It would be almost impossible to launch a game like Zombies, Run! today – we'd be crowded out of the App Store charts, and being featured provides far fewer downloads than before. We were fortunate in launching during the time when people were willing to try out new things – and pay for them!

Wild shit at Berlin airport. Check in systems are down which means that when you board, they don’t scan your boarding pass. Instead someone reads your name and seat number over a speakerphone to someone else who types it into a computer and says yes or no. It’s just like BSG!

I feel like if you’re going to take over a major section of a city centre for a private event (eg Berlin Marathon) you should probably make sure that the pedestrian crossing points marked on the official map are actually operational

I was recently talking to someone who spends a lot of time teaching, and he kept doing this annoying thing where he’d ask me an open question: “why do you think X is this way?” I’d give a whole general answer and then he’d say “but don’t you think it’s actually A, B and C?”

I'm giving a talk on writing better dialogue tonight! It's at 10.30pm BST, to the HealthyGamerGG community: members.healthygamer.gg/c/community-... Come along to see how coherent I can be after being woken at 4.30am to drive a toddler round in pursuit of a nap.

Wish I could go to this – but that means you can go instead!

Listening to Ezra Klein's latest, it's clear he feels he has a lot in common with Kirk as a political commentator, so the only thing he is able to say now is "I don't think there should be political violence" because he is personally terrified

Apparently The Wizard of Oz (Sphere's Version) is making $2m/day and could gross up to a billion during its entire run. The venue also gets to keep more of the gross versus sharing it with bands. But the real lesson here is that making hyper-bespoke content for a single venue is awful business.

Fascinating to see Minecrafters reinventing how to roleplay in this 1000 player social experiment/movie. Definite crossover with RP servers and larp! Yet there's also a blurring of the lines between players' real identities and in-game characters, which is bound to cause tears (via Simon Carless)

Punchdrunk’s new immersive video game-like show has been delayed a couple of months to November… 👀

I'm running a panel on larp with some absolute superstars of the field at next month's Immersive Experience Network summit! @mikepohjola.bsky.social of Turku Manifesto fame! Laura Kröger of the epic sci-fi blockbuster Odysseus! @rebelrehbinder.bsky.social of UK larp makes Omen Star!

Holy shit, it’s Death on the Nile meets Return of the Obra Dinn: The Larp deathanddenial.nl

As ever, @jonathanliew.bsky.social is the best writer at The Guardian

Russia is gamifying espionage in the War in Ukraine, with agents creating fictional games and asking kids for location-stamped pictures of police cars and ambulances. “It’s like Pokémon Go, but for money.” Truly evil shit. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/o...

Apparently this will be the first play-at-home Jubensha made in the UK – very intriguing! h/t @kathrynyu.com

New translation dropped!

A run for the ages. He faltered a little bit right before the end but his last year was still strong!

Trying to figure out the difference between masquerades and masques when scholars indiscriminately call everything a masque is absolutely infuriating, what are we doing here people?!?

Me reading a medieval English family’s correspondence about an improvised play they like, with multiple generations all called John: this is a real The Roottrees Are Dead situation

Trying to decide where to shoehorn “the action is the juice” into my book on the history of immersive experiences. Probably the bit about tournaments!

Love this writeup! Come for all the deets on the puzzles, stay for how well it chimes with Zohran’s uplifting message that good chance is possible…

I should visit this, but…

This is delightful!

I'm a little put out by how the writers and commenters here look so favourably on medieval jousting's move from re-enactment to "legitimate sport". Why is that a good thing? We all know what comes with pro sports. A fun spectacle, yes, but also money and exclusion.

WHAT?!?!?

There was speculation that Punchdrunk's upcoming Lander 23 immersive experience would involve generative AI due to the involvement of Meaning Machine, but according to Felix Barrett, it doesn't. He remains interested in using AI to support and enhance shows, however.

This is the inevitable consequence of believing there is next to no value in fostering good online spaces for children to talk with each other and play, let alone in the real world. It's part of a century-long process that saw open space and playgrounds transformed into commercial Kidzanias.

