Prepare to Get Slayed and Played by ‘Vampire Survivors’
Vampire Survivors‘ time-sucking qualities reveal the insidious aspects of the best video games and what players want from them.
video games
The Fun of “No-Fun” in ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’
The creators of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have created a video game worthy of Kant’s maxim, “have the courage to use your own intelligence.”
Horror Video Game ‘Silent Hill’ Explores Dark Paradoxes in Normalcy
Inspired by Japanese Buddhism and American pop culture, the grotesque is a metaphor for normalcy in the horror video game Silent Hill.
Indie Game ‘Best Month Ever!’ Navigates Single Motherhood
Indie game Best Month Ever! challenges players to navigate single motherhood – including illness and low wages – in a ruthless capitalistic and patriarchal society.
How Moebius’ Psychedelic Fantasy / Surrealist Art Influenced Video Games
French artist Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, inspired his peers and mass media. In video games especially, his psychedelic fantasy/surrealist art may live on forever.
Through the Looking-Glass of Black Mirror’s ‘Bandersnatch’
Netflix's interactive movie, Bandersnatch, doesn't really offer choices, but it does offer something else: a warning.
How Does One Condense the World of Video Games into a Mere 64 Objects?
The staff at the World Video Game Hall of Fame have, with great care, winnowed down objects in the medium that they feel best represents the important developments in the history of the video game.
Combating the Trap of Nostalgia in a Look at the Super Nintendo
Dominic Arsenault's Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware cuts through the nostalgia so sharply that it comes off as dismissive, hostile even, at least to someone used to reading the flowery prose of fan literature.
Academic Gamers: Your Assistance with ‘Gaming Representation’ Please
You might care about the concepts raised in Gaming Representation, but you probably won’t be able to understand them.
In ‘Mass Effect’ While You Stare into the RPG, the RPG Stares Back into You
Just as you interrogate your companions and enemies in order to understand them and their worlds, the game reveals itself to have been questioning you. What kind of player are you? What kind of person?