Greg Costikyan
@costik.bsky.social
📤 92
📥 38
📝 124
I reviewed Dead Pets, a virtual novel about a punk band bassist having an early mid-life crisis, with Diner Dash-style and rhythm mini-games.
indiegamereviewer.com/dead-pets-re...
loading . . .
Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim Review - Punx Not Dead
Dead Pets asks the age-old question: when are you too old to be punk? Find out more in Greg Costikyan's review of this visual novel.
https://indiegamereviewer.com/dead-pets-review-a-punk-rock-slice-of-life-sim/
2 days ago
0
1
0
Welcome back to the Free World, Hungary! Now let us work to ensure that we can say the same about America in three years. Because we cannot claim the same today.
5 days ago
0
6
0
Suggested changes to mottos: Google: "There's more money in being evil." Meta: "Build gates to control all human connection and possibility." Microsoft: "Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to pay us more." AOL: "Life needs love. No one needs AOL."
19 days ago
0
2
0
I marched in the No Kings protest in Park Slope, Brooklyn today.
20 days ago
0
3
0
LA's Metro is extending their D line to new stations in May, and through their merch site, recently offering tees saying "Ride the D!". Which sold out almost at once, for... reasons... if you think twice.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
loading . . .
New 'Ride the D' Metro shirts sold out almost immediately. Because of course they did
L.A. Metro really wants people to take their soon-to-be-opened rail line extension, and have come up with a virally popular marketing method to spread the word — a new line of merchandise proudly embl...
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-27/metros-new-ride-d-shirts-quickly-sold-out-of-course-they-did
about 1 month ago
0
3
0
I'm going to GDC (wanna meet up? let me know) Today, I went through the agenda In the last 2 years, 25% of game devs have lost their jobs. The GDC schedule is all about happy fun times. Tech things and how to. The industry has never faced a contraction this dire since the Atari crash. Maybe say so?
about 1 month ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Greg Costikyan
Infinitywaltz
3 months ago
The
@indiegamereviewer.bsky.social
writers and editorial team are immensely proud of our Top 10 Indie Games of 2025 article, featuring
#indiegames
from
@dogubomb.bsky.social
,
@dotemu.bsky.social
,
@blakemanorgame.bsky.social
,
@riverendgames.bsky.social
and more:
indiegamereviewer.com/top-10-indie...
loading . . .
Top 10 Indie Games of 2025 - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
The best indie games of 2025, as chosen by the IndieGameReviewer.com team!
https://indiegamereviewer.com/top-10-indie-games-of-2025/
1
9
3
My review of Perfect Tides: Station to Station, solo developer Meredith Gran's sequel to her earlier Perfect Tides. It's a point-and-click adventure game. It's very angsty In the firstgame, the angst was about "high school sucks;" here it's about "love sucks."
indiegamereviewer.com/perfect-tide...
loading . . .
https://indiegamereviewer.com/perfect-tides-station-to-station-review-emo-ny-college-life/
about 2 months ago
0
2
0
Me: Atlantic Avenue subway station, pulling a heavy cart of groceries up the stairs, trying to get to the N-R. A women in a full chador grabbed the back of the cart and helped me pull it up the last few steps. I thanked her, of course. But anti-Islamacists can go... do creative things to themselves.
2 months ago
0
2
0
So the Grucci family, who supply fireworks for Macy's on the 4th of July, often do practice sessions from the Jersey City waterfront, across the Hudson from my apartment. They did so today (I could hear the explosions); I didn't go about, but my daughter did, and caught a little of the fireworks.
2 months ago
0
1
0
1. At the end of WWII, the US had -50- military installations across Greenland. 2. Denmark has been our ally since WWII. 3. Denmark has NEVER revisited the establishment of US bases in Greenland, and has welcomed them to bolster its defense.
3 months ago
1
1
0
SPAGHETTI MAN ATE MY DREAMS In the oughts, I used to take my kids to my Dad's house in the Hamptons. I sent them to camp there, and would send the day working on a novel (or slacking and playing Heroes of Might & Magic 3). We took back roads to get to camp, because traffic on the Sunrise Highway..
3 months ago
1
0
0
I'm surprised to see this, but maybe they had already started development on the next game, and figure it's worth taking it to release. Since it takes place at Caledon University, they can probably save money by reusing environments they already built for Double Exposure.
3 months ago
0
2
0
Life is Strange: Double Exposure was a flop (failing to recoup its $300m+ dev costs -- not that Square Enix should ever have spent that much on what started as an indie game originally).
