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Category: The exp. Dispatch

  • The exp. Dispatch #16

    The exp. Dispatch #16

    I think we’re settling into a monthly dispatch after all; it seems like the correct frequency, for my own sanity at least…

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    This Month On exp.

    Subscriber Posts: Öoo (NamaTakahashi, 2025) / UFO 50 #2: Bug Hunter (Perry, 2024) / Plug & Play (Frei/Rickenbach, 2015) / KIDS (Playables, 2019)

    Dang, big month for subs! Öoo will unlock in a week, as is the tradition for the monthly posts, but the other two will remain locked up ~forever~. The Plug & Play and KIDS article is a minor bonus to follow up on my Time Flies write up, but Bug Hunter is proof that I’ve committed to the UFO 50 project enough to write a second one at least.

    Unlocked Posts: Time Flies (Playables, 2025) / Defender Of The Crown (Cinemaware, 1986) / Fortune-499 (Thompson, 2018) / Thirty Flights Of Loving (Blendo Games, 2012)

    Particularly proud of the Defender Of The Crown article. I’ve been concentrating more on “modern” games recently, and look forward to digging into more “retro” soon, but even saying that Fortune-499 was from eight years ago, I’m hardly sticking to the cutting edge as it is.

    From The exp. Archive: Pocket League Story (Kairosoft, 2012) / Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Konami, 2003) / Steel Diver (Nintendo, 2011) / Crazy Taxi: City Rush (Hardlight, 2014)

    With a lot of subscriber exclusives this month, I’ve not exactly kept up the pace with archive posts only managing six. Here’s four of them, but if you ever want to make sure you see when I share them, you can follow me on backloggd (or bluesky, but you’re more likely to miss it there.)

    exp. Du Cinéma

    It has not been a great month for movies up here in exp. Towers. I put the blame at the feet of The Fantastic 4: First Steps, which really did basically put me off movies. And then I went through the doldrums of Marty Supreme and Weapons. Thank goodness I went and saw… a movie I haven’t posted about yet. Something to look forward to, then.

    Zine News

    Pixels and Polygons Quarterly 2026 Q2

    “Pixels and Polygons Quarterly is a self-published magazine about retro games…The games covered inside this new issue are: Ehrgeiz, Secret of Mana, and Parasite Eve”

    SCURO 08: Winter of 26 Special Edition

    “In this supersized 20-page zine, you’ll see a collection of essays, reviews and art all centered around horror movies. Handmade in the Twin Cities metro, this special edition covers the occupation of Minnesota and a celebration of horror cinema by black and latine creators, Minnesota-based scary movies, and thoughts on joy and art as a resistance.”

    Between the Scanlines – Issue Thirty-Five

    “This issue: features on Jerry Lawson, 2000AD games on microcomputer, and the early days of id!”

    Free Palestine Resource Zine 🇵🇸

    “I created a free Palestine zine I could hand out at events, here’s a downloadable version so you can print your own!”

    And Finally…

    This 1964 theatrical 35mm advert was posted in a new restored version from Kineko Video last year (and has been kicking about online unrestored for a long time) but it’s so beautiful in 4K that I just have to share it. That cinema texture!!!

    Next week on exp.: The only awards that matter.

  • The exp. Dispatch #15

    The exp. Dispatch #15

    Oof, haven’t done one of these for a month. Well, let’s get to it.

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    This Month On exp.

    Subscriber Posts: Thirty Flights Of Loving (Blendo Games, 2012) / UFO 50 #1: Barbuta (Suhrke, 2024)

    Thirty Flights Of Loving continues my slow Blendo Games retrospective (see Gravity Bone, Flotilla) but I’m pleased to finally start doing something I’ve been meaning to do for ages, which is work through UFO 50 (similarly slowly). I’m always looking for reasons to make my subscription seem worth it, so these are going to be subscriber exclusive. Well, it is just $1, you know…

    Unlocked Posts: Rolling Thunder (Namco, 1986) / Unfair Flips (Flowers, 2025) / Q-UP (Everybody House Games, 2025) / Mappy-Land (Namco, 1986)

    I supposed I also unlocked A Computer Christmas (Sierra, 1986), but I dunno if you want to be reading about Christmas at the end of January [only 326 shopping days left! etc.] 

    From The exp. Archive: Attack of the Friday Monsters! (Millennium Kitchen/Aquria, 2013) / Road Rash (EA, 1991) / No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! (Sony Computer Entertainment, 2014) / Ultimate Ghosts ’n Goblins (Tose, 2006)

    I’m speeding up my updating of the exp. Archive a bit because I’d like to catch up a bit faster–closer to a couple of archive posts a week, so I’ll probably not include them all here now, it’ll get unwieldy. Nice to see that my Attack of the Friday Monsters! post picked up a mild bit of traction over on Bluesky–there’s something quite ironic about the fact that in the article, from 2014, I complain about the inaccessibility of certain games, and now you can’t play Attack Of The Friday Monsters! officially either.

    exp. Du Cinéma

    Avatar: Fire And Ash (2025)

    As much as you might not want to read about Christmas, do you want to be reading about Avatar: Fire And Ash at the end of January either? But we’re in the real January doldrums and to be honest I just couldn’t be arsed to go and see Marty Supreme just to keep up or whatever.

    Also reviewed: Ballerina (2025)

    exp. Capsule Review

    ChickChickChick CHICKEN (Pigpud, 2026)

    Couldn’t resist this based on the graphics, a short, simple platformer that initially appears to be about quick escape, but reveals itself to be a bit more of a puzzle if you’re willing to give it another go (I won’t spoil the trick–what have to do initially is simple enough, but the “a ha” moment is rewarding anyway. Although I suppose the trailer spoils it, so just… don’t watch that first then.) Does that thing I really don’t love where a lot of jumps are designed to be either just out of reach or just in reach (be more obvious/have more leeway, please) and the graphics don’t always make it clear what you can collide with, but this is a nice way to spend ten minutes or so.

