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There’s a movie called Dark Star. It’s a little boring, it moves slowly, but it’s a deserved cult classic for being uniquely weird. In it, a small number of sorely under qualified crew members putz around a spaceship – sometimes goofing off, sometimes trying to fix this or that, sometimes trying to convince their cargo, an overly smart bomb, not to blow up and kill them all. It’s written and directed by John Carpenter and the characters have a style that seems to be common among movies in which he’s involved: they’re not all that likable but at least you can recognize them for their flaws.

I hadn’t set out to talk about Dark Star, but you should watch it if you get the chance. I’m told you’ll enjoy it more if you’re high when you do so.

on the edge of earth 5000On the Edge of Earth: 5000 takes that concept, “poking around on a spaceship is fun,” and makes a video game out of it. (Yes, that is a picture of a guy sitting on a toilet.) It doesn’t move very fast and you don’t do very much, but it manages to be a good time anyway. It does have an actual objective, and that does involve blowing something up, and the developer said that the game was movie influenced (though without specifying which movie(s))… Well, you’re free to draw your own conclusions. What matters is that it’s an amusing little game that’s paced well, and manages to turn boredom into entertainment.

I’m putting this in the point and click category, despite no pointing or clicking. That’s not so unusual, there are quite a few games like this, but they don’t have their own genre and there’s really no need. In every other respect they are point and click games.

There’s a TV show on the Cartoon Network called Rick and Morty, now in its second season. If you haven’t seen it, get on it. It’s hilarious and bawdy and sometimes disconcertingly dark.

rick and mortys rushed licensed adventureOnce you’ve seen the show, or if you’ve seen it already, you’ll probably be saying to yourself: “Gee. I would like to experience more of Rick and Morty, in any way possible.” Well, good thing for you they rushed out a licensed adventure game giving you just that opportunity. It includes Rick, being just as cantankerous and insulting as you’d like, Morty, being… probably not as dumb as Rick thinks he is, and some other junk, being there just to give Rick and Morty something to do. Unsurprisingly, it’s called “Rick and Morty’s Rushed Licensed Adventure” and while that may be accurate the game is better than that title might suggest – entirely on the strength of its dialogue and appreciation of the characters with which you’re already familiar. Also it’s free, so what’s to complain about really?