Meet Laurie
Part researcher, part player. Laurie holds a PhD in Media Studies and explores why games make us feel what they do — bringing together academic research and a genuine love of play.
Real research. Written for real readers.
Latest Deep Dives
Where academic research meets firsthand player experience
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Dungeons of Hinterberg sends a burned-out lawyer trainee on vacation to an Alpine village with dungeons and monsters. It doesn't just tell you that Luisa is on vacation — it makes you feel like you are, too.
Research in Progress
What’s currently in the works — the research behind the writing
Detroit: Become Human — Why Some Games Are Too Much
This one hit hard enough that I couldn't finish it. This project looks at emotional intensity in games — what it means when a game becomes genuinely difficult to keep playing, not because of mechanics, but because of how it makes us feel.
Guardians of the Galaxy vs. Mass Effect — Same Stakes, Different Feeling
Both games ask you to save the galaxy against equally grim odds. Only one left me anxious and on edge; the other left me grinning. Why do two games with similar stakes land so differently?
Mass Effect 2 vs. Andromeda — Why the "Worse" Game Might Be the Better One
I loved Mass Effect: Andromeda. Mass Effect 2 is widely considered the better game, yet I bounced off it at exactly the same point — twice. Being the better game and being the game I actually want to play turned out to be two different things.