I already liked Blood Cultures, but wow the soundtrack they put together for this game is next level. Thanks for flagging that in this piece @henrystockdale.com
20.12.2025 03:53
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I already liked Blood Cultures, but wow the soundtrack they put together for this game is next level. Thanks for flagging that in this piece @henrystockdale.com
Props getting this featured on @critdistance.bsky.social !!
A scene from The Game Awards where the orchestra is playing The Game of the Year Nominee Medley. Flute player Pedro Eustache is desperately trying to swap between several types of flutes, forced to pull up the inventory quickswap display from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.
People really don't know just how tough it is to equip so many different musical instruments in the span of a single Game of the Year medley for The Game Awards.
On the cutting room floor of this piece: a whole other article about Klei's other game, Oxygen Not Included, and a love letter to Sunless Skies.
www.deletedsaves.com/chasing-bunn...
I'll take "dress codes written by men" for 200, Alex.
"cleaning out Pharloom was penance for the way I treated myself."
YAY YAY I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THIS
So happy to be featured on @stevenstoermer.bsky.social ‘s new site Deleted Saves alongside Artemis. I wrote about my odd relationship with Cartoon Cartoon Summer Resort, an okay 2000 web browser game that I keep replaying for some reason
It's becoming your niche!
So happy I can finally show off my contribution to @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social
I wrote about Metal Gear Solid Delta and what is lost on the sacrificial altar of remakes and high-fidelity graphics. Needless to say: I was not a fan of the Snake Eater remake.
Loved having you on the site!!
It was so great working with you and bringing more attention to this odd duck of a game that's captured your heart!
I've started my own quarterly publication for critical essays on video games! I couldn't have done it without such fantastic writers or the masterful editor's quill of @kellymerka.bsky.social
Spindle, which I wrote about for @startmenu.bsky.social earlier this year, also fits into the "cozy spooky game" trend @emilyprice.bsky.social identifies in this excellent article about House Games.
In Duskpunk, @jamespatton.bsky.social writes with a political language whose warnings are legible in our own world, useful to anyone looking to interrogate real structures of oppression. Also, it's quite fun to play.
Paired with a trusty pig, @stevenstoermer.bsky.social takes on the role of Reaper — and rolls across the map — in Spindle, a short meditation on grief with the vibe of a classic adventure game.
IT'S BACK!
The startmenu Winter Spectacular returns for 2025!
- Guest Pieces from people across the industry, including: journalists, developers, PR folks, AND MORE
- Game of the Year Lists
- The startmenu Awards
- AND OTHER BULLET POINTS!
All starting December 1st on www.startmenu.co.uk
Me, trying to get my phone to do anything: TAP TAP TAP TAP
Phone: what's that?
My child: *gestures vaguely at phone*
Phone: let me do every single function immediately!
I appreciated the unique angle @qwertyprophecy.bsky.social brought to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, and the tightness of its execution. @monstertheater.bsky.social a solid addition to your publishing repertoire.
It was my pleasure to review the excellent @staticdread.bsky.social for @startmenu.bsky.social
Becoming Saint sees you take on the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, real-time, tactical RPG.
Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to heaven?
@stevenstoermer.bsky.social investigates.
www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...
Rader's machine in Split Fiction is a symbol of the "frictionless cognitive offloading" of our thought processes to for-profit companies that have built a rentier economy within capitalism's aching bones.
stevenstoermer.medium.com/split-fictio...
This only adds to my anticipation for the @dimension20.bsky.social live show in Seattle this month!
@brennanleemulligan.bsky.social's DnD campaigns contain great lessons for anyone interested in narrative design. Episode 49 of @worldsbeyondnumber.bsky.social is a masterclass in leveraging impactful, "weak" characters. Here are some reflections.
stevenstoermer.medium.com/pathetic-is-...
I appreciate your optimism but I regret to inform you we have a long, proud history of deploying our military (and militarized police) against our own citizens in this country.
Chief among these ideas are @kyla.bsky.social 's idea of AI as "frictionless cognitive offloading" and an extension of @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social 's "cloud rent" to an "AI rent" as the hyperscalers build an ownership stake in the AI models we use out of their massive computational resources.
An upcoming piece I wrote relates the game Split Fiction to generative AI based on similar insights. I'll be writing a companion piece focusing on AI out of what wound up on the cutting room floor.
Relevant quote: "At a time when it’s never been easier to host a blog or create a newsletter or whip up a few videos, it feels like the number of healthy, critical hubs is ever-dwindling. Well, it doesn’t feel that way. That number is dwindling."
Required reading for this era of games criticism.
Relevant quote: "The third facet of criticism that I see that “really grinds my gears” is the facet of criticism that nucleates around “personalities.” How many reader- and viewer-supported, worker-owned media orgs can we sustain? Like, truly?"
This might be "The Critic As Artist" for games criticism. Part 2 is an incisive look at the issues plaguing games criticism today: noescapevg.com/the-spectacu...