Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
- 185
- 1
What is this place?
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
If in doubt, please post it!
Rules
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule

Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Alright gang, I've owned every game bar one in the last two humble choices (well, and I refuse to use origin). I don't pay for it so I'm not bothered by missing out, but I am bothered by the absence of claimed stickers and the fact humble don't guarantee keys you've bought will always be available. So if you want a game in this list, tell me and I'll send you the key. I don't know how popular this will be, so let's say you can request one game every 24 hours, and in two days we'll reassess.
Tomb Raider 1 - 3 Remastered - do you like jumping puzzles and cubic women? I like her outfit in number 2, she's still wearing hotpants, but she's in the snow so she puts a jacket on. Smart.
Dredge - fishing game with lovecraftian horror elements. Or lovecraftian unease elements, it's never really scary. It's more relaxing (don't say the c word) and I feel like it would be a better fit for mobile gaming.
Aliens Dark Descent - isometric Aliens tactics game. Great game until you optimise the fun out of it, which it basically forces you to do through its unrelenting pace.
1000xResist - I haven't actually played this game, but it's a very well rated adventure game apparently. It has an interesting premise, you are one of many clones of the only human to survive the arrival of extraterrestrial life, and that human, who now rules the world, is harbouring some dark secrets you have to uncover.
Diplomacy is not an option - a great little rts in the 'try not to get overrun by swarms of enemies' genre, very addictive.
Distant worlds 2 - the sequel to Distant Worlds I guess, which was a 4x game set in space that was alright. Another game I didn't realise I already owned and can't really speak about.
Nomad survival - A vampire survivors style auto battler, I wouldn't put it in the same league as VS (but what is?) but it's up there with the likes of Nova Drift and Brotato imo. If you like synergising your skills in these games you'll have a blast I think.
Pacific Drive - a driving survival game. I just keep putting off playing this game for some reason, it's like the Andor of video games - everyone tells me it's great, but the thought of sitting through the set up puts me off and I go play Elden Ring/watch Newsradio again instead. It comes with all its dlc too though.
Homeworld 3 - I am so glad I didn't have to pay money for this, what a miserable excuse for a sequel. If you want to see the train wreck for yourself you shouldn't pay for it either - so take my key.
Wild Hearts - Omega Force's attempt at Monster Hunter is how this game was sold to me, but it's EA so I never looked into it.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau - I am pretty pissed this is an Origin title because I'll give any metroidvania as shot, even an EA one, but if I'm being honest I don't expect much because its African theming lowers expectations. I'd like to be wrong about that though, if you grab it you have to tell me how it goes.
Gravity Circuit - Gravity Circuit is not a Mega Man Zero game, but it really would like to be one. It gets pretty close, but the controls feel way too slippy to me. Banger soundtrack though.
Sir Whoopass - an open world action adventure game that doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's a lot of fun to start, crammed to the gills with dumb jokes, but gets a bit repetitive.
Racine - a deck building auto battler. I don't understand it at all, but I have 15 hours in it because I like the background music.
Cavern of Dreams - a cute little collectathon that wears its n64 inspiration on its sleeve. Not a very big or complex game, but it's fun to play with little ones.
Anyway like I said, tell me which game you'd like and I'll pm you the code!
More options
Context Copy link