Unwinnable Monthly – March 2026

This is a reprint of the letter from the editor in Unwinnable Monthly Issue 197. You can buy Issue 197 now, or purchase a monthly subscription to make sure you never miss an issue!

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Dear Reader,

With the Final Fantasy theme issue just on the horizon, I wanted to push our year-long subscription drive one more time. That we do these weird theme issues at all is a testament to your commitment to our little venture and a vote of confidence in what we’ve been doing every day since we launched. Thank you. Can’t wait for you to see what’s coming.

This month we’re featuring vehemently and a conversation on S.T.A.L.K.E.R., with cover art by Nick Tofani.

For our normal rogues we’ve got Elijah Beahm absolutely reading a book with pictures. Jay Castello builds a super rickety boat at the end of the world. Maddi Chilton does a weird Rob Rich impression, writes about books instead. Amanda Hudgins goes in(nie) on the greater 90 Day-iverse. Emma Kostopolus tests the boundaries of adaptation, taste and film. Matthew Marrone smashes stuff up and yells banana. Natasha Ochshorn goes HAM-net. Emily Price downloaded a bunch of demos, played some of them, wasn’t able to run one, it’s kind of a lot. Justin Reeve adventures in the big empty world. Rob Rich puts a big traditional style lightbulb over his head, pulls the little string, gets it to turn on. Levi Rubeck wakes up after 1000 years on a weird planet overrun by robots and griefers.

I’ll keep it brief and let you get onto the good stuff. If you think we really do cool work here, share us with a friend and maybe they’ll become a subscriber (send them this link). Help us find new readers so we can keep doing this for as long as it’s fun for everyone involved.

David Shimomura

Chicago, IL

March 13, 2026