Hey team and welcome to a new week!
It may be harder to get ahold of certain gaming hardware, but it’s certainly not harder to get ahold of interesting games writing. Honestly, my job gets harder and harder every week as the sheer number of quality articles increases. It’s so exciting to see so many established writers continue to pump out great reads, and it’s also inspiring to see how many new writers are starting their journey.
If you are new here, this is the Reconnect Recap, the companion newsletter for my website Reconnect. Whilst Reconnect aggregates nearly 300 different video game blogs and puts them all in one handy spot for you, the Recap is my curated pick of some of the highlights of the week delivered direct to your inbox every Tuesday. (Well Tuesday in my hemisphere).
This week on the recap, we’re talking gacha, game jams, post apocalyptic games, funding, and much much more.
Let’s dig in!
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Great Write Ups
Curse of Knowledge: Rafael Lima explains how the brain understands UX decisions in gaming, these hot tips are well worth it for those who are designing games.
On a roll: Leeks Cosy Corner takes us on their personal journey through gacha games.
B!tch I'm Madonna: Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games explains how Sega set out to make their mascot, the blue hedgehog, cool. Like I'm talking popular kid cool.
The good old days: Felix Roth explains why it isn’t rose-tinted glasses that make us feel like older games were better.
Leaving the bunker: Trip Harrison outlines all the reasons why the next fallout title from Obsidian should be something to be excited about.
RAGE Against the Machine: degonyte likes to reflect on games that didn’t quite hit the mark and muses on why that was the case, in todays cross-hairs is Id Softwares, RAGE.
Starting with a Jam: Harrison Polites explains how game jams have been paramount to some of Australia’s biggest success.
Bitsummit 2026: Jordan Oloman walks us through their experience at Japans premier indie game event.
Choosing solo dev: Maurice Klimek tries to answer the question on the lips of up-and-coming game devs, should you join a company or go solo?
Cashing up down under: Fergus Halliday interviews project lead at Walky Squawky games to talk about getting your game funded in Australia.
Misleading sales: Chris (90s and 00s nostalgia) talks about the real reason people bought Kojima’s Zone of the Enders.
The new shiny: Path Oracle ExitLag discusses why Indie titles are hitting harder than ever, especially in this turbulent time.
Risk not relief: Joakim Achren walks us through a common mistake studios encounter once they have funding.
Fun Tidbits
Narrative Design Jobs, Opportunities, and Resources [July-August 2026]
Two Deserving Indies Soar Past 100k Steam Wishlists, In Case You Needed A Reason To Smile Today
“Small Handheld. Big Ben” - Is This The Coolest Use Of The Playdate Yet?
Games and Numbers (July 1 - July 14, 2026) - sponsored by PWN Games
The Internet Is Going Crazy For This Early 2000s Activision Surfing Game
Steam Machine and SteamOS compatibility ratings appear on Steam
“I Was Wrong” - It Looks Like DOOM “Impossible” Neo Geo Port Could Be Possible, After All
“This Whole Thing Has Just Been A Slap To My Face” - Dreamcast RPG Tricolore
I'm being featured on Reconnect Recap for the third time in a row...
How is this possible?
Thanks for including my post on why older games were better!