The Punished Backlog is a small but mighty group of writers-slash-gaming enthusiasts who have co-built a passionate community. In 2017, David Silbert founded The Punished Backlog (learn more about us and our history). In 2021, he invited regular contributors Sam Martinelli and Amanda Tien to join him as editors. Our team takes pride in producing great writing, highlighting minority voices, and fostering a culture of inclusion and growth.
While we’ve introduced various contributors before, we’ve never formally introduced ourselves as editors—and we thought it was high time we fixed that. So, we invited our writers to send us questions anonymously, “AMA”-style, and answered them here.
Thank you, writers, for humoring us with your questions. We hope you enjoy our responses as much as we enjoyed writing them. And to our readers, thank you for supporting us on the journey thus far.
– David, Sam, and Amanda
1. Who is your go-to character in Mario Super Smash Bros.?
David: It’s evolved throughout the years. Started with Link in Melee. Transitioned to Snake in Brawl. In 3DS/Wii U, it was my golden boi Uther Captain Falcon, and now, in Ultimate, it’s the Gerudo king himself, Ganondorf. DORIYAH!
Amanda: Samus. Not Zero-Suit. Gimme that cannon arm.
Sam: Link. I’m extremely basic.
2. What is the one game you recommend to anyone, no questions asked?
David: Gotta go with Ocarina of Time. Sure, it’s a cliched answer, and you’ve probably played it already, but if by some slim chance you’ve avoided it until now… WELL, FIX THAT.
Amanda: Hahahahaaaah (trying desperately not to say Mass Effect, because I tend to want to get a sense of whether it’s up someone’s alley before putting my whole heart on my sleeve). But one game I can for sure say is Pyre, Supergiant’s last game before their megahit Hades. I LOVE this game. It has a brilliant story with characters that you really get to know, gorgeous art, and snappy gameplay. Great medium length with tons of replayability. David actually personally attacked me by starting it a few months ago and “not being into it.”
Sam: You’d think my answer would be a Nintendo classic from the ‘90s, but you know what? I think the actual answer I usually give is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, mainly because if you don’t at least kind of like that game you have no soul.
3. In one or two sentences, what are your thoughts on mobile games?
David: It’s oversaturated (like much of the gaming industry—not exactly unique there), but I still find myself enjoying the occasional game. Marvel Snap, I salute you.
Amanda: Mobile is such an accessible gaming opportunity, but unfortunately quality and effort have really lagged after an early 2010s boost.
Sam: (Don Draper voice) I don’t think about them at all. Marvel Snap whips though.
4. What is your favorite gaming platform (handheld, console, etc.) of all time?
David: Another cliche—the PlayStation 2. I’m a big JRPG guy (two of my first articles for the site? My Final Fantasy origin story and a Square Enix copium piece) so naturally I gravitated to Sony’s powerhouse console. Final Fantasy X and XII. Persona 3 and 4. Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest VIII, Rogue Galaxy, and countless other classics. That console offered so much—and that’s before I even mention Sony royalty like God of War, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper. Only viable answer, in my eyes.
Amanda: I already know Sam is going to say the Xbox 360 or Nintendo DS, partially because we’ve already talked lovingly about both at length. And David, I love that you said the PS2—that was my first console and it was a total surprise gift (more on that later). It was incredible. Mmm…If I had to pick just one, I’d say the Xbox 360—that was the first console I bought for myself with my own money (it was a used special Halo limited edition that made a cool bbbrwrrjnngg sound when it turned on) as an adult. That console came into my life in a time I really needed a hobby that made me feel safe and joyful, and I’ll always be grateful for how it empowered me to become the gamer I am today.
Sam: Come on, Amanda! You should know me better! No offense to the wonderful 360 and DS, but my answer is obviously the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. (Amanda: Ahh, of course! And you just led a Punished Favorites about it, too.) Many of my personal favorite games from childhood were SNES classics, but furthermore: I’m still, to this day, playing SNES games for the first time that absolutely blow me away. The NES may be the most important console ever made, but the Super Nintendo’s library—especially at the top—remains unrivaled.
5. In one to two sentences, what’s something you do behind the scenes for The Punished Backlog?
David: I handle a lot of the backend optimizations for the site. CSS and HTML tweaks, hosting and plugin management, etc. (If the site goes down from time to time, you can blame me!) I also manage the recruitment and application process for all our new writers. Shoot me an application!
Amanda: Over the years, I’ve tried to make TPB more ~ aesthetic ~ with consistent branding, color palettes, and image style. To get a feel for what I’m talking about, look at the featured images of our Punished Podcast and Punished Favorites pieces.
Sam: I love keeping our Discord (formerly Slack) culture lively with discussions of big gaming news, classic games, and a series of March Madness-esque bracket voting (e.g., best Nintendo Switch exclusive) called WHO YA GOT.
6. David, why did you start TPB? And Sam and Amanda, why/when did you join TPB?
David: Back in college, I wasn’t really sure what the hell I wanted to do in life. I know I loved to game. But one year, as I treaded water in economics lectures, I realized I really liked to write, too. So, I decided to merge my two passions and start doing volunteer writing for little startup sites. They pretty much all went defunct—shout-out to The Nerd Stash, still going strong!—and I distinctly remember finding a 404 page on some review I’d pulled an all-nighter to complete.
I hated the feeling of seeing my writing lost, and decided to pull a Thanos. Fine—I’ll do it myself. On the plane ride home from PAX East 2017, I brainstormed names with my college roommate (shout-out to Jonny!). The Punished Backlog stuck, and here we are today.
Sam: Sometime in mid-to-late 2017, I happened to see an article from TPB posted on the r/nintendo subreddit. As someone who had recently started trying his hand at video game writing, I was intrigued by the opportunity to write for a small site that would allow me the creative freedom to write about what I wanted. So, I reached out to whoever was running this site (David, duh) and thought I’d send a writing sample about Golf Story. The rest is history!
Amanda: I’ve always loved video games, and I liked the idea of writing about them but frankly I was intimidated by the scene being notoriously sexist. In 2020, I preordered Cyberpunk 2077 and was so furious after playing it for a few hours that I had to write about it to process my feelings. I knew at least one certified good guy writer, Sam, in real life, and I had read and admired his posts for The Punished Backlog for a few years. I asked Sam if he thought his site might be into it. A week later, the post was live! Four years later, I’m thrilled to still be here.
7. What got you into writing?
Amanda: I’ve been an avid reader since I learned how, and I think a natural progression from being a reader is wanting to be a writer. I had never really shared my writing before, though, and in my sophomore year of high school, I took a creative writing class. It was awful. The teacher had a very traditional, set-in-stone outlook, and all the kids in class were pretentious and rude. It totally ruined my confidence in my writing as well as my desire to pursue it further. And, a very long story short (that I did write about here), I went legally blind for a time in college, and that experience made me rethink what I want to do with my time/life. So, I tried writing again. Haven’t looked back since.
Sam: After I graduated from college, I got a job in fundraising that I thought would be my calling, but it actually crushed my soul into a million little pieces. Whenever I had free time at home—what little I had, considering I regularly worked 55-hour weeks with a 40-minute commute each way—I would write blog posts about various topics in sports. Once I came to my senses, quit this horrible job, and moved back home to New York to figure my life out, I decided that no matter what career I’d end up pursuing, I would always want to express myself through writing in my free time. Over the years, my passion for sports writing shifted to writing about video games, and… here we are!
David: My mother is a writer. A good one, I think it’s fair to say. I can’t remember when exactly she knew she had a knack for it, but it must have rubbed off on me. Like Amanda, I stumbled through a creative writing seminar in college. I signed up for Advanced Fiction, thinking it’d be a breeze—big mistake. I was out of my element, an aspiring (cocky?) guy in a room of very accomplished lo ladies. They put me in my place real quick. Fortunately, other creative seminars were kinder to me. I found my voice writing short memoir vignettes. After graduating, I channeled that voice into gaming (The Punished Backlog!), then HR tech, and now everything from the future of work to food.
8. What piece have you written on TPB that you had the most fun writing?
David: In 2018, while taking a gap year to teach English at a primary school in France, I fully embraced the starving artist lifestyle. When I wasn’t working (which was often; it’s France), I was busy eating baguettes with friends, watching NFL games at 2 am, and plucking away at my laptop. My proudest article was this Fortnite article I wrote about Ninja, anxiety, and the will to overcome. Going abroad could have made me a recluse; instead, it turned this wallflower into a rose.
Amanda: A few years ago, I wrote a guide to get your mom into gaming along with game recommendations, and I’ve written/updated a second installment. I absolutely love doing this series. I love my mom, I love gaming, I love highlighting indie devs, and I love sharing joy.
Sam: This may seem a little mean, but I love writing a good takedown. In particular, my review of Diablo Immortal from a couple years ago was a blast to write because of how much I despised playing that game. I enjoy all forms of writing for TPB, but I do have a macabre infatuation with ripping a bad game to shreds.
9. What are the three pieces you wrote on TPB that you’re the most proud of?
David: It doesn’t hold up as well today, but the aforementioned Fortnite article is up there. If I had to choose three current bangers… my favorite critique is easily my 12 Minutes review. Hated the game; loved every minute picking apart its flaws. (I guess you and I have that in common, Sam!) I also wrote about playing The Last of Us Part II for so long, it gave me eye strain. And, for my quirkiest piece, how about this write-up of the 2022 NBA Finals starters as anime characters?
Honorable mention—sorry, couldn’t leave it off!—goes to my celebration of inclusive video games like Murder by Numbers and Paradise Killer.
Sam: Generally, the blog posts I’ve done that highlight any major sociopolitical anxieties I’ve had stick out to me the most. One of the earlier pieces I wrote on Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was really important to me, as it not only explained why I held the game in such high regard, but also aimed to capture how I was feeling within the broader political landscape at the time. I’d also say I’m pretty proud of my recent 4,000-word piece on Metal Gear Solid 2 for similar reasons. Outside of that, I’d say the Punished Hall of Fame piece on Donkey Kong Country 2 was something I’d wanted to do for a long time, and I think remains the best explanation of how much that game means to me both as a gamer and as someone who appreciates art from so many angles.
Amanda: Haha, uh, two are big bummers lol. But I worked very hard on both of them, and they’re both really personal pieces to me, and represent the power of gaming to talk about Real Things. “I Cried Over a Virtual Parrot, and I’m Grateful” (June 2023) is about grief/depression, and “In Defense of Boyfriend Dungeon and Its Troubling Content” (August 2021) is about sexual harassment. Shortly after the latter piece is actually when David invited me and Sam to consider being editors so we could move forward quickly on timely pieces like that.
Third, a dual set of Punished Favorites that I organized, the first being femme gamers’ favorite femme characters and another that was “20 Awesome Games Made by Womxn” that we did for 2024’s big Steam sale. I was able to quickly wrangle a lot of great entries from our contributors and on Twitter/X, I am so proud that many of the devs were excited to see their work highlighted. I love any opportunity to shine a spotlight on underrepresented makers, and that ethos is a big part of The Punished Backlog’s lens on gaming.
10. What does your writing process look like?
David: It’s funny—despite being someone who lives for structure, I’m not a big outline guy. When I get the urge to write (which, thankfully, is often!), I let the creativity drive me. If I get an idea that simply won’t leave my head, that beckons me to break out a Google Doc when I’m on the bus or train, that pulls me into the zone until, oh no, would you look at that, it’s 3 am and I have work tomorrow, I know I have something special.
Amanda: Writing usually begins for me as this sudden, passionate need to articulate thoughts, so I’m often speed-writing drafts in the Notes app on my phone or in an email to myself. Then, I come back to it a few days later. I skim my first rambling draft. And, then, I start a new draft from scratch. I often end up writing my introduction at the end, because only after I’ve finished an op-ed do I realize what it is that I’m really trying to say. I try to get time away from it as much as possible (depending on deadlines, that can range from a one-hour break to a few months), then go back and read and edit it again. I think some version of this applies to everything I write, whether it be a review, a poem, or a novel.
Sam: Unsurprisingly, given my desire to write Punished Notes… I usually type up a bunch of random notes and thoughts for certain games I plan to write about and go from there (to be clear, this does not always result in an actual blog post). Occasionally, I’ll organize this unorganized pile of thoughts into an outline and structure something the way I did for essays in college (the Metal Gear Solid 2 piece, for example, was done this way).
Most of the time, though, I just take that cluster of thoughts and do “writing sprints,” where I create a solid opening and just go with the flow until my brain can’t think of anything more coherent to write. At this point, I stop and wait for that inspiration to spur me into another sprint. I repeat this process until, well, I have something that’s good!
11. What’s a game you came close to finishing but never came back to?
David: Lost Odyssey. On paper, it was the perfect game for me. A JRPG written by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and composed by musical legend Nobuo Uematsu. An Xbox 360 exclusive, back in the days when I had to pick a single console and stick with it (I’d eventually get a PlayStation 3, fortunately). I bought that game on day one and dove in.
40 hours later, I’d had enough. The combat was a grind, the music was underwhelming, and the story—though beautifully written—wasn’t enough to keep me motivated. I hit a difficulty wall in the final area, powered down, and never returned. Maybe one day I’ll finally return.
Amanda: If I get close to the end of the game, I usually finish it out of sheer stubbornness. However, there are definitely a few games I spent five to 20 hours in and then stopped. Probably my most heinous offense is Elden Ring. I was just so bad at it. I had to travel for a week, and when I came back, I wasn’t jonesing to eat shit again.
Sam: My biggest gaming sin is that I’m a huge Legend of Zelda fan but I’ve never actually finished Majora’s Mask. Every single time Majora’s Mask came to a new Nintendo platform, I’ve tried it again, and I just can’t do it. On paper, it’s one of the best games Nintendo has ever created. In practice, I simply do not enjoy playing it (I find repetition/time loops in games generally frustrating and anxiety-inducing—same reason I never got that into Outer Wilds or Deathloop). Maybe one day I’ll finally break through, but I haven’t gotten there yet.
David: I’m sorry, I’m breaking the three-response structure. Sam… PLEASE SAY SIKE!!
12. Which game surprised you the most on your first playthrough?
Sam: Probably Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Cozy games typically don’t do it for me, or at least they didn’t before 2020. What started as a game I thought could help me weather pandemic-era lockdowns, however, ended up being my Game of the Year and one of my favorite exclusive games on the Switch. New Horizons was an enchanting, beautiful experience that I desperately needed at the time and continue to cherish to this day.
Amanda: Nier: Automata. It’s not a game I would normally play, but I was intrigued by cryptic reviews online. And wow, absolutely incredible on the first playthrough, much less on subsequent ones. If you know, you know.
David: I never knew you played Nier, Amanda! The more you know. As for me, I’ll go with 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. This 2010 visual novel for the Nintendo DS never quite reached critical mass, but has become a cult classic. And for good reason—the game is terrific. Equal parts Saw and Twin Peaks, this escape-room puzzler kept me gripped with its sci-fi plot, crazy twists, and mindmelt of an ending. Additional playthroughs only make it better.
13. What gaming subscription services do you have? Do you find yourself actually using those services?
Sam: I subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (god, what a mouthful). I use both services all the time! Game Pass always has tons of interesting titles I can test out, and as the Old Games Guy, how could I not love having access to tons of old Nintendo games?
David: I’ve got most of ‘em. Like Sam, I’m a Game Pass evangelist; so many great games, day one, at an affordable price. (Not sure how sustainable it is, though.) I also play Nintendo Switch Online games from time to time—vowing to finish Donkey Kong Country before the summer ends! I’m pretty sure I’m subscribed to PlayStation Plus Extra, which I really don’t need. Maybe I’ll let that one lapse…
Amanda: Whoops lol I don’t have any right now (on a budget, baybyyy although I do think that gaming services long term are a smart investment). In the mid 2010s, I used to have Xbox Live with Games with Gold (RIP lol). There were some great titles I got for free that are still among my favorites, like Dishonored and The Wolf Among Us. I think I last had Xbox Game Pass in 2022, and I did regularly make my way through indies.
14. How many hours do you have in Balatro and why is it your game of the year? Lol
David: 15 hours, says my Switch. Could’ve sworn I played it longer, but maybe that’s a testament to the game’s appeal. I dropped the game a few months back to make time for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Shadow of the Erdtree (my current GOTY frontrunner, DLC be damned), but I intend to go back and sink more time in. I just wish developer LocalThunk would announce some post-launch plans—feels like a missed opportunity to keep the zeitgeist going.
Sam: I think I’m in the 35–40 range? To be honest, it is probably my Game of the Year at this moment in time, but that’s largely due to a lack of strong competition. I’d be surprised (and pretty disappointed) if nothing else this year comes close to it.
Amanda: Hahaha I hate how much I suck at Balatro (Riley MacLeod said it best on Aftermath, “Can I Get Better At Balatro Without Being Weird About It”). I have about 7 hours in Balatro, and I have yet to win a run. I don’t find myself yearning to get back to it; I’ve never been a big poker/card game/roguelike person to begin with. Even though it’s not really for me, I do think it’s a brilliant and well-done game.
15. What is one game genre you just can’t get into?
Amanda: As you can probably guess from the previous question, I am not a big player of deckbuilding games. I think it’s because I try to just keep doing the same strategy over and over again, and, because of the randomness of the draw, that doesn’t really work lol. I can get into deckbuilding games super intensely for a brief period of time, but they have to hit an added benefit for me. For example, Marvel Snap allowed me extra excuses to socialize with IRL friends as well as David and Sam, I binged Inscryption in one night playing on the couch with a friend, and I became a champion Gwent player within The Witcher 3 so I could delay the epic’s inevitable end.
David: I wish the genre did more for you, Amanda! (I love a good deckbuilder; Slay the Spire is my jam.) For me, I’m sad to say that I’m really not much of a sports games guy. My brother grew up playing NBA 2K, Madden, and other genre staples, yet I could never muster the interest. Granted, that was before I became a Celtics diehard (WE DID IT!!!!!!!), so maybe there’s hope for me yet. Too bad Take-Two and EA can’t keep their grubby mitts out of the microtransactions jar.
Sam: As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate certain genres that I previously had no interest in (e.g., cozy games, turn-based RPGs, roguelites). The one kind of game, however, that I just don’t see myself ever caring about would be 4X titles, an abbreviation of “explore, expand, exploit, exterminate.” Games of Civilization, Age of Wonders, and Stellaris have simply never appealed to me, and I doubt they ever will.
16. Do you think the gaming industry will ever go console-less?
Amanda: No. I think that the release cycle of consoles allows both players and developers to benchmark progress, time, and budgets. I also think that consoles continue to be more accessible than PCs for a large portion of players. For example, my grandmother bought me a PlayStation 2 for the winter holidays in 2000 only because she saw other kids fighting over them at a Target; she wasn’t about to buy me a whole ass computer. Furthermore, I think console production and sales are intrinsically tied to Microsoft and Sony’s purchasing power for publishing games.
David: Yes—at least partially. We’re already seeing it with moves like Microsoft’s partnership with Amazon to bring Game Pass cloud streaming to Fire Sticks, no console needed. That said, I only see Microsoft or Sony going fully going console-less if their services are profitable, sustainable, and airtight—three big ifs! And, of course, Nintendo’s never going digital-only—they just don’t have the infrastructure (or desire) to make it happen.
Sam: No way. Beyond the ease and convenience of console gaming, it’s worth noting that every attempt to push users away from consoles hasn’t fully succeeded. At one point, mobile seemed to be the new standard for digital experiences, and in some ways it is, but nobody wants to play AAA games like Resident Evil and Assassin’s Creed on their phone if they can avoid it. Cloud streaming technology is improving, and the big companies seem really focused on it, but it’s more of a complementary feature than anything else. The PC Master Race will claim that PC/Steam Deck gaming is the way to go, but I think chronically online gamers who say things like this vastly overestimate how much the average person cares about the benefits of building a killer PC rig.
17. Are there any shovelware games you actually like?
David: I’ve got finite time on this rock. You’ll never catch me playing shovelware—sorry!
Amanda: Okay, first I had to Google “shovelware games” lol. Mostly no, but there is one I apply now and again, and I’m incredibly fond of it—Delicious World. It’s a mobile game that I’ve previously written about a little bit on the site. Players have to efficiently manage restaurant orders around as the protagonist, Emily, competes on a cooking show. I love that it actually has a plot and simple but satisfying gameplay, as well as an attempt at diverse food representation. It’s a great game for killing time, and I find myself coming back to it whenever I’m in stressful periods of my life where I need just a little bit of entertainment.
Sam: Not sure if I actually would like this game now, but Buzz Lightyear of Star Command for the Game Boy Color had me HOOKED in the year 2000. It’s definitely not “good” by any serious definition, but I had a decent time with it back in the day.
18. What’s one game that you are sure will be on your 2024 GOTY list in December?
David: Shadow of the Erdtree. I’ve only just scratched the surface, and it’s already impressed me so much. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Balatro, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are also locks.
Sam: I mean, all of them, since I rank every game I play each year. In terms of games in actual contention for GOTY? Besides Balatro, other top experiences I’ve had this year have been Dungeons of Hinterberg and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
Amanda: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. We’ve got a whole podcast episode coming out about it soon. It’s not a perfect game by any means but it’s a beautiful and fun (though bloated) epic.
19. What’s one goal you have for The Punished Backlog in 2025?
Amanda: I hosted a Zoom winter holiday Punished Backlog party at the end of 2023 where we played some Among Us and Drawful. It was just so fun to “see” people and hang out and talk about games. I’d love to keep having community experiences like that!
Sam: This may be a tall task but… I’d like to see us try (once again) to make a “Punished Backlog’s Top 50/100 Games of All Time” list. It’s really hard to do well and requires everyone to be fully on board, but I think it could be fun!
David: Love both of those! I’m planning a “Game Club” event for August where those interested all play a common game in the backlog, then talk about it. If it goes well, I’d love to make it a recurring thing in 2024 and beyond! Oh, and TikTok—I’m planning to bring that back in a big way in 2025.
What Else Would You Like To Know?
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