"Good Game, Well Played" by Rachael Smith and Katherine Lobo is a delightful graphic novel that explores the world of esports with humor, heart, and authenticity. Through charming artwork and engaging storytelling, it offers a fresh perspective on friendship, competition, and the gaming community. Whether you're a gamer or not, this book is a fun and insightful read that will leave you cheering for its endearing characters.

This is a fairly short graphic novel, all things told, and while some great stories can be told in a few amount of pages, I think this one suffers for the brevity. This story has some big ideas, about gender identity, mental health, abuse and more, but hampered by the length, most of the stories are cut off in the midst of the drama, only to be wrapped up in a page later on, in the 'now'/2009 section of the story. This leaves many of them feeling kind of hollow, and so there's nothing wrong with any of the stories of characters, per se, but they also come across as rather hollow. It's find, the art is good, sadly I just don't think it will be very memorable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This graphic novel had great art but did not deliver on the story. I really didn't care about any of the characters or the situations they faced.

It took a minute to get into the story, but it was a quick read that I overall really enjoyed. I liked how different all the characters were, and that they all had this one place in common. And it was really authentic the way they drifted apart but managed to come back together in the end. I also loved the set style, it was very attention grabbing and nice to look at.

A fun story with gorgeous imagery. A period piece twice over, expertly evoking 1999 and 2005 in vivid detail, filled with engaging characters whose relationships and goals feel very real. Thoughtful and emotional.

I loved the art style but I was not quite as interested in the story as I hoped. I apologise for the lateness of my feedback, which was due to not having been able to access the file on my ereader until now.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of Good Game, Well Played.

It was a cute story for the most part - the characters were a little forgettable, sadly. I was expecting a lot from the cast, I guess, and did not get served. Not a big fan of the artwork but the concept was interesting.

I'm on the fence with this one. When I read it, I LOVED it, but when reading some less than positive reviews, I saw their points re: everyone dropping a friend who made some mistakes that really weren't that bad. Maybe to that age what she did was unforgivable, but one of the friends loved her. I would think that at least he would stay friends with her.

Not a bad book, I enjoyed the art and how the MC tried to keep her favorite store going. I also appreciated that she got professional help for her issues.

I didn't QUITE buy the one relationship at the end of the book, but I guess it was possible.

3, not bad but didn't knock my socks off, stars.

My thanks to Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

honestly i read like 20 pages and just wasn’t that into it, but 3 stars alone for the art style! i really enjoyed that, just wasn’t into the story as much as i thought i’d be.

Set in the 90s, a bunch of friends work at their local video game store and as far as Sienna is concerned, it could stay that way forever. When the livelihood of the business is threatened and they may have to shut down, Sienna devises a way to raise the funds needed to save the store. Each of the friends tries coming up with a way to save the store, but it all ends up blowing up in their faces.

The artwork was very nice, but that's all I can say about this story. None of the characters are very relatable and the plot doesn't hold up. The main characters are supposed to be friends, but it's hard to find any of it believable.

Good Game, Well Played tells the story of a group of friends who work at a game shop in danger of getting shut down and do their best to keep it open, then meet again 10 years later. It has potential if not for the fact that it's so loaded with topics that there's no way to give everything the space it deserves in one volume.
I really wanted to like this one more because I love that it jumps straight into several tough topics, but I was also annoyed that it sets them up then time jumps so we don't get to see the hard work characters put into making their situations better as much more than a couple of panels.
The art is basic. Not great, not terrible, just forgettable. It works in that it's really easy to tell people apart and figure out what they're doing, but there really is nothing much to set it apart or comment on.
Overall, it's not awful, I just really wanted it to be more than it is.

Happy thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Mad Cave for the early read!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Good Game, Well Played is a cute, beautifully drawn graphic novel with characters you will love immediately. The group is diverse, with just enough flaws to make them relatable and real.

It follows a group of friends as they navigate a summer on the edge of adulthood, trying to maintain their friendship while simultaneously attempting to save the shop they work at. It was sweet, if a little cliche/after-school-special at times. I found that it was abrupt at times, and the storyline was a little choppy, but one facet I loved was when moments had “status: _______ bonus info ______” as a quick glimpse into the characters minds.

All in all, a quick, cute read that could be expanded upon, with a likable, diverse cast!

This books was a well done 90s nostalgia graphic novel that also built on the power of friendship. A group of friends try to save their place of employment, a video game store in 1999, all while trying to deal with many personal & family issues. I really enjoyed the relationships in the book. The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is that it is a very niche book and the illustrations were sometimes great & sometimes a little less than great. They were very stylized. But the book would be a great purchase for libraries where video games are popular or books are checked out about friendship or 90s nostalgia.

Characters

The characters in this novel were so sweet, and so much fun to read about. They all met while working at a game store, and I just loved the vibes of all these characters. Each character had their own personality and story, which made it easy to follow the story of each character. All the characters had their own demons, and I loved that they could all come together, and they could all help each other. These characters all had a passion for games, and as someone who also enjoys games, I loved reading about characters who enjoy the same thing as I do. The end of the book was so sweet, and I’m so happy with how the story ended.

Plot

Good Game, Well played had an interesting plot and one that I wanted to know where the story was going to go. I loved the fact that all of the characters came together for something they loved, and how they all worked so well together. There are other elements of the story that I loved, such as the character’s love for video games, and the different family dynamics, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of the plots come at the end of the book, and I loved how we got to see the characters later in life and see how their stories ended.

Writing

Good Game, Well Played had fantastic writing, and it made you feel like you were a part of the story. The heavy scenes were serious in tone, and the light-hearted scenes were more light-hearted in tone. This graphic novel was a journey, and I believe you can see that in the writing.

Art

I loved the art style in Good Game, Well Played. I don’t read a lot of Graphic Novels, and this art style was not only adorable, but it worked well with the story. Like the writing, the tone of the more serious scenes uses dark colors and tones, and more light-hearted scenes use lighter color pallets and lighter shades.

Enjoyment/ Recommend for

I really enjoyed this book, and I am so glad I took the chance to read the story. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Graphic Novels or wants a YA story that is a little off the beaten path.

This art is absolutely beautiful! Very queer, very diverse and I love the 90's video game vibe. Would definitely read more from these characters.

Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this one, but I just was not a fan. There were a lot of plot holes (for example, why do a bunch of kids just "work" in this arcade?) and I didn't really vibe with the art style. It might be better for younger kids, though.

Good Game, Well Played follows five friends who’ll work together at a game shop. When they get the news that they may be shit down, they come together to try to raise money for the store and up their sales. We see them meet again, 10 years later, when they all meet up for a funeral.

I’m a huge graphic novel fan and I’m always looking for new stories. I had a few issues with this book. First being that everything felt a bit rushed when I didn’t need to be. With it being rushed we are quickly introduced to the characters and it was very hard to make connections with any of them, leaving me to not care too much about them which had a negative impact on the reading experience.

Even with the downs there were ups! I loved how colorful the art was, it really helped liven up the story. I loved the potential for each of the characters. They are all so unique and diverse, but I wish this were possibly two books so we could’ve had got to know them more and seen the lives they lived between the time jump.

My rating is 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I really loved the trans rep in this book, it made me so happy! I loved the story up till we go back to the plane. All the sudden things feel extremely rushed and incomplete. I'll admit it made me cry though! The art was stunning, I thoroughly enjoyed that part of it. I feel like a bit more could have been put into the storyline but overall I did enjoy it.

The drawings were cute and it was overall a visually pleasing experience. However, I wasn't invested in the characters or the story.