We'd really like to hear what fans of rural life sims make of the dialogue system we're using in Mandrake. Is that you?

A lovely glimpse of Mandrake’s narrative here – how conversations with other characters looks and works, how your character’s traits affect it, and more. Working out how to write Failbettery narrative in a rural life sim wrapper has been very challenging!

the only reason I want followers is so I can tell people about cool things

Stayed up WAY too late playing this last night. Absolutely hypnotic. It’s like doing archaeology but on literature. And tangled family relationships. And possibly reality itself. Oh, and every now and again your spade develops sentience and tries to entomb you.

Stayed up WAY too late playing this last night. Absolutely hypnotic. It’s like doing archaeology but on literature. And tangled family relationships. And possibly reality itself. Oh, and every now and again your spade develops sentience and tries to entomb you.

I am reading his book right now and it is enormous fun.

Thank you J Scott Thurlow and @gamerant.bsky.social for this kind piece about Sunless Skies. After 400 hours it's possible he's seen every word in the game; a rare achievement considering the script is longer than the King James Bible.

Why do I like sword & sorcery? The limitless potential of its hodgepodge worlds Its maps are blank, full of liminal spaces Weird mysteries and great wonders lurk around every corner It is the physical space of a dream You engage with it in short bursts, ere that dream crumbles

Leigh Brackett was so goddamn cool. (From an excellent essay on her by @corabuhlert.bsky.social in issue 7 of the @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social magaizine.)

Will someone please come round and inflate my cat.

Here’s my writeup. Short’s early work is a testament to what totally solo development can produce. www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle...

🗡 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b... ⚔️

Ate a waffle 12 feet away from Danny John Jules.

I would like to request a new layer of Hell specifically for hotels that turn on TruMotion/Motion Smoothing on their TVs and then lock you out of the settings that would allow you to turn it off.

Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words. But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.

It was deeply cathartic to be asked to contribute some thoughts to this piece on the use of LLM chatbots in NPC dialogue. And a privilege to be among such insightful company. Very grateful to @samuelhorti.bsky.social for giving us so much breadth and depth to discuss such a hefty topic.

For anyone that was worrying that Mandrake might be too cute for their tastes x

I really liked Eternal Strands. Actively jealous of the premise, setting and characters. Well worth your time.

idk personally I like making things with my brain and my weird fingers

There's danger in the dark, but at least we're giving you a lantern. Here's art director Toby Cook with a look at how we're creating light and shadow in our upcoming rural life sim, Mandrake.

Brief window into selling decade-old games on Steam: my sales flatlined from 2022 to 2024, but have recovered in 2025, seemingly because of being on Bluesky. The increased attention here has drawn the notice of streamers who played Sir and so on, leading to wishlists and sales. Odd business.

This video made me giggle. Hannah having a normal one today.

i literally can't stop them from writing like this all the time

Our boiler broke at the weekend, and our house was FREEZING. But a very nice man called Barry from British Gas came around and fixed it. Anyway today I got a text asking for feedback on Barry, and possibly I shouldn’t reply to these things while still loopy on painkillers from root-canal.

We can only describe our character designs as preposterously luscious! Here's a detailed look at how we created the neighbours you'll be meeting in our upcoming game, Mandrake. #indiedev #indiegames (Please do share!)

It‘s always a treat to talk to @erionmakuo.bsky.social in-depth about her work. In Mandrake, character design, writing, and illustration are so tightly knotted that it’s impossible to tell where one ends and the next begins. Tons of gorgeous art in the link! store.steampowered.com/news/app/371...

Hob Halfling: fastidious, partial to tea. A friend.

I wrote this! I do hope you Fallen Londoners enjoy it.

In the popular end-of-year tradition, here's a thread of what you might have missed in Fallen London in 2025, and some plans for what we'll be doing in 2026.

Fallen London

Oo – I’ve been looking forward to the final version of this!

All the best to @digitalsungames.com who are entering Early Access with Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault today! Very charming, we can't wait to play.

Indie Marketing Tip of the day: There are VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS to the rule that you should not have a colon in your game's name almost certainly your game does not need whatever comes after the colon

What is Nighthawks? It's a vampire game where the vampires have been exposed to the world... but it's also different in tone from most. Vampire games tend to be cold and cynical, but this time, being a light in the darkness can be the real adventure. store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

Read more about Mandrakes, the naming of things, and how to introduce a new world to a player without going too weird, too fast in our recent blog post by @chrisgardiner.bsky.social. And if you, too, are enthralled by the magic of the Mandrakes then please drop us a wishlist; it's a great help!

Here are some real and actual facts about Mandrakes: - Their smell could drive away demons - It was a popular component of fertility spells - Witches used it in the unguents which gave them the power of flight So: the perfect plant to name our new game and its protagonist after. #indiedev

Big same.

I did a newsletter. But more importantly I DID A VIDEO. Riiiight out of my comfort zone, but entirely inspired and necessary because Doomsong is so fucking cool. Check it out (and also get yourself a copy of Wyrd Science issue 7):

Refuse to live in a world where I’m expected to pretend I understand what gilts are.

hey! i have space to do some freelance work next week! you want me to look at your steam page? you want to talk about indie game marketing and get some solid advice? let's talk!!

This is what we're talking about when we say we're excited to have honest-to-goodness sunlight in our new game, Mandrake.

Just seen some people are trying to spell “manoeuvre“ again. Please don’t. Someone could die. That word is only to be spelled by trained writers working in safe conditions and using specialist equipment.

I got to write another Exceptional Story for Fallen London!! Check it out!!!

This is your official warning that Halloween approaches and the best thing you could do with your TTRPG group for a one off blood-shrine-hunting Regency romp is to buy and read TEETH: Blood Cotillion now

You can read a full blog post about our visual development - and give us a wishlist - on Steam. It really helps!

We're making Mandrake, a rural life sim set in a beguiling new world inspired by British history and folklore. Now we're not in the Fallen London universe (Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies), we had the opportunity to add sunshine! And trees! 😮 🧵 #wishlistwednesday

92% funded! And at 100% we'll reveal the author & artist duo behind the 17,000 word bonus 'zine we're gunning to unlock as our first stretch goal... www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

reading through bits of fallen london: the roleplaying game for approvals is truly a delicious gift, i think you all are going to LOVE all the lore we're capturing *and* all the new things going into it

This policy is stupid, cruel, immoral, chaotic, pointless and – as if more was needed – economically illiterate and destructive. Adopting it requires lying to people about what it would actually entail, and the media choosing not to discuss its horrifying costs. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Imagine an AU where young (not)Genghis gets his shit kicked in by a rival, loses his throne, and becomes a hunted outlaw across all of (not)Asia, that's Orhan Timur. 1) you can read em in any order 2) Dariel is SO GOOD at writing action, small scale or large 3) he makes wizards so gross, goddamn