Letter From the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – February 2019 By Stu Horvath • February 15th, 2019 The February issue is here, with stories on Mirror’s Edge, disabilities representation in games and lots more.
Videogame Preservation Is, And Will Always Be, A ‘Now’ Problem By Josh Bycer • February 14th, 2019 The 2018 games of the year will be the best trash 15 years from now if the industry doesn’t get serious about preserving its history.
Play Arcade Classics…and Win Real Money! By Alan Smithee • February 14th, 2019 Find out how to play classic arcade games online and win real money at websites like online casinos where the best games are waiting
They Killed the Mechs so that the Pilots Might Live By Levi Rubeck • February 14th, 2019 Apex Legends is still fresh from the wrapper, but the squad communication, weapons, and range of tactical options already serve up a delectable sushi of hide-and-seek with bullets.
Choose Your Own Adventure with Slay the Spire By Jeremy Signor • February 13th, 2019 Slay the Spire lets you craft your own narrative with branching choices that harken back to Choose Your Own Adventure books.
Checkpoint Distant Worlds By Corey Milne • February 13th, 2019 Launching a 10-month journey to the very edge of known space may not be the safest journey, but for this photographer, it’s worth the risk.
The Bleeps and Bloops of Destiny are Necessary Worldbuilding By David Shimomura • February 12th, 2019 With everything going on in Destiny and its DLC and successors you’d think that the small, repetitive sounds that eventually become background noise as you’re playing would be easily forgotten.
Collision Detection Musical Play Without the Peripherals By Ben Sailer • February 11th, 2019 Resynth goes beyond teaching muscle memory and challenges players much in the same way writing music does.
The Heavy Pour Extra Lives By Sara Clemens • February 11th, 2019 If Tom Bissell could write about how he did too much cocaine while playing Grand Theft Auto, what could I write about?
The McMaster Files Mooncrash’s Slow Burn Delivers By Jason McMaster • February 7th, 2019 Jason rarely doubles back to play a game’s DLC. But Prey’s Mooncrash is worth the trip.
Now You’re Playing with Potential By Levi Rubeck • February 7th, 2019 As an early access cyberpunk game, 2084 currently floats on mists of possibility.
Unmissable: Pilot By Sara Clemens and David Shimomura • February 6th, 2019 Hey, we finally have a podcast!
The Heavy Footsteps of Resident Evil 2’s Mr. X By Jeremy Signor • February 6th, 2019 The whiff of threat of him is enough to completely change the game you’re playing, warping your entire awareness around the possibility of him.
Parks and Remediation By Kris Ligman • February 5th, 2019 I just want to enjoy nature games without someone shooting at me.
Mouse Guard By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • February 4th, 2019 Mouse Guard! We also take a look at Heimlich & Co. and the Roll20 virtual tabletop.
In Memoriam: Keiji of Celene, Drow Ninja By Levi Rubeck • January 31st, 2019 I want to lower my head for all the dead and abandoned characters we’ve lost
My Surprising Scythe By Sam Desatoff • January 31st, 2019 My Little Scythe is a remarkable product, a between-the-lines game that manages to walk the line between simplicity and complexity.
This Mortal Coyle Rochelle By Deirdre Coyle • January 30th, 2019 If the outbreak happened outside my window, I’d be digging through drawers for my most metal band shirts and cursing my lack of foresight in not purchasing a black Violator babydoll.
The Stoic Beauty of Matching Three Things By David Shimomura • January 29th, 2019 Now, it’s Cartoon Network Match Land helping me fill the minutes.
Revving the Engine Raji: An Ancient Epic By Stu Horvath • January 29th, 2019 Unwinnable chats with the team behind Raji: An Ancient Epic, an action adventure game that draws from Indian and Balinese mythology.
Feature Excerpt Friday Nights in the Hostile Environment By Rob Haines • January 28th, 2019 British developer PanicBarn’s Not Tonight offers a Brexit-flavored critique of the past ten years of the hostile environment.
Feature Excerpt Teaching Crunch By Melissa Brinks • January 28th, 2019 Many students enter the video game industry well aware of its infamous crunch culture. After all, their colleges groomed them for it.
Artificial Interpersonal Relationships By Levi Rubeck • January 24th, 2019 CrossCode tingles with succulent friction and the loops carry me along on a raft that feels like home, even if I’m unsure where I’m going.
Remembering the Games of Greg Stafford By Stu Horvath • January 21st, 2019 This time, we take a look at the games of the late, great Greg Stafford and try to chart his influence on the tabletop RPG hobby.
In the Trenches with Root By Levi Rubeck • January 17th, 2019 Where Root delightfully succeeds is melding the central conceits of territorial control games like Risk with resource management sims like Settlers of Catan, all blended with the exceptional art of illustrator Kyle Ferrin bringing in a whiff of Mouse Guard.
Letter From the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – January 2019 By Stu Horvath • January 16th, 2019 Welcome to a new year of Unwinnable Monthly. Here’s what is inside the January issue.
GRIS: Her Journey By Jeremy Signor • January 16th, 2019 GRIS wants to be Journey, but ultimately learns the wrong lessons and loses its voice.
Backlog What Was the Question? And Why Do You Ask? By Gavin Craig • January 15th, 2019 The most complicated question in Mass Effect: do geth units have souls?
Realistic Teen Witch Simulator: A Post-Mortem, Sorta By Kris Ligman • January 15th, 2019 I tried a new religion and all I got was this lousy Twine game.
Checkpoint Surviving a Dead Galaxy in Duskers By Corey Milne • January 15th, 2019 From its mechanics to its setting, Duskers exudes a sense of isolation.
The Burnt Offering Scimitar By Stu Horvath • January 15th, 2019 Pronunciation may not be at the front of the player’s mind as they slash through baddies, but it can prompt some interesting discussions.
Gris and the problem of symbolic hurt By Malindy Hetfeld • January 14th, 2019 Gris is a beautiful art game that knows it’s beautiful, but it’s metaphors often lack an emotional punch.
Collision Detection At Least Videogame Advertising Has Grown Up By Ben Sailer • January 11th, 2019 The days of shit-talking the competition are gone. Now videogame companies demand our attention by . . . just making better products.
Short Ride Review – I Want To Ride My Bicycle By Alan Smithee • January 10th, 2019 At once wonderfully cathartic and incredibly frustrating, in a rather lofty way Short Ride represents the human desire to continue in the face of failure.
Stickman Hook Review – By Hook Or By Crook By Alan Smithee • January 10th, 2019 Here’s an age-old question that never fails to break the ice: if you could have superpowers, what would they be?
Documentary Sunday The Power of Glove By Megan Condis • January 10th, 2019 With videogame culture obsessed with retrofuturiusm, it’s only a matter of time before the ultimate nostalgic artifact makes a comeback: the Nintendo Power Glove.
Hardware Digital Body By Eron Rauch • January 9th, 2019 Eron Rauch reviews the exhibit A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Videogames at the Museum of Moving Image.
Another Look Corrupted Architecture By Yussef Cole • January 8th, 2019 In both Bloodborne and The Favourite, wanton avarice rots leaders from within, spreading like a plague to their surroundings.