    Zine News

    Zine Things Happen: The Heavenly Special 

    “A fun new, 44-page, full-colour A5 music fanzine, featuring brand new interviews/features and lots of indie-pop silliness. #2 is dedicated to everybody’s favourite indie-pop band… Heavenly.”

    Pop Cultural Precursors Issue #2

    “Before there was Battle Bots, there was the Critter Crunch. Read the story of the world’s first robot death match at the 1989 Denver MileHiCon. Trying out a different format—an online version of an 8-page zine.”

    Breakspace Issue 4

    “Issue 4 of Break Space, reviewing 56 games for the ZX Spectrum from Q4 2025.”

    Between the Scanlines – Issue Thirty-Four

    “Between the Scanlines is a fanzine launched in October 2023. Inspired by 90s anime and video game fanzines, we hope to capture their spirit and passion for video games and media history with our own. There are typically fourteen A5 pages in each issue.”

    And Finally…

    “I Do Not Feel Safe In The Country”: International Developers Are Skipping GDC Because Of Trump’s Border Chaos

    exp. was on Aftermath! Well, sort of. I talked to Luke Plunkett, as did a group of other writers and game developers, about not going to GDC this year because of [gestures at everything].

    Next week on exp.: it’s hard to predict what’s in the cards…

  • The exp. Dispatch #14

    The exp. Dispatch #14

    A dispatch a little earlier than has become usual, but it’s the last newsletter of the year and feels like I should get it in before Christmas happens and we end up in that weird no-man’s land between it and the New Year.

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    This Fortnight On exp.

    Subscriber Posts: A Computer Christmas (Sierra, 1986) / Christmas Crackers (Micro User, 1986) – Part 1 (Subscriber Exclusive) / Christmas Crackers (Micro User, 1986) – Part 2 (Subscriber Exclusive)

    Going with A Computer Christmas as my last pre-Christmas new article is going for a kind of sophisticated, adult Christmas shindig vibe; Christmas Crackers is more that last day at primary school when you’re allowed to bring in any toys you like and the teacher lets you play games on the computer. Of course, if they’d booted up Christmas Crackers you might prefer to wait your turn to see if you could get a game of Crossbows and Catapults with the older kid that brought it in, because it looks amazing (you won’t, and you never will, so you’ll just have to imagine how amazing it is… hang on, they made a new version in 2024??? Finally I can stop imagini… oh it’s $90.)

    Unlocked Posts: Horses (Santa Ragione, 2025) / Jingle Bells (Jack & Jill Software, 1986)

    If you follow me on Bluesky you’re probably sick of me posting about my Horses essay, but I’m just so dang proud of it/it just took a long time ok? Better for me to make a bigger point of drawing the first map for Jingle Bells that exists online, an experience more enjoyable and festive than close reading Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom, let me tell you.

    From The exp. Archive: Merry Christmas From Melbourne House (Melbourne House, 1984) / Santa (Artic Computing, 1983) (Subscriber Exclusive) / A Christmas Adventure (Chartscan Data, 1983)

    A subscriber exclusive in the archive as well! It’s nice to be able to offer a few of these at certain times in the year to say thanks to those who support my writing.

    exp. Du Cinéma

    The Running Man (2025)

    Definitely didn’t originally plan on writing this up as extensively as I did, but sometimes inspiration just takes you. Wish it had for Wright and company.

    Also reviewed: Wake Up Dead Man (2025) / The Ballad of Wallace Island (2025)

    exp. Capsule Review

    Mari Lwyd’s Pantri Panic (Wynne, 2025)

    Yes, I’ve been playing Christmas games chronologically (more or less) but when I saw this pop up in my feed I felt I had to play it, as I love unique customs!!! And Mari Lywd is… a pretty unique custom.

    Mari Lwyd’s Pantri Panic was made by Rhys Wynne for the Pico-8 Advent Calendar Jam 2025 (of which there are a huge selection of Christmassy games to play, but this is the one I played.) As admitted by Wynne, it’s a version of the Blokus/Tetris mash-up game design where you place shapes on a grid until they can’t fit, but rather than be a series of grid-filling puzzles, each time you make a line it disappears, opening up space so you can hopefully keep going.

    I’ll be honest—I don’t entirely gel with this game design; I find it slightly uneasy to be playing Tetris on four sides with a wider range of block shapes. And it’s a shame Mari Lywd is just window dressing (there’s probably an interesting idea in a game where you have to keep thinking up new songs to stop a horse skull getting into your house, but I think that’s somewhat out of scope here.)

    That said, this is a pleasant diversion, and another great example of the pick-up-and-play Pico-8 puzzler. It particularly gains serious points for including a different Christmas song (Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd) rather than Jingle Bells again.

    Festive Vibes Ranking: HIGH (if you’re Welsh) MEDIUM (if you’re not)

    Zine News

    Gen Zine: DIY publications find new life as a form of resistance against Trump

    Zines get covered in The Guardian. We’ve made it, lads!

    Retro Game Zine Quarterly 2026 Q1

    Darren Hupke has always been very kind about exp. and he’s been a shockingly prolific zinester, putting out quality zines on a monthly basis, but he’s sensibly decided to slow a little to provide more coverage in a less logistically challenging fashion with a new quarterly zine. You can back the new Kickstarter now.

    (And if you missed the 2025 zines, you can pre-order the annual now too!)

    Cranko #4

    Speaking of prolific, it’s incredible that after appearing from nowhere there’s already four issues of this Playdate focused zine. I can’t keep up!

    Notable Books 2025 by Aaron King

    “A 20-page zine about notable books I read in 2025 (short description, thoughts, feelings, grudges held).”

    How To Print Your Own Zines From Home! (Video)

    JP Coovert takes you through how to print up an A5/half-letter zine at home in a quick little video, so you’ve got no excuse. He’s talking about TTRPG zines—I’ve often wondered how zine oldheads feel about how much “zine” has become synonymous with self-published TTRPGs in some circles—but it works for any kind of zine you’d like to make.

    (If you don’t want to watch a video, or use a computer to make your zine, check out this neat guide from Julia Gfrörer.)

