June 18th
byWhat is a role playing game? You might have a fixed idea of what the genre is and how it works, but this week some writers are challenging those assumptions and asking you to see them differently. That plus discussions of gender…
June 2017: ‘Time’
byHello and happy spring to all you lovely readers of Critical Distance. For those keeping score at home, I’ve been a touch discombobulated in the last few months, or as I like to describe myself: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” In any case, I am thankful…
June 11th
byThere’s a little event called E3 going on this week, and with it comes plenty of new games and rapid-fire discourse. Yet we stand firm in our mission to curate the internet’s most intriguing critical writing and challenging media. This week you’ll…
May Roundup: Responsibility
byI feel like the world asked a lot of us this past month. Responsibilities come in all sorts, and sometimes they can catch us when we’re least prepared for them. All the same, we soldier on as best we can. This past…
June 4th
byThis week we take a look at how we shape our personal worlds, and how games are shaped by us. Not just from a design standpoint, but by the way we explore our worlds and how that world informs the games we…
May 28th
byHow can game creators design for specific flavours of fear? This question is a big theme of writing this week, in what has turned out to be a particularly good selection of critical writing on games. I’m excited to hit “publish” on this…
May 21st
byWorried about the future? Pull up a chair! This week features writing on fear and the economy in games such as Night in the Woods and Prey. The thrill of reaching an audience The Personal-Essay Boom Is Over – The New Yorker…
Episode 45 – Documentary Delight
byDirect Download With this interview, we move away from YouTube and delve into independent film, to talk with Philip Jones, the director of the 2015 documentary Gaming in Color. The documentary started with an intent to focus on the then-new Gaymer X…
A reading list on trans representation in games
byI’m currently researching a literature review for my Computer Games Design Course, looking at trans representation in media[…] I was hoping you could give me some advice on possible academic texts or writings I can use within my dissertation. Thanks so much…
May 14th
bySound, size, and space are all discussed this week as critics work out what makes games affect us more deeply. Speaking First, an investigative piece about paying people to chat and play with you, and then a reflection on the voices of…