Alex Spencer

The cover feature is possibly the most qualified I have ever been to write something. I mean, the XCOM team + Marvel comics? Why not just throw a Carly Rae Jepsen soundtrack on there and be done with it? But even *I* wasn't expecting the story of how this weird game came to be.pic.twitter.com/E4eCDSzP5a

I also got the chance to rifle through Annapurna's coming attractions, and try to get the bottom of why they're the most interesting (and increasingly prolific!) publisher in videogames right now. With a proper chef's-kiss opener from @andrewphind. Photo doesn't do it justice.pic.twitter.com/c2OSv1LtE1

And speaking of design geniuses... about a cheeky cameo from Edge legend [Edgend?] @MarkWynne13 on this excellent @dirigiblebill piece about the overlap between poetry and videogames, feat. actual poems from @weecalrobot & @godzillakent.pic.twitter.com/ovQOmpQ6Kh

Rounding out the mid-mag, we've got an unplanned double bill of stories that open in the world of Czech academia, but end up in very different places: @ewanwilson4's Making Of Creaks & @a_zamecnik's Studio Profile on Attentat/Svoboda dev Charles Games.pic.twitter.com/lDXClYtZNM

And taking us home: @henry_stleger, with a Time Extend essay on how Bastion laid the foundations for @SupergiantGames to make Hades, including the year's best hammer-as-a-metaphor.pic.twitter.com/yNBx1rGBRF