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Continue reading →: SHAPE UP!: Un-cozy GamesYou can take this job and shove it. A rundown of historical shifts in the reception of the film Jeanne Dielman leads into a discussion of cozy games, (dis)satisfying labor, and the aesthetics of boredom.
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Continue reading →: SHAPE UP!: Ironic Communication and Its LimitsElse Heart.Break() is one of the most ambitious games I’ve ever played. It also has probably the worst opening act of any game I’ve ever played.
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Continue reading →: SHAPE UP!: Possibility SpaceThis first episode of Shape Up—a series about form, structure, and pacing in games—is about the menu in the 2019 game Vignettes. But before I get to that extremely specific topic, I look at an overarching philosophy in indie game design in the 2010s, which traded reliable signposting for a sense of mystery and surprise.
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Continue reading →: Introducing: SHAPE UP!It is my pleasure to introduce Shape Up!, a new series of video essays about form, structure, and pacing in games.
