Spencer Johnson
@mayorhere.bsky.social
Freelance writer covering video games & history. Exploring the past through pixels and stories. Contributor to Gamers with Glasses. Check me out on Medium: @spencer2457
Burn-9 by @14hoursproductions.bsky.social is like a weird fusion between Metal Gear Solid and Dispatch that has you guiding an operative through tense encounters. I highly recommend checking out the demo for yourself on Steam.
Burn-9 Preview: The Guy in the Chair Who Can’t Save You
You’re never in danger in Burn-9, which is exactly why it’s so stressful.
medium.com
September 22, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Burn-9 by @14hoursproductions.bsky.social is like a weird fusion between Metal Gear Solid and Dispatch that has you guiding an operative through tense encounters. I highly recommend checking out the demo for yourself on Steam.
Someone should turn the 35 years of Game Informer covers into an archival or pop art exhibit. Even a digital gallery online that shows the cover and a brief snippet on the context would be cool.
September 20, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Someone should turn the 35 years of Game Informer covers into an archival or pop art exhibit. Even a digital gallery online that shows the cover and a brief snippet on the context would be cool.
I had an idea for a Resident Evil spinoff where you're a ranger in the Arklay Mountains, going about your routine while other rangers radio in injured hikers and rabid animals. Then you head back to your tower for your rifle. No idea what the ending would be tho.
September 20, 2026 at 11:01 PM
I had an idea for a Resident Evil spinoff where you're a ranger in the Arklay Mountains, going about your routine while other rangers radio in injured hikers and rabid animals. Then you head back to your tower for your rifle. No idea what the ending would be tho.
First movie review, and it's Resident Evil (2026). Cregger's take might be the most honest depiction of how most of us would fare in Raccoon City.
Its Own Outbreak: What Resident Evil (2026) Understands About Being Afraid
Zach Cregger’s movie borrows Raccoon City’s bones to build something else entirely, and he’s at his best exactly where he stops trying to…
medium.com
September 20, 2026 at 7:04 PM
First movie review, and it's Resident Evil (2026). Cregger's take might be the most honest depiction of how most of us would fare in Raccoon City.
I love when games explore selfhood through machines. Peripeteia gives its cyborg near-unlimited power, then puts it on a timer
Godhood on a Battery: Ownership and the Self in Peripeteia
Peripeteia hands the player the exact power that built its own amnesiac protagonist, and asks what you’ll do with it.
medium.com
September 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I love when games explore selfhood through machines. Peripeteia gives its cyborg near-unlimited power, then puts it on a timer
As a Midwesterner, I am excited to see how @usualjune.bsky.social depicts the region alongside its supernatural story.
Usual June Preview: A Ghost Story Grounded in a Real Midwest Town
The new demo runs about thirty minutes, split between a crypt and somewhere much stranger.
medium.com
September 17, 2026 at 6:47 PM
As a Midwesterner, I am excited to see how @usualjune.bsky.social depicts the region alongside its supernatural story.
Blood of the Dawnwalkwrs is one of this year’s must-play games with a fantastic setting, atmosphere, and characters. I was anxious about the 30 day timer but it is more than manageable.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Review: The FOMO Was Real, the Shortage Wasn’t
Rebel Wolves built a thirty-day countdown that made me hate it before I realized there was more than enough time to do everything that…
medium.com
September 17, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Blood of the Dawnwalkwrs is one of this year’s must-play games with a fantastic setting, atmosphere, and characters. I was anxious about the 30 day timer but it is more than manageable.
Finished the Final Fantasy Resonance demo and it is awesome. I love the HD-2D art style, and this opens up another avenue for future games without relying on photo realism.
Final Fantasy Resonance’s Demo Is the Throwback I Wanted
Square Enix’s HD-2D throwback won me over completely in just three hours
medium.com
September 10, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Finished the Final Fantasy Resonance demo and it is awesome. I love the HD-2D art style, and this opens up another avenue for future games without relying on photo realism.
Blood Dungeon is a weird and wacky dungeon platformer with mechanics similar to Vampire Survivors. I'm not sure if I'll ever beat it, but it's great for taking the occasional run when you want something different.
Blood Dungeon Review: The Nidhogg Guy Finally Brought His Footwork to a Bullet Heaven
Mark Essen has spent fifteen years designing games around movement. In Blood Dungeon, that instinct finally has to share space with a stat…
medium.com
September 8, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Blood Dungeon is a weird and wacky dungeon platformer with mechanics similar to Vampire Survivors. I'm not sure if I'll ever beat it, but it's great for taking the occasional run when you want something different.
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
And also this one, from @mayorhere.bsky.social! We really had so much to say about friendslop
medium.com/@spencer2457...
medium.com/@spencer2457...
