Unwinnable

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Biking the Beat

By Autumn Wright • February 1st, 2023

“After biking some 2,000 miles in the city last year, my memories of my new home are tied to rides and their soundtracks.”

Current Issue

Letter from the Editor

Unwinnable Monthly – January 2023

By David Shimomura • January 19th, 2023

Welcome to 2023!

Exploits Feature

In a screenshot from The Witcher 3, Geralt of Rivia – Ravix of Fourhorn, the Butcher of Blaviken, the White Wolf – grins and give a thumbs up.

The Beauty of Backlog

By Connor Queen • February 3rd, 2023

Speak to most gamers, and they’ll probably tell you the same thing: Backlogs are annoying.

Rookie of the Year

A photograph of the folk duo Sylvan Esso wearing chambray shirts and standing amidst some thorny branches near what looks like a folk festival barricade.

No Rules Newport

By Matt Marrone • February 3rd, 2023

Something happened at the most recent Newport Folk Festival – Sylvan Esso debuted their as-yet-to-be-released and previously-unheard album, No Rules Sandy – for the first time.

Interlinked

Melinoë, the protagonist of the videogame Hades II. She wears an orange mini dress and has her hair cut into a blunt bob. Her left arm glows with a mystical light.

The Triple Goddess Effect

By Phoenix Simms • February 2nd, 2023

Like Hades protagonist Zagreus, Melinoë is also connected to an Orphic hymn, this time one that sings of her as a “saffron veil’d” nymph that inspires both night terrors and madness in people.

Mind Palaces

A close-up of the World Cup trophy shining on the field of a massive stadium.

Athletic Feats of Narrative

By Maddi Chilton • January 31st, 2023

Experiencing a story as it happens, one where an ending hasn’t been decided – that is what gives sports their fun and their nerve.

Cairn

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • January 30th, 2023

Part two of our series on ultra-light RPGs, this one mashes up Into the Odd and Knave!

Here Be Monsters

A top-down view of an alien figure in some sort of bed, coffin, or pod. It is unclear if it's living or dead, but something glows within its abdomen.

Can Scorn Get Out From Under the Cosmic Horror Legacy?

By Emma Kostopolus • January 27th, 2023

Scorn and other sci-fi horror games like it rely almost entirely on the horror of the unknown – the unknowable, the inconceivable, and the, well, alien.

The title card for Invaders for Mars, featuring the text of the title over some planets and stars

Dreams & Nightmares: Invaders from Mars (1953) Painstakingly Restored on 4K

By Orrin Grey • January 26th, 2023

Ignite Films has planted their flag as a company to watch for what their own logline calls “classics for the future.”

Past Presence

A top-down map from the videogame Dwarf Fortress showing the labyrinthine halls of a massive underground cavern.

Recursion

By Emily Price • January 26th, 2023

Over the break, I started playing Dwarf Fortress, a game about avoiding the recurring, inevitable spiral of collapse for as long as you can.

Run It Back

A black-and-white photograph of a Black woman standing in front of a Senegalese mask hung on a wall. Her hands rest on the wall to either side of it, and she turns to look over her right shoulder towards something or someone behind her.

1966

By Oluwatayo Adewole • January 25th, 2023

Freedom is one of those fundamental and recurring items in how we think about the world we live in and our place in it. There are few times where this was clearer than in 1966.

The Beat Box