New Blog Post! After much disruption, I'm back to blogging with a short cheery post about creation. Video games are a young art form, and there is still so much to be discovered. You don't have to be a Capital-C Creator or hitmaker to take part. bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/creation-a...

If you want to have fun playing with the earliest games of Spiderweb Software, reminder that you can get a nice, new, working copy of Blades of Exile (From 1998!) on itch.io. Users made tons of cool adventures for it, all still available! nqn.itch.io/blades-of-ex...

Fun news! Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is now in a bundle with the excellent Lovecraftian turn-based RPG SKALD: Against the Black Priory! Two fun, cheap indie games, now fun and even cheaper together. store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

I was just on the This Week In Retro Podcast, and I had a great time! I rant about Apple Inc's strangeness, reminisce about ancient days, and get weirdly pedantic about coin-op arcade games from a previous century. Lots of fun, check it out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAk...

New Blog Post! Nerd Deep Housecleaning Update, Part 1. We've run our indie games company since 1994, and we picked up a ton of clutter along the way. See a bit of history from the games biz from before Steam (or the world wide web). bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/nerd-deep-...

Spiderweb Software is in the Spring Sale. Everything is cheap(er) now! Our recent success, Avernum 4: Greed and Glory at a new biggest discount. Queen's Wish 2, now freshly expanded, also on sale for more than ever. Check out the goods here! store.steampowered.com/publisher/sp...

New Blog Post! We've concluded our Queen's Wish series of RPGs. These games contain some of our best design and worst decisions. I'm very proud of them and never want to think about them again. Here's a postmortem, with sales figures! bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/queens-wis...

BIG NEWS! We've released Queen’s Wish: The Judgment, the conclusion to our unique indie RPG series of empire management and high stakes family politics! This final chapter is a free expansion for Queen’s Wish 2: The Tormentor. Queen's Wish 2 on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1947750/...

New Blog Post! I talk about huge indie hit Mewgenics. The strangeness of indie games, the joy of perfect polish, the enormous design toolkit we designers can pull from now, and how I have become very, very old. bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/a-detailed...

New Blog Post! I'm still on about how video games affect the brain and how those effects are the product we sell. I compare how Elden Ring & Silksong are very similar games that take very different approaches. Kind of dry, but I think I'm over this now. bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/what-exact...

Going back to Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor for #screenshotsaturday . Our last all new game is a unique mix of empire, politics, fantasy, and suspenseful, tactical combat missions. Free expansion to conclude the series comes in March! Sale on Steam now: store.steampowered.com/app/1947750/...

New Blog Post! - I sort through a bunch of recent fun science fiction stuff, plus the latest cool indie game about geese. Lots of gassing on about making a good story. Also, I hawk our new, upcoming game! bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/video-game...

Saw the new 28 Years Later movie. Turns out that (get ready for a shock) humans are the real monsters. Lame. When I go see a monster movie, at some point, I want the monsters to be the real monsters.

BIG NEWS! In March, 2026, we release Queen’s Wish: The Judgment, the conclusion to the series! This final chapter will be released as free DLC for Queen’s Wish 2: The Tormentor. Queen's Wish 2 is on sale on Steam this week ... store.steampowered.com/app/1947750/...

Happy New Year! One last little push for the Steam Winter Sale. Avernum 4, Geneforge 2, and Queen's Wish 2 are cheaper than ever before. (Hope to announce Queen's Wish news before end of month.) Have a great year! store.steampowered.com/publisher/sp...

New Blog Post! So what, exactly, are video games FOR? Video games are machines for affecting your brain, and people give lots of good money to have their brain affected. I list 5 key ways they do this, 5 products you can sell! Better do at least one ... bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/the-top-wa...

Having a great Steam Winter Sale this year. Thank you! Our new game being liked makes happy feelings, which we're storing to sustain us during the long coding months ahead. Anyway, Avernum 4 is good and cheap and might make a nice last-minute gift ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Spiderweb Software is in the Steam Winter Sale, and all our indie RPGs are even cheaper! Avernum 4: Greed and Glory got great reviews from critics and players, and now is at a nice discount. Geneforge 2 and Queen's Wish 2 also quite cheap. Drop by ... store.steampowered.com/publisher/sp...

New Blog Post! Another grab bag of mixed topics, including Borderlands 4 ( 🫤 ), fun indie games ( 🤩 ), & the 2025 Game Awards ( 😶 ). Time to grab a seat in some Twitch chat and get ready to heckle the Game Awards. Gonna get really catty on my alt! 😸 bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/video-game...

GlitchSPANKR is a weird walking sim type game with a lot of love in it. Strange. Funny. Often gross. Smiling Friends vibes, which is a compliment. I played about 80% of it, until the parts where it tries to be a Real Video Game got annoying. It really tickled me until then and is worth the money.

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is out for iPad! The cult classic Avernum series is back as a unique indie RPG in a vast underworld nation. Fight a monster plague. Explore the depths. Be loyal or treacherous. Huge & full of fun. Find here ... apps.apple.com/us/app/avern...

For Screenshot Saturday, yet another promo shot for iPad Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. Our cool new indie turn-based RPG in a vast subterranean world is out December 3rd. Until then, the very well-reviewed Steam version is at: store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

New Blog Post! - Video games are machines for affecting the human brain. So let's find tricks to make it easier! Remember, players play with the brains they have, not the brains you want them to have. Avoid learning how their brains work at your peril. bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/understand...

For Screenshot Saturday, another promo shots for iPad Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. Our new, well-reviewed, indie turn-based RPG should be out for your handheld by the end of the year. PC version is doing great and you can find it here ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is out for iPad Dec. 3, 2025! Our popular return to Avernum, a unique indie RPG series set in a vast underworld nation, will become portable! Fight a monster plague. Explore the depths. Be loyal or treacherous. Get rich and famous! Huge & full of fun.

