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Zara Chen
Critical Theorist & Features Writer
Zara Chen approaches games with the comparative rigour of a film critic: every mechanic has a lineage, every genre convention has a history worth interrogating. With a background in film criticism and a decade covering games for print and digital outlets, she specialises in metroidvanias, RPGs, and design-history deep-dives. Zara's writing is dense, argumentative, and structurally precise — she challenges obvious interpretations, argues both sides before picking one, and delivers single-sentence verdicts after paragraphs of careful setup.
- Background in film criticism
- 10 years games coverage
- Genre theory and design history specialist
metroidvaniarpgdesign-historygenre-theoryfeatures
68 articles by Zara Chen
Guides
Subnautica 2 Immortal Creatures: Why You Can't Kill Fauna
Subnautica 2 immortal creatures explained — why Unknown Worlds made fauna invulnerable, what developers said, and how to survive aggressive predators.
· 9 min read
Features
Mina the Hollower Review: Yacht Club's Gothic New World
Mina the Hollower review: Yacht Club's six-year gothic action-adventure at $19.99. Harder than Shovel Knight, denser than it looks, and deliberately so.
· 8 min read
News
Witchfire Revelations Update: What's Coming in Version 0.9
Witchfire revelations update confirmed for version 0.9. Fallen Preyers 3.0, a new Garden, the Raygun weapon teased, and World Corruption 2.0 all explained.
· 6 min read
Feature
Mina the Hollower Preview: Yacht Club's New IP Delivers
Mina the Hollower preview: Yacht Club's new IP is very difficult, soulsborne-adjacent in ways the demo didn't show. Full reviews land May 27.
· 4 min read
Guides
Sunderfolk Online Co-op Guide: Setup, Fixes, and Party Tips
Sunderfolk online co-op supports 1-4 players on Steam and Epic. Phone app setup steps, AccelByte connection fixes, and the best classes for remote runs.
· 8 min read
Guides
Farever Co-op Guide: Roles, Group Builds, and Dungeon Runs
Farever co-op guide: how to split roles by party size, why support extends dungeon depth, crafting job assignment, and the endgame group meta.
· 9 min read
Feature
Frogblock Launches May 28: Perspective Puzzle Game on PC
Frogblock launches May 28 on Steam. The iOS puzzle hit earns 4.8 stars before the PC port. 100+ levels, 4 worlds, no ads, full controller support.
· 7 min read
News
Stop Killing Games EU Parliament: what actually happened
Stop Killing Games reached EU Parliament plenary on May 21. 1.29M signatures, an MEP blamed wokeness, and the Commission must respond by July 2026.
· 5 min read
Guides
ARC Raiders Spaceport Guide: Towers, Loot & Vaporizers
ARC Raiders Spaceport guide — Acerra Spaceport POIs, where Vaporizers spawn on the towers, open-terrain extractions, and loadouts that survive sightlines.
· 10 min read
News
Nordic Ashes Twilight of Yggdrasil DLC Adds 3 Realms
Nordic Ashes Twilight of Yggdrasil DLC released May 23 for $4.49, adding three new realms after the base game's nine, an EPIC character, and three skins.
· 3 min read
News
Warhorse Middle-earth RPG announced: KCD devs confirmed
Warhorse Middle-earth RPG confirmed on May 20: KCD2 studio takes on Tolkien with ~$100M budget. Team, scope, and what Crystal Dynamics is also building.
· 3 min read
Feature
Subnautica 2 EULA Explained: What Krafton's Terms Mean
Subnautica 2 EULA explained: no VPN, fan art licensing, arbitration clause. What Krafton's terms say and what it means for early access buyers.
· 8 min read