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King of the Fighters XIII–A Review

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By Game-Reviewer James Zheng

A great graphic quality, a realistic sense of hitting, a diversity of abilities from game characters, all these are key elements to decide if a fighting game is truly extraordinary. All these qualities apply to one of the most classic and famous fighting games in the whole world, King of the Fighters. This series has continued updating for nine years. The very first work of KOF (King of the Fighters) was born in 1994; from there it gradually became an overwhelmingly popular fighting game. SNK Playmore released more versions each year until 2003.

SNK Playmore had a long and tortuous course in the development of King of the Fighters. While they were trying to release the seventh work of KOF they had to fight off a piracy version and fake simulators of their games. SNK Playmore rose again and then pushed out their thirteenth work–KOF XIII–as an announcement to the world that SNK Playmore is back.

There are three parts which make this particular work so fantastic. First, the animated artistic style mixes with 3D modeling. The characters are incredible even if the whole game is a 2D fighting game. If you play a special movement (a characteristic ability besides punch and kick), the animation may include fire, sparkles, and lightning. Secondly, because there are so many characters from which to choose, the game offers plenty of fighting combos. Some of them also have a characteristic background that creates a story. Thirdly, this game would not fail in the sense of playability, which refers to a factor that decides if this game gets boring. Since this game requires so much skill, it might take you a long time to master a certain character, but do not get me wrong. What I said does not mean every single character is extremely hard. They all have the basic and advanced fighting skills waiting for you to dig them out.

Depending on your preference of using keyboard or controller (I would suggest that controller is better) to play the game, you can play KOF on Xbox or PC system. The game is sold for $20 on Steam.

Editor: Makena Behnke

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR GRADE (NOT CLICKBAIT)

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By Luke Langlois

Hello to all of my student friends. Today, I am here to introduce a handy-dandy tool, www.calculatemygrade.com. Grades are a mystical thing, and, honestly, who knows how to calculate it. Well, the answer is simple. It’s the internet. There are a billion-gazillion grade calculators online. The problem with all of these grade calculators is that they do not adapt to your individual situation. Most of the time, grade calculators are made for specific schools or systems, and they will not adapt to your grading situation. This website adapts to you. It lets you enter your own assignment, the weight of this assignment, and the grade you received on this assignment. This helps you figure out what you need to do grade-wise. Do I need to get a 100% on the next test? How many homework assignments do I need to offset the 5.3% I just received on this test? Well, for those who of us who love their grades, this is the tool. Here is a brief-ish set of instructions.  

When you open up the website, you will see three options: “My overall course grade,” “What grade I need to get on the final exam to get an A, B, C or D,” and “What my new GPA will be after this semester.” Depending on your situation, you’ll pick what you need to pick. For me, the “My Overall Course Grade” option is the best. I have frequently used this option to find out what grade I need on a specific assignment to be where I want to be. So, for the purpose of this post, we’ll dive into that.

After selecting this option and pressing “next,” you will be hit with “is your final grade calculated with points or percentages?” You select how your teacher calculates the grade. For example, I know Ms. Zachik calculates her grades based on points and how many points you receive, so for her class, you’d select points. Most other classes are based on percentage, so for most cases you’d choose that, unless you know your teacher bases their class on points.

After selecting the grading system, you’ll be prompted to enter the quantity of assignments. If you have had two tests, enter two tests. This is pretty self-explanatory. If you want to know what you need on your next assignment to get your grade up to a certain point, add an extra assignment so you can add the hypothetical grade. If you have no assignments for a specific category, enter nothing or a “0.”

After this, you’ll be asked to enter how much each grade is worth. For this, you’ll need to find the syllabus for your class and find out what each assignment is worth.  IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to divide the weight of the category into how many assignments of that category you have had. That was confusing. If your tests are worth 60% of your grade, and you’ve had 3 tests, enter each one as 20% (which is the 60% divided by 3 if you have no idea where that number came from). As another example, if you have 7 homework assignments and those homework assignments are worth 10%, divide that 10 by 7. You’d get 1.4%, and each of the 7 homework assignments is worth 1.4% of your grade. If you enter each of the 7 grades as weighted by 10%, each homework assignment is going to be weighted as 10%, rather than the entire category as 10%. This is important for each assignment category.

