GYGO: Misconduct at Indie Studios and Fundraising for Ukraine

GYGO: Misconduct at Indie Studios and Fundraising for Ukraine

Happy Wednesday, gamers. I’ve been sucked back into Final Fantasy XIV thanks to peer pressure, and while I’m not to the good part of the story by any stretch of the imagination, it’s immensely satisfying to repeat the whole “run to place, perform action, receive sparkly reward” cycle. Sometimes your brain just needs that little dose of serotonin. I also dabbled a bit in Jonathan Frakes Wants Your Attention, And You Must Not Give It To Him, a quick and hilarious little game about ignoring a vengeful spirit taking the shape of Star Trek and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction star Jonathan Frakes. You can get it on its own, or for $5 as part of the TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas!, which is available for another couple of weeks!

Anyway, let’s get to the news. (more…)

GYGO: Misconduct at Indie Studios and Fundraising for Ukraine

GYGO: More Systemic Labor Issues Revealed

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week’s GYGO. As my esteemed colleague reported on with last week’s GYGO, the past few weeks of gaming news have been, well, really damn bleak. While those of us who operate at the margins of the games industry have been aware of systemic issues of employee abuse and bigotry for a while, getting tangible information of the suffering of the marginalized is always heartbreaking. So, before we move on with this week’s post, I just want to say that while I won’t go into details here, the included links will likely include some things that may be triggering, so take care of yourself. (more…)

Grow Up: Gone Home is Wonderfully, Perfectly YA

Grow Up: Gone Home is Wonderfully, Perfectly YA

Grow Up is a series in which I evaluate whether games called young adult actually fit the definition and exploring why that matters.

Gone Home was really the inspiration for this column. It’s a critical darling—when it was released back in 2013, it was everywhere. At the time, it was like few other games out there; you didn’t play the hero, it revolved around two queer teenage girls, and it was more interested in exploration and atmosphere than traditional game mechanics. By virtue of being new and different (and kicking off the explosion of walking simulators), it was impossible not to talk about. (more…)

Tacoma, Surveillance, and Confronting My Fear of Corporate Culture

Tacoma, Surveillance, and Confronting My Fear of Corporate Culture

Tacoma is a walking sim from Fullbright—the creators of Gone Home—that expands upon the use of audio logs and non-linear narratives the studio set up in their previous title. This article contains spoilers for the game, so go play it if you haven’t yet!

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