Learning “How to Fish,” Badly, With Guns
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man How to Fish and he buys a shotgun instead.
medium.com
September 7, 2026 at 5:56 PM
And also this one, from @mayorhere.bsky.social! We really had so much to say about friendslop
medium.com/@spencer2457...
medium.com/@spencer2457...
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
This is very cool. Check out the piece from @corndruid.bsky.social in our pages, and also good stuff from regular contributors @aguaspoints.bsky.social and @exalclaw.com!
HI EVERYONE HAPPY SUNDAY HAVE SOME PREMIUM FRIENDSLOP ESSAYS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
Blogs of the Round Table Roundup: “Friendslop”
Welcome back, everyone! I am extremely pleased to present to you the entrants in the Blogs of the Round Table “Friendslop” Essay Jam—all twenty-four of them! This has been an incredible…
critical-distance.com
September 6, 2026 at 5:49 PM
This is very cool. Check out the piece from @corndruid.bsky.social in our pages, and also good stuff from regular contributors @aguaspoints.bsky.social and @exalclaw.com!
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
HI EVERYONE HAPPY SUNDAY HAVE SOME PREMIUM FRIENDSLOP ESSAYS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
Blogs of the Round Table Roundup: “Friendslop”
Welcome back, everyone! I am extremely pleased to present to you the entrants in the Blogs of the Round Table “Friendslop” Essay Jam—all twenty-four of them! This has been an incredible…
critical-distance.com
September 6, 2026 at 5:11 PM
HI EVERYONE HAPPY SUNDAY HAVE SOME PREMIUM FRIENDSLOP ESSAYS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
critical-distance.com/2026/09/06/b...
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
Interview time! I sat down with ORIGAME DIGITAL's @veselekov.bsky.social to talk about Penguin Colony, Lovecraft, how the author's fear of the unknown is inseparable from his racism + xenophobia, and a good chunk more. Full interview on YT, but here's a good slice:
exalclaw.com/naphtali-fau...
exalclaw.com/naphtali-fau...
How ORIGAME DIGITAL Is Tackling Lovecraft Without Erasing His Racism and Xenophobia
"What would Lovecraft have written as a story if he were alive in World War II?"
exalclaw.com
September 3, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Interview time! I sat down with ORIGAME DIGITAL's @veselekov.bsky.social to talk about Penguin Colony, Lovecraft, how the author's fear of the unknown is inseparable from his racism + xenophobia, and a good chunk more. Full interview on YT, but here's a good slice:
exalclaw.com/naphtali-fau...
exalclaw.com/naphtali-fau...
Star Wars: Zero Company is a great game, and proof that this franchise doesn't need chosen ones and prophecies to work. It also introduces a new interesting threat outside of the Separatists and the Empire.
The Ordinary War: Star Wars Zero Company and the Future the Franchise Actually Needs
A tactics game about mercenaries makes a better case for what Star Wars needs next than any of its recent movies or shows.
medium.com
September 3, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Star Wars: Zero Company is a great game, and proof that this franchise doesn't need chosen ones and prophecies to work. It also introduces a new interesting threat outside of the Separatists and the Empire.
Resonance keeps all the same thematic notes as the Plague Tale series, but swaps its historical background for an inverted Greek myth.
The Mercy Ariadne Couldn’t Give: Resonance’s Safe Reinvention
Sophia can handle almost everything on her own, which is what makes the one time she can’t hit so much harder.
medium.com
September 1, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Resonance keeps all the same thematic notes as the Plague Tale series, but swaps its historical background for an inverted Greek myth.
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
"Here’s a dizzying world full of absurd obstacles that come at you out of nowhere, and here’s something unwieldy, chaotic, and fragile to carry. You don’t need to know where you’re going or why; the only instruction is, 'Don’t break this.'"
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/car...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/car...
Carry the Glass and the Impossible Task of Parenting — Gamers with Glasses
What can parents learn from playing so-called “friendslop” games with our kids? As Nate Schmidt discovers, sometimes there’s an…interesting misalignment between the lesson you were hoping to teach and...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
August 30, 2026 at 4:09 PM
"Here’s a dizzying world full of absurd obstacles that come at you out of nowhere, and here’s something unwieldy, chaotic, and fragile to carry. You don’t need to know where you’re going or why; the only instruction is, 'Don’t break this.'"
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/car...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/car...
Vapor World decided to substitute cutscenes with AI-generated content that should serve as an example for other developers going forward when considering their player base.
Vapor World: Over the Mind Review — An Indie Game That Picked a Bad Shortcut
The combat holds up fine on its own, but it’s everything the developers didn’t make by hand that got them in trouble.
medium.com
August 28, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Vapor World decided to substitute cutscenes with AI-generated content that should serve as an example for other developers going forward when considering their player base.
