So that was 2015

Well, that was a full year. Still kind of frustrating, but I do think we are, as I really wanted us to, starting to accelerate. Going somewhere, if not quite as quickly as I’d like. The biggest thing I did in 2015, of course, was work on Road to Gehenna. …

The End of Nationalism

The end of nationalism could’ve been in sight. We could’ve been looking at it right now; not quite there yet, but able to see it on the horizon. Look at the world I was born into. A world becoming increasingly open to travel and migration. More and more children being …

Designs and Consequences

For those interested in the development of Lands of Dream games, or those curious about game/narrative design in general, a few thoughts about what I’m currently working on. Having added a big and entirely unnecessary secret to the upcoming Steam version of The Sea Will Claim Everything, I thought I …

Diversity and Second Chances

I’ve mentioned before that some of my very favourite works of art – the film The Matrix Revolutions, the TV shows Lost and Stargate Universe – were things that I dismissed or actively disliked, usually because I’d gone in with the wrong expectations, or had at some point misunderstood what …

What Europe means for SYRIZA

Watching last week’s Eurogroup meeting has been fascinating. With SYRIZA replacing the servile ND/PASOK governments, which consented to every measure without debate, the fundamental character of the EU was revealed: it is an organization controlled by the German capitalist classes, steeped in an ideology of racism and nationalist contempt, and …

What SYRIZA means for Europe

The electoral victory of SYRIZA in the Greek elections has been described as everything from momentous victory of the Left to gigantic catastrophe, but the truth is that a lot of the coverage wildly exaggerates what SYRIZA is, what it stands for, and what it aims to achieve. The Past …

General Updatey News Stuff

So, hey, The Talos Principle got some pretty nifty reviews, and even won some awards! That’s pretty cool. In fact, that’s awesome. I’m very, very happy. Whatever reservations I may have about the state of games criticism, I’m pretty glad that we were right in assuming that the people who …

Police Violence and the Necessity of a Global Perspective

I’ve been seeing a number of English-language debates about police violence lately, particularly due to the events in Ferguson, Missouri. Most of the American debates seem to focus on matters of race, as American debates inevitably do. Now, there is no question that there is plenty of awful racism in …

The Game Itself

Reading games criticism – as separate from game reviews – is something I often find very frustrating. With some lovely exceptions, the feeling I often get when reading “games crit” could best be described as no-one is talking about the game itself. For some time now, there has been a …

Todash Country

Sometimes I feel like I’m just barely holding on to sanity. It’s not the sense of failure. Sure, I have yet to accomplish the things I want to accomplish most, but for someone who started out with very little, with no capital to invest and parents in a desperately poor …