New Blog Post! "The Time I Annoyed Lord British and He Gave Me His Debris" A story of the time one of the video game design greats was my summer camp counselor and I was an intense pain in his ass. But at least I traded my dignity for a nice souvenir. bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/the-time-i...

We have uploaded a bunch of cool, free desktop art for our newest RPG, Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. Get it at the link below. Game is doing well on Steam. iPad version coming early next month! www.spiderwebsoftware.com/otherpg.html...

For Screenshot Saturday, one of our promo shots for iPad Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. Our new, well-reviewed, indie turn-based RPG should be out for your handheld by the end of the year. PC version is doing great and you can find it here ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Spiderweb Software is looking for a few beta testers for the iPad version of Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. It's a short testing period. If you have an iPad and want to take part in making video games and join our dedicated inner circle, apply here! www.spiderwebsoftware.com/testing/beta...

New Blog Post! Four ways you can make a turn-based strategy game more interesting. If you do them the right amount. A little is good, more can ruin everything. The dose makes the poison. Enjoy a nerdy game design deep dive ... bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/four-ways-...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is up to Very Positive reviews. Thanks so much for the kind words! They really make a difference to a small indie. Our huge indie RPG in the underworld is selling well enough for us to write more games. Might be worth a look! store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Settling in to fix Avernum 4: Greed and Glory bugs today. If I make a mistake with a tiny bug, I can introduce an enormous one. Every issue is an unexploded bomb. Lots of coffee. Locked in.

Screenshot Saturday for Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. Our epic indie RPG is out and doing well enough that we can make more games! Here, we are in a deep ruin fighting a nasty band of slithzerikai. Intricate tactical combat, lots of options. Try it at ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

I am doing my last developer stream for Avernum 4: Greed and Glory today! I'll be on our Steam page from 4-6 PM PST, trying to beat a major dungeon and answering questions. Hope you stop by to say hi before I slink back into my office to rest ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

New Blog Post! The third and last part of my postmortem for Avernum 4 (2005), a successful but flawed game. What went wrong, why, and how I fixed it, Game design deep dive for our newest RPG. Back to normaller posts soon! bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/avernum-4-...

Honestly, I spend a lot of time in the game industry feeling like a loser. Tiny team, modest sales, retro, no press. Yet, I plan to retire in this industry at 65. My next 10 years are planned out. Not many in games are lucky and supported enough to plan 10 years ahead!

Avernum 4: Greed and glory, our new indie RPG, has been out a day. Happy with how things are going. Tons of competition out but sales are strong. We get to write more games! Thank you so much! (When you know you like the game, Steam reviews really help.) store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

We are doing a Reddit AMA today for the release of our new indie RPG, Avernum 4: Greed and Glory! New game is doing great, and we'd love to talk. I'll start answering your questions at 1 PM PST and continue throughout the day. Please drop by for a chat! www.reddit.com/r/Games/comm...?

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory Dev Livestream! I will be playing (badly) our newly out RPG and answering questions today on our Steam page, Wednesday the 22nd 4-6 PM PST. Also Friday the same time. Hugely excited about the release and hope to see you! store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is out! The 31 year old cult classic Avernum series is back with a unique indie RPG set in a vast underworld nation. Fight a monster plague. Explore the depths. Be loyal or treacherous. Get rich and famous! Huge & full of fun. store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

For the release of our new, huge indie RPG Avernum 4: Greed and Glory on Wednesday, I will be doing two livestreams to play the game and answer questions. The first is this Wednesday, 4 PM PST. Hope to see you! store.steampowered.com/news/app/388...

We updated Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor to v1.1! Our unique Empire management/politics RPG looks much better now, with better monitor scaling and animation. Big Queen's Wish news coming soon. Get the new version where you purchased it or buy it at ... store.steampowered.com/app/1947750/...

Late Screenshot Saturday pic for Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. The cult classic series returns with an epic, turn-based, indie RPG out Wednesday! Explore an enormous underworld nation. Here, we see an odd magic lab in a giant bug hive. Wishlist here ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory livestream today! 4-6 PM PST, I will be streaming our awesome new indie RPG and answering questions on our Steam page. Our unique indie RPG in a huge underworld nation is out Wednesday! Find it here ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

Here is a video of the 2nd hour of the Avernum 4: Greed and Glory livestream I did today. I struggle through the first dungeon, talk about where Avernum came from, and constantly forget to use my abilities. Game's coming October 22. Steam link in video! youtu.be/qnHnMZ6JOCo

Here is a video of the first hour of the Avernum 4: Greed and Glory livestream I did today. I hack my way through the tutorial and talk about Avernum 4, how I design games, and how bad I am at playing them. Game's coming October 22. Steam link in video! youtu.be/D6Hn2J6QeLs

We have updated Queen's Wish: The Conqueror to v1.2! Our unique, innovative, turn-based RPG of empire management and family politics now has better graphics and monitor support. It's a really cool and unique game and if you haven't, it's worth a try. store.steampowered.com/app/1058130/...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory livestream! Today, 4-6 PM PST, I will be streaming our awesome new indie RPG and answering questions on our Steam page. Another stream same time on Sunday. Game out in one week! Find it here ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...

New Blog Post! I write about Avernum 4 finally being playable in Next Fest. (2901 demos. Yikes.) Plus I got a interesting interview from Macedonia (?), and I supplement it with lots of bonus thoughts about game design. Read here ... bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/avernum-4-...

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory demo is out for Steam Next Fest! Try our unique indie RPG and seek glory and fame in a strange, subterranean nation. (If it isn't destroyed, of course.) Our 31 year old cult classic series continues Oct. 22. Demo at ... store.steampowered.com/app/3882020/...