KRITIQAL

As always, a great new piece from our friends at DEEP-HELL

So cool to see KRITIQAL included here!

The Utopia of Murder: History in Anthology of the Killer | KRITIQAL Anthology of the Killer foregrounds history as horror, “[a]ll those squashed peasant revolts, interminable centuries of torture, beheadings,” a parade of murderers more extreme and gratuitous than the...

In our latest essay, @mackerelphones.bsky.social writes on Anthology of the Killer, articulating a history made of and by violence.

kritiqal.com/articles/utopia-of-murder

Banner for Kritiqal Care episode 90 featuring Will Uhl.

For this month's Kritiqal Care I spoke to tabletop designer @raffitheowl.bsky.social about balancing narrative drama with player safety, providing structure to micro-RPGs, and why card-based systems might be better than dice?

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

Pink banner with a large pixel heart for Kritiqal Care episode 89, featuring q1.

A short and sweet episode of Kritiqal Care this month featuring tiny game developer @quewon.bsky.social. We discuss haunted subways, the beautiful limitations of small game engines, and viewing the game creation process like writing a song.

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

Banner for Kritiqal Care episode 88 featuring Sandy Weisz. The background is pink and there is a large pixel heart to the left.

For this month's Kritiqal Care, I had a great chat with @pzlr.org about puzzle design, his new game RADDLE, how to write a good clue, and an elaborate birthday hunt gone terribly wrong.

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

Echoes of Ragnarok Online Indonesia | KRITIQAL You didn’t ask someone if they played RO, you asked what server they were on. From warnets in Kalimantan to cafes in Yogyakarta, kids gathered, strategies formed, and friendships bloomed. Guild dramas...

It took just over a year but we finally have a new article on the site (and another on the way). Fendy Tulodo writes about Ragnarok Online Indonesia's lingering cultural presence, a game that ostensibly died years ago but refuses to fully fade away.

kritiqal.com/articles/ech...

Happening tomorrow on the KRITIQAL Discord. Full lineup now available: yafflefest.neocities.org/2025/

Get more from No Escape on Patreon A blog about digital culture and its discontents

Fuck it. It’s nowhere near a Polygon paycheck but if you have a Polygon feature that just got shitcanned I will pull $100 out of somewhere for you. Kaile at noescapevg dot com.

And hey if you want to support indie games crit uhhh this is a wonderful time to do it

patreon.com/noescapevg

Pitches | KRITIQAL Send your pitch for a weird/obscure/artsy essay. $150 per piece, 1-2k words.

It’s not much, but in light of Polygon getting shuddered a reminder that KRITIQAL is still accepting pitches. $150/1-2k words. Full details in the link, feel free to DM with questions.

kritiqal.com/pitches

Poster for Yaffle Fest 2025 showing pink spheres in various states of vibration.

I'm so excited to be hosting the 3rd annual Yaffle Fest, a digital short film festival curated site unseen by @yafffle.bsky.social. Join us in exploring 10 new short films from the comfort of your home. Lineup will be announced closer to the date.

kritiqal.com/discord

Banner for Kritiqal Care episode 87, featuring Claire Morwood.

For this month's Kritiqal Care I had a nice discussion with @shimmerglitch.bsky.social about her recent interactive concept album Asterism. We discuss writing music for play, how making the game from physical objects impacted its design, and the value of a good dev log.

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

Yes we’re still accepting pitches. Mostly interested in DS/PSP era handheld games but feel free to pitch an idea about the 3DS.

Promo image for KRITIQAL pitches. 1-2k words for $150. Email contact@kritiqal.com

KRITIQAL is currently accepting pitches for April and June. $150 for 1-2k words.

Current topics of particular interest include:
- niche MMO/online social spaces
- local game events
- experimental games
- lesser known DS and PSP games

Full pitch guide here: kritiqal.com/pitches

Pink banner with a large pixel heart and the text: Kritiqal Care 86 | Terry Cavanagh.

Had a wonderful chat with @terrycavanaghgames.com for this month's episode of Kritiqal Care. We discuss game jams, being drawn to new tools and platforms, and revisiting old projects for his new collection, Terry's Other Games.

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

Collage of Amy artwork from Sonic battle. Text reads: Sonic Saturdays, every game, every week, forever... . Currently playing Sonic Battle from 2004. Stream is on February 8th from 7PM-9PM Central.

Sonic Saturdays continue with yet more Sonic Battle. Come check out Amy's episode with me.

twitch.tv/kritiqaltv

Foraging for mushroom girls with Mortally Moonstruck | KRITIQAL Autumn Greenley and Zaozoruzhna are two members of the indie game studio, Mortally Moonstruck Games, who for the last few years they have been working on the mushroom girl cultivating game/RPG/visual ...

To kick off Kritiqal Care's 6th season, I had a fun chat with @autumnotopia.bsky.social and @zaozoruzhna.bsky.social of Mortally Moonstruck Games about their mushroom girl simulator, Mushroom Musume. We talk game jams, tabletop principles, and foraging.

kritiqal.com/articles/kri...

KRITIQALtv - Twitch Sonic Batturdays | Playing every Sonic game in release order

It's Sonic Saturday and I'm still working through Sonic Battle. Come hunt for Emeryl with me and Knuckles as we try to avoid 83091357 guard robos.

twitch.tv/kritiqaltv