Finally, you’ll be asked to enter what grade your assignment received. So, do that. The most handy part about this section is to enter a hypothetical grade for an upcoming assignment. As an example, say I had a 24% in AP Biology, what grade will I need on the next test to raise my grade to an A. Well, in the earlier processes I would add an extra test so I could now enter a hypothetical grade for said test. Then, I would enter in some grades to see if they’d raise me up to the grade I want. After you do this, you should hopefully get a grade that resembles something reasonable. In the case of wanting to raise my grade from 24% to 93, I would need a 300% on my next test. I would recommend entering your actual grades first to see if you’re doing the whole process correctly.

So, in conclusion, this website, www.calculatemygrade.com, will be most useful to you if you are a grade freak. If you’re not, you might keep it in the back of your head for when the final exams come around. Enjoy calculating!  

 

*Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this, but I will welcome any revenue.

Editor: Holden Hartle

What is a Shared Economy?

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By Jeremy Cheng, World Traveler

 

A Shared Economy is sharing your resources that you don’t need immediately and improving the resource utilization rate and getting a return.

 

The advantages of a Shared Economy are that it is low in cost, it builds up a good business relationship, and it is considered a sustainable development. Let’s look at China’s Shared Economy.

 

Firstly,

in China, there is an app called DiDi which is essentially the same as Uber in the sense that you are able to call a car in order to travel somewhere. Like Uber, they don’t provide cars for the drivers. Drivers are expected to use their own car to pick up and drop off passengers. Therefore, there are no parking lot fees, and it reduces the expense one would have to pay if one were to drive one’s own car. Drivers are required to sign a contract with the DiDi company that ensures the safety of the passenger. Calling DiDi is superior to calling a taxi because with taxis there are more expenses for both the company and the passenger (taxi companies need to buy cars for their drivers and also take parking fees into account). DiDi’s passengers can pay a lower price, and this attracts many users in China.

 

Secondly,

DiDi builds up a good business relationship. For instance, for those who may travel alone, drivers are able to provide conversation with their passengers. It is another way to make new friends and acquaintances. Drivers and passengers are able to talk about the books they read, the places they have been, and the hobbies they like. The possibilities are endless. Airbnb conducted research that showed that people like their drivers to share the same or similar hobbies.

 

Finally,

Shared Economy encourages sustainable development.

China is universally acknowledged for having the largest world population. Unfortunately, the population is becoming too large for the amount of land that the country owns. Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are some of the biggest, most overpopulated cities in China. With a larger population comes more people who want to own their own car, and usually each person’s car only has one to two people, which dramatically inflates the amount of traffic on the streets. In each car, there are multiple seats available that aren’t being used. This is a waste of a great carpooling opportunity. If people start to use those seats, commuters can have more methods to get to and from work, and the numbers of the cars on the road will decrease. This is a way that recycles resources without opening new land in order to make and sell more cars.

 

Here are few examples of the Shared Economy in China.

 

  1. DiDi offers a more convenient travel mode for everyone whether they’re just getting off work, school, or just living their normal lives.

2. LaiDian PowerBank is a power station for your phone. When your phone doesn’t have battery, users are able to rent one and charge their “dead” phone.

3. OFO Bicycle, another sustainable company,  provides bikes for people who only want to travel a short distance or don’t own a car.

 

Editor: Bella Bier

Review of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands

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By James Zheng, Game and Anime Review Expert

 

Nowadays, to fulfill a variety of demands from gamers, the realm of games has been developing rapidly in many different aspects. There are many factors that determine the quality of a game and its reputation. One of the most important factors is having an open-world, which refers to a massively sized virtual world that players can openly explore and do whatever they want. An example of this is Minecraft. Minecraft was definitely an incredible product and showed the world that many people are interested in an open-world game. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is one of the best examples of a successful open-world game.

 

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which is usually known as Wildlands, was produced by Ubisoft Paris (one of the subsidiary branches of Ubisoft) and published by Ubisoft. Ubisoft is an international game company which has already released plenty of outstanding games such as the series of Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, and Watch Dogs. The title says Tom Clancy because Wildlands is adapted from the novel written by Clancy. A majority of the games produced by Ubisoft are adapted from Clancy’s novels.

 

Basically, Wildlands is a tactical third-person game. Unlike first-person games, you have a third-person perspective in Wildlands. The game also has high quality graphics. Sometimes you feel like the images in the game are reality. Wildlands is a game that supports single-player and multiplayer. You could play against other players, or you could cooperate with other players to fight computer-controlled enemies. It depends on your preference. You could also choose single-player and explore the land with other 3 NPCs (non-player-characters, characters not controlled by players). I  strongly suggest that you play with your friends! It is way more fun than playing alone.

