It All Comes Down
(Note: This article contains significant spoilers for the freeware visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club. Those hoping to avoid spoilers should play the game prior to reading. Content Warning: Mental […]
Category Archives: Blogs of the Round Table
Posts created for Critical Distance’s monthly Blogs of the Round Table series.
Please Come In
When I was younger, I spent a lot of time feeling bad about myself. It wasn’t anything terribly traumatic, but a likely common story for the nerdier folks going through […]
Waterfront Property
The grass sways in the wind, the sea reaches up to the cliffs, spraying ocean into the air before calming once again into itself. Seafaring birds drift in the distance, […]
Better Than We Found It
When I first started playing and writing about games, it was a different time. Advertisements were built on the backs of the grunge-fantasy vibe of metal bands. Or they wrapped […]
A Few Ill-Placed Pieces
Sometimes life feels like a puzzle to me. A series of small thoughts, shapes, and configurations that are shaped more or less like the pieces of other people’s lives and […]
Tricker’s Treat
I typically loathe difficult games. In part because designing challenges is difficult. Technology being what it is, computers can’t match a hand-tailored stage design or a human’s variations in play. […]
As if a Fly on the Wall
The cool breeze of the night feels like a second home to me. I grew up sticking to the shadows, slowly and steadily teaching myself the secrets of stealth by […]
The Tragedy of Perspective – Part I
Playing Fallout 2 as a child probably wasn’t one of the healthiest methods of personal development. The wastes of southern California were huge. They contained townships as distinct as the […]
I Can Only Pretend
At exactly six in the morning, the cries of a rooster pierce through the peaceful rest of the farmhouse in Stardew Valley. Before my character is even entirely out of […]
A Different Kind of Progress
The gentle waves of the coast lap against the sand, drawing strings of white back toward the ocean before pressing back against the beach. Small boulders and rock formations jut […]