Rediscovering the Sandbox

Before I get into the weekly spiel, I want to take a brief moment to remind you that there are many free ways to help the campaign. Well, to be more frank, free ways to help feed various social media algorithms that can hopefully bring in more donors.

And I’m not above begging.

Anyways, I have all my social links here. The ones in particular that I need help on are YouTube and TikTok. Subscribing (YouTube) or following (TikTok) are major helps, as is watching the content. Hell, keep it on background, I won’t judge (after all, I’m begging). Don’t forget about the new Discord server as well that I’d like to build into a more robust community hub.

And with that, it’s time for the video game rambling.

I remember when Minecraft first exploded on the scene. I understood the appeal, but convinced myself that I had no interest in it or any other game in the sandbox genre.

At the time, I had just “retired” from Final Fantasy XI and went full bore on a slew of games that I put on the back burner. When you’re going through games like Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect or building an annual dynasty in NCAA Football, playing with virtual Legos didn’t sound appealing to me.

Which, looking back, seems rather odd as one of my favorite games growing up was Sim City. I loved playing in the virtual sandboxes, even if I was really horrible at scaling upward when I was young.

Fast forward more years than I’d like to admit, and I saw a video from the Let’s Game It Out channel. The game being played (and hilariously broken by the evil genius that is Josh) was Satisfactory and something just clicked in my brain. Getting a chance to build, and to automate, scratched a dormant itch in my engineering brain.

Having the freedom to create and solve efficiency puzzles created from scaling operations enthralled me to such a level that I hit 3 or 4 AM the first night I played without noticing. When I play, I will literally take out scratch paper or a spreadsheet to calculate what I’m going to do and then execute that design. Yes, I’m the nerd doing math because of a video game and loving every minute of it.

I’m glad I took that dive. It’s not only reawakened my childhood Sim City passions but has given me a really important outlet in my gaming. On the days when the stress piles up and my brain feels impossibly broken, the last thing I want to do is get involved in a game that requires fast-paced action, precision controls, or even the possibility of interacting with other people.

Instead, I can fire up one of the many sandbox games that I have on my PC (or Animal Crossing on my Switch) and just unwind. Even clunkier games like Hydroneer give that serotonin rush when I figure out how to get a simple concept to work within the game’s system of running literally everything with water and no inventory to boot.

And yes, I’ve even found myself lost in the world of Minecraft as well thanks to my kids. The virtual Legos are indeed fun as is figuring out and creating all kinds of fun things, automation included.

I’m glad I rediscovered the virtual sandboxes. My only regret is not having more time to enjoy the simple joy that they provide.

Fundraising Update

With some corporate matching from donors hitting at the end of the month, this year’s campaign nears ever closer to $10K. The current total stands at $9,634.92 which has unlocked the next Triforce shot.

So tonight, before I kick off the Notre Dame sim, I’ll consume the fiery creation of the Triforce of Power.

Keep the momentum going.

Schedule

Things are back to normal this week with streaming. Also, with it being the beginning of the month, I have a new podcast out which I highly recommend you give a listen to!