by Melissa Brinks | Oct 31, 2025 | Mobile Games, Postgame, Video Games
Welcome back to Postgame, Sidequest’s monthly-ish podcast where the editors lay down hot takes on cold games. This month, Maddi, Melissa, and Zora tackle six distinct topics by rolling a die and setting a ten minute timer, because why not? Topics include: the price of video games, the end of Polygon as we know it, Epic Games vs. Apple, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Zora’s Dragon Age roleplay, and Belatro.
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by Zainabb Hull | Oct 29, 2025 | News, Video Games
Editor’s note: Due to some behind-the-scenes issues, we’re running a few of our GYGO posts belatedly. Some of this information may be outdated—including the information in our usual calls to action for relief for Palestine. We’re presenting the information as it was originally written, and future posts without this disclaimer will be up-to-date.
Hi friends, this past month has been a particularly rough one, and I’ve been coping with cosy games like A Little to the Left (look, if I’m physically unable to clean in real life at least I can tidy up in my games) and horror films like The Ugly Stepsister. It’s also a great help to have squirrel and bird friends visiting every day, especially at a time when I’m unable to be outside much. This is me encouraging you to put out a bird feeder—they make window-mounted ones now too!
Right now on itch.io, you can get Play for Peace’s Games for Palestine Bundle, which features 383 games and other assets for $8. The bundle aims to raise $200,000 for UNRWA to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza. [Editor’s Note: This bundle is no longer available, but you can still browse the games included. It raised $116,725.88!]
As always, resources for a free Palestine include The Palestine Academy, the Palestinian Feminist Collective’s amazing action toolkit and my own newsletter, Crips for Palestine. If you’re able, please donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians, Many Lands Mutual Aid, or Crips for eSims for Gaza.
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by Cress | Oct 28, 2025 | Essays, Video Games
A decade has passed and I can’t help but feel I haven’t progressed much. It’s not that things were easier in my twenties, but I worry I’ve constantly made poor decisions in the long run. Could I go to the past and get medicated sooner? Take on a Bachelor’s degree instead of just a diploma? Or maybe even change myself and live out a very different life?
Welcome to the world of The Caligula Effect 2’s Redo, a pocket reality where anyone with regret can do their life over in an ideal way. Literally anything can be changed, even the very body you inhabit.
The following contains spoilers for The Caligula Effect 2, and descriptions of dysphoria and sexism that may be triggering to some readers. (more…)
by Melissa Brinks | Oct 22, 2025 | Mobile Games, News, Video Games
Editor’s note: Due to some behind-the-scenes issues, we’re running a few of our GYGO posts belatedly. Some of this information may be outdated—including the information in our usual calls to action for relief for Palestine. We’re presenting the information as it was originally written, and future posts without this disclaimer will be up-to-date.
Welcome to another Wednesday! Not to spoil my own article, but Wednesday is rapidly becoming “wild Roblox news day” around here. Every week, a new fresh hell.
Anyway, when not rounding up mobile games news for y’all like an old-timey cattle rustler, I’ve been exploring NieR: Automata for an upcoming Postgame episode! Just before the second ending, I said, “You know, I think this is actually a very fucking good video game.” So shoutout to everybody who said that eight entire years ago. You were right!
As of writing on August 24, Israel is bombing Gaza as they attempt the military seizure of the region. 51 people are dead as of current reporting, with famine having been confirmed by the World Health Organization on August 22. None of this had to transpire: Israel has made the choice to bomb the region and withhold aid, leaving Palestinians starving as their city is bombed. It is our duty as residents of the countries who finance these atrocities—thinking of myself here in the United States, but also residents of Canada, France, Germany, and many other countries worldwide—to invest what time, effort, and money we have to end the war. Call your representatives. Participate in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Donate. Learn. Believe in a free Palestine, not someday in the future, but here and now, and work to make it so.
