Games are not as numerous as we might feel they are. Not, at least, relative to the scale of entire digital content world. The ratio between the game consumer and the producer is still vastly over-sold compared to, say, the number of books or the number of images in the world. Purchasable video games in existence now are only in the millions, yet the number of people playing games far exceeds this: safe to say over 1 billion (In contrast, according to Google, there are over a trillion images.) This demand, or hunger even, for these digital fabrications is causing an excess of exploitation. Designers are encouraged to exploit the video game design space rather than explore, because the net return is far greater.

But also, this isn’t really true. Despite this massive growth in the presence of video games, it seems it is just hard work to filter through the chaff and find people with something interesting to say about the medium that is not mere recycled assumptions and opinions. And there are so many valuable opinions out there. It is when we digest the standard media, we only perceive a pin in the ocean. There are plenty of original thoughts and perspectives out there, we just have to find them.

I thought I would start to list some of the interesting figures in video games I have come across over my time spent reading and deep-diving. Specifically those that write or talk about games in ways that have struck me with an urge to immediately capture on paper a quote of something they have just put forth. Concepts that have heavily changed how I view games as both entertainment, media, and story-telling devices.

It should go without saying this list is non-exhaustive, the first of a few. I could make twenty of these lists and still have people for twenty-by-twenty more. But let’s start somewhere, and that somewhere is a blend of some popular individuals and some lesser-known individuals on my list.

Stuffed Wombat (website)

Systems repeat. Content disappears. In theory, at least. In practice, everything is chaos and tension and connection, a boiling soup where push and pull are indistinguishable.

Stuffed Wombat is not unknown by any indie game developer with an ear in the Twitter-sphere. What is most distinguished about his writing is its short, high-information, honest style. The above snippet is from their blogroll. Wombat’s approach to understanding games is to almost treat them as first-discoveries. The writing is fresh, in that it addresses what they discovered in building theibu game or what they learned from their playing another game. It feels almost untainted by the noise of the outer discourse. The insights, written usually in small aphorisms, I liken to koans for video game design: to be mulled over daily, weekly, until, ah yes, the insight shines through. This is someone who is very experimental and a tinker-thinker, so to say.

Liz Ryerson (website)

what i really want to express in response to this (and the aforementioned industry person i know) sentiment, but have struggled to, is that: how do you know that the industry of now is going to look even remotely like what it will twenty or thirty years from now? how many times are people told “this is just the way it is now” about their space of work only to have it completely transform to something almost unrecognizable in a few decades, and then be forced to adjust to that new normal? (source)

I love this quote.

It captures the linear thinking of so much of the industry video game design process. Even were you to push a video game designer beyond the comfort zone of a five-year horizon, their predictions are always within the comfortable space of the known. The best way to break this tunnel vision is to read about the history of games. Once you see a 1980s space shooter and place it besides what we have now, your best prediction is to say that video games will not even be what they are now, and end your speculation there. Liz’s writing is great at pushing past the comfort zone of game dev chatter, going so far as to point at the borderline cultish mentality in video games to play it safe for no reason other than… to preserve a practise that is only fifty years old? That’s micro-culture, not historical culture. I recommend Liz’s work as a voice of someone who very much questions the practises of not just the video game world, but also those of the indie game world (that seems rare), while still maintaining an honest personality, a figure who writes about these challenging topics because they deeply care.

The Backlog (Evan) (website)

As I played through 2021’s Norco, I begrudgingly resigned myself to not writing about it. (source)

Evan’s write-up on Norco is the only write-up that has been able to put to words what I felt as I was playing, and explained to me that emptiness I felt upon completion of the game. And of course, considering Evan’s background, this piece went even further than that. It helped me to understand why Norco has been my favourite game, something I haven’t tried to justify for myself. Not until recently did I even try to make a point-and-click narrative game. I was not worthy.

Evan holds a degree in anthropology, and uses this experience to think about games. They don’t hold back in their writing and let their own opinions surface without letting the fear of their contrast dampen what is said. Although I enjoy the Norco piece most, don’t skip on the other pieces if you find a game you like in there. You’ll learn something new about what you’ve played, I’m sure.

Far Away Times (website)

This is a problem with many engines that give you a massive toolbox to play with. New game devs feel obligated to make use of all the engine’s features, and their scope balloons as a result. They can’t make a game at that scope that satisfies them because it’d take hundreds of hours of work, and they give up. Be wary of any tool with an ocean of built-in features. Either be willing to discard most of those features for any given project, or use a simpler tool. (source)

Far Away Times is about the small. Small games, short posts, small points. But the compounding effect of many of these small things is a weighty portfolio with a clear message: more tiny is better than no big. I came across Far Away Times at the time when quite a few other people did. The above article attracted much attention from the game community for taking a less vocalised stance on game development, and made a compelling case, too. I know many people who have never approached game development due to the immeasurable expectation they have put on their outcome. Abate your ambitions and make small. Crawl through these blog posts for fun reasons why it will work out.

Keywords In Play – Critical Distance (website)

Number six is a podcast. Less common among video game podcasts, this one highlights academics in the field, providing a space to discuss theories of game design, games in society, or even more far-reaching fringe topics for those more accustomed to the general video game masses subjects. Sample topics include interpreting torture as play, redefining auto-battlers and idle games as a larger meta-genre, and the rise of ideas like cyberfeminism in the twenty-first century. Give your eyes a break and let your ears have some video game knowledge.

And that’s my first list. All of these people are great sources for finding further interesting people to speak about games, so worth following them on your socials.