More game design thoughts with me getting into my fascination and frustration around the various potential overlaps between so many play spaces (larp, theatre, escape rooms, etc) chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/22/w...

Posting this again. Not enough electricity left to build affordable homes in 3 west London boroughs, because all capacity has been used by a data centre. #affordablehousingUK www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/repo...

Getting through a blog backlog (a bblockg?) Some thoughts about some structures or 'containers' that play occurs in, including ones utilised by events wanting to emulate or suggest play whilst not dedicating the time and attention needed... chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/a...

If you're partnering with an IP, please do not partner with one owned and operated by a known bigot. Obviously, JKR is a ravenous transphobe, but this really goes for any and all forms of hate. Just be better. Don't, as a company or individuals, give money to bad people. Shame on Ultimate Guard.

Getting through more thoughts/reflections on the various places I visited earlier this year and how they all helped people to play... chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/w...

I've been away from bsky for a bit (not intentional, just other things in life drawing focus and me simply not being around here), but to those who've been in touch asking for help: i'll do what I can, you're not writing into a void I promise, there are people who hear you and want to help

(Not on socials much atm - getting back into the swing of work/ figuring out various work-life balance bits, *but* still have many unpublished blogs to share!) Thoughts on the importance of putting your playable thing in *the right context*: chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/a...

Even more escape room thoughts! I genuinely think there's something really exciting to be potentially developed in increasingly narrative and theatrical rooms... chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/w...

The headline I've been sharing with folks since returning from my big research trip has been 'ahhhh Dutch escape rooms ahhhh' - so I've written a couple of posts digging into their design, here's the first: chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/07/07/h...

Playing my first day-long megagame tomorrow! (Den of Wolves being run over in Reading) So, so excited and already assuming this will open up another gaming hobby I need to fit into my life...

I got to share Support Group for the Newly Human at @voidspacezine.bsky.social Live last weekend and I've reflected on how all my design changes played out, and what might happen with future versions: explorealongame.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/s...

Making a poster for your TTRPG Actual Play or cast announcment? Can I please recommend using a colour contrast checker? I see so many graphics which don't pass accessibity checks. colourcontrast.cc

Planning on doing essentially a mini game giveaway at @voidspacezine.bsky.social Live tomorrow. Will bring my many escape-room-in-an-envelopes/puzzle boxes/narrative puzzle games (that I've played but studiously never written on etc so they're all in playable states), anyone who wants can have one!

Gutted to have missed day 1 of @voidspacezine.bsky.social Live in favour of (checks notes) nausea/headaches/shaking/dizziness (which is finally easing off), fingers crossed I'm properly recovered for tomorrow! if you were there today tell me about your best bits!

PRIDE IS AN ACRONYM Personal RIghts through Defense & Education (It's 1st really radical queer org--1966! It prefigured the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), ACT-UP, Queer Nation, etc, maybe laid the seeds for Stonewall...) ❤️‍🔥🔥💚💙💜🤎🖤💗💙 Pride is inherently radical. ht @revterrywilliams.bsky.social

Jonathan Joss' husband Tristan has released another statement saying that donations to their old home GoFundMe are not needed at this time and would ask for everyone to direct their energy towards spreading the message about how he was in fact murdered in a hate crime

It can't be overstated how much seeing things like this will make a designer's day, maybe even their week. And do what this person did! Your reviews on itch aren't public so you need to post them as a comment as well!

It's still Free Palestine, today and every day, from the river to the sea, until Palestine is free.

I was asked for an overview of the things I went to/played/saw etc over my recent research trip, so I've done my best to write one! chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/06/04/w...

Imma really, *really* need sellers at future cons to brief everyone on their stalls *properly* about whether their items contain AI-generated images. Deeply fucking aggravating - having asked before purchasing (because some demo materials looked potentially sus)...

Enough of this racist fiction. Enough. Not a single non-white person in England is in a job in the NHS *because* they are non-white. Not a single one. And as for the idea that England's criminal justice system goes easy on non-white people because they are non-white. Well. Just think about that.

I have a dozen or so different docs for rewrites/notes/ideas/etc for the rework of Support Group for the Newly Human and I've just made the *definitely final absolutely the definitive doc for the 2nd iteration of the show*. It's called 'Support Group 2: Support Harder' Makes me smile, at least.

brb just making myself weepy (again) writing up the scripted parts of Support Group for the Newly Human (which is *A WEEK AWAY*) I've written a new design blog - about killing darlings, time & music, and the degree to which I have to design 'me' explorealongame.wordpress.com/2025/06/01/s...

my time has COME. find me sitting in a luggage rack (fully what I had to do last night), knitting some bizarre entity and humming an old sea shanty before I deliver a riddle from one of my vintage books

Quick break from more intense analytical-posts-about-the-nature-of-play, to just think about what might happen if you took chunks of Evermore and Efteling (and maybe Nintendo World and other bits) and put them together? chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/05/31/l...

