the gender and roles of overwatch heroes
In this post, I’m tackling the gender and role distribution amongst the heroes of Blizzard’s first-person shooter game Overwatch. In a Reddit post from 2017, a then-Comparative Cultural Studies student addressed the question “Why are there so many female Mercy…
on slay the spire, progression, and making games more loser-friendly
When we think of what makes games fun, we often think about winning. Conquering a tough level, solving a difficult puzzle, getting to 100% completion or defeating a fearsome boss forms much of our narrative when we talk about why…
a shady trick for designing distinct video game characters
When I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2 the other night, I realized that I was having trouble recognizing the characters. Now, I don’t mean that the art wasn’t good – RDR2 is beautiful, with detailed character animations and cinematic…
loot boxes should not be banned, and video games are not evil
Loot boxes have recently become a hot topic of the gaming world. In 2018, Belgium ruled that loot boxes were in violation of their gambling laws and banned them, citing concerns with a young audience1. This made waves across big…
