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Adriana X Jacobs

@axjacobs.bsky.social
260 followers 139 following 48 posts

poet-gamer, professor, Returnal enthusiast www.adrianaxjacobs.com

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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I had the best time talking to @jon.inkle.co and @sagarberoshi.bsky.social about poems, video games, environmental storytelling and more. And after listening to this episode, be sure to check out the other conversations in this brilliant series!
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inkle @inkle.co · 09/09/2026
New Kaleidoscope! A magical episode where poet and professor @axjacobs.bsky.social discusses the uses of poetry and spoken performance in game writing to deepen the world of the game, and to draw the player in. Listen here - www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope...
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Reached the Baby Steps credits today and saw that there was quite a bit that I didn’t explore. I came across some of my favorite landmarks by accident (falling/slipping). The game doesn’t offer you a map. And yes this is a metaphor for growing up.
Screenshot of the Baby Steps credits.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Cassie is my favorite narrator so I’m v happy to see The Likeness here but my favorite is In the Woods because of its ending. The series quickly adopted a more straightforward prose style. Nothing wrong w/ that but I miss the poetic, murky, concealing language of the first two books.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I am so pleased to see Tana French on this list. The Likeness is brilliant! This thread is reminding me that I need to finish The Keeper.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
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Alexander King @literallyaking.com · 13/06/2026
📈🚀📈🚀📈🚀📈🚀 Hey come check out some experimental clicker / idle / incremental games! 👇📈👇📈👇📈👇📈👇 For their final projects in my 'economics for game designers' class at @nyugamecenter.bsky.social, students made some awesome incremental games, so I wanted to do a thread sharing their work! 🧵⤵️ 1/~15
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Inspired by Tomb Raider, Peggy Ahwesh, and Returnal, I wrote a poem about dying in videogames, over and over again.
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Difference Engine @differenceenginesg.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
FAST TRAVEL by Adriana X. Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social The flame renews you and you’re back in your armour fighting for your life. You die. You reset. What is this feeling that you’ve felt before? ✨ “Free to Play: A Video Games Anthology” is available for preorder worldwide (link in bio).
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Thank you!!
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 20/05/2026
My friend Adriana wrote about her story game based on Dante’s Inferno. “In Vya, I modeled Pom after the poet Alice Notley, whose Descent of Alette (1996) is one of the great contributions to the literature of katabasis.” [adrianaxjacobs.com]
adrianaxjacobs.com
The Final Stretch — Adriana X. Jacobs
This is a post about my last two weeks as a graduate student in game design, the spring showcase, and my game Vya.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I can’t wait to read this! 💕
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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Over a year ago, I spoke with @rasheedabueideh.bsky.social about Dreams on a Pillow for a piece that was killed before it could be published. I am honored that he was willing to take the time to speak with me again in spite of that and tell me about his beautiful homeland: kotaku.com/upcoming-ste...
kotaku.com
This Upcoming Stealth Game Wants To Show You A Beautiful Palestine
“We wanted to talk about Palestine, which is a land full of people
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I’m definitely quoting Naomi in my future Vya publicity materials. Reposting as evidence!
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I graduated this past week from NYU's MFA in Game Design. Going back to school mid-career was challenging, but I never second-guessed that decision. This program changed my life. Here’s a post about our spring showcase and watching people play my game Vya. www.adrianaxjacobs.com/blog/the-fin...
adrianaxjacobs.com
The Final Stretch — Adriana X. Jacobs
This is a post about my last two weeks as a graduate student in game design, the spring showcase, and my game Vya.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Yes, 💯. I have an essay in my head about this and will write it soon. But after I submit my Returnal-inspired thesis game about a woman descending through midlife hell. You can read about it here: www.adrianaxjacobs.com/blog/introdu...
adrianaxjacobs.com
Introducing Vya — Adriana X. Jacobs
Introducing my MFA thesis game.
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Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 15/04/2026
Returnal is not only a mom game but I have it on good authority that it's going on to inspire more mom games. Sincerely, mom who works as a mom game enabler
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gita “the formalist” jackson @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
i think a good question to ask is: why aren't there any "mom games" but "dad game" is a defined genre
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Enjoying not being rejected by @tacobellquarterly.org for as long as that status lasts. Live más!
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Mitu Khandaker @mitukhandaker.com · 03/04/2026
Recently, my esteemed ex-colleague Bennett gave an NYU Game Center Lecture Series talk on his work — most recently Baby Steps. @axjacobs.bsky.social has this excellent critique tho: WHOSE truths about how we move thru the world are we treating as universal?! 🔥 www.adrianaxjacobs.com/blog/player-...
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Hyperion in Returnal! I love how the game’s sound design builds anticipation for this battle. I sometimes return to the threshold of the battle arena just to watch Hyperion play the organ.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Skateboarding is cool, but I have mild vertigo. Instead, I put a 20-yr academic career on pause and went back to school to study game design. Also, I still haven’t been rejected by @tacobellquarterly.org.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I’m honored that you are reading it! ❤️
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Thank you so much for your excellent feedback on my portfolio!
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
I accidentally deleted the quote from the original thread—here it is!
Lines from Isabelle’s poem: “Golden folds adorn the stems/ A maze our eyes beg to follow/ A meditation of winding curves”
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
