. All this does is close off Katniss. It’s a flawed action Katniss needs to unlearn, but she isn’t yet ready to learn.

Finally, The Hunger Games reaches its Theme Whispered. Katniss’s friend (and love interest) Gale suggests the two of them should head to the forest, live off the grid, and effectively leave the country. Gale implies Katniss’s crime of hunting isn’t wrong. The government is wrong. By the end of three books, Katniss takes on the government head-on, but she isn’t ready to hear this yet. According to Maylett, the Theme Whispered should be spoken aloud by a character who doesn’t have too much relevance to the story (at least not yet), and the whispered theme should be memorable enough to stick in the back of the reader’s head.

The Hunger Games does this well. If you’ve read (or watched) The Hunger Games, you may not have noticed the Theme Whispered in the first chapter (or opening sequence), but now that I’ve mentioned it, you can’t help but see it. Lovely foreshadowing.

Echoing Heartbeats

And that’s why I like the heartbeat system. Since readers get repeating beats, they can’t help but notice patterns. Maylett’s system includes some specifics, the deeper into the story we journey, but I’ll save those for later.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Novel in November (formerly NaNoWriMo). Where are you with your progress this month? Are you editing or writing something new? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Whatcha Reading, Geekly? November 2025

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Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Today, our writers share what they’ve been reading over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been reading, because you’re part of the Geekly Gang, too. I’ll start our monthly reading post.

Kyra’s Comics

I reread a favorite graphic novel this past month, Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy. Dick Tracy is a classic 90s graphic novel. The 1990 Dick Tracy film could’ve been so much better had Warren Beatty decided to start with the first of these three stories. Yes. Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy concludes with what we now know as the 1990 Dick Tracy movie. Movie audiences lost so much by only getting the third installment. The Dick Tracy screenwriters planned on Dick Tracy being a trilogy, beginning with the first installment in this collection. Fortunately, those same writers decided to release the whole trilogy as a graphic novel.

After reading a Variety article about how 1990’s Dick Tracy served as a cautionary tale for comic book movies (specifically MCU films), I was enticed to reread Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy. Needless to say, the Variety article got it wrong. The article’s writer suggests that Dick Tracy failed despite having every advantage (money, a heap of stars, etc.). One must have a great story. The sad thing is 1990’s Dick Tracy had a great story. The creative team had pulled a DCEU. (Think Batman V Superman; we’re behind the MCU, so let’s make the second DCEU movie feature Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and even Doomsday with some Darkseid and gang thrown in for funsies.) Back to Dick Tracy. TMNT and Batman had recently been released, so Dick Tracy skipped the first two parts of this great story to show the climactic end where everyone’s story converges.

If you read Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy in its entirety, you’ll cheer as Big Boy puts Lips in the bath. Without the context of the previous two stories, viewers are left wondering who Lips is. A bad man. Lips abused Big Boy. We spend two movie-length stories watching Big Boy claw his way to the top with his buddy, Flattop. Breathless Mahoney’s background gets fleshed out. BB Eyes and Pruneface actually have personalities. Even Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart’s relationship gets explored, so there’s more weight to them adopting The Kid. I highly recommend reading Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy before watching–or rewatching–the 1990 film Dick Tracy. You’ll find a greater appreciation for what this film could’ve been.

Kyra’s Nonfiction

The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition is eye-opening. Prior to Prohibition, drinking was pervasive in the United States. Reading The Alcoholic Republic recontextualizes Prohibition. 1) Prohibition had to happen. Citizens of the United States drank far too much. We’re talking about a six-pack a day was considered extremely light. President Lincoln was assassinated because his guard was wasted. Vice President Johnson was spared because his would-be assassin had downed five bottles of whisky in one night. 2) Prohibition wasn’t a complete failure. I had been taught Prohibition failed on most–if not every–levels, but that may not be accurate. After Prohibition, most of the nation curtailed its drinking.

