The EU game scene was always something I admired from a distance. All the quirky interesting events that you’d only hear about when you attended GDC for your once-a-year catchup with friends that flew in from all around the world… You know, when you’d finally be able to get the (top secret) news of what they’ve been working on… Or who is doing what interesting new thing…
It’s different now, seeing it in person… It’s so much bigger than I could ever have imagined!
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Yesterday I gave a talk as part of Ljudmila’s Kontrolerji series of events. The day before, a friend had an exhibition opening where him and another artist made an installation (a game-like playable installation) about mold. It was beautiful to see in person. – Image of me from Ljudmila Before that I was part of IDFA’s DocLab and gave a zine making workshop (along with participating in other parts of the program). – Image of me playing “individualism in the dead internet age” at IDFA Sometimes I feel like I stepped into a totally different world. One where I no...
Continue reading...Pictured above: Gamejam pizza! This post is a transcript of a talk I gave at BIMM University, Berlin. Thank you for inviting me! I had a lot of fun sharing :) Links in this slide ~ tetrageddon.com alienmelon.com alienmelon.itch.io mackerelmediafish.com Games make impactful, unique, and complex storytelling possible. I think we have only scratched the surface of what that means, because interactive digital art is such a huge possibility space. It’s also important to look beyond games, and engage with other digital art, to really understand how broad a spectrum of experiences games are part of. We are really only...
Continue reading...Counter-culture in our digital world is an expression of the better future we know is possible.
Gaming, fandom, artists, developers, are part of the solution.
We can empower each-other to make a positive difference here.
Our digital world is a collective dream. The journey is the point.
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The last couple months leading up to A MAZE have been difficult. The Oblivion remaster launched. Since I am so unfortunately linked to it after coming forward about the composer, it caused another long wave of harassment. Before that, it was game journalists dunking again… either side (gamergate or game journalists) seem to go hand in hand when it comes to this sort of thing. Sorry if that’s harsh, but I feel this is an appropriate opening when talking about the future of games crit. I’ll leave some proof of the harassment here, in BlueSky posts which you can scroll...
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Since games are at the point that they are right now, I think being a solodev, or working with a team of friends, will become much more of an established mode of being here.
Success cannot be guaranteed. The liberating thing about that is that you can really claim your own space here, on your terms. You define being in the game industry for yourself.
The BlueSuburbia world update is now live on itch!
It adds a new poetry world where you gain your ability to fly. I’m proud of this update because the Butterfly poem turned out so beautifully. I’m excited to be able to share it in context of BlueSuburbia.
I still have to update the Steam and Epic Games builds but I wanted itchio to have it first. Itchio has always been the best home for my work.
I’m beyond honored to say that my playable essay, “individualism in the dead-internet age” is a nominee for this year’s Nuovo award at IGF.
This means I will be showcasing at GDC!
These ruins of a lighthouse have brittle bones.
Ocean once surrounded it. You know the stories…
Of a great beautiful oasis where titans came to die.
Grief brought you here.
Now you are trapped in an endless cycle, on a world that is lost to you.
In light of all the promise that AI will “revolutionize” gaming, this post is about how AI has already affected the home of experimental games: Itch.io.
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Despite how misunderstood the internet was, there was this immense possibility space for us artists to shape what it meant to create there. Anything was possible. It could become anything!
Continue reading...There is a positive feedback loop that happens when you make a tool for people, how people that use it inform what you build, and in turn what you build informs their creative decisions. We will talk about how building these alternatives helps to create a better overall culture where everyone can participate. Let’s leave behind monopolies, enshitification, and present tech controversies to discuss building better avenues of participation with the power we all have to make and choose alternatives. Good game design is engine agnostic! We have the power to not only dream of, but also create a better digital world together.
Continue reading...In the end, building beautiful experiences that make people laugh, cry, feel hope, catharsis, be crushed, feel joy, be amused, feel awe, happiness… is all that matters.
It’s why we care about art.
Find your own path. Create your own space.
This is really just an extension of this post: http://www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/abusing-you-was-by-the-book-documenting-two-years-of-abuse-from-game-journalism-after-sharing-my-metoo-the-whole-painful-story-all-in-one-place If you are not aware of the situation, read that instead. I’m posting this because I need to scream. It’s better than silence. “Abusing you was by the book” (documenting two years of abuse from Game Journalism, after sharing my #metoo… the whole painful story all in one place) Today I had another grieving outburst about game journalist and the game crit space. It’s been years of dealing with the fallout that they had on my life. The way your perception changes when you keep getting dogpiled on by people...
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individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware r?a?n?t? manifesto * https://alienmelon.itch.io/shovelware “This is an interactive-essay-meets-walking-sim about technocapitalism and the things we lost along the way. Follow coins under the electric mist of a clouded starry sky. Discover hyper-links. Listen to the words both inside and outside your head. Seal your fate before the productivity machine.” I just published this interactive essay. This was meant to be preformed in a live setting but it’s not a good fit, so it transformed into an interactive essay format. Please enjoy the narration and ambient vibe. :) My previous “From...
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I’m writing this during another long airport layover after attending IEEE Conference on Games 2024 to give a keynote… I found a place here, out of the way of the crowds, where I can intently tap the touchscreen keyboard without feeling noticed. The American couple next to me forgot their medicine. I feel bad for the occasional person sprinting past, obviously about to miss their flight, but they might make it? Airports are a weird headspace to be in. So… It’s been on my mind… How social media does not facilitate constructive criticism, it facilitates reaction. Attention is a currency...
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Freeware and shareware have existed since the beginning of software. Software is art, and an empowering conduit for unending creative experimentation on computers. This is a discussion about the large and largely underrepresented space of tool development from solo devs, individual artists, or tiny teams. In light of recent controversies surrounding AI, and how larger mainstream software is being criticized for its missteps, we will explore why the small tool space matters more than ever in the broad spectrum of internet culture, games, and tech.
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As I write this on my iPhone (oh god it’s so hard to blog like this, nobody’s fingers are this tiny o_O;), I have an 8 hour layover. I got plenty of time to think… Moments like this make me appreciate that I have a blog. There’s only so much browsing airport duty free in Zurich one can take. When I visited A MAZE a small personal side-quest I wanted to do for myself was to get my tongue pierced. I talked myself out of it again (well, ok, credit where credit’s due: I had help getting talked out of...
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It was an incredible surprise when I got the news that BlueSuburbia was nominated for A MAZE. When I started the project it was a secret dream to have it in A MAZE so I could finally go as a nominee. Attending in person, after so many years of being nominated, then juding, giving a virtual talk… just actually trying to go, lol… was an incredible experience. BlueSuburbia was shown on this big projector on the wall. It was tremendous to see it. After so much hard work and self-doubt, people were actually playing it in this context. Even the...
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