Games | Unwinnable

voidrun image with a pixelated purple spaceship and laser beam

Running the Void Beyond Bitmaps and Chiptunes

By Levi Rubeck • June 20th, 2019

Benjamin Soulé’s Voidrun expertly navigates limitation, inspiration, and curse-sputtering difficulty.

Episode 9 – Mass Effect

By Sara Clemens, David Shimomura and Gavin Craig • June 19th, 2019

Gavin Craig joins the gang to talk about all things Mass Effect!

Unwinnable Monthly – June 2019

By Stu Horvath • June 16th, 2019

Get a nice cold lemonade (bourbon optional) and kick back with the latest issue of Unwinnable Monthly!

Byte Driver Review

By Rob Rich • June 14th, 2019

Byte Driver is a sort of nostalgic, sort of straightforward, and more than sort of extreme multitasking challenge.

Masquerada and the Heart of the Queer Family

By Jeremy Signor • June 12th, 2019

The status quo values blood and legacy while othering those that differ in the name of “family values”. The queer family is built from something else.

Here's the Thing

The Joys of Animal Companions in Videogames

By Rob Rich • June 12th, 2019

Rob waxes nostalgic about the different videogame animal companions he’s met over the years.

Dungeons & Dragons 1.5 Edition

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • June 10th, 2019

Did you know there was an unofficial 1.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons? There was and it is mostly not good! Stu walks us through the history.

The Heavy Pour

Into the Mystic

By Sara Clemens • June 10th, 2019

If you’re one of the rare few terrified by horses, they’re pretty easy to avoid. Unless you play videogames.

Marx at the Arcade Interview

By Adam Boffa • June 7th, 2019

Dr. Woodcock offered his thoughts on the developments in games labor and explained why he believes they could have impacts that go far beyond the industry.

Gingy's Corner

Tokyo Chronos: Visual Novel in Virtual Reality

By Gingy Gibson • June 7th, 2019

A title that does more to sell the software it runs on then the product itself.

Pets Feature

Seven Videogame Chickens, Listed from Least to Most Likely to Kick My Ass

By Melissa King • June 7th, 2019

Look at all these chickens.

The World Next Door Is a Nice Enough Neighbor

By Sara Clemens • June 6th, 2019

Billed as hybrid of a puzzler and a visual novel with RPG elements, The World Next Door shows a lot of promise.

Finding Worth in Space Servitude

By Levi Rubeck • June 6th, 2019

Joy in this game is finding solace in purgatory, stealing time from your corporate overlords, demanding value in one’s self not because of what you produce for your British AI warden.

The Burnt Offering

The One Good Dog

By Stu Horvath • June 6th, 2019

When pitches came in for the Pets Issue, Stu expected to get several pitches about the dog from Fable II. He got zero. So he wrote his own, goddammit!

The Space Between Lacks Meaning in Its Metaphor

By Jeremy Signor • June 5th, 2019

Metaphor can be a powerful tool to lead audiences to some sort of meaning. The Space Between seems content to just bludgeon you with it.

Collision Detection

Dogs of War

By Ben Sailer • June 5th, 2019

Sure video game dogs make for great meme material, but good boys have been serving since World War I.

Revving the Engine

Hyper Jam

By Stu Horvath • June 4th, 2019

Unwinnable talks to the folks behind the neon-soaked arena brawler Hyper Jam.

Another Look

Dogs and Cities

By Yussef Cole • June 4th, 2019

One very good boy navigates newfound sovereignty in the upcoming indie game Home Free.

Pets Feature

Responsible Petting

By David Shimomura • May 30th, 2019

What could be stressful about running a Twitter account about petting virtual dogs? A lot, apparently.

The Ballad of EarthBound’s Gay Tony

By Jeremy Signor • May 29th, 2019

Gay representation isn’t about explicit labels, and it isn’t about hollow lip service. It’s about writing characters that are believably queer.

Lovecraft Country/Ghosts of Saltmarsh

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 27th, 2019

We’ve doubled the meat this podcast, taking on the Lovecraft Country sourcebooks for Call of Cthulhu and Ghosts of Saltmarsh for 5E Dungeons & Dragons.

Five More From PAX East 2019

By Levi Rubeck • May 23rd, 2019

Cutting through my notes of PAX East 2019 (and earlier, gulp) to drop a few thoughts on small, punchy games coming forth hopefully soon.

Shakedown: Hawaii Shows Why Capitalism Sucks

By Jeremy Signor • May 22nd, 2019

Placing you in the shoes of an unapologetic rich capitalist shows how much of a nihilistic circle jerk capitalism is.

Checkpoint

Shadows Blunder Twice

By Corey Milne • May 22nd, 2019

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice can be crushingly difficult, but still manages to be one of the funniest games Corey’s played in years.

The Devil is Only Human After All

By Pascal Wagner • May 20th, 2019

Depictions of Satan fluctuate depending on the media, but they all touch a part of our subconscious.

Running Fred Review – Run For Your Life

By Alan Smithee • May 19th, 2019

You aren’t going to let Fred die, are you?

Letter From the Editor

Unwinnable Monthly – May 2019 – PETS!

By Stu Horvath • May 16th, 2019

Made possible by our last subscription drive, the Pets Issue is here!

Navigating Through Grief in La Dispute’s Panorama

By Khee Hoon Chan • May 16th, 2019

As an creative extension of their latest record Panorama, the post-hardcore outfit La Dispute released an ephemeral but evocative game that accompanies their music

A small red figure stands in a shop like place with a large multiple eyed purple creature.

Chasing Pinballs Through the Earth

By Levi Rubeck • May 16th, 2019

Creature in the Well is a sly title that purports that everything’s all been laid out.

A dour faced samurai lit by a dark blue sky.

A Sekiro Journey: Isshin, the Sword Saint

By Jeremy Signor • May 15th, 2019

The final boss encounter of Sekiro shows just how well paced a video game boss can be.

Collision Detection

How About a Refund?

By Ben Sailer • May 14th, 2019

Google’s talked about how great Stadia is, but how will it win over the average (heavily skeptical) consumer?

Dungeon Masters Guide (plus Chaosium VP Michael O’Brien)

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 13th, 2019

In the latest episode, we talk about the Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection board game, we get philosophical about Gary Gygax’s Dungeon Masters Guide and we chat with Michael O’Brien, vice president of Chaosium.

How to support videogames in 2019

By Malindy Hetfeld • May 13th, 2019

Supporting a game in 2019 can be hard. the more you know about the industry, the more difficult it can become to support it, or easier to latch onto reasons why you should still do so. Malindy hetfeld looks at such reasons, and explains why you shouldn’t give into the urge to find middle ground.