A couple of years ago, I gave a very informal talk at Six to Start on What Makes Good Dialogue. Today, I found my personal recording of it on an old hard drive. It's pretty silly but I think 2023-Matt makes some decent points, too. Maybe you'll find it useful. youtu.be/CIILp4f1PqU?...

What’s a good citation manager that integrates with Google Docs? Zotero seems decent enough but I’m wondering if there are options I’ve missed.

Blown away by The Cranes are Flying at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Fun introduction by Kevin Macdonald... plus I got to sit next to Thelma Schoonmaker, of all people!

If you're at all intrigued by Nordic Larp, details for next year's conference are out! It's from 16-19 April in Gothenburg, Sweden. I had a great time at the last conference and learned a lot. The call for articles for the conference book is already open, and the call for sessions opens 2 Nov.

I really think we should bring back booing to the theatre. Let audiences express their disapproval!

Master and Commander: Pacific Starcruiser

This FT piece on Curtis Yarvin is a particularly rich text in the growing "larp as political metaphor" corpus. For several years, Yarvin has claimed that almost all political action – by politicians and citizens alike – is "larp". www.ft.com/content/0e24...

Punchdrunk Lander 23 tix obtained, though I had to go for the VIP option because everything was sold out: "VIP secures access to the best craft in the Centre for Astrobiology’s fleet [and] additional features and side missions." The VERY limited availability raises questions of sustainability...

The immersive artists I informally call "the Children of Punchdrunk" have been experimenting with overt game mechanics in their work for a long time, so it's fascinating to see Punchdrunk finally debut this oft-teased video game/theatre hybrid!

Just finished reading this! Pretty decent when it sticks to the topic of Disney Adults: who they are, why they get into Disney, how Disneyland engenders it, interviews, etc. Gets weaker when it ventures into corporate analysis and speculation, but worth a read if you're into this sort of thing!

Interesting survey of the UK immersive sector (free but gated by signup). Everyone is hurting for venues, annoyed at the lack of Arts Council and state funding, Secret Cinema is back to doing smaller stuff, Punchdrunk is planning tech-heavy, family-focused stuff. But I was bemused by one part...

Random thoughts on experimenting with Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Research lately: - Any time I am tempted to use something it writes verbatim, I regret it. Even if it sounds good, there’s something disturbing about how it doesn’t fully align or integrate with my wider thoughts.

Actually a bit scared by how good and polished @stecurran.bsky.social's new Mindset Go! puzzle game is. Then again, since it's bound to be cloned instantly, the only defence is to make it as accessible and shiny and free as possible! (also the web version works *great* on mobile!)

I'm speaking at the Playable Theatre Symposium about how Nordic(ish) larp is influencing the UK immersive sector! It's all online on Sat Aug 16th at 1:30pm ET / 6:30pm UK. (the schedule doesn't show me but I promise I'm on that Global Scenes: UK panel!)

This is your regularly scheduled reminder that Disney's profit from Experiences (theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, etc.) is more than Sports (ESPN) and Entertainment (movies, TV, etc.) *combined*.

@stecurran.bsky.social very cool to see your EDGE feature today!

How was there an Expanded and Remastered version of the Sneakers soundtrack in 2023 and I didn’t hear about it?! Almost 1.5 hours of new music!! 😭

Turns out the guy who runs TRMNL is an asshole who loves Elon and Trump, so I just cancelled my order. Oh well!

Honoured and excited to be interviewing Katy Naylor for the book launch of the amazing Voidspace in Conversation on Sat 13th Sept in London! It's a free event with wine and nibbles and the whole @voidspacezine.bsky.social family, come along!

I'm a little skeptical of Tate's explanation for why its visitor numbers dropped so much in 2024. Visits from people outside the UK dropped by ~40% vs 2019. They highlight a major drop in visits from young people from the EU – but that was also around 40%, which means you can't put it all on them.

another primer to what’s been happening this past week. thanks to all the journalists who’ve been covering this

These share.google links infesting social media and chat are driving me up the wall, I need them destroyed with extreme prejudice. I’m not saying we need a shaming campaign for anyone who shares them, but I’m not not saying that either…

I have a lot of sympathy for Itch. Ultimately they’re at the mercy of payment processors, and that’s where pressure has to be applied. Things are still moving on the BAFTA letter, for what it’s worth!