I started writing about games on my personal blog, where I documented my Pokemon Nuzlocke runs and tried my hand at writing news articles. Not long after that I enrolled in GameSkinny’s Journalist Training Program and eventually became a senior mentor for the program. Since then I’ve been freelance writing, with my words appearing on EGM and TechRaptor. Below are some of my favorite articles that I’ve written throughout that time.

Features

“If You’re Not First You’re Last”: How MMO Players Race for World First Clear (Sep 13, 2019)

On November 23rd, 2004, World of Warcraft opened its servers to the world. In many ways the original WoW represented the culmination of the massively multiplayer games of the time, refining and expanding upon many of the features that made predecessors like Everquest and Ultima Online so addicting. Among these refined features was the heavier endgame emphasis on raids—series of powerful superbosses intended to serve as the game’s greatest test of players’ skill, coordination, and teamwork, as well as the source of the game’s most powerful gear. … (Read more)

Hard Mode: How a Webcomic Spawned Pokémon’s Most Infamous Challenge (Dec 12, 2019)

In October 2016, the Youtube group TFS Gaming uploaded the conclusion to their playthrough of Pokémon SoulSilver, an 83-part video series that garnered a whopping 17 million total views on YouTube. It was a series filled with devastating losses, spontaneous tragedy, and a theme park’s worth of emotional rollercoasters. … (Read more)

News

Dangen Entertainment and Former CEO Accused of Preying on Indie Developers (Dec 11, 2019)

In a 2017 interview with Polygon, Dangen Entertainment’s Nayan Ramachandran described the six-person company as an “indie-focused publisher” with a goal of bringing indie gems from the United States to Japan and vice-versa. In its first two years, the company appeared to do so successfully, snagging publishing rights to major indie titles like Crosscode, Bug Fables, and Disc Creatures. But the Osaka-based company now finds itself under fire, accused of frequent mismanagement, poor communication, delayed royalty payments, and misuse of game assets. Meanwhile, its now-former CEO. … (Read more)

Steam, Developers Grapple With Adult Content (Dec 13, 2018)

Earlier this year, Valve was met with a wave of backlash after removing numerous adult games from the Steam storefront. The discussion around these removals eventually culminated into a blog post from Valve in which the company supposedly shifted their stance regarding sexual content on Steam. However, six months after a pledge to allow anything on Steam except for illegal or trolling content, Valve again finds itself at odds with developers and players over the company’s ban on certain adult games from the Steam platform. … (Read more)

Epic is Footing the Bill for Shenmue 3 Refunds Following Epic Games Store Exclusivity (July 2, 2019)

Following an outcry from players over Shenmue 3 PC recent Epic Games Store exclusivity announcement, developer YSNET Inc, publisher Deep Silver, and Epic Games announced today that there will be Shenmue 3 refunds—funded by Epic—available for Kickstarter backers. … (Read more)

Study Shows Loot Boxes Linked With Problematic Gambling in Minors (July 1, 2019)

A recent study published in the Royal Society Open Science warns of a strong link between loot box spending and problem gambling in minors. The paper, titled “Adolescents and loot boxes: links with problem gambling and motivations for purchase“, found that adolescents aged 16-18 who purchased loot boxes were more than twice as likely to display signs of problem gambling as adults who purchased loot boxes. … (Read more)

UK Committee Grills EA and Epic Games On Loot Boxes, Game Addiction (June 20, 2019)

On Wednesday, representatives from Epic Games and EA met with the United Kingdom Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee to speak on the topic of immersive and addictive technologies, a roughly 2-hour long session in which committee members questioned the two gaming giants on a range of issues including the ethics of loot boxes, video game addiction, Epic’s allegedly brutal working conditions, and combating player-to-player abuse in games. … (Read more)

Real-Money Gambling Game Appears on Steam (Dec 22, 2018)

Gaming and gambling is a hot issue at the moment, with governments even stepping in to examine the relation between loot boxes and gambling, but a new game on Steam is taking it to an entirely new level. As spotted on Reddit by user TarOfficial, x2Roulette is a game that will effectively allow players to gamble real-world money on a casino-style roulette, then sell the potential winnings on the Steam marketplace for credit. … (Read more)

Reviews, Previews, and Impressions

Don’t Discard Legends of Runeterra (Jan 30, 2020)

Life is good if you’re a collectible card game fan. Magic: the Gathering finally has a spectacular digital version. Hearthstone is over a dozen expansions deep now. And don’t even get me started on how underrated Elder Scrolls: Legends is. The genre is practically a utopia right now, and one that Riot Games understandably wants to enter with Legends of Runeterra, the CCG based on their flagship game League of Legends. But with all these delectable spell-slinging options at our fingertips, one can’t help but ask: is there really have enough space in our lives for another CCG? If it’s Legends of Runeterra, then yes. … (Read more)

