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Chris Gardiner

@chrisgardiner

Narrative Director at Failbetter Games. He/him. Our titles include: Fallen London, Sunless Sea/Skies, and Mask of the Rose. Opinions are mine, so there.

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11.07.2023
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Latest posts by Chris Gardiner @chrisgardiner

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The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee just published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries, and their conclusions could not be clearer.

🧡 1/5

06.03.2026 08:53 πŸ‘ 1338 πŸ” 778 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 119

God I love being edited.

Is that a kink?

05.03.2026 17:26 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

Edit a person once and you improve their work. Edit them a dozen times and you correct their character.

(I still studiously apply dashes, en dashes and em dashes in text messages after years of corrective editing by @babelfishwars.bsky.social)

05.03.2026 17:25 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ“– THE GAME NARRATIVE KALEIDOSCOPE ❄️ is out NOW!

www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope

100+ essays on writing & narrative design, with articles from the writers of Baldur's Gate 3, Control, Call of Duty, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, Sam and Max...

ALSO the Kaleidoscope Podcast with 2 full eps!

04.03.2026 09:54 πŸ‘ 600 πŸ” 302 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 107

This looks great β€” backed it like a shot. Great pitch, fascinating setting and situation, gorgeous art, and I’m desperate to see the card-based social conflict system in action.

03.03.2026 22:58 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

That is INCREDIBLE. 🀣

02.03.2026 21:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Oo! thank you!

02.03.2026 12:19 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Oo! that looks super-nice!

01.03.2026 17:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It is! Feels very much like the original show, but the new roles for the core three of the original cast are really interesting.

01.03.2026 13:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I assumed this was a realm-level threat for a ruler to have to deal with in King Beowulf.

01.03.2026 13:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A picture of the cover of Levi Roach’s Empire of the Normans.

A picture of the cover of Levi Roach’s Empire of the Normans.

If I’ve learned anything from Levi Roach’s β€˜Empire of the Normans’ it’s that under no circumstances should you say to some Normans: β€œHi lads - having a bit of a problem, would you mind helping out?” bcos in 10 years you’ll lose all your bishoprics and have to learn new French words for anything nice

27.02.2026 15:17 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I regret my unnecessary sideswipe against these underestimated birds.

27.02.2026 14:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Do we want one to be prime minister, though?

27.02.2026 14:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A quote from a Guardian article, reading β€œ Second, Starmer did not give any indication that he intends to change the way he governs.”

A quote from a Guardian article, reading β€œ Second, Starmer did not give any indication that he intends to change the way he governs.”

Dude, *pigeons* learn faster than you.

27.02.2026 14:04 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

These twats crying and appealing to racist conspiracy need to be mocked mercilessly and without pause.

27.02.2026 09:07 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Feels like β€˜family votingβ€œ would be a hard thing to prove or disprove after the fact, and so makes good fodder for conspiracy theories.

27.02.2026 08:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This issue broke me in half.

25.02.2026 19:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Our game is SO PRETTY.

25.02.2026 10:23 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

An absurd deal for my favorite-favorite FitD game. Honestly folks, don't sleep on this.

24.02.2026 12:54 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

In my defence, Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation was what got me through writing up my dissertation.

21.02.2026 13:17 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I dedicated my Master’s thesis to Lara Croft.

21.02.2026 13:17 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

That was *ridiculous*.

20.02.2026 16:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A user review of the video game Sunless Sea on Steam. A red thumbs down. 
Not Recommended
98.4 hrs on record
Posted: 12 February
Well. I like it and I hate it.

A user review of the video game Sunless Sea on Steam. A red thumbs down. Not Recommended 98.4 hrs on record Posted: 12 February Well. I like it and I hate it.

a classic sunless sea review; it could be exactly the same and have gone the other way

18.02.2026 14:13 πŸ‘ 128 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3
Cropped art by Jimmy Makepeace of the Mongol nomad Goatskin standing at combat ready, a friend at her back, as the disembodied head of a statue spews violet light from its eyes.

Overlaid are captions. Along the top reads "Just Launched on Backerkit. New Edge Sword & Sorcery 2026 is live"

Along the bottom reads "Share this post to unlock bonus stories".

Cropped art by Jimmy Makepeace of the Mongol nomad Goatskin standing at combat ready, a friend at her back, as the disembodied head of a statue spews violet light from its eyes. Overlaid are captions. Along the top reads "Just Launched on Backerkit. New Edge Sword & Sorcery 2026 is live" Along the bottom reads "Share this post to unlock bonus stories".

βš”οΈTHE CROWDFUND FOR NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY 2026 IS LIVEβš”οΈ

Three issues - our Timeworn Terra special - a New Jirel of Joiry story...

The more re-posts this gets, the more bonus content we'll add to this year's issues!

Go here to learn more and back the magazineπŸ‘‰ www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

12.02.2026 13:00 πŸ‘ 206 πŸ” 204 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 60
Preview
New Edge Sword & Sorcery 2026 Sword & Sorcery magazine featuring short fiction, non-fiction, and gorgeous art. Made with love for the classics, and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling! Luxurious hardcover, clas...

So great to see New Edge on the verge of funding after only a day. The sheer obsessive, handcrafted joy that they put into everything they make is infectious.

Please, please, please find & support small publishers doing stuff you love! It's how we fight the slop.

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

13.02.2026 17:16 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New Edge Sword and Sorcery are crowdfunding their 2026 issues! I cannot recommend this magazine enough – great, genre-pushing writing in every issue, from a huge range of exciting , talented voices.

It captures everything I love about the genre and pushes it in whole new directions. Pure joy.

12.02.2026 18:16 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The first opportunity to play Mandrake will be at New Game Plus, on the 16th and 17th of April!

We'll be there, hope you can join us. 🌱

12.02.2026 11:38 πŸ‘ 45 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Rich Stories in Mandrake | Rural Life Sim
Rich Stories in Mandrake | Rural Life Sim YouTube video by Failbetter Games

We'd really like to hear what fans of rural life sims make of the dialogue system we're using in Mandrake. Is that you?

06.02.2026 21:13 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0

A lovely glimpse of Mandrake’s narrative here – how conversations with other characters looks and works, how your character’s traits affect it, and more.

Working out how to write Failbettery narrative in a rural life sim wrapper has been very challenging!

06.02.2026 14:41 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

the only reason I want followers is so I can tell people about cool things

27.01.2026 19:07 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0