An ode to Mario Kart’s almighty blue shell
Nintendo’s greatest equalizer.
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How the rules of social games are creeping into the real world
The subtle progress of gamification.
Road to TWO5SIX: Patrick Balthrop
The Bioshock audio designer has risked life and limb to create the games’ sounds.
This War of Mine interrogates the nature of the war game
Going beyond the call of duty.
Behind the scenes of Hyper Light Drifter’s wordless world
Teddy Diefenbach fills us in on the game’s striking aesthetic.
The module still reigns
Kill Screen patches together games and music at Moogfest.
The NYC Games Forum illustrates the rocky road to becoming a game
Those things don’t just appear on your hard drive magically, you know.
Road to TWO5SIX: Kaho Abe
Kaho Abe’s work melds form, message, and play.
Why we ignore gamers behind bars
A $5 zine reminds us we’re all becoming less humane.
The secret to social game success: sound
Dr. Karen Collins on gaming’s unheard triumphs.
Box Art Review: the soulless redundancy of Watch Dogs
Check me off as “generic bad ass.”
Road to TWO5SIX: Steve Gaynor
The creator of last year’s watershed Gone Home discusses its wake.
The charming, melancholy Night in the Woods picks up where Gone Home left off
Saying goodbye to everything.
What does it mean to be an Irish character in a videogame?
And: how one sniper made an unexpected difference.
World of Tanks and the diplomatic impulse in videogames
What are we playing here?
Road to Two5Six: Tarn and Zach Adams
The Dwarf Fortress devs have spent their lives making a game about life.
Funemployed! is the party game for millennials
Playable with bottles of water, presumably.
Watch Dogs is a miracle even if it sucks
Ubisoft unleashes something… big.
Jeffrey Yohalem on story versus game in Child of Light
Ubisoft’s small-team JRPG strives for cohesion.
Different Games Conference is the Diversity Lounge without the rest of PAX
And: when will “different games” just be games?
Flappy Bird and the rise of the accidental social game
How 2013’s surprise hit heralds a new type of success.
VR, the new arcade, and the presence-crisis of videogames
The most “immersive” game at PAX East was a 30-year-old sit-down tennis game.
Will wearables overcome the hideous history of videogame peripherals?
From the Power Glove to the Oculus Rift, gaming wearables are defined by unwearableness.
Beyond Candy Crush Saga: the new wave of mobile videogames
Creating three seconds of perfection.
Is Nadia Was Here the most singleplayer game ever?
The surprising message of hope in a hopeless world.