3 months ago
0
2
0
Oh, so up for this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwVW...
loading . . .
Life Is Strange: Reunion announcement trailer
YouTube video by Adventure Game Hotspot Trailers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwVWjTfc6cY
3 months ago
0
3
0
reposted by
Greg Costikyan
Threeclipse
3 months ago
Are you interested in our Junior Program? Recruitment for our next cohort is open! For 12 weeks between February and May, we'll take on 8 candidates to join us. We'll take you through the production pipeline from start to finish, provide feedback, and ensure you ship a title.
loading . . .
1
3
3
3 months ago
1
2
1
Every American citizen deserves Congressional and Senatorial representation, and none should be treated as a second-class citizen without such. Puerto Rico should become a state, and include the American Virgin Islands. VI is too small to be their own state, but this gives them representation.
3 months ago
2
1
0
I contributed to Indie Game Reviewer's "Top Ten Indie Games of 2025":
indiegamereviewer.com/top-10-indie...
loading . . .
Top 10 Indie Games of 2025 - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
The best indie games of 2025, as chosen by the IndieGameReviewer.com team!
https://indiegamereviewer.com/top-10-indie-games-of-2025/
4 months ago
0
3
0
I have an occasional intellectual discontinuity when I read something that talks about the "modern era." As someone interested in history, the "modern era" begins in 1453, with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.
4 months ago
0
3
0
I wrote about TOON and the forthcoming new edition for Tabletop Quester:
tabletopquester.com/toon-the-car...
loading . . .
Toon - The Cartoon TTRPG Second Edition - Tabletop Quester
TabletopQuester asked contributor and legendary game designer Greg Costikyan about the recently announced (and quickly funded) 2nd edition of one of our favorite teenage-years TTRPGs – TOON. Here was ...
https://tabletopquester.com/toon-the-cartoon-ttrpg-second-edition/
4 months ago
0
4
0
A shift in the dairy cooler at the Park Slope Food Coop today. Restocking cream and eggnog constantly, you'd think there was a holiday coming up or something. And the usual things: milk, oat milk, and kombucha. Now my back hurts, but okay, lie in bed and read the most recent Travis Baldree novel.
4 months ago
0
3
0
There's currently a Backerkit (Kickstarter-like) running for a second edition of TOON, the roleplaying game of cartoon mayhem, which I designed (with Warren Spector) back in the 80s. Steve Jackson Games (which published the original) will also publish it. More here:
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
loading . . .
Toon the Cartoon Roleplaying Game Second Edition
Remember those great Saturday morning cartoons? They're back – and you're the star. Be a panda, a postman, a possum, a pterodactyl . . . whatever you want!
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/steve-jackson-games/toon-the-cartoon-roleplaying-game?ref=bk-ec-65357
4 months ago
0
4
3
I reviewed ON YOUR TAIL, a charming mystery-solving narrative game set in an Italian seaside village for Indie Game Reviewer:
indiegamereviewer.com/on-your-tail...
loading . . .
On Your Tail Review - Solving Mysteries in a Seaside Village
On Your Tail is a cozy, mystery-solving adventure set in a charming Italian coastal village. Read our complete review...
https://indiegamereviewer.com/on-your-tail-review-solving-mysteries-in-a-seaside-village/
4 months ago
0
1
0
I spent some years working for Nokia, and spent some time in Finland. I only learned three words in Finnish. "Hehe:" "(hello", also goodbye.) "Olut": (beer). And "Kiitos:" "thank you." But, this are the three essential words in any language: "Hello! Beer! Thank you!"
4 months ago
0
2
0
The Linewaiter's Gazette, the newspaper of the Park Slope Food Coop, ran a letter-to-the-editor I wrote, suggesting that the PSFC work with the Mamdani administration to spread the food coop model across NYC.
linewaitersgazette.com/2025/12/09/d...
loading . . .
December 9, 2025
A Vision for Our New Mayor Dear Coop community: Our new mayor has proposed building city-owned supermarkets to offer more affordable food to New Yorkers. Yet building, staffing and operating a supe…
https://linewaitersgazette.com/2025/12/09/december-9-2025-letters/
4 months ago
0
1
0
Park Slope Food Coop:
www.foodcoop.com
Rochdale principles of cooperation:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdal...
loading . . .
Home : Park Slope Food Coop
Park Slope Food Coop: Health Food Store with a large selection of fresh organic and locally grown produce and vegetables, grass fed beef, pasture raised poultry in Brooklyn, New York
https://www.foodcoop.com/
5 months ago
0
1
0
Capitalist supermarkets: 1, coops 10, in terms of sales per square foot; and coops offer typically <60% of the price of the items they sell to their shopping members. If only we could devise a business play to bring this to the world.
