Month: October 2016

Cultist Simulator Devlog: Loose, Tight

When you hear the phrase ‘choices in games’, what do you think of? It might be this: or this:   or indeed this:   But equally it might be this: or this: Lots of choices! Where are you going to send your crew, what are you going to repair, should you teleport your boarding party […]

Written by on October 24, 2016

PLEASE HELP ASTRONAUTS WITH QUEEN POUNDS OR OTHER RESOURCES

Astronaut: the Best is awash with weird and innovative ideas. It’s exactly the kind of game Kickstarter was meant to support. But I think right now that’s what’s killing it on Kickstarter. It doesn’t play like anything else out there; when the comparison you reach for is ‘King of Dragon Pass, maybe?’ you know you’ve […]

Written by on October 21, 2016

Cultist Simulator: the Kickstarter Decision

A couple of weeks ago I was dithering over to run a Kickstarter in November 2016, before my BioWare contract, or September 2017 once I’d finished at BioWare. An earlier KS would mean I would know where I stood with funding, and could get a second shot if it failed; a later KS would be […]

Written by on October 18, 2016

Latest columns: films, insects, comics, and how to work with your player community

I have two columns now! my Eurogamer one this week stars Kuleshov, Tolkien, Scott McCloud and a marooned insect. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-10-15-blood-in-the-gutter my GamesIndustry.biz one is the distillation of seven years’ experience dealing with a player community as an indie dev: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-10-17-the-indie-view-how-to-survive-the-internet . It’s an industry-facing column, but if you’re a gamer you might find it interesting for a view […]

Written by on October 17, 2016

Crowdfunding, audience-driven stories, and terrible mistakes

I’m speaking at three events in the next couple of months. Come along if any of this sounds interesting. On Wednesday 19th October, I’m on a panel about crowdfunding videogames at Crowdfest in Shoreditch. On Thursday 17th November, I’m on a panel about audience-driven stories at the Belfast Media Festival: along with Charles Cecil from Revolution, […]

Written by on October 15, 2016

AN INTERMISSION: SEVEN REASONS YOU SHOULD BUY ZUBMARINER

I’d normally do a Cultist Simulator devlog post today, but Zubmariner, the first expansion for Sunless Sea from my old comrades at Failbetter, is out this week – in an hour, in fact! So I’m going to save my CS ammo for next week, and tell you why you should pick up a copy. That said, […]

Written by on October 11, 2016