"Here’s a dizzying world full of absurd obstacles that come at you out of nowhere, and here’s something unwieldy, chaotic, and fragile to carry. You don’t need to know where you’re going or why; the only instruction is, 'Don’t break this.'" www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/car...

Carry the Glass and the Impossible Task of Parenting — Gamers with Glasses

What can parents learn from playing so-called “friendslop” games with our kids? As Nate Schmidt discovers, sometimes there’s an…interesting misalignment between the lesson you were hoping to teach and...

gamerswithglasses.com

"The premise intrigues me because it...feels like a subversion of the Divine Comedy’s obsession with a divinely-mandated system of reward and punishment." @skycherry.bsky.social returns to @astralshiftpro.com's Hell Maiden in early access. www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/hell...

Hell Maiden Early Access: Back to the Inferno — Gamers with Glasses

In the early access version of Hell Maiden , Astral Shift fleshes out a great demo into a narrative that invites a new generation of players to enjoy its source texts, even as we wait in Limbo for th...

gamerswithglasses.com

To the true Dead Space heads among us: we haven't published a book review in a while, but this one's for you. @mayorhere.bsky.social reviews Make Us Whole by @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social, published by the mighty @lostincult.co.uk. www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...

How Dead Space Consumed Itself (Review Make Us Whole by Elijah Beahm) — Gamers with Glasses

In this extensive review of Elijah Beahm’s encyclopedic book on Dead Space , Spencer Johnson also explores the connections between the transmedia elements of the franchise and the economic pressures ...

gamerswithglasses.com

There are game mechanics humankind was not meant to add to "Tower" solitaire.

Gamers with Glasses@gamerswithglasses.bsky.social · 2w ago

New on the site is a Forbidden Solitaire review from @aetataureate.bsky.social! Let's talk interactive art aesthetics, online representation, strategy, and design.

New on the site is a Forbidden Solitaire review from @aetataureate.bsky.social! Let's talk interactive art aesthetics, online representation, strategy, and design.

Forbidden Solitaire: From Representation to Manipulation — Gamers with Glasses

Tower Solitaire is a good base for a game, but Forbidden Solitaire forces too many junk jokers into the mix. Caroline Delbert considers Grey Alien Games’ impulse for maximalism from the perspective ...

gamerswithglasses.com

Fowl is fair in this cute, dare I say cosy, exploration game. Come for the duck memes, stay for the adorable geode-people. CW: if you have parent-related trauma, it sounds like the *positive* depiction of loving, supportive parents Doug the Duck wants to live up to might be triggering.

Gamers with Glasses@gamerswithglasses.bsky.social · 3w ago

GwG's very own correspondant canard, @srtrzinski.bsky.social, shares her impressions of Duck Side of the Moon! Come for the disco, stay for the community. www.gamerswithglasses.com/impressions/...

GwG's very own correspondant canard, @srtrzinski.bsky.social, shares her impressions of Duck Side of the Moon! Come for the disco, stay for the community. www.gamerswithglasses.com/impressions/...

Waddling along the Duck Side of the Moon — Gamers with Glasses

Doug the duck is in search of a new outer space home. When he crash lands on a planet, he has the good fortune to find new friends, community, and some lighthearted humor. Samantha Trzinksi shares her...

gamerswithglasses.com

This is really good, having just read some of The King In Yellow I like this breakdown of how Chambers differs from Lovecraft and why it’s important to not let the latter’s popularity and influence overshadow the former’s style. Also a reminder I should check out Saros at some point

Gamers with Glasses@gamerswithglasses.bsky.social · 4w ago

@mayorhere.bsky.social on Saros: "Robert W. Chambers's Yellow Shore becomes more knowable in Saros than the original myth ever was, and something is lost in that. But the core idea survives: the horror was never the Shore. It was always the wanting." www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/sar...

@mayorhere.bsky.social on Saros: "Robert W. Chambers's Yellow Shore becomes more knowable in Saros than the original myth ever was, and something is lost in that. But the core idea survives: the horror was never the Shore. It was always the wanting." www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/sar...

Saros, Robert W. Chambers, and the Horror of Desire — Gamers with Glasses

Robert W. Chambers’ stories from The King in Yellow are often described as Lovecraftian by association - but, as Housemarque demonstrates in Saros, the horror of Chambers’ Carcosa goes deeper than Lov...

gamerswithglasses.com

All money, minus processing fees for itch, goes to out of work game developers to pay for food, housing, healthcare, and whatever they need to make it through. Neither we as the organizers nor UVW take any of the money from the bundle. Game developers can apply here: uvw-cwa.org/hardship-fun...

