As both an avid gamer and writer, I really wanted to like this anthology. I was primed for it. Unfortunately, most of these essays just weren't particularly interesting. I think some of this was due to the extended summaries and overexplaining of the video games themselves, which is a problem since most of these essays are fairly short. Often, the essays felt like they just weren't doing enough. On the flip side, some of the others could've been edited down. I wasn't sure whether to give this collection 2 or 3 stars, so I rounded up.

My favorites:
"I Struggled a Long Time with Surviving" by Elissa Washuta
"This Kind of Animal" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (this one was especially strong)
"Thinking Like the Knight" by Max Delsohn
"Clash Rules Everything Around Me" by Tony Tulathimutte
"We're More Ghosts than People" by Hanif Abdurraqib (probably the strongest piece, as everyone else has pointed out in their reviews)