Staff picks: Escape the cold with these video games during break

Graphic by Audrey Hanan ’28

By Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27

Editor-in-Chief

With the pressure of finals and the emptiness of winter break rapidly approaching, Mount Holyoke News’ staff have put together a list of eleven games from a variety of genres for Mount Holyoke students to try out. Beat exam-induced stress and the subsequent winter-brought boredom with these game recommendations, spanning everything from action-adventure RPGs to cozy games.

Action-Adventure RPGs

Dragon Age II

Starting off with my personal favorite game of all time, we have Bioware’s 2011 dark fantasy RPG Dragon Age II. Clocking in at around 30 hours to complete, this short game is both deeply flawed and full of heart. Join refugee Hawke and their scrappy friend group — consisting of several queer criminals and also straight boy Sebastian Vael — on a quest to obtain power and freedom, maybe even becoming the savior of a city in the process. Dragon Age II features a relatively standalone narrative, so players don’t have to be familiar with the first game in the franchise, Dragon Age: Origins, to understand its story.

Dragon Age II has its fair share of issues — from its gameplay to its politics — but every time the end credits roll and Florence and the Machine’s “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” begins to play, I still find myself crying. Players interested in unreliable narrators, tragedy and copious amounts of blood may get a kick out of this game. Because of its age, Dragon Age II is most easily accessible today via Steam on Windows.

Avowed & The Outer Worlds

For those searching for a more recent contribution to the action-adventure genre, Obsidian Entertainment’s games Avowed and The Outer Worlds may be the perfect fit. Avowed, set in the high fantasy Pillars of Eternity universe, takes a more lighthearted — but just as soulful — approach to storytelling compared to Dragon Age II. For those who prefer sci-fi, The Outer Worlds takes place a few hundred years in the future, on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy.

These two games are characterized by epic stories, vibrant environments, fast-paced combat, a healthy dose of humor and difficult choices. Fans of Fallout: New Vegas, one of Obsidian’s older works, may especially enjoy their gameplay mechanics and narratives. Both are available on Windows, Xbox and Playstation. The Outer Worlds is also playable on Nintendo Switch.

Co-Op & Multiplayer

Untitled Goose Game

For those feeling nostalgic about the College’s dearly departed Jorge goose, indie developer House House’s 2020 hit Untitled Goose Game may scratch that waterfowl craving. Honor and embody  Jorge’s unique hater spirit in this fun sandbox game where players take on the role of a chaotic goose with a singular purpose: To make everyone else’s life as difficult as possible. As the game’s website says, “It's a lovely morning in the village and you are a horrible goose.”

Untitled Goose Game can be enjoyed alone or with a friend on Windows, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox. 

Castle Crashers

If you’re in the mood for combat, you should check out indie game developer The Behemoth’s 2008 game Castle Crashers. Castle Crashers is a wonderfully illustrated sidescrolling 2D fighting game in which up to four players can team up to rescue four princesses who have been kidnapped by an evil wizard. The variety of environments, enemies, and weapons keep the game from feeling repetitive or boring. The multiplayer aspect is easy to manage, as players can drop in or out of a game as they please. While the combat can be intense, the game overall still feels relatively casual, and isn’t too difficult for newcomers to jump into.

Players can jump into Castle Crashers on Windows, Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo Switch.

Cozy

Potion Permit

Farming simulator fans looking for a career change may enjoy Potion Permit, a lovely 2022 game by indie developer MassHive Media. This life simulator features mechanics similar to games like Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons, but with an alchemy-inspired twist. Players travel to Moonbury as an aspiring chemist, where they can forage for ingredients, fight enemies, form friendships, play minigames to diagnose illnesses and craft medicines, and so much more.  As players progress through the story, they can improve their lodgings, unlock new areas to explore, and even fall in love!

Potion Permit can be played on Windows, Mac, Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

Those who’d prefer to pursue a variety of professions may take to one of LEVEL5 Inc.’s newest releases, Fantasy Life i. A sequel to their 2012 3DS game of a similar name — Fantasy Life — Fantasy Life i expands upon its predecessor’s premise, allowing the player to freely rotate between 14 different jobs, which include everything from miner to tailor to paladin. Travelling through time on the back of a dragon, players can build a town, explore an open world, and uncover a secret plot that jeopardizes the fate of an entire island: Past, present and future.

Fantasy Life i is available to play on Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Playstation.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood 

If you’re looking to escape the concept of a day job entirely, look no further than indie developer Deconstructeam’s 2023 interactive visual novel The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. Play as Fortuna, a witch exiled to an asteroid, who makes a deal with an eldritch entity to regain her fortune telling powers and provide guidance to her friends. Featuring a mystical space aesthetic and thought-provoking narrative about community and identity, this game offers a brief reprieve from the boredom and loneliness of winter break. As Contributing Writer Emily Finnila ’27 describes it, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is “a cozy queer game about tarot reading and witches!”

