If I had to offer some advice to writers about introducing characters, it's to assume that your audience loves your villains and hates your heroes by default. When you introduce those characters, you have to change everyone's mind.

We all know the best food is A Baguette With A Bit Too Much Butter on it.

picked this up on sale over the weekend, and I'm having such a good time. peter wagner, the man that you are 👀 love when a character seems to have been engineered in a lab specifically for me

I'll be in London for the Games Finance Market in the week beginning April 13th. Let me know if anyone wants to meet up!

Some really great design in Australia Did it. Not surprising as it's a @ramiismail.com affair! The demo is out already. store.steampowered.com/app/2396130/...

I thought her name was pink parenthesis.

Reading about Vikings for my novel set in the Borders and I love how nervous these guys always look in the original art.

My game Best Served Cold is part of the Steam Detective Fest! I loved writing these characters. Grab it cheap! store.steampowered.com/app/3218530/...

Hey nice! @eurogamer.bsky.social picking Nivalis as one of the most anticipated games of 2026. Can't wait till you all get to play my weird game! youtu.be/q_s4_reeikw?...

I've been doing this SGDA Scottish government accelerator program for people starting their own game studios, and someone came up to me and asked, "Hey... were you CalmDownTom?"

Aww nice. My game Best Served Cold on a "best games of 2025" list by NPR! www.npr.org/2025/12/03/n...

Happy to say that next week I officially start the SGDA accelerator program for starting a new studio! So, you know, no announcements just yet.... But read between the lines and follow me here if you're a composer, 2D artist, voice actor or narrative-type person!

Just how wild was this shrew?

I have a new game out today! I loved writing all the weird characters in Service with a Shotgun. It was a privilege to help Nolyn finish his game, and I was very excited to come onboard and make this fun game even funerer. @silverliningint.bsky.social store.steampowered.com/app/3777020/...

Had a great time at OH Con this weekend. Did a few talks that went really well, met some amazing authors and keen young writers, and saw brilliant costumes. The best part for me was the welcoming vibe from the organisers and their enthusiasm for the event. Thanks for having us Stornaway!

Really excited to travel up to Stornaway for Oh!Con today. On Saturday I'll be doing 2 workshops - one for new fantasy writers and games writers looking to get started, the other for writing nonviolent games with engaging dialogue.

I'm speaking at @GamesTalksLive next week. Words can be more exciting than bullets! Come learn how to make cyberpunk games without guns, cops or cyborg gun cops. (Works on other genres too!) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sgda-prese...

Did a wee reading of my weird time travel story at the Tantallon Tìr Book Launch. Glad to see a new Scottish publisher pop up in these chaotic times. @tantallontir.bsky.social

You can't joke about anything anymore. Because you signed a multi figure contract with the Saudi government that said they wouldn't pay you if you did.

I told my daughter I am talking at her careers day tomorrow. She asked if I will talk about corndogs.

Happy 38th birthday, KNIGHTMARE, the hardest game show on television! In 1987, Treguard the Dungeon Master welcomed the first team of adventurers to his blue screen labyrinth. Losers didn’t just fail, they 'died': blades, spikes, and bottomless pits abounded. "Ooh, nasty..."

VideoGames Glasgow Soapbox meetup on now with @calmdowntom.bsky.social

Tonight! Glasgow Games Soapbox at @glasgowschoolofart.bsky.social degree show, in association with VideoGames Glasgow sit.gsa.ac.uk/post/glasgow... @calmdowntom.bsky.social @glasgowindiegamesfest.org

When two words sound the same but have a different meaning it’s called a

Check out the latest trailer for the atmospheric gothic horror game Eyes Of Hellfire, as it has been released into Early Access today. #EyesOfHellfire #horror

Amazing conversation on the bus to the Chappell Roan gig. Bus full. Everyone wearing pink cowboy hats. The bus says Chappell Roan on the front. "When should we get off?" "When... When everyone else does..."

ME: *writing in my journal with the sole aim of pissing off future historians and archaeologists* I returned to my home - which is built in the usual style - by the normal way, and prepared and ate dinner in the way I often but not always do

For the Guardian, I spoke to Speculative Agency about All Will Rise, a card game about environmenral activism that hopes to show that community will win out. Thanks again for having me, @meghna.bsky.social 😗 www.theguardian.com/games/2025/a...

Crisol is PLAYABLE this weekend at Gamescom inside the Games from Spain booth in Hall 10.2. Are you feeling brave enough?

I did a wee interview about writing for Tantallon and my upcoming short story in their collection! tantallontir.com/author-spotl...

Make sure your RPG battle transitions, scene composition, and attack animations are at least as cool as this Taiwanese DOS RPG from 1995

French history archive nerds: any idea about exactly where I would find a list or record of the dead (unidentified or otherwise) displayed in La Morgue on the Île de la Cité, circa 1853? RTs welcome!

As a parent I don't want face scans for adult websites. I want the government to force Facebook, YouTube and other massive tech companies to be held accountable for the millions of hours of disturbing content they show to kids every day.

A percentage of the profits from AI should be paid to all working artists whose work has been stolen (used as training) as UBI. Long term this would benefit even the AI companies as artists wouldn't be put out of work and the algorithms wouldn't regress to training on itself, regurgitating AI slop.

Had a lovely time speaking at @glasgowindiegamesfest.org this evening. Great event with an impeccable vibe.

Our sound (and audio for games) tutor Daniel 'Danski' Neil (Team FOLON) will be talking about Mods in the morning, and visiting lecturer @calmdowntom.bsky.social (Cloudpunk/Nivalis) about video game writing in the evening. Drop by and say hello!

Society if Gü made their ramekins stackable.

The most positive masculinity I've seen was a man swapping shoes with his girlfriend and wearing her heels on the walk home cos her feet were sore.

Stand by this: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

✨ It's finally time. The fifth Queer Games Bundle is live now. For $60 (or $10+), get over 600 games, TTRPGs, zines, and more. Support over 300 queer artists for their survival and future art. itch.io/b/3062/

The Eyes of Hellfire beta begins in just 2 days! Gather your friends and hike up to the Lodge (on Steam)

Thank you friend! Always appreciate your support.

still my most anticipated game, i'm so excited for how this is coming together! please wishlist Nivalis!

Nivalis is looking absolutely stunning, can't wait to go back to the city. Cloudpunk hit so hard when it released, possibly boosted a bit by being stuck indoors; but what stays with me and should be seen by each prospective GAMEDEV is the writing in it.

Here's a new trailer for Nivalis. Can't wait for people to meet the games cast of lovable weirdos! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ5p...

I'm going to be speaking at @glasgowindiegamesfest.org about why you should write buddy cops in your games. Even if they're not buddies. Or cops! Hope to see some of you there. Let me know if you want to chat!

Here's the trailer for another cool game I'm working on. Service with a shotgun! You can even play the demo right now! www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTnS...

This is a big deal. I have to make a good first impression with this one... Attached file: picth.docx

I have a creepy story in this collection of new Scottish fiction! tantallontir.com/product/274-...