by Ennis Bashe | Nov 29, 2022 | Roundtables, Video Games
Welcome to November! Our weather here in the Pacific Northwest went straight from blisteringly hot summer to frozen ground and rain. Though the rapid climate shift left my head spinning, the cold, crisp air has me craving apple cider and pumpkin pie, which are perfectly in theme with this month’s roundtable: harvesting. (more…)
Ennis Rook Bashe is a nonbinary romance novelist, social worker, and cat dad. If you want to read books with badass queer and disabled characters who take care of each other, you can check out their Amazon author page or sign up for their newsletter. For more information about their series following disabled trans people with magical powers, you can follow them on TikTok at @RookTheBird.
by Zainabb Hull | Sep 29, 2022 | Roundtables, Video Games
I can’t speak for the whole of Sidequest, but when I feel the first day of crisp autumn air or see the first morning with a dusting of frost, something changes in me. The transitory seasons are where it’s at, in my opinion, and while games may not have mastered the art of pumpkin-flavored everything or the itchiness of spring allergies, they nonetheless have done a pretty good job of exploring the beauty of seasonal changes. This month, we’re talking about gaming seasons—the literal and the figurative.
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Zainabb Hull is an editor at Sidequest, a freelance writer and videographer, and sort-of artist. They’re also a trans, queer, and disabled brown femme. They tweet into the void at @ZainabbHull.
by Melissa Brinks | Jul 4, 2022 | Reviews, Video Games
I’m both a sucker for a cozy crafting sim and an aspiring beekeeper to boot, so I couldn’t resist APICO, a beekeeping simulator from TNgineers and Whitethorn Games, whose Steam tagline is “Stress-free games for nervous people.” How could I resist the promise of something stress-free and targeted at me, a nervous person?
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Melissa Brinks is Sidequest’s editor in chief, co-creator of the Fake Geek Girls podcast, author of The Compendium of Magical Beasts, and an aspiring beekeeper. She once won an argument on the internet, and tweets at @MelissaBrinks.
by Marina Z | Jun 20, 2022 | Features, Video Games
Stardew Valley is a farming and life simulation game created by Eric Barone (ConcernedApe). The player plays as someone who leaves their soul-crushing job at a big corporation, Joja, to take over the farm their grandfather left them in his will. What sets Stardew Valley apart is how deep the story is. There are many secrets to unlock about the town while befriending, and potentially romancing, the NPCs. Yes, farming is fun. And there are other activities like mining and repairing the town’s Community Center with the help of some forest spirits called Junimos. But you don’t have to do any of that. If you want to just run around and befriend everyone you can do that too. (more…)
by Sara Davis | May 31, 2022 | Uncategorized
As the common adage goes, April showers bring May flowers. So, naturally, this month we’re talking about gardening and growth in games, and maybe interpreting that a little loosely because why not? Why be beholden to a single definition of a word? May is also the month of May Day, encompassing both the Pagan celebration of the beginning of summer and International Labor Day, which brings attention to labor rights, worker exploitation, and the various and extensive problems with capitalism the world over. So let’s not limit ourselves to what it means to garden in a game—let’s think about planting and growth in all their forms! (more…)
Sara Davis is a recovering academic and marketing writer who lives in Philadelphia. Her PhD in American literature is from Temple University. She blogs about books, games, climate change, and other obsessions at literarysara.net.
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