Behind the Keyboard

Hi, I’m Cali, and I’ve been in the gaming world for as long as I can remember.

My first console was a Sega Genesis, and my earliest gaming memory is playing Earthworm Jim (yes, I’m dating myself). From there it was Game Boy, Nintendo 64, the Wii, and eventually a white Xbox passed down in college. But while consoles came and went, one thing stayed constant: PC gaming.

It all started in elementary school, when I lived for Friday computer class: one uninterrupted hour of Oregon Trail and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Fast forward to 2014, fresh out of college and discovering Steam, Twitch, and the sheer possibilities of digital games. My first Steam title was Don’t Starve Together, won in a Twitch giveaway. From there, it was game on.

Over the years, I kept coming back to one genre that never let me down: Simulation games. There’s something deeply satisfying about immersing yourself in a reality that isn’t your own. One day you're running a bakery, the next you're restoring cars or managing a ranch with friends. These games give me room to think, build, tinker, and explore, and I love them for it.

At my core, I’m a gamer. I play to win, to achieve, and, sometimes, to break the very things I love. It’s helpful, trust me. I’ve joined Discord communities, participated in open and closed betas, and reported countless bugs to developers, not for rewards, but for the satisfaction of helping shape the games I care about. At the end of the day, I get to look at a world I enjoy spending time in and say, “Look what I helped create.”

Today, with over 150+ sim titles in my library and a reputation among friends as “the one who knows if it’s worth it,” I created Joystick Diaries to offer something more than just a quick Steam review or Discord reply. I wanted a space to share real insights on the games that fly under the radar, the ones that overpromise, and the rare few that exceed every expectation.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Is this sim actually worth my time and money?” you’re in the right place.