Category: Life

An artist's interpretation of several small gremlins tinkering with the wings and body of a WWII bomber plane.

Gremlins on Board

By Justin Reeve • January 11th, 2023

Before there was the movie, there was the real thing. I’m of course talking about the little monsters that tear apart airplanes whenever pilots aren’t looking.

Casting Deep Meteo

A close-up of the gremlin Brain from Gremlins 2. He looks a bit more intelligent than his brethren due to the wire-rimmed glasses magnifying his yellow-red eyes.

Stripe, Mohawk, Brainy, Linux, Windows

By Levi Rubeck • January 10th, 2023

It’s a miracle any hardware, software, or network has run as long as they have, and we are best not considering that miracle and its ties to nuclear armament systems and whatnot. Better to concern ourselves with the gremlins in our own home, for now.

Sears Wish Books, 1982-84 (Remastered)

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • December 26th, 2022

A rerun! This week, we dial it back to December 24, 2018, and our episode on the Sears Wish Book.

Letter from the Editor

A selection from the cover art for Unwinnable Monthly #158, featuring several gremlins from the movie Gremlins grinning at the viewer.

Unwinnable Monthly – December 2022

By David Shimomura • December 15th, 2022

Welcome to the Gremlins issue! But before you dig in, there are some rules that you’ve got to follow…

Here's the Thing

The Monster in My Belly

By Rob Rich • November 14th, 2022

Rob talks about the unpleasant stomach troubles he’s had to deal with for the past several years, all thanks to some bad seafood.

Here's the Thing

A closeup of the ribbon on a manual typewriter.

I’ve Been Staring At This For Two Days

By Rob Rich • October 14th, 2022

Rob had so much trouble figuring out what to write about, he decided to write about how tough it can be to figure out what to write sometimes.

Mind Palaces

A black and white lithograph of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson deep in discussion while traveling by train.

An Introduction

By Maddi Chilton • September 6th, 2022

It is becoming more and more challenging to consume art, to use the current crass colloquialism. We just know too much.

Feature Story

Team Unwinnable Fireside Chats

By David Shimomura • August 26th, 2022

This month, David chats with Unwinnable co-owner and vice publisher, Sara Clemens.

Rookie of the Year

A first-person perspective of gameplay of Wolfenstein 3D. Two pixelated Nazi soldiers lie bleeding on the floor while two others and an officer attack the protagonist.

Wolfenstein 3X

By Matt Marrone • August 4th, 2022

It’s amazing Matt grew up as well-adjusted as he did.

Interlinked

In key art from the Doom series, the marine protagonist squares off against a large demon, legions of fighters gathering behind each combatant.

Catharsis through Carnage

By Phoenix Simms • August 3rd, 2022

Despite DOOM being about ripping and tearing your way through various hellscapes this iconic first-person shooter is (paradoxically) pure escapism and catharsis.

The Beat Box

A pixelated demon with red eyes and gaping maw from the videogame DOOM.

The Beat Box – DOOM

By Noah Springer • July 29th, 2022

Bouncing around microchips as a micro-man or walking around a 2D dungeon, rolling hits on a gelatinous blob felt like child’s play to the splattering gore of Doom.

Here's the Thing

The midsection of an ornamental "X," representing the number 10.

It’s Been Ten Years

By Rob Rich • July 7th, 2022

Rob thinks back on how he got started writing, and where it’s gone over the past decade.

Forms in Light

A black and white photograph of a man standing in the center of sunlit Grecian ruins.

Body and Mind

By Justin Reeve • July 6th, 2022

Similar to colleges around the world today, gymnasiums in ancient Greece were public institutions where young adults were offered various forms of training.

Always Autumn

The mane of a white horse is seen from behind. Superimposed on the whole image, a large dark crack splits the a jagged vertical line.

…the History of Me

By Autumn Wright • July 5th, 2022

I was merely a college graduate dropped into a crippled market and a housing crisis, fleeing towards the suburbs of south Florida. It was not the land, but myself that felt alien.

Of Shadows

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • July 4th, 2022

Every book is a sourcebook, right?

