I have a couple of cool things to announce — one is that I’ll have a biweekly column at VICE UK from now on called Understanding Games. The first episode is up, and in it I come to terms with the language of mainstream video games via Snowpiercer (“BioShock on a Train”) a movie I liked a lot. There are only vague spoilers for the film, if you haven’t seen it.

Also, from now on, Lo-Fi Let’s Plays will be syndicated every Wednesday at Rock Paper Shotgun, with additional commentary and even interviews where I can get them. Super excited!

In the Guardian, I wrote about the endless investment and crude labor of multiplayer online games, after being struck weirdly by the kind of “participation” the Destiny beta offered (and inspired by a Jenn Frank article, linked therein).

At Gamasutra, I explore the incredible portfolio of Devine Lu Linvega, after some wonderful sleepless nights with the odd, intimate alien diplomacy simulator Ledoliel. I also did an interview about Variable State’s upcoming Twin Peaks-ish story game Virginia, including a chat about what it means to be “Twin Peaks-ish”. In other story game news, I catch up with unstoppable Simogo about winsome The Sailor’s Dream. Def watch the lovely trailer at the head of the article.

I spent the weekend climbing Mam Tor in the Peak District via a sheep trail, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was playing a lot of Meg Jayanth/Inkle’s gorgeous 80Days (very fond of Inkle, as their creation platform Inklewriter supports the only text game of mine that has ever been shown in a festival).

The game is just lovely — as you might know I’ve written extensively about my hoped-for future of text games on touch devices and e-readers, and if you need more convincing to try 80Days for yourself, you can read Mike Rose’s interview or the inimitable Emily Short’s comprehensive look.

I also played Matthew Burns’ Arboretum, which I think is fairly interesting as a story about first love, how vague, complicated — and yet permanent — our teen feelings can be. Structurally I think it’s a really good use of the form; I think my own failure to attach to either of the characters might be a consequence of their nature and not of the writing, as Burns is one of my favorite writers in games.

Finally, I’ve done an interview about the exciting, up-and-coming Girls Make Games series of summer camps focused on teaching girls ages 9-16 how to make games (and that they can, confidently). It’s an awesome initiative and you should check it out and give your support if you can.

Your readership is dear to me, and your sharing articles of mine that you enjoy via social media is wildly and madly appreciated.