Games are about shared experiences, rendered extraordinarily powerful by interaction and ownership. All successful games have communities. There are forums, meetings, conferences, blogs, YouTube channels … every year massive get-togethers like Quakecon and MineCon draw in thousands of enthusiasts and developers. And unlike in similar events for film or music, there is rarely much of a division between the 'stars' and the masses. Geeks flow. Fans write mods and become developers, developers become fans of what their communities achieve. The rise of indie gaming has created a seamless strata between industry and fanatic – now anyone can download Game Maker and write something amazing that a community can form around. Certainly, game forums, like Twitter, can attract hateful, damaged people, but they can also introduce you to lifelong comrades. Online games provide a playful space, unmediated by the social rules that clutter bars and clubs; in this sense, online games are a venue, an excuse to get together. And sometimes you need to create excuses to communicate with people – sometimes it's difficult to say, "can we just, you know, talk?" – but put a group of friends in an online game, with headsets and a bit of time, and conversation can flow. Even if it's about shooting stuff, it doesn't matter, there is connection, a connection it is difficult to make and maintain elsewhere. Games are a form of communication, not a waste of time, not something silly or shameful. We are always communicating when we play, we are always together.