Tag: videogames

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Bryan Hikari Hartzheim Interview: Unarchived Season 5, Episode 1

Jason

interviewed by Alexander Hurezeanu Broadcast date: October 28, 2026 Producer: Jeremy Andriano In this first special episode of Season 5 of the Unarchived podcast, Dr. Alexander Hurezeanu interviews Dr. Bryan Hikari Hartzheim, Associate Professor in the Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies at Waseda University, Japan (https://www.waseda.jp/fire/gsiccs/faculty-en/2022/07/06/6423/). Dr. Hartzheim’s research focuses on Japanese popular and digital culture, and he is the author of Hideo Kojima Progressive Game Design from Metal Gear to Death Stranding (2023), part of the Influential Video Game Designers series published by Bloomsbury Academic. In this interview, Dr. Hartzheim and Dr. Hurezeanu discuss the field … Continue reading Bryan Hikari Hartzheim Interview: Unarchived Season 5, Episode 1

Gameful Experiences, Procedural Literacy & Creativity, Unarchived podcastLeave a comment

Kentucky Route Zero: Unarchived Season 4, Episode 4

Jason

with Jason Boyd (Host), Jeremy Andriano, and Riley Wilson Broadcast Date: April 9, 2026 Writer: Jason Boyd Producer: Jeremy Andriano Cardboard Computer’s Kentucky Route Zero is an episodic tale featuring an eclectic range of characters drawn into a truck driver’s quest to make a final delivery. The game is set along a predominantly rural stretch of Interstate 65 in Kentucky, which is the main road on the game’s map. The area covered by the map has as its centre Mammoth Cave National Park. The game essentially is in the form of a road trip, a quest, an odyssey. The work … Continue reading Kentucky Route Zero: Unarchived Season 4, Episode 4

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Blue Prince: Unarchived, Season 4, Episode 3

Jason

with Jeremy Andriano (Host), Jason Boyd, and Kevin Ghouchandra Broadcast Date: 31 January 2026 Writer: Jeremy Andriano Producer: Jeremy Andriano Blue Prince by Dogubomb is an enigmatic and unique puzzle game that blends elements of classic point-and-click computer adventure games like Riven and Myst with the complex drafting and resource management systems found in many tabletop strategy board and card games. At the outset of Blue Prince, this unique combination of gameplay mechanics is structured over a whimsical (sometimes darkly whimsical) narrative framework. You play as a teenager who inherits a mysterious mansion from an estranged, eccentric relative. However, your … Continue reading Blue Prince: Unarchived, Season 4, Episode 3

Unarchived podcastLeave a comment

Silent Hill f: Unarchived, Season 4, Episode 1

Jason

with Chelsea Russell (Host), Jeremy Andriano, and Alex Hurezeanu Broadcast date: 31 October 2025 Writer: Chelsea Russell Producer: Jeremy Andriano Silent Hill f, a psychologically dense entry in the Silent Hill series that relocates the franchise’s signature anxieties from late-20th-century New England to mid-20th-century Japan, exploring Showa-era expectations around purity, obedience, marriageability, and reputation though the life of its main character, High school student Shimizu Hinako. The game literalizes those pressures as floral, fibrous horror growing through a town and a teenage girl’s life, using social horror—bullying, communal shame, adult euphemisms—to make the supernatural feel like an extension of everyday … Continue reading Silent Hill f: Unarchived, Season 4, Episode 1

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Pools: Unarchived, Season 3, Episode 6

Jason

with Chelsea Russell (host), Andrew Bailey, Jason Boyd, Patrick R. Dolan Broadcast Date: 2 June 2025 Writer: Chelsea Russell (with Jason Boyd) Producer: Patrick R. Dolan Bonus Summer Episode! Inspired by liminal space aesthetics, Pools (2024) is a first-person exploration game set in a bewildering, seemingly endless complex of swimming pools. Pools is a minimalist game—there’s no heads-up display or status bar, no dialogue, no clear objectives, no monsters, no NPCs, no dialogue, no text, no soundtrack, no death, no puzzles, no resource gathering, no inventory, no tools, no quests. You can look around, walk (or run), crouch, swim, and … Continue reading Pools: Unarchived, Season 3, Episode 6

