Nicole Clark

Los Angeles

Senior Culture Editor at Polygon

Culture Editor @Polygon · past: @CatapultStory, @VICE · 🖊️ NY Times, SF Chronicle, IGN, NBC AsAm, etc · @aaja · Taiwanese American she/her

Articles

Library Links: Reading is snow much fun: McArthur’s Winter Book Challenge

Jan 2, 2025 | pressherald.com | Nicole Clark

Everyone knows the library is the place to go if you’re looking for a book to read. However, librarians also collect, catalog, store, and loan any number of unusual items beyond books. For example, at the University of Copenhagen, researchers collect and study ice cores(think giant icicles) because the frozen artifacts can reveal all sorts of historical secrets over the millennia, and inform the study of climate change.
Frostpunk 2’s trailer raises the stakes with worker rebellions, punishing conditions

Jan 16, 2024 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

City-building survival game Frostpunk 2 will put settlers in the same perilous conditions as the first game — in a time of ice age, where the environment becomes bleaker and bleaker. But, according to a new gameplay trailer, it looks like it will up the ante from the original game’s unforgiving, dystopian conditions. The sequel is slated to come out sometime in the first half of 2024 on PC, and will debut on Game Pass.
How to get into reading as an adult

Jan 15, 2024 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

It’s no secret that the Polygon staff loves to read. We’re genre agnostic, with tastes spanning categories such as mystery, science fiction and fantasy, literary fiction, romance, and even nonfiction, and we love manga and comics, too. But we’re also sympathetic to how hard it is to find time to do it. By the time the workday is over, you might be too exhausted to consume words on the page — or maybe you’re a parent, working hard to take care of yourself and your family.
This year I want to touch more grass

Jan 9, 2024 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

In 2020, against my will, I discovered that many of my loved ones considered me “indoorsy.” During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, I got texts from pals asking for advice on what to do while stuck inside. I assumed this was because I’ve chosen a career in writing that has me frequently playing games and watching TV. It was, apparently, an identity marker too. “You’re really an inside person,” a friend texted me. “This is your time to shine.”That isn’t entirely wrong.
Cult of the Lamb’s ‘sex update’ has a release date-here’s when it comes

Jan 8, 2024 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

This past November, Cult of the Lamb devs promised fans a sex update to the game. They weren’t just teasing: The aptly named free update, Sins of the Flesh, arrives on Jan. 16 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 4, and Xbox Series X players. It’s the largest update for the game yet, adding new quests and features. This update dives into taboos of all stripes, most notably giving cultists the option to indulge in the horizontal tango.
The year I read 20 Hercule Poirot mysteries and fell for Agatha Christie

Dec 31, 2023 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

For years I’ve enjoyed one-off murder mysteries that friends recommended, but the genre hadn’t really gotten its hooks in me. I’ve simply never been the kind of reader who actively tries to solve the case. My friends who champion these books tend to care deeply about tracking red herrings and attempting to out-sleuth the author. I’m just as content to know whodunit from the very start, as long as the novel itself has enjoyable pacing and character writing.
6 games to play first on your new Nintendo Switch

Dec 24, 2023 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

eCongrats, you are the owner of a Nintendo Switch! It’s a wonderful position to be in, as the console has a robust, delightful library of games. Plus you not only get to play them on a television screen or monitor; you can also take the console with you wherever you need to go. And it doesn’t hurt that there are tons of cute Joy-Con colors, a great pro controller, and lots of themed peripherals for fans of all stripes.
In roguelite city builder Against the Storm, failure is part of the process

Dec 23, 2023 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

I love city-building sims during every step of play — from laying down the foundations to planning a city grid, upgrading the complexity of buildings, and handling the bureaucratic elements of the late game. I’ve spent late nights playing Frostpunk and Timberborn, sucked into the fine balance of evading total town collapse. That said, if you had told me a week ago, “You’re going to spend about an hour making a settlement — and then you’re going to start over, again and again,” I’d have balked.
Goodreads has too much power for its moderation to be this bad

Dec 17, 2023 | polygon.com | Nicole Clark

Photo: Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images For the past week, I’ve been watching Goodreads drama happen in what feels like slow motion. Debut author Cait Corrain admitted to fabricating at least six Goodreads user accounts, and leaving negative reviews (including one-star ratings) of other debut authors’ books — many of whom were authors of color. On Monday, her publisher dropped her book Crown of Starlight, and Corrain posted a mea culpa on X (formerly Twitter).
Lego Fortnite players found a way to make steerable cars and planes

Dec 11, 2023 | newsbreak.com | Nicole Clark

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