Swapna Krishna

Open worlds can be fantastic, but they can also be exhausting.

Last week’s massive snowstorm in the northeast left me stranded with a toddler. A Nintendo Switch helped us keep our cool.

With pressures bearing down and social gatherings still fraught, gaming has become important for many people's mental health, but it's also quite expensive.

 I’d been avoiding the game for years because I feared it would take over my life. Now I don’t mind if it does.

The cutscenes in Yakuza: Like a Dragon are great—until you need to put down your controller in a hurry.

Enabling the feature in Horizon Zero Dawn allows you to learn how to play it in a whole new way.

Suddenly everyone has an opinion on your gameplay.

It’s important to take a breather when you’re exhausted by the world.

No one should have to work this hard this early in a game.

And neither should you.

Once you stop comparing it to the original trilogy, it’s actually pretty good.

The best part of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is one very specific difficulty setting. 

Show me DLC and I will pay good money to spend, uh, quality time with characters.

If you hate buggy new releases, then you’re just going to have to learn to wait.

If gaming isn’t as fulfilling as it used to be, it’s OK to walk away and go do something else.

When I revisited the trilogy, I asked a researcher whether video game nostalgia is actually beneficial. Turns out, it is.

Dropping a bunch of cash and relearning game controls just to play a few new levels isn’t worth it anymore. 

Games like Animal Crossing and Cozy Grove are meant to be played every day, but who’s got that kind of time?

In God of War, Kratos is kind of mean, but finishing his journey has its rewards. 

Animal Crossing provided a respite for people overwhelmed in quarantine. Pioneers of Olive Town offers similar consolation, but with a bit more challenge.