The Alcoholic Republic even explores gender roles. Men needed to work because if a man didn’t work, he’d drink himself stupid. This idea persisted decades after Prohibition. Even Ed Gein’s father was a drunken layabout. While I can’t say I “enjoyed” reading The Alcoholic Republic, I appreciated the history it told.

I’ve reread a handful of things–besides Dick Tracy: The Complete True Hearts and Tommy Guns Trilogy–over the past month, but let’s check in with Skye and see what she’s been reading.

Skye’s Fiction

I came across The Transit of Venus in Barnes & Noble a few months ago, but only now got around to reading it. So far, it’s proven to be a heavily layered story, which I love. The Transit of Venus follows the lives of two orphan sisters from Australia and the adventures they get into as they travel around the world. Considering the subject matter, The Transit of Venus can be depressing, but I keep reading in hopes that they overcome their struggles. After all, that’s what the title implies: all moments are fleeting, and time keeps ticking forward.

The Holy Bible

TL;DR: I was morbidly curious.

I’m intrigued by how each of the Bible’s stories fits together, since I’ve heard them referenced several times throughout my life but never read them. The biggest thing that stands out to me is the sheer number of names the Bible drops. For real, I’m only halfway through Genesis, and 50+ people have been named while only about 10 of them have done anything. Am I cramming for a test? I feel like God’s gonna give me a pop quiz at some point about who begets whom, and I’m gonna fail. I’m still reading.

No offense to God, but He should tighten His prose. There’s very little investment in these stories; they’re just dry. Surely the creation of man was more interesting.

Oh.

Kyra Kyle here again. I don’t know how to follow that. Lol

I’ve read the Bible multiple times growing up (my family was religious–pseudo Southern Baptist, as in they called themselves something else but behaved similarly to Southern Baptist), but I’ve never considered the Bible from a writing perspective. That piques my interest. 👀

Season is skipping Whatcha Reading this month. I’m sure she’ll return next month. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Updated: Top 10 Cartoons Based Off Comic Books 2025

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. We’ve tackled the idea of cartoons or animated series based off comic books almost a decade ago with a Top 5 Animated TV Shows Based Off Comic Books. It’s a good idea to update this post. Our reasoning is three-fold: 1, it’s been long enough and more shows have been produced since 2015; we increased the number of shows on this list from five to ten; and Geekly forgot about a few shows inspired by comic books in the previous list. Whoops! Before we get into the shows, let’s set down some ground rules for this list.

1: Cultural relevance will play a role, as will the show’s overall quality.

2: Some of these shows’ animation doesn’t stack up to even its contemporaries, but they’re outstanding just the same.

3: We’ll have to stick with one show from a franchise because we wouldn’t want a list that includes only Batman and Spider-Man.

10) The Tick (1994-1996)

We’re kicking off this list with a cartoon that didn’t make the former Top 5 Cartoons based on comic books, 1994’s The Tick. We’ll be getting serious soon enough with the other titles on this list, so it’s only fitting that we begin with a goofy superhero who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Well, actually, The Tick character takes himself seriously, but he’s so off-the-wall bonkers that it’s difficult for viewers to take him seriously. The Tick is one of those animated shows that blends adult and child humor.

The partnership between The Tick and his sidekick Arthur is one of the best in superhero history, even if it draws inspiration from classic superhero duos. The Tick is a fun watch for anyone familiar with comic books and superheroes, because The Tick sends a relentless barrage of potshots at iconic heroes and villains at the audience.

Warning: The Tick uses a lot of puns. If you like Dad Jokes, great. If you’re not as into jokes like American Maid or El Seed, you may not get through too many Tick episodes. Either way, you should give The Tick theme song a listen. I dare you to not hum along. Tee hee!

9) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-2009)

I have fond memories of the classic 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 1987’s TMNT even took the second spot ten years ago, but that may have been due to nostalgia goggles. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot that occurred in the 2000s stays true to the source material and claims a spot on this list.