If a player finds this poem, it means that they are following the game’s main objectives AND exploring the world on their own terms. It’s a meaningful combination that the poem itself thematizes. Isabelle’s commitment to the expedition and to her own way of seeing captures these two modes of play. 🪢
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Here are a few lines from the poem. Why do I love this item? While other expedition records focus on calamity and loss, Isabelle spends her last moments really present in her environment. She experiences beauty and tenderness and wants that to be remembered too. ⬇️
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
A recent example is “Isabelle’s” poem in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. All we know is that she is a member of Expedition 36 and chose to convey her last words as a poem. It does not appear on the game’s critical path. I won’t spoil its location. The surprise is part of the experience of the poem. ⬇️
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
I don’t focus here on games where poetry is central to the narrative or core mechanic, rather games where poems just appear as you explore the environment and/or as lore items. ⬇️
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Launch day! I had such fun writing my piece on why “poems make games better” but really only scratched the surface of the topic. What follows in this thread is both a preview and an addition to an example I raise briefly in my essay: 🧵
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Game Developer @gamedeveloper.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Book excerpt: The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope
gamedeveloper.com
Book excerpt: The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope
Narrative designer Jon Ingold shares the foreword to The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope: 100+ Essays on the Craft of Game Writing.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
🎉🎉🎉
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Ólafur Waage @olafurw.com · 06/05/2025
"Boss" is a common term for the ultimate enemy battle in video games. It's common enough that many other languages just adopted that word. But not Icelandic. It's Endakall or "Final dude"
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Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 11/02/2026
The NYU Game Center's hiring! A senior, tenure-track professor post for an experienced game designer, artist or industry pro with a notable body of creative work. Experience finishing games and mentoring/teaching more important than any kind of academic credential! gamecenter.nyu.edu/were-hiring-...
gamecenter.nyu.edu
We're Hiring! Join the NYU Game Center Faculty as an Associate Professor! - NYU | Game Center
Description Associate or Full tenure professor position for the NYU Game Center New York University, Tisch School of the Arts Position Overview The NYU Game Center is seeking applicants to join its fa...
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
I think poetry makes games better and explain why in this forthcoming volume of essays edited by @jon.inkle.co. I can’t wait to read the other contributions!
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
And a return to blogging, which I have missed so much! There are a few posts up already like this one, where I reflect on parenting, pandemics, and The Last of Us. www.adrianaxjacobs.com/blog/limits-...
adrianaxjacobs.com
Limits and ladders — Adriana X. Jacobs
“Every limit is a beginning as well as an ending.”—George Eliot
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
New year, new website. www.adrianaxjacobs.com
adrianaxjacobs.com
Adriana X. Jacobs
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I had the opportunity to be a late-stage playtester—a first for me!—and can confirm that this game is STUNNING. So good to see you again, Mara Whitefish!
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Important status update: “not rejected by TBQ-yet” ❤️🌮
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NYU Game Center @nyugamecenter.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
No Quarter is back! On Saturday November 22nd No Quarter will be returning for its 2025 edition! No Quarter is an annual playable exhibition where four newly commissioned works from outstanding artists working across games are debuted. Tickets here noquarter2025.eventbrite.com
NYU Game Center Presents No Quarter, An exhibition of new games by Jana Romanova, Julian Cordero, Nicole He & Remi Forcadell, Patrick LeMiewux & Stephanie Boluk. 7:00pm November 22nd, 2025, Brooklyn, New York
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
I love the em dash! I’ll take a stab at an answer. The first one is an accumulation of the hyphens that precede it. Little cuts and jabs that come together to form the longer, more persistent disruption of the em dash.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
He really does! I do appreciate that even his scathing critiques could be deeply thoughtful, so much so that in the process he planted the seeds for his future change of heart.
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
I am reading your gorgeous and wise essay on the beach, observing how the waves turn olive green as they start to break. I started drawing this past year and have been so inspired by your work!
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Shared some thoughts on poetic repetition (esp anaphora) and narrative design in contemporary roguelikes at gs1, a conference showcasing the scholarly work of the @nyugamecenter.bsky.social MFAs.
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Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 26/04/2025
How do “poetic roguelikes” such as Returnal and Hades resemble poetry? Similar to e.g. Dickinson, they have a kind of anaphora, with recurring motifs, language, sensory elements. Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition highly useful to understand cyclical gameplay; imagination draws out difference
Title slide: Poetic Roguelikes (Adriana X. Jacobs)Text of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” with “we paused” repetitions in boldScreenshots of Returnal representing Death, Cutscene, Rebirth
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 19/01/2024
☺️
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 19/01/2024
My translation of Merav Givoni Hrushovski’s End— is out and available for purchase (online and in person at AWP). ⭐️
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 14/12/2023
From my friend Adriana X. Jacobs, “I put my doom into a love poem” is 8-bit video game that incorporates some of her poems. “If you find the neighbor’s garden, your afterlife will be extra sweet.” [ladymacabea.itch.io]
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Adriana X Jacobs @axjacobs.bsky.social · 06/12/2023
My poem-game “I put my doom into a love poem” is now public! It adapts poems that first appeared in my poetry zine “Afterlife is Sweet” (rinky dink press). #bitsy
ladymacabea.itch.io
I put my doom into a love poem by Adriana X. Jacobs
poem-game inspired by my poetry zine Afterlife is Sweet (rinky dink press). Play in your browser
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