“No HR required”

This bloody book is killing me but it's going to be the best thing I've ever written (because I won't let it not be)

🎉 It's Heaven's Vault's 7th birthday today! 🎉 To celebrate we're sharing a first look at the next Heaven's Vault-related release from us the fourth (and final) book in the novellisation sequence. Here's the gorgeous cover, with art from @anastasiawyatt.bsky.social and design by @joe.inkle.co

I had such a brilliant time chatting to @jon.inkle.co and @sagarberoshi.bsky.social about world-building from material details, building plausible deniability into your settings, and how players love to be historians so you may as well embrace it with your narrative design. Give it a listen!

Editing a systems-driven narrative game

editing a novel // editing a narrative game

New Kaleidoscope day! This week's guest is a historian turned game writer, talking on world-building from material details, and building plausible deniability into your settings. ... and if you can't guess who it is from that, find out at 10am!

In a couple of weeks (the 27th) the InterfaceX Steam event will begin! We’re proud to have TR-49 representing the clunkier end of the fake OS game spectrum

🎉FINALLY this can be announced! 🎉 An intense few months of volunteering has produced something really special; the #InterfaceX26 festival! ✔️Steam front page feature ✔️150+ titles ✔️Game announcements ✔️Game launches ✔️Playable demos ✔️A full showcase on Saturday 2nd May Learn more: interfacex.net

they should invent a light that isn’t at the end of the tunnel

“I look out over the waterfall watching the water fall” Me, today, pretending I’m a proper writer, while producing lyrics worthy of Swift herself

The best one

I'm quietly (loudly?) becoming a fan of the new Kaleidoscope podcast. @jon.inkle.co & @sagarberoshi.bsky.social in conversation with writers, just talking about narrative design. Getting geeky, but keeping it accessible. A must listen for anyone writing any kind of interactive fiction.

A game can be about more than success or failure: it can be about fun. @wildwinter.bsky.social talks us through an example from live-action roleplay of a design that makes the player complicit in creating enjoyment. Listen to the whole episode here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope...

We have a cool Community & Social Media position open at Ninja Theory (18 month freelance contract) if that sounds like your cup of tea. Come work with me apply.workable.com/ninja-theory...

Good news for Switch owners picking up TR-49: Cecil has written a new description of how the machine *should* behave. He's feeding it in as we speak. The revision process will take an hour, tops? Put the kettle on. One sugar.

Save the date! On 13 April, exhibitor and speaker submissions open for AdventureX 2026. Be part of the UK’s only convention dedicated to narrative games. You can find details at adventurexpo.org. Follow us here and subscribe to our newsletter for updates. #AdvX26 #AdvX

On the subject of big technology fads, I met a renewables engineer last week who explained that there’s a use case for blockchain in energy tech; you can use it to mark where the electricity was generated in a distributed grid and pay the correct tariff; allowing for a local generation market

i'm not very good at linked in

Saw this last night; it was great

This week on the Game Narrative Kaleidoscope Podcast: Veteran narrative designer @wildwinter.bsky.social takes us on a wild tour of the boundaries of story design and LARPs. One for all, and all for one! Check it out here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope... ... or any-podcast-place!

So many smart snippets in our chat about dialogue writing with @hownottodraw.bsky.social last week, but here's one: on how we have to define how defined our character is to design choices that make sense. Check out the full conversation here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope...

Player character death breaks willing suspension of disbelief and harms the player experience.

Afternoon reading, y'all! Or anytime, really. Here's "Local vs. Global: Blending In by Standing Out", my essay from The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope book by @inkle.co, curated by @jon.inkle.co. [Versão em português no próximo post!] www.linkedin.com/pulse/local-...

Jon Ingold interview by @rosebehar.bsky.social about game writing, narrative design, and storytelling. I've picked up my copy of the brand new anthology craft book on those topics, Kaleidoscope. (Inkle's got a pirate game in the works, I hear.) #gamewriting #videogames #storytelling

I've been on a LOT of podcasts and I very often get talked over, patronised, and ignored, but talking to @jon.inkle.co and @sagarberoshi.bsky.social made me feel smart and interesting, and it was delightful. It was really lovely to be treated like a respected peer 🥲

This week on the Game Narrative Kaleidoscope Podcast: We talk to @hownottodraw.bsky.social about micro-branching: choices that don't have big story impacts, but give value in the moment. How do we use them well? Check it out here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope... ... or any-podcast-place!

“These things happen in a monarchy. They happen”

Loving the first episodes of www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Can't wait to pick up the book as well. Narrative designers should absolutely tune in. I don't think we get enough of this kind of shop talk on interview podcasts!

Lovely spelunk into the Kaleidoscope!

Sometimes, in narrative design, you have to embrace the chaos - that's how you know you're doing something ambitious. Check out the full conversation with @starkholborn.bsky.social here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope...

6th!

One reason I believe in the efficiency of good writing is that I’m currently sitting with 6 Roblox/YT-pilled ten year olds watching The Princess Bride (1987) and they’re transfixed

Having spoken to both these gents recently I would say - this is probably going to be good!

Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels don't have magic, but they do have dragons and Britishness and sailing ships.

Can I recommend: Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle (also, everything) Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (also, everything) Ursula le Guin's The Wizard of Earthsea (also, everything)

Happy to say I’ll be at @developconference.com this year talking about deduction as a form of exploration, with reference to TR-49 www.developconference.com/conference-p...

New GNK day!

I'm editing Play Unsafe on the train to London. It's a lovely book to read and I'm pretty proud of it. There are just under 500 followers on Kickstarter, so if you back it and get me over that number, you'll make me happy. www.kickstarter.com/projects/gra... #kickstarter #ttrpg

“You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted.”

They should Let It Go

The Big Debate: What role should AI have in video game narrative? A games writer and an AI game creator sit down for a serious talk. https://bit.ly/4rE7w3n

Procedural generation can mean a lot of work that no one notices - assuming it goes well. So the question is, says @joshscherr.bsky.social - do you know why you're doing it? Check out the full conversation here: www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope...

Recording a job that I’m VERY excited about today - only right that I use the correct mug for the situation @jon.inkle.co

The UK government has today published a Copyright and Artificial Intelligence report outlining that it is moving away from the proposed copyright exception for AI training, widely rejected by the creative industries. Read more 👇

Switch to get acclaimed eerie codebreaking game TR-49 very soon, and at a nice price www.eurogamer.net/inkle-tr-49-...

Josh is a great writer, with a tonne of hands-on experience of bark writing that we delve into in detail. (Also, a real passion for indie games!)

Play Unsafe, my book about how to play tabletop roleplaying games, is on Kickstarter now! It launched today and it's already funded. Go and back it! And please help by reposting this, spreading the word, etc etc. www.kickstarter.com/projects/gra... #kickstarter #ttrpg #crowdfunding

I kept notes during Heavens Vault of things I meant to pick up or develop for the sequel, which we never made. They’re feeding into the novels now instead, the last of which is currently going out chapter by chapter to a small group of beta readers. - landing twists set up 7 years ago.

Look at what came in the mail! @jon.inkle.co