Anna Anthrophy: 2 games and a Book

I tried out to off Anna Anthropy's games: "Mighty Jill Off" and "Jill Off With One Hand." Both had similar mechanics, but implemented in different ways. "Mighty Jill Off" was used in a way that is more reminiscent of old-school platformers; it's doable but difficult, requiring precision in movement and timing. "Jill Off With One Hand," however, is more of an endurance test, simply testing one's timing in avoiding obstacles (namely flying heads and spikes). Both games get progressively harder over time, having a good sense of pacing. Both games also explore the sadism that goes behind what gamers will put themselves through in order to get to a goal (and in the case of JOWOH, even if there is no real goal in sight). In a sense, the masoschism that we are willing to go through isn't much different from that one gets from the BDSM community; it's suffering for the sake of pleasure and thrills (and in all fairness, I put myself through such masochism from a variety of games).

Anthropy's book, "Rise of the Videogame Zinesters," explores both the desire to create games, the origins, and the fundamental flaws that exist within them. In a review from Tom Auxier of Nightmare Mode, he talks the core argument that everyone should and can make video games. Anna Anthropy is a clear example of this, as she is probably the most "out there" developer you can find, standing as an epitome of anyone being able to do so. Nothing about her is "natural" by any stretch of the animation; she is a transgender woman with strong ties in the BDSM community, who uses homosexual heroines as the protagonists. These ties are strongly evident in her games, but uses them in an organic way that compliments it. The main issues the reviewer had though was that Anna tended to use examples to talk about the way games are devloving without having the greatest facts to back them up. In essence, she talks about functions without explains HOW it functions. Still, he praised her enthusiasm and how it is quite inspirational in making one want to be a developer.