Recently, the nominees for IndieCade’s festival went up, and as it usually happens around the time judging results are out for any contest, there was a lot of disappointment and worries about the kind of forces that play out behind closed doors when awarding certain works and artists as exemplary for our community. Having judged […]
Tag Archives: Design
Why Idle Games Need a Takeover
the fire is dead. the room is freezing. These are the first words of the idle, or incremental, game A Dark Room, listed next to an unassuming button labeled “light fire.” Pressing it, what I thought was just the title changes to “A Firelit Room,” like I moved to a new game where the descriptions […]
Intimacy and Digital Patina
From embodiment and kink to luxury and tea, I see myself reaching for something solid to hold onto. I feel disconnected from digital art and environments, and resist how much conversation is centered around theorizing the digital. There’s more to play than video games, and a lot can be learned if we stretch beyond this […]
What is a Luxurious Video Game?
“Well wait, what exactly is a luxurious video game?”
Play Like Everyone is Watching – Some Lessons from Running My Own Play Party
(Content note: this article discusses kink and sex in general, but doesn’t have any explicit descriptions or depictions of sex)
I went to a drinking game jam and this is what I did
Outside of the fact that it was a reason to drink a lot with friends, I enjoyed how many non-games people were involved, learning to make games because it spoke to their lives in a way that made sense.
Control, Fashion, and not feeling where i belong
I can count the number of times I’ve worn this swimsuit on both hands. It’s a black one piece, with an exposed back and halter straps tied behind my neck. The ruffles spilling down the front are tattered from living in the corners of various bay area dresser drawers, giving that Jackie-O look I usually […]
Love is a Battlefield – Rambles about Bonding in Games
Love in games will forever be a topic of fascination for me. As games continue to evolve and experiment, how affection comes out in play tends to be an embarrassing but lovable mess.
Needing Closure: Another Look at Interactivity
I’ve found putting interaction on a pedestal as a defining trait of games more of a grab for legitimacy and exceptionalism rather than actually finding something interesting to say about a medium.
Static and Noise About Bodies and Play
I find that we don’t often pay attention to how we are affected by play, just that games affect and we are affectable.
How to Infuse Wine with Tea
Game design, really, right now, is object design. An object is crafted for use to interact with, and have a play experience.
2014 in Alternate Ending
A lot has changed for me in 2014. 2013 and 2015 Mattie will be rather different people.
Playing with Play
I wonder sometimes if there’s a difficulty with talking about more than video games in design and reach because of how solid and definitional games are as objects, and people tend to organize themselves by the objects they design and consume.
queer as in fuck me – a design manifesto
i want to fuck the world
Dispatch from Arse Elektronika – Some Things Games Can Learn from Sex & Tech
(This post will be talking about sex, and there will be writing about about some sex acts. Consider all links NSFW if your work doesn’t appreciate you looking at sexual content.)