To be 100-percent honest, high-proof whisk(e)y can be pretty hit and miss. More alcohol doesn’t always mean “better.” And with the proliferation of whiskey worldwide (especially bourbon), distillers and blenders often resort to creating expressions that are bigger, bolder, and stronger just to get your attention.

Many times, that translates to whiskey ABVs that inch towards 65 percent alcohol. Which is a lot. We’re talking 130 proof.

Still, when high-proof bourbons are crafted with care, they can absolutely be extraordinary. And today we’re turning our attention to some of these expressions, all 100 proof and above. We targeted bourbons that don’t get muted in your favorite cocktails but aren’t too hot to work as sippers — a delicate balance that few high proof expressions manage to pull off.

Below you’ll find eight of our favorites high-proof bourbons. Click on the prices to grab a bottle for yourself.

Knob Creek Single Barrel

ABV: 60%

Average Price: $50

The Story:

This highly coveted, 120 proof bourbon has a mash bill of 77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and 10% percent malted barley. It’s aged for nine years in charred, white oak barrels to guarantee a smooth sipping whisky even with the heightened alcohol content.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll be greeted with aromas of charred oak, sticky toffee, toasted vanilla beans, and a slight hint of spice. The palate is filled with wood char, a nutty sweetness, buttery caramel, and cinnamon sugar. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a nice mix of butterscotch and spice.

Bottom Line:

For the price, it’s hard to find a better value high-proof bourbon. It’s just as great as a cocktail base as it is a sipper.

Stagg Jr.

ABV: 64.2%

Average Price: $99

The Story:

This award-winning, highly sought-after bottle is named for George T. Stagg who was instrumental in building the original Buffalo Trace Distillery, well-known as the most important distillery of the 19th century. It’s uncut, non-chill filtered, and matures for just under ten years in charred American oak barrels.

Tasting Notes:

Take a moment to breathe in the scents of vanilla beans, caramel, and subtly spicy rye. The palate is loaded with creamy chocolate, caramel corn, dried fruits, and a nice hit of cracked black pepper. It all ends with a mixture of fruit sweetness and a light smoky spice.

Bottom Line:

This is a highly coveted bottle that often sells for much more than its MSRP. If you can find it even close to $100, grab it and savor every sip. You might not get another chance to try it for a while.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

ABV: 59-66.4%

Average Price: $88

The Story:

Elijah Craig makes nothing but great expressions. You can’t go wrong with its Small Batch, Toasted Barrel, and its Barrel Proof offerings. The latter is uncut, non-chill filtered and hand-labeled with a batch number and each bottle’s particular proof.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find aromas of wood char, candied orange peels, dried cherries, and vanilla beans. The palate is full of sweet cinnamon sugar, buttery caramel corn, brown sugar, and a nice hit of peppery rye. The finish is warming, mellow, and ends with a great combination of sweetness and spice.

Bottom Line:

Like many barrel-proof expressions, one of the coolest aspects of this bottle is that no two releases are the same. The barrels selected and the proof changes for each one.

EH Taylor Barrel Proof

ABV: 62.5%

Average Price: $130

The Story:

Named for Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., the one-time owner of Buffalo Trace, this prohibition-style bourbon is bottled at 125 proof. It’s made from hand-picked, uncut, non-chill filtered barrels. Even with the high proof, it manages to be mellow, rich, and very easy to sip.

Tasting Notes:

Before you sip, you owe it to Buffalo Trace to fill your nostrils with the aromas of pipe tobacco, charred oak, vanilla beans, and subtle spice. Sipping this whiskey reveals a world of buttery caramel, sticky toffee, oak, dried fruits, and pleasing spice. The end is long, warming, and filled with spicy rye and sweet caramel.

Bottom Line:

Another hard-to-find bottle, E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof is the bold, badass expression from the brand that deserves to be slow-sipped using a single ice cube while you sit in a comfy chair and decompress after a long work week.

Larceny Barrel Proof

ABV: 61.6%

Average Price: $70

The Story:

First launched in 2012, Larceny has since become of the most respected brands in the bourbon world. In 2019, Heaven Hill launched Larceny Barrel Proof, an expression that drops three times per year. While its proof varies based on each batch, it’s uncut, non-chill filtered, and age for six to eight years.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find notes of spicy cinnamon, toasted wood, vanilla beans, and maple candy. Taking a sip reveals dried fruits, buttery caramel, vanilla essence, almond cookies, and a gentle hint of spice. The finish is lingering, warming, and ends with a nice mixture of caramel and vanilla.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a fan of soft, wheated whiskeys, but you also enjoy high-proof bourbons, this is your jam. Plus, it’s really hard to beat the price.

