Reminder that from the beginning of next year I’m available for work! Writing, narrative design, historical & narrative consultancy, research, teaching. I’m particularly fond of applying historical approaches to worldbuilding & storytelling in interactive mediums

Reminder that from the beginning of next year I’m available for work! Writing, narrative design, historical & narrative consultancy, research, teaching. I’m particularly fond of applying historical approaches to worldbuilding & storytelling in interactive mediums

My favourite walk in autumn 🍂

It's cool how we keep proving over and over and over again that there's a significant market for narrative-heavy, character-driven, single-player experiences in video games and publishers just categorically refuse to believe us

My eyesight is shit, my hearing is appalling, but one thing I do have is a very good sense of smell. And let me tell you, 90% of the time it is a curse.

For the past decade, I've been slowly cooking a small and humble book. Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been. ZEN AND SLOW GAMES Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...

It’s so wonderful to see hope win an election and not hate.

It’s too warm. It’s too warm for November and it’s too warm to wear the knitwear I want to wear and I hate it

Saw Frankenstein, didn’t really like it but A+ coffin design

Halloween may be over, but there's still many dark, rainy nights ahead... #TroutPriest #IndieGame #Spooky

I’d say one of my favourite hobbies is telling people outside of academia what usual academic wages are.

Stuck an earlier episode of Midsomer Murders on, and it showed that a priest and his deacon were gay and in a relationship by lingering on a badly photoshopped photo of them in speedos with their big cross necklaces on and arms around each other on a beach. Honestly, iconic

Someone please let me write a Midsomer Murders game. Just some nonsense like, ‘A farmer selling off land to property developers causes a stir in the village, particularly with local pagan cider makers. Is it the land they wish to protect, or the secrets it may hold…’

Well-meaning Americans in my mentions: kindly do not recommend extremely illegal actions that could land people in the UK with a ten year prison sentence

Playing Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 again and god these games are just pure joy.

🍂 🦆

Celebrated tonight by eating a jam doughnut over the sink

I’m not sure what it says about me that two of my biggest Taskmaster crushes are Mike Wozniak and Reece Shearsmith. Probably that my “type” is “unusual middle aged man in a suit”. I feel disappointed in myself

Officially awarded my PhD today 🥲

If you did paid work for a game you shouldn’t be in “special thanks”

One thing about a PhD is that although it takes fucking ages to do one, you then have like ten different moments to celebrate it being “done”

BREAKING: Yesterday Grand Theft Auto VI maker Rockstar Games fired dozens of people, all of whom were involved in union efforts. A British union calls it "blatant and ruthless" union-busting. Take-Two Interactive says it was due to misconduct. Here's the scoop: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It would mean a huge amount to me if people looked through this thread, shared it, and (if you’re able) set up a monthly donation with the fund 💜

Continue your adventure with Tunic: Design Works! 🦊 @finjico.bsky.social Uncover the secrets of Tunic's development (and even some of our own!) in our latest Design Works edition by award-winning writer Christian Donlan ⚔️ Deluxe Editions closing 8th January 2026: lostincult.co.uk/tunic

Outfit for staying in and ordering pizza but make it Halloween 🎃 🩻

Spending Halloween listening to a podcast recap Lars von Triers Antichrist and really questioning my decisions.

It would mean a huge amount to me if people looked through this thread, shared it, and (if you’re able) set up a monthly donation with the fund 💜

The Newham Solidarity Fund has officially been going for half a decade this October!

Halloween costume ready for the party :)

One of my favorite buildings, and has lots of small nods to others with the design elements.

Getting my Halloween costume together for tonight :)

More spaces to talk about the craft without having to spend £££

Just yesterday I was talking about starting a new Animal Crossing island and wondering what that said about the state of my mental health, and now Nintendo are full on enabling me

I uploaded my thesis yesterday and I triple checked so many times I hadn’t done this. But tbh, a part of me is sad I didn’t because this is legend behaviour.

Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.

Hi! My friend Natalie is having a really hard time supporting her kids right now. It would make me so happy if you could donate to help her keep going: gofund.me/17705d028

Thought I looked chic but actually I looked ✨ beige✨

Two things you will probably get when I write for a game- Some veiled nod to historical methods A 17th century alchemy reference

So excited to be contributing an essay to this book. I’ll be covering one of my all time favourite games, Year Walk I’ll be discussing memory, perspectives on inevitability, folklore, and (of course) history

Delighted to announce Heartbeats, Dreams and Laser Eyes: 15 Years of Simogo, and equally thrilled to be working with @hollynielsen.bsky.social, @nadiaoxford.bsky.social, @illogicaljoker.bsky.social and Christian Donlan, who will be contributing essays to the book. Preorder at the link below!

Everyone needs to wish @hownottodraw.bsky.social a very happy birthday 🎂✨ My best friend, a wonderful and thoughtful person who gives the best presents, AND is also incredibly funny and super talented?? WOW

I thought I was struggling with occasional writer’s block and instead it was actually a symptom of burnout and a trauma disorder. Neither of which an AI can (or should) help with.

Adverts for writing jobs where you’re training genAI really feels like “get low pay to build your own guillotine!”

Thank you so much for the cups of tea!! Genuinely very touched.

I’m dressing as a game dev for Halloween and I’m torn between making it funny and also wanting to keep working in what remains of this industry.

Back in London and grumpy that I’m no longer in the countryside and not going to be falling asleep to the sounds of tawny owls tonight.

I love how Victorian this train station is

So I thought I’d set up a ko-fi as a few people have asked if I have one. Might be nice to have a way for people to send over a few quid if they’ve found my work helpful/interesting and feel like doing so (never an obligation or expectation for anyone to do that though) ko-fi.com/drholly

It was massive fucking hill day (With a nice pint later no doubt)