I'll add: if the other game is out, that's a gift. You get to play a finished version of your idea, see how it feels, how it sold, and what everyone thought of it? That's incredibly powerful information to make something that builds on it.

We need to go back to a medieval/Renaissance view of translation, which is basically that translating requires a level of interpretation that creates a new artistic work

87. NEUROCRACY One of the more interesting experiences in gaming this year. It's a story told through Wiki entries but also through the changes and manipulations of those entries in real time. Times seasons allow players to roleplay as backend editors swapping ideas. pyrofoux.itch.io/neurocracy

Oh lawd he comin'

Eliza is 50% off. It’s a fully-voiced visual novel about an AI therapy app. It was released in 2019, years before the idea of AI became what it is now. How much did it get right? What did it get wrong? Play it for yourself (play the whole thing) and decide. store.steampowered.com/app/716500/E...

The recording of my talk "How to be a Video Game Archaeologist," presented at ITU Copenhagen, is now online! It's the most comprehensive overview of my PhD research I've given

Me, and half of my coworkers, have been laid off. I'm now looking for my next position as gameplay or tools programmer (remote, or relocating within Europe). More about me on my website: pauljoannon.com #gamejobs #gamedevjobs

Without further ado here are ~30 of my favorite game trailers from 2025! You’ll find games of all sizes, and trailer concepts familiar and incredibly unconventional. All of them stood out from the crowd of many well executed trailers. I guarantee you’ll find something fun and/or inspirational 😄

You do not become a world builder by reading everything everyone else has to say about world building. You do it by the actual act of creating, the continuous and dedicated practice of the skill. You fail, you learn, you create again. This is what makes you a world builder.

Haven't found time to do a thread of my trailer work this year yet but getting "Best trailer for least trailer-able game" for the Neurocracy trailer from @derek-lieu.com, among such talented company, is a better endorsement than I could ever give myself 🥹 www.derek-lieu.com/blog/2025/12...

New Post: Magpie (Part One) 🐦‍⬛ Magpie is my tool for livecoding visuals, made inside #picotron! This post explains what livecoding is (briefly), what Picotron is (also briefly), and shows a bit of what Magpie can do. www.possibilityspace.org/blog/posts/m...

The police are corrupt and incompetent. We will have to help ourselves.

SOMA is less than 2 quid. SOMA is one of the best sci-fi stories in games, perhaps even beyond. You should buy SOMA.

Nic & I wrote hundreds of events for Amberspire, so I can say (with some bias) that the game’s world is so considered & interesting, but allows the player to form their own narrative that is reflected back at them in the cities they build. I’m proud to work on it, and everyone should wishlist it!!

So it's AI propaganda You deliberately chose to make your process more grueling and stupid to get a lower quality result and convince people we should accept AI

Underrated part of the Dark Age ending is when Bob Page, whose whole deal is that he wants to centralise all computers in the world, yells at Helios to stop the Area 51 reactor meltdown and the AI replies that its systems are not interfaced with the generator technology 🤭

There are plenty of hack, bandwagon, reverse engineered independent games. There are also plenty of people working in the mainstream, at the biggest studios, who are imaginative and passionate. I don't think there's some kind of binary where it's 'independent creative', 'AAA uncreative'.

I set up a Bandcamp account solely to host some Neurocracy-related music and I lose my shit every time I get this email

Let me be clear again: every single Venezuelan is more valuable than all the oil and minerals reserves in the country, those reserves are a bargain price in exchange for the freedom of each one of us.

i reviewed skate story, broke my hands, and now i’m having a nice hot drink with my fingers curled up like the fossilized cocktail prawns from that scene in beetlejuice thinking about how i want to do it all again

Neurocracy has players solving a murder mystery through a fictional Wikipedia (omnipedia) neurocracy.site

Here we go

played the demo at bitsummit and spent the whole time on minesweeper, they got me good

Reminder that I'm still looking fulltime or contract work as a senior writer or narrative designer. If you need someone who can write sharp characters, poetic prose, and emotional stories, I'm available! You can find my portfolio here: www.hazelmonforton.com

i think 3d level design is really dumb and amazing and beautiful... its one of those things that i think as an art form we sort of just "got" almost as soon as the technology was available to get it... like Quake 1 - Gloom Keep, it's ALL there. this might as well be an Elden Ring level

People need to boycott this show and not just half ass. Shame everyone who plans on watching it. This isn't about Eurovision, it's about Israel getting away with committing genocide because THERE ARE NEVER ANY CONSEQUENCES. They should be untouchable by now. Everybody needs to walk the fucking walk.

worrying about how we'll come to see the AI era like the good ol days

Introducing @eteogames.bsky.social youtu.be/6GIpSKHo9Y4 I'm really excited to announce my new studio, Eteo Games. We'll have more to share in the future but for now, you can check out our new Newsletter at eteogames.com

A preview for my talk tonight.

This year, much of my focus has been on PC Gamer's Weird Weekend column, which I flagrantly abused to fill some hyper-specific knowledge gaps that have bugged me for ages. Since the year's nearly up, I thought I'd put together a thread of my favourite pieces: www.pcgamer.com/tag/weird-we...

Nominations for the Thinky Awards are open!! We're accepting public nominations so get in there and nominate your favourite thinky games from 2025! Go go go!

"The main part of their revolutionary arc is giving up on other concerns to water the trees that will outlive them. It’s about them learning to serve the collective good."

“AI is clearly sticking around so you have to get used to it” wrong. I don’t have to get used to shit. I am a practiced hater and I can keep this going for decades if I am required to

My Ectocomp game, KINOPHOBIA, has been updated with various bug fixes and improvements; if you haven't played it, this is a final-polish version. Now that the jam is over, I've also set it to pay what you want, so you're welcome to pay me... if you want... brunodias.itch.io/kinophobia

PAPER LABYRINTHS returns with Nic and I talking with Andrew Shouldice @dicey.bsky.social , creator of TUNIC, about teaching the player how to play games, teach people how to make games, mapping spaces, and the joy of the game manual.

For this weekend's PC Gamer column, I went for a walk through Kowloon Walled City (in Minecraft). www.pcgamer.com/games/surviv...

It's the last day of the month and my first blog post in a while... so, how do you paint November? A blog about Pentiment, creativity and game development. florencesmithnicholls.com/2025/11/30/h...

I wrote this! I do hope you Fallen Londoners enjoy it.

"What game would you instantly buy if it was remastered?!" Just get an emulator jesus christ stop waiting for corporations to give you permission to play an old game.

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

Honoured to be part of the 2025 @bafta.org Breakthrough Programme and represent Scotland with some of the most talented people I’ve ever met www.gamesindustry.biz/bafta-breakt...

I'm a BAFTA Breakthrough 2025! I'm honoured to be amongst such an incredible cohort, and for BAFTA to recognise my work on Old Skies! As a disabled, female, performer-writer in games, I am so proud to show what we can do, and with BAFTA's support the sky's the limit! www.bafta.org/stories/brea...

It's also notable that this technique is largely used in professions that are already highly exploitative - voice acting, modelling, music. These are people who already struggle to find good work, and can't easily advocate for better deals. So there's not a lot of negotiation going on.

Alright, a little late for Monday's lunch hour in most parts of the world, but here's the first part of a five-part video series about making a text-generating bluesky bot. It's quick, assumes almost no knowledge, and is (hopefully) fun. #procjam www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvPJ...

Oh hey look, it's my first piece for the AV Club!