Heading to UKGE this morning! I'm only going for today, so if you're about gimme a shout so I can come say hi! Will be masked so look out for the multicoloured hair and big glasses

Sounds like a great idea to me

Visiting my niece and nephew always feels like stepping into another world (but delightfully so). Today I've been fully briefed on football trading cards and the complete ouevre of Dog Man, taught kickboxing moves, shown all the snails in the garden, been sous chef for cake baking, and more. Lovely.

Anyone who comes to stall 3-323 tomorrow and lends me a portable fan for 2 minutes gets a free 1-page game. This is not a bit.

The Netherlands (& its theme parks/escape rooms/experiences) is what I now go to when thinking about the future of 'immersive/role-play experiences' I'll write about that future soon, but now: spotlight on one experience there, Anoma Maze chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/05/28/w...

Needed to get stills of some old work this morning, and damn if I don't still have so much love in my heart for this livestreamed panto. The absurdly scrappy visuals, the goose chases in chat, the joyful silliness that was committed to fun over polish...miss you Jack & The Beanstalk

I lovvvvve how this considers the concept of Play for everyone. Especially because I frequently struggle to relax with games that other ppl find playful, like social hidden identity games, frex. And why there are so many things I want to Watch but don't want to actually Do.

When we want to make work where people get to be playful - *what does that actually mean?* chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/w... (have more event/game-focused blogs to come, but wanted to start sharing some of the big-idea ones) Curious on others' thoughts/perspectives on this!

So…about AI’s energy use… “…to create a five-second video, a newer AI model uses ‘about 3.4 million joules, more than 700 times the energy required to generate a high-quality image’. That's the equivalent of running a microwave for over an hour.”

The printed in-world posters for Support Group For The Newly Human arrived! Suddenly realising how big A2 is... And Voidspace Live is *only two weeks away!* Get tix and come pretend to be an ex-zombie (or -vampire, or -werewolf, or -ghost) with me! voidspacezine.com/event/voidsp...

*damn* Brixton's permanent blood donation centre feels swanky - as ever, if there's anyone out there able to donate but nervous about doing so I'm happy to accompany anyone (w/in London!) to a donation

Latest blog post is about city games (after I had a surprisingly lovely time with one in Stockholm) and the design features that make it easy to feel playful with them: chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/05/24/h...

In light of all the news today surrounding trans health care, put some money in the hands of trans people directly. Like this "Fuck Harry Potter" itchio bundle going on until Monday! itch.io/b/3039/f-ck-...

My curiosity of the day: what have been 'community spaces' for you in the past? what have surprisingly good formats looked like? what formats have actually not been accessible or felt like community? What's a community space you didn't realise you needed till you had it? (okay, fine, *curiosities*)

Spending the last leg of my journey home translating a 1957 German murder mystery game, slowly typing the text from all my phone pics into translators when my German falls short, because I'm Very Cool.

Busuu is similar to Duolingo and actually teaches culture and grammar Renshuu is great for Japanese learners Drops helps with your vocabulary Hell, even just playing Stardew Valley in you target language would be better than Duo at this point And besides Stardew, all of these are free

The book What Do We Do When We Play? about player skills in larp is now available as a free pdf! This great book includes one of the texts I am most proud of, "Beauty in Larp", about aesthetics of play and participation, written together with Jamie MacDonald. nordiclarp.org/wiki/What_Do...

WE WON! The Supreme Court has upheld the right to wild camp on Dartmoor. This is a huge win for access to nature. But we're just getting started. It was never just about Dartmoor. We’re fighting to extend the right to roam, swim, and sleep under the stars - across all of England.

In April I got to play an incredibly fun, delightful and exciting collaborative audio game - here's my thoughts on it! chloemashitermakesthings.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/s... On my way back to UK, but research will be continuing for a while, and likely sharing discoveries/thoughts well into July!

tech bro is short for technically broken

Every time Bluesky announces a new feature, 1000 people in the comments are like "we just want an edit button". No we fucking don't. I don't want my like/repost on something you changed after the fact to be some headass garbage. Just eat your typos, or delete and reskeet your little brain turd.

Remember when she funded an anti trans bill, then when it passed, posted a picture of herself with wine and cigars and bragged ‘I love it when a plan comes together?’ That is literally where that money for these games go. Buying her trash, funds anti LGBTQ+ laws.

Strong finish to my trip with my last supermarket run. Packed the yoghurts with such force one flew out of the pack and exploded on the floor. Best my German could do was essentially 'Oh I'm so sorry. Uh...three is fine for me. No problem. I'm sorry.' before leaving in shame

In the interest of being useful and sharing resources, here are some of my favourite hubs of *freely available* information on game/play/design that I've been looking at during my trip: American Journal of Play - all issues hosted on Strong Museum of Play site: www.museumofplay.org/journalofplay/