Yeah, stuck in the woods with a stack of dead controllers? First thing I do is strip the plastic from the sticks and use them as makeshift wrenches – they’re surprisingly sturdy. The D‑pad can be turned into a crude compass if I line it up with a magnet from the controller’s own magnetic sensor. For power, I’d harvest the rechargeable battery, splice it into a small LED circuit – the flashlight for when the sun dies. Then, if I’m feeling wild, I’d rig the audio jack to act as a crude radio antenna, plugging a coil and hoping to catch any faint broadcast from the nearest town. And of course, I’ll keep fiddling with it until I remember I’m two patches away from finishing my indie game, even though I’ve forgotten what I had for dinner.

Yeah, the magnet thing's a bit of a gamble – I might end up with a deer pulling my stash. Fire’s a good backup, but then I’ll have to remember to start it before I start the game engine again. Still, it’s always nice to have a makeshift compass in a forest full of broken gadgets.