This was part of a paper presented at a free Romancing the Gothic weekend presentation on the 19th of November 2022. Thanks to Sam as always for their brilliant work. The Gothic has long been preoccupied with what lurks below the surface of the water. The intense isolation of the ship at sea and the…
Category: games
Media: Cosy Games for Tracey Cheung at Popsugar
“Things in these digital worlds fit into place,” Pinder says. “They turn everyday frustrations into a solvable puzzle and there is something very satisfying and empowering about that.”
ASLE Conference 2021 – Embedded Eco-Narratives and the Last of Humanity in Post Apocalyptic Video Games
Extremely Rough Transcript Since their inception, video games have imagined future spaces. Video games make it possible for the player, to not just envisage but explore, post-apocalyptic spaces through environmental storytelling and embedded eco-narratives. These post-apocalyptic spaces are manifestations of contemporary anxieties, allowing the player to interpret the causal relationship between current practices and the…
The Sinking City – Review
The Sinking City (Ukraine: Frogwares, 2019) Morgan K. Pinder Something sinister is stirring in the depths below Oakmont Massachusetts. It’s the 1920s and private investigator Charles W. Reed is troubled by sinister visions that have drawn him to this mysterious seaside city. What awaits him is a series of disturbing mysteries and a myriad of…
Inscryption – video game review
In my experience as an average video game consumer you don’t find indie gems, somehow they find you. While I love a game that is strange and beautiful I feel terrible for not combing through itch.io looking for these undiscovered masterpieces. As a result of my gaming tastes coupled with laziness I often fall prey…
Rabbits… A Podcast
I’ve been listening to Pacific Northwest Stories‘ The Black Tapes since the beginning of it’s run, and I reluctantly dipped my toe in the TANIS mystery, which promptly swept me up in a slightly obsessive haze of vague ideas about ancient environmental phenomena. And now they’ve released a new series, this time under the production name of the Public Radio Alliance….
Capitalism without the handicap: Vertiginous Golf
I was all set to hate this game. From the wanky hipster style to the less than favourable reviews I had read. But I loved it… Beautiful, confusing, frustrating, creative, surprisingly story based, and on a certain level quite hopelessly pointless. I don’t like golf games as a rule but this charmed me, and I…
Westerado… part 1
Westerado is an Adult Swim game that I nabbed on sale … so I thought I better play it as I’m procrastinating on everything else. First 15 minutes Soooo. I chased a buffalo that had escsped from the family farm, rode it back and arrived home to find COMPLETE CARNAGE. I have to I was…
Future Retro with Jazzpunk
This is my second play through of the surreal and head ache inducing Jazzpunk. Right from the outset this game was charming and hilarious. I wonder if that charm will hold true for the second play through to uncover those precious, precious side games. Chapter 1 Darlington Station: The scene is set in a dingy…
The beginner’s guide
So rather than get my anthropology essay done I find myself turning on the computer and opening steam instead of Word. I had a bit of a play of Beginner’s Guide last night but after the Stanley Parable my mind was in tatters and I needed to get some sleep. So far my ritual viewing…
MK Pinder Writes 