Nintendo Life reviews CTRL: Essays on Video Games, an anthology edited by Dean Fee that explores gaming's cultural and emotional impact through personal essays. The reviewer, who received an early copy from publisher Lilliput Press, praises it as a varied and honest collection likely to resonate with anyone who grew up playing games, and highlights that the book avoids defensively justifying games as art, instead treating them with the same weight and everydayness as any other cultural form.

The collection gathers pieces from 14 writers, including novelists, poets and game designers such as John Patrick McHugh, Róisín Kiberd, Brenda Romero, Anna Loughran, Rob Doyle and Stephen Sexton, many of whom write from an Irish perspective. Essays range from McHugh's confessional account of his childhood obsession with Final Fantasy IX and Brenda Romero's memoir-style piece built around her old family home, to industry reflections from producer Úna-Minh Kavanagh and designer Donal Fullam, alongside contributions touching on titles including Fallout: New Vegas, Wanderstop and Superhot.