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood can be played on Windows and Nintendo Switch.

Strategy & Management

Hearts of Iron IV

Fans of Sid Meier's Civilization looking for a new take on the strategy genre may find Hearts of Iron IV to be a breath of fresh air. In this 2016 game, players can take control of a country during World War II, re-enacting history or changing it entirely. According to Copy Chief Karishma Ramkarran ’27, “HOI4 is a pretty complex game and takes a bit of time to get into. But the arduous effort made to learn the mechanics is extremely rewarding and fun.” 

Hearts of Iron IV can be played on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Pixel Cafe

Pixel Cafe is a 2023 time management game by Baltoro Games in which players assume the role of Pixel, a barista who’s recently left behind her small-town life for the big city. The game primarily consists of fast-paced levels in which the player must cook food, brew drinks and serve customers interspersed with slower narrative scenes, which beautifully craft a picture of Pixel’s life outside her job. Fans of Overcooked who are looking for a fun game to play solo may especially enjoy Pixel Cafe’s mechanics. 

Come for the satisfying gameplay and stay for the story: Pixel Cafe is available on Windows, Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

The Sims Series

The Sims is one of the most well-known franchises in the life simulator genre. The Sims 4, the newest main release in the series, is probably the most popular, but there are also several previous iterations of the game that are still available for purchase and play. For those looking for a classic experience, The Sims 1 is available for purchase on Steam and EA Games, and is listed as The Sims Legacy Collection. If you’d prefer to try out its chaotic and beloved successor, The Sims 2 Legacy Collection is also available to play on Windows. Both legacy collections come packed with most of the games’ DLC, so players get access to a wealth of content without having to break the bank. 

All games in the mainline Sims franchise — from 1 to 4 — are known for being flexible to players’ wants and needs. As Mount Holyoke News’ HR Coordinator Abigail McKeon ’26 puts it, “I think it’s a game that can suit most people’s interests as you can pretty much do whatever you want, from playing as a suburban mom of 2.5 kids to being abducted by aliens. There are also a ton of easily downloaded custom content items and mods that you can use to enhance your gameplay for free, which I enjoy.”

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact-checking.

'Iris' by Mount Holyoke professor staged in Springfield

Photo by Quill Nishi-Leonard ‘27

Rooke Theatre is home to the theater portion of Mount Holyoke College’s film media theater department; it is located on the southern end of campus by Gorse Parking Lot, Creighton Hall, and Buckland Hall.

BY GENEVIEVE ZAHNER ‘26

NEWS EDITOR

Visiting Assistant Professor in Film Media Theater Olivia Finch recently had the opportunity to present her play, “Iris,” in a staged reading at the Majestic Theatre in West Springfield. “Iris” follows a couple, Harper and Iris, through their grief following a miscarriage. Different characters — including Iris’ mother and an unnamed child — flitter in and out, representing different experiences and moments in the couple’s journey. The realistic and emotional tone draws the audience into the moment with the characters, allowing them to feel the grief as if it were their own.

Finch told Mount Holyoke News in an email, “I wrote Iris because I'd never seen a play in which a miscarriage was the narrative's entire focus … But a single pregnancy loss can be a life-altering experience.” She said that the “cycle of creation and transformation” that happens during a pregnancy loss was “rich and compelling” material for a play. 

Finch also noted that she wrote “Iris” because it was a play that she wished she had seen in her own experience of loss. “That's normally how my process begins. I write the thing that I haven't yet seen but feel like I need,” said Finch. Finch wrote how it can be healing to see a representation of one’s own experiences, and that “the theatre is a unique place of collective witness,” which is one of her favorite qualities about playwriting. 

“Iris was a commission that was part of a fellowship that I did after my MFA in Iowa. I got to spend a year writing and developing it through the University of Iowa and the Dee Silver new play commission,” Finch said. This is the third staged reading but the ninth draft of “Iris.” “It can be challenging to feel like you're still "discovering" two years after starting writing, but I've learned to trust the process as much as possible.”

Additionally, Finch loves the collectivism of the theatre and working on pieces for an audience; being in rehearsal is her favorite part of the process. “I love how much actors and a director bring to a piece, that they bring it to life. I always feel so grateful that something I wrote alone at a desk allows a bunch of people to come together and make something.” 

For Finch, the most rewarding part is sharing the play with others, in collaboration with actors and directors, as well as audiences: “To hear how the piece resonates with other people and how it touches them is really rewarding.” 

At the performance on Nov. 17, the audience reacted viscerally, with some members wiping away tears, or murmuring in agreement during key moments. The play took place in the rehearsal space for the Majestic Theatre, with rows of chairs set up black box-style and actors carrying stands around the minimal set and stage space. While at times the silence was palpable, occasional tension was broken with light laughter, and people seemed to really appreciate the intense attention to detail of the nuances of this play.

Angelina Godinez ’28 contributed fact-checking.