Staff Picks: Gaming

This anthology covers a wide range of styles and stories about how games - whether video, tabletop, or even live-action role-playing - affected the creators' lives. Some are affirming stories of gender journeys, others finding friendship long distance through online or play by post games, while others discuss the rampant sexism in gaming communities. It's beautiful, it's sad, it's wistful and most importantly it's giving women of all walks of life a way to discuss what being a woman interested in games feels like.

In a lot of ways, Chainmail Bikini feels like it's written for a certain generation of gamers; those who grew up with the early Pokemon games, early Internet communities, and Dungeons & Dragons before the 5th Edition. Those will be the readers who most enjoy this, but that doesn't mean younger people still navigating identities and gaming won't get enjoyment and maybe a few tears from these stories.

Discussion of sexism, offensive language, some gore/blood

Shannan Prukop

We've heard stories of a group of young people who set out on an adventure in hopes of excitement and glory. That is just the prelude to this story. As teenagers, this group gets trapped for 2 years in the TTRGP their friend Solomon made. Solomon never made it out. Now 2 decades later this group is all brought back together when they receive a message in the real world that can only be from Solomon. They are sucked back into this grimdark fantasy world, this time with the possibility of losing the lives they have all built for themselves in the real world. They are all older and wiser, which means they are more aware of how cruel the fantasy world their friend created truly is.

Those who like their D&D games dark and gritty or are fans of horror TTRPGs like Call of Cthulhu will love the vibe of this story.

violence, body horror, depictions of war, emotional manipulation as a magical ability

Tayla Cardillo

A group of dogs play a game of DND, where they’re a group of adventurers; their party includes Tonka, a bard, Pickles, a fighter, and Zoey, a cleric. All the squeaky toys in the town have vanished, and a young pup with them. Can Tonka, Pickles, and Zoey save the day?

DnDoggos is a delightful read with plenty of silly doggie moments that will delight readers in middle grades and up. The clear explanations of game mechanics will help readers unfamiliar with D&D follow what’s happening (and may even interest them in the game)!

Megan Rupe

Oliva and Jess have been friends since elementary school. Now they are 8th graders and partially inseparable, spending a lot of their time playing a one-on-one game of Dungeons and Dragons with Olive as the Dungeon Master and Jess as the only player. Olivia is Jess's only friend and she loves their time playing D&D together, but Olivia seems to get along with everyone and wants to start a D&D club so that they can have more people join their game and have a proper adventuring party. Will Jess learn that sometimes adventure is better with friends or will she continue to be a lone wolf?

Hardcore D&D fans will love all the nods to the game in the book, like stats blocks for the various personalities in Jess and Olivia's middle school, while realistic fiction fans will relate to the character's school and home life struggles.

Tayla Cardillo

Anda joins an all-girl guild in Coarsegold, a multiplayer online game, where she can be a mighty heroine. Driven by this sense of justice, she joins missions to kill gold farmers, players who mine special items and sell them to those who can afford to pay--something that is forbidden in the game. However, when Anda starts talking to one of the gold farmers, she realizes things are more complicated than she originally realized.

With awesome video game action and thoughtful plot, In Real Life delivers a compelling coming-of-age story about learning how to understand the world around you and respond meaningfully. Readers who are looking for stories about kids fighting to do the right thing should check out In Real Life.

VIdeo game violence, but nothing particularly gory

Megan Rupe

Maggie loves escaping into the world of CAT, a tabletop roleplaying game based on her favorite book series. When playing CAT, any hard decision can be made by rolling a die. Maggie is about to enter the 6th grade and is overwhelmed by all the choices in her real life, so she uses a 20-sided die to help her choose what she'll do during her day, like whether she'll raise her hand in class or hang out with her new friend. But since a dice roll is random, the results aren't always what Maggie is hoping for or what would help her the most. Maggie must learn that leaving your life up to chance means that you can miss out on a lot.

Fans of Guts and Real Friends will love the school drama aspects of the story, while tabletop gaming fans will relate to Maggie's desire to escape into a fantasy world.

Tayla Cardillo

Ever since her family got upended, Addie has been struggling to see opportunities and good things in life. She is not enthusiastic about spending the summer at her dad’s job, which is advising some college students developing virtual reality projects. However, becoming involved in the virtual reality projects and her neighbor Mateo’s adventures starts to change her perspective.

Readers interested in virtual reality and/or readers looking for books about dealing with big life events will want to pick this up. Fans of the zany STEM hijinks and big feels in Big Hero 6 may want to check this out too.

Discussion of child death and drug abuse

Megan Rupe

If you were ever curious about the man behind the world's most popular tabletop roleplaying game, this title chronicles his life. From his humble beginnings playing chess and war games through the establishing of Gen Con (now the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America) and the creation of the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Even folks not well versed in the rules of Dungeons and Dragons will appreciate this story of a man who created the type of game that he wanted to play and got the opportunity to share that game with millions of people who fell in love with it as well.

Both old and new TTRPG players will enjoy this primer on the man behind the game that has become a touchstone of nerd culture.

Tayla Cardillo

Based on the movie of the same name, Summer Wars follows Kenji, a quiet teen good with math and less great with words, and Natsuki, an outspoken teen who takes Kenji on an adventure they'll never forget, starting by pretending to be her boyfriend and ending with saving Japan from an AI threat. In the middle of that, there's a crucial baseball game, a death in the family, and a surprise reveal about a family member. Just like any family gathering, really.

Though Summer Wars is about a video game of sorts, it's also about people coming together to deal with difficult situations, the bonds of family, and the importance of never underestimating your hobbies. As such, it can be a great choice for readers who enjoy video games, but also those who enjoy stories of family drama and adventure.

Shannan Prukop

Shen, Walter, Lana, Drew, and Jay have loved playing Dice and Deathtraps together since high school, but they still haven’t finished their first campaign. They’re determined to finish before grad school and other adventures send them on their separate ways, but the addition of Jay’s partner Cass throws everything off. Can they finish this campaign, and, more importantly, keep their friendships intact?

With a diverse LGBTQ cast and delightful art, The Last Session captures the adventure of the campaign alongside the characters’ drama, making for a quick, engaging read. Give this to readers who love game-related stories that feature quirky fantasy adventures and LGBTQ friendships.

Megan Rupe