Maybe We Should Be Evil: Slay the Princess April 17, 2026 I used to think that however horrible the content in novels, it wasn’t really possible for a book to be evil, per se: its contents…
The Princess You Get Is the One You Believe In April 17, 2026 Video games are so well known, loved, hated, and conflicting because of their very purpose to give players an opportunity to immerse themselves and…
The Art of Hopeless Surrender to Artistic Violence April 17, 2026 From the get-go, Sarah Stang takes on a strong stance on how she believes that “interactivity is a debatable concept which has been so…
Critical Play: For the Queen April 17, 2026 For the Queen, designed by Alex Roberts (II) in 2019, is a story-building card game in which players collaboratively construct a narrative centered around…
Fiona – Critical Play: Competitive Analysis April 17, 2026 Social deduction games thrive on suspicion, performance, and incomplete information. As someone drawn to these mechanics, my team’s prototype, tentatively titled The Murder Game,…
Choosing Evil in Slay the Princess April 17, 2026 Slay the Princess is a game that allows, no encourages its players to perform acts of evil. It at first offers justification for these…
Absurdity in Slay the Princess: An Essay on Violent Contrasts April 17, 2026 Introduction “This is a love story”, proclaims the trigger content warning screen as the game opens. Haunted by lilting piano melodies – us, the…
Mayowa – Critical Play: Competitive Analysis April 17, 2026 My team’s game, tentatively referred to as ‘The Murder Game,’ is a social deduction game where one’s actions and theatrics are used to catch…
How ‘Slay the Princess’ Undermines Its Violence’s Meaning April 17, 2026 [Beware spoilers for Slay the Princess.] You’re on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And…
The Neutral Option April 17, 2026 Obviously, you are not going to slay her after only just meeting her because you were told to, and the game is called Slay…
Critical Play: Competitive Analysis of Dealbreakers and Poll Mine April 17, 2026 For this week’s Critical Play, I played Jackbox.tv’s Poll Mine at the CS247G game night. Poll Mine was created by Jackbox Games, a Chicago-based…
Monsters of the Mirror (RWP) April 17, 2026 “He who fights with monsters should look to see that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an…
Ryan Li, Critical Play: Competitive Analysis April 17, 2026 I played One Night Ultimate Werewolf, a modded, fast-paced Mafia-based social deduction game designed by Ted Alspach and Akihisa Okui and published by Bezier…
Critical Play: Competitive Analysis – Kelvin April 17, 2026 Game: Codenames Duet Creator: Vlaada Chvátil Platforms: Physical board game, online website Target audience: Casual or strategic players (roughly teen and up) who enjoy…
Brooke Ballhaus Critical Play: Competitive Analysis April 17, 2026 The Resistance: Avalon, originally released in 2012, is a social deduction board game designed by Don Eskridge and published by 18 publishers, including Indie…
The Risk of Forcing Violence, Player Experience of “Slay The Princess” April 17, 2026 The visual experience of “Slay the Princess” shows that while games prompt meaningful reflection on morality by asking players to engage with violence and…
Critical Play: Jackbox Talking Points April 17, 2026 Jackbox Talking Points is a game that is available on STEAM designed for 3-8 Players. The game includes a simple mechanic of players improvising…
The Narrator Lied to You: Slay the Princess and the Ethics of the Impossible Choice April 17, 2026 There is a moment in Slay the Princess that arrives like a trapdoor. You descend into the basement, knife in hand, the Narrator’s voice…
Sosi Day Critical Play 2 April 17, 2026 For this week’s critical play, I played Coup during game night. Coup is similar to our game design because it uses the core mechanic…
Critical Play – Competitive Analysis April 16, 2026 Understanding the Mechanics of The Murder Game through Online Town of Salem Town of Salem, originally created and published by BlankMediaGames and now owned…