How do I figure out which couch co-op games are right for my relationship?
"It Takes Two started off well with amazing puzzles and an interesting approach. But the story of a fighting couple on the verge of divorce was brutal"
How do I figure out which couch co-op games are right for my relationship?
"It Takes Two started off well with amazing puzzles and an interesting approach. But the story of a fighting couple on the verge of divorce was brutal"
Big Walk sound designer Em Halberstadt on capturing its wild Australian soundscape
A conversation about birdsong, Wilson's Promontory, and being quiet
Sitting the month: Playing Röki with my mother after giving birth
A story of the ways long-held traditions can still surprise us and reveal us to one another
Latest
I don't know if I want to meet Laufey
After playing God of War in the wake of my mother's death, I'm not sure I'm ready to move forward
This cyberpunk mystery hooked me with its cast of baddies and poker-inspired gameplay
“It surprised me when we started getting eyes on the game, and people would bring up the cast’s number of women, or that we depict queer people… Like, isn’t this just how the world is?"
How Animal Crossing helped me swim to sobriety
Searching for meaning in the ocean and inside of trees
What if a rage room made you feel like a jerk
"Virtue and a Sledgehammer," from the developers of "Gods Will Be Watching," eggs you on toward destruction even as it asks you to think about why
I didn't expect to process my grief as a pig farting rainbows, but Split Fiction had other plans
Zoe and Mio's friendship helped me see shades of gray in how I express my grief
Dear Mother
What's in the feminist games canon?
It's complicated! But here are some recs from our regular contributors
Where are the games set outside of the US, UK, and Japan?
I, too, long for a game that captures the feeling of traipsing through Aotearoa's subtropical wonderland
Indie
In conversation with Alexis Sara, Nebula Award-winning writer of Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Sara opens up about “minority soup,” queer motherhood, and her work on the upcoming expansion
Spirit Swap makes queer softness magical
Soft Not Weak's match-3 game has a simple premise and hidden depths
Consume Me dev Jenny Jiao Hsia rejects glow-up culture
It’s no coincidence that Hsia encountered "looksmaxxing" content while promoting the game.
Discopup is a Lynchian deconstruction of the club and the city
Trying to get by as a seal in a dog's world? Tougher, and more poignant, than you might think.
Q&A
In conversation with Alexis Sara, Nebula Award-winning writer of Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Sara opens up about “minority soup,” queer motherhood, and her work on the upcoming expansion
In conversation with Dungeon Bitches creator Emily Allen
"What if you could respond to that guy catcalling you by shooting him? And what kind of person would you be if that were how you were living?"
In conversation with Leftist Gamer Memes
What LGM hopes to accomplish with her meme page, from developing a game to funding mutual aid
Irene Koh's Angel Arcade is about the fighting game community, emphasis on community
Koh's new webcomic is inspired by the local Guilty Gear community they founded
Cozy
Worrying about your Nintendogs is totally normal according to psychology
Plus, we talk to the TikTok creator adopting abandoned Nintendogs cartridges
Tomodachi Life is my new favorite fanfic idea generator
I gave Aerith a botany book and now she holds gatherings to rant about how you can’t have gardening without “God.”
Our favorite cozy games (for now)
All the games I'm playing right now that center empathy, kindness, friendship, and satisfying gameplay.
Horror
In Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, women are the enemy
The game pretty much speedruns all the horror tropes for women — damsel in distress, fridging, and the hag
Playing old Nancy Drew games as a gothic heroine
Its gameplay even replicates the form many gothic novels take: the epistolary.
Resident Evil: Requiem has left its aging heroines behind
Female characters over age 40 have been relegated to the sidelines
You know what, Resident Evil: Requiem? Fatness isn't scary
Body shape shouldn't be a punchline either, by the way
Metroid
“Disobedience will not be tolerated”: On linearity, subservience and feminine agency in Metroid Dread
“You have followed my instructions faithfully thus far. Continue to do so.”
'Any objections, Lady?': On linearity, subservience and feminine agency in Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Other M
“Understood, Adam. No objections, of course.”
How vaginal imagery in Metroid Prime 4 redefines Samus — and why it matters for shooters
Yonic architecture is a constant, from the moment the player is given control of Samus until the very end.
