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multiplayer

January 3rd

…have always been so isolating.

  • Thousand Threads: Only Connect – Uppercut Emily Price contemplates a game world which purports to remember your actions, when the primary language of interaction with that world–violence–proves itself so insubstantial in the end.
  • Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Is a Reminder of How We Maintain our Relationships | Paste Waverly muses on the structure that multiplayer games provide in the building of life-long relationships.
  • Signs of the Sojourner: Mapping the Distance Between Words – Uppercut Axel Hassen Taiari digs into how Signs of the Sojourner–a deck-building game on the face of things–succeeds as…
  • November 14th

    …else, this obscure engine for multiplayer games from the 90s is still up and running.”

    User ID

    Next up, two pieces about the games we play to feel seen, to explore identity, to awaken ourselves to new possibilities.

    • Pokemon Was The Perfect Way To Find My Fashion Sense As A Trans Girl | TheGamer Jade King remnisces about serving some Whole Galarian Looks with Pokémon Sword and Shield‘s fashion options.
    • The Sims 2 taught me it was okay to be gay | Gayming Magazine Lowie Trevena identifies The Sims 2 in 2004 as an…

    January 24th

    …Uppercut De’Angelo Epps traces the thematic trajectory across the No More Heroes games from sensational cynicism to hopeful redemption.

  • Single Player | Into The Spine Daisy Treloar considers the history of single player in games, as well as the continued influence of gaming’s multiplayer origins on single-player narratives.
  • I Love Women Who Don’t Like Me Back in Video Games | Fanbyte Bonnie Qu appreciates reminders that characters aren’t always here to please you–especially when those reminders come from women.
  • “What might be interpreted as moral complexity in a man can easily become aloofness in a…

    March 20th

    Jolly Cooperation

    Next, we stop to discuss the social elements at play in From’s asynchronous multiplayer approach.

    • Understanding The Surprisingly Hilarious and Thought-Provoking Player Messages in ‘Elden Ring’ | Epilogue Gaming Flora Eloise unpacks both the sillier and more cryptic player messages she has encountered in The Lands Between.
    • Elden Ring’s messages make the game feel like a conversation | Polygon Cass Marshall situates Elden Ring‘s player messaging system as an important part of what makes an oftentimes grim and intimidating game feel silly and welcoming.

    “It certainly feels good to see

    October 30th

    …is an equally empowering experience.”

    Horror Picks

    Our holiday coverage continues with two more horror-tinged examinations of games and play.

    • My OCD Doesn’t Want Me To Play Horror Games, But I Do It Anyway | Kotaku Ashley Bardhan reconciles her brain with a hobby that triggers it.
    • The New Age Monsters of Tetris Effect: Connected | Gamers with Glasses Don Everhart asks: is Tetris Effect: Connected actually a work of cosmic horror?

    “In co-operative multiplayer, the screen orbits a dark polyhedron, surrounded by other particles. Each CPU is given a zodiac…

    Xavier Ho | Keywords in Play, Episode 30

    …I missed it.

    Xavier: You missed it. Yeah, so, I didn’t know this because I’ve also missed a part of it. They put a movable wall in gallery space 3, I think it was downstairs in ACMI… So, it’s like this dual screen installation that was really beautifully designed and it’s about, four game designers, Goldie, Andrew and there are a few people out there… Anyway! They played the multiplayer version of Red Dead Redemption and then the whole point was, well this is a game where you’re supposed to shoot each other, though, why do that? We’re here…

    October 15th

    …the point for me wasn’t the love of franchise. It wasn’t the novelty of watching graphics improve by leaps and bounds every handful of years. It wasn’t even the ability to slowly work my way up to just mediocre in every other version of multiplayer but lone wolf.”

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    January 21st

    …from KRZ.

    “The loss will always be there. The community you have will too. It’s the people who have been through it themselves, and it’s the people who love you.”

    In Play

    These following three play accounts have a common thread running through them about shifting and subverting expectations, whether in-game or out.

    • I’m overcoming my fear of everything to play Lethal Company | Polygon Ana Diaz observes how humour and multiplayer help take the edge off of horror.
    • The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap: Small but mighty | Kimimi…