Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly is a sports editor from Glasgow and former features editor at 12DOVE. A mental health advocate, Joe has written about video games and mental health for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform. His book Checkpoint considers the complex intersections of video games and mental health, and was shortlisted for Scotland's National Book of the Year for non-fiction in 2021. As familiar with the streets of Los Santos as he is the west of Scotland, Joe can often be found living his best and worst lives in GTA Online and its PC role-playing scene.
Latest articles by Joe Donnelly
Best space games which will let you explore the unknown
By Samuel Horti last updated
Best List From Space Marine 2 to Outer Wilds, here's the 10 best space games to play right now
The 10 best Tomb Raider games of all time
By Justin Towell last updated
Best List The best Tomb Raider games since Lara Croft's arrival in 1996
Rockstar didn't need to fix Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy before GTA 6, but the move will likely prove genius in the months to come
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Mighty Morph Suit Grand Theft Rangers
The best hidden object games to lose yourself in
By Alex Avard last updated
Best List Our guide to the 10 best hidden object games will put your ocular power to the test
The 15 best city building games to play today
By Heather Wald last updated
Best List From Frostpunk 2 to Aven Colony, here's our list of the best city building games that will have you reaching for the skies
The 10 best FromSoftware games you should die with today
By Joe Donnelly last updated
Best list From Elden Ring and Dark Souls, get punished with the best FromSoftware games of all time
The 25 best fighting games you can play right now
By Josh West last updated
Best List From Tekken to Street Fighter, here are the best fighting games for an ultimate brawl
The 10 best Lego games of all time
By Alysia Judge last updated
Best List Here's our ranking of the best Lego games that you should play today, from Lego 2K Drive to Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
10 best survival games to test your will to live
By Alex Avard last updated
Features Scrape together and persist in the best survival games to play in 2024
The 25 best free games you can play right now
By Connor Sheridan last updated
Best List Check out the best free games to play for the cool price of zero dollars, from Fall Guys to The Sims 4
Slitterhead: Everything you need to know about the Silent Hill creator's new horror game
By Joe Donnelly last updated
Features The Slitterhead release date is finally here, so here's everything you need to know before you start playing
10 best Far Cry games of all-time, ranked
By Dave Meikleham last updated
Best List With Far Cry 6 and its expansions released, we explore the best Far Cry games you can play right now
The best Persona games, ranked
By Malindy Hetfeld last updated
Features With Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal released, we rank the 12 best Persona games to see how the classics stack up
The best PS5 headset in 2024
By Tabitha Baker last updated
Buying Guide We're rounding up the best PS5 headset options you can choose from to team with your new-gen console.
Games like Until Dawn that'll have you quaking in your decision-making boots
By Alysia Judge last updated
Best list From As Dusk Falls to Detroit Become Human, these games like Until Dawn are must-plays for any fan
10 games like God of War Ragnarok you should play next
By Sam Loveridge last updated
Features From Elden Ring to The Last of Us, these are the 10 best games like God of War for you to play after Ragnarok
Skate 4 trailer, playtests, and everything else we know
By Josh West last updated
Features Upcoming free-to-play game Skate 4 has been retitled Skate and is coming out in 2025
10 games like Stardew Valley that’ll keep you working on the farm until the cows come home
By Sam Loveridge last updated
Features There are plenty of games like Stardew Valley if you're craving an immersive farming sim-meets-RPG experience
10 games like GTA you need to play while waiting for GTA 6
By Iain Wilson last updated
Features Games like GTA: Whether it's the fast cars or the loaded guns you love, here's everything you need to check out
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has the same crippling claustrophobia I haven't felt since this 27-year-old console horror slasher scared the crap out of me
By Joe Donnelly published
Now playing Opinion | I first discovered the PS1 classic by accident on a 1997 magazine demo disc
There are 5 expansions that changed the face of video games – here's why Shadow of the Erdtree is one of them
By Joe Donnelly published
List Opinion | The best expansions are still worth talking about 25 years later
Skyrim mods have been downloaded over 6 billion times from the biggest modding site – will anything ever come close to the RPG's stunning legacy?
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | The fifth Elder Scrolls entry is a giant in so many ways, and it still, somehow, shows little signs of slowing down
Shooting Nazis in the arse while lying flat out in the prone position in the middle of my living room might be the best video game experience I've ever had
By Joe Donnelly published
Now Playing Now Playing| And I think I've finally seen through the VR looking glass
Rediscovering the brilliant and brutal 22-year-old RPG that charges a ridiculous 1,000 in-game coins just to save your game
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Now Playing | The game's party recruitment system can also lead to a bloodbath revolt
My favorite Spelunky character is a masterclass in roguelike risk versus reward: "Stealing in games is fun in the same way running across the top of the screen is in Super Mario"
By Joe Donnelly published
Interview Interview | The game's creator Derek Yu explores the workings of Spelunky's grumpy, and deadly, shopkeepers
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more