Videogames Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/section/videogames/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:20:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Videogames Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/section/videogames/ 32 32 Why Play at Orientalism? https://www.publicbooks.org/why-play-at-orientalism/ Thu, 24 Jun 2021 15:00:49 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=43966 Games like Crusader Kings III build feudalism into their code, and in so doing assert the supremacy of the modern global North.

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]]> Why Play to Regret? https://www.publicbooks.org/why-play-to-regret/ Mon, 14 Jun 2021 15:00:51 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=43757 Videogames that demand female protagonists commit—and receive—violence may be captivating, thoughtful, and moral. But they are not fun to play.

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]]> “Echo” and the Problem of Chess Problems https://www.publicbooks.org/echo-and-the-problem-of-chess-problems/ Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:00:21 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=37443 When looking at both art and life, we recognize patterns and then we learn what those patterns signify.

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]]> Quit Playing Games with My Heart https://www.publicbooks.org/quit-playing-games-with-my-heart/ Tue, 05 Nov 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=31905 Robert first catches my eye from across the coffee shop. New to the neighborhood, I’m looking for a friendly face. But Robert—glaring back at me from over his mug ...

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]]> A Ouija for the Apocalypse https://www.publicbooks.org/a-ouija-for-the-apocalypse/ Tue, 19 Feb 2019 16:00:18 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=26505 It is no easy feat to establish a cult and herald the apocalypse. I learned this firsthand while playing the card-based videogame Cultist Simulator, set in ...

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]]> Games for a Fallen World https://www.publicbooks.org/games-for-a-fallen-world/ Tue, 29 May 2018 15:00:18 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=21106 Last year, Nintendo released its latest gaming console, a nimble and versatile product appropriately named the Switch, which transforms from transportable LCD tablet to a standard controller with a simple click. Released alongside the ...

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]]> Ghost in the System https://www.publicbooks.org/ghost-in-the-system/ Tue, 26 Apr 2016 05:00:00 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/ghost-in-the-system/ It’s fitting that a videogame about novels and their authorship manages to marry two media long thought to be polar opposites. Aaron Reed and Jacob Garbe’s The Ice-Bound Concordance, available for free, for iPad and Windows, on their website, is a story-based game that requires a real printed-and-bound book in order to play. In an age […]

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]]> How to Write about Videogames https://www.publicbooks.org/how-to-write-about-videogames/ Mon, 15 Feb 2016 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/how-to-write-about-videogames/ I remember his blue-plastic hair, drawn back in a little bun that looked octagonal. I remember the pointy hat that crowned him in the eyes of other players: “Sorcerer’s petasos +1,” the “+1” indicating that it was marginally better than the regular version, and exponentially harder to get. I remember the winding wooded streets of […]

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