Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?
@critdistance.bsky.social
A community blog for videogame criticism and the preservation thereof. Publishers of This Week in Videogame Blogging and many fine Critical Compilations! https://critical-distance.com
It was posted too early for the @critdistance.bsky.social jam but seeing as Big Walk is relevant I thought I'd repost my thoughts about "friendslop" as a term hylkelanghout.com/2026/03/07/i...
I wouldn’t call it friendslop if you paid me
There are two kinds of co-op games. The first is a game that can be played either single player or co-op and will have roughly equal experiences either way. This is where you see games like Elden R…
hylkelanghout.com
Since Big Walk is bringing up the topic and a lot of you are posting about it, I invite you all to participate in this essay jam and instead Blog About It 🫡
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 2w agoGood morning readers and writers! We are starting a new essay jam today that'll run until August 19! We're calling it the Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam! Check out the details here: critical-distance.com/2026/07/20/b...
I think everyone who is posting vituperatively about Friendslop needs to put their thoughts into paragraphs and those paragraphs onto blogs and submit them to the Blogs of the Round Table Friendslop Jam run by @critdistance.bsky.social no later than August 19, 2026
This week: Fifty picks past and present--twenty-five new reads, twenty-five from the archives: critical-distance.com/2026/08/02/a...
August 2nd
Welcome back readers. Before we hop in, I just want to offer a quick reminder that the Friendslop Jam we’re hosting is underway, and you’ve got two weeks and change to get your writing …
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Some thoughts as folks start writing: This essay jam is open to everyone! And we do mean everyone, whether you're a critic, designer, player, or someone randomly coming across this post on the Bluesky discover tab! All we ask is that your blog is at least somewhat related to the prompt.
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 2w agoGood morning readers and writers! We are starting a new essay jam today that'll run until August 19! We're calling it the Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam! Check out the details here: critical-distance.com/2026/07/20/b...
Love this! I'd highly recommend all my writer friends make time in the coming month for this project (I certainly will)! Such a great opportunity to rise to the current moment and meet these friendslop games with the curiosity that both their creative decisions and popularity demand
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 2w agoGood morning readers and writers! We are starting a new essay jam today that'll run until August 19! We're calling it the Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam! Check out the details here: critical-distance.com/2026/07/20/b...
Good morning readers and writers! We are starting a new essay jam today that'll run until August 19! We're calling it the Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam! Check out the details here: critical-distance.com/2026/07/20/b...
Blogs of the Round Table: Friendslop Jam
Happy Monday, Readers (and Writers)! We’re practicing some necromancy today by bringing back a beloved and long-running feature to Critical Distance: the Blogs of the Round Table! Originally …
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This week: Let's get historical, from past to present to future: critical-distance.com/2026/07/19/j...
January 19th
Welcome back readers. We’re announcing an *event* tomorrow. Stay tuned. Patreon support is what makes *events* possible. Please take a look. This Week in Videogame Blogging is a roundup highl…
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This week: 23 picks on disc-ourse, ARGs, Warframe, and much more: critical-distance.com/2026/07/13/j...
July 12th
Welcome back readers. Hey! Kaile’s monthly recap is live. You, too can check out their excellent work by joining our Patreon! On the weekly side of things, we’ve got 23 new-and-cool pic…
critical-distance.com
This week: Queer temporality, Tomodachi phraseology, Strategy Game Smoochology: critical-distance.com/2026/07/05/j...
July 5th
Welcome back readers. We’ve got tons of reading to share this week–22 articles to put a number on it–and that includes a lot of writers making their TWIVGB debut! Don’t forg…
critical-distance.com
This week: Queer temporality, Tomodachi phraseology, Strategy Game Smoochology: critical-distance.com/2026/07/05/j...
July 5th
Welcome back readers. We’ve got tons of reading to share this week–22 articles to put a number on it–and that includes a lot of writers making their TWIVGB debut! Don’t forg…
critical-distance.com
This week: Eighteen new picks across time, space, and Mario: critical-distance.com/2026/06/29/j...
June 28th
Welcome back readers. We’ve got eighteen cool-and-new picks for your this week. Around the web, Warp Point just launched a webring of independent sites. Delightful. I haven’t shouted ou…
critical-distance.com
This week: 21 picks on Titanium Court, XCOM 2, and, hold on, [checks notes] ["...are you sure?"] [shuffles papers] Fuck's Quest II: critical-distance.com/2026/06/22/j...
