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Author: Jeremy Signor

Light Four Torches

By Jeremy Signor • April 29th, 2020

Sometimes we take game design for granted, and miss that a lot of it is nonsense to many on the outside looking in.

Murder By Numbers’ Thorny Queer Politics

By Jeremy Signor • April 15th, 2020

Murder By Numbers makes an attempt at making queer people both visible and respected. It only partially accomplishes this.

Animal Crossing and Queer Agency

By Jeremy Signor • April 2nd, 2020

Animal Crossing gives queer folks the kind of agency they may not have in the real world.

an off road vehicle looking out over a vista.

Archipelago America

By Jeremy Signor • March 25th, 2020

Video games give us a window into how the US is structured, how it isolates us, and how we can connect.

Vanquish and the Joy of Movement

By Jeremy Signor • March 18th, 2020

Speed in games makes us crave that adrenaline rush we get when we go fast. Vanquish captures the joy of locomotion and the thrill of velocity.

Good Grades

By Jeremy Signor • March 11th, 2020

Grading systems in games are more than about showing the player how well they’re doing. They also plant the seed for expanding the possibilities available.

four men playing musical instruments in silhouette.

Look For Me Under Your Bootsoles

By Jeremy Signor • February 26th, 2020

We all have things that are haunting us. What matters is how we move forward together.

A gun floating in a room diffuse with purple light.

PAGAN: Autogeny and Queering Online Spaces

By Jeremy Signor • February 12th, 2020

Queer people have to fight to exist. Sometimes, that means queering something that was never meant to be queered.

A crew of people in a purple lit arcade.

The Beautiful Lies of 198X

By Jeremy Signor • January 29th, 2020

Video games let us escape our lives and give us fake victories that have no bearing on reality. But there’s power in the lie.

Strange Flesh and Making A Gay Man Whole

By Jeremy Signor • January 22nd, 2020

Repressed gay men can experience a second sexual awakening after beginning to accept oneself, and a completion of their whole being comes along with it.

Queer Representation Needs More than a Past

By Jeremy Signor • January 15th, 2020

Queer representation doesn’t mean tacked-on queer pasts for characters. Queer representation means understanding that queer people have a present, too.

A photo of the set up for Arena

Losing the Magic with Arena

By Jeremy Signor • December 20th, 2019

In pushing so hard for a piece of the eSports pie, Magic Arena neglects the community that is the heart and soul of the game.

Pathologic 2 and the Anatomy of a Metaphor

By Jeremy Signor • December 12th, 2019

Games can come to life where metaphor, mythology, and mechanics intertwine.

Our Gardens

By Jeremy Signor • December 4th, 2019

When we as players interact with the frameworks that developers give us, the tangible result becomes like a garden cultivated by both.

Fallout 3, The Outer Worlds, and the Megaton Problem

By Jeremy Signor • November 22nd, 2019

Binary choices in games persist today even as RPGs get more and more open. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium and Finding the Beauty in a Cynical World

By Jeremy Signor • November 6th, 2019

Initially unbearably cynical and grim, Disco Elysium asks you to find beauty and redemption in your trash fire of a main character through true role playing.

The Joy of Labor in Wilmot’s Warehouse

By Jeremy Signor • October 30th, 2019

Games require labor to work. But the joy we find in labor is what gives games their spark.

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.

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.

Untitled Goose Game Subverts Stealth Gameplay

By Jeremy Signor • October 2nd, 2019

Untitled Goose Game is the most innovative stealth game in years thanks to the subversion of the usual stealth gameplay loop and bold thematic juxtapositions.

Sayonara Wild Hearts Exudes Queer Energy

By Jeremy Signor • September 25th, 2019

Sayonara Wild Hearts is not only a celebration of the queer and feminine in games, but proof that these qualities have been part of the medium all along.

The Platforming Genre That Might Have Been

By Jeremy Signor • September 19th, 2019

We all know how the Metroidvania became the standard for so much of the platforming genre. But what it there was another possibility?

an anime girl lounging tiredly on a stone throne.

On Sincerity and Scheduling

By Jeremy Signor • September 11th, 2019

Anime-inspired games that are built on scheduling like Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Persona appeal to queer people through agency and sheer earnestness.

Eliza Shows Why Human Bias Is Necessary

By Jeremy Signor • August 28th, 2019

Bias is often held up as an obstacle towards impartial decision making. But in reality, it’s the key to the sense of empathy that connects us all.

Feature Excerpt

I Wanna Be Your Dog

By Jeremy Signor • August 22nd, 2019

That awkward moment when giving up your free will to a supercomputer-powered hive mind brings out your inner sub.

Problematic Bodies

By Jeremy Signor • August 21st, 2019

Tired tropes make gay men the butt of way too many jokes in games. But we can find power within the problematic bodies they inhabit.

Queer Cooperation

By Jeremy Signor • August 14th, 2019

Experiences that network queer people together are key to queer survival. That makes games that do that while fostering a sense of cooperation absolutely vital.

Transforming Bodies

By Jeremy Signor • August 1st, 2019

Transformation is oftentimes central to the queer experience. That’s why bodies that represent humanity’s transformative nature are so appealing.

A scene from Persona 5. A character named "Scruffy Romantic" says "we're the fashion police If you don't answer our questions, we'll take you away"

Microaggressions

By Jeremy Signor • July 24th, 2019

The more media takes little swipes at the core of who you are, the more you wonder if you should be consuming it in the first place.

one of the dads from dream daddy holding a baby to his chest and smiling

The Gay Dating Conundrum

By Jeremy Signor • July 17th, 2019

Dating sims are increasingly taking on a queer bent, but few examine the quiet devastation of absence felt by the rural gay.

Bear Bodies

By Jeremy Signor • July 10th, 2019

When representing masculine characters, videogames default to chiseled muscles. But those who fancied different body types still had something to latch onto.

altered beasts

The Homoeroticism of Contra and Altered Beast

By Jeremy Signor • June 26th, 2019

Embracing the homoerotic undertones of video games can help gaymers grapple with their own sexuality.

two non-binary friends playing video games, laughing.

Gaymer Pride

By Jeremy Signor • June 19th, 2019

Identities are great and necessary tools for understanding yourself and establishing communities. But it’s not worth losing yourself to their darker tendencies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Katana ZERO Offers Only Excuses

By Jeremy Signor • May 8th, 2019

For a game that channels Hotline Miami so heavily, Katana ZERO is unusually generous in granting players absolution for their eventual murder spree.

Preserving Ideas with Blaster Master Zero II

By Jeremy Signor • April 24th, 2019

Bold ideas should persevere, but they need room to grow.

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