As a public historian, it’s really cool to see a book that meticulously works through an entire iconic franchise—letting readers enjoy the whole story while giving scholars a fantastic case study into the world of AAA game development.
To the true Dead Space heads among us: we haven't published a book review in a while, but this one's for you. @mayorhere.bsky.social reviews Make Us Whole by @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social, published by the mighty @lostincult.co.uk.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
How Dead Space Consumed Itself (Review Make Us Whole by Elijah Beahm) — Gamers with Glasses
In this extensive review of Elijah Beahm’s encyclopedic book on Dead Space , Spencer Johnson also explores the connections between the transmedia elements of the franchise and the economic pressures ...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
August 25, 2026 at 10:15 PM
As a public historian, it’s really cool to see a book that meticulously works through an entire iconic franchise—letting readers enjoy the whole story while giving scholars a fantastic case study into the world of AAA game development.
Reposted by Spencer Johnson
To the true Dead Space heads among us: we haven't published a book review in a while, but this one's for you. @mayorhere.bsky.social reviews Make Us Whole by @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social, published by the mighty @lostincult.co.uk.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
How Dead Space Consumed Itself (Review Make Us Whole by Elijah Beahm) — Gamers with Glasses
In this extensive review of Elijah Beahm’s encyclopedic book on Dead Space , Spencer Johnson also explores the connections between the transmedia elements of the franchise and the economic pressures ...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
August 25, 2026 at 8:47 PM
To the true Dead Space heads among us: we haven't published a book review in a while, but this one's for you. @mayorhere.bsky.social reviews Make Us Whole by @unabridgedgamer.bsky.social, published by the mighty @lostincult.co.uk.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/how-...
Who knew giving a bunch of amateur anglers access to firearms would go so poorly. Highly recommend How to Fish by @dazedgames.bsky.social if your friend group wants low-stakes, chaotic fun out on the water.
Learning “How to Fish,” Badly, With Guns
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man How to Fish and he buys a shotgun instead.
medium.com
August 25, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Who knew giving a bunch of amateur anglers access to firearms would go so poorly. Highly recommend How to Fish by @dazedgames.bsky.social if your friend group wants low-stakes, chaotic fun out on the water.
I'm not sure why but I have been asking for a LoTR War in the North remaster for years and was shocked to see it shadow dropped.
Some Things Don’t Move: On War in the North, Dark Alliance, and Warner Bros.’
A review of an average action RPG, and an explanation for why average was always going to be enough.
medium.com
August 24, 2026 at 8:02 PM
I'm not sure why but I have been asking for a LoTR War in the North remaster for years and was shocked to see it shadow dropped.
My friend bought me No Room in Hell 2 and it is way more fun than I thought it would be.
No More Room in Hell 2 Review: What Happens When Trust Runs Out
The zombies were never really the problem. The problem was me, turning on a teammate with thirty seconds left on the clock and hearing him…
medium.com
August 19, 2026 at 1:55 AM
My friend bought me No Room in Hell 2 and it is way more fun than I thought it would be.
I also forgot to share my experience with the news Gears of War multiplayer beta and have to say that I love Horde
Mode. I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign.
Mode. I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign.
Surrounded on Every Side in Gears of War: E-Day’s Multiplayer Beta
Horde Siege makes you feel outnumbered on purpose, and Versus feels more balanced and traditional than ever now that Gnasher spam and…
medium.com
August 16, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I also forgot to share my experience with the news Gears of War multiplayer beta and have to say that I love Horde
Mode. I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign.
Mode. I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign.
I recently replayed Enslaved by Ninjda Theory and forgot how much I love the story between Trip and Monkey.
Turn It Back On — Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and the Many Shapes of a Cage
A headband, a walled village, and a simulated paradise all promise the same thing: stay inside, and you get to keep living.
medium.com
August 16, 2026 at 4:59 PM
I recently replayed Enslaved by Ninjda Theory and forgot how much I love the story between Trip and Monkey.
Beast of Reincarnation is a weirdly interesting climate fiction game about humanity’s unwillingness to face the consequences of its shortcomings, reflected through a repetitive gameplay loop.
Beast of Reincarnation Review: Why This Game Keeps Fighting the Same Fire
Game Freak’s post-Pokémon soulslike recycles its own boss fights, and stumbles into a theme about a world that never learned how to grieve.
medium.com
August 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Beast of Reincarnation is a weirdly interesting climate fiction game about humanity’s unwillingness to face the consequences of its shortcomings, reflected through a repetitive gameplay loop.