 

Wildlands is set in Bolivia, South America, which is absolutely not like the Bolivia in real life. The “Bolivia”  has been given a special background in the game. Here, players are carrying out several missions with their team, Ghost. You are here to save Bolivia from total control by drug cartels. The player must find out who is behind all these cartels and stop them. In the battlefield,  the player has to make every decision in a split second. Players can go straight into drug-cartel nest and have a war with them. Or, you could be more strategic by using your drone to detect the position of enemies, and then be a sniper to eliminate enemies from far distance. The best part about the game is that players can come up with so many different options to attack; it’s a tactical game. And again, whether to be aggressive or strategic depends upon the player.

 

There are not many examples of game producers adding an open-world to a shooting game. Although some of them tried to make it work, they have failed in the overall quality and playability. Wildlands is an exception for that. I have played Wildlands with my friends for at least 50 hours.

 

You can play Wildlands on XBOX, PS4, and PC. If any of these details about Wildlands attract you, you should give it a shot! The classic version is $49.99. If you want to enjoy extra content, you should look into buying the advanced version.

 

Note: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is recommended for people who are seventeen or older.        

 

Editor: Luke Langlois

Review of the Anime Steins;Gate

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By James Zheng, Anime Reviewer

Today I have a new type of anime for you guys. Steins;Gate is a slow rhythm anime, an anime with a story that moves step by step. But, don’t be disappointed immediately, as this anime achieves an outstanding rating–about 9 out of 10 or even higher on the majority of websites, and it definitely deserves that reputation. Regardless of the rating, it has a really logical storyline even if some of the elements of Steins;Gate are fantastical.

Steins;Gate is an anime that was adapted from a visual novel game of the same name that was developed by 5pb and Nitroplus (a visual novel game is a type of computer game that has a story that is told to you in the form of a graphic novel, but it is online, and you can make decisions within the novel, which is more like a video game; therefore, it is a visual novel game) . The game had overwhelmingly positive reviews. Then, the anime adaptation of the visual novel game was produced by Mika Nomura and Yoshinao Doi while White Fox, an animation company, was working on the anime’s various episodes. Finally, Steins;Gate was released in 2011; it was distributed by Frontier Works.  

In the crazy world of anime, there is so much content released that is absolutely terrible. In fact, we are totally inundated with anime that is god-awful. Unfortunately, there’s so much anime out there, bad and good, that eventually, even really incredible animes can become “old” and lose their influence on the anime community after three to four years. But that is not always the case, and I’m happy to say that Steins;Gate is an exception to the rule. So, how can an anime that was published a full 7 years ago still influence plenty of animes nowadays? If I could only explain one reason as to why this is an exception to the rule, I would say that it is because most science fiction anime is absolutely ridiculous, and this one is absolutely plausible. Honestly, there is much more ridiculous and implausible science fiction anime than there is good anime. Usually, when you are watching a science-fiction anime, most of its content is ridiculous and only very little of its content seems to be plausible. Again, that is not the case with Steins;Gate. Anime is not reality; however, it could fill with realistic matters, and when you are trying to add something realistic in anime in science-fiction, it becomes so boring. Well, Steins;Gate avoids that completely so that the story is fused with science-fiction and reality, and it also keeps balance in both so as not to ruin this anime.

As I mentioned earlier, Steins;Gate has a logical storyline. And before I get into that, there is one thing important I need to tell you: Steins;Gate has twenty-five episodes in total, but the real story begins at the thirteenth episode. The previous twelve episodes set the stage for the main plot ahead, but that plot only really begins to show its true colors in episode thirteen. You might think it is meaningless to watch twelve episodes and wait for the “real show” to start, but I don’t suggest that you skip those 12 episodes since all of the plot threads introduced in the first twelve episodes are later paid off in the last thirteen episodes, making for a much richer experience. So, fair warning: you might be totally confused at the beginning, but, wait; everything will make sense after the thirteenth episode.

The story is set in Akihabara, Tokyo. In it, Okabe Rintarou, a college student who believes so strongly in himself as to believe he is the best scientist in the world, dreams of building a time machine. He sets up a lab, calling it the “Future Gadget Laboratory,” to conduct research that is necessary in order to achieve his seemingly impossible goal of time travel. One day, by pure accident, he takes a huge leap forward towards his goal, and eventually even builds the time machine. When built, the time machine causes many miserable tragedies that would have otherwise been avoided.

