15 Days: Part 18

November 7th to November 21st 2025

• CRASH Live!
• Fitness update and comparison;
• The Séance of Blake Manor
• Act 2: A Starting Point

Crash Live!: The first event of two in November, this will forever be a fun event to attend. Aside from the stalls and the talks, you have access to original hardware from the 80s. I fall into the age range where I was born about ten years too late, so I missed the golden age of UK bedroom programmers who created games on the computers of the time but, get this, these same people attend this event as well, which means that if you have any nostalgic memories of playing these games in your childhood, you’re likely to meet the creators here too. It also means that I have no idea what people are saying to me when they talk code but that’s fine because I listen and I learn. Imagine getting one-to-one opportunities to talk to people like this, and hands-on access to original hardware they built classic games on. Add to the fact that with the Spectrum Next (Issue 3) releasing soon, there is already a collection of games available and being made by the same UK bedroom programmers of the 80s. How awesome is that? And how awesome is this:

Yeah, this was a surprise to see. An arcade cabinet with UrbX Warriors decal! I spent a bit of time playing the demo on all the available set-ups (three in total, dotted around the venue) setting a respectable and not-impossible-to-beat high score. However, playing the demo on this arcade cabinet was the highlight for me. A big shout out to Adrian Sinclair for his stellar work on putting the cabinet together; it really is fantastic.

So, if you are a fan of the era, if you’re keen to see what’s coming Next (see what I did there?), or even if you just want to learn about a time gone by (I do!), I highly recommend you visit CRASH Live! next year. There’s also another sister event called ZZAP Live! and the link to the website is here: https://fusionretrobooks.com/

Fitness update and comparison: Something very unexpected happened the day after CRASH; I went the whole day without drinking caffeine.

Knowing I’d need a break from two full-on days, I’d pre-booked a day’s holiday from work, mostly to catch-up on a few things and relax after the event. I noticed by midday that I hadn’t had any coffee, then by 4pm was wondering why I felt OK, before getting to 8pm and the migraine kicking in. Not a great feeling but acceptable because when I’ve quit caffeine before, I try to go through each day without it until I start to get a headache, then I have a cup, and the next day go a little further into the day, with the aim of timing the migraine to coincide with bedtime and the hope that I can sleep through the worst of it. So to reach that migraine stage later at night on day 1 was too good an opportunity to miss, and as my wife was away for a couple of days for work, she also had the benefit of avoiding Grumpy Paul.

The migraine woke me twice in the night, sharp and painful but otherwise I slept OK. Day 2 was a constant heavy ache behind my eyes, like someone was playing table tennis with my eyeballs all frigging day. But I persevered. Days 3 and 4 were fatigue and aching muscles but the hardest part was actually not absent-mindedly making coffee out of habit. The weather was much colder than normal, and a nice hot drink felt like a good idea. Instead, I said no.

Day 5 was pain-free but the craving was strong and hard to resist. Remembering the migraine helped to fight it off though. I didn’t fancy going through that again. I also noticed some strength returning to my right leg; almost as if it had been propped up with coffee all this time. I’m not sure but I have noticed greater strength and balance. However, the best part of this is finally breaking that unstoppable, uninterrupted streak of caffeine since I started tracking it in July. Take a look at this:

Seeing that ‘Part 18 Caffeine’ bar drop a little is heartening. I’ve not touched a drop since, and I don’t intend to. I can already feel the benefits of better sleep, higher energy levels first thing in the morning, not to mention the money saved.

I didn’t mind that the chocolate percentage was similar to Part 17 because having something to reward myself or help me through headaches and tiredness was acceptable in my mind. After all, once I’m over this withdrawal, I’m not only stronger but normal service can resume. And just in case it’s a little confusing, the numbers in parentheses are the number of days since July, per 15 Days, accumulated, with the percentages in each section showing the amount across the total days so far. I’m not sure that actually makes sense but hopefully you understand what I mean.

The Séance of Blake Manor: With Foolish Mortals launched and getting hugely positive reviews, it’s left me with a much smaller list of testing now, and therefore some time back to just play games for fun, so I set my eyes on The Séance of Blake Manor. I have to say, I find myself going back whenever I can. I’m not very far into it but the story has already gripped me and there’s a time mechanic that adds a little focus but without being unfair. I admit not quite following the linear path of entering the manor immediately, instead climbing through an open window to gain access, only to be told off rather harshly by one of the characters. You know what though, fair enough. If I’m going to climb through a random window uninvited (although it’s only uninvited if I get caught, right?) then I have to accept the consequences. But I did quite like the fact that this can happen, which in turn makes me think twice about doing sneaky things like that going forward. A popular game as far as I can see right now, the link to the Steam demo is here.

Act 2: A Starting Point: Last time, I alluded to having finished the first act of my journey within this industry. I don’t know why I used those words in particular but having thought on them recently, it does feel very much like change is coming, and the right time for it as well. Much like the testing so far, I have no grand plan, only the will to apply myself to my work with a high standard and energy that matches the rest of the teams I work with. But I cannot only test forever. I think my loose goals of gaining experience, building a portfolio, and making sure I’m credited have been achieved, to the point where I’m not sure I need to spread my time across as many projects as I have. I’m still working out what’s next but I have deliberately taken on fewer projects to work on, and I am very excited for these going forward. And with more spare time, I think my natural next step is to read, learn, and practice some of the skills involved in making something myself. A book? A game? A game book? All of them? I’m still working it out. What I have started doing is making notes after work each day; a mind dump of everything I can think of, with the intention to then sit down and structure something from them. I’ll go from there and see what happens, and I’ll write more about this as time passes. What I can definitely say is that I will still test games and I am also excited to see where Brazen Gameplay’s UrbX Warriors goes because I definitely want to be part of that journey. In addition, there are other developers I would be happy to help out again. Those working relationships are strong and I will always have time to listen to what they have cooking.

Things have grown over the four years I’ve been doing this and a lot has changed in that time. I’ve been reflecting on this often in recent months, especially when I think back to my first visit to AdventureX in 2022, with a hastily made flyer and a lot of nerves, and my path to this point.

And that’s something I anticipate experiencing at AdventureX in London on November 22nd/23rd. I’ll think of that first visit, see the journey I’ve been on, and hopefully recognise the progress that has been made ever since, on many levels. At least that is what my instinct is telling me. I hope I’m correct but we’ll have to wait until Part 19 to find out.

And finally, if anyone’s been following my socials, I did mention writing something about a Thinky Games podcast with Tonda Ros but I’ve run out of time for this 15 Days. I will come back to it but, in the meantime, here’s the podcast to whet your appetite. I found it interesting and enlightening.

As always, until next time, stay safe, and thank you for reading.

Paul.