"So, rather than set out to make this big, sprawling strategy game as a first time designer, the game and I sort of grew up together." @aguaspoints.bsky.social talks to Pablo Clark about creating the board game The Old King's Crown:

My best of 2025 list is here! Best of what? Many things.

This month's column is in fact NOT a column. What could it possibly be?! What madness has @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social let me unleash?!? How much of it involves genres other than games?!?! Well...

Phew, glad I subscribed to @unwinnable.com before getting to this page of @wyrdscience.bsky.social 🥵

this month’s column is an indie game roundup! Learn about 6 small games I played and why I think they’re worth your time.

N.C. Wyeth was the best.

Oh hey! What better place than the end of the year holiday issue for me to ruminate on how three *very* different games offer a surprisingly similar (and poignant) message on grief?

There's nothing more festive than Frankenstein. In this month's Unwinnable Monthly, read @orringrey.com's feature on the creature as well as our regular columnists' latest thoughts. Happy holidays! Buy: unwinnable.bigcartel.com/product/unwi... Subscribe: unwinnable.com/subscribe/

ICYMI: @saraclemens.com hits the snooze button at New York Comic Con 2025:

ICYMI: "The creators didn’t just slap feminine coding on this robotic character and call it a day; it wasn’t just shallow window dressing. Layla was made a character, equal to any other character." @alyssawejebe.bsky.social analyzes the animated short Layla:

@saraclemens.com hits the snooze button at New York Comic Con 2025:

"The creators didn’t just slap feminine coding on this robotic character and call it a day; it wasn’t just shallow window dressing. Layla was made a character, equal to any other character." @alyssawejebe.bsky.social analyzes the animated short Layla:

Every subscription helps us further the mission of being a stable ship in a sea full of corpo wrath. We've been doing this a long time, we want to keep doing it even longer. We've brought you new folks, weird stories from your faves, and killer art to support both. Help us keep doing it!

When you support @unwinnable.com you're not supporting a brand or a logo. You're supporting people with a legacy of bravely pursuing their critical interests. Plus, we have long stood by having those voices in the same pages as new and emerging ones. We're not the masthead, we're the writers.

*coughs in Microsoft, Ubisoft, Larian, Warhorse, CDPR, Sucker Punch, etc*

ICYMI: "It’s one or the other, not both. Pick a lane. Though at this point it seems clear to me that you already have." @robsteinone.bsky.social expresses his frustrations with the videogame industry's selective attention span:

ICYMI: "The Legend of Zelda continues to consider the forest a place of balance between past and future or human and spirit, providing a reminder that mystery is not meant to be merely seen but lived." Justin Reeve examines the evolution of the Lost Woods over time:

If we get 100 new subs by the end of the year we'll be adding at least one Final Romantasy fan fic into the Final Fantasy x Politics issue courtesy of @derekkinsman.com. Make him regret it folks!

Do you love good writing and unbeatable deals that give you an entire 12 months worth of the world's greatest magazine for free? Prove it by subscribing to @unwinnable.com!

"It’s one or the other, not both. Pick a lane. Though at this point it seems clear to me that you already have." @robsteinone.bsky.social expresses his frustrations with the videogame industry's selective attention span:

"The Legend of Zelda continues to consider the forest a place of balance between past and future or human and spirit, providing a reminder that mystery is not meant to be merely seen but lived." Justin Reeve examines the evolution of the Lost Woods over time:

We just cooked up a year-end special: Subscribe to Unwinnable before the end of 2025, and you get access to all of our Monthly and Exploits issues from the whole year. This also applies to monthly subscribers who switch to an annual subscription! unwinnable.com/subscribe/

My most recent thing for @unwinnable.com isn't calling out anyone specific, but make no mistake, it *is* meant as a call out.