1792 Full Proof

ABV: 62.5%

Average Price: $59

The Story:

Another throwback to a bygone era, 1792 Full Proof is uncut, non-chill filtered, and enters the bottle at the 125-proof cask strength. It’s well known for its rich, caramel, and vanilla-filled flavor profile that is — like so many on this list — nicely-suited for mixing or slow sipping.

Tasting Notes:

The aromas of caramel apples, sweet honey, vanilla beans, and wood char are prevalent. The palate is swirling with cinnamon sugar, caramel candy, butter cookies, and subtle candied orange peels. The ending is soft, mellow, and filled with notes of vanilla, caramel, and a hint of spice.

Bottom Line:

This 125-proof bourbon is extremely complex. It requires multiple samplings (and maybe a drop of water or single ice cube) to unlock all of the various aromas and flavors.

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength

ABV: 60.2%

Average Price: $250

The Story:

Angel’s Envy is a big name in the whiskey world due to its unique resting in the likes of rum barrels and port casks. Its Cask Strength expression was first launched in 2013. It carries no age statement, but it’s assumed to be aged between four and six years in former port wine barrels before being finished in ruby port wine casks.

Tasting Notes:

Breathe in the scents of charred oak, fresh leather, toasted vanilla beans, and dried fruits before taking your first sip. Tasting this complex whiskey reveals candied orange peels, wood char, buttery caramel, raisins, and subtle spice. It all ends with a nice dry, mellow, subtly sweet finish.

Bottom Line:

Like many of the expressions on this list, Angel’s Envy Cask Strength isn’t easy to find. In order to enjoy this nuanced, rich whiskey, you might have to pay over the brand-reccomended retail price.

Booker’s

ABV: 60-65%

Average Price: $110

The Story:

Booker’s is the bold, brash, bad boy of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Collection. It’s uncut, unfiltered, and the highest alcohol content brand made by Jim Beam. This cask strength bourbon was aged between six and eight years. The best part? Every expression has a different name, comes from different barrels, and carries a different proof.

Tasting Notes:

While each batch is different, we tried the most recent expression: Batch 2021-01, also known as “Donohoe’s Batch.” On the nose, you’ll be treated to aromas of caramel apples, subtle, nutty sweetness, and a nice kick of cinnamon spice. The palate is filled with notes of sweet caramel, toasted oak, vanilla beans, cooking spices, and almond cookies. The finish is long, filled with pleasing heat, and ends with a combination of caramel and spice.

Bottom Line:

Drinkers eagerly await the newest Booker’s expression for a reason. Every bottle is uncut, unfiltered, and high-proof, and they each come with a unique story and flavor profile.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Nobody has a flair for the dramatic like Diana Taurasi, but it’s never quite looked like it did in a victory on Friday night over the Lynx, as Taurasi took the ball up the court with 6.8 seconds to go and nailed the dagger three to pull ahead in the game. That part wasn’t the surprise, but what turned the volume up on the whole scenario was that while Taurasi’s play moved along, the clock was frozen.

After a steal by third-year forward Brianna Turner, the clock never restarted, yet Taurasi ended up with enough time to get all the way to the opposing three-point line and make a shot before anyone realized.

About 10 real-time minutes passed while the referees reviewed the play, standing at the scorer’s table with a literal stopwatch and counting seconds while watching the replay. The officials ended up putting 1.1 seconds back on the clock after the review, and the Lynx didn’t get a shot off to close the game.

Taurasi finished just 3-13 from the field and 2-6 from deep but hit the game-winner when Phoenix needed her and the Mercury got a rare win in Minneapolis over their longtime rival, the Lynx.

Phoenix plays the Sun on the road on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

After missing most of her rookie season with a knee injury, Sabrina Ionescu wasted no time getting back to her thrilling ways on Friday night, nailing a deep three with less than a second left to lift her Liberty to an opening-night win over the Indiana Fever.

