Unwinnable

27/07/2024

"Though little enough of it followed, The Uninvited proved that audiences had an appetite for this kind of material, when it was done well."

The success of The Uninvited hangs in the air around Lewis Allen’s 1945 follow-up, The Unseen.

27/07/2024

"I wanted to veer away from the glossy, approachable, cheerful aesthetic of modern Dungeons & Dragons."

"Perhaps out of a sense of satire or perhaps just because I really like horror movies, metal and the occult, I wanted to create something that would have been absolutely forbidden in my house.”

26/07/2024

Excerpt: Will Borger connects microtransactions and Skinner's process operant conditioning.

The first step to solving a problem is admitting a problem exists, and the role you played in causing it. None of us are innocent.

25/07/2024

Excerpt: Jay Castello takes in the dissonant spaces at Summer Games Fest.

Geoff is excited for videogames at Opening Night Live in August. Geoff is excited for videogames at the Game Awards in December. Geoff is excited for videogames at Summer Game Fest in June. Soon it will be August again.

24/07/2024

"Bobot stands up for others, does what she thinks is right and defeats evil all while sporting a pink pompadour and sometimes Moogle slippers."

Mel's back with an essay praising the most important heroine of all: herself.

23/07/2024

"Godzilla can remember his nuclear trauma, but he doesn’t have to always stay there."

While Godzilla was created from nuclear warfare – he’s ultimately not his creator. Or he doesn’t have to be.

19/07/2024

"The entire point of Godzilla (both the monster and the core premise) is to paint the consequences of human war, greed and indifference to nature in a new light."

Rob has always rolled his eyes whenever people complain about spending too much time with the people in Godzilla films, and watching Monarch: Legacy of Monsters gave him even more Strong Opinions on the subject.

19/07/2024

Are you in the box? Unwinnable's July 2024 issue includes Will Borger on Skinner and the game industry, Jay Castello on Summer Games Fest and our regular crew of columnists.

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19/07/2024

Justin Reeve describes the link between Japan's Bubble Economy in the later 20th century and Godzilla.

The tale of Japan's Bubble Economy and the metaphorical devastation wrought by Godzilla provides valuable lessons for the future of generations everywhere.

18/07/2024

"The Gun Devil’s appearance evokes the original kaiju, inspired by the U.S. bombing of Japanese civilians in WWII, by emerging off the coast before turning its destruction inland."

In the great tradition of obscuring the true big bad of its story, the ostensible antagonist of Chainsaw Man is a compelling kaiju.

17/07/2024

"I can’t explain why the art in Starcadia Quest mostly works for me while the art in Arcadia Quest was a dealbreaker."

It may be unsurprising to learn that Starcadia Quest is pretty much the exact same game as Arcadia Quest but in spaaaaaaaaaace!

17/07/2024

"In its adaptive move, Hades strikes a lot of the darker elements from the Greek stories it borrows from and recasts other parts."

If Cerberus’s anger is anything to go by, this may be a more nuanced look at the mythology the Hades games pull from.

13/07/2024

Sara Clemens imagines how the kawaii kaiju the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man works with his feelings.

Who you gonna call?

12/07/2024

Megan Bidmead wonders: What is it like to be Tommy Pickles in the 1998 game Rugrats: Search for Reptar?

I picked it up again, determined to finish it. But I got a headache from the music and I found the whole thing really frustrating.

12/07/2024

"The portrayal of kaiju-like monsters in D&D is pretty typical of nearly all RPGs: they’re threats to be defeated."

Tabletop roleplaying games crossed paths with kaiju in utero.

11/07/2024

"Her appearance and presence are powerfully kawaii and in her stories, femininity is tenacious and centered in her narrative spool."

Mothra is at once an icon of ritual and tradition as well as one of feminine transgression.

10/07/2024

"Purrcy’s round face and low, forward-facing eyes make me want to help him, no matter what thinly veiled threats he drops."

I find myself thinking about how Purrcy fits into the kawaii template of vulnerability and harmlessness. Purrcy does have these visual signifiers. I do want to help him. I am also terrified of him.

05/07/2024

"Monsterf**king is about showing a mirror to the monstrosity within - both in terms of society and in terms of the relationships between the parties involved."

Amanda Hudgins delves into the greater meaning behind the monsterf**king trope:

Monsterf**king is about showing a mirror to the monstrosity within – both in terms of society and in terms of the relationships between the parties involved.

04/07/2024

"Like those wise men at the end, you know dark is right, but the inevitability of death does not stop you from forking more lightning."

Though the fear of impending death is rendered moot by respawn mechanics, you know it will eventually run out. Still, you flatly refuse to go gentle into that good night.

03/07/2024

"Rain World is not a usual game, and neither is its relationship to the player."

After experiencing Rain World’s unforgiving cycle of death and punishment, it is not only understandable but anticipated that players would get fed up with the abuse and walk away to games that welcome their time and attention with any amount of appreciation. Why, then, do some players stay?

02/07/2024

"Cuteness can’t and won’t be the savior, but maybe it can be fun along the way."

Kawaii is consumed by the West as beauty without threat, whereas the very designation of Blackness is full of threat. What does it mean for a Black woman to try and be “cute?”

01/07/2024

This issue will have you questioning reality and learning a lot about Godzilla. Dig in to Exploits July 2024.

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Read Kathleen Levitt's essay on reality-bending books: https://bit.ly/3W61ewT

28/06/2024

"I mean, look at this. It’s a tiny mecha croissant on an overdrive pedal!"

Ben falls in love with an impossibly cute guitar pedal company that brings kawaii style and rock and roll together.

28/06/2024

"[W]hen you’re putting the level of detail into something like this, it just makes sense to make that extra effort."

Soul-crushing realities are something that MÖRK BORG tends to revel in, so it’s nice to see that Matt Johnson’s newest deck offers the same type of disastrous opportunities.

27/06/2024

For 626 Day, read the full reprint of Orrin Grey's feature on Lilo & Stitch and mental health.

As a weird kid myself, who grew up into a weird adult, it’s easy to see aspects of myself in both Lilo and Stitch – and I’m not alone.

27/06/2024

"Somehow, Minus One manages to be a populist Godzilla movie."

Unwinnable Feature Excerpt: argues why Godzilla Minus One rises above its fellow Godzilla films:

Everyone has trauma. Godzilla is definitely still cool but he’s deeply threatening and he probably hates you.

26/06/2024

Unwinnable Feature Excerpt: "You might’ve aged out of getting into a robot, but you can still become a monster."

Kaiju No. 8 is a wonderfully refreshing series: a show about someone in their early 30s who finds out that their dream is still achievable, even if it’s by unconventional means.

25/06/2024

"Bethesda neuters the Railroad first by making them incompetent, but it continues by making them ideologically meaningless."

The questions of Civil Rights and self-determination that the Railroad are attempting to posit to the broader Commonwealth are rendered secondary (at best) to secret-agent roleplaying.

21/06/2024

"Dreadfleet isn’t exactly a new edition of Man O’ War, but it’s as close as we’ve ever gotten."

Just as Dreadfleet is one of the last games released before Warhammer’s “Old World” became the “Mortal Realms” of Age of Sigmar, it is also one of the last gasps of an aesthetic style that had once defined the brand but was already on the way out.

20/06/2024

Both are big in Japan. Welcome to the Kawaii vs Kaiju (Kawaiiju) issue of Unwinnable Monthly, featuring on Kaiju no. 8 and our regular crew on everything monstrous and cute.

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