    Mutual Aid

    Help Andrew & Savannah’s Family Stay Afloat

    “There but for the grace of god, go I” goes the saying, and as someone also struggling with unemployment in the games industry (and who expects to see games industry people in need like this a lot more) I want to share Andrew Elmore’s fundraiser to help support him as he tries to keep him and his family going after being laid off by Bungie in 2023. It hurts to read and recognise in myself the words “there is so much—SO MUCH—work that I can do!! But nobody wants any of it anymore, I guess!?” It’s tough out there, but maybe we can get through it if we help each other when we’re able.

    And Finally…

    I shared No Games For Genocide last Dispatch in the And Finally… spot (which is actually supposed to be something funny/nice, but never mind) but I’d like to highlight People Make Games’ superb video on the movement. For what it’s worth: I’ve signed the pledge and exp. won’t be covering Xbox-published games. Please consider signing too.

    Next week on exp.: I spend the week eating chocolate and watching the old films that they always put on the telly (maybe this is the year I finally watch The Railway Children.) When I return: Quentin Tarantino’s favourite arcade game.

  • The exp. Dispatch #13

    The exp. Dispatch #13

    This Month On exp.

    Subscriber Post: Jingle Bells (Jack & Jill Software, 1986)

    As has become traditional, in the month of December I try and make sure I write up as many Christmas games as I can manage. This year I’m going to try and keep to my intent to write up new (preferrably 2025) games when I can, so it’s (sadly) not going to be all Christmas, all the time, but it’s good to start the month off with one, and I’ve already got some subscriber-exclusive Christmas essays brewing, so if you want to make sure you’re as full of Christmas cheer as possible and haven’t already joined the Patreon…

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    Unlocked Posts: and Roger (Tearyhand Studio, 2025) / Florence (Mountains, 2018) / Flotilla (Blendo Games, 2010) / Baby Steps (Cuzzillo/Boch/Foddy, 2025)

    Uh, that looks like four articles but it’s actually three. This is the first time I’ve broken the format to talk about two games at once, but I think it was necessary, and I don’t think it’s going to be the last time.

    From The exp. Archive: Super Stardust Portable (Housemarque, 2008) / Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios, 2011) / ModNation Racers (San Diego Studio, 2010) / Santa’s Sleigh Ride (Energy Games, 1981)

    I’m jumping forward in the archive a bit so I can further juice the Chrimbofication of exp. this month to include a chunk of the Christmas essays I’ve written across the years (although I only started doing it in 2021.)

    exp. Du Cinéma

    Frankenstein (2025) / The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

    I didn’t expect to post my article on The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp to the main site—I expected it would be short enough that I’d be happy to just leave it on Letterboxd—but it took more paragraphs, and more redrafting, than I expected (this is actually the second version of the essay I wrote.) It was only when I read the Criterion essay that I accepted that the movie was difficult enough to get a handle on that I felt satisfied that my perspective was worth sharing—and if so, why not do it properly. I think maybe I’m being a bit too precious about how long and detailed an article has to be to get upgraded to a “real” post; several of the essays below (notably Predator: Badlands and Sentimental Value) probably deserved it.

    Also reviewed: Who Killed the Montreal Expos? (2025) / Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) / Predator: Badlands (2025) / Sentimental Value (2025) / The Running Man (1987)

    exp. Capsule Review

    Small Worlds (Schute, 2010)

    Friend-of-exp. Jim McGinley shared this example of a lost art—the Flash game—and I had, I guess, missed it completely, so it’s possible you did too. Winner of the Jayisgames 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition” and playable on archive.org, it’s a short platformer where you jump around, gradually revealing beautiful pixel-art scenes that express a kind of melancholy. One section (you’ll know the one) veers slightly into annoying if you don’t nail certain jumps, but this feels the way snow globes look in whimsical, heartfelt movies, and not the way they are in real life, which is nothing. Well worth your time.

    Zine News

    Retro Game Zine Issue 012

    “Retro Game Zine Issue 012 investigates the cyberpunk Kojima cult classic, Snatcher!”

    Funland Zine No. 5

    “Yoshiro Kimura on life on Earth. Luke Vincent on life on alien worlds (or at least SLC). Kaitlin Tremblay on death in the cosmos.”

    FREEZE-ZX Issue 2

    “Here’s a taste of what’s inside: A retrospective of Auf Wiedersehen Monty from Gremlin Graphics. An exclusive interview with Gremlin’s graphics developer, Terry Lloyd … And yes—a special centrefold map to enjoy.”

    Logos From Planet Blip

    I haven’t had a chance to play (watch?) Blippo+ yet, but when they announced this they described it as a zine, so I’m more interested than I was already (which was interested).

    Zine Things Happen

    “From the author of Sarah Records’ These Things Happen, comes a new 40-page, full-colour music fanzine. Feat. Blueboy, Josie, Beth Arzy, Swansea Sound.”

    And Finally…

    “SIGN OUR BOYCOTT XBOX PLEDGE: We are asking gamers, game workers, streamers & journalists to join us in boycotting & divesting from Xbox, to force Microsoft to end its complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. We’ve provided concrete actions everyone can take. Sign here: nogamesforgenocide.com.”

    Next week on exp.: When suddenly Johnny gets the feeling he’s being surrounded by…

  • The exp. Dispatch #12

    The exp. Dispatch #12

    Everyone who ordered exp. 2602 (or the value bundle!) before mid-Oct should have (or soon be receiving if they’re far-flung) their physical copies! Digital copies were also sent out this week—check your spam if you don’t see them, and get in touch if you still don’t.

    I’ve been gladdened by the images people have shared with me of their copies (our header image here via Chris Baker) and if you’ve enjoyed the issues, please do share on social media. I don’t want to moan too much, but I’ve been turned down for every zine fair I’ve applied to since I launched exp. 26021 so I do, unusually, have a bit of stock to shift (I ordered more than usual due to strong pre-orders and because I was, it turns out, a bit hopeful the invites would flood in.) Let me know if you know any zine stockists who’d be interested, or outlets who might spread the word—I’m already eager to start the next!