What makes Steins;Gate brilliant is how the plot logically turns around and how the main story at the end links with the first twelve episodes in an unexpected way. For anyone interested in anime, it will be very astonishing to watch!

 

Note: Steins;Gate is recommended for those who are fifteen or older.

 

Editor: Leo Milmet

“WeChat Pay or Alipay?”

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By Jeremy Cheng

 

When having dinner at the restaurant, buying goods at the mall, or shopping online, what is your favorite way to pay for the check?

Credit card, currency, or mobile payment?

Currently, there have been increasing numbers of people who use the mobile phone to pay for everything.

The two biggest mobile payment companies in China are WeChat Pay and Alipay.

For instance, this is how you pay for the bill at the restaurant.

This is how you pay for the fruit at the market.

This is how you pay for something at the mall.

Even when shopping at the Sephora on El Paseo, you can see an Alipay sign when you check out.

Even the less fortunate people in China will print out the QR code, which is a barcode that helps people receive or send money to others.

The use of cash and coin currency is declining rapidly in the Chinese economy. Surprisingly, four years ago, this payment method didn’t even exist because everyone used paper money.

In most of the mainland cities, most of the people use their smartphones to pay for all different kinds of fees. In a restaurant, the server may ask you, “WeChat Pay or Alipay?” as opposed to asking,  “credit card or debit card?” This is because paper money is not as popular in China anymore.

WeChat, a Chinese social media app not unlike Facebook, brings a lot of convenience to the daily lives of the people who live in China. One function of the app is WeChat Pay, which is one of the two main payment methods in China.   

In the past four years, Hong Kong used to post a news report that said that in the year of 2016, Chinese mobile payment reached 5.5 trillion dollars, which is 50 times of the American marketing model (112 billion).

I came to America and studied here in 2015. WeChat Pay was not that popular yet. When I went back to China for Christmas break, my mom told me that in order to pay someone for something, one simply sends money from their WeChat account to another. At that moment, I asked my mom, “Are you serious?”

My mom laughed at me and said, “Yep.”

When having dinner or afternoon tea at a restaurant or cafe, I can pay for something with my phone quicker than I can pay with paper currency.

Street artists in China can print out their QR code and display it, which makes it easier for people to give them money for their hard work. It is the same for everyone, from the wealthier people to the people with less money.

Some other countries are also currently trying to reduce the usage of cash-and-coin currency. In China, they have almost totally switched from cash-and-coin currency to mobile payment. Recently, a Chinese woman was called by the bank she uses. They told her that she forgot her credit card in their ATM machine for three weeks, and she didn’t even notice!

 

Editor: Leo Milmet

HowFashion 04: TikTok Edition

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By HowFashion Blog Correspondent Jeremy Cheng

Nowadays, there are increasing numbers of youngsters who use their phone to watch short videos. Therefore, Musical.ly was produced.

Musical.ly provides a chance for people who like to perform and pay nothing to do it.

In September 2016, TikTok was produced, an app which also makes short videos for social media.

TikTok users are able to choose music, take video, and produce their own video. This app was released on the Android App Store and the Apple App Store.

Since video recording technology was produced, the most popular type of short video in the whole world is MV (music video), and it is the most difficult type of short video to produce of all the short videos.

A music video is the most difficult type of short video to film. The majority of people can’t make their own music, and they have to borrow others, pretending to act and sing or play music anytime, anywhere.

Dubsmash performance solved this problem using audio, music, and script. Users only need to act, and each video is no longer than 15 seconds. It lowers the difficulty of making a video, increasing the fun of content; thus, they are easier to spread.

(An Example of Dubsmash use) http://v.douyin.com/dVoKgQ/

There are two ways to film a short video. The first one is TikTok, which provides everything that users need, and the second is for users to make their own music, script, and video.

Dubsmash is PGC (Professionally-generated Content) music combined with UGC (User-generated Content) video.

TikTok is also a social media app. Users can share their daily life on TikTok, and at the same time people can make more friends and learn different anecdotes from them.

(Examples) http://v.douyin.com/dVt6jY/

Users can edit their video speed and special effects (slow-motion, repeating, flashing, reversing), which not only makes it seem like they are the one singing but also makes it a more creative video.

