Dear Sidequest readers,
When Women Write About Comics was founded in 2011, no one expected it to become Bleating Heart Blogs, a group of over one hundred volunteer writers and editors branching beyond comics into zines, books, movies, television, and games. In November, the gaming section branched into a sister site called Sidequest. Now, we’re delighted to say that we’re spreading our draconian wings to venture out on our own.
Sidequest was born out of a desire to center the voices of all women and all non-binary people in the conversation about games. We chose that name because we’re not aiming to be the main story; we embrace the strange, the unconventional, the texture and flavor that make the world rich and lively. We like the side-stories, the supplemental material and codex entries that enrich our understanding of the fictional spaces we inhabit. We want to look at games sideways, upside-down, and in slow motion, shining a light on the things others might miss. We talk about them both as individuals and as a community, because to us, games are personal.
“Our goal is to become a corner of the internet you turn to for coverage that mainstream publications won’t give you.”
Readers turn to Sidequest not for our AAA reviews or hot takes on the latest scandal, but because our coverage is thoughtful, intersectional, and boundary-pushing. We’re as happy to cover the latest gaming news through a feminist lens as we are to explore the damaging and positive ways games portray mental health. Our chats with developers let us ask questions about how identity influences narrative or why a certain choice was made. Covering indie games as well as mainstream ones means we can shine the spotlight on games you might not have heard of before.
And not to toot our own horn, but we’ve got the best contributors the gaming community has to offer. They’ve written poems about humanity, essays about depression, analyses of racism, and more. Many of our writers started out as readers like you, and we’re thrilled that they reached out to tell us what they think about the games in their lives.
We’re planning lots of great things, from a newsletter to a Patreon to compensate our incredible writers. We’ll hold regular streams over at our Twitch account, monthly Twitter chats, and might even start a podcast. Best of all, you’ll be able to follow along with us as we grow into our own.
As Sidequest was born as a part of the BHB family, we’ll continue to support and advocate for each other’s contribution to intersectional pop culture criticism even as separate sites. Ultimately, our goal is to become a corner of the internet you turn to for coverage that mainstream publications won’t give you, just like the rest of BHB. We couldn’t have done it without their support.
Welcome to Sidequest, the earnest (yet somewhat creepy) gaming site you didn’t know you were searching for. Thanks for joining us.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Melissa Brinks, Editor In Chief
Naseem Jamnia, Managing Editor
Soco Cinconegui, Assistant Editor
Sidequest’s former managing editor Naseem Jamnia used to do sciencey things, but they now slam their keyboard and call it art. Their debut novella, THE BRUISING OF QILWA, introduced their queernorm, Persian-inspired secondary world; their middle grade horror debut SLEEPAWAY comes out in 2025.
Recent Comments