Produced by 4Kids Entertainment, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a huge departure for the franchise. Because it stayed close to the comics’ tone, this version of TMNT had dark storylines, plenty of character growth, and amazing action sequences. Many shots in the 2000s TMNT would be at home with the best martial arts films.

The 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set a new standard for the franchise. Sure, the TMNT franchise can still skew toward a younger audience, but the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series proves that TMNT works for an older audience, too. Several characters from this show, such as the Shredder’s enforcer, Hun, were even adopted into the comics and future TMNT shows. Not bad for a reboot series.

8) Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-1998)

Spider-Man: The Animated Series falls far from our previous list, but it’s a fantastic show. It fell victim to newer series, shows we forgot were based on comic books, and lifted restrictions (more on that with the next entry). Spider-Man: The Animated Series adapted many of the comic books’ best storylines. No other Spider-Man cartoon includes the breadth of Spider-Man: The Animated Series’ characters. It introduced numerous Spider-Man characters that had not yet been seen on the small or big screen.

Throughout Spider-Man: The Animated Series’ run, Spider-Man interacts with many Marvel comics characters: The Hulk, The X-Men, The Avengers, and The Fantastic Four. X-Men: The Animated Series may have started the Marvel animated universe of the Nineties, but Spider-Man: The Animated Series galvanized the Marvel universe. The Nineties Marvel Animated Universe paved the way for the MCU, and Spider-Man: The Animated Series was the linchpin.

7) Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000)

We didn’t include Superman: The Animated Series in the previous list ten years ago because it was too close to Batman: The Animated Series, and we didn’t want more than one entry from a franchise. Forget that. We’re not including more than one show with the same main character. How about that? Moving on, Superman: The Animated Series did for the Man of Steel what Batman: The Animated Series did for the Dark Knight.

Superman: The Animated Series updated Superman’s stories for a new audience. The characters and tone mixes contemporary and classic Superman stories, making this animated version of Superman feel powerful, but not unbeatable. Supes’s supporting characters had memorable personalities that bounced off one another well. Superman: The Animated Series also introduced a generation of viewers to classic Superman villains like Lex Luthor and Brainiac, while giving viewers the first glimpse of Superman’s deadliest enemy, Darkseid.

I love how Superman: The Animated Series’ tone and differs from Batman: The Animated Series. The two are polar opposites, but look as if they belong within the same universe. Superman: The Animated Series is a testament to how great the DC Animated Universe was and often still can be. I’m also glad we’re able to extend this list to a Top Ten. There are so many great cartoons based off comic books.

6) Young Justice (2010-2022)

Yes! We’re lifting many of those odd self-induced limitations with the prior list. I didn’t include Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, or Young Justice because they were part of the Batman: The Animated Series universe. What was I thinking? Young Justice is nothing like Justice League. Young Justice follows characters who are often pigeonholeed as sidekicks. Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, and more team up in Young Justice.

Co-created by animation legend Greg Weisman (who also co-created Disney’s Gargoyles, another stellar series), Young Justice showcases many of Weisman’s strengths: fantastic character work, character development, and an emphasis on strong continuity. Young Justice’s emphasis on sidekicks is a great angle for an animated show. This conceit allows the audience to watch the characters grow and develop over many seasons.

Some Young Justice members strike out on their own and become their own heroes. Others remain on the team and mentor new heroes. Still others come to some shocking ends. Young Justice doesn’t shy away from grizzly ends. Young Justice survived cancellation and jumping between three networks before concluding its run. Thank goodness, because it’s one of the best modern animated shows based on a comic book.

5) Invincible (2021-Present)

Invincible is the most recent animated series on this list. Heck! It’s still in the middle of its run. This is what I mean by several new animated shows based on comic books have been released since our previous list ten years ago. Invincible basks in the fact that it’s a superhero show. It pokes fun at classic character types and comic book tropes, while simultaneously paying homage to these same ideas. It’s a delicate balance, but Invincible does a great job of handling this tightrope.