(Examples) https://www.iesdouyin.com/share/video/6602192209418652935/?region=US&mid=6490330650472942349&u_code=h8b64ac1&titleType=title&timestamp=1538022597&utm_campaign=client_share&app=aweme&utm_medium=ios&tt_from=copy&utm_source=copy&iid=44841159240

However, note, from March 1st to March 31st, 2018, there were 27,231 videos, 8,921 songs, and 15,234 accounts banned because of copyright infringement.

 

Why did TikTok become popular?

“Populars” effect is the one most important key that makes TikTok popular.

In mid-March, TikTok became well known. Many people think that TikTok invites influencers to advertise their application.

On March 13, a famous comedian published an article with the TikTok Logo, and after the day he posted, the numbers of views increased rapidly.

Content operating is the foundation of appeal with users.

With content operating, TikTok has created a special algorithm that can distribute views to everyone, which means if a normal person does not have fans, one can have many fans if one films a good video. Therefore, there has been an increasing number of people who are willing to join TikTok and use it.

Stephanie, a fellow student, had taken a vlog and uploaded it to TikTok. She got 40k views and 1.5k likes.

http://v.douyin.com/dVGUeL/

TikTok operators are good at combining real-time hot spots and change it to what teenagers like. For instance, teenagers were interested in ThugLife, a famous trend of wearing sunglasses with a big gold chain, which appeals to many young adults.

http://v.douyin.com/dVs4hK/

http://v.douyin.com/dVph1p/

TikTok, on average, gets 6 billion hits daily!!!

Why are so many people addicted to TikTok?

According to Sensor Tower, TikTok was downloaded 35 million times in August 2018!!

Some people would claim short videos are boring, while others would claim the short videos of TikTok make people want to keep watching more videos. People think that the next video will be more interesting, and because of this belief it acquires 6 billions daily hits!

 

Editor: AJ Patencio

Different Time, Same Humans

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By Luke Langlois

Unless you happen to be an 80’s movie star with easy access to a certain DeLorean, you most likely have not time traveled. However, you’ve definitely thought of what kind of petty things you could do with the power of time travel. You could tear the very fabric of the universe in order to procrastinate a little longer! While that would be incredible, the sun may implode before we figure that out. For now if we really want to time travel, we simply need to look to one the world’s greatest inventions, film.

When we young people tend to look back to the land before our conceivable time, it’s usually in black and white photography. While we may think we have a general idea of what’s going on, do we really? Personally, I find it difficult to actually process what I’m seeing. My brain registers a black and white picture as little more than a relic of history. In reality though, these people were once living, breathing, and struggling, just like ourselves. My eyes have recently been opened to the past due to the gears of capitalism–advertisements.

Humans seldom look back on what has changed. We seem to view the mid-20th century as a completely different time with things like the Cold War, funny hats, and video games like Pong. While of course big changes have been made globally and culturally, humans have always been humans. Last weekend, I was on YouTube, a rare occurrence in these junior days. On YouTube, as people do, I looked up “old commercials.” I clicked on a video that was titled “Commercials from the 60s.” I was expecting ridiculous advertisements for irrelevant products or some sort of American propaganda. However, I had heard of almost every product featured (look below for a link to said video). It was almost surreal, though that may be a bit dramatic. Many things have changed, but, in the grand scheme of things, there is so much that hasn’t changed at all. We humans are still just humans. While the advertisements are a bit strange by today’s standards, it’s really just a bunch of food, coffee, or medicine commercials. Yes, the Trix rabbit has been attempting to steal cereal for more than half a century.

The point is, we can’t time travel in the science-fiction sense, but we do have access to a type of time travel. I encourage you all to watch any available old film, audio, or video, to put life, and previous eras, into context. Who knows, maybe you’ll be enlightened! Along with the video of commercials I referenced, check out things such as old political or colorized footage.

Tide–because the world has always been in color.

Link to video of advertisements below. Students, you’ll have to watch it at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2AQdyB34so)

Editor: Holden Hartle

Review of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Adventure of Freedom

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By Gamer and Blogger James Zheng

The fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls was not only a breakthrough among the previous seasons, but it also achieved a really high rating from many credible gaming publications. Before I tell you how wonderful this game is, I am going to give you some basic introductions.

