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In response to the Polygon and Giant Bomb news, I created an indie and worker-owned games media starter pack.

I’ll keep adding to it, so suggestions and recommendations are greatly appreciated. Please share!

Miss Universe Philippines has a mythology theme going on this year, which is great for anyone whose interests contain both monster girls and mahou shoujo villains (like yours truly).

Do you make narrative games? Share your experiences of using feedback to refine game narrative What's involved? 5-min survey (unpaid) 1-hr interview (£20 if selected) Who we're looking for? Indie devs making interactive digital narrative games intended for commercial release. Questions? Contact me at alex.flint@york.ac.uk

🎮 Indie Game Devs Wanted!

Share your experiences of using feedback to improve game narrative in an academic study!

🔍 Requirements - Indie devs making interactive digital narrative games for commercial release
📋 5-min survey (unpaid)
🎤 1-hr interview (£20 if selected)

👉 bit.ly/IndieNarrative

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I don't like being all gloom and doom, but I also feel like people are ignoring what young people are facing. That their experience isn't valid, so I will say what I'm experiencing in hopes that someone will listen.

I feel like I should just prioritize what makes me happy while I still can - even if I have difficulty getting my own needs.

I want to be happy before the worst happens.

I'm marginalized in many ways, so I feel like what's occurring in the US will get to me first before it impacts the rest of the people I know. I feel vulnerable and at a loss on what I should do.

I'm told that I should work hard when I'm young, but is there a point in achievement if the rest of the world falls apart around me? Are the achievements worth it if I have difficulty being an independent adult due to cost and lack of support?

I know I am very fortunate to work in games, but I do feel miserable that I have difficulty living on my own due to cost-of-living expenses. I also feel like my peers are more competitive rather than collaborative at work.

In pursuit of profit & prestige, there's a decline in being just human.

Gen Z is so miserable they've flattened the long-established happiness curve “Young people are not doing as well as they used to be.”

Seeing this article just validates how I feel as a Gen Z adult. I feel like I just have to keep going for the sake of it, not because I want to.

I'm fortunate to have a goal in mind, but it doesn't necessarily take care of my necessities as an adult.

fortune.com/article/gen-...

I feel like the act of just doing "nothing" is a luxury now. I am actively encouraged to be as productive as possible, but I am barely encouraged to rest and take a breath.

If I was productive all the time, I would miss a lot of my life - I just started my life as an adult.

I hope everyone knows that it's very easy for any social content platform, including Bluesky, to be a misery machine and that if you aren't intentional about it, they will absolutely decrease the positive impact you have on the world while making you less happy.

To become a better games user researcher, I need to better understand what is working underneath the polished game. Plus, I want to talk to game devs in their language.

Also, yes - I'm someone that didn't go through a game design course. I mainly learned from observing games - taking note of how they are appealing, what the core game loop is, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised to find those two books since the total cost of them would be $80+. I managed to get 2 other books with them for a total of $28 here.

It was a treasure trove here! Do not go in if you do not want to spend money 😂🥰

A section of a used bookstore (The Iliad Bookshop) featuring amber-toned wooden bookshelves around 7 to 8 ft tall, stacked with use books of a kinds. Below, a gray tabby cat looks back at you with curiosity.

I went to a used bookstore recently and was so happy to find some genuinely good finds - including two cats wandering the halls (only one pictured).

I found a copy of Flint Dille's The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Design & Writing and Avinash K. Dixit's Games of Strategy 4th ed!!!

#booksky

Bluesky is collegial and interesting, the way Twitter used to be. Bonus: most people can spell.

Definitely life-affirming.

I've felt this since I graduated in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.

I've felt this since Trump was appointed to office.

I want to live my best years in my adult life, but I just need to focus on survival and still have some fun while I can.

I wish it gets better.

I recently finished a course on Regression Models and it's definitely one of the hardest courses I've taken online. It was dry and in-depth, but I believe it's what I need to be a better User Researcher outside of just practice.

I'm decent at qualitative, but my analysis needs quant support!!

Despite these being my new goals for this year...I don't have much progress on these right now.

I feel like I had to pivot hard to focus on survival - the bare minimum. And that's ok.

It's ok for me to put my head down and focus on work. To get professional certifications. To be better.

It's time for Midnight 🕛

Watch the full launch trailer: youtu.be/nEZg6TYJTl4

Grab the South of Midnight Premium Edition to start your adventure TODAY, or play it Day One with Xbox Game Pass on April 8.

Xbox: bit.ly/3CpKUMW
Steam: bit.ly/43RdS3Y

#SouthofMidnight

This is a moral moment. It is not left or right, it is right or wrong.

Announcement image that features a large white South of Midnight logo and large gold text that reads '7 DAYS AWAY.' Logo and text are placed on a floral patterned background framed by a gold filigree border with the Xbox Game Studios and Compulsion Games logos in the bottom left-hand corner.

No jokes here—the countdown has begun!

South of Midnight launches in ONE WEEK on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox App for Windows PC, Steam and Cloud, or play it day one with Game Pass.

#SouthofMidnight

Today is Transgender Day of Visibility

The games industry can be a scary place for trans folks, especially now. If you can't be openly out & proud today, we get it - just know that there are people fighting for you, and we are still so proud of you 💜

Trans rights are human rights.

I don't usually talk about being genderfluid/nonbinary on social media due to how turbulent the political climate is. But, I make exceptions for TDoV and similar days.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility!

This particular TDoV is special to me since it's been 10 years since I came out as genderfluid/non-binary since high school. I'm now a trans young adult that works in their dream job in games.

Our survival and achievements are worth celebrating. 🎉

This coming Trans Day of Visibility, we are telling the truth about trans people: We’re just like everyone else.
www.thebody.com/news/hiv/tra...