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flattened beneath the layer cake of history

@fractrans.bsky.social

260 followers 543 following 94 posts

call me books wear a mask thinks way too much about Caves of Qud sff/math/cs [th]e(y)/[th]em Orb Strategy mode use your Orbs in tough situations

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flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A Caves of Qud remix of XKCD 231: Cat Proximity, showing a chart of “Intelligence” decreasing and “Inanity of Statements” increasing as “Human Proximity to Great Saltback” goes from “Far” to “Near”. Below the chart there is a stick figure approaching a great saltback, after which they say, “Your home is on your back, friend.”

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I love Caves of Qud

You can no longer become hotter than the surface of the sun (but you may still become much colder than absolute zero).

Fixed a bug that caused zones to permanently freeze over.

Gigantic creatures are now transmuted into gigantic gems.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

😔

A screenshot of a death pop-up in Caves of Qud. The pop up reads "You died. You were yee-clawed." Behind the pop-up is a scene of the player character surrounded by chute crabs in Golgotha. The chute crabs have cowboy hats.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

😌

A box of pączki

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

functional chat application

discord channel titled #⚠️click-to-crash-desktop-discord

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

> This bowl-shaped basket of scrounged textiles and padding yawns with the promise of a humble, comfortable embrace followed by a laborious escape.

a scrapasan chair from Caves of Qud

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

A picture of Slog of the Cloaca captioned “Live Slog Reaction”.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

What is Caves of Qud?

* Award-winning science-fantasy roguelike RPG
* Released in 2024
* A longtime obsession of mine

"caves of quds a sicko scifantasy storysim" – Brian Bucklew

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

A popup from Caves of Qud. The popup reads, "You became a cord in time's silly carpet. You were cooked." In the center of the popup is a picture of a puff of steam.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Excited to announce that I will be speaking at Roguelike Celebration @roguelike.club this year! www.roguelike.club/event2025.ht...

A Mythopoetic Interface Reading of Caves of Qud

Caves of Qud renders a world where artifacts of the distant past present elaborate legends from the events of historic characters' lives. In the same way, the game's interface elaborates on the player character's abstracted interactions and experiences to present their own legend. This talk proposes a reading of Qud's interface as mythopoetic—representing the player's story as mythologized and metaphorical rather than directly literal. This interpretation of Caves of Qud's narrative and themes offers the play experience as one more myth-made layer to dig through.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

now wait a second

Tam's Souvenirs
You approach a colorful, L-shaped booth with a jaunty sign over one side and vibrant triangular streamers dangling over the other. Both sides of the booth are completely covered in merchandise--low wooden risers of Obelisk-Scented Candles, bouquets of Obelisk Balloons, a full tabletop of Giant Obelisk Plushies, and further multitudes of shelves, trays, and racks of every sort of Obelisk item one could ever desire.

Behind the table stands Tam, Dromad Merchant. He is wearing an enormous Obelisk hat that stretches nearly twice again his own height, though such a thing is not visibly for sale here. You see another small obelisk labeled Not For Sale that you have an insatiable urge to touch.

You can also return to the Pavilion.

The way his long lashes rest against his furred cheek reminds you of something you can’t quite name, but it tastes like a burst of fresh water in a salt-parched mouth.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Guess I’m niche-posting for Caves of Qud / Shelved by Genre now

A screenshot of Caves of Qud’s faction screen, showing an entry for “The Apu-Punchau Society”.

flattened beneath the layer cake of history @fractrans.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

A screenshot of the upper half a Caves of Qud conversation with a glittermensch boulderer