Reading List November 2020 (Patreon)

Shot: the quarterly wrapup. Chaser: this reading list! Seriously, there are a ton of other people making great indie recommendation lists this month, and I have them all collected down below. A wrapup list of great wrapup lists, if you will. Also included this month are a ton of insightful interviews, interesting dives into gaming history, and some in-depth looks at Miles Morales. Enjoy!

Second Opinions

Whenever I finish a review, I usually end up watching a few other reviews or other related content afterwards. Here’s some of the best stuff other people have had to say about the games I’ve been talking about lately!

India Needs an Industry Where Games Like Raji Can Thrive by Matthew Handrahan: Raji’s release was a bit of a miracle, it turns out, as Handrahan interviewed the India-based developer on the many systemic challenges they struggled against in their quest to release their game.

How ‘Raji: An Ancient Epic’ Falls into the Indian Far-Right’s Trap by Adesh Thapliyal: Thapliyal explains a great deal of cultural context, both modern and ancient, surrounding Raji. While not quite an indictment of the game or its creators, Thapliyal goes into detail about the ways that Raji stumbles in its representation of India's past.

10mg: Invading Steam with Microgames to Make a Point by Simon Carless: The article I initially found 10mg through, Carless interviewed one of the developers behind 10mg. If you liked what you saw in my quarterly wrapup, here's their full mission statement!

Droqen’s Guide to the Mechanics of Handmadedeathlabyrinth Issue 0 by Droqen:  The main developer of one of the 10mg games did a livestream diving into his thought process behind...almost everything in the game, down to every single individual encounter. If you played the game after the quarterly wrapup and liked it, it’s a neat dive into the thought process behind it.

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Nintendo Refuses to Acknowledge BotW’s Darkness by Ash Parrish: One of Age of Calamity’s weirdest (and yet so very Nintendo) plot twists was to make the game a time travel spinoff to give the original defenders of Hyrule a happy ending...instead of just filling in the story they were already telling. I thought it was an unfortunate choice, and Parrish did a good job voicing in more detail why.

A Whole Heaping Pile of Recommendations

Whether it’s because it’s the end of the year or the end of the “decade,” we’ve got a ton of videos all landing that are giant piles of indie recommendations not all that different from my quarterly wrapups. And if you love my wrapups, you’ll love these!

People Are Making Amazing, Tiny Games With This Free Tool, and I Can’t Get Enough of Them by Andy Kelly: Kelly shares the wonder that is Bitsy, a free and tiny game development tool, with the world, as well as a whole pile of their personal favorites made with the engine for you to check out.

Games From My Inbox: Apocalypse 2020 Edition by Super Bunnyhop: Just hours after my quarterly wrapup, we also got one of SBH’s always-fantastic Games From My Inbox with a whole ‘nother set of great indie recommendations. It’s a strong list, so check it out!

The Best Things From the Worst Year by HeavyEyed: HeavyEyed also put out their big end of year wrapup of their favorite games from 2020, including a strong argument for Necrobarista, which has similarly been one of my favorites!

Top 10 Underrated Indie Gems of the Decade by Snoman Gaming: Snoman decided to make some deepcut recommendations stretching back through the whole decade. There are some solid recommendations on here you might recognize, but definitely at least a few you’ll never have heard of!

A Tale of Two Spidermen

Occasionally, I find two reviews of the same game that compare and contrast with each other in absolutely fascinating ways, and this time, it was two reviews of Miles Morales, both discussing how the game represents New York’s politics during a time when they’re sharply in focus in the real world but coming to very different conclusions.

‘Spider-man: Miles Morales’ Dazzles and Disappoints by Gita Jackson: Jackson took a more laser-focused approach, taking time to appreciate what the game does right before holding it accountable for the ways it struggles to juggle the cultural context of the moment it’s set in.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Shows How Ordinary People Can Overcome the Extraordinary by Tauriq Moosa: While also mostly giving a more general review, Moosa focused on the inspiration and representation he found in seeing Miles’ smaller side adventure play out on the streets.