There were so many insane parts to this play. First is that New York clearly did not need a three. They in-bounded the ball with 5.4 seconds left and were tied at 87. Ionescu didn’t care much for any of that, and went ahead and fired anyway.

The other insane thing is that Ionescu was ice cold most of the night. She started the game 5-16 from deep before hitting her first clutch three with 39.7 seconds remaining. And the Liberty went right back to her on the final play of the game, where she promptly delivered with a game-winner with 0.4 left on the clock.

The last insane thing here is that Ionescu’s shot was so sick that even her opponents couldn’t help but smile. Fever wing Victoria Vivians was caught with her jaw dropped in the aftermath of Ionescu’s dagger.

Ionescu is technically eligible for the Rookie of the Year again this season after playing basically two games in 2020, and this is a heck of a start to her campaign. New York has another chance against Indiana on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

We’re just days from the start of the NBA’s first-ever play-in tournament, as we wait to see how Steph Curry, Ja Morant, and Jayson Tatum will wow us in a do-or-die situation. And on Friday, the league released a full TV broadcast schedule for the tourney.

https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1393356228294811651

If you’re wanting to build out your couch or bar schedule for the week, the first game on Tuesday is likely to feature both Tatum and LaMelo Ball, with Chuck, Shaq and Co. in the studio.

The next night, we will get LeBron James and Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum go up against the West’s eighth seed, which will be either Golden State or Memphis. Talk about star power!

But of course, the main event is the elimination games on Thursday and Friday. As usual, TNT gets the Eastern Conference and ESPN gets the Western Conference game. For reference, those games could feature — as an example — Morant vs. Curry. Or Ball vs. Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal.

If last year’s single-elimination play-in told us anything, it’s that we should be in for some awesome basketball. The game averaged 2 million viewers — more than many playoff games — and featured some high level hoops between Morant’s Grizzlies and Lillard’s Trail Blazers.

The play-in tournament starts next Tuesday.

Since the tragic, untimely death of DMX due to complications after a drug overdose earlier this year, the hip-hop community has been hellbent on preserving his legacy. He was an artist who meant so much to so many people, and giving his catalogue the send off it deserves has been a priority for many. At the forefront of these efforts has been producer and rapper Swizz Beatz, who also recently opened up about his frustrations with some of the fake friends he saw around the late rapper.

In an effort to be anything but that, Swizz has been working as a steward for the posthumous album, Exodus, that DMX’s label recently announced. Swizz has discussed the final song he collaborated on with X, and also let fans know that a collaboration between Earl, Jay Z Nas is likely going to be in the mix.

Well, all those have been confirmed now, along with plenty of other songs, as the tracklist for the album was shared by DMX’s label today. Their all caps caption stated the following: “EXODUS 1:7 OFFICIAL TRACK LIST (5/28). THE LEGACY CONTINUES.” Along with a photo of the tracklist, which features, among many others, appearances from Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and yes, Jay Z and Nas on the same track together. Check out the list below and look for the full project dropping later this month on May 28.

1. “That’s My Dog” Feat. The Lox and Swizz Beatz
2. “Bath Salts” Feat. Jay Z and Nas
3. “Dog’s Out” Feat. Lil Wayne and Was
4. “Money Money Money” Feat. Swizz Beatz
5. “Hold Me Down” Feat. Alicia Keys
6. “Skyscrapers” Feat. Bono
7. “Male Stick Up Skit” Feat. Cross, Infrared, and Icepick
8. “Hood Blues” Feat. Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, and Conway
9. “Walking In The Rain” Feat. Nas, Exodus Simmons, & Mr. Porter
10. “Take Control” Feat. Snoop Dogg
11. “Exodus Skit”
12. “Letter To My Son (Call Your Father)” Feat. Usher and Brian King Joseph
13. “Prayer”

The NBA is in the midst of an offensive boom, with teams across the league putting up crazing scoring totals and breathtaking offensive efficiency on a nightly basis. It’s pretty easy to argue the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, and while this isn’t the No. 1 reason why offenses are looking better than ever, the NBA apparently plans on addressing one of the things that drives people insane.

According to Adrian Wojnarwoski of ESPN, the league plans to do something about fouls that are born out of offensive players doing “unnatural shooting motions,” citing guys like James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks as examples of players who are really good at drawing these sorts of fouls.

