Edit: I realize this isn't technically a house plant as it is outdoors. Hope that's okay 😅

But I'm sure it's just because we humans are so annoying

In my language we call them Church Owls instead of Barn Owls because they nest in churches a lot.

Went to a demonstration slash workshop today where different owls and other birds of prey were introduced and talked about. Very interesting day!

You might remember this post where I asked about how sorting by "Hot" gives you a lot of new posts that were posted in quick succession, making it look like "New".

I was recommend by a few to use "Scaled", so recently I did. Except this felt even worse: I saw new posts that were posted in succession with 0 upvotes, one having 1 upvote.

Isn't this weird? Or am I doing it wrong?

Not sure if this fits here, feel free to remove if not.

I'm sure the algorithm must be working as intended, but I always see a lot of rapid-fire posts under each other when browsing "Hot". Is this normal or am I missing a setting?

Part of the abstract:

Recent findings on the abilities of birds to see in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum have expanded questions about plumage coloration to include the luminescent characteristics of bird plumage, including fluorescence. Yet little is understood about the function of fluorescent pigments, and very few studies have attempted to describe their distribution throughout a population. In this study, we used a fluorometer to measure variation in the amount of fluorescent pigments (e.g. porphyrins) extracted from the secondary coverts of Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) migrating through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the spring of 2020 (n = 99). We found that age and sex were the strongest predictors of fluorescent pigment concentration, wherein older and female birds had the highest fluorescent pigment concentrations.

I understand this is not your regular Superb Owl post, but I found it mighty interesting!

place is "Happy Italy", some restaurant chain

edit: funny thing is, I was already subscribed to the newsletter, it's how I got here in the first place. Unsubscribed now though.

Ooh boy, a sim/management game! I have a weakness for these types of games dating back to the good days of RCT, Theme Park, Theme Hospital, and so on.

So this looks and plays much like the Two Point games, in where you create rooms in your hotel, fill it up with props, assign some staff and have them at it. The interesting part here is that instead of immediately building the necessary rooms and placing the props, you actually have to call for construction workers to come and execute the job for you.

This approach adds a fun layer to expanding your hotel or building some props, as you actually have to plan construction jobs with the workers being paid by the hour. Calling in 2 workers is free, but if you call in larger groups, there's an upfront cost making expanding and renovating a more challenging (and also fulfilling) element of the game. It also makes it a bit more realistic, as you can't just magically make walls, flooring and wallpaper appear out of thin air. You really have to wait until some worker finishes it for you.

You can fill your hotel with restaurants, kitchens, gyms, communal bathrooms and of course bedrooms, and the amount of customization (especially for a demo) is quite insane. There's so many options to decorating and placing props that you can really make every hotel a unique place. Really cool for those who like to get creative.

As for criticisms, I will admit the game is a bit slow-paced, but at least you can fast forward time to make up for this. Also sometimes you don't really have a good grasp of what's working and what's not; so you just gotta trial & error sometimes to figure out if you're actually doing well. Also, the NPCs' visual design is somewhat of a sore thumb. They are kinda just eggs with a head, and it distracted me from an otherwise pleasant experience.

Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1602000/Hotel_Architect/

Website: https://hotelarchitectgame.com/

The opening cinematic did a nice job of setting the tone of the game. It's the summer of 1980 in Texas, and you're in charge of a pair of survivors trying to make it through a zombie apocalypse. Your goal is to manage your safe house, scavenge for supplies and complete "leads" quests which seem mostly to be environmental storytelling moments. The gameplay alternates between day and night, where you queue up tasks for your survivors to perform.

Scavenging is a key part of the game, and while it's engaging, it can feel a bit limiting. For example, I was specifically hunting for cloth to build a medical station, but I kept coming up empty. Because of this all my survivors were low health and I had no way of actually healing them.

The reason they were low health is because the combat is not very enjoyable or interesting. You can sneak up on a zombie and insta-kill (insta-re-kill?) them but if you're facing one, you just hit 'm a few times until they are down, while they get some hits on you. Weapons would also break way too soon, so you're constantly at risk of having no weapon. Some balancing is definitely required, still.

Back at the shelter, you tend to your characters by cooking meals, repairing barricades, and giving them time to rest and relax. All to make sure they are healthy and sane enough to go on another scavenge run and keep on surviving.

The game heavily reminds me of This War of Mine, which is a game where you have to survive in a war-torn environment, both in mechanics, UI and general vibes. Into the Dead is a bit more combat heavy and it doesn't have the same emotional impact. (Sidenote: if you've never played TWoM, go pick it up. Games are art, and TWoM is one of those).

Where it is different is mostly the combat and exploration mechanics, and I am unsure if those differences are actually interesting enough to keep playing. All things considered, it mostly just made me want to play This War of Mine again.

Steam page

Website

Music while reading: https://c418.bandcamp.com/track/wanderstop

I didn't have much time playing everything last week, so I'm slowly working my way through and sharing my thoughts.

I have to admit, with Davey Wreden (the mind behind The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide) directing Wanderstop and C418 (of Minecraft fame) handling the music, my expectations were sky-high for this demo.

The opening cutscene didn't blow me away, but the story quickly got real as it delved into the struggle of pushing through despite your health and sanity. I won't spoil everything, but the theme of burnout was a constant presence throughout the demo. Upon meeting Boro, you agree to help out with his tea shop until you are ready to pursue your life goals again.

The central gameplay loop is about making tea for customers. You gather tea leaves, dry them, grow fruits and other plants in the tea shop garden and then infuse the tea with a quirky machine that adds to the whimsical vibes. It's all very cute and visually appealing, with some interesting grid-based mechanics for growing specific types of plants based on how you plant them.

The story could have benefited from more voice acting, but perhaps this is different in the full game. There was a tiny bit of VA present and this really enhanced the experience for me. And of course, this is what I was used to with The Stanley Parable.

All in all, it was short and had more dialogue than gameplay, but for once I did not mind this. This game releases in 4 days (11th of March 2025) and I can't wait to see reviews of the full experience.

Demo trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH9c4TJhAyw

Context