Skyrim was published by Bethesda Softworks; some gamers may have heard of this company. They are famous for their open worlds and letting people apply mods to their games. In other words, you have the power to edit every element in the game as you want to. The story of Skyrim was directed by Todd Howard; he has also designed the story of the Fallout games before Skyrim. Some other designers include Bruce Nesmith, Kurt Kuhlmann, and Emil Pagliarulo. They are all professionals at creating role-playing games, which are also known as RPGs.

Skyrim does an excellent job in its realistic depiction of the environment. It does not require a high power computer configuration or system.

Skyrim is completely different from the traditional RPG as it is far more interesting than other RPGs! In Skyrim, you don’t have to follow the main quest line. It’s your choice to follow the main quest or do some of the many side quests. You may want to go into the ruins to find hidden treasures or find a guild to join. Ninety-nine percent of gamers do side quests while they are exploring the world. The map is really large and gives you more than 50 hours of entertainment. In other RPGs, it has always been a hard decision to choose a class. Mage or warrior? Rogue or archer? Well, you don’t need to worry about that in Skyrim. You only have to choose the race, things like orc or elf. All the classes are unified; you can use all kinds of weapons. It all depends on your preference. If you really want, you can choose to specialize in only one class.  

I mentioned mods earlier; you may have heard these applied to Minecraft. If you install the mod into Skyrim, you are putting something in that is not part of the original part of the game. You could change the look of your character, or you could change the weather and buildings in the game and all kinds of elements in Skyrim, et cetera. However, the system of achievements will be closed if you install mods, in order to prevent earning easy achievements.

That’s almost all of it! It’s your turn to explore the rest of the big world. If you are interested in playing RPG games and want to try a unique style of RPG, you should probably buy and start your journey in Skyrim! Skyrim is supported by XBOX, PlayStation, and PC. It is a little bit expensive at $39.99, but the good thing is this game is often on sale.  

Note: This game is rated “M” for Mature.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Monster Prom Game Review–Better Than Human Prom (And Cheaper, Too!)

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By Dayton Kennard

 

Hey there! If you watch YouTubers Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, CrankGameplays, or TheRPGMinx, then chances are you’ve seen them play Monster Prom. If you haven’t, then hopefully this post gives you a good idea of what it is.

 

WARNING: Monster Prom would likely be M for MATURE by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), meaning that it would generally be suitable for people aged seventeen and up due to sexual content, strong (explicit) language, drug usage, and alcohol consumption. Monster Prom was released on 27 April, 2018, and developed by Beautiful Glitch, programmed by Elías Pereiras, published by Those Awesome Guys, written by Julián Quijano, Cory O’Brien, and Maggie Herskowitz, and illustrated by Arthur Tien.

 

The game itself is a dating sim/visual novel that mocks typical dating sims as well as mocking itself. The game includes easter eggs that can range in allusion from 50 Shades of Grey to Disney. The game also has a built-in multiplayer mode where you and up to three friends can compete to see who gets a date to Prom, or even compete for the love of the same character!

The story takes place at a school called Spooky High in the player’s Senior Year, three weeks before Prom. You’ve narrowed down your prom-date choices to six monsters: Miranda Vanderbilt the Mermaid Princess (age 19), Damien LaVey the Reckless Demon (21), Scott Howl the Werewolf Jock (21), Liam De Lioncourt the Hipster Vampire (4XX), Polly Geist the Party Ghost (22?), and Vera Oberlin the Ruthless Gorgon (23). After the intro, you’ll take Monster Prom’s Stupidest Pop Quiz Ever™ that “will throw a bunch of absurd questions at you and turn your answers into your character’s stats.” Said stats are Smarts, Boldness, Creativity, Charm, Fun, and Money, which affect your interactions with the characters. You’re then introduced to the game with a short tutorial that explains how your character’s stats work, how the activities you do give your certain stats, and how events can either help or harm you.

A few more cool things are that your gender doesn’t affect who you can and can’t date, and there are two game types you can choose from: Short Game (around 30-minutes long) and Full Game (around 60-minutes long). With the goofy situations, fun characters, quick gameplay, and forgiving penalties that you can quickly recover from, Monster Prom is a captivating game with lots of replay value! If this sounds interesting to you, I recommend you head over to the game’s Steam page* and buy it! It’s only $11.99, which is over 50% cheaper than a typical $50 prom ticket!

Editors: Peter Kadel and Bella Bier

*https://store.steampowered.com/app/743450/Monster_Prom/