Casting Deep Meteo

A screenshot of a message received from a student loan portal reading "your loan balance is $0."

One Ring to Forgive Them All

By Levi Rubeck • July 1st, 2022

The epic tale of the most expensive mistake Levi would definitely make again.

Past Presence

In key art from the videogame Portal 2, protagonist Chell faces off against GlaDOS, the robot antagonist.

Anything

By Emily Price • June 28th, 2022

A large part of being a good critic is being able to be sincere. And part of that sincerity is admitting that sometimes, you just like what you like.

Feature Story

A close-up photo of a log burning in a roaring fire, the flames like yellow liquid.

A Chat With the Publisher

By David Shimomura • June 22nd, 2022

Editor in chief David Shimomura sits down with Publisher Stu Horvath to reflect on the state of Unwinnable past and present.

The Heavy Pour

Detail of a red brick wall hand-drawn in colored pencil.

What to Do for Dinner

By Sara Clemens • June 7th, 2022

Some people make decisions like *that.*

Another Look

A screenshot of the pixelated cast of Star Fox, including main character Fox McCloud, flanked by Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare

Starry-Eyed Fox

By Yussef Cole • June 6th, 2022

“I’ve been trying to clear Star Fox,” she ventured, holding up the rectangular cartridge with a question in her eyes.

Past Presence

A moody shot of a thatch-roofed tiki bar called The Rum Colony from the videogame Kentucky Route Zero.

Cheap Machines

By Emily Price • May 31st, 2022

Using speculative genres, games propose a horror that lies within debt and the meaningless work meant to assuage it: that rather than being a neat system with a clear path to success, it is instead an unresolvable problem.

An etching of Boston harbor during the Great Boston Fire of 1872.

Boston is Burning!

By Justin Reeve • May 5th, 2022

Many of the structures were too tall to reach by fire ladder and there wasn’t enough water pressure in the fire hoses to put out the flames on some of the rooftops.

A sepia photograph of seven men in coats and hats standing on a temporary ramp ascending to the top of the still under-construction Brooklyn Bridge.

As the Sea-Gull Flies

By Emily Price • May 4th, 2022

The success of the Met in the last few months has inspired a new museum that has opened in our very own South Brooklyn: The Sea-Gull Gallery, a two-story establishment not five blocks from our offices.

A grainy sepia photograph of the windows on a New Jersey apartment building.

Meet the Met!

By Matt Marrone • April 29th, 2022

While no one would mistake the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a restaurant or trading post, its moniker lacks a certain. . . flair.

A sepia-toned pen and ink lithograph of three men each looking into an arm of a tripod microscope

We Should Pay Attention to Germ Theory!

By Rob Rich • April 28th, 2022

Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch have an interesting theory about sickness, and we should start paying attention.

Letter from the Editor

Unwinnable Monthly – April 1872

By David Shimomura • April 15th, 2022

A trip down memory lane for this special milestone!

The Heavy Pour

A line drawing of a girl in cutoff jean shorts and sneakers hanging upside down from a large tree branch. She is beaming.

Extra Lives

By Sara Clemens • April 5th, 2022

I can hunch over Electronic Gaming Monthly in the magazine aisle and pretend to be another angsty videogame geek. Everyone knows those are boys.

Rookie of the Year

A close-up on a bowl of cornflakes. A single slivered almond features prominently.

How to Play ‘Crunch of the Day’

By Matt Marrone • April 1st, 2022

Matt dishes the deets on the newest breakfast game sweeping the nation.

Here's the Thing

A still from The Secret of NIMH featuring Mrs. Brisby looking worried. She is a light brown field mouse with large eyes. She wears a red cloak.

I Used to be That Guy

By Rob Rich • March 14th, 2022

Rob talks a bit about the type of person he used to be, and why he’s glad things have changed.

Another Look

In a browned-out videogame screen, a soldier in fatigues faces off against two mud-colored tanks.

Killing My People

By Yussef Cole • March 4th, 2022

My mother once walked in on my brother and I playing a PlayStation game called SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs. She interrupted our session, asking why we were “killing our people?”

Collision Detection