Sometimes, Sundays are only for rounding up videogame criticism and journalism. I try to cast a wider net when my turn comes to deliver the Papers, because I figure you've probably been reading about videogames all week, and would appreciate e.g. an essay on the mating habits of snails or the top 7 most elaborate UFO conspiracies, but this Sunday, there are no snails or UFOs within easy dredge. So instead, please accept a boatload of finest mitherings on Duke Nukem, oracular visual novels, sociable space sims, and 'search action' games.
To mark the site's 10th birthday, Bullet Points Monthly wordslingers Ed Smith, Reid McCarter, Astrid Anne Rose, and Yussef Cole have put together a roundtable feature on the state of the shooter in 2026, with contributions from legendary guns-for-hire Kaile Hultner, Autumn Wright, Nick Capozzoli, Cameron Kunzelman, Lewis Gordon, Grace Benfell, Joshua Calixto, Zack Kotzer, and David Wolinsky. Everything in there is worth reading. I pick out this passage from David's entry only in the manner of a cornered goon lobbing a grenade over a chest-high wall in a futile effort to keep the brilliance at bay.
For Aftermath, Jay Castello investigates the maddening trial of getting a game with sexual content on Steam, focussing on Meredith Gran's Perfect Tides, Heather Flowers' 500 Finger Fillet, and Molleindustria's Future? No Thanks!
Hark! A distant scuffling and squawking. It can only be the rampageous seagulls of Jank.cool, emerging from their abandoned shipping container off the coast of Bournemouth. See how they flutter and wheedle for our bycatch (they are doing a subscription drive - get involved if you want to read more Alice Bell, Nic Reuben, Sin Vega, and Brendan Caldwell). Tarnation! The miserable flying rats have seized ahold of Hannah Nicklin, former RPS psychogeographer and creative director of Saltsea Chronicles studio Die Gute Fabrik. Here's Hannah with an essay comparing three texts - Zachtronics visual novel Eliza, Jathan Sadowski's The Mechanic and the Luddite, and Calvin Kasulke’s Several People Are Typing.
For Historical Games Network, Will Butler writes about the relationship between genre and nationality in marketing, community organisation, and criticism.
For Eugene Gamer, Matt Wales writes about No Man's Sky's Galactic Hub Project, a spirited player research community scattered across galaxies, which has outlasted 10 years of updates.
This hold is full to bursting. The sea grows dim and mysterious. Time to sail home while humming along to either Moon Cave by Gorillaz or Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks. Have a good Sunday!
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-sunday-papers-824
