"wait i don't see what's so wrong with th-OH MY FUCKING GOD"

I just have recurring reminders to reach out to people. It’s the only way

Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.

Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊

Silksong and The Right Kind of Friction Silksong brought back Difficulty Discourse in force. We've got all the usual hits: accessibility, artistic vision, and a thousand memes. When a single boss inspires a hate subreddit with thousands of ...

Another blog post! I wrote about Silksong and “artificial difficulty." (this was totally topical when I wrote the first draft a month and a half ago)

www.lowbo.io/silksong-and...

Sometimes I worry about you, the stranger reading these words through a screen in the dark. The stranger who is fighting a war by yourself. It’s not easy being you but you do it to the best of your abilities. It’s not easy being you and yet you survive on nights like this. You inspire me so much despite being a stranger. You inspire these words as you continue to fight for the love you deserve. I know it feels like moving on is impossible and sometimes you don’t even know where to start but I hope you know that there’s a power that lives within you. A power that no one can destroy. A power that can be used to set yourself free. sometimes I worry about you but then I remember how strong you are. I believe in you. Please believe in yourself. Take care.

I am often deeply moved by comments on youtube videos of old songs. It may not be the most skilled poetry, but the sincerity of the message is so powerful to me.

(man)

biblically accurate

“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child’s hand – glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register. Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”

reading slaughterhouse 5 for the first time and i was absolutely knocked senseless by this passage, which is so true and relevant that it feels like it was pulled from a history book

so I am obviously biased but if you’re interested in smart thinking about game design I think this starter pack is your best quick resource on social media for it. sorry in advance for my contribution of all the animal pics to it.

seagulls are all criminals (complementary)

ah so video games do color seasons too

New podcast episode! This week, I talk with @lowbo.io (Benjamin Lindsay), a former Riot game designer who worked on League of Legends and on Riot's illustrious and secretive R&D projects. We talked about Silksong, League of Legends, and what "good game design" even means! makegamesdrinkcoffee.com

S1E4 - Benjamin Lindsay - Game Designer (formerly: Riot), "Give Everyone a Cookie!" YouTube video by Make Games, Drink Coffee

I was on a podcast! :O Was a lot of fun chatting with @nemo10.bsky.social about Silksong, League of Legends, and philosophical approaches to game design. Check it out! youtu.be/DtHTlp5Fvjs

I’m a Certified Yapping Enjoyer so if anybody reading has a podcast, I’d be happy to be on yours too!

Is it the best love song ever written? I think it’s in the conversation

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you take a video if you feel like it won't take you out of the moment too much

Design Things To Their Purpose ;)

Have you tried BlueprintAssist? Was transformational for me

I think smaller teams make better games. I think happy people make better games.

I think every studio should be thinking of the team as their #1 product and strength, and the games are the OUTPUT of that team.

People should be trained, given opportunities, given reasons to WANT to be there

wild to me that more people haven't attempted to copy supercell's model

1000 MBAs could never prepare you for the reality that people like Good Shit and will reward you for delivering it

dropout, a company that inspires fan loyalty by being full of expert craftspeople who love their craft and care deeply about delivering a good product! imagine!

dropouttv on Instagram: "⭐When we announced a price increase earlier this year (for new and returning subscribers ONLY), we saw something strange happen - m…" ⭐When we announced a price increase earlier this year (for new and returning subscribers ONLY), we saw something strange happen - many people were ASKING us to charge them more for their Dropout subscription. We thought about it, and we decided to honor that request (for anyone who wants to). Head over to dropout.tv/superfan to learn more 🌠#dropout #superfan

www.instagram.com/reel/DQFKD_w... I feel like I'm going to see a lot writeups about this on how to develop fan loyalty by *performing* authenticity without ever considering *embodying* it

somebody's got KPIs to hit

About this second principle, which is VERY important:

I often find myself designing and tweaking to pre-empt the complaints that I have internalised after years of community management. But when you do that, you're designing for the wrong person. Design it for the sicko who gets you completely

oh wow, absolutely gorgeous

I open up Reddit and I immediately see a NSFW-ish example of "idea that seems ridiculous at first is in fact very promising"

newatlas.com/disease/butt...

For TTRPGs I had something I thought of as the "postcard principle".

"The game's themes and intent should be well-expressed and prominently surfaced by the mechanical rules - ideally it should not be possible to slip a postcard between the two."

The TLDR Principle: if it takes more than a couple of short sentences to explain how to play then it’s not going to work as a quick, casual game

People Want To Strangle Horses

Every game should have at least one stranglable horse. It is a desire deeply rooted in the human psyche.

brainmage.itch.io/i-will-stran...