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    This Month On exp.

    Subscriber Post: Alex Kidd In Miracle World (Sega, 1986)

    Unlocked Posts: Zombi (Ubisoft, 1986) / The Texas Chainsaw Massacre / Halloween (Wizard Video, 1983) / Without A Dawn (Makkonen, 2025)

    Although my last block of articles was intentionally Halloween-themed, I’d have to argue this last month really represents what I’m trying to do with exp. We have an honest look at a recent indie, articles that dig into the history of less-known video games while also offering critique, and a reappraisal of a better known title with modern eyes but still historical context. All from my very specific, personal lens—openly subjective, but hopefully enjoyable and illuminating. These articles only ever seem to take more and more time, but I’m really happy with this and I hope you are too.

    From The exp. Archive: Pursuit Force (Bigbig Studios, 2005) / Soul Sacrifice (Marvelous/Japan Studio, 2013) / What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord? (Acquire/Japan Studio, 2007) / Papers Please (Pope, 2013)

    Meanwhile, you can really see how much patchier my articles were in the first year of taking exp. online—there are some ones which I think really hold up (most notably Papers Please)—and then a lot of things which are more just “here’s some quick thoughts on what I just played.” Which is fine! In some respects, I always imagined this as roleplay as a game reviewer for a 80s or 90s game magazine in its pomp—lots of games to review, you don’t know what you’re going to get and have no specialisation, and you can write whatever you like. Which I suppose it still is, but now I do a bit more than open Wikipedia to pull up dates. [“Not much more…”—Ed.]

    exp. Du Cinéma

    One Battle After Another (2025)

    This feels like it was forever ago, I should endeavour to get the newsletter out a bit more often, eh? Been a fallow month for my writing on cinema (though I did make a point of promoting Harvest Brood as a top-tier Halloween viewing.)

    exp. Capsule Review

    Puzzmo Mini Crossword (Orta, Zach and Friends, 2025)

    Puzzmo has been kicking around for a year now, offering an alternative to the New York Times’ stranglehold on digital newspaper games. I kicked Wordle a long time ago because I just don’t think you can ethically engage with the NYT now, and I think that Puzzmo offers an ethical alternative (though Hearst Newspapers is involved?)

    I haven’t really engaged with Puzzmo since launch because I’ve tried to avoid filling my time with this kind of thing post-Wordle/post-stupid Marvel Snap addiction, but in October they (I think specifically Puzzle Editor Brooke Husic) put together a nice run of thirty mini crosswords that attempted to help build a budding crossword player’s abilities. I’ve been more interested in crosswords since discussing them with Chris Remo/discovering Stephen Sondheim was a fan, and while I didn’t remember to do the mini crossword every day, the ones I did I enjoyed, felt I learned something from, and didn’t take an annoying amount of time out of my day.

    The good news is that Puzzmo is continuing the minis, and so am I! While they aren’t specifically teaching you how to do them now, I think they’re still worth a shot for the crossword curious (you can reveal characters if you’re completely stuck, for example.) The only issue I really have is that they have so many settings to make input suit you, but when you’re “fixing” an answer it doesn’t work the way I’d imagine—if you have a letter in a space but start typing in the space before that, it doesn’t overwrite that space but jump over it. It’s led to a lot of garbled answers, but I suspect the way they do it is intended for crossword masters playing for speed. Maybe I’ll get there.

    Zine News

    Zine Dump

    Alright this is one of the zine fairs I was turned down for but I’m not salty. Even if you’re reading this on Sunday there’s still time! Get down to Cecil Community Center before 5 p.m.! I’m so not salty that I dropped off five copies of exp. 2600 for the community zine table that you can pick up for a bargain price if you’re quick.

    From Masher To Master 2 (Patrick Miller)

    “This book is intended to serve as your companion through your own personal journey into fighting games … only this book will help you navigate the process of becoming a fighting game player.”

    Alright, not a zine, exactly, but Patrick Miller has just released a sequel to his original From Masher To Master book (“No, you do not need to have read the first book to get the most out of this one. I highly recommend starting with this one first.”) it’s PWYC and if you have any interest in fighting games there’s no one I would trust more to guide you. And it’s reminded me that I should probably stick at least the digital version of Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 on itch.io…

    BreakSpace Issue 3

    “Featuring 58 reviews! 2-new BASIC type-ins! Interview with Gabriele Amore! Elite BASIC coding tips!”

    …and actually, maybe the zines too? I don’t know how I’ve overlooked how thriving the zine/book space is on itch.io, and I also can’t get over the labour of love that is BreakSpace, a Speccy mag with tons of content that’s completely free!

    Funland Issue 4

    “Thrills! Chills! Evil computers! Eldritch horrors! Ghouls! Goblins! Even penguins! Folks if this one doesn’t make your hair stand on end you may already be a corpse.”

    Funland really out here putting the rest of us zinesters to shame with their consistency, and if you’ve been looking for a bargain, their Halloween issue has a demonic discount and is just $6.66.

    And Finally…

    I’ve been under a lot of stress the last month or so, and one thing I’ve been slightly embarrassed about is that I’ve given into nostalgia the disease, turning to playing Youtube videos of old Amstrad CPC games in the background as a soothing balm even if—to be honest—the videos aren’t often very good. Just as I thought I was kicking the habit, here’s ChinnyVision with the best video of the lot and he didn’t even script it. A lovely personal trip through a selection of Amstrad CPC games that matter to him that, surprisingly, picks a lot of the games that mattered to me. Particular shout-outs to Trap Door, the (in my memory) superb port of Paperboy as well as some of the more well-remembered games like Sorcery+ (which terrified me) Chase HQ and Head Over Heels.

    As I suspect you have no connection to the Amstrad CPC, it might be worth a watch if you’d like to know more. One day I’m sure I’m going to be digging into the CPC’s bounty here, so you might as well do a bit of homework first.

