The Guardian: ‘In the game, I knew myself as Hannah’ — the trans gamers finding freedom on Roblox

37m people use the gaming platform every day in search of adventure – and for teenagers exploring their gender identity, it is also a place of liberation.

New York Times: Finding Community, and Freedom, on the Virtual Dance Floor

On any given weekend, there are dozens of parties happening on VRChat, a platform where users assume fantastical avatars of their own design.

Financial Times: Why humans play games

Why have humans kept games in their homes for millennia? Tom Faber dives into the reemergence of board games and the surprising history of why we play.

Huck: The new generation of video game creators taking sex seriously

For decades sex in games has been problematic or conspicuously absent. Tom Faber speaks to the queer creators using games to explore desire, pleasure and consent in an original way.

Financial Times: Do video games encourage violent acts?

Recent mass shootings have put gaming back in the spotlight — though many gamers and game-makers say it is an easy target.

Financial Times: Silent Hill 2 and the best horror games for Halloween

A remake of the 2001 classic still chills, while Slitterhead offers campy slasher action.

Financial Times: The unexpected return of point-and-click adventures

Titles such as ‘Phoenix Springs’ are bringing the genre to a new generation.

Financial Times: Dance with deer at Manhattan game exhibition Group Hug

Artists’ experiments with video games challenge ideas of form, presentation and playability.

Financial Times: Why small games have a big future

As gamers turn their backs on gargantuan adventures, we could be entering a golden age of modest titles.

Financial Times: UFO 50 game review — ingenious compendium of 1980s classics that never existed

Celebration of a fictional developer serves as a reminder of early games’ brilliant simplicity and rapid advance.

Financial Times: ‘No Man’s Sky’ and ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ show there is life after death for video-game flops

Sony recently pulled the plug on ‘Concord’ after two weeks.

Financial Times: Could video games help shape elections?

Politicians are realising that they can reach into game spaces to access new potential voters.

Financial Times: ‘Psychonauts 2’ and what it takes to make a game

The documentary Double Fine PsychOdyssey chronicles emotional exits, police investigations and the rest.

Financial Times: The rise of video games tackling mental health

‘Vampire Therapist’, where you play a bloodsucking counsellor, is one of a wave of titles putting psychology at the centre.

Financial Times: Lo-fi horror video games are turning happy 1990s memories into nightmares

Indie creators are going back to the first PlayStation’s crude 3D graphics to subvert expectations and elicit fright.

Financial Times: Five stars for 1000xResist — indie game tackles pandemic, revolution and heartbreak

Story of teenage children of Hong Kong protesters adjusting to life in Canada has rich storytelling and compelling dialogue.

Financial Times: Why gamers are finding joy in sticking to old favourites

Some of today’s most popular titles were released years ago. Why is this, and what does it mean for the industry?

Financial Times: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II game review — so cinematic that it forgets to be a game

Gorgeous visuals can’t make up for a sequel in which combat and even walking are tedious.

Financial Times: Braid: Anniversary Edition game review — reissue of the indie classic is a game-changer

Puzzle platformer’s ambitious update adds better graphics, creator’s commentary and alternate versions of levels.

Financial Times: God and the devil fight for a nun’s soul in video game Indika

The game’s makers fled Russia because of its critique of the Orthodox church.

Financial Times: Your home console can become a gaming museum

The video game industry has a problem with its heritage: an interactive documentary provides an answer.

Financial Times: Open Roads review

Character development is the key to this visually stylish story of family secrets.

Financial Times: Rise of the Rōnin review

Team Ninja’s ambitious new game is set during Japan’s opening-up to the outside world. The fighting is fun but its world is overstuffed.

Financial Times: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth review — a remake that lavishly upgrades the original

The much-loved role-playing adventure is radically expanded in this second instalment of the trilogy.

Financial Times: Tekken 8 and how the fighting game is fighting back

After a patch of relative irrelevance since its 1990s golden age, the combat video game genre is experiencing a renaissance.

Financial Times: Can Grand Theft Auto VI match its $7.7bn predecessor?

There’s a lot riding on the release but early signs look good, with stunning visuals, street racing and angry Karens.

Financial Times: Can a Zelda film ever live up to the beloved game? This fan is sceptical

Video games give players the raw materials to tell their own stories — a vital ingredient that cannot be translated into film.

Financial Times: Why do so few video games feature children?

‘Grand Theft Auto’ was no place for kids but newer titles are incorporating them as a way of adding emotional depth.

New York Times: Finding Community, and Freedom, on the Virtual Dance Floor

On any given weekend, there are dozens of parties happening on VRChat, a platform where users assume fantastical avatars of their own design.