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Casper playing on the sofa at night

Game review essayist

Video essays about why games feel the way they do

I’m Casper. I make long video essays that review games the slow way, and I sell writing templates, a play journal and two video courses.

Videos

Which video to watch next

The channel as a map: three videos to start with, three ways on, and a course where they meet.

  1. Draft pages next to a phone on a tripod

    1Video 31

  2. Index cards arranged into a review outline

    2Video 32

  3. Hands gripping a plain controller

    3Video 33

  4. Worlds

    Places, maps and the long walks between

    Branches from The first hour is a promise · Rejoins at How to Write a Game Review Essay

  5. His living room with a glowing TV

    4Video 30

    Why I like small worlds

    14:20

    No spoilers

  6. Casper walking along the harbour

    5Video 34

    Walking is half of most games

    16:30

    No spoilersWatch #33 first

  7. A shelf of plain game cases

    6Video 36

  8. Endings

    How games finish, with nothing given away

    Branches from The first hour is a promise · Rejoins at How to Write a Game Review Essay

  9. TV glow in a dim room

    7Video 35

    Endings that explain too much

    14:50

    No spoilersWatch #33 first

  10. Controller on a rainy windowsill

    8Video 39

  11. Casper playing on the sofa at night

    9Video 40

  12. Making

    How the videos are written and cut

    Branches from The first hour is a promise · Rejoins at How to Write a Game Review Essay

  13. Microphone corner of the flat

    10Video 37

    Writing the script before the edit

    17:15

    No spoilersWatch #32 first

  14. Editing a video essay timeline

    11Video 38

  15. Man from behind writing in a notebook on a harbour quay

    12Course

    How to Write a Game Review Essay

    8 lessons · all three routes meet

Downloads, a course and merch

Shop

Downloads arrive by email. Merch is printed to order and shipped by Printful.

Online course

My course

  • Man from behind writing in a notebook on a harbour quay
    Man from behind writing in a notebook on a harbour quay

    Video course · 8 lessons

    How to Write a Game Review Essay

    From a page of notes to a finished essay, one idea at a time, with no scores and no plot summary.

    • 01Knowing what you think9 min
    • 02Playing with a notebook11 min
    • 03The first hour12 min
    • 04Finding your one argument14 min
    • 05The middle, without a plot summary13 min
    • 06Writing an ending12 min
    • 07Reading it aloud9 min
    • 08Editing it down15 min

Newsletter

Second Playthrough

A short letter every Sunday from my living room: what I watched, what I played and what I am writing about next.

One email every Sunday. Unsubscribe any time.

His living room with a glowing TV

About

Hello, I’m Casper

I have played games since I was small and written about them since I was twenty. A few years ago I stopped writing short scores and started making long videos, because a game is easier to talk about when you can show it. Most of what I make is about how games begin, how they end and what happens when you walk between the two.

I record in my living room with a microphone in the corner and the curtains drawn. The shelf behind me is full of plain cases, and I walk down to the harbour when a script is stuck. I do not give scores and I do not tell you what to buy. I say what a game did to me, and why.

What I sell are the things I use to make the videos: outline cards, a play journal, a script template and two video courses, one on writing a review essay and one on making a video from it. The videos are free. The rest is there to help you make your own.