June 21st
Welcome back readers. Lots of good stuff to share this week–21 reads in all. A critical blackjack? No, no, not my best work. To support our best work–compiling and organizing a living t…
critical-distance.com
This week: Maxis, Manifestos, Marathon, and no clear resolution on why I keep doing this with the letter M: critical-distance.com/2026/06/15/j...
June 14th
Welcome back readers. This was neat. Lots of interesting stuff for me to read through over the next few weeks. Over here on Critical Distance, we’ve got 19 picks for you this week, including …
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This week: Subnautica 2, Yakuza, Kirby Air Riders, and more: critical-distance.com/2026/06/07/j...
June 7th
Welcome back readers. Happy Pride. I’m quite sunburnt from attending local pride festivities in my town. I’d say it was worth it, and that’s true, but please wear sunscreen anyway…
critical-distance.com
This week: Mina, Mixtape, Marthon, and lots of things that don't start with M: critical-distance.com/2026/05/31/m...
May 31st
Welcome back readers. We’ve got lots of interesting stuff to dig into this week, so I’m going to limit this opening preamble to briefly plugging our Patreon, which helps us keep laying …
critical-distance.com
This week: We open and close with Zero Parades: critical-distance.com/2026/05/25/m...
May 24th
Welcome back readers. Thanks for your patience when it takes me some extra time to get these longer editions out. Did I plug the Patreon yet? Ah, there we go. That’s the best way to keep our …
critical-distance.com
This week: Nostalgia. And lots of other things, to be sure. But, like, a *lot* on nostalgia: critical-distance.com/2026/05/17/m...
May 17th
Welcome back readers. There have been some good discussions over the past week about encouraging more longform blogging as a curative to short-form and often-hostile posting-driven discourse. Allow…
critical-distance.com
This week: Mixtape, Marathon, Mass Effect, Metroid, Moominvalley, and a couple other games that don't start with M, I promise. critical-distance.com/2026/05/11/m...
May 10th
Welcome back readers. We’ve got fifteen picks for you this week. I’m so relieved that none of the games being written about below has elicited any kind of rancid discourse on social med…
critical-distance.com
This week: Ebb, Wanderstop, Marathon, and more: critical-distance.com/2026/05/04/m...
May 3rd
Welcome back readers. Before I get into the weekly proper, I’ve got a couple important updates from around the site. First, Kaile has put together a special issue of choice picks from Paste M…
critical-distance.com
oh god the content keeps coming it's the Patreon update for April 2026 www.patreon.com/posts/month-...
The Month in Videogame Blogging, April 2026 | Critical Distance
The Month in Videogame Blogging, April 2026 by Critical Distance on Patreon. Join Critical Distance's community for exclusive content and updates.
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Sorry for the delay. Here's the living memorial roundup for Paste Games. If your favorites didn't make the cut, feel free to add to the replies on this post, and we'll get them added as soon as possible. critical-distance.com/2026/05/04/r...
Remembering Paste Games: 2010 – 2026
Welcome back, readers. This is a rather impromptu edition of the roundup. It’s not something any of us ever envisioned writing. Indeed, when games media has endured other layoffs and outlet c…
critical-distance.com
We're putting together a special roundup of everyone's favorite Paste articles. It's going up in a few hours, so if you have something you would like to see, get it in here. Reply below or in the comments of the OP. #thankyougarrett
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 3mo agoPaste Magazine was a tour de force in games criticism, and @garrettmartin.bsky.social is a legend. In the replies, share your favorite works from the Paste Magazine/AV Club/Endless Mode archives.
Paste Magazine was a tour de force in games criticism, and @garrettmartin.bsky.social is a legend. In the replies, share your favorite works from the Paste Magazine/AV Club/Endless Mode archives.
Paste Magazine was a tour de force in games criticism, and @garrettmartin.bsky.social is a legend. In the replies, share your favorite works from the Paste Magazine/AV Club/Endless Mode archives.
This week: Titanium Court, underlooked histories, hobbyist dev, and Pirate Reality: critical-distance.com/2026/04/26/a...
April 26th
Welcome back readers. This time around I’m taking a bit of a breather with a lighter week, but we’ve still got fourteen new-and-cool reads for you to check out. If you liked this techni…
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