We interviewed @alienmelon.bsky.social and discussed text games, Interactive Fiction, social media, tech fascism, and lots more.

For our second contribution, Kaelan Doyle-Myerscough reflects on their first entry into IFComp, the joys and problems of insular art cultures, and the boundaries of interactive fiction.

For the first essay in our Interactive Fiction issue, @highimpactsex.bsky.social writes about the shrinking available space for personal art through the metafiction of Repeat the Ending.

For the first entry in our Interactive Fiction @highimpactsex.bsky.social writes about the shrinking margins where personal art can flourish through the metafiction of Repeat The Ending.

Thanks to a grant from the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation, we are doing an mega-issue on the interactive fiction of the 2010s! This will be the first of many themed issues to come...

@phoenixsimms.bsky.social likens thecatamites creative mode and visual culture to Dada and the avant garde movement.

@gracemachine.bsky.social divines the haunting nature of Anthology of the Killer's settings. She also compares and contrasts the game collection's notion of history against the film Tár and personal memory.

For our first essay on Anthology of the Killer @phantomcobra.bsky.social explores its ancestral ties to adult cartoons like Home Movies.

Kicking off our issue on Anthology of the Killer with something a little different.

Coming soon...

i published a post about conversations i had at A MAZE, on an important topic… Conversations About Curation And The Future Of Games Crit: www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/con... "The future is something wildly different. One that will function outside of these outdated norms and compromised values."

Phoenix Simms analyzes how the irreverent tone of Lovely Lady RPG often undermines its potential as a queer anti-capitalist narrative.

We are launching our issue on Lovely Lady RPG with Grace Benfell on science fiction, memes, and idealized selves.

Coming soon...

lotus digs through Heisei Pistol Show's messy and fulfilling resonances, in relation to trauma, transness, and simple human frailty.

Our editor @gracemachine.bsky.social wrote about Heisei Pistol Show's ever-shifting selves and why sometimes men are women.

Putting the finishing touches on our last two essays on Heisei Pistol Show and hard at work on our next issue. Hoping to have a more consistent schedule in the new year, but also we take this at the pace we can so we can keep it going. 🖤🙏💪

In the next entry in our Heisei Pistol Show issue, ludzu wrote about Parun as a collage artist and RPG maker as a patchwork canvas.

Also also! We have goals now! Things we could do with more subscriptions like book reviews, poetry submissions, and just more money for everyone who makes TIER happen.

New on the site: a "support us" page which shows our current budget and our ambitions for the site should we obtain more money. If you like what we do, please consider subscribing!

Our issue on Heisei Pistol Show begins with @phoenixsimms.bsky.social discussing the RPG Maker classic’s relationship to Menhera subcultures.

An aside, with no paywall, about something very important to us.

Wrapped up our issue on the anti-metroid OVERWHELM with an essay from @gracemachine.bsky.social on its terrifying obfuscations.

@phoenixsimms.bsky.social starts off the third issue with an literary analysis of the Randomnine's mechanics for his anti-metroidvania, OVERWHELM.

Tune in today!

Phoenix Simms concludes our second issue featuring Welcome to Elk.

Grace Benfell on Welcome To Elk

Michael Iantorno on Welcome To Elk

Amr Al-Aaser on Tomorrow Won't Come For Those Without

charlotte lindsay on Mr. Rainer's Solve-It Service.

Phoenix Simms on Mr. Rainer's Solve-It Service

Alive, Alive, Alive

Feminine, Fierce, Fabulous

Material, Mundane, Meditative