Category: Articles

No Accounting for Tastes

WaveRunner 2140

By Adam Boffa • November 13th, 2019

In New York 2140, neoliberalism still reigns supreme. But maybe even this dire prediction is too optimistic.

Diary of a 1st-Time Interactive Fiction Developer – Part 78: Skip to the End

By Declan Taggart • November 12th, 2019

At long last, Declan Taggart finishes up his dev log for Choose Your Own End to the Viking World.

Forms in Light

Function and Fiction

By Justin Reeve • November 12th, 2019

Destiny 2 has a more complex relationship with Modernism than its clean-cut buildings would suggest.

Collision Detection

How I Learned to Stop Worrying (And Love Being Horrified)

By Ben Sailer • November 11th, 2019

Ben hasn’t felt frightened by a game since playing the original Resident Evil two decades ago. However, a brisk run through Outlast changed that, and in the process, helped him rekindle a long-lost love for being scared shitless.

Jim Zub on the Young Adventurer’s Guides

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • November 11th, 2019

This week, author Jim Zub fills us in on everything you want to know about his brand new series of introductory Dungeons & Dragons books.

Musings

Concerts Suck, But Landon Tewers Doesn’t

By Blake Hester • November 11th, 2019

Blake sees his first concert in four years and it’s…weird.

This Mortal Coyle

Alice from American McGee’s Alice

By Deirdre Coyle • November 8th, 2019

American McGee’s series seemed like a natural extension of Deirdre’s lifelong Alice in Wonderland obsession.

Backlog

On Silence

By Gavin Craig • November 8th, 2019

Words are hard.

Another Look

Planting Seeds in the Apocalypse

By Yussef Cole • November 7th, 2019

Mutazione owes its narrative to those who now survive in spite of colonialism and it’s world-ending tendencies.

Noteworthy Hip Hop

Noteworthy Hip Hop – October 2019

By Noah Springer • November 7th, 2019

Just like a white girl’s cup filled with pumpkin spice, Noah’s ears runneth over with great hip hop this month.

The Heavy Pour

This Time It’s Personal

By Sara Clemens • November 6th, 2019

Sara got to meet Pee-wee Herman at this year’s NYCC and only freaked out a little.

The Burnt Offering

Fracas in Freshtovia

By Stu Horvath • November 5th, 2019

Wendy’s admittedly committed attempt at a tabletop RPG is every bit the corporate advertisement it tries not to be.

Rookie of the Year

Remember. Every. Moment.

By Matt Marrone • November 1st, 2019

Matt shares a story of R.E.M.’s Monster and parenting on the album’s 25th anniversary.

Exploits Feature

No Laughing Matter

By Violet Adele Bloch • November 1st, 2019

To me, Joker is like a theatrically released omen.

The Satanic Panic

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • October 28th, 2019

This week, we look at Dungeons & Dragons and its part in the Satanic Panic.

Feature Excerpt

The Horror of the Tortured Artist

By Rachel Watts • October 24th, 2019

Both Layers of Fear games tap into the horror of what happens when artists become desperate chasing their muse.

Feature Excerpt

Two Hands Off the Wheel: Learning to Embrace the Chaos of Zweihander

By R. M. Jansen-Parkes • October 24th, 2019

Most tabletop RPGs boil down to a roll of the dice.

Feature Excerpt

Grim, Perilous and Inclusive

By Adam Brown • October 24th, 2019

Zweihander: Grim & Perilous is a fresh take on dark fantasy and tabletop RPGs.

Episode 16: Joker

By Sara Clemens and David Shimomura • October 23rd, 2019

On tap: Joker, Paul Reubens and a bad version of Phantom of the Opera.

October Spookfest: Trick and Treat

By Gingy Gibson • October 18th, 2019

A simple, though no less spooky, take on a night in the woods.

