After a couple of weeks away on leave, got a warm fuzzy feeling from writing our latest Pin the Tale newsletter. It shares news of our latest software update, successful and upcoming workshops, and our recent Container Magazine piece. mailchi.mp/78b0b7ed3c28...

Are you at the RGS-IBG conference in Birmingham this week? And do you have a story to share about a place that is meaningful to you? Look out for our Pin the Tale stand in the Teaching and Learning Building foyer, where you can browse our online map, read other people’s stories and add your own.

Small update: Pin the Tale no longer needs GPS to be active to load the map! If you were ever met with an infinite loading screen, it’s because location was being blocked on your device. This won’t happen anymore! (1/2)

I wrote a design diary about the intersections of macro & micro history and how they can be used for worldbuilding and writing. It’s about our work on Amberspire, but I think it’ll be of interest to both game devs, writers, and historians interested in creative histories more generally 🌒

Our latest Pin the Tale newsletter was sent out earlier this week, telling of some exciting developments in the land of what3words storytelling: mailchi.mp/959fcc48aadd... Expecting to send out another issue pretty soon; there's lots happening!

Just published! I wrote an article for Container Magazine on my what3words storytelling game Pin the Tale: what it is, how people have used it and what it means for how people engage with places: containermagazine.co.uk/pin-the-tale...

Goddamn. What a sobering and poignant piece of conceptual art. What an amazing artist.

The immersive artists I informally call "the Children of Punchdrunk" have been experimenting with overt game mechanics in their work for a long time, so it's fascinating to see Punchdrunk finally debut this oft-teased video game/theatre hybrid!

Really excited to be part of this workshop on Place-Based Creativity in a Digitally-Mediated World at RGS-IBG this year. A fantastic line-up; should be of interest to all who engage with cultural and digital geographies.

Proud moment for Pin the Tale: what3words have listed us on the Products page of their website! Thank you to the what3words team for their enthusiasm and support for what we’ve made. #geography #geosky #map #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

This is me with the amazing Bridget Hart. We’re running TWO poetry workshops with my story-mapping platform Pin the Tale in October, one in Bristol (2nd) and one online (16th). Join us to explore writing poetry inspired by place and by what3words! www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1345...

⏳Final week to sign up to the Green Party. 🗳️ Vote for Bold Leadership on August 1st.

"My father saw his migration as necessary; he has only ever seen mine as narcissism" Kasim Ali on family, place and migration observer.co.uk/style/featur...

I’m leaving poetry zines in random places to be found by strangers. They each contain instructions to the finder to take the zine with them and leave it somewhere else. In the linked post I start to map out where the zines have been so far.

I shared two publications discussing research methods for understanding app use on smartphones in a blogpost - both part of the TRAVIS research project led by the estimable @kattiid.bsky.social‬.

Have now run two creative writing workshops with Pin the Tale in Bristol and delighted to say that they were a success! We’re now planning to run more over the next few months. To hear about these when they’re announced, sign up to the mailing list here: mailchi.mp/ab35b137905d...

This evening in Stokes Croft! Come along to Cafe Kino and have a go at doing some creative writing using what3words addresses. All welcome, no creative writing experience necessary: hdfst.uk/e132698

Was a real joy to meet and re-connect with so many kindred spirits at #MIX2025 in Bath yesterday, themed around 'Writing with Technologies'. A particular pleasure to present about Pin the Tale in the Navigating Place through Digital Narratives session. Huge thanks to the organisers for a lovely day.

New Pin the Tale creative writing workshop happening ONE WEEK TODAY, Thursday 3rd July, 6.30pm – 8.30pm at Café Kino in Bristol. Explore Stokes Croft with us on a summer evening and get inspired to write stories! #Bristol #creativewriting #writingcommunity #writing #prompt

Final call for our Pin the Tale creative writing workshop this Sunday 11am @ Arnolfini Café! Open to all, no experience necessary. Your chance to have a go at doing creative writing inspired by what3words and places on Bristol’s harbourside. Tickets here: hdfst.uk/e131877

my hottest educational take is that schools should actively, non-punitively teach students how to admit when they don't know something, aren't sure or have made a mistake, with various teaching frameworks adapted to support this ideal, because people who can't admit fault are breaking the world

A new thing. I like the idea of a poem interrupting someone’s day. I’ve only recently, in the last few years, been actively and deliberately reading poetry. I was made to teach it one year, against my loud objections, and I fell into a rabbit hole I’ve never been able to get out from #poetry

New edition of the Pin the Tale newsletter is now out! Sharing news of upcoming creative writing workshops in Bristol and some wonderful examples of stories written by our players. You can join the Pin the Tale mailing list here: mailchi.mp/ab35b137905d...

