Ice Pick Lodge’s newest release seems cozy but has more underneath the surface — I recently went out to dinner with two friends. It was the first time we’d be meeting in around two years. The three of us lived in the same building when we were kids. We went to school together. We played together every day. We grew up together. Like most…

Vampire semi-erotica, a hockey team of teenage witches, one of the worst books I’ve ever read, and more. — 1. From Blood And Ash, 2. A Kingdom Of Flesh And Fire — Jennifer L. Armentrout (3/5) 2022 began on an inauspicious note for me. About two days into the year, I fell ill, and it turned out to be COVID-19. In those early days, I had a 103-degree fever and the debilitating weakness and hazy sense of unreality that accompanies a high fever. …

A game that lets you gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss to your heart’s content — 2021 was not a bountiful year in gaming for me. I’d keep picking up games, playing them for a few hours, but then not touch them for really long stretches of time. They’re there every time I open up my Steam — haunting me. One day, I swear I will…

The good, the bad, the embarrassing — A few years ago, while hanging out at a friend’s house, people began discussing Disney movies, specifically their favourite ones growing up. When it was my turn to share my favourite Disney movie, I answered with Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. People were rightfully taken aback. I took…

I read a lot of books this year. I read more books this year than I’ve read since before I was introduced to the internet. I read different types of books this year: literary fiction with a focus on alienated female characters where the plot takes a backseat, history/culture-based non-fiction…

Two games. Two finales. One day. — If you were a fan of narrative-driven episodic adventure games where choices mattered in the mid-2010s, chances are that October 20th 2015 was a big day for you. That was the day that Telltale’s Tales From The Borderlands would release ‘Vault Of The Traveler’ the game’s fifth and final episode…

A spoiler-heavy discussion of one of gaming’s best endings — Outer Wilds is an exploration-heavy game with environmental puzzle-solving elements in which the player character explores their small solar system and slowly uncovers a mystery to solve. It’s really difficult to talk about this game because it is so heavily based on discovery and putting together figurative puzzle pieces that…

The significance of the design style in video games — The best thing about Arkane Studio’s immersive sim Prey (2017) is Talos I, the space station in which the game is set. More than any of the human characters, the station itself is easily the most memorable thing about the game. The levels have been designed with a great deal…

How Pathologic 2 integrates story and game mechanics seamlessly — Pathologic 2. It’s a weird game: simultaneously a sequel and a reboot of the first Pathologic. Everything about the game’s setting ranges from ‘slightly off’ to ‘impossible glowing tower floating above the town’. There’s a Rat Prophet. …