Boen Wang

Both Flesh and Not

Both Flesh and Not

In a sense, the player and the game are two parts of one unit. Physical meets digital, and flesh meets pixels.

Unwinnable: Games About Anxiety

In ‘Duskers’, Knowledge Is the Most Important Resource of All

In ‘Duskers’, Knowledge Is the Most Important Resource of All

There are no good choices in Duskers, as the game constantly forces you to work with limited resources and, more importantly, with limited knowledge.
Live, Kill, Repeat: Morality and Quicksaves

Live, Kill, Repeat: Morality and Quicksaves

If you can erase all your actions with the press of a button, why not experiment?
‘The Minims’ Frustrates Rather Than Charms

‘The Minims’ Frustrates Rather Than Charms

I’m glad The Minims exists, though unfortunately I can’t say that I enjoyed my time with it.
Difficulty As Tone in ‘Hyper Light Drifter’

Difficulty As Tone in ‘Hyper Light Drifter’

Hyper Light Drifter creates a certain tone -- melancholy resignation mixed with a feeling of just barely scraping by -- that wouldn’t be possible in an easier game.
‘The Winter’ Leaves Its Viewers Feeling Cold

‘The Winter’ Leaves Its Viewers Feeling Cold

The Winter is not a ghost story, or a love story, or a horror story: it's a black hole of disengagement.

Person to Person: Reading People Through Video Games

‘Samorost 3’ Is a Game About Observation and Interpretation

On the Fatal Inertia in ‘ADR1FT’

On the Fatal Inertia in ‘ADR1FT’

After an intriguing opening, I found myself frustrated with how strong the concept of the game is compared to the game itself.
Stories We Tell

Stories We Tell

You know the story. You’ve lived the story, and you're destined to relive it again and again.

Learning to Breathe