One more day to go!! We're so excited our free online symposium Global Digital Geographies: Digitalising the Territorial and Territorialising the Digital is happening TOMORROW! Don't miss out, register now: www.rgs.org/events/upcom... #DGRGSymposium2025

Interested in Global Digital Geographies? Want to hear from a range of speakers on a variety of topics exploring digitalising the territorial and territorialising the digital? Join us for our free online symposium by registering here: www.rgs.org/events/upcom... #DGRGSymposium2025

I love this. For a long time I've been imagining what a multiplayer game would look like if the experience were centred on collective exploration of a world (as opposed to other mechanics, with exploration being 'in between'). Now I just need friends who would want to play this with me 😭

with the more games i make, the more i realize that to actually successfully finish a game you must kill the idea guy in your head. when you set out making your game, sure, you listen to the idea guy that lives in your brain, but at some point in development he must die so that the game can live 👍

📣 Bristol writers! 📣 Elinor Lower and I are running a workshop at Arnolfini Café, Sunday 22nd June, on using our environment + what3words as prompts for creative writing. Explore the harbourside with us + get your creative juices flowing! #Bristol #creativewriting #writingcommunity #writing #prompt

Wonderful to be part of the #BristolDigitalGameLab concept game jam yesterday, themed around 'Museum of Languages'. Our team devised a 'living languages lab' where you learn how languages have evolved historically, then make up your own new words to help make sense of imagined future scenarios!

Ever wondered where your street got its name? The Open Etymology Map reveals the hidden meanings behind place names using data from @OpenStreetMap & @wikidata. Discover the stories in your city’s streets: googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...

Are you interested in learning about exciting work happening in digital geographies (& aligned) research? Join us for our free online symposium 19-20th June Global Digital Geographies: Digitalising the Territorial & Territorialising the Digital Sign up: www.rgs.org/events/upcom... #DGRGSymposium2025

This is the most insightful, on-point analysis of the state of the games 'industry' that I've seen in a long time. A very compelling read.

Being part of IMPACT! Indie Games yesterday was wonderful. People who played Pin the Tale at the expo were all lovely; got some fantastic comments, feedback and encouragement. Congrats to Ash, Lyndy and Dan for hosting such a supportive event for the Bristol/SW game dev community.

This shows a grim reality for game preservation so many neglect. Online dependencies, no matter if multiplayer or singleplayer are a merciless obstacle. Despite massive efforts of fans, 70 % of these games are about to be lost forever. Companies barely do anything against it. www.youtube.com/watc...

A wonderful time was had at the IMPACT! Indie Games event yesterday. Great talks, lovely people. Got to help demo the game I recently worked on “Pin the Tale” - lovely to see people enjoying it. Big thanks to @ashleygwinnell.bsky.social and co for organising!

All set up at the IMPACT! Indie Games expo in Bristol! Excited to see what stories people write on Pin the Tale today!

It's out! It's here! My first ever journal article 'Postimperial melancholia and the English North–South divide: Reading the life stories of Northern women of colour in London' is out today with @tibg.bsky.social 🤩 rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

This Thursday! Thrilled that Pin the Tale has been selected for the games expo at IMPACT! this year. Expo area is free to access and will hosting a wonderful range of indie games by local developers. Come along to Strange Brew in Bristol and have a play! Register here: impress.games/impact/2025

Full line-up of incredible speakers and games for IMPACT! Indie Games 2025 is now live! 💥✨ impress.games/impact/2025 ​With 10 focused talks tailored to give your #indiegames the maximum IMPACT!, and over a dozen home-grown indie games being made in the #Bristol region... It's gonna be a blast! 🙂

Michael Rosen’s Island of Strangers www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#Academics in England! Please sign & share! A group of us across academic disciplines have drafted a letter in support of the #PlayCommission's call for an English national #PlayStrategy. It will be submitted alongside others from people in built environment, health, education etc. bit.ly/4dalQed

Excited that my 3rd paper has been published 🥳 It focuses on space in young people's emotional experience of fitness tracking, engaging with digital geographies & feminist new materialism. Available Open Access in Emotion, Space and Society! lnkd.in/e-8cMqZT

Delighted that Pin the Tale will be part of such an inspiring group of games being showcased in the expo at IMPACT! Indie Games in Bristol this year! IMPACT is a super friendly and informative event. Learnt so much last year and was great for meeting other lovely games people in the region.

Wonderful to see Pin the Tale featured on two well-followed websites over the weekend: Maps Mania, a popular, long-running blog in the online mapping community: googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-... Web Curios, which shares interesting things on the internet: webcurios.co.uk

Where in the World? "The fog rolled in like a bleak curtain drawn across the Bay. The city below pulsed with light, but up here, everything felt still—serene in its silence. The city felt like a fever dream, yet one with a remarkable talent for recovery." googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...

Pin The Tale https://pinthetale.co.uk/ https://w3w.me.ss/

This is an excellent (open access!) resource for anyone designing courses that engage with narrative design/interactive storytelling in some way: kilthub.cmu.edu/articles/boo...

The work that @afterclimate.com.au is doing with Greening the Games Industry project is one of the best and most important areas of work I'm seeing in games and I heartily recommend subscribing to the extremely excellent and informative newsletter that Ben sends out. gtg.benabraham.net

Congratulations to @jackalowe.bsky.social for the recent release of Pin the Tale! Check it out below (+ if you like 'Queering the Map', then you'll likely also love this location-based game)

A nice little write-up about Pin the Tale and how it was made possible by the AHRC/ESRC-funded ARC Accelerate programme, to whom I'm deeply grateful.