Game Worker Hardship Fund

Who is eligible to apply for this fund?This fund is for game workers in the US and Canada impacted by record layoffs & other hardships in the games industry within the timeframe of January 2024 to the...

uvw-cwa.org

In response to the unprecedented number of game developers laid off this year, we have created a bundle on itch to benefit a Game Industry Hardship Fund, managed by @videogameworkers.bsky.social. More than 100 games for 10+ bucks! Please share widely and donate generously! itch.io/b/3802/game-...

What makes a good map? @srtrzinski.bsky.social offers a brief taxonomy of game maps while making the case that it can be okay to just want clear directions from point A to point B. www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/hel...

"Help! I'm Lost!": On Open and Linear Maps — Gamers with Glasses

How do video game maps invite us to understand space? Samantha Trzinski discusses the evolution of map design from linearity to open-world complexity, making the case that the straightforward way is s...

gamerswithglasses.com

Doing a little archival maintenance today. Christian, Nate, and Don were on to something with this trio of short game blurbs about Umurangi Generation, Pivotal, and End of the Skyline back in 2020.

Indie Cyberpunk, Part 2: Postindustrial Wastelands and Cyberpop Fantasies — Gamers with Glasses

Indie Cyberpunk Games, Part 2

gamerswithglasses.com

@corndruid.bsky.social on Perfect Tides: Station to Station by @meredithgran.com: "When you examine the idea for even just a second, it’s pretty strange that we ever talk about 'the college experience' in the singular." www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/perf...

Perfect Tides: Station to Station, and Love's Truths as We Live Them — Gamers with Glasses

When you examine it for even just a second, it’s pretty strange that we ever talk about “the college experience” in the singular. Nate Schmidt reviews Perfect Tides: Station to Station, finding a comp...

gamerswithglasses.com

New on the site is our first interview for quite a while: @optional.bsky.social had a conversation with @gimblll.com about Sektori, arcade games, roguelikes, and that thumping soundtrack.

"Get me into the game": Kimmo Lahtinen on Sektori — Gamers with Glasses

After the nonstop action of Sektori , Don Everhart took a few beats with Kimmo Lahtinen. They discussed the arcade tradition, how Lahtinen incorporated roguelike design, Kimmo’s brother’s soundtrack,...

gamerswithglasses.com

New on the site is our first interview for quite a while: @optional.bsky.social had a conversation with @gimblll.com about Sektori, arcade games, roguelikes, and that thumping soundtrack.

"Get me into the game": Kimmo Lahtinen on Sektori — Gamers with Glasses

After the nonstop action of Sektori , Don Everhart took a few beats with Kimmo Lahtinen. They discussed the arcade tradition, how Lahtinen incorporated roguelike design, Kimmo’s brother’s soundtrack,...

gamerswithglasses.com

After editing this one, @optional.bsky.social couldn't resist playing it. His thoughts are now appended to the piece by way of the "Editor's Glasses" thing we do sometimes. Interpretation on interpretation!

Gamers with Glasses@gamerswithglasses.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New contributor Dídac Jiménez Torras on Koyamachou Watch Repair Shop! "The current times rely on black-boxed technology...when buying new proprietary tech is cheaper than fixing, digital restoration stores and communities tend to fade away." www.gamerswithglasses.com/impressions/...

Grateful to @dhnow.bsky.social for boosting this @gamerswithglasses.bsky.social piece on Amberspire's soundtrack!

@dhnow.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Review: The Sounds of Emergency in Amberspire

New contributor Dídac Jiménez Torras on Koyamachou Watch Repair Shop! "The current times rely on black-boxed technology...when buying new proprietary tech is cheaper than fixing, digital restoration stores and communities tend to fade away." www.gamerswithglasses.com/impressions/...

