Screenshot: Scrabdackle Act 1 What do you get when you put together a bit of metroidvania, a pinch of soulslike, a dash of Terry Pratchett, a few cups of Zelda  and a whole bucket of charm? Apparently you get Scrabdackle , a hand drawn, top down adventure game developed by jakefriend. It looks like a game I would have come across in the corners of some early digital distribution storefront years ago, replete with hand drawn animation that looks like it was drawn in MS Paint.

William Shatner at ST-CHI: Trek to Chicago 2025. Photo: Marielle Bokor I think this panel writeup might need a preface: William Shatner is legendary, especially to the Star Trek fandom, because he was Captain James T. Kirk. THE Captain Kirk. One of the most iconic characters in our modern culture. William Shatner himself is a treasure, and I just need to clarify that we’re never laughing at the man. Okay, maybe a little bit. But it’s from a place of love. And he’s certainly g

Chase Masterson, Cirroc Lofton and Nana Visitor at ST-CHI: Trek to Chicago 2025. Photo: Marielle Bokor One thing is always apparent when you go to Star Trek conventions: fans think Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show. Seriously. There are fans that love the other shows better, sure, but when Deep Space Nine is brought up it’s referred to as “the best Trek” more often than any other of the shows. And there has been a lot of Trek . And that must say something about the c

Absorb yourselves in tales from the shows or audio drama, join the parade - craft a popsicle stick Dalek, or hit the dance party in your sci-fi finest - this convention is the definition of familial, cozy and welcoming and it's something we genuinely look forward to every single year

Stashwick continues, “(When I was a kid) I was as much of a Sci-Fi nerd as I was a Sci-Fi/Fantasy nerd, and so you know, I spent a lot of my life just as I’ve said before: either trying to be Han Solo or Peter Venkman (from Ghostbusters). So I either want to be Bill Murray playing  Han Solo or Harrison Ford playing Peter Venkman”

Status an its products were not really on my radar before the Pro X earbuds, but I’ll definitely be checking out more of their products in the future. I went from feeling like earbuds were an occasional necessary inconvenience to an alternative that I eagerly use

It turns out this is Tim Russ’s first time in Chicago. I’m not sure if he meant for a Star Trek convention or EVER (!) but it’s absolutely a treat to be able to finally see the actor who portrayed one of my favorite Vulcans. His very first question revealed that Russ had previous acting experience with Leonard Nimoy, long before he knew he’d be playing a Vulcan on Voyager. He also had the chance to work with LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, and Kathryn Mulgrew, all before they end

We got to sit in on the lovely and unusually gangly Doug Jones and the equally lovely and unusually pale Anthony Rapp, known to Star Trek fans for their time on Discovery, but were famous before they ever put on a Starfleet uniform. Doug Jones is known for his portrayal of creatures in many films including Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, to name just a few of his multitude of roles from advertisements, tv and film. And Anthony Rapp was known for his role as Mark Cohen in Rent on

When a fan asked the guests if they thought Star Trek would still be around in 100 years, they both thought it would. Spiner said, “I’d be willing to say, that I do think that there will be some Star Trek on the air, some new Star Trek,” he continued, “It’s the Great American epic, and I think it goes on and on and on, and so there will always be (new Star Trek).”

T’Lyn was always a special character because when she became a series regular in Lower Decks season 4, she was the first novel Vulcan main character in 23 years. She also filled in as more of a “straight man” to the other Lower Decks characters and their antics. So it was definitely a thrill to get a chance to see the actor who brought T’Lyn to life at this year’s con. 

Christina Chong at ST-CHI Trek to Chicago 2025. Photo: Marielle Bokor The last panel we saw at ST-CHI was with the lovely Christina Chong. Last but definitely not least. As the only panelist that is on a currently running Star Trek , Chong plays La’an Noonien-Singh on Star Trek Strange New Worlds . Not only is Chong a talented actress and a great dancer, she’s also a talented singer with a few albums under her belt–the latest even featuring Ethan Peck.  Chong came onto the ST

You wouldn't think that the holidays and conventions go together. I mean, there's con traffic, some of which kept us from The Breakfast Club even hours before the floor opened, then there's "late November weekend holiday shopping/events" traffic, and never shall the two converge. Not to mention, conventions are a big spend (especially in the merch halls) and we've all got LOTS of shopping to do for the holidays in our very near future. BUT. Sometimes, these things do collide.

“You know, they’re dad rock now,” my brother joked to me as we walked down Clark Street on Saturday, November 15 th . The air was brisk but I still had a little bit of sweat dripping down my face after spending the last few hours crammed shoulder to shoulder inside the Metro for Minus the Bear’s first of two sold out shows that weekend. I felt old  – my nephew was turning 13 later in the week – and a little cold, but light, the way you feel after spending a long night reminis

Photo via Status. I’m not usually an earbuds guy, especially when it comes to active noise cancellation. Sometimes, it barely works, and with others, earbud noise cancellation can be so aggressive and tinny. And why would you want something in your ears when you can have pillowy soft over-ear headphone cups? The Pro X ear buds by Status have actually changed my view on earbuds in a few drastic ways. In fact, I’ve been using the Pro X earbuds as my main audio device over the l

All that aside, you probably have a little bit of party monster in you still, and here from the banks of Lake Michigan in beautiful and not actually a warzone Chicago comes a Halloween playlist put together with care by several of our staff members.

I have to admit that I’m hooked on Escape Simulator. So, obviously, I jumped at the chance to play a sequel. And if you’re asking, “Did Escape Simulator really need a sequel?” The answer is: the developers certainly thought so. In fact, their Steam store page lays out their reasons, among them “a fresh start” and an inspiration to “explore darker escape room themes and experiment with new gameplay and puzzle ideas.”  That sounds great to me.

Despite my admonitions, Concierge might be worth checking out if it ticks your boxes. It’s definitely a unique game, and for the gamer that’s seen everything, Concierge might just have something new for you. 

We're a little over a month away from the Black Friday edition of the vinyl community's most divisive day of the year: Record Store Day.Introduced only two years after the first Record Store Day (which is usually in April), the Black Friday variant is much smaller and attempts to cash in on the shopping season with quiet honestly a very niche lineup of releases. So before you head out next month to pick up some releases, here are my thoughts on the good, the bad, and the comp

So here’s me thinking that League of the Lexicon will be a breeze, and I’ll crush my foes, see them driven before me and all that. But League of the Lexicon is fun not only because it has a fun mixture of categories with clever questions, but also because it's challenging even for those who have spent a lifetime playing with the English language.