David Silbert

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Editor and Writer at Freelance

Founder and Lead Editor at The Punished Backlog

Founding Editor at @punishedbacklog. Bylines at @thisisinsider, @money, @epicgames, and @predictiveindex. #BlackLivesMatter (he/him)

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Articles

A Refreshingly Femme-First Beat 'Em Up

1 month ago | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

The beat ’em up genre is a pretty well-trodden affair. Walk right, encounter enemies, bust out combos, eat some pizza (or other HP-recovering nourishment), and repeat. The formula has worked for decades, and it will continue to work for many more. Yet, if there’s one element I wish more developers would shake up, it’s the fixation on testosterone energy.
Subnautica Exploration Meets Wall-E

1 month ago | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

The sky was overcast on Friday morning of PAX East 2025 as I rode the elevator up to the top of Boston’s Omni Hotel. Located in the heart of the Seaport district, the Omni is a towering structure overlooking the city’s harbor and ships. But I wasn’t there for the view; my seafaring adventures were yet to come. Knocking on the door of a hotel suite, I walked into a pristine room disturbed only by a few novelties. A laptop on a table, complete with capture equipment.
Wanderstop Review: A Wonderful, Fleeting Taste

Mar 24, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

Everyone has their drink of choice. For some, it’s an early-morning coffee with sugar and flavored cream. For others, it’s a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with breakfast, or a carefully balanced cocktail to cap the night. No matter your preference, though, there’s nothing quite like sipping and savoring while alone in your thoughts. In Wanderstop, that drink of choice is tea.
Split Fiction Review: Just Give It the Nebula Now

Mar 10, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

If the game industry had a “most improved” award, it’d surely go to Hazelight Studios. Led by former film director and forever Oscars hater Josef Fares, Hazelight has built its reputation on co-op games that tug at the heart. It’s a studio known for several trademarks: asymmetric combat and puzzles; “always on” split-screen, even when online; the pro-consumer Friend Pass feature, which allows the second person to play for free.
Do You Play Mario Kart? Guess What: You Benefit From DEI Too

Feb 20, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

A few weeks ago, we received a rather fiery comment on one of our articles. That alone wouldn’t be newsworthy; we’ve seen passionate comments over the years, from rebuttals of our Borderlands game rankings to outcry over leaving Grand Theft Auto off our best PlayStation 2 games list. Still, the critiques we get tend to be tame. Scathing as they can be, they mostly attack opinions, not actual people. That changed with our Tales of Kenzera: Zau review.
ReFantazio Is What I Wanted Final Fantasy XVI To Be

Jan 23, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

In March 2023, as thousands braced the cold to descend upon Boston’s Seaport exhibition center, a few hundred more waited patiently in line, ready to witness fire. It was day three of PAX East, and the talk of the morning was an upcoming panel on Final Fantasy XVI. Producer Naoki Yoshida was on site to demo the latest version of the game, and the crowd was anxious to get a few new tidbits of information.
Escape Today's Reality With a Week of Final Fantasy Coverage

Jan 20, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and absolutely nothing else)! If you’re reluctantly tuning in to Season 47 of the United States this morning… I’m sorry. Not how we drew it up, but don’t get discouraged; there’s still plenty of game to play. Speaking of games, it’s not all doom and gloom this week. We’re celebrating a fun milestone that should levy the heart, if only for a beat.
5 Ways I'm Locking In

Jan 9, 2025 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

Happy New Year! After a year of highs (Balatro!) and lows (bigotry!), we’re here to start anew. Let’s be honest: The idea of our society embracing a healthy “reset” is lunacy. We made some terrible collective choices in 2024, and there’s no walking it back. Some people are more culpable than others, but the reality remains that we made a bed we must now lay in, orange-tinted bed bugs and all.
David's Top 10 Games of 2024

Dec 24, 2024 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

Ah, yes, the end-of-year reflection. Each winter, our team finds a few shreds of time—away from the holiday parties, family get-togethers, and snow shoveling—to think back on the past 12 months of video games. Normally, I’d have ample notes to share—look no further than my wildly unwieldy “Favorite Things of 2023” shtick, complete with my best Julie Andrews impression. But 2024 feels different. It doesn’t feel like a time for jokes, or laughter, or celebration.
UFO 50 Review: Gaming’s Long-Lost Time Capsule

Dec 23, 2024 | punishedbacklog.com | David Silbert

I’ve played games my entire life, but I’m far from a scholar. Despite some credentials—I’ve hit Legend in Hearthstone and read Masters of Doom, and I play a mean game of Galaga—the reality is, I’ll always be green compared to those who came before me. My knowledge of pre-‘90s gaming is rough, and my skills non-existent. And yet, that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the lore. For every modern game like Uncharted or What Remains of Edith Finch, there are the older experiences that paved the way.