The Sunday Papers

It’s official: I am once again the Sunday correspondent around here. That means it falls to me to round up (mostly) good (mostly) writing about (mostly) video games. I will otherwise be spending my Sunday continuing the fight against my dog’s fleas, which rebound every three weeks no matter how much I spray, scrub or throw things away.

On, the independent video game magazine which I linked to last week, has run a series of brief interviews with each of the contributors to its launch issue. I recommend Christian Donlan’s for the puzzle game recommendations and Margaret Robertson’s which expands on her fascination with Japanese paper games.

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Static Dread is Paper’s Please but you’re a lighthouse keeper besieged by Lovecraftian monsters

I’ve often thought lighthouse keeping would make a fine second career, albeit mostly because in my head, it would give me endless time to write (and finish Baldur’s Gate 3). You won’t have much time to write in Static Dread, sadly. The world has ended, the oceans teem with unspeakable biofauna, and it’s your job as the apparent sole surviving lighthouse keeper to distinguish vessels loaded with eldritch horrors from vessels loaded with people who need saving from eldritch horrors.

Going by the teaser trailer, below, this appears to be comparable to playing border guard in Papers, Please, but it’s less political and more tentacular. You field queries over the radio, run your finger down a clipboard, and decide whether to kindle the lamps or beg the coastguard to blast that ship back to hell. There’s a dialogue line in the trailer which I, personally, would consider highly untrustworthy. “It’s consuming my team!” screams a self-described ship captain. “Please, send help! Gosh…” Look, “friend”, no genuine human being says “gosh” in an emergency situation. Not even British human beings say “gosh” in an emergency situation. That’s what you say when somebody tells you the pizza-flavoured crisps are back on sale at Aldis.

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The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for doing things you haven’t done in a long time, like a long stretch after years trapped in a languorous hunch.

Former Edge designer Andrew Hind has launched On, a premium print magazine in which he and editor-in-chief Nathan Brown invite writers to produce their dream article.

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The Sunday Papers

The Sunday Papers is our weekly roundup of great writing about (mostly) videogames from across the web. Sundays are for reconnecting with old friends, reminiscing about good times, and eventually going to bed feeling an unbelievable sense of calm, contentment, and a newly invigorated sense of self. Lol nah I’m going to play Mechabellum and … Read more

The Sunday Papers

The Sunday Papers is our weekly roundup of great writing about (mostly) videogames from across the web. Sundays are for making and freezing a bunch of sandwiches so I can later toast them at my leisure. Not sure why, just fancied becoming the sort of person with a bountiful hoard of sandwiches. Before I get … Read more