The Heavy Pour 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.
Invisibility By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • April 4th, 2022 No one can see you: does that make you a monster?
Rookie of the Year 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.
Interlinked Reverse-Engineering a Living Archive By Phoenix Simms • March 31st, 2022 Creative ideas in games, just like politics in games, don’t exist in isolation. Everything is a remix.
Collision Detection Harder Core Than Thou By Ben Sailer • March 30th, 2022 Ben tries to figure out what defines games as hardcore and nearly goes insane.
Past Presence Die, Retrieve, Repeat, Succeed By Emily Price • March 29th, 2022 The Souls series – and in particular, Dark Souls 2 – rewards death in the same breath that it punishes you for it.
Eyeing Elsewhere Taking Up Space By Phillip Russell • March 28th, 2022 Yakuza: Like a Dragon impressively leans into the friction that exists when deploying political statements into its narrative.
Revving the Engine Night in the Museum By Ben Sailer • March 24th, 2022 Mukti is an upcoming first-person narrative adventure title that sheds light on human trafficking and the plight of its survivors.
Feature Excerpt Imagine the Possibilities By Noah Hertz • March 23rd, 2022 How a college course in Second Life taught me everything I needed to know about the Metaverse.
Feature Excerpt Missing Mediocrity By Van Dennis • March 22nd, 2022 The extinction of regular cars in racing games.
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – March 2022 By David Shimomura • March 15th, 2022 Driving games! College classes! Too many exclamation points!
Glorantha By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • March 14th, 2022 Stu’s back on his RuneQuest bullshit again.
Forms in Light Lost Cities By Justin Reeve • March 10th, 2022 Shadow of the Tomb Raider gets a lot wrong about archaeology, but the game at least pokes a hole in the myth of the lost city.
Casting Deep Meteo Impossible Decisions: The Game By Levi Rubeck • March 8th, 2022 As I am not interested in a Mothership experience completely devoid of hope, I presume my players aren’t either. But this isn’t a stroll down candy corn avenue.
King Kong By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • March 7th, 2022 The Eighth Wonder of the World left some surprising marks on D&D.
Friction Burns Weapon Degradation – Or Ephemeral Equipment? By Ruth Cassidy • March 4th, 2022 Does having the specific language to spot a mechanic – or a narrative trope – prime players and critics to see what they know, instead of what they’re experiencing?
Another Look 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 Pressing Pause By Ben Sailer • March 2nd, 2022 Ben gets his year-end wrap-ups from various entertainment services and has an unexpected epiphany.
Exploits Feature The Absurd Pleasures of Atari 2600 Box Art By Alexander B. Joy • February 28th, 2022 Unrepresentative box art once formed a key pillar of classic gaming.
This Mortal Coyle The Witch from Wytchwood By Deirdre Coyle • February 28th, 2022 The main question I have while considering Wytchwood is, why isn’t this my life? Should I acquire a goat companion? Would the goat get along with my cat?
Travellers By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • February 28th, 2022 A quick overview of six and a half versions of Traveller!
Friction Burns Broccoli Dungeon By Ruth Cassidy • February 25th, 2022 I want to come to the defense of challenging art, but I’d found Boyfriend Dungeon to feel too safe.
Interlinked Spiritfarer’s Recipe for Solarpunk By Phoenix Simms • February 23rd, 2022 Spiritfarer is perhaps one of the most authentic solarpunk games out there today.
Revving the Engine Bringing Back the Good Times By Melissa King • February 23rd, 2022 The On3D Studios development team chats about their upcoming indie game D.A.N.G.E.R. Team, an action thriller borrowing its style from classic spy films.
Feature Excerpt Hell is Other Shooters By Andrei Filote • February 22nd, 2022 If we organize our play to prepare for the demands of later life, then is it possible to create a new set of values simply by the games that we choose to play?
Feature Excerpt Comfort in the Abyss By Luke Rotella • February 21st, 2022 My relationship with That Night, Steeped By Blood River.
The Awards By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • February 21st, 2022 You know what kind of sucks? Awards.
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – February 2022 By David Shimomura • February 17th, 2022 February is cold and unforgiving. But we still make a magazine!
Beware of Falling Blocks: The Many Attempts to Translate Tetris to the Tabletop By Orrin Grey • February 10th, 2022 Tetris…board games?
Forms in Light Sekiro’s Floating World By Justin Reeve • February 10th, 2022 Sekiro’s cloud motif likely refers to the “floating world” of the Edo period, which offered many services geared toward samurai and the rising merchant class.
Casting Deep Meteo An Introduction By Levi Rubeck • February 9th, 2022 A word of explanation on the particular alchemy of interests that fascinate and beguile our newest magazine columnist.
Oracles and Stone Giants By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • February 7th, 2022 Ever buy an old RPG box set and find some maps or a character sheet inside?
Another Look My Cousin’s Atari By Yussef Cole • February 4th, 2022 Yussef receives a shock to the system (in more ways than one).
Collision Detection Welcome to the Circus of Value By Ben Sailer • February 2nd, 2022 Ben ponders the absurdity of inflated videogame software and hardware valuations on the used market and nearly has an existential crisis.
Friction Burns For Commander Shepard, Ignorance Is Access By Ruth Cassidy • January 31st, 2022 Shepard’s xenophobia and its invisibility are both tools to give players what they want: as much access to the game’s world as possible, without the social cost.
Hyperfixations The Silent Cartography By Julie Muncy • January 31st, 2022 When it comes to playing through the open world missions of Halo: Infinite, silence is golden.