    Next week on exp.: A game makes me ugly cry.

    1. For what it’s worth: It’s still great there’s been so many to apply to, and that the competition is so fierce. I’ll get ’em next time. ↩︎

  • The exp. Dispatch #11

    The exp. Dispatch #11

    They’re here, and they’re gorgeous. Apologies to everyone who has been waiting for a dispatch notification for exp. 2602 or the reprints, but due to a Canada Post strike I’ve been unable to send them out. It’s been unfortunate timing, but I support the strikes—the workers are standing up to a predatory capitalist political class undermining an essential public good. Issues will begin being dispatched next week, though delivery may be slow due to the continuing rotating strike. The PDF/ePub editions will be sent out at the same time (though those will be instant, obviously.) Thank you so much to everyone for their patience on this.

    If you haven’t ordered yet, now is the perfect time! Pick up exp. 2602 or the full set over at the shop in the next couple of days and they’ll be included in the first batch of orders sent out.

    Hey, do you hate in-line advertising? We do too! We’re only ever going to do it here at the start of our newsletter posts because we want you to get these missives in your inbox a day early. Sorry!

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    Recently On exp.

    Subscriber Post: Poltergeist (Tandy, 1982)

    Decided I wanted to celebrate the Halloween season the same way I celebrate the Christmas season: by adding yet more fucking obscure games to my backlog and then writing way too much about them.

    Unlocked Posts: Pipistrello And The Cursed Yoyo (Pocket Trap, 2025) / Castlevania (Konami, 1986) / Elechead (Namatakahashi, 2021)

    My Halloween theming began with Castlevania, though Pipistrello is a bit of a edge case (there’s a curse, and you play a bat?) Worth mentioning that as I write this Elechead is 50% off on Steam and well worth it.

    From The exp. Archive: Wipeout 2048 (Studio Liverpool, 2012) / Rymdkapsel (Grapefrukt, 2013) / Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Sega, 1990) / Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Sega, 2013)

    Quite a grab-bag here again, with the Wipeout 2048 article that was at one point the most popular article I’d written for exp., a look at a game I wished was a Roguelike-like before we all got tired of everything being a Roguelike-like, and then that weekend where I played both Castle of Illusion games and thought they were… fine.

    exp. Du Cinéma

    Subscriber Post: Still Family #11: Fast X

    I was invited on to the Still Loading Podcast to talk about the Fast & Furious franchise (specifically the currently final film), and the host Josh let me share it with my own Patreon patrons as well. So if you’ve got a hankering to listen to me waffle for nearly three hours, go wild!

    Also reviewed: Kneecap (2024) / Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet (1977)

    Zine News

    poster by zine maker / artist Cort Hartle. Printing and distribution encouraged by the artist!

    Antler River RPG Trade: 8 Points to Buck Up Your Games!

    “100% of the proceeds of Antler River will be donated to the Homelessness Program of the Elgin-Middlesex United Way.”

    Saw this one covered at the CBC of all places.

    A Decadent Day

    “A zine of three recipes, developed over the last eight months, for a breakfast, dinner, and dessert cooked exclusively in an 8-inch cast iron skillet.”

    As a vegetarian I can’t recommend all of these recipes, but I can recommend skipping the meat or subbing in your favourite alternative. Plus there’s a pretty neat tofu dessert here.

    Mutual Aid

    Legendary game developer Rebecca Heineman, whose work includes The Bard’s Tale (which I only wrote about recently) but honestly just so many things, has been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and is facing huge bills for her treatment, because… America. Support if you can.

    And Finally…

    A couple of things this week. First up I’ve been obsessed with with the big strong boys of Haha, You Clowns since I discovered it, and with a HBO Max show hitting next week, the best time to get caught up on creator Joe Cappa’s original shorts is now. It would be easy to say “the joke is that there is no joke” but what makes the shorts so captivating is how they explore just how strange it is to try and act normally while living with grief, and it ends up very, very funny as a result. I love it.

    Secondly, I adored Majuular’s ridiculously long retrospective on Ultima VII: The Black Gate, and he just put out a video on the sequel, Serpent Isle. I have a tremendous warmth to these two Ultima games in particular, and I think Majuular explains very well why they’re so unique and special, so I loved getting to spend another 6-odd hours(!) in the world with a fella who seemed to love them as much as I did.

    Next week on exp.: The scariest thing of all… more of my voice.

  • The exp. Dispatch #10

    The exp. Dispatch #10

    Well, very funny to say in the last dispatch that I’d go to biweekly and then not actually send out another one for three weeks. Well, I’ve got a good excuse.

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    Recently On exp.

    Announcing exp. 2602 For Pre-order Today!

    Said excuse! I suppose I did send this out to all subscribers at the start of the week. exp. 2602 has been in the works for a while, but it was put on hold when I rebuilt expzine.com, and then actually launching it got delayed even longer because I was so dissatisfied with ecommerce options like bigcartel and ko-fi (ko-fi in particular badly screwed me recently) that I decided to self-host—after all, I already have the website. I somewhat understand why people just pay to have someone else handle it all by now… but at least so far it seems to be working. Also—please consider pre-ordering! This is the last weekend before I absolutely have to get it to the printers, and your orders make sure I know how many to print!

    Subscriber Post: Elechead (Namatakahashi, 2021)

    This week’s subscriber post showed up a little late because of the announcement, so I hope people don’t overlook it. Namatakahashi is doing something really special in indie games right now.

    Unlocked Posts: Gravity Bone (Blendo Games, 2008) / Metroid (Nintendo, 1986) / Many Nights A Whisper (Deconstructeam/Selkie Harbour, 2025)

    Man, when you see the games listed out like this I really grasp how some people find it hard to hook into what I’m doing here. But my tastes are too catholic for me to limit myself to being, like, only an RPG or retro blogger or something. If you only want to read one of these, please read about Many Nights A Whisper—there’s only a few short months to find out if it stays at the top of my games of 2025 list. But uh… obviously read them all.

