We’re commemorating memorial day
We’re observing the national holiday today, and will be back in full swing tomorrow.
A 3D printed zoetrope brings a horrific biblical episode to life
Before Miyazaki, Disney, or much of what can be deemed modern animation, there was the zoetrope. Popularized in Victorian Britain, the zoetrope is a circular device upon which a series of frames are either painted or affixed. If spun at a sufficient speed, these frames appear to be in motion. In eff
Come by the Ace Hotel May 26 for games, drinks, and music
I mean, why wouldn’t you do this?
An unholy matrimony of noise music and sparse videogame worlds
Patrick McDermott says that ambient and noise is the most interactive music he has ever felt, both as a listener and composer. What he especially enjoys about this type of arcane composition is that it lets you dream up whatever visuals you want as you listen. “The sonic world it creates, the mood i
A journey into videogame development hell shows a surprising human side
Broken games. Broken people.
In Defense of Tomorrowland
Brad Bird’s ride-turned-spectacle points to a new way of talking about Disney.
Viridi promises to capture the soothing art of potted plant care
When Ice Water Games launch Viridi later this summer, polygons will give way to carefully crafted stems, leaves, and petals, projecting out of the base of an equally pleasant pot of your choice. Flat yet strong colors, along with the feeling of lightness, achieved partially through an emphasis on pa
The beautiful, crowded hell of Malebolgia
Imitation casts a long shadow.
Bloxels charts a course between physical and virtual game-making
The act of prototyping a game is a game in its own right. It involves the conceptualizing of space and the solving of puzzles. So why not just turn prototyping into a game? the best of both worlds Bloxels, which is currently halfway to its fundraising goal on Kickstarter, takes this thought to its
A pixel artist renounces pixel art
The “pixel tax” comes to collect.
Explore the dense world of Spirited Away in 8-bit theater
“I do believe in the power of story. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners.” – Hayao Miyazaki The above quote could easily apply to any of the stories woven by Miyazaki and his animation stud
A professor attached emoji to selfie sticks to help us combat vanity
Selfie sticks are extensions of a person’s power more than their arms. They are tools of conquest, a way for their owners to claim dominance over a larger swath of space in the name of better self-portraiture. If you frequently give in to the siren song of thinkpieces, you’ve seen this selfie shtick
Turning the dreamlike spaces of King’s Field into an exquisite corpse
Doubling down on the surreal.
Delta’s meme-ified safety video signals the end of days (of sincerity)
Memes are to our generation what boomboxes and Marty McFly’s red vest are to the ’80s. First, they become icons, encapsulating the pop culture of an entire era in just one image. Then they become camouflage for out of touch content-creators salivating over the coveted 18-29 demographic, as they cry,
Sunset is a game of small details and uneasy questions
Is art beholden to aesthetic or culture? You decide.
Catlateral Damage reminds me why I’m a dog person
You are a cat. Your owner has left you home alone as they do every day. Your window has opened, and it is time to punish your unwitting human the only way you know how: mass destruction. Such is the premise of Catlateral Damage, a first-person cat simulator by developer Chris Chung. Similar to Katam
Life is Strange’s second episode is best when it stands still
Life and death and the poignant joy of having absolutely nothing to do
This crab-shaped controller will make you hungry for more anthropomorphic handsets
You’ve got crabs, videogame lover—a crab simulator and crab-shaped controller, that is. The controller was created by John Choi, a student in Carnegie Mellon University’s Interactive Art and Computational Design Program. It consists of an orange body with four articulated crab legs. Unlike the real
Get mind-blasted by the twirling interactive art of Iridescent Configurations
Your mind probably exploded the first time you discovered the iTunes visualizer. Hopefully, you were alone, unsuspecting, and casually perusing your library on an uneventful night. Then, one accidental keyboard press later—BOOM. There you are, with a Pink Floyd light show on command at the tips of y
An experiment in composing a soundtrack for a tabletop game as it’s being played
When you think of tabletop gaming what do you hear? It’s probably stone-cold silence as players shoot glances at each other, peering between decks and figurines, trying to weigh up one another. Or a monotone voice reciting the rules for the 34th time in order to explain why you can’t make that move
An experiment in game cinema combines Twine and Tarkovsky
Treating humans like cyborgs.
This game reimagines the glitch aesthetic as an emotional breakdown
Sign up to receive each week’s Playlist e-mail here! Also check out our full, interactive Playlist section. WHAT NOW? (Browser) BY ARIELLE GRIMES Arielle Grimes has developed tremendously as an author of videogames over the past year. She has expressed grief, sorrow, kindness, and love through her
Hecticube is a ’90s boardgame Thunderdome come to life
Minus all those little plastic balls that tried to kill you.
A pair of Dutch artists have created 8-bit food
There’s obsessive portion control as a dietary practice, and then there’s millimeter-perfect portion control as an aesthetic statement. “Cubes,” the latest project by Dutch artists Lenert and Sander, falls into the latter category. The artists responded to a commission for a food spread in de Volks
Red Head Redemption
Why do we fear women with red hair?