Latest Articles
Greatest Hits
Punished Series
For The Punished Podcast Episode 8, we share our favorite games and biggest disappointments of 2024 thus far.
If you loved playing a hundred hours of BG3, hopefully you’ll enjoy hundreds of minutes of our spoilercast discussion.
Latest Articles
Greatest Hits
Punished Series
For The Punished Podcast Episode 8, we share our favorite games and biggest disappointments of 2024 thus far.
If you loved playing a hundred hours of BG3, hopefully you’ll enjoy hundreds of minutes of our spoilercast discussion.
In this Punished Notes, Sam dives into Balatro, a replay of Fallout: New Vegas, and more.
In our Tales of Kenzera: ZAU review, learn whether this African-inspired EA Original from Surgent Studios hits the right notes.
Looking for a new sports game to play? Here are the best baseball video games, from strikeouts to solid hits to the true grand slam!
Behind every great game, there’s a great soundtrack. From Pokémon to Kingdom Hearts, here are the 11 best video game songs ever composed.
In our Ender Magnolia early access review, learn whether Adglobe and Binary Haze’s follow-up to Ender Lilies is currently worth buying.
For this edition of Punished Favorites, we’ve decided to highlight our favorite SNES games of all time and why their legacies live on.
Reviews
View AllIn our Tales of Kenzera: ZAU review, learn whether this African-inspired EA Original from Surgent Studios hits the right notes.
In our Ender Magnolia early access review, learn whether Adglobe and Binary Haze’s follow-up to Ender Lilies is currently worth buying.
In our Saviorless review, learn whether the debut title from Empty Head Games and “first Cuban indie game” lives up to its weighty honorific.
Kudzu’s reliance on charm and nostalgia fails to conceal its greater failings. Learn more in our Kudzu review.
Greatest Hits
The Punished Podcast
View AllFor The Punished Podcast Episode 8, we share our favorite games and biggest disappointments of 2024 thus far.
If you loved playing a hundred hours of BG3, hopefully you’ll enjoy hundreds of minutes of our spoilercast discussion.
In The Punished Podcast episode 6, we celebrate 28 years of Pokémon! We discuss the formula’s greatest innovations, stagnations, and more.
In The Punished Podcast Episode 5, we share our most anticipated games of 2024, restart our Fantasy Gaming league, and talk some Zelda!
In The Punished Podcast Episode 4, we discuss our favorite games of 2023 and tally the final results for our Fantasy Gaming league.
In The Punished Podcast Episode 3, we discuss our own backlogs and share tips for getting through that stack of games.
Punished Notes
View AllIn this Punished Notes, Sam dives into Balatro, a replay of Fallout: New Vegas, and more.
In this edition of Punished Notes, Sam gets into his experience with Golden Sun’s storytelling, the best narrative mechanic of Baldur’s Gate 3, and other thoughts.
Bethesda’s Starfield may be janky, but I’m having a great time. Its mundane moments make the unordinary ones all the more compelling.
It’s a special edition of Punished Notes, as we celebrate Volume 30! To honor the occasion, here are 30 notes for your reading pleasure.
Every time I turn on TOTK, a million thoughts pop into my head that I could potentially write about. Honestly, I’d rather just keep playing.
In Vol. 18 of Punished Notes, I discuss a pair of gaming remakes, MLB The Show’s take on baseball history, and the Super Mario Bros. movie.
Punished Chat
View AllFive avid Stardew Valley players discuss why Stardew Valley is so good, the future of the game, its Harvest Moon roots, and more.
Long lost robot girlfriends, zombies, and fascism, oh my! We get together to discuss this indie horror survival game.
Want a fun way to celebrate, laugh, and/or cry about your favorite games of 2022? Introducing The Punished Backlog’s first ever prop awards.
Favorite characters, problematic approaches to Manuela, figuring out what that whole goddess thing was about… we discuss it all.
We review the first 12 months of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, including best games, console features, and most anticipated 2022 games.
We celebrate the life and legacy of Microsoft’s second console by chatting about our top Xbox 360 games, moments, and memories.
Punished Favorites
View AllFor this edition of Punished Favorites, we’ve decided to highlight our favorite SNES games of all time and why their legacies live on.
For this edition of Punished Favorites, we’ve decided to highlight some polarizing entries in beloved franchises and why we still love them, warts and all.
Five female games writers reflect on the female video game characters, from both indies and AAA games, that inspire them.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we wrote about 20 of our favorite games made by womxn.
In anticipation of big 2024 remakes like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, here’s our staff’s list of most wanted video game remakes.
Looking for new video games to play in 2024? We have you covered. Check out our 13 most anticipated indie games of 2024.