Hello again, and sorry for the delay in posting. This is Ordinary Decent Gamer, and I am currently unwell. It has been a busy few weeks, and unfortunately yesterday I came down with a case of food poisoning, or if you’re of Royal heritage, gastroenteritis. At least I am off for the Easter holidays now. A full three weeks, which will most likely be occupied with studying and baking, and a bunch of other activities. I just want to get over this bug as soon as possible – there’s nothing I hate more than being sick. Doctors, and medical students, make the worst patients. This entire day I have not ventured further than a few metres from the settee, wrapped in blankets. I did disassemble dad’s phone to try and fix the earpiece speaker, only to find out the replacement speaker I had was the main loudspeaker, and didn’t fit. In retrospect I should have paid more attention to the eBay listing, but it was only £2 so it wasn’t the biggest loss ever.

As far as gaming goes, I’ve been playing a lot of Hotline Miami, a top down 2d ultra violent action game. Set in 1989, you play the unnamed protagonist receiving mysterious phone calls, instructing you to travel to various locations and commit terrible acts of violence. And when I say violence, I mean stabbings, shootings, slashings, and all the rest. The aim is to clear the stage from enemies as quickly and brutally as possible, but exactly why you are doing these things isn’t revealed until much further on in the game. Before beginning each stage, you choose an animal mask to disguise your identity from your foes. More masks are unlockable, and each have unique abilities attached to them. It’s not an easy game, and will have you frantically hitting R to restart over and over again as you are being killed by enemies, until you perfect your method of getting through the level. The weapon choice is also quite varied, and more can be unlocked as you progress through the levels. What really makes the game great for me is the setting and use of music throughout. In between levels you visit bars, movie rental stores, and convenience stores, and chat to some very interesting characters, though everything seems to fall apart and decay as you progress through the game. Though the protagonist never really says anything, you still become attached to him as he tries to get to the bottom of what is going on, and who is pulling the strings. The trailer is down below if you’re interested – it’s available on GOG and Steam for about £6 as far as I can remember.

In baking news, over the past weekend I’ve made toffee apple brownies and macadamia nut caramel squares. I also made sweet potato cakes with a dipping sauce, and flatbreads for dinner last Sunday from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook plenty. There are some amazing vegetarian recipes in there, and it’s definitely worth a look. But for now, that’s about as much as I can find the strength to write.