The NBA has issues to modify with the game itself as well. Most agree the product has shifted too far in the offense’s favor, that the scoring is unnaturally inflated. In the offseason, the NBA plans to address the unnatural shooting motions of star players like James Harden and Trae Young that get foul calls under the rules in the NBA — but would get eye rolls on the playground.

An interesting thought experiment is whether or not officials will catch up to any new unnatural shooting motion rule right away or if they’ll need time to adjust, because the reason players are able to draw fouls by flailing around when taking a jumper is they know the referees will blow the whistle. There’s also the matter of how “unnatural” is defined, but that’s something for the league to figure out. Still, these are fouls that no one other than the guy who draws them particularly likes, and while it’ll be a small change, this would be a welcomed one.

The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, and more.

What a week. Over the last five days, we’ve been buried under a veritable avalanche of new releases, including the big names mentioned above. Young Nudy linked up with G Herbo on “2Face,” the first single from his upcoming album Dr Ev4l; Young Dolph & Key Glock continued their Dum And Dummer 2 rollout with a video for “A Goat & A Dolphin“; Moneybagg Yo partnered with Lil Durk and Polo G in his “Free Promo” video; Ashnikko and Princess Nokia finally released their long-awaited “Slumber Party” video; and Internet Money reunited with Don Toliver and Gunna, adding Lil Uzi Vert to the mix for “His & Hers.”

Then came a huge New Music Friday, saw the release of J. Cole’s The Off-Season, Nicki Minaj’s Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape migrating to streaming with new song “Seeing Green,” 21 Savage’s Spiral EP causing an “Emergency,” and the first single from Migos’ Culture III, “Straightenin,” dropping along with the releases listed below.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending March 19, 2021.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

J. Cole — The Off-Season

The long-awaited follow-up to Cole’s fan-loved KOD features appearances from 21 Savage, Lil Baby, and Puff Daddy as Cole himself goes on a lyrical rampage to prove to himself and the world that he’s pushed himself to new heights.

Babyface Ray — Unfckwitable (Deluxe)

The Detroit upstart tacks seven new songs onto his impressive debut, resulting in a feature from Jack Harlow and one from none other than Murda Beatz.

Daniyel — 82

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, and employing a buoyant pop-rap flair, this LA transplant is Cole Bennett-approved, which means his music could very well be unavoidable sometime soon… get familiar now.

Nicki Minaj — Beam Me Up Scotty [Reissue]

The mixtape that put the Queens, New York queen on the rap fans’ radars over a decade ago has finally made its way to DSPs, complete with three new tracks.

Paris Texas — Boy Anonymous

Compton, California keeps pushing out heat. The genre-bending duo of Paris Texas is super unconventional but all the more intriguing and inspiring for it.

21 Savage — Spiral [EP]

If ever there was a rapper to be counted on to soundtrack the ghoulish horror-thriller spinoff, it’s 21, whose laconic flow hides a penchant for painting violent scenes in lurid detail.

Singles/Videos

The Alchemist — “Loose Change” Feat. Earl Sweatshirt

At this point, can you two just do a whole album together? And no, I don’t mean an EP. A whole album. The chemistry is everything rap fans could ask for.

Conway The Machine — “Scatter Brain (Live On The Tonight Show)” Feat. JID and Ludacris

JID kind of steals the show here, but honestly, it’s just great to see Ludacris finally making his way back to the forefront of rap where he belongs. Thank you, Conway.

Dusty Locane — “Rollin N Controllin Pt. 2”

If the skittish beat doesn’t send chills down your spine, Dusty’s menacing raps and that slinky hook just might.

Lakeyah — “Perfect” Feat. Yung Bleu

A highlight from Lakeyah’s confident debut project, “Perfect” finds her challenging a potential paramour to find better — but how can you improve on perfection?

Larry June — “Wait On Me”

One of my personal favorite indie rappers, Larry June kicks laid-back raps with the same assured swagger of peers like Curren$y, Dom Kennedy, and Le$ over sparkling beats that bring to mind visions of luxurious surroundings and exotic locales.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead has a long history of being very cool in very cool projects, and if you just want to tick off the recent examples you still have her playing Huntress in Birds of Prey and the perfectly named Nikki Swango in the third season of Fargo. So if you wanted to make a movie about, say, to choose an example at random, a ruthless criminal operative who is irreversibly poisoned and has less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her enemies while forming an unexpected bond with the daughter of one of her past victims, you can do a lot worse than casting her in that role. In an unrelated matter, let’s quickly check the logline for her upcoming Netflix movie, Kate.

