Feature Excerpt AI is Advancing Rapidly – The Outer Worlds Tells Us Why That’s Bad By Mira Lazine • September 21st, 2023 The Outer Worlds gives us insight into what it’s like to live in a society run exclusively by corporations, but it also gives us insight into what it’s like to live in a world dominated by AI.
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – September 2023 By David Shimomura • September 18th, 2023 Remember remember, the 21st night of September.
Video Game of the Year By Noah Springer • September 15th, 2023 “…an inviting look into the history of the genre since Pong popped into people’s homes all the way back in 1977.”
Here's the Thing I’m Finally Going to Therapy By Rob Rich • September 15th, 2023 Therapy (and mental health in general, really) is still something of a taboo in our society, but now that Rob’s finally started going himself he’s started to realize how ridiculous that is.
Forms in Light Finding Lost Santos By Justin Reeve • September 14th, 2023 Carrying out a detailed comparison of GTA5’s Los Santos and Los Angeles through the lens of Michel Foucault sheds light on the intricate interplay between space, place, social order and power.
Noah's Beat Box An Adult Critique of Books for Children By Noah Springer • September 13th, 2023 You know what doesn’t get enough hate in Noah’s opinion? Children’s books.
Rookie of the Year The Newport Pork Festival By Matt Marrone • September 12th, 2023 Matt joins the 10-Timers Club at the Newport Folk Festival and is rewarded with a tasty treat.
The Burnt Offering The Music and the Dice By Stu Horvath • September 11th, 2023 Like any live performance, a tabletop roleplaying game’s greatest power resides in the moment, experiencing the event as it happens.
Barkeep on the Borderlands By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • September 11th, 2023 Pull up a stool and name your poison!
Interlinked Squall is Extradimensional By Phoenix Simms • September 8th, 2023 When Laguna knew Squall and his allies were there but felt they were like faeries hovering in the ether unseen, wasn’t that what early encounters on forums and instant chat services felt like?
Here Be Monsters We Can’t Get Out Without Talking About Slenderman By Emma Kostopolus • September 7th, 2023 Born of a 2009 creepypasta and culminating in the 2014 violent assault of a twelve-year-old girl by two classmates, Slenderman was largely responsible for a digital Satanic Panic in miniature.
Mind Palaces Architectural Intent By Maddi Chilton • September 6th, 2023 For a book that is nominally about the hubristic imaginings of a genius architect, Rose/House seems to have no actual interest in architecture.
Self-Insert Mafia By Amanda Hudgins • September 5th, 2023 KinnPorsche is probably the best example of the mafia alternative universe aesthetic. Everyone is beautiful and darkly dressed and prone to drinking and smoking in dark rooms.
Bloodsport Gambler By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • September 4th, 2023 Surely there are easier ways to get out of debt?
Exploits Feature Freaks By Dr. Dobermind • September 1st, 2023 “You laughed at them, shuddered at them. And, yet, but for the accident of birth, you might be one as they are.”
Past Presence Object Lessons #1: Field By Emily Price • August 31st, 2023 Are fields a stage for action to take place on, or are they the action themselves?
Run It Back 1982 By Oluwatayo Adewole • August 30th, 2023 This month we step on over to 1982 to discuss two films which tell the stories of a Black relationship on each side of the Atlantic.
Noise Complaint Nu-Metal Might Be Good, Actually? By Ben Sailer • August 29th, 2023 Ben recalls a time he talked shit about a Korn cover band and is forced into several personal epiphanies.
The Arkham Investigator’s Wallet By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 28th, 2023 The coolest wallet you’ve ever seen.
Funeral Rites Inventing a World of Insectoid Wonders By Justin Reeve • August 25th, 2023 We delve into the mind of creator Eduardo Carabaño, exploring the history, philosophy, inspirations and design processes that carried Settlers of a Dead God from inception to publication.
Feature Story Spacemen & Dinosaurs By David Busboom • August 24th, 2023 Interplanetary explorers have been encountering dinosaurs or dinosaur-like creatures in fiction for more than a century.
Feature Excerpt Odes of the Boomershooter By Holly Boson • August 23rd, 2023 “If we’re entering an age of renewed zeal for nu-metal, I think Slayers X deserves to be mentioned within the first breaths of the conversation.”
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – August 2023 By David Shimomura • August 21st, 2023 New favorite genre alert.
Swordthrust By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 21st, 2023 Climb into the Titan’s brain and fight his dreams!
Here's the Thing Enough With The “Alien” Comparisons By Rob Rich • August 16th, 2023 Most modern sci-fi horror movies that involve a monster (or monsters) wind up being compared to Alien, which Rob thinks is a load of bull.
Forms in Light Hidden Assumptions By Justin Reeve • August 15th, 2023 Cities: Skylines and Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic provide unique experiences in urban planning and resource management while representing completely different political economies.
Tony DiTerlizzi Interview (Remastered) By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 14th, 2023 No time to record this week, so its a rerun for you!
Noah's Beat Box How I Learned to Stop Hating and Love Vanderpump Rules By Noah Springer • August 11th, 2023 “The Beat Box” is rebranding to “Noah’s Beat Box.”
Casting Deep Meteo Why Does it Hurt By Levi Rubeck • August 10th, 2023 Singer, guitarist and illustrator as well as a devoted friend, uncle, brother and more, Rick Froberg’s contributions to music and art have rippled across the world.
Exploits Feature Playable Campaigns By Toby Jaffe • August 9th, 2023 I cannot imagine anything as alien in 2023 as conceptualizing politics as fun.
Area of Effect Space in Space By Jay Castello • August 9th, 2023 Mars First Logistics being about delivery, moving through the open world becomes something very deliberate, rather than feeling like an accident with, at best, an improvised solution.
Rookie of the Year Off Switch By Matt Marrone • August 8th, 2023 We were all going on a fast. A screen fast. No iPads, no Nintendo, very limited television, for the next three weeks.
Champions By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 7th, 2023 Grab your cape, but only throw on the Queen song if you absolutely must!
Interlinked Uprooting Time By Phoenix Simms • August 4th, 2023 Déraciné is an interesting rumination on what makes game narratives convincing, but it’s also a game that effectively communicates EcoGothic fears of being at the mercy of nature.
Noise Complaint 12 Records I’ve Made the Time to Listen to So Far in 2023 By Ben Sailer • August 3rd, 2023 Feeling that 2023 is flying by too quickly, Ben stops to reflect on the music that has provided his soundtrack for the year to date.
Here Be Monsters The Unsettling Mindfulness of Horror By Emma Kostopolus • August 2nd, 2023 To succeed in a survival horror experience, mindfulness is an incredibly helpful tool.
Exploits Feature The Batman Problem By Jeremy Greco • August 1st, 2023 In a game set in Gotham City, why would a player ever want to be anyone other than Batman?
The Monster Overhaul By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • July 31st, 2023 Not just another monster book!
This Mortal Coyle KJ from Life After Magic By Deirdre Coyle • July 28th, 2023 “There’s a bunch of different subcultures under the punk and goth umbrellas. Doesn’t always have to be about wearing black and being angry.”