Mento

@efesell: Right, the orbs. I didn't mention those above because I didn't quite have a handle on them yet. I've had the tutorial for them though so I guess I've no excuse. Just another thing I gotta remember using until it becomes second nature.

@imhungry: I've been getting steadily better at Tiger Tiger but it feels like I'd need to play it a lot for all those currency crystals Poppi needs. Like I get a few hundred per complete run and need 6000 for a skill slot or 5000 for an element change? I hope the amount you earn goes up precipitously when you reach the later stages, because I don't see myself dropping hours into that mini-game.

As for big stat boosts it seems like the core chips are the most significant. There was one time I remembered they existed and found that I'd picked up a core that did almost three times more auto-attack damage than the one I had equipped.

@zombiepie: @sparky_buzzsaw: This is certainly true, and sort of why I provided a cop-out answer of "this could also be the right answer, but I'm opposed for the following reasons."

I'll concede the list of now-ubiquitous features that Sparky provided, but I generally put far more stock in game mechanics and ideas than the meta level of marketing that surrounds and directs games these days by way of Early Access release periods, first-day patches, pre-launch DLC, microtransactions, lootboxes, and other short-sighted avarice that I'd hoped would eventually go away with some stricter industry oversight. It's sort of like judging a movie for appearing on streaming platforms instead of theatres or bowing to fan pressure (as per Rise of the Skywalker or the Sonic movie); those concerns are definitely shaping the future of that medium to an extent, but they're not what I would choose to focus on. (The Jimquistion I linked at the start goes into way more detail on the last decade of industry trends like the above though, and even if its cynicism is well-observed it's partly why I wanted to focus on game mechanics instead.)

As for @acura_max's response, I definitely have a blind spot for mobile games which seem content to exist entirely within their own (I'd say little, but the yearly earnings suggest otherwise) corner of the game industry. Same with eSports and the games that revolves around, all of which make huge bank and thus exert a lot of influence, though it's clear that any "eSports-ready" multiplayer game is doomed to a quick death if they can't find an audience. I sort of wonder how many of them will stand the test of time if they become almost impossible to play without active servers and a healthy userbase.

(As for Fortnite, I'm still a bit iffy on that. It clearly owes its success to PUBG after co-opting its battle royale model as a secondary mode to the lackluster PvE horde mode it started with, but the cash it's made since has allowed it to experiment and grow with all sorts of ideas that have spread to many games hoping to get a slice of its action. Gonna have to dwell on that one.)

@bisonhero: Banned the bot but I'll keep this thread open in case that Reddit OP (or some other parent of a young puzzle fan) stops by.

@noboners: Switch. It was a little awkward using the analogue stick to move the cursor around, which I'll fully admit to doing for half the game before realizing I could use touch controls if I just played it undocked. Way better.

1. Control
2. Apex Legends
3. Outer Wilds
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
5. The Outer Worlds
6. Resident Evil 2
7. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
8. Mortal Kombat 11

Helicoptering in to say the Komaki Tiger Drop.

@reverendhunt: Sorry about that, processed now.

Done up to here.

Done up to here.