There's a lot going on rn, but there's less than a day left on the biggest discount for Bundle of Joy, my Wario-ware inspired narrative game about becoming a parent, over on @itch.io. I don't wanna play the "pity card" here, but I haven't sold a single copy this Winter sale lol, so tell ur friends!

Bundle of Joy falls within this category! Great shout out to this actual Steam curator (and not just the constant bot content on the platform).

There's a lot going on rn, but there's less than a day left on the biggest discount for Bundle of Joy, my Wario-ware inspired narrative game about becoming a parent, over on @itch.io. I don't wanna play the "pity card" here, but I haven't sold a single copy this Winter sale lol, so tell ur friends!

Bundle of Joy is included in this impressive compendium of 2025 games. S/o to @aguaspoints.bsky.social for always going out of his way to highlight my work!

Go Drew!!

Goddamnit…

"7 a.m. (New Year's Morning)," László Moholy-Nagy (c. 1930)

I 'spose I should reflect on the year: -Released my 1st commercial game -learned a lot of hard indiedev lessons... -got a new job -got another new job teaching full-time -got to do a lot of cool talks/workshops about technical narrative design -tickled my kiddos a lot Not a bad year, all in all.

his final message…

Yup! It’s particularly good for solo devs and small teams working with mid/low-end hardware. Which—if I had a to make a 2026 prediction—might become more common in the coming year.

It's hard to even imagine but @magfest.org is just over a week away! I'll be there with Pratt Game Arts and looking forward to seeing folks there. Definitely lmk if you're planning on being there and if you're boothing!

Essay Games is one of the 296. Sign the pledge. Stand up.

In maybe my final creative output for 2025, I put together this wrapping up the year blog post about minigames: www.essay-games.com/blog/2025-th... Far from an exhaustive list, I hope folks enjoy my humble lil' take. See you in 2026.

In maybe my final creative output for 2025, I put together this wrapping up the year blog post about minigames: www.essay-games.com/blog/2025-th... Far from an exhaustive list, I hope folks enjoy my humble lil' take. See you in 2026.

ICYMI, my games are bundled together for a pretty big discount: itch.io/s/175487/win... Biggest discount of Bundle of Joy to date, and %90 of sales go directly to Essay Games' future project development. Tell your narrative-game-sicko friends

As the backlash to generative AI in video games continues to pick up steam heading into 2026, it'll be fascinating to see what is considered "made with generative AI." Can a dev team say they're not using AI if they're writing design docs with Copilot or using chatGPT to make schedules and budgets?

Pretty disappointed in both @humblebundle.com and especially in @girlswhocode.bsky.social. Please teach girls how to code, don't push them into generative AI. That won't build their skills. Prioritize foundational programming skills and awaken their interest. "Tired of long days writing code"???

Why We're Boycotting Xbox: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybj1...

Seeing statements around Sandfall use of AI in my feed, and the old chestnut of “new tech accessibility” has reared its head. Let this be abundantly: Low-cost ≠ accessibility. AI is not a democratizing tool. Deskilling labor does not make it accessible, it just cheapens it.

I am seriously touched to have Bundle of Joy included in The Gamer's Games of the Year 2025 Editor's Picks. www.thegamer.com/game-of-the-... It's wonderful to be mentioned alongside some of my personal favorites of 2025. Thanks to @bensledge.co.uk for a much-needed boost at the end of the year.

Paul is the developer and maintainer of inkgd. His work and contributions have been so essential to my own work and tutorials. I’m sad to hear he’s been laid off, but I’m so eager to follow what he’ll do next. Any dev/studio would be lucky to have him.

I am seriously touched to have Bundle of Joy included in The Gamer's Games of the Year 2025 Editor's Picks. www.thegamer.com/game-of-the-... It's wonderful to be mentioned alongside some of my personal favorites of 2025. Thanks to @bensledge.co.uk for a much-needed boost at the end of the year.

Since Polygon is leaving it out of the headline: Epic Games partnered with The Game Awards to put money into the pocket of a bigot who uses her wealth to further the genocide of trans people through lawsuits and legislation. Every 'free' game gives money directly to JKR, and they are complicit.

I'm opening Unity to look at a student's final project code base and just to start a new project, the launcher has been running for about 15min. I'm so glad I don't actually develop in this garbage program anymore.

