I remember playing the first Oxenfree so clearly. The jitters that it didn’t truly underestimate the supernatural forces his crew of troubled teenagers were up against, the heightened tension of uncovering Edwards Island’s buried secrets, and—what I loved most—the finely tuned undercurrent of dread that quietly seeped through the game. It gave me a feeling of uneasiness that I couldn’t shake, and it was a feeling that stuck with me throughout my entire playthrough.

So I was pretty stoked when Night School Studio announced Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals, a direct sequel set five years after the original game. Lost Signals can be played in a new location with a new cast of characters, but there’s still a lot of overlap. There are supernatural spooks, personal character drama, creepy radio equipment, and those good old screen bugs that I missed so much. But with all these connections to the first game, Lost Signals feels like treading the same ground again. It’s still a good sequel, I must add, but it’s not particularly satisfying.

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Like many people, my job requires me to use Microsoft Teams for conference calls. Like many people, I find Microsoft Teams to be rubbish and cause me problems every day. I’ve never joined a Teams meeting by simply clicking on a link. I always have to refresh frozen screens, sign in again, repeatedly say no, don’t use the app, or some other technical issue. So I made a game out of it. When I try to join a team meeting, I open three cards for him at once and race them to see who can get in first.

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