Yet Invincible uses its framing devices to tell very, and I mean very, mature stories that explore the mentality of being a superhero. Heroes and their loved ones struggle with this responsibility. Invincible shows a terrifying world where heroes, villains, and monsters battle each other among civilians.

Invincible sports a brilliant voice cast. It’s a modern classic, and it may just climb this list in another decade.

4) Justice League (2001-2004)

Simply put, Justice League was the culmination of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s years of work on the Batman and Superman animated series. Justice League was the next logical step. Justice League: Unlimited (2004-2006) continues where the original series left off and gives the series (as a whole) a proper ending.

Timm and Dini combine old and new storytelling tactics to form something new and exciting in Justice League. They pay homage to who these characters are in the comics and explore their interpersonal relationships. This is a theme for this list, but Justice League stays true to its comic book roots but add enough twists to make the show a must-watch for hardcore fans.

Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited understand each of their team members and give all of them ample time to shine. This is only possible because Timm and Dini had a decade to work with these characters, refining them and respecting the source material. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but these two series (which are really one long series) make for a great binge-watch. The cast is legendary.

3) DuckTales (1987-1990)

DuckTales was the one animated series that needed to be on the previous list. I forgot that DuckTales originated from the Uncle Scrooge comic book by Carl Barks. Scrooge McDuck’s globetrotting quests in search of treasure captivated viewers. It launched the Disney Afternoon line of cartoons. While none of the other series from that cartoon line made this list because they didn’t start as comic books, they took their cues from DuckTales. Much of Disney animation during the late Eighties and early Nineties followed DuckTales‘ lead.

And even though it originally released in the Eighties, DuckTales holds up surprisingly well. Scrooge McDuck and the dynamic trio of Huey, Dewey, and Louie join forces with Launchpad McQuack and Gyro Gearloose. DuckTales raised the profile of underused Disney characters and added plenty of new favorites. Because Uncle Scrooge’s adventures sent him all around the globe, DuckTales subtly taught geography and threw in some cultural references for good measure.

DuckTales was Disney’s first syndicated animated TV series. While it paved the way for other successful shows like TaleSpin and Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, DuckTales had two direct spin-offs, Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. Talk about a media powerhouse. But only takes our third spot. What shows could dethrone a legend like DuckTales?

2)  X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997)

The original X-Men: The Animated Series ranked high on our previous list. I’d be lying if I told you the phenomenal X-Men ’97 didn’t help this series climb higher on this list. Last year’s X-Men ’97 is the highest-rated Marvel Series on most review sites. I highly recommend it and can’t wait for the next season, but Geekly’s going with the original Nineties X-Men Series. We’re going with the source material.

And that’s what made the Nineties X-Men: The Animated Series so great. While the series that claims our top spot paved the way for authentic comic book storytelling in cartoons, X-Men doubled down by not shying away from epic X-Men tales. I never thought I’d see a “Days of Future Past” or the “Phoenix Saga” on the small screen, but X-Men: The Animated Series dived headfirst into the spectacle and long-form storytelling the X-Men comic book was known for. Did the show always stick the landing? No. But X-Men: The Animated Series set the standard for how the public saw The X-Men.

The X-Men: The Animated Series didn’t treat young viewers with kid gloves. It delved into mature themes of prejudice, death, and the effects of trauma, while maintaining a hopeful outlook with its stellar cast of characters. The continuation series X-Men ’97 captures almost every element of what made the original series great. Here’s to some new fond memories. And who knows? Perhaps, the X-Men: The Animated Series will claim the top spot in another ten years.

1) Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)

Batman: The Animated Series claimed the top spot ten years ago, and it remains at the top of this list. Heck. I’ve seen other sites’ lists of the greatest comic book animated shows, and while some sites include some spicy inclusions (that I wouldn’t think would make a top 10), almost everyone is in agreement that Batman: The Animated Series is the greatest cartoon based on a comic book.

