by Emma Kostopolus | Jul 5, 2021 | Essays, Video Games
I first experienced an intentionally frustrating game when someone showed me QWOP in my freshman dorm room. I was relatively new to PC gaming, and some of my boyfriend’s rather unkind friends liked to poke fun at my lack of skill; I was probably presented with QWOP as a joke intended to frustrate me for their amusement. (more…)
Emma is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Composition who studies how play impacts learning. Her words have also appeared in Critical Distance and Unwinnable. When not writing, she enjoys passing the controller between friends for runs of Silent Hill. She can be found @kostopolus on Twitter.
by Connie Ricketts | Jun 7, 2021 | Essays, Video Games
I’ve been playing The Sims for almost as long as I can remember. My first copy was burned onto a disc with a paper cover, given to me by the uncle that used to sell pirated DVDs at car-boot sales. My memories from that part of my life are hazy and jumbled, mixed up by the loss of my grandma when I was seven. (more…)
Connie Ricketts is a writer based in Scotland. She’s interested in everything (a blessing and a curse), and you can find her and her writing @conniericketts_ on Twitter.
by Sara Davis | May 6, 2021 | Essays, Features, Mobile Games
There was a moment early in the pandemic when I decided I would become someone who could identify birds. At the lake in my local park, I recognized mallards, swans, and some kind of crane, but the trees were full of birds I couldn’t name: tiny black and white striped ones that hopped and whistled, soft gray ones that sang sweetly, blackbirds with bright red racing stripes on their wings. I started taking notes and realized, with a jolt, that I was birding. (more…)
Sara Davis is a recovering academic and marketing writer who lives in Philadelphia with two elderly cats. Her PhD in American literature is from Temple University. She blogs about books, games, climate change, and other obsessions at literarysara.net.
by Oisin Kuhnke | May 4, 2021 | Essays, Video Games
I’ve been uncomfortably conscious of my body since a pretty young age. When it came to food, I was a fussy child, which resulted in me being overweight. In turn, adults would feel like they were entitled to comment on my body. I have a specific memory of eating a Yorkie (a plain chocolate bar, for non-UK readers) and a stranger harassing me on the street about it. My school’s principals once contacted some form of authority, I can’t remember which, about my fussy eating, which in hindsight broke some serious boundaries. The doctors weren’t even concerned, as other than being overweight I had no serious health issues. But everyone else always had problems with my body. (more…)
Oisin is a non-binary writer based in the UK with bylines in Uppercut, Into the Spine, JumpCut PLAY, and Sidequest. They try very hard to think about games other than Kingdom Hearts, but more often than not that’s what they come back to. You can find them @BoyWithWindmill.
by Nola Pfau | Apr 22, 2021 | Essays, Video Games
Content notes: This piece discusses parental physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. There are also major spoilers for Hades. (more…)
by Natalia Lopes | Apr 20, 2021 | Essays, Tabletop Games
As an indie comic artist and visual storyteller, I’m used to creating characters with complex backstories and edgy personalities. But none have been so strange and intriguing as that of Laurus Francoeur, my latest creation and member of my friend group’s first Wanderhome game. (more…)
Natalia is a queer Latinx illustrator making queer horror art, comics, and zines. She runs MystoPress, a micropress that is home to her eerie and nightmarish works, and has been funding her comics on Kickstarter as of 2019. When she is not freelancing or working on new projects, she teaches classes to teens and adults in non-profit art centers around North Carolina.
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