‘Video games open us to the whole spectrum of human emotions’: novelist Gabrielle Zevin on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

The writer, who learned her craft playing 90s adventure games, on her love letter to a lifelong passion, the problematic aspects of the industry and the transformative power of play

Games have always been a part of writer Gabrielle Zevin's life. Her first experience, she recalls, was playing Pac-Man at the Honolulu hotel where her grandmother ran a jewellery store. I was about three years old at the time and I remember thinking, wouldn't it just be perfect if I wasn't limited to a single quarter ... if I could just keep playing this game for ever and ever?" Now 44, the veteran author has written her first novel about games. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of two programmers, Sam and Sadie, who set up a studio in the mid-1990s and over the course of a decade, make interesting games while their lives and relationships entwine in complex, often heartbreaking ways.

It is a kunstlerroman for the digital age, an engrossing meditation on creativity and love and perhaps the first novel to wrestle with the culture and meaning of this often-misunderstood medium. It's also been a resounding success, shooting straight into the New York Times bestseller list and earning her an interview on Jimmy Fallon.