Dark Game Review - YouTuber's Life

YouTube is quite a big thing. Big things give birth to other big things, often in the form of celebrity and money-making potential. U-Play Online's PC sim/tycoon game YouTuber's Life gives you the ups and downs of trying to make a success of yourself on YouTube, and it's quite good fun. You can read my full review over on Geek Syndicate at this link.

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Dark Book Review - One Year Wiser – The Colouring Book

I take a look at One Year Wiser – The Colouring Book, a de-stressing colouring book by Zen practitioner and illustrator Mike Medaglia. You can read my review over on Geek Syndicate at this link.

One Year Wiser – The Colouring Book Cover © Copyright Self Made Hero

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Dark Game Review - Duskers

If you like bleak sci-fi PC games, you might be interested in my review of Misfit Attic's drone-based exploration and survival game: Duskers. You can read it now over on Geek Syndicate by clicking this link.

Duskers Screenshot © Copyright Misfits Attic

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Dark Book Review - Alien: Invasion (The Rage War #2)

If you are a fan of the Alien/Predator universe, you might be interested in my review of Tim Lebbon's next installment in the Rage War book series: Alien: Invasion. If you have yet to hear about it, there is a link in the first paragraph proper of the review that will take you to my review of the first book in the series: Predator: Incursion. Click here to go to Geek Syndicate and have a read.

Alien: Invasion cover Image © Copyright Titan Books

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Dark Review - Penny Dreadful “A Blade of Grass”

Although I am usually pretty happy with anything Penny Dreadful, the most recent episode, "A Blade of Grass" seemed even better than usual. Vanessa is trapped in her memories of life in the asylum she was unlucky enough to visit earlier in the series, but the interplay of her own doubts and the kindness of John Clare was beautifully done. You can read my full, spoilerific review on Geek Syndicate at this link.

Penny Dreadful Image © Copyright Showtime Networks.

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The Next Level Podcast Episode 78

I got together with Ant, Amy and Matt to jibber jabber about storytelling in videogames, how we remember it from the early days and ways that it could be improved. I felt quite ill the night we recorded and I didn't feel that I came across that well. Even so, you can listen to the podcast by visiting this link.

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Dark Game First Look - Factorio

If bleak sci-fi production lines is a topic that makes you sit up and think "Phwoar!", you might like to head over to Geek Syndicate and read my first look at PC game Factorio. Clicky here.

Factorio Image © Copyright Wube Software LTD.

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Four Years On...

Once again I find myself at the birthday of my website, another year has passed and in that time, I have done various things and am now taking the time to mull over what a few of those things were.

Thanks to an opportunity through Geek Syndicate, I managed to get a couple of my articles on the blog portion of the Huffington Post website. (These were: Gaming Rituals and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Version 2.0). I’ve continued to write and edit for the guys at Geek Syndicate, including a timely Xmas article about Mindful Bingewatching, and hope to continue doing so for a long time to come. 

My fiction “Unravelled” made it into the Irrational Fears anthology from FTB Press. This was another nice milestone for me as it was someone else publishing some of my fiction and paying me for the privilege.

I’ve reviewed lots more dark ambient music and, as always, I am thankful to the people who send me their creations to listen to. Alongside heavy metal, dark ambient is my other music genre of choice.

I wrote a number of articles for ME/CFS website Foggy Friends which looked at mindfulness, electronic relaxation aids and ASMR. This was a nice change of pace for me and they were topics that I found very interesting and relatively easy to write about, as they fall into areas I already have a fair amount of knowledge about.

I’ve seen some great live metal bands: Coal Chamber, Soil, Skindred, Crossfaith, and most recently, Machine Head.

I’ve also lost a few stone in weight and seem to have stamped out a lot of my more minor Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behaviors, even though certain large areas of anxiety still remain, so it’s some progress at least. It’s a shame my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is still a total fucker however.

I don’t have specific hopes for the year to come as I’m sure it will be shit in ways I can’t imagine, and good in other ways I can’t imagine, so why bother trying. I just hope I can progress and get my writing to a higher level in the ways that matter.

Thanks for reading, and if you know anyone looking for a freelance writer, particularly in the areas mentioned, please send them a link to my website, that would be amazing.

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Dark Game Review - Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 Mercedes-Benz DLC

Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 is a PC game that I've been playing for some time. When the chance to review Red Dot Game's latest DLC, themed around Mercedes-Benz, for Geek Syndicate arose, I was more than happy to take a look. Click here to go to my review.

Car Mechanic Simulator Screenshot © Copyright Red Dot Games

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Dark Game Review - American Truck Simulator

I've spent some time with SCS Software's PC game American Truck Simulator, and my feelings and thoughts about it can be found on Geek Syndicate at this link.

American Truck Simulator screenshot © Copyright SCS Software

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Dark Article - Mindful Binge-watching For Intelligent Geeks

Do you binge-watch TV shows? Are you intelligent? You are reading this so you must be...in my opinion anyway. Check out Geek Syndicate for the article I wrote on Mindful Binge-watching For Intelligent Geeks. You can read the full thing at this link.

Clockwork Orange Image © Copyright Warner Bros.

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Dark Film Review - Victor Frankenstein

Yes, we have another Frankenstein film on our hands in the guise of Victor Frankenstein, a gothic horror featuring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. Is it any good though? Visit Geek Syndicate to read my full review at this link.

Victor Frankenstein film poster © Copyright 20th Century Fox.

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Dark Review - Predator: Incursion (The Rage War #1)

I review the first in a new trilogy of books set in the Alien and Predator universe on Geek Syndicate. Predator: Incursion starts things off with a fun dose of creature mayhem and human peril. Click here to read my full review.

Book Cover Image © Copyright Titan Books

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Dark Film Review - Crimson Peak

I review Guillermo Del Toro's latest film Crimson Peak over on Geek Syndicate, a fantastic gothic horror with some fine performances and effects. Click here to read my full review.

Image © Copyright Universal Pictures

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Dark Book Review - The Art and Making of Hannibal: The Television Series

I take a look at The Art and Making of Hannibal: The Television Series, a fantastic book that gives great behind the scenes insight into one of the darkest and most interesting TV series in a long time. You can read my full review on Geek Syndicate here.

 Image © NBCUniversal Media LLC. And Titan Books

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Dark Book Review - The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful is one of my favourite series, so when the chance to review The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful came up, I jumped on it. You can read the result on Geek Syndicate here.

Image © Copyright /Titan Books / SHOWTIME Networks Inc.

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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Version 2.0 Now on The Huffington Post UK

The article that I wrote called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Version 2.0 and was published on Geek Syndicate is now on The Huffington Post UK website here. Going to that link and giving me any shares/likes/+1s would be greatly appreciated as it's something that has made my life bloody hell at times. It would be nice to get something nice from it for once!

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Dark Article - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Version 2.0

I've written a small piece about the interactions of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Technology / Geeky pursuits, about how it always catches me out and why it just plain sucks in general. There is hope though. You can read it on Geek Syndicate here.

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