I have two friends I know from my teenage years (20ish years ago) but I have rarely contact. One if them comes for a visit every 1-2 years.

Rank 3 is a friend from University. We met 16 years ago and communicate daily and meet every few weeks. While I’m not very good with deep emotional friendships, this one is built on mutual respect and trust. I enjoy spending time and talking with him. My spouse is also very fond of him.

and even ended up marrying the same man

Please elaborate :D

I know this is a shit post community. But even in this context: where is the fun in hating on people for wanting to understand things?

IMHO:
It feels like that, because that’s what it is. There were a few awesome titles in the genre and as soon as AAA (and some cheap ass pseudo indie developers) realize people love them, they try to jump on the train by ripping off the successful game.

They don’t want to create something original, they just want a piece of the pie, and that’s what shows.

You can see the same shit happening in deck building rogue likes. E. g. Slay the spire and Balatro were creative and new but also obviously not made to just grab some cash. Meanwhile the market is now flooded with tons of similar working and / or looking games that are just boring rip offs. Not a single original thought went into these games.

Was it also sponsored by the “I want my kids to have a better life than me” crew who then complains about kids having it too easy these days?