Critical Distance is back with a regular digest of critical writing on game design. This great little selection of posts provides some perspectives on systems of power, management, governance, and people misbehaving within them for good and for ill.
Living in the Shadows: Virginia's Critique of Society's Power Systems :: Games :: Features :: Virginia :: Paste
Reid McCarter examines the techniques used in Virginia to symbolize oppression and resistance.The Ongoing Voice Actor's Strike Is More Than Just a Little Drama - Waypoint
This important feature pokes below the surface to better understand what SAG-AFTRA's demands are, and why they have been ignored.The difficulty in banning the ‘most toxic League of Legends player in North America’ - Polygon
Daniel Friedman uncovers an interesting case study in what happens when toxicity and technical skill intersectWe asked a transit planner how to up our Mini Metro game - Waypoint
Robert Rath talks strategy with a professional, and in the process teaches us a great deal about the real-world design of transit networks.
"'Mini Metro has proven one very important thing,' said Walker in an email interview with Waypoint. 'Until it came along, the assumption was that transportation games had to have a rich user-interface with pictures of trains and cars and trees and so on. In fact, you can have a game that strips a problem down to its underlying structure, which is what a metro network is.'"
This is an extract from a full weekly roundup posted on Critical Distance. To see the full post and other great writing and podcasting from the world of games criticism, check out critical-distance.com.
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