Embed with Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers

Ellison's exhausting couch-surfing romp with what she figured were some of the coolest global indie game developers was extremely compelling. She chose her subjects well: most of the people she talks about have gone on to achieve even more success in the eight years since. She spends her time hanging, talking, drinking, playing, and reckoning.

The type of late 20-s drunken, desperate energy she exudes is something I'm quite familiar with. I wish my experience resulted in anything like the interesting words written down by Cara Ellison. She exposes herself in every way: good, bad, and ugly, and it feels like a gift to receive. (I believe the introduction uses this exact language) Now that I'm well into my 30s it reads like misguided grasping at straws twenty-something existential reckoning but I've done it and I ain't hating. In fact, I love it more because of this. The lack of measure and refinement gives it a punk vibe that I love, although video games by their very nature are so capitalistic that I don't know if it is even possible to be a “punk” in that space.

This book elicits a lot of feelings because it is raw and honest and imperfect, kind of like Ellison herself. It's probably the coolest book about video games I've read.