1. What’s your favorite kind of video game to play with your family?
I love playing puzzle games with my parents, like Zelda or Portal. My sister and I tend to be more competitive (and nostalgic), so when we game together we often play Mario Kart 64 or Wave Race.
2. What’s your favorite quality in a male game character? Female game character?
Male: kindness, Female: intelligence (I love both qualities in any character or person, but in games I encounter more intelligent males and kind females, and I’d love to have the tables turned more often.)
3. What kinds of game do you avoid?
I CANNOT DO ZOMBIES. Anything. Any zombies. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is too many zombies for me.
4. What’s your favorite quality in your gaming buddies (kids or not)?
Sharing skillz. I think I’m pretty good at passing on the controller, but every now and then I play with someone who won’t pass it back. I don’t complain, but it makes me a little sad.
5. What’s your main fault as a gamer?
I always want to stop at bad moments, when I’m far away from save points. If my games could talk, they would probably enjoy saying, “Hey Courtney, I can see you’re looking pretty tired/hungry/bored, I’m just gonna take away every save point for you.”
6. How has gaming shaped your identity?
In school, I was always terrified of answering a question with the wrong answer. But in games, I learned to jump right in and keep trying solutions until something worked. Paralyzing fear of choosing the wrong option has definitely held me back—I’m glad that games have been able to help me overcome this. Also, Zelda dungeon maps have definitely helped my map-reading abilities.
7. What’s your idea of a miserable gaming experience?
Working for hours and hours at an impossible puzzle or boss battle, finally beating it—and then losing all of my progress. UGH!
8. In which virtual world would you choose to vacation?
The paper world of Tearaway!
9. Which game did you find most visually appealing?
Hard! Fez is up there, as is Broken Age. Can’t wait for Hyper Light Drifter, Monument Valley, and Transistor.
10. Which game soundtrack would you listen to on repeat?
Braid, Journey, The Last of Us, or Final Fantasy X.
11. Which game has your favorite story?
Broken Age!!! Ooh, and Gone Home. Also Link’s Awakening and Majora’s Mask. And I love all the Portal backstory. I would love to learn the backstory on Crystal Crazy. That game was nuts!
12. Which video game character would you choose to be a hero for your kids?
Impa in Ocarina of Time, though I wish she were a little happier. She is strong and responsible and occasionally seems to be the only character who has any idea what’s going on.
13. What are your favorite gaming snacks?
Smoothies! Yum yum.
14. What’s your favorite video game villain?
GLaDOS
15. Which video game ability/item/superpower would you most like to be gifted with?
Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device!!
16. What video game character would you pick to cosplay if you had unlimited time and resources?
I’d love to do Gondo or Impa from Skyward Sword, but neither of them has my body type at all.
17. Most interesting way you’ve ever died in a video game?
The first time I ever beat Andross in Starfox 64 on hard mode, I was escaping his compound (15 seconds from total victory) and I crashed into the wall and lost the entire game’s progress. Because of course.