ICYMI: "[W]hy, if some of my favorite bands from the 1990s (and beyond) are so influenced by Minutemen, had I never listened to them?" @noahspringer.com explores the connections between his favorite music and Minutemen:

ICYMI: "For us, life has been making harder and harder for us to get together even online, but the powers of various chat apps and virtual tabletops offered an opportunity to play-by-post with ducks and wolfkin and the rest." @rubeck.bsky.social recounts his Dragonbane campaign:

Do what Stu says! Get some good stuff! Throw some money into @unwinnable.com's hat so they can keep paying me to write features about Godzilla and Frankenstein and other bullshit, like I did in several of these issues.

Yo this is a freaking steal!! Some of the best writing in games, some of the best people writing it

Subscribe to Unwinnable before the end of the year and get all the 2025 issues free! That's twelve issues of Unwinnable Monthly AND twelve issues of Exploits for five clams. Feed your brain over the holidays! unwinnable.com/subscribe/ (@unwinnable.com)

My confession about not knowing about Minutemen until about two months ago, but learning about how much they rule has been awesome!

"[W]hy, if some of my favorite bands from the 1990s (and beyond) are so influenced by Minutemen, had I never listened to them?" @noahspringer.com explores the connections between his favorite music and Minutemen:

Chaser

Shot

"For us, life has been making harder and harder for us to get together even online, but the powers of various chat apps and virtual tabletops offered an opportunity to play-by-post with ducks and wolfkin and the rest." @rubeck.bsky.social recounts his Dragonbane campaign:

If we get 1000 new subscribers every columnist should get to write a romantasy. I am reading a Cassandra Clare book right now so I’m ready.

the people yearn for romantasy on unwinnable dot com

David said it out loud, so now it has to happen. If we get a hundo new @unwinnable.com subs before the new year, we'll add some romantasy fanfic to our upcoming Final Fantasy x Politics issue. Please make me regert suggesting this idea, …daddy.

If we get 100 more subscribers between now and 12/31 @derekkinsman.com says we can add at least one romantasy fanfic story to @unwinnable.com's Final Fantasy x Politics issue. You know what to do! Make him regret saying this! unwinnable.com/subscribe/

ICYMI: "The idea of playing Blackstone Fortress just feels too much like an undertaking." @orringrey.com digs into Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress:

ICYMI: "[S]urveillance is ultimately an important driver of the plot, if not the terror." @nochshorn.bsky.social examines surveillance as horror in Weapons:

Except for one end of year wrapup I’m done with freelance for this year. A lot of my 2025 writing was paywalled/ physical outlets/ not out yet. But my favorites of the year are: House Games: unwinnable.com/2025/12/02/b... Misericorde 2 review: unwinnable.com/2025/02/28/m... and, topically:

I don’t think this movie was ultimately about anything (not a problem for me!) but I think it was noticing something.

On why I've never played very much Blackstone Fortress and probably never will.

"The idea of playing Blackstone Fortress just feels too much like an undertaking." @orringrey.com digs into Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress:

"[S]urveillance is ultimately an important driver of the plot, if not the terror." @nochshorn.bsky.social examines surveillance as horror in Weapons:

read my essay about beech forests 🌳

ICYMI: "Quasartico are played as the good guys, lending you their help in stopping Z-A’s immediate existential threat, but they’re also clearly not equipped to handle the bigger picture." @jaymcastello.bsky.social examines the complications of Pokémon Legends: Z-A's wild zones:

"Quasartico are played as the good guys, lending you their help in stopping Z-A’s immediate existential threat, but they’re also clearly not equipped to handle the bigger picture." @jaymcastello.bsky.social examines the complications of Pokémon Legends: Z-A's wild zones:

ICYMI: "Rogue Incursion is still a fine game when played flat, but 'fine' is not the word I’d use to describe the VR version." Alien: Rogue Incursion’s non-VR release has @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social wondering what design philosophies we take for granted in traditional gaming:

ICYMI: "Drop your arm and you’re out. Spill any of the water and you’re out. Get eliminated first and you can never look your sons in the eye again." @mattmarrone.bsky.social becomes the Stein Hoister of the Year:

"Rogue Incursion is still a fine game when played flat, but 'fine' is not the word I’d use to describe the VR version." Alien: Rogue Incursion’s non-VR release has @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social wondering what design philosophies we take for granted in traditional gaming: