Fade from black—you awake at the foot of a lighthouse on a nameless island, and as you take your first step forward, a voice begins to speak: “Dear Esther.” From the narrator’s letter unfolds an enigmatic chronicle of loss and solitude that raises as many questions as it answers—how did I get here? Am I the writer of these letters or just a nameless castaway? Is the island real or just another delusion? This is Dear Esther, an independently released PC game and intriguing exploration of interactive storytelling. Indeed, storytelling...

Tim Schafer needed money to make a game, so he asked the internet to help him out a bit. In eight hours he had reached his goal—$400,000. In 48 hours, he’d made a million dollars. “This is not a cute, quick little game anymore,” his most recent update on Kickstarter reads. “This is the real deal. This is a capital-G Game.“ The “Double Fine Adventure” is a groundbreaking project from Double Fine Productions, home of industry darling Tim Schafer and adventure-game godhead Ron Gilbert, creator of the seminal Monkey Island....

Recently, a group of students, alumni and faculty gathered to discuss and explore through performance the sort of climate unique to the Puget Sound student body. Diversity is the subject of the 2012 Campus Climate Survey, an assembly of student experience and feedback that informs university policy and offers students a chance to voice their opinions and frustrations with the friction that arises from differences of race, sexuality, religion and gender. Chief Diversity Officer and Climate Week organizer Kim Bobby stated, “The goal is to capture the current narratives of...

A ny child of the 90s who’s worth his weight in Pogs will remember those sleepless winter nights, the Christmas Eves whose distant, golden mornings promised Gameboys, Pokemon cards and Super Mario. Those of us who still harbor warm memories of the games that shaped our childhood do well to pass on that joy to those who need it most. Children in hospitals across the country receive much-needed toys and games donated by gamers giving back and mediated by the charity organization Child’s Play. Child’s Play was founded by Mike...