Repairing Historical Memory in Koyamachou — Gamers with Glasses

There’s a lot more to repair than simply restoring an object. Dídac Jiménez Torras finds that Koyamachou Watch Repair Shop raises questions about how societies prioritize efficiency over preservatio...

gamerswithglasses.com

@skycherry.bsky.social on Passenger x Princess: "Playing a game that confronts these difficult feelings is comforting, in a sense...The delivery might be raw and messy, but it’s also vulnerable and deeply honest." wrhttps://www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/passenger-x-princess-no-hope-must-die

"Like an Industrial Solvent for Your Soul": PASSENGER x PRINCESS: NO HOPE // MUST DIE — Gamers with Glasses

Passenger x Princess isn’t exactly a fun game. It’s so messy, uncomfortable and frustrating to watch the train wreck of a relationship that develops between its main characters, but that’s also what m...

gamerswithglasses.com

New contributor Pranav Krishna Kumar on the narrative power of @mixtapegame.bsky.social's failstate-free moments: "Stacey’s resolve...is no longer just represented visually, but through her not allowing anything get in her path: especially you." www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/mix...

Mixtape: Sometimes Failure Just Isn't an Option — Gamers with Glasses

If you needed to repair a friendship that was worth everything to you, would you let anything get in your way? In Mixtape, the active rejection of player input for a scene explicitly presented as game...

gamerswithglasses.com

Happy Juneteenth! ✊🏾Today we want to celebrate some of the Black creators we're featuring in The #PowerofPride2026 Bundle, which you can buy for $60 to support their work! Take a gander at what you can get here and check out their stuff below. Game descriptions in thread ⤵

As @walshbr.bsky.social writes, Amberspire's soundtrack represents climate catastrophe, not with sirens, but with meditative gentleness: "Death and disaster are at the core of Amberspire, but the game views them with a quiet reverence." www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/the-...

The Sounds of Emergency in Amberspire — Gamers with Glasses

Amberspire rejects the stereotypical sounds of climate emergency in favor of gentler aesthetics: no sirens here. While we deal with the impact of each new catastrophe, Amberspire asks us to listen to ...

gamerswithglasses.com

I spent the last few months talking to over 30 game developers about generative AI. It began as a sort of interview survey but became a pretty comprehensive collection of arguments against the technology altogether. www.gamesradar.com/games/why-so...

Why so many game developers don't want to use generative AI

With credits ranging from Dispatch and Marvel Rivals to Uncharted and Dragon Age, over 30 devs share their thoughts on gen AI

gamesradar.com

If you're in game studies and you're planning a lesson, where do you find games that are free, browser-based, and engaging enough to invite meaningful discussion? We've compiled a list of about two dozen games that fit the bill, along with suggested reading. www.gamerswithglasses.com/gwg-recommen...

Games for the Game Studies Classroom — Gamers with Glasses

Class is coming up, it’s syllabus-writing season, and you’re getting ready to bring a game into class as the cornerstone of a lesson plan. Where could you find a list of games that satisfy all three o...

gamerswithglasses.com

The emotional qualities of And Roger come through in its scenes and gameplay. It's about caregiving, receiving care, and the difficulties of both. @optional.bsky.social shares his thoughts.

Communicating Disorientation and Care in And Roger — Gamers with Glasses

And Roger begins with scenes of disorientation, showing a girl alarmed by a stranger in her home. Routine tasks, from dialing a phone to eating breakfast, are strangely difficult. As the main charact...

gamerswithglasses.com

Are you ready to party like it's 2005? Guess who finally has an RSS feed! It's literally a link to the past. tinyurl.com/2c8se68p

The emotional qualities of And Roger come through in its scenes and gameplay. It's about caregiving, receiving care, and the difficulties of both. @optional.bsky.social shares his thoughts.

Communicating Disorientation and Care in And Roger — Gamers with Glasses

And Roger begins with scenes of disorientation, showing a girl alarmed by a stranger in her home. Routine tasks, from dialing a phone to eating breakfast, are strangely difficult. As the main charact...

gamerswithglasses.com

Are you ready to party like it's 2005? Guess who finally has an RSS feed! It's literally a link to the past. tinyurl.com/2c8se68p

"It is within this garish context, where a helpless humanity buttresses against unreasonable machines, that we can see hints of our future discourses, not only about the anxieties of artificial intelligence but also in a shift in what it means to play a game." 🔥🤯🔥 unwinnable.com/2026/06/04/w...

We are All NPCs Now: Making Sense of The Amazing Digital Circus - Unwinnable

On the eve of a movie theater finale, Shira Chess examines The Amazing Digital Circus's place in our current moment of digital dehumanization.

unwinnable.com