Pokemon Sword and Shield Review (Nov 20, 2019)

Pokemon has always been a franchise with one foot in the future and another in the past. While one steps forward into new features, the other stays rooted in antiquated game mechanics, until the whole franchise is doing the splits. As the series’s first leap onto home consoles, Pokemon Sword and Shield seemed poised to finally lift that second foot and dash headfirst into the future. And they succeed! Mostly. But not without tripping a few times, shedding about 500 Pokemon worth of weight, and stubbing their toe on a late-game rock. … (Read more)

The Stretchers Is a Sure Cure for Boredom (Dec 30, 2019)

My wife and I burn through couch co-op games like a race car burns through tires. Whether it’s Overcooked, Chariot, or Cuphead, we never pass up the opportunity to irreparably damage our relationship over our inability to coordinate button presses. So when I browsed the Switch eShop and saw a game about two paramedics stuffing bodies into an ambulance, you can bet your aspirin that I hit “Purchase”. A few days later, I’m pleased to report that The Stretchers is a great addition to our library. … (Read more)

Afterparty Review (Oct 28, 2019)

Afterparty is a lot like a fruity cocktail. It’s tasty and easy to love, with enough sweet flavor to make you ignore that little hint of bitterness that comes along for the ride. Most importantly though, it leaves you wanting another. … (Read more)

Malkyrs -The Interactive Card Game Preview: Like Homework on a Deadline (Feb 11, 2019)

Malkyrs is an interesting game. Touted as an “interactive card game”, it attempts to straddle the line between a physical and digital CCG, with the intention of giving you the best of both worlds. The early access game tries to combine the joys of collecting and trading physical cards with the more complicated rules and RPG elements that can only be achieved on digital platforms, but with pretty mixed results. … (Read more)

Interviews

PK Sullivan and Stephen Blackmoore on Fate of Cthulhu and Punching Elder Gods (April 5, 2019)

I’ll be the first to tell you that the world needs more tentacle-mouthed monstrosities with convoluted names, so you can imagine my delight when I heard that Evil Hat Productions was working on Cthulhu-based sourcebook for Fate Core. Fate of Cthulhu will bring the Lovecraftian Mythos to Fate, with a nice dollop of Terminator on top too. With the game’s Kickstarter on the horizon, I sat down with game designers Stephen Blackmoore and PK Sullivan to talk about the project, what we can expect, and how to punch Cthulhu. … (Read more)

Mike Olson and Morgan Ellis Talk Shadow of the Century and ’80s Action (April 2, 2019)

Back in 2013, Evil Hat Productions launched a Kickstarter to develop the next edition of the FATE system, dubbed Fate Core. Among the stretch goals for the project was the promise to develop Shadow of the Century, a follow-up to the acclaimed Spirit of the Century that brings the setting forward into the pulpy action and adventure of the 1980s. It’s finally out now, so I sat down with designers Mike Olson and Morgan Ellis to talk about Shadow of the Century, ’80s action, and Hazzard County’s infrastructure. … (Read more)

Guides

How to Build and Maintain a Farm in RimWorld (July 4, 2017)

As is the case with most survival games, maintaining a steady supply of food is vital to building a lasting colony in Ludeon Studios’ RimWorld. Though you can get by on scavenging initially, you will need to learn how to build and maintain a farm if your colony is ever going to expand and bring in new mouths to feed. … (Read more)

Clash Royale Guide: Best Decks for Dominating Each Arena (June 23, 2017)

Clash Royale is a relatively simple RTS. However, consistently toppling other players is anything but. With 11 different arenas to in which to play, each granting access to different sets of cards, knowing which eight cards to build your deck from can seem like a daunting task. But the key is adaptability. … (Read more)

Satire

KekRaptor: PS5 ‘Does and Does Not Have a Price,’ Says Jim Ryan, Holding Dead Cat as Example (Feb 9, 2020)

Early last week, GameSpot reported that Sony has still not decided on a price point for the PlayStation 5, which is due for release later this year. This statement caused somewhat of a stir within the gaming community, forcing Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan to publicly clarify that the PlayStation 5 does have a price, it just simultaneously doesn’t have a price, in a phenomenon the company termed “Shrödinger’s Price Tag.” … (Read more)

KekRaptor: Soulja Boy Launches New Game Streaming Service Streamya Boy (April 1, 2019)

Not to be outdone by Google’s recent Stadia announcement, rapper and incorrigible entrepreneur Soulja Boy announced today that he will be launching his own state of the art games streaming service called Streamya Boy. … (Read more)

KekRaptor: PSN Now Lets You Go Back in Time to Change Name and Life Choices (April 14, 2019)

Good news for those who’ve been stuck with an embarrassing PSN name from their younger days: Sony announced today that PlayStation Network users can now travel backwards in time to prevent themselves from ever picking that name—or taking Jesse to senior prom—to begin with. … (Read more)