Last night, I finished The Missing. My initial impression of the game was that it’s a sweet but extremely bloody puzzle-platformer, peppered with queer overtones. As I pressed forward, I found a game that was transgressive and shockingly frank in talking about LGTBQA+ issues. It’s been on my mind all morning.

Thanks in large part to God of War and the Final Fantasy Tactics iOS port, I’ve been gaming regularly for the first time in about a decade. As I emerged from my dumb hibernation to become a Gamer once again, I realised I could now fill a huge gap in my cultural literacy.

I thought I wouldn’t care about Nintendo’s newest 3DS release. I played Luigi’s Mansion on the GameCube ages ago. I liked its 3DS sequel better. I did not feel the need to go back and play the first one. Plus, it’s the Nintendo Switch era and there’s even a Luigi’s Mansion coming to that.

Then I got a copy of the remake (from Nintendo), which is available in Australia on October 20, and remembered, oh right, I can play this in 3D.

Mario Party is a cruel game that intentionally stokes chaos between friends. Last night I agreed to play the latest game, Super Mario Party, and discovered that this new entry in the franchise has tried to add a form of sportsmanship by making your characters high five each other. It does not have the intended result.

Literally, of course, but also emotionally.

If I had more time, I’d begin playing games a little differently than I have for the last 30 years. I’d start them, but then I’d stop a couple of hours in and start again.

One of the things I love about Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, a game full of things to love, is this: You can’t die from fall damage. No matter what.

I’m deleting Merge Dragons from my phone the second I publish this article. The urge I have to keep it is the main reason it’s getting erased. I don’t want to play a fun game that keeps pleading for more of my money even after I’ve already paid to play it.

My favourite video game of all time is Skies of Arcadia, a Japanese RPG released for the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast in 2000. The Dreamcast was an amazing console, with bright and colourful games that left a major impact on me. So, when the time came for me to finally get my first tattoo, I took inspiration straight from the video game that changed my life.

I’ve been having trouble waking up on time recently, so I downloaded a new alarm for my phone that makes me play a mini game before it turns off. It’s the best and worst decision I have ever made.

A sublime combination of fantasy board game and card game, Australian developer League of Geek’s Armello has been one of my go-to competitive strategy joints since it first hit the scene back in 2015. Now it’s on the Nintendo Switch, and while my love remains strong, my eyes can’t quite handle the tiny text of handheld mode.

Of all the many valid reasons I’m still playing The Witcher 3, there’s one that’s not related to the game’s quality. If I put it down for too long, I’ll completely forget how to play. It’s a problem that extends to every game I own.

I recently discovered a game in my Steam library that lets me replay the tutorial whenever I want, and I wish more games would give me that option.

In July, Overwatch got a group-finder, and now meeting teammates for the game’s competitive mode often feels less like teaming up with a bunch of random gamers on the internet and more like trying to sit at the popular kids’ high school lunch table.

Nintendo and Cygames’ Dragalia Lost is a very pretty mobile game. The characters are lovely, the music is gorgeous, and its overall presentation is quite charming. One could almost forget it’s just another generic character collecting mobile action RPG under all of that polish. Almost.

TowerFall is out on the Switch today, just over five years after it originally released on the ill-fated Ouya. It was one of the best party games then and has continued to be one of the all-time best since.

It’s still great on Switch, but more than anything I can’t get over is how much fun I’ve had playing it alone.

Move forward and time advances. Move backwards and time rewinds. It’s a simple idea that games such as Superhot have done well. It’s one of the only things you can do in The Gardens Between, a simple, beautiful three-button game I’m enjoying during my breaks between climbing the mountains of this season’s gargantuan releases.

Back in 2016 I spent a great deal of time farming skill points in Forza Horizon 3 in order to unlock bonuses in the game’s Skill Shop perks tree. In Forza Horizon 4, every single one of the over 450 cars in the game has its own perks tree to unlock.

I am filled with glee. A little dread, but mostly glee.

It turns out the only way to get me to play a horror game is if it’s also a personality quiz.

I recently started a playthrough of Max Payne on Kotaku’s Twitch channel and was pleased to find that its stylish gunplay still holds up. I’ve not finished yet, but I snuck ahead to Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne last night. The sequel contains one small change to bullet time that completely alters how combat…