"One of the finest of his generation of critics"—Kieron Gillen (Die, The Wicked + The Divine) Fifty-two essays composing the very best of veteran video game developer and writer Mathew Kumar's "Every Game I've Finished" project, published for the first time in print with commentary from the author. Releasing October 21st, 2024 in print, and available for pre-order now for Kindle or as epub/pdf. Games covered include legendary icons (Wizardry: Proving Grounds Of The Mad Overlord), indie darlings (Papers, Please), beloved obscurities (Attack of the Friday Monsters!), Triple-A franchises (Mass Effect) and modern classics (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild). Essays take the form of everything from straight critique to strategy guide, and represent an overview of the state of the art in video games across its history distilled into ten years of highs and lows. A book that takes video games as seriously as any art form and as deserving of collected criticism. “Mathew’s project, to finish the games he plays, and to write about those he finishes, can be simply stated but it represents a noble act of critical commitment. When taken in concert, these reviews –– unflinchingly acerbic, truthfully stated, and deeply unconcerned with external factors of fashion or consensus –– provide both a diary of criticism, and a long view of the judders and lunges of this still-evolving medium; A charter, too, for what we might cherish, and what we might disdain, in this emergent art form.”–Simon Parkin (A Game of Birds and Wolves, Death By Video Game)
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Phew! When I announced exp. 2601 I mentioned it was the ten year anniversary of Every Game I've Finished in 2024 and that it might be important, and here it is, a celebration of my last ten years of writing that you can buy as a book that you can own in your house. I didn't originally plan it this way! I intended to release Every Game I've Finished 14>24 as a (somewhat) quick and dirty ebook release, and I did the majority of the work at the beginning of the year pre-exp. 2601, but after realising it would only take a "little" more work to self-publish the book physically I decided if I was going to vanity press, I might as well do it for real.
Of course, it's taken a lot longer than I expected, but I finally have a proof in my hand that I'm satisfied with, and it really does look very nice.
Vanity press or not, there are a few vectors to this release. Firstly, if you've ever enjoyed any of my writing of the past ten years, here's a nice way to support me and either get a lovely physical or handy digital edition. Secondly, if you haven't, here's a way to immediately get fifty-two of the best articles I've written which you can peruse at your leisure.
Thirdly, I just honestly think that there should be a culture of criticism around games just as there is for literally every other art form, and I think that this book existing makes as much sense as, say Clive James On Television, so I'm just fucking going for it.
That all said, Every Game I've Finished 14>24 is being released on October 21st 2024, and is being released in print on Amazon. I'm no happier about this than you are, but it's the simplest method. I would love to offer copies here on Ko‑fi for launch day, but they (sneakily) give author copies a long lead time and (of course) it's impossible to compete with Amazon's postage rates.
Amazon also--for bafflingly unclear reasons--won't allow me to offer a pre-order of the print edition, so please mark the date in your calendar or follow me on Bluesky or (spit) Twitter if you want to get a copy.
However! If you're just looking for the ebook, you can pre-order it on Kindle or epub/pdf right now! Subscribers will receive their shop discount on the digital edition, so don't forget you can support me for just $1 a month. This release has been, and I know it's a cliche, a real labour of love, just as Every Game I've Finished has been a labour of love for video games (even if it doesn't always read like it.) I can't wait for you to get your hands on it, and I'm so thankful for all of you who have joined me on this journey.