Kevin Conroy became a generation’s Batman. That’s not right. Conroy voiced Batman since 1992, and Warner Bros. continues to release animated films with Conroy as Batman more than thirty years later. Numerous animated Kevin Conroy Batman projects were released posthumously. So, he’s the voice of Batman for more than one generation. The rest of the cast is stellar. Not just stellar, iconic.

Speaking iconic, the Batman: The Animated Series’ soundtrack when I think of many Batman characters. I seldom need to watch an episode to pinpoint the antagonist. Our previous list noted Batman: The Animated Series’ introduction that didn’t even need to reveal the character’s name. You knew how Batman was from the symbol. Batman: The Animated Series serves as a definitive Batman for many people. It kickstarted the DC Animated Universe, which rivals the MCU and, for several people, dwarfs the MCU. Countless Batman: The Animated Series episodes won Emmies.

“Heart of Ice” is one of the Batman: The Animated Series episodes that earned an Emmy. This episode took a joke character, Mister Freeze, and grounded him into a fan favorite. Batman: The Animated Series did a lot of that during its four-year run. Side note: I can’t believe it’s been over thirty-three years since “Heart of Ice” originally aired. Yikes! Batman: The Animated Series claims the top spot. We’ll have to see if it continues to do so in another ten years.

Did we get the list right? Which shows would you add? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: November 9, 2025, New Releases

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. I’m still on my pseudo-hiatus for the Novel in November event, so this week’s Geek News will include board games and video games that released this past week. Let’s start this week’s Geek News with board game new releases.

Employee Disposal Program Launches on KickStarter

Who needs political correctness? Employee Disposal Program–awesome name by the way–offers a light, party game, which pokes fun at a corporation’s HR Department. Players begin with two sanity and five action cards. A player’s sanity is their health and once a player loses all their sanity, they’re eliminated from the game.

The above card, “Ethnic Confusion Effect,” is a good example of Employee Disposal Program’s politically incorrectness. Employee Disposal Program won’t be for everyone. I’m not the biggest fan of Take That (backstabby) party games, but Employee Disposal Program plays quickly, and if a card entitled “Karen From Human Resources” tickles your funny bone, Employee Disposal Program may be worth looking into. Pledges range from about $26 (publisher Pleiades Interactive is headquartered in Australia) to about $127. If you’re interested in Employee Disposal Program, check out its KickStarter page.

Zeit Heist Sneaks Onto KickStarter

Publisher Blue Rondo Games has released a couple of quirky, easy-to-learn board games, and Zeit Heist looks to continue that trend. Players build a heist team. The first one to successfully complete a victory condition wins. But Zeit Heist includes multiple victory conditions. You could sneak into the museum before it opens with the Scientist, the Spy, and Lockpicker. Or break into the museum after it opens with the Driver, Muscle, and an Inside Man. Or one could even sway the Police, Detective, and Undercover Cop to confiscate the Zeitnium in your name. Oh, yeah. The object you’re trying to steal is named Zeitnium. Nice!

In Zeit Heist, players can manipulate time. Speed up time. Slow it down. Or freeze it. Time is a Tool. Zeit Heist’s box looks intriguing. A timer comes included in the box lid. Zeit Heist’s production value looks great, and at a swift fifteen-minute playtime, Zeit Heist doesn’t outstay its welcome. If you’re interested in Zeit Heist, check out its KickStarter page.

Snowdonia: Grand Tour Chugs Onto GameFound

The original Snowdonia is a classic, 2012 board game, but many newer board gamers have yet to play Snowdonia. Snowdonia: Grand Tour may be the perfect place to first experience this game. Naylor Games has done a great job giving this dated game a facelift. While most reprints only focus on making the game look nice, Snowdonia: Grant Tour adds a range of scenarios and other game elements to make Snowdonia: Grand Tour enticing for long-time Snowdonia players.