After she’s irreversibly poisoned, a ruthless criminal operative has less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her enemies and in the process forms an unexpected bond with the daughter of one of her past victims.

Well, that worked out pretty well.

The movie has actually been in development for about two years now, with Winstead and co-star Woody Harrelson both signing on way back in 2019. So their involvement is not exactly breaking news here. The reason we’re talking about it today, in 2021, is because Netflix just released the first images of Winstead in the movie and Holy Toledo does she look cool as hell. Look at the picture at the top of this post. And look at this one, too.

And this one.

Now, some of you are probably still held up on that logline, thinking, perhaps, “Hmm, but isn’t this almost exactly the plot of the 2006 Jason Statham film Crank, in which he too is pumped full of toxins and hellbent on revenge, but this time with Mary Elizabeth Winstead running around the streets of Tokyo with a cigarette dangling from her mouth and a huge honking firearm in her hand and Woody Harrelson involved somehow as some as-yet-unidentified figure who is, one assumes, either assisting her on her quest or being hunted by her? Doesn’t this sound kind of like that?”

To which I would reply, “Yes. It sounds almost exactly like that. And what’s your complaint with any of it?” Because I just re-read all the words I typed and looked at all the pictures again and, buddy, it all seems pretty okay to me.

After years of fan demand, the legendary Mass Effect trilogy is back with a legendary edition, and we here at Uproxx are excited. Widely considered an absolute “must-play,” if you haven’t played the Mass Effect Trilogy, there’s never been a better time to jump in, and — if you’re still on the fence about picking it up — here are four reasons you shouldn’t be.

1. It’s one of the most epic science fiction stories in gaming.

If you like space operas (think intergalactic warfare, chivalrous romance, politics, melodrama, life-or-death adventures, and, well, Star Wars), you’ll love the Mass Effect trilogy. The story follows Commander Shepard, a space navy soldier from Earth who is thrust into an adventure much bigger than they are when they witness the return of an ancient and deadly race known as the Reapers. In addition to navigating that mess, Shepherd must play diplomat between mankind and all the other various races inhabiting the Milky Way galaxy that aren’t always the biggest fans of humans. While that might not sound all that enthralling right now, the story truly goes places both literally and metaphorically. The many planets you visit are gorgeous and interesting, and the story consistently forces the player to make hard choices and play a very active part in what’s happening, which is a lot.

2. The Mass Effect trilogy boasts some of the greatest characters, and romances, in a series.
Mass Effect series easily has some of the most charming and interesting characters in an ensemble cast style game, with so many diverse companions there’s one for everyone regardless of if you like your friends a bit sweet or spicy. Furthermore, the moments you share with them are so unique to each character and make you either care for, or perhaps despise them, quickly and with fervor. Personality coats their dialogue and all the moments you share together, meaning by the time players reach the third game, you genuinely feel as if you have history with these characters. Lastly, ah the romances! The Mass Effect games handle love, lust, and intimacy extraordinarily well, and will leave you wishing other AAA titles went as hard with theirs.

3. It’s the perfect mix of heavy narrative and open-world elements.

If you’ve read the first two points, you now know that Mass Effect has a great story and even greater characters, but what truly makes it shine is how much you control you have over the aforementioned story and your relationships with its characters. In Mass Effect, you choose how you look, where you come from, your own code of ethics, how you spend your time, and who you spend it with. It makes for a game that feels different each time you play it and opens up fun conversations with friends about where you did things differently and which space boo is best. If you’ve ever played Skyrim and wished you felt a stronger connection to the game’s story and characters, Mass Effect is for you. If you’ve ever played an Assassin’s Creed game — particularly the older ones — and wished you had a bit more freedom, Mass Effect is for you.

4. It’s only $60 USD for three — yes three — games.

Listen, we’ll never tell you how to spend your money or encourage you to do so if you can’t right now — we’re better pals than that — but if you are looking for a new game to play, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a pretty unbeatable value. For the cost of a new game (hell, less than the cost of a next-gen one), you get three critically-acclaimed games with 80-150 hours worth of content between them. A lot of good games have come out recently, but if you could only pick up one to last you through the summer months, I’d recommend Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Plenty of folks have wanted to work in the video game industry at some point in their lives. As with any career path with a limited number of opportunities, it’s extremely difficult to break through, but the reward of finally making it is incredible. Passion meets art in a way that is really indescribable, and it’s that passion that keeps members of the workforce going despite an industry that grinds you to dust.

