Letters from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – June 2022 By David Shimomura • June 17th, 2022 New month, new decade…sort of.
Self-Insert Berklie Novak-Stolz Is Happy to Be “Cringe” By Amanda Hudgins • June 15th, 2022 An interview with the TikTok creator and fandom enthusiast.
Nonhuman Meditations Dreaming of Dream Land By Alyssa Wejebe • June 14th, 2022 Alyssa remembers the time she shapeshifted into a bunch of creatures and decimated an airship with her brothers before escaping on a sentient cyclops wheel.
Here's the Thing Let’s Talk About The Story of No Man’s Sky By Rob Rich • June 10th, 2022 Rob’s been spending a lot of time with No Man’s Sky lately and was genuinely surprised by its story. Yes, there’s a story.
Forms in Light Fair and Square By Justin Reeve • June 9th, 2022 Plenty of games have been set in Egypt, Iraq and even China, but few have taken place in India. Why has the Indus Valley Civilization been so badly ignored?
Casting Deep Meteo A Contender for Cultish Adoration By Levi Rubeck • June 8th, 2022 The vibe of The Anacrusis is Star Trek lined with Austin Powers – polymer one-piece uniforms meets chalk-candy make-up and analog design.
The Heavy Pour What to Do for Dinner By Sara Clemens • June 7th, 2022 Some people make decisions like *that.*
Another Look 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.
Collision Detection Passion and Generosity in the Vision of Gran Turismo By Ben Sailer • June 2nd, 2022 Gran Turismo 7 has been criticized for greedy microtransactions. The spirit of its creative vision, however, is more generous than its commercial aspirations.
Past Presence 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.
Eyeing Elsewhere Something in the Way By Phillip Russell • May 30th, 2022 In The Batman we’re presented with a caped crusader who is an extension of the police – he isn’t just a nocturnal animal prowling the streets for crime, he’s their nocturnal animal.
Dead Mall By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 30th, 2022 It’s just an abandoned mall, what’s the worst that could happen?
The Beat Box Noteworthy Hip Hop – May 2022 By Noah Springer • May 27th, 2022 In anticipation of Kendrick Lamar dropping his first album in five years this month, some of the top rappers in the game decided to put on a hip hop clinic.
Revving the Engine Network Effects By Phoenix Simms • May 26th, 2022 Pull Stay is personal, pulling from solo developer Nito Souji’s experience as a hikikomori, his unique sense of humor and his favorite genre of beat ‘em ups.
Feature Excerpt Why Aren’t There Treasure Chests in Demon’s Souls? By Jon Thumas • May 25th, 2022 Not having treasure chests is a provocative decision for a Japanese action RPG to have made in 2009, but it was far from a transgressive one.
Feature Excerpt Cyberpunk 2077 is a Haunted House By Alma Roda-Gil • May 24th, 2022 Just because death permeates Night City doesn’t mean it’s a privilege afforded to everyone.
Central Casting By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 23rd, 2022 Tired of rolling dice for the same old characters? Add some unexpected zip with the Central Casting books!
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – May 2022 By David Shimomura • May 18th, 2022 New Columnist Alert!!
Borderlands By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 16th, 2022 In which our heroes find a good job, with good benefits and decent lodging.
A Fool’s Cap and a Plate of Ice Cream By Peter Newell and Sara Clemens • May 11th, 2022 Better a witty fool than a foolish wit!
The Mary Celeste By Deirdre Coyle • May 10th, 2022 I watched the 1935 thriller The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (released in the U.S. as Phantom Ship). I took notes while watching, which include helpful annotations like “what is even happening” and “yikes this is racist.”
Dread By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 9th, 2022 Just pull one block out. What’s the worst that could happen?
The Mysteries of Motorsport By Ben Sailer • May 6th, 2022 A melon farmer accidentally falls into a time warp and is commissioned to produce words on a popular videogame by the insatiable content overlords of Unwinnable Monthly LLC.
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.
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.
Kings of the Cable: The British Chess Association Festival of 1872 By Levi Rubeck • May 3rd, 2022 With more players gaining proficiency with pawns and rooks and bishops by the day, a hunger has emerged – the people cry out for more games, more analysis and more rivalry!
Exploits Feature Almost Ready to Face the Present By Levi Rubeck • May 2nd, 2022 Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence has reminded us that we are more resilient than we often believe ourselves to be.
Players Handbook Rerun By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • May 2nd, 2022 What revelations lurk behind the idol of Moloch, within the pages of the first edition Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook?
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.
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.
A Near Miss for International Communication and Progress! By Phoenix Simms • April 27th, 2022 We have never been more aware that a man is a social creature and part of a very large web of interconnections in this world!
Sigurd Springer’s Music Box By Noah Springer • April 26th, 2022 In correspondence from a temporarily quiet battlefield, Private First Class Sigurd Springer writes on the premier melodians of 1872.
The Fantasy Trip By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • April 25th, 2022 That’s over the river and through the woods, right?
More Like Gilga-meh! By Stu Horvath • April 21st, 2022 This supposed epic, this paradigm-shifting piece of literature, is just another flood myth! Do you know how many flood myths we already have lying around?