Big Names, Bigger Interviews

Big name interviews are always happening, but this month I ran into a whole lot more than usual! From retrospectives on lesser known names at huge companies to an in-depth examination of what’s been left in the wake of a popular streamer’s passing, there was a lot of thoughtful and important work going on this month.

How Gunpei Yokoi Reinvented Nintendo by Matt Alt: Alt chronicles the life of Gunpei Yokoi, the mind behind both the Game & Watch and the Gameboy and a key figure in transitioning Nintendo into the gaming juggernaut it is today.

Toshihiro Nagoshi, the Yakuza Years by Archipel Caravan: Archipel continued its excellent series of interviews with Japanese artists by talking to Toshihiro Nagoshi, creator of the Yakuza series, on its 15th anniversary.

When Even Mourning is Live: What Happens to a Famous Twitch Streamer’s Channel After Death by Nathan Grayson: Since popular Twitch streamer Reckful passed away, his stream has been an endless rerun of his old content. Grayson did an in-depth interview discussing how Reckful’s mods have kept the streamer’s memory alive and how his community is using the channel to cope with their loss.

Signs of the Sojourner Interview by Pixel Primers: Pixel Primers interviewed several of the chief creative figures that worked on Signs of the Sojourner, a personal favorite I’ve covered in the past, discussing everything from gameplay to art to music!

XCOM 2’s Problems Inspired a Whole Other Tactics Game by Jeremy Peel: Peel interviewed Tom Francis, head developer of Tactical Breach Wizards, about his upcoming game and how it draws its creative inspiration from iterating on past titles in its genre.

Everything Else

More Demos, Fewer Conferences by Raycevick: Raycevick recently explored the Steam Game Festival, tried out a whole ton of demos, and came away wishing the industry would reembrace this slowly dying tradition.

The ‘Oregon Trail’ Studio Made a Game About Slavery. Then Parents Saw It by Robert Whitaker: Whitaker details the fascinating (and unfortunate) history of Freedom!, a nigh-forgotten game intended to educate students about slavery through hard-as-nails escape attempts from the South that, despite best intentions, fell short of the mark in crucial ways.

There Are No Bad Video Games by John Battle: Battle lays out the idea of “vibe theory,” which is code for reviewing a game based on how it made you feel, then interrogating why it produced those feelings. It’s a solid primer on one form of artistic critique.

I Love How Yakuza: Like a Dragon Humanizes Homelessness by Liana Ruppert: Ruppert discusses how the latest Yakuza game handles a story arc that leaves its main character on the streets and compares it to her own experiences with homelessness.

Homeland Security Funded This Game About Destabilizing a Small U.S. Town by Matthew Gault: Gault explored a timely new game commissioned by the government and developed by Cambridge psychologists that’s all about examining how disinformation affects the democratic process.

A Virtual Place to Call Home by Eurothug4000: Eurothug discussed the comforting aspects of hub world and starting zones, how we attach ourselves to virtual homes, and the comfort we find existing in them both through their aesthetic and the familiarity we gain with them.

Demon’s Souls’ Soundtrack Reminds Us Just How Transient and Treacherous Truth Is by Dia Lacina: Lacina waxes lyrically about Demon’s Souls’ soundtrack and how its opening moments perfectly capture and draw you into its world.

World of Warcraft is the Best It’s Ever Been for a Solo Player by Andy Kelly: https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-is-the-best-its-ever-been-for-a-solo-player Apparently, WoW is actually pretty dang accessible these days! Kelly details a number of recent changes to the game in the leadup to Shadowlands that have made it actually kind of possible to play even if you’re short on time.

Why Do Some Games Just...Keep Selling? By Simon Carless: Carless investigated the curious case of Descenders, a game I’m quite fond of, and why the game has enjoyed a remarkably long tail of sales.