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The earnest yet somewhat creepy gaming site you didn’t know you were looking for. Pitch us at editors@sidequest.zone and enter THE SIDEQUEST ZONE.
"Moving through the game as Morgan, I was confronted by my old self time and time again—their dreams, their fears, their desires, all of which were automatically assumed to be perfectly analogous with my new self." — C. C. Rayne
sidequest.zone/2025/11/03/w...
"The game’s namesake isn’t just a cute reference to Bloodborne—the game implicitly invokes a connection to dreams. As in Bloodborne, we travel through dream and physical worlds that affect one another." — Cress
Read more in REVIEW: Wake Up, Mudborne: sidequest.zone/2025/11/24/r...
"I bring these to you, along with a pretentiousness rating (which, importantly, is not a rating of quality) to help sell you on the value of art that rankles and irritates and maybe makes you feel a bit stupid."
Read more in Pretentious Game Jam is Authentically Good: sidequest.zone/2025/10/20/p...
DID YOU KNOW that Sidequest has a zine compiling some of our favorite pieces from the first decade (ish) of our existence? For just $5, you can get a beautifully designed example of some of the pieces we think best showcase our whole "thing."
Check it out: sidequestzone.itch.io/decade
In this month's (not so) cosy gaming news, EA is sold for $55bn to conservative investors, plus upcoming indie games to stay alive for.
Read more in GYGO Cosy: The Sims Publisher EA Bought For $55 Billion By Conservative Private Investors: sidequest.zone/2025/11/12/g...
I had the pleasure of writing about one of my all-time favorite video games for Sidequest - a game that shaped how I view narratives, characters, and consequences, and taught me quite a bit about myself in the process to boot. Please enjoy! ☄️👽💉
11.11.2025 22:33 — 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
"When I engage with art that holds sincerity at arm’s length, including through ironic detachment, I feel a bit sad. Why are you afraid to say what you want to say?" — Melissa Brinks
Read more in Pretentious Game Jam is Authentically Good: sidequest.zone/2025/10/20/p...
"But [the past] is out of your hands; it happens before the gameplay ever starts. The only thing you actually control is what you will do moving forwards—and these choices set up who you want your Morgan Yu to be." — C. C. Rayne
Read more: sidequest.zone/2025/11/03/w...
"χ suggested they could tag along, with Gin seeming hesitant to that idea. Noting this, I promised a future hangout with everyone and waved bye. Gin shyly pulled his hat down, wondering if he was acting too girly by wanting to hang out with me one on one."
sidequest.zone/2025/10/28/c...
"Gaming’s my favourite thing to do when flaring up because it’s less passive than watching TV or listening to podcasts, which lets me feel like I’m “doing” something when I physically can’t do anything."
Read more: sidequest.zone/2022/01/17/6...
"In honor of spooky season, dust off your haunted CRT monitor and plug into these short but chilling retro-inspired indie horror games." — Kathryn Hemmann
Read more from Kathryn Hemmann in "Eight Free Retro Horror Games on Itch.io" — sidequest.zone/2025/10/15/r...
"A while ago, I asked in the Sidequest Slack if I would ever be free of talking about Epic Games vs. whoever in court. Maddi wisely said no. She was correct.""— Melissa Brinks
Read more in GYGO Mobile: Roblox, Epic Games, You Know the Drill: sidequest.zone/2025/10/22/g...
"I bring [these games] to you, along with a pretentiousness rating (which, importantly, is not a rating of quality) to help sell you on the value of art that rankles and irritates and maybe makes you feel a bit stupid." — Melissa Brinks
Read more: sidequest.zone/2025/10/20/p...
"I explained that someday all the memes he knows and loves will be dead, and he’ll be looking at reels on Futuregram and a video reminiscing about the 2010s will pop up, and it will feel like being pierced through the chest."
sidequest.zone/2024/04/29/t...
"Halloween is the perfect excuse to dim the lights, grab some headphones, and delve into the eerie world of indie retro horror."
Eight Free Retro Horror Games on Itch.io — sidequest.zone/2025/10/15/r...
Melissa and Zora sat down to discuss the representations of sexuality and gender in the Dragon Age series, with some (maybe) surprising praise and some (less) surprising criticisms.
Check it out: sidequest.zone/2025/03/23/p...
"Sometimes [challenging convention is] throwing convention and practicality out the window and just reveling in making us screw up our faces and demand that our friends take a look at what we’re playing."
sidequest.zone/2017/01/19/d...
"Sewers combine the allure of secret underground tunnels with the chance to study old artifacts that have been thrown away and forgotten." — Kathryn Hemmann
Read more in Seven Intriguing Video Game Sewers: sidequest.zone/2025/03/03/v...
"And as I watched the playthrough again, I recognized an issue that I didn’t think I would have when I played it back then. You spend the vast majority of this game playing for and even lionising the bad guys. Genesis may be a dick, but he’s right." — Cress
Read more: sidequest.zone/2023/06/12/w...
"The forest represents a mysterious, forbidden realm or a boundary that cannot be crossed." — Kathryn Hemmann
Read more in Trees in Video Games: sidequest.zone/2024/12/16/t...
"It is just and beautiful for friends to part when life... presents a fork in the road. When that moment comes... we will feel something precious when we say goodbye, for the joy of having known each other will be proven in the bittersweetness of our parting."
sidequest.zone/2025/08/19/i...
"To truly understand this fight, to become one with it, we are chasing the hitless run. Radiant Difficulty. Perfection.
Nothing else will force the state of mind we need."
Read more in How to Beat Nightmare King Grimm and Ignore Your Grief in Ten Easy Steps: sidequest.zone/2024/11/04/h...
"Pyre is an unusually reactive game; there are many variations of its ending. In one ... you are not separated from your friends at all, and that is when you fail. It is possible in Pyre to meet your enemies with gratuitous mercy, by losing on purpose."
sidequest.zone/2025/08/19/i...
"Mystic Messenger... removes all of the layers between game and player.... The characters speak directly to you, the individual. You are your own player character. You are the one experiencing these emotions alongside the others."
Read more: sidequest.zone/2018/05/01/m...
Andrei Filote writes about the world of Supergiant Games' Pyre, and what liberation means for those who are exiled.
Read more in In Pyre, Every Game Is a God Game: sidequest.zone/2025/08/19/i...
"We’re introduced to Ayta at her computer listening to a routine business meeting in which the company bosses are praising the quarter’s profits while only giving their employees a pat on the back (already relatable)." — Cress
Read more at sidequest.zone/2025/05/12/r...
"Deus Ex... imagines the Illuminati as a cabal of tech billionaires—scary, powerful, but also gifted in a way that makes them seem like philosopher-kings... And that machine god... would wave its hand and alter our destiny, whether we like it or not."
sidequest.zone/2025/05/19/t...
Join us on patreon at patreon.com/sidequestzone!
08.08.2025 10:35 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
"In a strange twist of fate, the games weaponized to mock diversity have become a sanctuary for many of the people who were once excluded. I’d like to share my story of how this happened." — Kathryn Hemmann
Read more in The Softer Side of Dark Souls Fandom: sidequest.zone/2025/07/14/d...
"I’ve stopped playing games billed as “cozy” without a personal recommendation... [Would] humor be enough to offset the rose-colored disconnect I tend to associate with anything branded cozy?"
Wanderstop Is Pretty, but Fails to Capture the Challenges of Healing: sidequest.zone/2025/05/05/r...
