Gita Jackson

Survival Game Frost Looks Great, Doesn’t Play As Well

The mobile game Frost is about a group of migrants in an ambiguous apocalyptic scenario making their way to a refuge from the cold. It’s beautiful, but doesn’t work well enough as a game. Frost is a card-based game. Cards in your deck represent the migrants and their supplies. As you play you are tasked…

Pewdiepie’s New Game Is A Bleak Look At Being A YouTube Star

Earlier this year, the game YouTuber’s Life made the rounds through, well, YouTube. By the time Pewdiepie played the life simulator, he didn’t seem happy about it. “That’s the truth about YouTubers,” he said at one point. “We’re all depressed. Why would anyone want to become a YouTuber? For the fame? For the money? For…

The Week In Games: STYLE. SAVVY.

Sure, some little game called Deus Ex or whatever is looming on the horizon, but all the cool kids are getting hype for Style Savvy: Fashion Forward. Us Style Savvy enthusiasts weren’t even sure Nintendo was gonna localize this one, but they did, and it’s finally, finally, almost here! You can be a hairdresser, model,…

Florence + The Machine’s Songs for Final Fantasy XV Are Perfect

I don’t really like Florence + The Machine and I haven’t really been following FFXV’s development, so this came as a surprise. But these songs, in all honesty, are lush and beautiful in a way that I think the franchise deserves. Since FFX, I feel like the series has been veering towards the CW in…

Why We Write About Games

A lot of us that write about games end up here kind of by mistake. I did—when I left college I had very different career goals. But we aren’t unhappy. We love games, and clearly we like writing. However, it’s still curious to me to hear that my peers are making more intentional inroads into…

How My Colonists Died in Rimworld, Ranked From Least To Most Depressing

1. Everyone is in the workshop, everyone has a project. The food is coming in nicely — our next winter shouldn’t be a problem. I imagine that this small colony is buzzing with energy. There are hardships and disagreements, sure, but this will be okay. I can see a solid arc of survival ahead of…

Strictoaster is one of my favorite YouTubers and this is my favorite video of his. It’s real Sunday watching—in it, he makes a highway connection as a tunnel, decides he hates it, and then redoes it as an overpass. Even edited down, this takes 40 minutes. His perfectionism is meditative. Enjoy.

Mr. Robot is one of my favorite tv shows right now and not just because of my overwhelming thirst for Rami Malek. It’s just got a serious point of view, and even if I’m not sure about the choices Sami Esmail makes, he makes them with an absolute sureness of footing. I was scrolling down…

How The Quiet Year Brings People Together

On an impossibly hot Friday night, I invited five friends over to play The Quiet Year. If you’ve ever hosted a party before you know how risky this can be—all too often I feel like I’m negotiating between groups of people who don’t quite like each other. But this night was refreshingly harmonious. And it…

For some reason Kotaku has decided to give me this platform so I’m going to use it to share a very specific joke that I still find funny: this video of a band that Academy Award Winning Doom nerd Trent Reznor played in pre-Nine Inch Nails. They are called Slam Bamboo, you’re welcome.

Three Things To Try Tonight That Aren’t Video Games

1. I used to be one of those exhausting people that kept up with music blogs and checked out new bands, and then I got a life. However, the new records from Mitski and Car Seat Headrest are both pretty good. Mitski’s Puberty 2 is beautiful, funny and sad, while Car Seat Headrests’s Teens of…

Pokémon Go Player Finds A Use For All Those Pidgeys

There are too many pidgeys in Pokémon Go. Man, fuck a Weedle too.

A Postcard from No Man’s Sky

Nico, Hey boo! I just got your postcard and I’m so happy to hear from you. I miss you so much! You’re probably well aware that I love being alone. I mean, I think I’m pretty gregarious and outgoing, but nothing feels better than curling up in your ship with a good book, right? I’ve…

You Deserve Nice Things, Like This Incredible Shirt

I want this in every color.

The Britney Spears iPhone Game Is Weirdly Depressing

Glu, the developers of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, have now teamed up with Britney Spears for what feels like a sequel to their smash hit. Way back in 2014 (I know, practically ancient history), I wrote an article about Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, because in a pre-Snapchat world, I felt that Kim needed a little defending. I…

How Tabletop Games Make My Life Better

When Saturnina Alers was being honest with herself she’d begrudgingly admit she didn’t particularly like Jacqui Green, but in the middle of a war she never got much time for self reflection. Under the service of Aria Joie, most of her days were in meetings, oiling the joints of old mechs, making sure people were…

Hello, Bitches

Love me or hate me, you’re all still talking about me. My name is Gita Jackson and I’ll be your guest editor for the weekend. That’s right, I’m here, I’m queer, and I’m in the middle of an existential crisis (wait, shit, I don’t think that’s how it goes). As far as what to expect,…