    From the exp. Archive: Cart Life (Hofmeier, 2010) / Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny (Project Soul, 2009) / Star Wars Pinball (Zen Studios, 2013)

    A couple of really throw-away articles here but I still think what I wrote about Cart Life hits. A “compelling and thoughtful critique” according to Eggplant‘s Rob Dubbin, so that’s nice. Surprisingly on Twitter, the website where linked articles go to die, I got some feedback on Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny too. @Yoshicookie, apparently a Kilik main, let me know it’s “actually the better version of [Soulcalibur IV], if it had proper multiplayer.” Good to know.

    exp. Capsule Review

    Blobun Mini (Cyansorcery, 2025)

    Didn’t really pay attention when downloading this because it looked so cute when it showed up in my feed–I guess I assumed it was a Crush Roller-a-like, or something. However, it turned out, concerningly, to be more of a “hard” puzzler, where you’re trying to fill in every square in a map with your cute little slimy bunny and you lose if you need to backtrack to do it. It’s not Sokoban, exactly, but it (maybe unfairly) raised memories of every game I’ve ever played where you do a complex chain of things but have fucked it up at one point in the last 100 moves and have to try and make sense of it.

    As a result I was initially considering putting this down completely, but I decided to stick with it for a bit as it’s a free PICO-8 game, so I was able to pick it up on my Trimui Brick whenever I had a spare moment (don’t leave me with my thoughts! I need to be doing something, please don’t leave me with my thoughts!) and Blobun Mini won me over for several very good reasons. 

    Firstly: every part of it glows with polish, from the charming UI through the responsive movement. Secondly, the game has an unbelievably smooth difficulty curve. It introduces new concepts carefully–and it has many for a game with just sixty levels–and every map is short enough that you never have too much to fix if you screw up. And thirdly, the game is unbelievably forgiving, with a complete rewind and even hints to start you off on each level.

    Much like Dino Sort, if you’re looking for a charming puzzler that you can pick up and put down and eventually finish you can’t really go wrong with this (I mean, it’s bloody free) and if you like it so much you can go ahead and play the “full” version of Blobun, which does look like it’s too much for me, but that’s fine.

    The only problem I have with this, actually, is that I finished every level but the last level didn’t “tick off” so it looks like I haven’t. A bug, maybe? But it’s a minor quibble.

    exp. Du Cinéma

    Superman (2025) / Evil Puddle (2025)

    Something something, catholic tastes. This is the second time a Motern Media production has shown up in this newsletter, so I assume you’re all complete converts already.

    Also reviewed: Eddington (2025), The Devil At Your Heels (1981) and Mountainhead (2025).

    Zine News

    Middle-Aged Teenage Angst Issue 1

    “Middle-Aged Teenage Angst: The Zine is now available to buy in print or as a PDF. 52 pages of new writing by me on forgotten TV, old mags, radio, wrestling, growing up, badges and, of course, music.”

    Retro Game SuperHyper Fanzine Issue #5

    “YES!! Over three years late, but I kept my promise, and the fifth issue of RGSH fanzine is finally finished and ready for you!!”

    This came out a fair few months ago now, but only came to my attention (as zines often do) thanks to Forgotten Worlds.

    ASTRO Gaming Lifestyle Magazine

    “This is a magazine that explores gaming as a lifestyle (think Nintendo Power meets curated fashion and lifestyle magazine). The book features 60 pages of my artwork alongside photography and featured community projects.”

    This is absolutely beautiful but I’m sad to note that it’s also fifty-nine dollars. I think it’s neat that there are higher-end zines and journals out there—think the amusingly similarly titled ON and [lock-on]—but I have to admit that I don’t have the funds to keep up. Maybe they’ll be up for a zine trade?

    zeenster.com

    Moheeb Zara’s free zine making app now works on mobile! Make your own zine and then charge sixty dollars for it. That’ll show ’em.

    And Finally…

    This is a fun one. I’d put off watching this until I finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as I’d heard the book this talk (from two years ago!) was about heavily inspired it. When you watch this you’ll be absolutely shocked as to how much of a, well, complete rip-off Clair Obscur is, and of a book that was apparently a huge success in France! I’d be fascinated to read what French fans thought of the game—if they were just completely nonplussed by the things international audiences found fresh and exciting. Maybe that’s why the game makes such, er, big swings at the end? To differentiate it?

    Anyway, I’m absolutely gasping to read La Horde du Contrevent now. Considering I moved to Canada anyway, I should have really bothered to give a shit about French in high school. I guess if I can sell more copies of exp. 2602 I can be taken seriously as a publisher and try and get the rights? There’s an English translation sitting there waiting!

    Next week on exp.: Well, I did the Metroid, so…

  • The exp. Dispatch #9

    The exp. Dispatch #9

    I think I’m going to settle on the dispatch being biweekly–doing it every week has felt like overkill. I think I imagined this newsletter as just links to the articles of the week, but each time I’ve thought of doing that it’s felt like such poor value for your no-money that I’ve ended up doing more, so this is, probably, better for all involved. Let me know if you feel any different. Onwards!

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    This Fortnight On exp.

    Subscriber Post: Many Nights A Whisper (Deconstructeam/Selkie Harbour, 2025)

    Listen to Together by Nine Inch Nails while reading this. If you know, you know.

    Unlocked Post: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo, 1986)

    Nice to get to call out Wes Fenlon’s excellent Read Only Memo and Phil Summers’ Hand Drawn Game Guides here. Not the last time Phil’s work will be mentioned at the very least.

    Unlocked Post: VILE: Exhumed (Cadaver, 2025)

    You know, I really thought this game would create a bit more discussion online considering the context in which it was released, but I guess not!

    From the exp. Archive: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Intelligent Systems, 2008)

    Digging this old article up made me realise I never managed to cop that fancy re-release Nintendo did of the Super Famicom original, despite really trying, and then I completely forgot to download it digitally anyway. It’s really bizarre that Nintendo took to these limited releases for Fire Emblem and that Super Mario collection. Why? I guess they did limited Mario and Kirby releases in the days of the Wii, but it just seems so weird to go “you can’t buy that now” in the digital shop of infinite shelf space.

