my perverse alternate criteria: games I based a major life decision on, at least in part... but did not help make. Some got me through personal hells, some may have dealt me lasting damage... and darling, they ain't mutually exclusive

literally nobody needs to hear this, but: The Blues Brothers makes terrifying, decades-later sense... if you frame the titular siblings as siren-like vampires existing canonically in the Sinners universe

Be careful what you wish for... The extraordinary @questiongames.bsky.social have released the trailer for The Killing Stone, a project I am immensely proud to be a part of. Play EA on @steampowered.com so you too can dance with @voiceofobrien.bsky.social - er - the Devil, I mean 😈

So excited to announce that Strange Scaffold is sponsoring the Frosty Games showcases this year. The degree to which ANZ teams go above and beyond to not just contribute to the medium, but also better the ecosystem of making games, can't be overstated!

Update 1 for @thekillingstone.com is live. Some bug fixes, but: we've added Simplified Chinese 中文, Latin American Spanish, French, & German! I'm lighting a candle for the hyper-committed, thoughtful translators at LocQuest, now each is individually credited.🕯️🫀 store.steampowered.com/news/app/278...

Hi folks. If you liked The Killing Stone's early access build, and aren't on our Discord, where we've already whispered this in your ear ad nauseam - mind leaving a positive review for us? It's fine to just say "@voiceofobrien.bsky.social as the Devil - WOULD." or something, you're in the majority❤️‍🔥

My friend and dear heart @maxfolkman.bsky.social today reminded me of the most important (game or otherwise) writing document, Mamet’s memo to his writers on The Unit. It is my Bible. It is what all of us aspire to screencraft.org/wp-content/u...

Wonder what happened to all the brilliant new ideas genAI was going to help bring to life. We’re over two years in now, anybody seen any?

Now that I've finished my manuscript, I'm looking for literary agents that represent LGBTQ/Urban Fantasy (and even some Romantasy) elements. Would appreciate the recommendations so I can start the query process!

And @bhvr.com for facilitating! 🫀

this game rules play The Killing Stone y'all

This is what the period / plain scripts look like in our middleware. To make it work with localization, VO & non-VO lines: @occultgamedev.bsky.social and @dphrygian.com had to endure their own ur-mythic struggle, wading in vs. a hydra-like problem w/ nothing but a fistful of electrons. They rule. 💪♥️

Here’s a ref song I sent @voiceofobrien.bsky.social before his first recording session for TKS, as our Devil. Like me - his work involves words, so he understands their severe limitations, far as feelings go. 🪽 music.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe2... May Monday avail you, against all your Adversaries.

I know there are a lot of sites out there these days so I just want to thank everyone who has been kind enough to read or share my work on here. Right now, this is my escape and I’m just trying to find my writing groove again after a lot of doubt so I really appreciate the support. 🖤

twitch chatter, thou art insatiety itself. This would, of course, destroy us utterly to implement. But I respect the naked gluttony of it. Tell me that you're an escaped goblin of academia without telling me, etc. 🤓

If you follow me, statistically you have a *way* higher chance of making this happen than the average person. Just sayin'

Don't mind me, but I really want to play a new game where you get to throw bodies over your shoulder, then dump them into a dark corner to hide them from guards. Know what I mean? 😊

But that idea has stuck around in my brain ever since. And now we've finally done it in The Killing Stone. CJ (artist) and Gretchen (engineer/designer) built a scare system, and it has added so much life to the level. It's very fun as a gamedev to be surprised by something in your own game.

Heyyy he's on Bluesky now. Give him a follow, VO / acting nerds 💖

the worst thing for me is. Imagine you lost a bunch of expert carpenters and you had to learn carpentry from scratch with no teachers, no youtube. That’s what the industry is currently doing. just getting rid of the folks who know the craft, and retaining the folks who know how to parasite

He's not on bluesky, but the poised, ultraprofessional George Ackles directed our VO sessions and helped break down my hot roast nonsense into digestible parts. Also, his ear for verse led to some edits! We credit Liam and Emma often, but George deserves many flowers.💝 www.imdb.com/name/nm38093...

Bee tee dubs, if you're hesitant to buy games in Early Access, I get it! I am right there with you. Please give us a wishlist in that case, and check it out later! store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

Don't disappoint Potato! Our game, The Killing Stone, is out! store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

Have you done your part today? The Killing Stone is now in early access: store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

Indie dev friends, if you aren't already - you need to reach out and follow @willovergard.bsky.social right now. Noone will treat your game with better care, or help people understand what's magical about it. His love for this utterly absurd thing you've chosen to do with your life cannot be faked.

