Self-Insert Hurt/Comfort By Amanda Hudgins • August 2nd, 2022 Hurt/Comfort is what it says on the tin – a character is hurt, so they must be comforted.
The Beat Box The Beat Box – DOOM By Noah Springer • July 29th, 2022 Bouncing around microchips as a micro-man or walking around a 2D dungeon, rolling hits on a gelatinous blob felt like child’s play to the splattering gore of Doom.
Revving the Engine Happy Place By Melissa King • July 28th, 2022 The co-founders of Bluecurse Studios, wife and husband Erisa Liu and Jordan Gonzalez, want to give you a cozy digital getaway – their upcoming game, Snacko.
Feature Excerpt Misremembering DOOM By Ben Sailer • July 27th, 2022 In this revised reprint from 2018, Ben revisits the SNES version of DOOM, and destroys part of his childhood in the process.
Feature Excerpt Blue Keys on a Red Planet By Hilver • July 26th, 2022 An excerpt from Hilver’s cover story for our special all-DOOM edition of Unwinnable Monthly.
Feature Story DOOM Retrospective By David Shimomura • July 25th, 2022 DOOM didn’t invent the first-person shooter. But DOOM did invent the Doomclone. Without DOOM are we certain we’d see the advent of so many imitators?
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – July 2022 By David Shimomura • July 17th, 2022 We ripped and tore and this is what was done.
Nonhuman Meditations Do Robots Feast on Electric Sheep? By Alyssa Wejebe • July 8th, 2022 Alyssa looks back on robotic energy vampire NOS-4-A2 from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
Here's the Thing It’s Been Ten Years By Rob Rich • July 7th, 2022 Rob thinks back on how he got started writing, and where it’s gone over the past decade.
Forms in Light Body and Mind By Justin Reeve • July 6th, 2022 Similar to colleges around the world today, gymnasiums in ancient Greece were public institutions where young adults were offered various forms of training.
Always Autumn …the History of Me By Autumn Wright • July 5th, 2022 I was merely a college graduate dropped into a crippled market and a housing crisis, fleeing towards the suburbs of south Florida. It was not the land, but myself that felt alien.
Casting Deep Meteo One Ring to Forgive Them All By Levi Rubeck • July 1st, 2022 The epic tale of the most expensive mistake Levi would definitely make again.
Interlinked Retracing My Writer’s Statement By Phoenix Simms • June 30th, 2022 For this Unwinnaversary Phoenix compares her past writer’s statement/interests to her current state of affairs.
Collision Detection Some Thoughts on Independent Games and Media By Ben Sailer • June 29th, 2022 As Unwinnable celebrates its tenth (twelfth) trip around the sun, Ben looks back on the developments and decisions that led him to this point.
Past Presence Anything By Emily Price • June 28th, 2022 A large part of being a good critic is being able to be sincere. And part of that sincerity is admitting that sometimes, you just like what you like.
The Beat Box Noteworthy Hip Hop – A Kendrick Lamar Retrospective By Noah Springer • June 24th, 2022 Coupling Kendrick Lamar’s recent album release and Unwinnable’s tenth+ year, Noah charts the critically acclaimed rapper’s rise over the 2010s.
Revving the Engine The Accessible Soul of Thymesia By Ben Sailer • June 23rd, 2022 OverBorder Studio’s Epic MegaGrants-winning action-RPG Thymesia offers new twists on a tested formula for alchemical hack-and-slashery.
Feature Story A Chat With the Publisher By David Shimomura • June 22nd, 2022 Editor in chief David Shimomura sits down with Publisher Stu Horvath to reflect on the state of Unwinnable past and present.
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.
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.
Letter from the Editor Unwinnable Monthly – May 2022 By David Shimomura • May 18th, 2022 New Columnist Alert!!
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.”
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.