    What’s that? I’ve got a digital zine collection that I’ve only ever released temporarily? Uh… shut up.

    From the exp. Archive: Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017)

    The Silksong hype is real, man. This article, despite being from 2020, was just about the most read thing on the site in the wake of it being announced. And I don’t even like Hollow Knight!

    exp. Capsule Review

    Merge Maestro (Stingless, 2025)

    Had heard rumours this was the new roguelike-like obsession of the moment, so thought I’d give it a shot–it’s not like I feel like I’m wasting my life as it is. But I bounced off this basically immediately. Of the roguelike-likes it’s most similar to Luck Be A Landlord in that it’s very simple, entirely focused on a core loop–here, playing a symbol-based Threes-like to fight a succession of waves of enemies until you either lose or win the run by beating a final boss enemy. After each wave you get to upgrade one of your symbols, each of which has a special ability, and you’re basically trying to make your deck work synergistically so that as you merge symbols you’re doing massive damage and making your board better. 

    If that sounds… fine, it… is. I mean it’s really quite generic feeling, probably not helped by the fact that is uses emojis for the symbols, and maybe if you really love Threes this will light your fire, but it’s got the same kind of problem that Luck Be A Landlord does, where there’s a billion symbols (here 300!) that all do different things and you can find yourself heading in the wrong direction based on your rolls or just not being able to pull anything together. You can get Balatro-esque insane numbers going, but I certainly couldn’t be bothered to try.

    I don’t mean to beat up on this one too much, because it’s from a small developer, completely competent, reasonably priced and I assume for the right kind of player absolute catnip. If anything I’m surprised at how much this failed to get its hooks into me. Am I burned out on the genre, or will another game draw me back into it? You know what, I’m not in a mood to find out any time soon.

    exp. Du Cinéma

    War 2 (2025) / Coolie (2025)

    Thank goodness I’m here to keep you up to date with the latest Indian cinema releases. Absolutely why you subscribe to a video game newsletter. But for real though, War 2 is a banger.

    Zine News

    ZINEDUMP

    “ZINEDUMP is a new Toronto zine fair that aims to provide a venue for the open expression for independent publications, radical art and ideas. The inaugural fest will be held on Nov. 9th between 12-5pm at the Cecil Community Centre.”

    Still time to get submissions in if you’re quick–the deadline is August 31st.

    Amiga Addict 39

    “The new issue of AA is out, in which we look at  Fast Food 2 and the history behind the Oliver Twins original!”

    Incredible to think that there’s an modern Amiga magazine that’s run for 39 issues. I haven’t been able to keep up.

    How To Report ICE

    These single page, easy to print and distribute zines give information on how to report ICE for specific cities/areas in the US.

    And Finally…

    What’s this???

    Next week on exp.: The Stampers get ripped off for the second time. Allegedly.

  • The exp. Dispatch #8

    The exp. Dispatch #8

    This week on exp.

    Subscriber Post: VILE: Exhumed (Cadaver, 2025)

    This was a really difficult one to write about, and while I really hesitate to bang on about how exp. needs your support to continue at this level, well, it does, so please consider supporting us on Patreon (preferrably), ko-fi, or pick up a zine or the book. Here, I chose to dig into a banned game with heavy themes that reflect the current moment of moral panic, but which I found… inconclusive. Would love to hear what others thought of it, or what I wrote about it.

    Unlocked Post: Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido (Sunsoft, 1986)

    Speaking of people getting in touch to say what they thought of a game, I’m still surprised by just how many people have popped up to say they love this one. I hadn’t heard of it before!

    From the exp. Archive: Toy Soldiers: Cold War (Signal Studios, 2011)

    Wrote about this one all the way back in 2014 and was surprised to look Signal Studios up and discover that they’d quietly gone out of business in at some point in 2023, their last release a HD remaster of the original Toy Soldiers that no one liked. One of the only things I was able to dig up about the closure actually was a tweet from the official Toy Soldiers account: “TSHD was not handled well by the publisher or me—limited resource, tons of delayed/bad dev caused by idiotic public policy and other unexpected events—deals fell through—over time—resources gone—the rest is history.”

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    exp. Capsule Reviews

    Mindset GO! (Magicave, 2025)

    Spent some of the last few weeks playing this mobile and web puzzler, and as it’s been made by friend-of-exp Ste Curran I can’t in good conscience give it a “proper review” but I do want to recommend it anyway. In fact I’ll go ahead and explain that I’ve already recommended it to other people as an antidote to a few things–engaging with anything from the New York Times, a propaganda company with a games arm (or vice versa) or playing any of those fucking terrible games that show up when you use any mobile app with ads (more on that on a bit though.)

    Mindset GO! is the kind of design where when you play it you think “wait, how have I never seen this before?” as it features an incredibly simple design: you’re just sorting shapes based on one or more feature that they have. If they’re a triangle, or yellow, that sort of thing. You put them into circles, which might intersect as a Venn diagram does–meaning you need to put yellow triangles there, but can put just yellow, or just triangles, elsewhere–and you don’t necessarily know what all the features required are.

    This starts embarrassingly easy, but quickly gets… difficult. The Venn diagrams become more complex, and then suddenly you’re sorting (say) wee cat faces instead of big simple shapes. The thing I most appreciated about this game is that you can feel your brain expanding as you work out systems and techniques to beat harder and harder levels. Almost subconsciously you find yourself pre-sorting shapes, or able to keep two concepts in your mind at once that you couldn’t before. It’s deeply, deeply satisfying, and it’s all wrapped up in a terrifically thoughtful UI.

    As highly as I recommend it, this is a free-to-play mobile game, and you therefore have to engage with that whole… thing. Meaning mobile ads rear their ugly head here if you don’t quickly stump up the no-ads tax, and if you’re determined to stick to free-to-play while you’re feeling the game out, every single part of this carefully curated puzzling experience is smashed to bits when what feels like out of nowhere you get an ugly, often broken slop advert for whatever the algorithm has decided you would like best (it’s certain I’m a woman in her mid-50s, obsessed with her dying plants but unable to get up from her chair to do any exercise.) This really means that you basically have to spend the $3.99 to enjoy this on mobile really before you get to the point where it gets its hooks into you. As a result, you may wish to play the web version at first, then make up an account to save your progress? 

