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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1608 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 1, 2026

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.

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This is now a vidya thread.

I haven't played SC2 past the first campaign, but the Terran campaign was ridiculously bad. Like, B-movie bad and not the kind that becomes a cult classic.

In other news, I finally played Dispatch for a minute and had to quit it to try again later. I expected it to be a VN, but it's a Telltale-style game. Which sounds like not a big distinction, but it is. A proper VN puts you in charge of the technical (not dramatic) pacing. Clicking through after every line is a tiny action, but it results in a completely different experience, as you can stop at any moment, reread, etc. I picked "no QTEs", but every single dialog choice was a QTE.

I don't mind a Telltale-style game, but it's a much more involved experience, not something I want to play half-asleep.

Mildly interesting masochism game: Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library

You are the librarian of a magical university. Your goal is to reshelve literally three thousand books that have been thrown onto the floor by a rogue fairy. You must figure out from each book's title on which of the 31 shelves it belongs.

The game is translated from Japanese, so the proper categorizations of some titles are not obvious, and you must figure them out by trial and error. For example:

  • The shelf labeled "romance" actually is for novels in general.

  • Puppet Crafting: An Introductory Guide to Automata and Statues belongs on the art shelf rather than on the magical artifacts and enchanting shelf.

  • Ultimate Choice: Curry-Flavored Poop or Poop-Flavored Curry? belongs on the psychology shelf.

The game costs only six dollars (and currently is on sale for five dollars).

Now THAT's a Japanese learning game!

Is 'masochism game' a generally used term? It made me think of Viscera Cleanup Detail.

learning game

This game does not use a real-life library classification scheme, so I don't see how it counts as a "learning game".

Is "masochism game" a generally used term?

No, I made it up just now.

What I mean is that as a semi-advanced Japanese learner, it sounds like the best way to play is in Japanese where translation quality is not an issue and you have to go by real cultural nuance / in-depth understanding to figure out the answers. It's very rare to find something that is a) not targeted at (beginner) learners, b) not novels and novels worth of text as in an RPG, c) requires specific attention to the language at a level deeper than 'can I work out vaguely what is going on', and d) provides feedback about whether you got it right.

In theory it sounds great for an intermediate to advanced learner. Do you actually get any feedback, or do you have to do all 3000 and pray?

Do you actually get any feedback, or do you have to do all 3000 and pray?

  • If you put a book in a correct position on the correct shelf, it briefly glows yellow.

  • If you put a book on the correct shelf but in an incorrect position on that shelf (e. g., volume 3 in position 7 of a 10-volume row, volume 3 of a 10-volume set in a 3-volume row where the other volumes of the set won't fit, volume 3 of set B in a row where you've already put volume 2 of set A, or volume 3 of a set in one row when you've already put volume 2 of the same set in a different row), it briefly glows red.

  • If you put a book on an incorrect shelf, it doesn't glow at all.

Awesome, thanks. I'll give it a go!

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