Jini Maxwell

Norco is a dark science fiction game that holds closely to the history of the Lousiana town it’s named after.

The fantasy world of FromSoftware’s Elden Ring is challenging but it richly rewards curiosity and patience.

With no promotion or monetisation, Wordle has grown a player base of over two million in a little less than three months. But what is it about this humble word game that has so many people addicted?

Wordle has taken the internet by storm – and is a reminder that play can matter for its own sake.

The new Australian game Unpacking  is an intimate experience of domestic realism.

The Artful Escape’s exuberant style and psychedelic soundtrack can’t mask its essential superficiality.

The video games industry is worth over $180 billion a year, more than the US film and sports industries combined. For decades though, it’s been plagued by a culture of misogyny, homophobia and racism.

The release of dark visual novel We Know the Devil on Nintendo Switch may herald a more inclusive industry, but it’s far from marketable ‘diverse content’.

Phantom Abyss, the new asynchronous multiplayer game from Brisbane-based studio Team WIBY, promises to take the social stress out of online gaming.

A moving parable that looks at the effects of colonial trauma, Mutazione invites the player to co-create its soundtrack.

Naphtali Faulkner’s first-person photography game Umurangi Generation is a fun dystopian romp that develops into an insightful exploration of the insidiousness of fascism.

Some of the most profound evolutions in video games are occurring in smaller DIY story games such as Under a Star Called Sun.

After a year of being nice in Animal Crossing, the casual, uncurated indifference of Among Us comes as a relief.

Initially the sensitive portrayal of trans characters in Tell Me Why comes as a relief, but it’s undermined by the game’s determined inoffensiveness.

Set in an other-worldly Carlton cafe and filled with thoughtful musings on life, death and loss, Necrobarista is a welcome antidote to the relentless dominance of American games.

“The maxim holds that arts work shouldn’t feel like work if you love it enough. We don’t have to treat your work as work if we can treat it as your passion. If there is funding, it should go to the art, and paying workers is optional. We would if we …”