    Weirdly, one of the main reasons to play this now is to play and enjoy the real thing before you start seeing its clones advertised in its own ad slots. Some weird AI voice saying how playing “Shape Sorter” will stop you getting Alzheimer’s, or maybe an entire fucking streamed version of “Venn Diagram Royale” you have to play through where you have to shuffle a bunch of diamonds into a circle to stop a king being squashed by, I don’t know, a big Monty Python foot or something. Why the fuck are we supposed to be saving a fucking king anyway? If god chose him god can bloody well save him from rising sand or being dropped in some lava, the sponging prick.

    Other Zines

    One More Win: Ridge Racer Type 4 Fanzine

    “Due to POPULAR DEMAND I’m doing another print run of my Ridge Racer Type 4 fanzine.”

    Retro Game Zine: Buy 3 Get 1 Free on ALL ISSUES

    “Catch up on missing issues, or jump in with some big savings. This promotion is applied at checkout and runs until the end of the month.”

    COMPUTE!’s Gazette – July 2025 (Volume 1, Issue 1)

    “For the first time in 35 years, COMPUTE!’s Gazette returns to serve the vibrant retro computing community. This premiere relaunch issue is packed with exclusive news, in-depth articles, community stories, and classic type-in programs that celebrate the golden age of computing.”

    Mega Fun Newsletter

    “I’m launching a weekly newsletter that brings together all my writings, podcasts, videos, and creative endeavours in one place for your unmeasurable pleasure. If you like what I do, you must subscribe. Your life depends on it.”

    (Ok, that last one isn’t a zine, but Justin Decloux is one of my favourite people and he does so much incredible stuff, you’re going to want to keep up. I mean you already subscribe to this rubbish, don’t you?)

    And Finally…

    This article, The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con is, I think, the most important, insightful thing you can read about the AI mania full stop. It’s from a few years ago, but if anything more important to read and understand as AI tries to create a stranglehold over the mainstream. Share it with anyone who might be buying the hype but considers themselves rational. It gets to something really key about AI: it’s not “just” a scam: it’s an illusion that preys on our urge to fool ourselves.

    Next week on exp.: A legend? No. The legend.

  • The exp. Dispatch #7

    The exp. Dispatch #7

    The triumphant return of the Dispatch after a week off because I was too busy. Sorry! Still, it means a bumper crop of article and zine links.

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    This fortnight on exp.

    Subscriber Post: Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido (Sunsoft, 1986)

    A game I didn’t expect any reaction to but I’ve already had a few people saying they’ve played it as well and like me at least found it interesting.

    Unlocked Post: Paradise Killer (Kaizen Game Works, 2020)

    Unlocked Post: DAIVA Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia (T&E Soft, 1986)

    From The exp. Archive: Mirror’s Edge (DICE, 2008)

    From The exp. Archive: Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009)

    exp. Du Cinéma

    The Naked Gun (2025)

    Watching this in the theatre, I was struck by just how sad it was that it felt so unusual to be watching a broad comedy with an audience. You could almost feel everyone tense up initially when the movie started being intentionally illogical: “can they do that? I’m only used to nominally funny things occurring between CGI action sequences.”

    Once everyone was able to relax, this was incredibly funny, managing—for a while, at least—a return to the rapid-fire nonsense of the great spoofs with a similar hit-rate (not every one a winner, but the next one is quick enough that it doesn’t matter.)

    There are a couple of all-timer sequences in this, and my critique is going to feels harsh because I think we’re all so willing for this to succeed and for movies like this be allowed to exist again, but The Naked Gun’s problem is that it simply runs out of steam. There’s an incredible peak that it can’t seem to follow, and while it’s not like I’d want the movie to be longer (85 minutes? *chef kiss*) the jokes suddenly get a bit weaker, more sparse, and the narrative feels not so much underbaked—which would be fine, it’s a spoof—but missing entire ingredients. The climax is so limp, in fact, that I have to question if it’s what was originally intended, and it (sadly) had me thinking a bit too long about the film in general: “you know, they could have gone harder on that joke… they should have built on that gag more… there was a good chance for a callback there.. man, Paul Walter Hauser went underused…”

    It’s not the end of the world that they didn’t completely nail it, and I still think everyone should go and see this and let some joy into their life in this sick, sad world. And if you didn’t go and see Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, go twice to make up for that.

    Also reviewed this week: KPop Demon Hunters

    Other Zines

    Forgotten Worlds #6. The Sega issue

    “100+ pages of dedicated to classic Sega magazines … , with exclusive interviews and insights from the people who were there.”

    VGHF Acquires Early Game Magazine Computer Entertainer

    “The magazine, which ran from 1982–1990, has been released into the Creative Commons for anyone to use.”

    Summer Sale: ON: Volume One – Now 50% Off! Ends Sunday

    “ON is the ultimate celebration of gaming’s past, present and future. We give the very best writers in the industry freedom to write their dream feature and combine those words with bold and experimental design in a luxury journal.”

    Pound the Pavement #15: Handala

    “This is a slightly-updated reprint of a small zine I created for the Librarians and Archivists With Palestine Box Set that was compiled for Booklyn back in 2014. Previously it was unavailable outside of this exclusive box set. The zine itself is a compilation of 29 photos of cartoonist Naji al-Ali’s Handala character painted, pasted, stenciled, and screenprinted around the Palestinian Occupied Territories.” (via Tiny Cartridge)

    And Finally…

    There’s been a lot of debate over what this year’s “song of the summer” is, but I’ve got no idea why, Neil Cicierega has got it completely sewn up. Sing it with me, everyone! Blankets… blankets… blankets…

    Next week on exp.: A game for the current moment.