Each scenario comes with its own map board. Snowdonia: Grand Tour streamlines the original’s setup. And there’s a compatibility pack just in case you own the original. What’s not to love? If you’ve ever been interested in this classic worker placement, railroad construction game, Snowdonia: Grand Tour may be perfect. If you’re interested in Snowdonia: Grand Tour, check out its GameFound page.

Restless Journeys Onto GameFound

We’ve seen a lot of roleplaying game in a boxes in recent years. Restless applies this idea to a storybook gameplay, and I’m here for it. Restless looks amazing. I love its idea of quick saves. While Restless plays out over three acts, gamers can save their game within the box and in between each act. Awesome!

Depending on your playstyle and the magical species you plan to play as, a gamer’s experience in Restless greatly varies. This gives me Harmonies vibes. Unlike Harmonies, Restless is semi-cooperative. I don’t know exactly how that works. I imagine players can help each other complete their individual storylines. If so, fun! Restless lasts forty-five minutes per player, per act. And it can be played as a solo experience. If you’re interested in Restless, check out its GameFound page.

Europa Universalis V Releases

The Europa Universalis game series is not for the faint of heart. Gamers guide their chosen country through world history. In the latest game of the series, Europa Universalis V, time spans from April 1, 1337, to January 1, 1837. Typically, Europa Universalis offers greater granular strategic choices than games in the Civilization series. While Civilization has streamlined its gameplay, allowing for a wider audience, Europa Universalis is more like “Git Gud.”

Choosing a starting nation is crucial in Europa Universalis V. Each nation has its own unique skills and benefits, and if you find one of the 314 nations that best suits your playstyle, you can conquer most–if not all–of Europe. Fortunately, Europa Universalis V offers more automation than previous titles in the series. Players can choose to focus on certain aspects of governing, while allowing the game’s AI to tackle parts that interest them less. I like this inclusion. Sometimes, I want to focus on trade over military, or the other way around. It’s great to have options.

One can get lost in the sheer volume of things they can control. Europa Universalis V makes Civilization look like Tic-Tac-Toe. Being able to focus on a couple of things, while automating the rest, is a godsend. I’ll say it again, great addition. Europa Universalis V has received great reviews and is available on PC. I will most likely pick up Europa Universalis V in the future (when it goes on sale), play on the easiest setting, and still find a way to finish in last place. I like this game series a lot, but I am not gud. Womp-womp.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Releases

The Warriors series is more my speed, and specifically, the Hyrule Warriors corner of the Warriors series is one of the strongest. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2. I’ll have to wait until after I pick up a Switch 2. But look-it! Zelda is a playable character. What?

I love a good hack-and-slash video game, and that’s what the Hyrule Warriors series is. I can’t wait to fight hordes of enemies as Princess Zelda. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has received favorable reviews. Sounds like a great time.

Unbeatable Releases Today on Multiple Platforms

I saved the most interesting video game for last. Unbeatable takes place in a world where music has been outlawed by a fascist agency known as H.A.R.M. (Harmonious Audio Reduction Maintenance). Nice! Gamers take the role of Beat, a mysterious vocalist who spends her time producing new songs and fighting the occasional cop. She plays in a band with guitarist Quaver, keyboardist Treble, and percussionist Clef. Unbeatable blends a rhythm game–naturally–with plenty of adventure.

I love Unbeatable’s aesthetics. We haven’t gotten a great rhythm game in years, so I can’t wait to get my hands on Unbeatable. The theme sounds cool. The graphics and gameplay look amazing. Unbeatable’s demo received great reviews. Rock Paper Shotgun may agree with me as they wrote in their review (of the demo), “Unbeatable has the best hook of any game ever.” Since Unbeatable is releasing the day of this post, we’ll have to wait for full reviews. This one’s a fresh, new game. Unbeatable is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

That’s all the news we have for you this week. I’m Geek News short during November. Novel in November has been a slow roll, but I’m making some progress with my edits from this past year’s book. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.