List-O-Mania, February 2017

Every month, Team Unwinnable puts together short lists of recommended music, books and games. These lists originally appeared in Unwinnable Monthly 88. If you enjoy what you read, please buy the issue or subscribe.

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PLAYLIST

“Love in a Cold World,” by Beastmilk
“Bloodstains,” by Agent Orange
“He’s A Reptile,” by The Soft Boys
“Speed of Light,” by Iron Maiden
“A Pillar of Salt,” by The Thermals
“Your Best American Girl,” by Mitski
“Falling,” by HAIM
“Mama Said,” by Cat Clyde
“Some Were Saved Some Drowned,” by Wrekmeister Harmonies
“Classic Man,” by Jidenna
“Via con me,” by Paolo Conte

Listen now on Spotify

Selected by Stu Horvath, Ian Gonzales, Michael Edwards, Erik Weinbrecht, Gavin Craig, Matt Marrone, Austin Price, Melissa King, Corey Milne, Khee Hoon Chan, Amanda Hudgins, Sara Clemens

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READING LIST

The Secret of Ventriloquism, by Jon Padgett
The Secret History of Twin Peaks, by Mark Frost
Fallen Angels, by Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
Handmaiden’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Paris, France, by Gertrude Stein
The Secret History of Twin Peaks, by Mark Frost
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami
Judge Dredd: Hondo City Justice
All Our Wrong Todays, by Elan Mastai

Selected by Stu Horvath, Ian Gonzales, Michael Edwards, Matt Sayer, Erik Weinbrecht, Gavin Craig, Matt Marrone, Austin Price, Corey Milne, Sara Clemens

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NOW PLAYING

Tyranny – This is the first isometric RPG I’ve seriously played since Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader in 2003 (I tried Pillars of Eternity, but it bored me). Like Lionheart, is a unique, richly drawn world that echoes some dim-remembered past. Unlike Lionheart, about halfway through, I got tired of all the RPG combat elements and wished it was a different sort of game. And while the branching pathways make for a surprising number of outcomes, all interesting, I have to admit I was flumoxed by a number of rigid either/or decisions that beggared belief (seriously: some folks in the world of Tyranny are alarmingly quick to leap at the chance to murder babies).

(Stu Horvath)

Street Fighter x Tekken – I don’t often play fighting games, but thought I’d give this a go as a bit of nostalgia for childhood Tekken tournaments on the PlayStation. Turns out, playing against the CPU is a lot harder than the days of trouncing my old chums. Still, on Easy it’s possible to feel like a bad ass firing off hadoukens and booting foes into the stratosphere. Rest assured, though, I won’t be competing in EVO any time soon.

    (Matt Sayer)

The Evil Within – Finally getting around to this! Now that Resident Evil 7 is out, I was able to pick this up on the cheap. Four chapters in and my overall reaction is “meh,” but I’m far from hate-playing it.

(Erik Weinbrecht)

Resident Evil HD Remaster – This is my first time actually playing a horror game instead of of watching a Let’s Play and I get the appeal now. Even though the enemies and environments make me feel uneasy, I can’t help but push forward to see what’s on the other side.

          (Melissa King)

Flat Hunting – This is a game I hadn’t realized my flatmate and myself had signed up to until we got an email saying our flat was being sold. So far the microtransactions seem incredibly pricey, the HUD must be broken as it’s hidden the stress meter and I hear it has multiple endings dependant on choices made along the way. 2 out of 10 – would not recommend.

(Corey Milne)

Gunpoint – I’ve never been particularly good at puzzle games, but Gunpoint makes me feel very smart. As spy-for-hire Richard Conway, you will be offering your hacking, sneaking and stealing services to amoral corporations for a generous fee, which you can then use to buy or upgrade your nifty spy gadgets. It’s an incredibly fun and fluid experience, if slightly too short – the game can be completed within three to four hours. Plus, perhaps due to creator Tom Francis’ previous job as a freelance writer for PC Gamer and his vast experience with games, he knew that what we really need is the ability to reload our game just a few seconds before our character passes out. Please make a Gunpoint sequel. Please.

 (Khee Hoon Chan)

Downwell – I promise, I play other games. Probably. I have recently migrated to a new phone and as such need to retain my location on the tower of high scores in Downwell. Can I get back to Top 10 in the world? Not sure. We’ll see.

(Amanda Hudgins)

Fire Emblem Heroes – This is the first Fire Emblem game I’ve ever played. Are the characters always this attractive? I have a crush on no less than five of these fictional constructs. Being the underground commuter I am, I don’t love that there’s no offline play, but that’s a small price to pay for various hotties telling me what a brilliant tactician I am.

(Sara Clemens)