Rediscovering gaming as a new parent
It all started a month earlier than expected. One evening my eight-months-pregnant wife said “Something’s slightly off, we should go to a hospital”, and twelve hours later my daughter was born.
... (keep reading)Don't hide the worlds behind HUDs
Just as much as I don’t like having magically updated maps in games (see the joys of leaving the map behind), I also get taken out of the experience by the two-dimensional HUDs (heads-up display) plopped onto the screen. This right here is a familiar sight:
... (keep reading)The Sims 4 vs. Total Warhammer: predatory vs perpetual pricing
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about predatory pricing in games. My feelings on the matter are complicated, and are made up of contradictions and biases. My initial revulsion was directed at games like The Sims 4. Look - the idea of a game where the full experience costs over $1,000 feels like a scam, a transparent and cynical attempt to nickel-and-dime players to death. Electronic Arts being the publisher doesn’t really help add the credibility to the business model. Dear EA, your golden poo award was well deserved.
... (keep reading)On feelings of loneliness in games
I like when a game makes me feel lonely. Yeah, you might think it weird, but I don’t think I’m alone - there’s something about experiencing a sense of isolation, a sense of quiet discomfort, a sense of vastness and insignificance - something that draws me in.
... (keep reading)Mouthwashing was weird
Recently I played Mouthwashing. It's a horror game about being stranded on a long haul spaceship after an accident, without hope of rescue, only for the crew to discover their cargo is thousands and thousands of boxes of mouthwash. It gets weird, quick.
... (keep reading)Death Stranding and the exploration of grief
My newborn son died almost 4 years ago. Yeah, that’s a heavy topic for a gaming blog, but I’ve been sitting on wanting to write down my thoughts on how my gaming hobby is a part of the healing process. Definitely a trigger warning - I won’t be talking about how things happened (those details are for my family and I), but I will talk in depth about how it made me feel. It’s not pretty.
... (keep reading)When I didn't speak the language of games
My uncle introduced me to video games around the 2000s. He wasn’t an avid gamer, but he did have a Sony PlayStation 1 for his daughters - my older cousins - and he also dabbled in some PC games. I would run over to his house, load up titles like Crash Bandicoot and Resident Evil 2 on PS1, or maybe Deus Ex or Serious Sam on PC. Crucially, many of these games were in English, despite the fact I didn’t live in an English-speaking country, nor did I speak the language
... (keep reading)Foundation: from organic sprawl to production woes
I’ve always been a fan of city builders. Many city builders use a grid, which makes sense from a gameplay standpoint but can be limiting to creativity. Even in games that don’t require you to follow a grid - like Cities: Skylines - it’s easy to fall into building identical squares. It’s efficient and works just fine. But grids can be boring; grids are missing a soul: the aesthetics are repetitive, the feel is inorganic, and the layouts are predictable. I think of genres like city builders as a method of self-expression, and you do need a soul for that.
... (keep reading)Why do I like games I do not finish
Hey there. I really like video games, and on average I play a little under a hundred games a year. The number has slowed down a tad bit after my daughter was born, but things have been picking back up - I’m starting to have some time here and there.
... (keep reading)Why we optimize the fun away: a case against the second screen
I’m going to make a case that the ease of access to information in video games can diminish the potential for fun. I’m not a Luddite and I’m not here to advocate for shutting down the Internet, but I do yearn for a time where looking up an answer wasn’t as easy, or at least wasn’t an immediate instinct.
... (keep reading)The joys of leaving the map behind
This line of reasoning was the main reason I named this blog “Unmapped Worlds,” but it’s a topic I haven’t yet written about. Probably because I’ve feared that this article would need to be great, but the longer I’m putting it off, the more I feel like this needs to be amazing. In reality, it’s not a revolutionary take; I just want to talk about how some great games handle navigation and traversal.
... (keep reading)Oblivion lockpicking and progression systems
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has a lockpicking mini-game. When you encounter a locked chest or a door, you whip out your lockpick and try to set the lock pins in the right position. There’s some intuition to it, and you get better as you play. But here’s the kicker: as your character’s in-game skill increases, the number of tumblers you have to interact with decreases, significantly simplifying the mini-game. So, as you, the player, get better at the mechanic, the game itself gets easier.
... (keep reading)What makes a procedural world have a soul?
Procedural generation promises endless replayability… but does it deliver? Rarely. Procedurally generated worlds often feel hollow, empty, and soulless - a void where an expression of a creator could’ve been. I hate procedural generation in video games.
... (keep reading)Thoughts on 150+ PC Game Pass games
Is PC Game Pass worth it? Yeah, I think it mostly is, unless you’re ideologically opposed to it. You can stop reading now if you want. Otherwise…
... (keep reading)On owning games
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on compiling my thoughts on every PC Game Pass game I’m familiar with. That 10,000-words-so-far monstrosity is likely coming next week, but it did get me thinking about owning games.
... (keep reading)Indie detour: Kiosk
As I’ve gotten older, and as I have more responsibilities, I’ve been having more appreciation for short games. Smaller, more focused indie experiences are fun! After all, I love games as a medium, and shorter games allow me to experience even more games. Because of the indie titles mixed in, I get to experience around a hundred titles in any given year. It’s great.
... (keep reading)A nostalgic, flawed return to Oblivion
TES IV: Oblivion remaster shadow dropped on a random Wednesday. I don’t generally play games as soon as they come out; I’m more of a patient gamer. But I’ve been testing out PC Game Pass (I’m late to the train, I know), and I was able to pick it up “for free”. Oh, and be warned - nostalgia for 2005 is a factor in this review.
... (keep reading)Why I bounced off Avowed
For whatever reason Avowed didn’t really grip me. I spent 6 hours in the game, and ended up bouncing off.
... (keep reading)The Long Dark: interloper death march
I’ve played The Long Dark on and off before: I enjoy the slow-paced survival gameplay, and focus on grounded realism is not something that’s particularly common in survival games. I stumbled upon Majuular’s review of The Long Dark: I liked his take on the fact that The Long Dark difficulty doesn’t meaningfully change as you play: a campfire is just as welcoming after weeks pass in-game, and a wolf is just as dangerous as it was in the beginning of your run.
... (keep reading)Zombietide of Total War: Warhammer III
Here on Unmapped Worlds, I either like games without maps, or games almost exclusively focused on maps. Total War: Warhammer III is the game in the latter category - it’s my comfort game. I regularly revisit it when new DLCs come out, and the game always has something new to experience.
... (keep reading)Five standout games I played in 2024
Tt’s the end of March 2025, but I didn’t yet have a gaming blog at the beginning of the year, so here I am playing catch-up and writing about my favorite games of 2024. I love reading folks reflecting on the games they played, and this post is my take.
... (keep reading)Vintage Story is better mapless
At first glance, Vintage Story may seem like just another Minecraft clone, but it offers a depth that sets it apart. This game is a challenging, slow-paced sandbox where survival hinges on meticulous planning, thoughtful decision-making, and savvy resource management.
... (keep reading)Why I enjoyed Dread Delusion
I agonized about which game I’d like to write about first, and decided that Dread Delusion is the perfect candidate: I loved it, it tugged on my nostalgia strings, and it’s still fresh in my head. Let me tell you about why I enjoyed Dread Delusion.
... (keep reading)