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FeatureDungeons & Dragons helped me appreciate narrative game design
The dungeon master and Margarita.
FeatureAfter I stepped into Yakuza's world, Yakuza's world seeped into mine
Travel and memory as the real meets the virtual.
FeatureWe are living in a new golden age of video game music
Child of leitmotif.
FeatureEdith Finch and finding meaning in materialism
First-person possessive.
Seeing as it's fresh from winning the Best Game award at this year's Baftas, we thought it might be a nice moment to return to What Remains of Edith Finch and take another look at a few of the things that make it so very special.
We will never know how my life could have gone had I never been introduced to mobile puzzle games. Over the persistent draw of just one more round, assignments were left unfinished, books unread and emails unanswered. I spent endless hours of procrastination determined to prove that I had the smarts it took to solve games that wanted me for my brain and not my reflexes. Even though I've since moved to YouTube as my favourite method of procrastination, Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle makes it clear that deep down I haven't changed.
FeatureVideo game romance is broken
A look at love, from Dream Daddy to Mass Effect.
Florence, a short mobile game by the developer Mountains, covers more ground on the topic of romantic love in under an hour than most games have for decades. It does so by focusing on a few small watershed moments of being in love, from developing an interest in someone to the pleasures and hurdles of domestic co-existence to letting go of a relationship that no longer works.
FeatureHow video game heroes struggle with their identities
The hero's journey.
Mario is a simple guy. He wears overalls and a spiffy cap. He's got a brother and a couple of close friends. He can run fast and jump high. In his various quests to save princess Peach, he makes use of all of these attributes and relationships, yet none of them tell us anything about who Mario really is.