The reality is a career in video games is one full of intense hours, stress, strained relationships, hatred from gamers with sometimes unreasonably high expectations, and a lack of real job security. The book PRESS RESET by Jason Schreier, which hit bookshelves earlier this week, does an incredible job of capturing the struggle that workers in the video game industry go through.

“The goal of anything I write is always to inform and entertain people and to shed some light on what’s going on,” Schreier tells UPROXX. “I think that in some ways the book is a call to action for people to pick it up and say, hey, something really needs to change here and and I am hoping that people who are actually in decision-making capacities in the video game industry pick it up and decide to make some changes as a result of what they see.”

PRESS RESET is Schreier’s second book about the industry. His first, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, is a story about how difficult making a game is, highlighting the hours of crunch and dedication that go into making a game. In many ways, PRESS RESET is a follow-up to that, because while the majority of the stories in Blood, Sweat, and Pixels end with a released game, PRESS RESET is about the other side of the industry: failed titles, studios that ran out of money, or sudden changes in leadership structure that result in a studio closure.

The biggest difference between the two books is how the reader feels at the end of each chapter. While Blood, Sweat, and Pixels usually ended with a triumphant moment where the team against all odds succeeded, PRESS RESET is about the dominoes that fall and lead to failure.

For many of us, the story of a closed studio ends there. Everyone spends some time mourning their favorite games and then moves on with their lives, but the workers at these studios aren’t as lucky. When a studio is closed, it leads to a developer coming to a crossroad: Do they choose to continue work in video games? If so, they’re probably going to have to move their lives to another place, even if there’s a chance of getting laid off once again and repeating the cycle. This is the life of a development team. There are scant few protections for these developers. If they’re laid off, they might get lucky and get a severance.

“Crunch is an epidemic in the industry and needs to be talked about,” Schreier says. “But actually, one of the things I wanted to explore in this book is the problem with volatility, because I actually think that’s worse for most people who work in games, and crunch is bad, but the thought that you might lose your job or your studio may shut down and you may be moving across the country or across the world every couple of years that is way worse, and affects people in way worse ways and really drives a lot of the burnout, that volatility.”

The people who work on those games may be working dream jobs, but they’re doing so in an incredibly unstable industry that challenges their love for their passion. Multiple passages in PRESS RESET talk about employees who left the industry to go work normal 9-to-5’s because it was a healthier life for them and their family. It’s unfortunate, but the more people know about the realities of the industry, the more likely it becomes that individuals on the outside stand up for these employees in a very public way.

“It’s more important to me that people come away from it feeling like they learned something, that it was worth their time to get through this,” Schreier says. “Like, they can connect with some human stories and really understand more about how all this works. That is my number one goal, to trigger that kind of understanding and empathy and curiosity from people.”

PRESS RESET can, in some ways, be hard to get through. For people that work in the industry, or want to work in it, it raises questions as to whether it’s worth it — does the good really outweigh the bad that much? If someone is willing to deal with everything that is hard about making games and being in the industry, then they’ll stay in it and fight to make it better. The video game industry is still growing and has plenty of room to continue to blossom, although there are other hurdles that need to be cleared. For example, despite making more money than the film industry, major cultural issues both inside and outside of the industry need to be addressed.

“It’s definitely professionalized,” Schreier says. “That’s the biggest difference between now and, like, the ’80s. Nobody’s working out of a frat house making major games anymore the way that they might have back then, but some of those old habits just stuck around and some of those issues, I don’t think it really got away (from them). I mean, there’s still a lot of sexism and misconduct. There’s crunch, obviously. And the volatility thing, it’s such a prominent issue in the industry that it’s hard to really say that. I mean, things have definitely gotten better, but how much better have they gotten?”

As the industry continues to grow, it’s going to need people to learn about it and understand how it works. The video game industry can’t continue to be a place that churns through workers once they become too burned out to handle the stress. It can’t continue to exist as a place that demeans entire swaths of people. It needs to be better. And while PRESS RESET may not be the most uplifting book ever, it’s an educational experience that pulls back the curtain on all of these issues.