5 months ago
0
0
0
Fundamentally, the PSFC shows that anarchosyndicalism (the radical self-organization of people to cooperate with each other) is superior to the capitalist system, and it should be replicated across the nation and the world (we have sister Coops in France and Brazil).
5 months ago
0
2
0
The PSFC's business model is SUPERIOR to capitalism; its dollar sales per SQFT of space is 10 times that of a conventional supermarket, and its prices are lower. But the coop model has a flaw; because member-owned, there is no equity to sell, and it's hard to raise capital for a new mart.
5 months ago
0
2
0
The PSFC is organized under the Rochdale principles of cooperation; membership is open to all. Everything at the PSFC is priced at ~25% over wholesale prices, meaning produce and gourmet items are ridiculously cheap compared to capitalist supermarkets.
5 months ago
0
2
0
Did a shift at the Park Slope Food Coop today. It is a shopper-owned supermarket that is managed to keep prices low for its members, not for profit. It has a work requirement; every shopping member must work for 2:45 hours every 3 weeks. This keeps prices low for working members.
5 months ago
0
1
0
I reviewed DISPATCH, a narrative Telltale-like game. You, an ex-super, dispatch lackluster ex-villains to deal with issues in Torrance, CA. The writing and voice acting is stellar, although I found the hacking minigame occasionally obnoxious.
indiegamereviewer.com/dispatch-rev...
loading . . .
Dispatch Review - Cranky Superheroes for the Win - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
Greg Costikyan manages reformed supervillains in indie breakout Dispatch. Hacking frustrations aside, did this million-seller earn its crown?
https://indiegamereviewer.com/dispatch-review-cranky-superheroes-for-the-win/
5 months ago
0
1
0
I reviewed Sips and Sonnets, an indie visual novel with an appealing, elderly protagonist for Adventure Game Hotspot.
adventuregamehotspot.com/review/5170/...
loading . . .
Sips and Sonnets review | Adventure Game Hotspot
Sips and Sonnets is an engaging, melancholy visual novel about an elderly woman with an impressive past career, operating a tea shop in her dotage and providing useful advice to her customers.
https://adventuregamehotspot.com/review/5170/sips-and-sonnets
5 months ago
0
3
1
The US fertility rate is 1.6 children per couple. Fertility has been below the replacement rate (of 2.1) since the 70s. Yet our population has increased from ~200m to >300m since then. Why? Immigration -- and continued immigration is the only possible way for us to keep pace with global rivals.
5 months ago
0
4
1
My daughter asked for this cake for her birthday. Lavender and vanilla bean paste? Took some effort to find that. I made it (wks after her actual birthday), just before she left on the train to Pittsburgh - taking some cake - to see her half-sibling.
inbloombakery.com/london-fog-c...
loading . . .
London Fog Cake
This perfect London fog cake is an extra soft and moist cake flavored with Earl Grey tea and lavender, soaked with sweet Earl Grey lavender milk and frosted with silky lavender vanilla bean cream chee...
https://inbloombakery.com/london-fog-cake/
5 months ago
0
3
0
reposted by
Greg Costikyan
Rebecca Roanhorse
5 months ago
It’s giving Hamilton vibes.
add a skeleton here at some point
1
45
7
I reviewed VAL(IANT) OR VAL'S GUIDE TO HAVING A BROKEN VAG, for Indie Game Reviewer. It's free short, and one of the best student games I've ever played. It's a personal journey about a young woman who experiences vaginal pain.
indiegamereviewer.com/valiant-or-v...
loading . . .
(val)iant: or, val's guide to having a broken vag Review - Not a Sex Game
Read on to find out why (val)iant: or, val's guide to having a broken vag is perhaps the best student game Greg Costikyan has ever played.
https://indiegamereviewer.com/valiant-or-vals-guide-to-having-a-broken-vag-review-not-a-sex-game/
6 months ago
0
2
0
reposted by
Greg Costikyan
Infinitywaltz
6 months ago
It's almost
#Halloween
, which means it's time for
@indiegamereviewer.bsky.social
's Top 13 Halloween Games for 2025! This year's list features
#indiegames
from
@moonhood.bsky.social
,
@jrhudepohl.bsky.social
,
@warkus.bsky.social
,
@katanalevy.bsky.social
...
indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-hallo...
loading . . .