Unwinnable Monthly – October 2019

By Stu Horvath • October 17th, 2019

It’s October, and that means the latest issue of Unwinnable Monthly is full of horrors of all sorts…

The Ancestors of the Children of Morta

By Levi Rubeck • October 17th, 2019

Families that fight together…fight together in fairly unsurprising ways.

Even the Mediocre

By Jeremy Signor • October 16th, 2019

Too often we think of keeping good games alive when we think of game preservation. But ignoring the rest does a disservice to the whole of game history.

I Want to Tell You a Curious Story: The Prey (1984) on Blu-ray

By Orrin Grey • October 15th, 2019

Despite ample opportunity, The Prey is a slasher that features neither Bigfoot nor Smokey Bear as the villain.

Forms in Light

Anomalous Architecture

By Justin Reeve • October 14th, 2019

If some of the buildings look weird in Yakuza Kiwami 2, you can blame Japanese regulations.

No Accounting for Tastes

Countdown to Extinction

By Adam Boffa • October 14th, 2019

In Hayao Miyazaki’s grandest work, humans confront extinction.

Pacesetter’s Chill, and an interview with Nathan D. Paoletta

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • October 14th, 2019

This week, we look at the 1984 horror RPG Chill, from Pacesetter Games. We also chat with Nathan D. Paoletta about his games Worldwide Wrestling and Imp of the Perverse.

Collision Detection

Backing a Fake Basketball Underdog

By Ben Sailer • October 13th, 2019

It cannot be overstated exactly how bad NBA 2K has beaten NBA Live over the past two decades.

Here's the Thing

Rebooting Saturday Mornings with Netflix

By Rob Rich • October 12th, 2019

It’s been decades since Rob has set aside time for Saturday morning cartoons, but Netflix has brought that very specific brand of nostalgia back with a number of unexpectedly clever reboots.

October Spookfest: Misadventures of Laura Silver

By Gingy Gibson • October 11th, 2019

This one’s for all you less than stellar detectives out there.

2019 Spooptacular Horror Movie Recommendations, Part Two

By Team Unwinnable • October 11th, 2019

We have more horror movie recommendations for you! This time, rich people are on the menu.

The Heavy Pour

You’ll Float Too

By Sara Clemens • October 11th, 2019

Sara muses on the weirdly seductive quality of clowns. Exhibit A: Pennywise.

Clacking Out a Few Kind Words

By Levi Rubeck • October 10th, 2019

Levi plays Kind Words, a game about comforting and being comforted.

The Mumbling of Control

By Jeremy Signor • October 9th, 2019

The setting and premise are undoubtedly the stars of Control, but the sound design and nonsensical dialogue truly make the Oldest House otherworldly.

Checkpoint

The Client List

By Corey Milne • October 9th, 2019

Void Bastards is quintessentially British. Even with its prisoners-cum-clients.

The McMaster Files

1994 via the Year 40,000

By Jason McMaster • October 9th, 2019

Gladius accomplished the near-impossible: transforming Jason from a critic into a fan again.

Rookie of the Year

Star Trek: The Sex Generation

By Matt Marrone • October 8th, 2019

The ladies of the USS Enterprise want to get it on. Badly.

Let Black Boys Be Soft

By Oluwatayo Adewole • October 8th, 2019

Being black and male in the Western world means a lot labels are grafted onto your personality every day.

2019 Spooptacular Horror Movie Recommendations, Part One

By Team Unwinnable • October 4th, 2019

Unwinnable loves horror movies, so we’re picking some faves for you to check out this October.

October Spookfest: Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa

By Gingy Gibson • October 4th, 2019

It’s that wonderful time of year where I get to focus on visual novels centered on the creepy, the terrifying, and the downright spooky. Ghosts, demons, mysterious happenings and the like all take center stage this month; sadly, however, our first VN was less horrific because it presented a dark story well, and more because it represents a colossal and exhausting waste of hours that I’m never getting back. Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa is a middling mystery utterly dragged down by the tools you must use to solve it. The premise of Kotodama is pretty standard anime fare: