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Embracing the Weirdness Legendary Gary is delightful in its weirdness. The indie adventure game takes a casual approach to strategic combat and offers an experience that is half grab-bag-of-unrelated-styles and half touching mise en abyme. A Story of Two Worlds…
Honoring the Best Publisher, Developer, and Game of 2017 The time has come. After weeks of deliberation, voting, and award coverage, we have arrived at the fourth and final wave of our Best of 2017 feature: Game of the Year!…
Breaking Down the Evo 2018 Lineup The Evo 2018 Championship Series lineup was announced last Tuesday (February 6th) on a livestream hosted by Red Bull Esports. The eight game lineup—down one game compared to last year—will consist of Street Fighter…
Big Releases and Big Delays Headline Month of January Our fantasy gaming league is off to the races! After an exciting draft, the Punished Backlog staff kicked back, relaxed, and watched the madness unfold for the month of January. The…
Are Loot Boxes a Form of Gambling? The battle over loot boxes continues to heat up as Germany’s Youth Protection Commission enters the fray. Citing a study by the University of Hamburg that concluded the business model constitutes as gambling,…
The Best of Each Platform in 2017 January has come and gone, and though it’s a new month, our Best of 2017 coverage continues! Having already shared our Industry Awards and Storytelling and Presentation Awards, today we’re announcing the recipients…
Out With the Old, In With the New I always feel like my comments about gaming will age me. I doubt that’ll really happen; I’m only in my early twenties. If anything, it shows how much gaming has evolved in…
Move Over Football. There’s A New Sheriff In Town I’m sure I’m not the only person on Earth who takes fantasy sports a little too seriously. From scouring stat sheets in preparation for annual drafts, to hunting for potential studs…
The Punished Podcast
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Presenting the most anticipated video games of 2026, but in a stylish package: our annual Fantasy Gaming league. New year, new season.
What are the games that still hold a special place in our heart, even if we think they’re bad games? Why do they have a hold on us?
Video game adaptations are everywhere — shows, movies, books, board games, music, and more. But what makes them work? Let’s discuss.
In The Punished Podcast Episode 20, we talk about all the hottest gaming news that broke this summer. Plus, our Fantasy Gaming league!
In this podcast episode, we discuss the history of video game difficulty, what makes a game “fun,” Clair Obscur, Souls-likes, and more.
In this podcast episode, we discuss why we replay video games, what changes between playthroughs, old games versus new ones, and much more.
Punished Notes
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In his latest Punished Notes, Sam gets into some New Year’s Gaming Resolutions, as well as a few predictions (and hopes) for some big gaming anniversaries coming up. Also: Wuthering Heights?
In the latest Punished Notes, Sam covers Doritos and Mountain Dew games, Kirby Air Riders, and… the blues?
In this edition of Punished Notes, Sam discusses how the incredible fall game release lineup is kind of killing him, among other thoughts
In the latest edition of Punished Notes, Sam talks about Lumines, visual novel and Roger, and other random thoughts from random games.
In this Punished Notes, Sam dives into how the latest Bethesda shooter harkens back to a simpler time in AAA gaming, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and more!
In this new Punished Notes, Sam talks about the mystery behind Avowed’s dialogue options, what it means when you say a game takes time to “get good,” and more!
Punished Chat
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As part of our Game of the Year coverage, here are some DIFFERENT awards for the year’s best games!
Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of this year’s biggest new releases. What do the writers at The Punished Backlog think of it so far?
From the classics to new releases, we discuss the “Big Three,” the best anime ever, and what makes these series stand the test of time.
Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the biggest game releases of 2025. Does it work? Does it deserve its score of 91? We share our thoughts.
On the fence about Nintendo’s latest console? Six of our writers sat down to share our initial Nintendo Switch 2 impressions.
After a drama-packed premiere, our writers got together to share our The Last of Us Season 2 impressions so far.
Punished Favorites
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In our list of the best GameCube Games, see how classics like Metroid Prime, Melee, and Double Dash stack up.
While we here at The Punished Backlog could not be more excited about a new Nintendo console, we also figured it now is the right time to pay tribute to the first Switch and all its best games!
Indie games are labors of love, and this year, it looks like there will be a lot to love! These are our most anticipated indie games of 2025.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo DS, check out the very best Nintendo DS games ever created.
From straight-up horror games to RPGs and cute indies, here are some of the best horror game moments of 2024 so far!
The best metroidvania games feature tight level design, great battles, and fluid movement. Here are 15 terrific picks you can play today.