Top 13 Halloween Games for 2025 - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
We have tricks and treats aplenty to help usher in the autumn with 13 indie games that are perfect for spooky season celebrations!
https://indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-halloween-games-for.../
1
16
8
I reviewed SNUFKIN: Melody of Moominvalley at Indie Game Reviewer. It's a gentle game consisting mostly of navigational and stealth challenges, set in the world of Tove Jansson's Moomin books for children.
indiegamereviewer.com/snufkin-melo...
loading . . .
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley Review - Music and Moomins
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley offers cozy charms even to those who aren't huge fans of the Tove Jansson books. Read our complete review.
https://indiegamereviewer.com/snufkin-melody-of-moominvalley-review-music-and-moomins/
6 months ago
0
3
0
I have a somewhat satirical post on Netflix's announcement that it has obtained film & TV rights to the boardgame Settlers of Catan on Tabletop Quester here:
tabletopquester.com/netflix-to-d...
loading . . .
Netflix to do.... Catan Stories? - Tabletop Quester
Netflix eyes a Catan series—live action or animated. Can a story-less strategy game translate to screen? Greg has thoughts.
https://tabletopquester.com/netflix-to-do-catan-stories/
6 months ago
0
2
0
I posted a profile of Digital Eel, a pioneering indie game developer, on Indie Game Reviewer:
indiegamereviewer.com/developer-pr...
They were "indie before there was indie," which is literally true; they released their first game before Steam existed, basically on faith and a prayer.
loading . . .
Developer Profile: Digital Eel - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
Greg Costikyan reflects on the legacy of Digital Eel, one of the earliest studios in indie video game scene.
https://indiegamereviewer.com/developer-profile-digital-eel/
6 months ago
1
2
1
Also attended Game-A-Palooza, an indie game event with 50-ish developers attending, taking copious notes, and will write it up for Indie Game Reviewers.
gameapalooza.love
loading . . .
Game-A-Palooza Fall 2025 | NYC’s Largest Celebration of Indie Game Developers
Join Game-A-Palooza Fall 2025 on October 18 at Hana House, Brooklyn — the biggest celebration of NYC-based indie game developers! Play 50+ new and unreleased games, meet local creators, and access exc...
https://gameapalooza.love/
6 months ago
0
1
0
Busy day today: attended the No Kings protest in Park Slope, Brooklyn, reprising my sign based on this 19-century image:
live.staticflickr.com/189/51003032...
6 months ago
0
4
0
Indiegamereviewers has a post about Halloween-relevant games. I mention PRIM, a graphic adventure in which you play Death's daughter; and GHOST TOWN PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, a sort-of MMO in which you carve pumpkins and leave them for other players to encounter.
indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-hallo...
loading . . .
Top 13 Halloween Games for 2025 - Indie Game Reviewer - The Best Indie Games
We have tricks and treats aplenty to help usher in the autumn with 13 indie games that are perfect for spooky season celebrations!
https://indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-halloween-games-for-2025/#comment-82315
6 months ago
0
2
1
I reviewed Desert Angels for Indie Game Reviewer. Its a kind of narrative walking sim, but with FPS elements.
indiegamereviewer.com/desert-angel...
loading . . .
Desert Angels Review - Blowing Things Up in an Ancient Junkyard
Desert Angels combines a walking simulator with a first-person shooter...but with no enemies to shoot. Read more...
https://indiegamereviewer.com/desert-angels-review-blowing-things-up-in-an-ancient-junkyard/
6 months ago
0
2
0
Well. I guess I'll never buy an EA game again.
7 months ago
0
1
0
Wow.... A YouTube review of a D&D fanzine I published 50 years ago was not what I expected to encounter today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UmO...
loading . . .
Fanzine Friday: Fire the Arquebusiers #1
YouTube video by Old School Rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UmOIGKnxo0
7 months ago
0
2
0
I reviewed Petit Island for Adventure Game Hotspot. I didn't hate it, but felt lots of other games do cozy narrative puzzle games with platforming elements better.
adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4939/...
loading . . .
Petit Island review | Adventure Game Hotspot
While charming in delivering a somewhat heartwarming story, Petit Island is ultimately rather dull in its delivery, with boring implementations of activities like fishing and bug catching...
https://adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4939/petit-island
7 months ago
0
1
0
Today, my wife ended her subscription to Disney+, and I ended mine to Hulu. When asked why, I said, "I don't give money to companies that kowtow to fascism, and as a former Disney employee, I am bitterly ashamed."
7 months ago
0
2
0
Load more
feeds!
log in