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by Melissa Brinks | Oct 20, 2025 | Features, Reviews, Video Games
I think it comes as no surprise that I was a teacher’s pet in school. Not by choice—in fact, I had the great misfortune of being friends with teachers’ daughters multiple times, which meant that when their mothers praised me, it turned into a competition. But I’ve always loved to learn, to be challenged, to raise my hand and say something that earns me praise.
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by Kathryn Hemmann | Oct 15, 2025 | Features, Lists, Video Games
Shadows linger a little longer in October, and Halloween is the perfect excuse to dim the lights, grab some headphones, and delve into the eerie world of indie retro horror. The grainy textures and lo-fi soundtracks of retro games summon an uncanny atmosphere that can make you feel like you’ve unearthed something cursed from the back of the closet, and Itch.io is overflowing with free-to-play titles that capture this nostalgic feeling of dread. In honor of spooky season, dust off your haunted CRT monitor and plug into these short but chilling retro-inspired indie horror games.
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by Andrei Filote | Aug 19, 2025 | Essays, Opinion, Video Games
It is just and beautiful for friends to part when life, as it always does, presents a fork in the road. When that moment comes, we will not call it a betrayal, nor will we beat our breasts and howl, nor will we pretend that everything will be the same. No, we will feel something precious when we say goodbye, for the joy of having known each other will be proven in the bittersweetness of our parting. (more…)
by Zainabb Hull | Aug 6, 2025 | News, Video Games
Hello folks, time once again to spend some time looking at race and racism-related news in gaming while I wait to download the latest The Sims 4 update. Before we descend into the news, you can help push back against racism in real life by supporting the No ICE in California Bundle on itch.io, which runs until August 11. The bundle contains 560 games, comics, and other items for $10, with all proceeds donated to Immigrant Defenders Law Center and RAICES, two migrant rights organisations in the US.
As always, resources for a free Palestine include The Palestine Academy, the Palestinian Feminist Collective’s amazing action toolkit and my own newsletter, Crips for Palestine. If you’re able, please donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians or Crips for eSims for Gaza. (more…)
by Kathryn Hemmann | Aug 4, 2025 | Essays, Features, Video Games
Deltarune is, among other things, a game about remembering how to have fun.
Despite its convoluted lore, the conceit of Deltarune is simple. In a parallel universe called “the Dark World,” inanimate objects take on animate shapes and personalities. The manifestations of the Dark World that serve as the primary location of each chapter are all linked to the childhood memories of a nonbinary teenager named Kris. The Dark World is like Kris’s own personal version of Toy Story, albeit with a surreal twist. (more…)
by Melissa Brinks | Jul 23, 2025 | Mobile Games, News, Video Games
Welcome to another Wednesday! Would you believe me if I say I’ve dipped my toes back into Overwatch lately? It may as well be 2017 again with the way I’m feeling about the state of the world, the US president, and the absolute mindlessness Overwatch inspires in me. Perhaps this is the games as escapism thing I’ve needed all along. I’m also back on my Sims bullshit, which really means spending an incredible amount of time installing and uninstalling mods after a bunch of new updates ahead of Enchanted by Nature, which I have not purchased. The current Sim family consists of Cora and her vampire boyfriend, who moved into a huge modernist house with no furniture (I couldn’t afford furniture and don’t particularly like building), and are now working to furnish their house with literally anything. They just got a couch and planted a garden outside with seeds gifted to them by the Harvestfest gnomes.
Though we may be drowning in US news, the Israeli occupation and genocide of Palestinians continues. Zainabb Hull’s Crips for Palestine newsletter is an excellent resource for digital actions, GazaFunds.com surfaces a new crowdfunding campaign for much-needed financial resources every time you reload the page, and E-Sims for Gaza connects Palestinians with e-sim cards, which help them communicate with the outside world despite the damage and disruption caused by Israel’s attacks. Continue to put pressure on your elected officials to call for an end to the conflict, and believe in a free Palestine. (more…)
![A screenshot from the Cozy Grove press kit overlaid with "GET YOUR GAME ON" and "[COZY GAMES]".](https://sidequest.zone/wp-content/uploads/wordpress-popular-posts/107896-featured-200x0.jpg)
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