I’ve been prototyping a big game with a lot of mechanics and it’s been very fun. But yesterday I had this real urge to make something really small, poetic, and free/browser-based as a kind of act of resistance against my self for diving into commercial game development again.

First snow in Brooklyn

Tonight! Starting in just over an hour, Pratt Game Arts seniors will be presenting and showcasing their games at @boshis.place! Come by until 9pm and check out the amazing games being made by our awesome students!

Looking through some of the feedback from my sophomore studio this semester: "Really the most useful thing was play testing." "We should have playtested the game more often" "Dedicating even more time to playtesting" Yup, there it is, folks! Advice I should take to heart in my own projects.

Epic pays for licensing fees for the games they give away for free as promotions. Which means even if YOU aren't paying for it, you're giving money to JK Rowling to harm transgender people AND elevating her stature by giving her franchise higher numbers. NO TERF WIZARD GAME. NO TERF WIZARD SHOW.

I absolutely loathe the new iOS design. It’s unbelievably tacky.

god I gotta not log onto this site tonight, huh?

Why do ppl still watch the game awards? I’m not asking like marketing ppl, I’m asking games folks who have been outwardly critical of TGA and then also are organizing watch parties.

Attention to all those “Disney will bring down AI with their lawsuit” Nah, they just wanted a cut.

As folks are celebrating and sharing their Spotify wrapped or whatever, I'd encourage y'all to check out this great resource from folks at @boshis.place on alternatives and reconsidering using the platform: delete-spotify.neocities.org

🌄A LAND ONCE MAGIC IS OFFICIALLY OUT TODAY!✨ Order one of these beautiful physical books and/or a hand-stamped bag + notebook! The PDF is also out on my itch page! vidityavoleti.itch.io/a-land-once-... Make infinite worlds, never stop telling stories, create art with others!

Amazing trailer, truly a special game.

If only there were a cautionary tale about being too eager to accept the apparent time-saving capabilities of new technology.

Im in the fortunate position to donate this year! Hoping that in the coming year Essay Games can become a bronze or silver monthly member. Bundle of Joy and EG owe a lot to this engine and org!

I get the desire to defend narrative in games, and I play/make primarily narrative-driven games. But I hope for all my mutuals the ability to resist the urge to give known contrarians / academic genre-purists any additional oxygen in an industry struggling to breathe.

When we made our systemic game MirrorMoon EP about the manipulation of systems, the play of contingency, and the brokenness of machines, you commented, “Oh, so experimental games mean Portal guns now?” It traumatised us so much we’ve been making games exclusively about Italian politics ever since

I know that @lewisgordon.bsky.social already championed Bundle of Joy for @vulture.com, but it is very heart warming to see my lil’ game about becoming a dad during the pandemic featured in this incredible list: www.vulture.com/article/best...

I know that @lewisgordon.bsky.social already championed Bundle of Joy for @vulture.com, but it is very heart warming to see my lil’ game about becoming a dad during the pandemic featured in this incredible list: www.vulture.com/article/best...

Here’s my Spotify Wrapped 🎵✨

Go to whatever preferred non-censoring game platform and get a copy of Horses to help support @santaragione.com! Even if you KNOW this game isn't your cup of tea, if you believe in the artistic merit of games as a medium, then put your money where your mouth is (if you can rn obvi).

I have inevitably reached that point in starting to build my next project where I start to design interactions and stop for a long time to think about handling multiple inputs. Needless to say, this moment always kinda hurts my brain.

Continuing to work on some prototyping stuff...! Need to work on some smoothing of the jump movement, but the initial concept is getting there...? Next up is adding rewards for exploring nooks and crannies and building out the NPCs / narrative flow that sets the initial challenge dice amount.

I am proud of myself for committing to riding my bike to work everyday up through the start of December, even on days when it’s drizzling. Don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to brave the elements, but happy to have made it this far into the year.

Such an amazing early holiday present: going to the capitals/islanders game with my eldest.

It’s itch.io Creator Day! Might I entice you to purchase my lil’ wario ware-like, semi-autobiographical game about becoming a dad during the pandemic: essaygames.itch.io/bundle-of-joy

🚨 Creator Day is LIVE! 🚨 For the next 24 hours we are waiving our platform fee! Creators will get the most they can from each transaction. Support your favorite developers and check out over 15,000 projects participating in our Black Friday sale itch.io