Erin Waldram

Erin Waldram is a professional overthinker and game developer, and recently diagnosed polymath.

Her older sister introduced her to video games well before she could form memories, and thus is the one to blame for 20-plus years' worth of obsession. Watching games being played turned into playing games, which turned into analyzing and talking about games, which turned into studying game development.

While happily working on games, she often wondered if she missed her calling to be an English major or a psychologist, having always enjoyed over-analyzing narratives and the minds of others. In writing for With a Terrible Fate, she has had the chance to combine all of her passions, focusing on how the narratives she loves give insight to the minds and souls of its players, characters, and developers!

Games she takes inspiration from range from N64-era Legend of Zelda games, to Okami, to Mother 3, to indie titles ranging from Katana Zero, Omori, and countless others.

Her approach to games is as wide-ranged as her interests. One minute she may be considering how the mechanics of a game represent the repressed trauma of a character, and the next she may be using the lens of paganism to gain deeper insight into a game’s themes. Regardless of what she writes, however, she’s an avid believer in initiating a conversation, and is always eager to learn more about the games she’s analyzing.