It was a pleasure to spend some quality time with the TCR Marines and Waybackers of @overhypestudios.bsky.social new squad based tactics game, MENACE!

I already liked Blood Cultures, but wow the soundtrack they put together for this game is next level. Thanks for flagging that in this piece @henrystockdale.com

Props getting this featured on @critdistance.bsky.social !!

People really don't know just how tough it is to equip so many different musical instruments in the span of a single Game of the Year medley for The Game Awards.

On the cutting room floor of this piece: a whole other article about Klei's other game, Oxygen Not Included, and a love letter to Sunless Skies. www.deletedsaves.com/chasing-bunn...

"cleaning out Pharloom was penance for the way I treated myself."

YAY YAY I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THIS So happy to be featured on @stevenstoermer.bsky.social ‘s new site Deleted Saves alongside Artemis. I wrote about my odd relationship with Cartoon Cartoon Summer Resort, an okay 2000 web browser game that I keep replaying for some reason

So happy I can finally show off my contribution to @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social I wrote about Metal Gear Solid Delta and what is lost on the sacrificial altar of remakes and high-fidelity graphics. Needless to say: I was not a fan of the Snake Eater remake.

I've started my own quarterly publication for critical essays on video games! I couldn't have done it without such fantastic writers or the masterful editor's quill of @kellymerka.bsky.social

Spindle, which I wrote about for @startmenu.bsky.social earlier this year, also fits into the "cozy spooky game" trend @emilyprice.bsky.social identifies in this excellent article about House Games.

In Duskpunk, @jamespatton.bsky.social writes with a political language whose warnings are legible in our own world, useful to anyone looking to interrogate real structures of oppression. Also, it's quite fun to play.

Paired with a trusty pig, @stevenstoermer.bsky.social takes on the role of Reaper — and rolls across the map — in Spindle, a short meditation on grief with the vibe of a classic adventure game.

IT'S BACK! The startmenu Winter Spectacular returns for 2025! - Guest Pieces from people across the industry, including: journalists, developers, PR folks, AND MORE - Game of the Year Lists - The startmenu Awards - AND OTHER BULLET POINTS! All starting December 1st on www.startmenu.co.uk

Me, trying to get my phone to do anything: TAP TAP TAP TAP Phone: what's that? My child: *gestures vaguely at phone* Phone: let me do every single function immediately!

I appreciated the unique angle @qwertyprophecy.bsky.social brought to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, and the tightness of its execution. @monstertheater.bsky.social a solid addition to your publishing repertoire.

It was my pleasure to review the excellent @staticdread.bsky.social for @startmenu.bsky.social

Becoming Saint sees you take on the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, real-time, tactical RPG. Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to heaven? @stevenstoermer.bsky.social investigates. www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...

Rader's machine in Split Fiction is a symbol of the "frictionless cognitive offloading" of our thought processes to for-profit companies that have built a rentier economy within capitalism's aching bones. stevenstoermer.medium.com/split-fictio...

@brennanleemulligan.bsky.social's DnD campaigns contain great lessons for anyone interested in narrative design. Episode 49 of @worldsbeyondnumber.bsky.social is a masterclass in leveraging impactful, "weak" characters. Here are some reflections. stevenstoermer.medium.com/pathetic-is-...

An upcoming piece I wrote relates the game Split Fiction to generative AI based on similar insights. I'll be writing a companion piece focusing on AI out of what wound up on the cutting room floor.

Required reading for this era of games criticism.

This might be "The Critic As Artist" for games criticism. Part 2 is an incisive look at the issues plaguing games criticism today: noescapevg.com/the-spectacu...

It only took me 750 hours in Paradox's Victoria 3 to figure out why I can't stop playing it. stevenstoermer.medium.com/the-digital-... #victoria3 #paradoxinteractive #videogames #strategygames

The economy of long and short rests in Dungeons and Dragons is famously kind of broken. Can using some optional rules as limited resources help? @sherlockhulmes.bsky.social thought so in the latest High Rollers campaign, and I think he's onto something. medium.com/@stevenstoer... #dnd