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Dredge

Jason

https://www.dredge.game/ Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra A. BASIC INFORMATION Creator: Black Salt Games Nadia Thorne (Producer) Joel Mason (Programmer/Author) Alex Ritchie (Art Lead) Michael Bastiaens (3D Art/ Animation) David Mason (Composer/Audio Lead) Studio website: https://www.blacksaltgames.com/ Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Team17 Date of original release: March 30, 2023 Platforms: Windows; macOS; PlayStation 4/5; Nintendo Switch; Xbox One; Xbox Series X/S; iOS; Android Peripherals required: Mouse/keyboard, game controller  ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Awards/Distinctions: Bitsummit 2023: International Award DoesItPlay? Awards 2023: Best Indie Game, Best Horror Game IGN Awards 2023: Best Indie Game PC Gamer Awards 2023: Best Setting SDHQ 2024: Best Indie Game … Continue reading Dredge

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Unarchived podcastLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 5)

Jason

with Alexander Hurezeanu (Host), Jason Boyd, Kevin Ghouchandra, Chelsea Russell Broadcast Date: 18 March, 2025 Writer: Alexander Hurezeanu (with Jason Boyd) Producer: Jeremy Andriano Disco Elysium is a unique role-playing game that blends thoughtful storytelling, detective work, and philosophical exploration. Set in a sprawling, crumbling city called Revachol, the player controls a hard-boiled detective who wakes up with amnesia and no memory of who he is. The game’s story revolves around solving a murder mystery, but its true focus is on the player character’s internal struggle and attempts to situate himself in the world of Elysium’s complex political, social, and … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 5)

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Overboard!

Jason

https://www.inklestudios.com/overboard/ Entry by Jeremy Andriano A. BASIC INFORMATION Creator(s): Inkle (https://www.inklestudios.com/) Jon Ingold (Writer & Director) Tom Kail (Development & Audio Design) Joseph Humfrey (Art Direction & Graphic Design) Anastasia Wyatt (Characters & Art) Emily Morganti (Marketing & PR) Creation Technology: ink, Unity Publisher: Inkle Date of Original Release: June 2, 2021 Platform(s): Windows, MacOS, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android Peripherals Required: Mouse or Touchscreen-enabled device, Speakers or Headphones ESRB Rating: T (Teen) Awards & Distinctions:  Apple Design Awards 2022, Delight & Fun Category Writers’ Guild Awards 2022, Best Writing in a Video Game Version Used for Entry: Apple iPad iOS, … Continue reading Overboard!

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Unarchived podcastLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 4)

Jason

with Chelsea Russell (Host), Jeremy Andriano, Kevin Ghouchandra Broadcast Date: 12 February, 2025 Writer: Chelsea Russell Producer: Jeremy Andriano In this episode, the panel discusses Doki Doki Literature Club, a Japanese style visual novel that disguises itself as a cute, light-hearted dating sim—only to shatter expectations with its disturbing psychological horror elements. Beneath the surface of poetry clubs and school crushes lies a game that manipulates not only its characters but also the player, challenging ideas about narrative structure, player agency, and the boundaries of digital storytelling. Doki Doki Literature Club‘s use of meta-narrative techniques, fourth-wall-breaking glitches, and psychological horror … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 4)

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The Stanley Parable and The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe

Jason

https://www.stanleyparable.com/ Entry by Jason Boyd A. BASIC INFORMATION Note: The Stanley Parable was originally released by Davey Wreden on July 31, 2011 as a free modification for Half-Life 2. This entry describes the 2013 ‘remake’ as well as The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, which is not an extension or DLC of the ‘remake,’ but a remaking of the remake in Unity, with additional content.  Creator(s): Davey Wreden & William Pugh (Writers & Designers) Kevan Brighting (Narration) Collin Eddings & Jack Parsons (Additional Level Design) Jesus Higueras (Programming) Andreas Jorgensen (Modelling) Robin Arnott & Eduardo Ortiz (Sound Design) Blake Robinson, Yiannis … Continue reading The Stanley Parable and The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe