It’s not often that I’m faced with a reflection of my feelings so poignantly to a point of some kind of ashamed annoyance. I played Undusted: Letters from the Past with a begrudging satisfaction – it’s succinct and sweet, a one-or-so-hour exercise in unraveling a family’s sad history with no particularly happy, fuzzy ending, and it’s meditative in the singular mechanic of cleaning small objects. It goes by quick: the story of an imperfect yet happy family turned into a placid examination of an estranged and resentful relationship that forms between mother and daughter after the passing of their husband and father. The daughter – Adora – is tasked by her aunt to find an old key in her childhood home. During her search, she uncovers old memories by cleaning and restoring certain small objects in the house – like a record player and a typewriter – that each house their own unique anecdote.

The Game Workers Conference will be hosted online and made freely accessible.

Every year I always say something cliche and twee like, “I learned a lot about myself”—because it’s true! It is another year and nothing may change the fact that I am fatherless, fickle, and more frail than ever, but it doesn’t stop the fact that we can sing about the shit of the world while also trying to do something about it. So yes, I think escapism can save the world, because if we all owe ourselves a few moments of happiness, there is less room for hate to survive. I believe in us, sans sabotage.

If there was one theme to this year in games, it was the industry saying hey, let’s make our release schedule all about making Lorelai happy. I was being fed from start to finish, and it truly made it a struggle to put together a list of the best stuff this year. Yes, there were some releases that were guaranteed a high spot because they were something I’ve wanted forever, but there were so many things that came out of nowhere to leave me wondering how a game this good might not even make my top 10. The bottom 5 flipped and flopped for weeks before I was finally able to lock them in, and I decided to add a few more games before we get started with the top 10.

In what has been generally accepted as a "pretty bad time", 2025 was in fact an excellent year for Gamesline. We brought new folks on, got into a better rhythm of posts, and started live streaming the podcast. I would like for us to continue to grow, and I would like for our articles to get more attention!

Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his diag...

Every year I post one one of these screeds, nobody has gotten the hint that I am unwell and need help. I am crying out. Please, someone, anyone, free me from my turmoil.10. Arc RaidersThe

I think I am playing more and more games every single year as time goes on. It never ends. I think this year I’ve counted over 65 games that I’ve tried at any given point, and don’t even get me started on the freaking gacha games. It feels like every week I join my Final Fantasy Raid Call and I have to commiserate with my friend Eric over how there’s a brand new puzzle game that we now have to accelerate up the list.

Finish reading this and then tell me to my face they shouldn’t get me to do the Golden Keighleys next year.

Another year, another billion games released into the ether. You need guidance. You need Spencer's choice.

I couldn’t escape the conclusion that games are just more meaningful to me when they’re at least a little bit social.

The world may be shit but video games and the people who make them are still (mostly) good. Here's to my head for not blowing up.