About

Who Are you?

I'm Kyle, or Finlopes. I've been playing video games since I was a kid–my dad is a PC gamer and I went into the family trade. Like any kid who grew up in the 2000s I dedicated an ungodly amount of time to playing Pokemon on a GameBoy, but my favourite games were on PC. Role-playing games, strategy games, whatever passed for "child-safe" in the family house. Notably, games like Command and Conquer Generals or Deus Ex. So that "child-safe" restriction apparently didn't apply to exploding terrorists with a rocket launcher, it teaches good morals I suppose.

As I got older, I branched out. I can't even begin to make excuses for how much time I spent playing DayZ, Rust or Dota 2. It was around that time that I found games like Fallout: New Vegas, Portal, Planescape: Torment and I developed a deep fascination with survival horror games which I bring up in almost every article I write. Video games played (and continue to play) such a huge role in shaping who I am. Now I mostly play indie games because they reignite that same creative passion I got from games as a younger person.

What Is This?

Just Good Games is an independent resource to keep you up to date on the latest indie hits that might have flown under your radar. A curated newsletter with impressions and reviews for the latest little-known games. That's not to say I won't ever write about big budget AAA games– for example if it's an end of year article like a top-ten list. Just don't expect reviews for the next Grand Theft Auto on here, even though I am pumped for it.

Where are the early access games?

Early access is an invaluable tool for developers to get hype generating for their games and to crowdsource feedback and willing playtesters. It's an irreplacable tool in an indie developer's pocket; but we have all been burned before. I've seen too many games finish their stint in early access plagued with issues and bugs that should have been fixed. So I make it my policy to not write about games until they're done, with rare exceptions for early access titles that are mostly feature complete and stable.

How do you feel about AI generated content in games?

It's a murky situation. Creatively speaking, AI will always create a worse result than if a human made something. That being said, I dabble in a lot of indie games, some made by solo developers. We can't all be the Stardew Valley guy; I don't think a person should be penalised if they make the majority of a game themselves and generate a few AI assets in order to let them focus on more important areas. Of course, games where AI generated content is plastered all over the place aren't likely to ever show up on this blog.