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"The balance that Mina tries to strike with the hammer is one that relies on player patience." @oddjackalope.bsky.social muses on his relationship with the hammer in Mina the Hollower:
My Toxic Relationship with Mina the Hollower’s Giant Hammer - UnwinnableThe hammer feels inevitable.unwinnable.com"If you want to pair a game with a smell, why not put some thought into it?" @emilyprice.bsky.social pairs indie perfumes with videogames:
GameSmell: A Videogame-Perfume Pairing List - UnwinnableI like the idea of spraying a perfume before you sit down to play a game; it’s like the VR suit that hurts you but, uh, more pleasant.unwinnable.comICYMI: "Each of this month’s selections wrestles with an aspect of these tensions between artist and audience in ways that are inseparable from the stories we tell about the work." @bensailer.bsky.social shares four albums that touch on the duality between intention and reception:
Vision and Expectation - UnwinnableEach one of this month's selections has, in some respect, an interesting relationship with the duality between artistic vision and critical expectation.buff.ly"Each of this month’s selections wrestles with an aspect of these tensions between artist and audience in ways that are inseparable from the stories we tell about the work." @bensailer.bsky.social shares four albums that touch on the duality between intention and reception: buff.ly/ECmOjJJ
Vision and Expectation - UnwinnableEach one of this month's selections has, in some respect, an interesting relationship with the duality between artistic vision and critical expectation.unwinnable.comICYMI: "The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a deceptively deep visual novel." @chris-rrrr.bsky.social enters The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood's wild world: unwinnable.com/2026/07/29/i...
ICYMI: "This is the story of rot culture, where it comes from, why it wins and how to stop glaciers." @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social looks back at history to explain how we've come to our current point in videogame economics:
Line Go Up - UnwinnableBut David, how do these super-mergers create value for the shareholders and why did we talk about the Italian Renaissance?unwinnable.com"The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a deceptively deep visual novel." @chris-rrrr.bsky.social enters The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood's wild world: unwinnable.com/2026/07/29/i...
I So Badly Want To Live In Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood’s World - UnwinnableWhat follows rocks the very foundation of witch society.unwinnable.com"This is the story of rot culture, where it comes from, why it wins and how to stop glaciers." @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social looks back at history to explain how we've come to our current point in videogame economics:
Line Go Up - UnwinnableBut David, how do these super-mergers create value for the shareholders and why did we talk about the Italian Renaissance?unwinnable.comICYMI: "Jiro’s fiancé, Naoko Satomi, is the body of the nation." Feature Excerpt: @autumn-wright.com explores the various echoes of The Wind Rises' Naoko Satomi across media and their parallels with imperialism:
The Many Faces of Naoko Satomi - UnwinnableAs the literal winds blowing off the Gulf of Lion are transformed into the winds of war in The Wind Rises, a person becomes a metaphor, too.unwinnable.com"Jiro’s fiancé, Naoko Satomi, is the body of the nation." Feature Excerpt: @autumn-wright.com explores the various echoes of The Wind Rises' Naoko Satomi across media and their parallels with imperialism: unwinnable.com/2026/07/28/t...
The Many Faces of Naoko Satomi - UnwinnableAs the literal winds blowing off the Gulf of Lion are transformed into the winds of war in The Wind Rises, a person becomes a metaphor, too.unwinnable.comICYMI: "King’s Field IV, twenty-some years on, became for me what my childhood fantasy of Dark Souls could not manifest." @jhensliterature.bsky.social explains what makes King's Field IV so compelling to them:
King's Field IV Makes Me Froth at the Mouth - UnwinnableIs it strange to say that I’m nostalgic for a game I never played in my formative years?unwinnable.com"King’s Field IV, twenty-some years on, became for me what my childhood fantasy of Dark Souls could not manifest." @jhensliterature.bsky.social explains what makes King's Field IV so compelling to them:
King's Field IV Makes Me Froth at the Mouth - UnwinnableIs it strange to say that I’m nostalgic for a game I never played in my formative years?unwinnable.comICYMI: "I dunno. I’m just saying girls also like STALKER." @vehement-ly.bsky.social penned a play on two women talking about the gender vibes around STALKER in issue 197. And we just reprinted it in full on the web:
Two Women Talking about Stalker (Extended Cut) - UnwinnableThe Zone is this object of pure radiation, like the sun on Earth.unwinnable.com"I dunno. I’m just saying girls also like STALKER." @vehement-ly.bsky.social penned a play on two women talking about the gender vibes around STALKER in issue 197. And we just reprinted it in full on the web:
Two Women Talking about Stalker (Extended Cut) - UnwinnableThe Zone is this object of pure radiation, like the sun on Earth.unwinnable.comThe wind is rising. This month's issue of Unwinnable Monthly features @autumn-wright.com on The Wind Rises and terror plus our regulars on topics like Marathon, Alan Wake II and Silent Hill f. Buy: buff.ly/ci350lH Subscribe: buff.ly/2FiTW11
ICYMI: "Assassin’s Creed was unusual: a game produced in the West in which we inhabit an (albeit Occidentalized) West Asian freedom fighter resisting a European invasion." @mlupetti.upandpunch.red on playing Assassin's Creed during the Gaza genocide and 25 years after 9/11:
Replaying the first Assassin's Creed Videogame During the Gaza Genocide - UnwinnableFew Western games would have allowed us to play “the terrorist.”buff.ly"Assassin’s Creed was unusual: a game produced in the West in which we inhabit an (albeit Occidentalized) West Asian freedom fighter resisting a European invasion." @mlupetti.upandpunch.red on playing the first Assassin's Creed during the Gaza genocide and 25 years after 9/11:
Replaying the first Assassin's Creed Videogame During the Gaza Genocide - UnwinnableFew Western games would have allowed us to play “the terrorist.”unwinnable.comICYMI: "The absolute jump-scare of the tiny shorts Pete is wearing with his preppy sweater. 10/10 look, honestly." @nochshorn.bsky.social watches Mad Men S2E4–S2E6:
THAT’S WHAT THE BLOG IS FOR! Mad Men S2E4–S2E6 - UnwinnableThe absolute jump-scare of the tiny shorts Pete is wearing with his preppy sweater.unwinnable.com"The absolute jump-scare of the tiny shorts Pete is wearing with his preppy sweater. 10/10 look, honestly." @nochshorn.bsky.social watches Mad Men S2E4–S2E6:
THAT’S WHAT THE BLOG IS FOR! Mad Men S2E4–S2E6 - UnwinnableThe absolute jump-scare of the tiny shorts Pete is wearing with his preppy sweater.unwinnable.comICYMI: "The slithering, the fire-breathing, the clawed and the weird don’t have to be dangerous threats, not even in the underworld." @alyssawejebe.bsky.social looks at Diana's relationships with creatures in Absolute Wonder Woman:
Creature Companionship in Hell with Absolute Wonder Woman - UnwinnableThe comic has this viscerally epic feel in scale and language. It also has a lot of cool monsters.unwinnable.com