We are drawn – mind, body and soul – into the games we play. We struggle to describe them. We become slaves to their rhythm. We become slaves to their routine. We find them compelling, yet boring. We laugh at an old episode of Star Trek, then stop laughing as it comes to eerily foreshadow the real world.

It’s time to play some mind games.

Featured in Issue 5:

A Blur in Blue: A lapsed Sonic the Hedgehog fan goes on a pilgrimage to a fan exposition to restore his faith.

Empty Vessels: We think of game characters as blank slates, but they are lenses with personality through which we interpret their worlds.

Bodythinking: To play a game is not just to do something: thinking and reflecting on our environments are also bodily experiences.

Hunted: Amnesia: The Dark Descent inverts the videogame power fantasy, but also inverts our perceptions of horror games by giving us no means of defence.

You’re On My Crew: The Third Street Saints are loyal to each other not because of friendship, but through their bonds as a crew – their nakama.

Mind Games

Cultivating Heaven: In Animal Crossing, we turn the virtual into a means by which to live remote from ourselves, labouring twice over to realise a fantasy.

The Game: Star Trek: The Next Generation is an unlikely place to find a chilling vision of the future of gaming, one already coming true.

Hack Writer: How can writers describe the intricate systemic relationships of games like 868-HACK in concrete words?

Keeping Time: Some games are about more than just music – our bodies and minds become one with their rhythm.

The Banality of Addiction: Far from the sensationalised tales of death by overdose, videogame addiction is notable for its banality.

Featuring the work of Bill Coberly, Brendan Keogh, Kris Ligman, Lana Polansky and Alan Williamson.

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