Author Archives: Steve Gillham

Symposium, May 4th – Against the Storm

The magic word for so many descriptions and writeups of Against the Storm is “roguelite” – even the game’s developer can’t resist using the term when asked to describe their work in this city-builder. If we push ourselves to escape … Continue reading

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Symposium, October 6th – Citizen Sleeper

Somehow, Citizen Sleeper has managed to land right in the intersection of so many of our Symposium discussions, from Disco Elysium’s interrogation of the narrative capabilities of tabletop mechanics to Nier Automata’s exploration of how the body and self are … Continue reading

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Symposium, June 2nd – Majora’s Mask

Like a Groundhog Day gone wrong, we will relive and relearn the recurring nightmare of Termina in Majora’s Mask and explore just how far one of gaming’s most beloved franchises is willing to dive into existential despair. It’s dangerous to … Continue reading

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Symposium, December 2nd – Outer Wilds

We launch once more into the void on Thursday at 8:30 EDT / 7:30 CDT / 5:30 PDT, with voice chat over Discord, to continue our exploration of space through the clockwork universe of Outer Wilds.

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Symposium, July 1st: The Crew

When someone thinks of the final frontier, I’m reasonably sure that trick-taking card games are not the first thing that come to mind. And yet, with its clever unraveling of a Legacy-style game narrative structure, the simplicities of Thomas Sing’s … Continue reading

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Gaming Session: The Crew (June 24th, 2021)

In preparation of our July symposium on The Crew, we’re going to come together to take an inaugural flight with the game on Board Game Arena. 8:30pm EST / 5:30pm PST, with interstellar transmissions provided by Discord voice chat.

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Symposium, March 4th: Crusader Kings II and III

It would be easy to take one look at the byzantine UI prompts and the arcane systems of territorial stewardship in Crusader Kings and conclude that the game was a purely abstract exercise, a grand strategy game far too grand … Continue reading

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Symposium, November 5th: Hades

When we first talked about the possibility of discussing Hades for a symposium, I figured we would be talking about the game’s success as a roguelike, but I did not anticipate how appropriate it would be to discuss it as … Continue reading

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Symposium, May 7th: Kentucky Route Zero

EMILY: (To Ben) One of the first uses of the term grotesque to denote a literary genre is in Montaigne’s Essays. The Grotesque is often linked with satire and tragicomedy. It is an effective artistic means to convey grief and … Continue reading

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Symposium, November 7th: Slay the Spire and Magic: The Gathering

As we’ve made our way through various roguelikes in symposiums past, we’ve often discussed how discovery of their mechanics is one of the genre’s most satisfying rewards. Deckbuilders and collectible card games operate within a similar design space, but they … Continue reading

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