Pretty clear I need to make good on my threats and re-cut The Killing Stone's trailer with all the 17th century versions of the same lines. More ancestral sickos out there than I thought, ready to drink that full-fat mercury 💀

they should make more pillars of eternity

Okay the fact that you can configure Period English or Modern English in The Killing Stone is undeniably pretty rad I have it set to read the period English audibly but it displays on screen in modern English so I can get the best of both worlds

I mean, yeah. Muto was obsessed with One Eye from the start.

If you've picked up The Killing Stone today, thank you so much! And if I could ask a small favor, please leave us a review on Steam! It helps a lot with ThE aLgOrItHm.

I am a genius at pitching games, nothing I can’t sell, people No elevator is safe to enter- because I’m already in there, selling to the mere idea of you 😎

A spot of industry banter and then FINALLY its time for The Killing Stone JOIN US: www.twitch.tv/viking_blonde/

We made a game! I think it's a pretty good game! You can buy it now, for less than a Hamilton! Or wishlist it for later! Both of those things help! And after you've played it, would you be a dear and leave a review? store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

A streamer with a very strong grasp of the period language is giving our game a whirl if you'd like to tune in. www.twitch.tv/vfig

Yeah there are a lot of games where you can pet the dog, but in The Killing Stone, you can BOOP the dog. Our animator is the best.

Hi story folks: if you liked Bioshock 2's guilt-haunted characters, trying to simply exist in the shadow of 'greatness' - or Thief's pagan themes, writhing beneath modernity's mask... Try @thekillingstone.com. 🫀 youtube.com/watch?v=7yUKo2_GJHo&feature=youtu.be store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

If you know this video of the brilliant Anna-Maria Hefele - or just love music that seems at once to defy the laws of physics & exalt them: She graciously agreed to add custom thematic vocals + a new song performance to @thekillingstone.com - out now on Steam early-access. youtu.be/vC9Qh709gas?...

The Killing Stone is OUT NOW in Early Access 🃏 Occult Card Battler 👺 17th Century Occult Horror Mystery 📖 Modern and 17th Century English 🎙️ Starring @emmagregoryvoice.bsky.social & @voiceofobrien.bsky.social Can you beat the Devil at his own game? store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/

ok this language option in The Killing Stone is really neat and honestly a point of replayability for me.

I thought JT was crazy for this idea, but it absolutely makes sense when I see it all in context. Also, our voice actors (Emma Gregory, who you may know from Baldur's Gate 3, and Liam O'Brien, who you may know from Critical Role) performed each of their lines in BOTH VERSIONS.

We work with a really lovely team. Internal and external, folks have gone above and beyond for us without being asked, on The Killing Stone. The care that people have put into this odd, specific, artsy little project. I don't have a clever button for this thought, I'm just so grateful to know 'em.

I'm unabashedly in love with early access, for all its very real hazards. The way that indie games 'grow', it's a far more honest, realistic way to make one (w/ reduced price). YMMV. But twice now for us, the insight from early access players has been utterly transformative. I love 'em in my bones.

Gretchen @gcmaybe.bsky.social has owned the macro layer of this game, especially on the engineering front. This is a big game, it is hard to keep all the pieces in mind. She is able to see the big picture and how everything will or won't fit together, when the rest of us are lost in the weeds.

Nick @occultgamedev.bsky.social has carried the engineering side of our narrative-heavy game, working with a third-party library and managing localization. He was also the first gameplay engineer on this game, building the player controller and inventory systems for whatever we might make.

The Killing Stone releases in Early Access this Wednesday, February 18. Tell your deck-builder friends, your odd associates, your word nerds and gothic horror fans to get ready, it's almost time to beat the devil. Wishlist on Steam and join the countdown. store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

Happy Valentine's Day! It would be pretty sweet if you wishlisted The Killing Stone! store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

If you're playing The Killing Stone (demo, or playtest, or press build) and the AI makes an unexpectedly powerful move, please tag me with the phrase "David's AI is a jerk." They're already doing it to me here at Question.

If y'all are in a place to hire a designer, you should absolutely hire Kim.

Hey, how're those Lemming sculptures coming along? Good, I gave them *really* robust butts. Excellent...Wait. What?

A thing about localizing a cryptic, symbols & implications-based script to EFIGS, Chinese etc is: you *will* have to explain your bullshit to innocent translators. Yes, your dorky inner Magician will die inside- yet you'll also be motivated to re-translate your starting text to ...well, English 🤡