Critical Play: Her Story August 8, 2026 This week, I played Her Story, an interactive mystery video game created by Sam Barlow and released in 2015 for PC, Mac, iOS, and…
Critical Play: Puzzles July 30, 2026 I played Escape the Room: Stargazer’s Manor, a cooperative board game designed by ThinkFun for 3–8 players, targeting families, casual players, and puzzle enthusiasts….
Critical Play: Worldbuilding July 24, 2026 For this assignment I played Everdell, a city-building board game designed by James A. Wilson and published by Starling Games. The game is aimed…
Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs July 20, 2026 Sketchnote: Example: I really enjoy the game Animal Crossing. It relies mainly on loops of daily tasks. Players repeat activities such as fishing, catching…
Individual Concept Doc – Xingyi (Team Bathyergus) July 20, 2026 Emotions: mysterious, dreamlike, mechanical Mood board Playlist Narrative direction Direction 1: Layers of box. Players unwrap each layer through mechanical puzzles. Because the box…
Critical Play: Walking Simulators July 19, 2026 For this assignment, I played What Remains of Edith Finch, a walking simulator developed by Giant Sparrow. The game is available on PC, PlayStation,…
Critical Play: Competitive Analysis | Managing Complexity Through Information Design July 14, 2026 I played Ticket to Ride, a board game designed by Alan R. Moon for 2–5 players ages 8 and up. Players collect colored train…
Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable… July 1, 2026 I played Blood on the Clocktower, designed by Steven Medway and published by The Pandemonium Institute. It’s a tabletop game played in person and…
Learning to Play Closely June 28, 2026 The game Lifeline evokes in me strong worry, anxiety, but also genuine care. The game is about saving an astronaut named Taylor, whose spaceship…
MDA & 8 Kinds of Fun June 24, 2026 I really like the game Hanabi, which means firework in Japanese. Mechanics: It is a cooperative game where players need to construct sequences of…
Self intro – Xingyi June 23, 2026 Hi! I go by Xingyi, pronouns they /she. Favorite game of all time and why: Hanabi. Players trying to play card 1-5 in sequence,…