I think when I watch a YouTube essay about survival games and want to replay a game, I'm not actually wanting to play it. I'm wanting to feel the way I felt when I played it - and that feeling doesn't live in the game anymore. 🎮
unmappedworlds.com/posts/i-wasted-my-gaming-day-chasing-a-feeling/
I fucking love dwarves. Why I always pick the short, stubborn one, and why most games don't deserve the archetype.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/i-fuck...
🎮 #Games #Essays #Dwarves #Warhammer #DwarfFortress
I found a bow that one-shot everything in Tainted Grail. Then I kept playing because (decent) combat was the least interesting thing about this game. New blog post about how a AA RPG's systems feed into each other better than I expected.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/i-one-...
#IndieGames 🎮
I spent two days and $10 fixing a leaky dishwasher that should’ve cost $800 to repair. I felt like a god. 🛠️
Why does forging a legendary sword feel like a chore in game, while a rubber grommet feels like a triumph?
unmappedworlds.com/posts/the-di...
#gamedev #gaming #valheim #factorio #diy
Playing with Morrowind's Atronach sign accidentally turned me into a religious pilgrim. I wrote about that, and other games that trick you into caring about their world - like Subnautica and Breath of the Wild.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/when-p...
#GameDev #ElderScrolls #Subnautica #Zelda #Essay
This is Osbryht, a local blacksmith. We're kind of friends now - and that's because of something cool that Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon does with it's NPC characterization and quest structure.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/the-bl...
#TaintedGrail #RPGs #VideoGameEssays #IndieGames #GameDev
Why does stocking a cellar for the winter in Vintage Story feel so good?
unmappedworlds.com/posts/prepar...
#VintageStory #FoodPreservation #IndieGames #GameDev #GamingEssay
There's a right and a wrong way to implement food mechanics in survival games. Valheim nails it, and I dig into why.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/why-va...
#GameDev #IndieGames #Valheim #Fallout #ProjectZomboid #TheLongDark #MonsterHunter
Huh, I've heard about this game - but never looked deeply into it. Will listen! On the surface this looks infuriating, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's zen hidden there somewhere beneath the pure rage.
Boring games can be really exciting, sometimes. There's a sweet spot between blood pumping action and completely disconnecting your brain, and zen lives there.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/why-bo...
#EasyDeliveryCo #SnowRunner #EliteDangerous #IndieGames #GamingEssay
2025 was an interesting year in gaming for me. Handhelds, contact naps, and diaper changes.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/2025-i...
#Parenting #HandheldGaming #IndieGames
Ugh... I'm too good at reading games: booting up the game, and immediately understanding all the systems. But that's where knowledge-based progression systems in games really help.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/ugh-im-too-good-at-reading-games/
Love feeling small. Like not in a pathetic way, but I just love the way cosmic dread makes me feel. I only wish more games did dread better. Cause y'all tell me to be scared of the dark and then hand me a flashlight and a shotgun.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/i-want-your-game-to-not-care-about-me/
Morrowind and OSRS really did their fast travel right. Why hasn't there been as much love put into these systems since the 2000s?
Every time I alt-tab to check a wiki I feel a small part of my soul leave my body.
"Just don't use fast travel then" is not a design philosophy. I want meaningful diegetic fast travel systems in my games.
Dowloaded Tides of Torment only to spend 10 hours in a Throgg campaign. Buggy hunts aside (CA, please fix!), it's the most fun I had in a while.
Pic is Nano Banana's attempt at Throgg riding N'Kari.
Hot take. Fast travel is kind of awesome, when done right. Morrowind, Old School RuneScape, Dragon's Dogma... Fast travel can kick ass.
unmappedworlds.com/posts/fast-travel-is-awesome/
Me: I don't care about achievements. Also me: sees 92% completion and twitches.
I've spent more time reading about games and watching videos about games than playing them this year and I'm choosing not to examine that.
So my wife asked me how is my Warhammer 401k game going...
Pic via Nano Banana.
Me: I should try something new. Also me: boots up Total Warhammer for the 400th time.
My gaming backlog has achieved sentience and is now judging me.
I don't get it - I felt like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was everything I wanted in a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, but at some point I just stopped playing and haven't gotten back into it. Like it looks good, it feels like the zone, I have no idea what's wrong with it.
Achievements ruin games for me. Blame it on mild OCD, or my love of checklists - these are hard to ignore. They can lock me into specific playstyles I might not enjoy. Oh, oh, and sometimes they even spoil things for the game. Am I alone in this?
unmappedworlds.com/posts/i-hate-achievements/
Love feeling alone in a video game, like when no one is around for miles. Or maybe I'm the last person in the universe? It just feels so cozy.
Is it weird to love games I haven't finished? I rage quit Nier Automata after losing an hour and a half of progress, but it's still among my favorites...
Me booting up a 100th Starfield critique expecting specific criticisms from the author. Never played the game.
So... Anyone else wishes they knew less about games? Like I wish I didn't immediately look at the game and understood all the mechanics at play. Miss that feeling of wonder.
Loved Return to Castle Wolfenstein as a kid. Never got far, just ran around the map because I didn't know what to do or where to go, and I didn't think to read the objective text.
