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Rami Ismail (رامي)

@ramiismail.com
60K followers 8.3K following 4.9K posts

I make games. I help good people make good games in good ways. ramiismail.com

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 26/09/2026
What a weird way to admit that you've surrounded yourself with exclusively sycophants that would freak out about your clothes but not about y'all shared complicity in destroying all life and peace and freedom on Earth in pursuit of more money, Mark.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 25/09/2026
I honestly have never considered switching from Google Pixel phones until they sent me a "wanna celebrate destroying the lives of trans people" as a system update.
Android Pixel system update screen, showing Harry Potter customizations as a bullet point.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 20/09/2026
"You're absolutely right, there was indeed another commercial jet on the runway. That's my fault, I should have checked before assuming that runway was clear to land on. Since the runway is now closed, let me know if I can help with anything else. Do you know how runway numbers are selected?"
FAA tees up $875M AI tool to help manage air traffic congestion
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 18/09/2026
Ah this made my day, thanks Andrew. courses.ramiismail.com/courses/team...
“Trying to teach teamwork and leadership in an online course is incredibly difficult, especially with making a balance between being too vague and becoming too specific. This is by FAR the best course on teamwork that I've ever done.” - Andrew S.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 16/09/2026
Instagram this is literally a post on my personal account, about three people dying, in the crash of an airplane I had countlesss fond memories of
Your post got over 10.4K views! Take a moment to celebrate.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 16/09/2026
Production 101 of the video courses exists because too many times indie studios know how to build a game, but not how to ship a commercial game. Production is a large part of what publishers evaluate, and the skill you need to ship. Available now for teams & freelancers both: courses.ramiismail.com
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 16/09/2026
In other words, you can't trust the BBC. Nobody quit for Macklemore. They quit because Israel keeps murdering people without any accountability and Sheeran is OK with being "neutral" about that
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 15/09/2026
I did all the customer support for Vlambeer and I didn't even install a permanent atmosphere of fear and distrust inside the company by announcing 2,000 future layoffs amidst 2,000 immediate layoffs like some weird Hunger Games-esque reign of terror situation, but I guess IGN wanted to do propaganda
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 07/09/2026
My entire YouTube algo somehow is some version this image with a random white guy's face looking shocked or angry and a title like "you wouldn't believe" or "I've never seen people this mad"
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 07/09/2026
I'm Rami, indie dev, advisor, tool dev, community builder, & amateur pilot! I help good people make good games in good ways. Links: Courses: here Consultancy: here Newsletter: here LinkedIn: here Instagram: here AMA about gamedev, anytime.
It's a pic of me on a staircase. I think it was at PAX, long before the current US hellscapes stopped me from visiting the US. I should get a new photo made, because I don't really look like this anymore. One time, the TSA confiscated my shaving kit - and I arrived at GDC unshaven with a full moustache. I thought I'd dodge the crowds and get some shaving kit, but I ran into a bunch of people and all of them remarked along the lines of "much better" so now I wear my moustache. Anyway, that's a little bonus lore for those of you reading the alt text.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 06/09/2026
2. The fucking Washington Post here coming in with an article about low water quality in poor little Israel due to *checks notes* Israel destroying all of Gaza's water treatment and sewage in Gaza as part of their continued genocide but now 1% of Israeli houses can't shower that's news
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 05/09/2026
Aww, thanks Andrew! If anyone else wants to do HIIT workouts for their brain, all courses are the same price - €40 per course. courses.ramiismail.com
Andrew S. writes "Doing these courses feels like a HIIT workout for my brain. The amount of useful information packed into such a short course is astonishing."
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 04/09/2026
Teams 101 got its first review, and it seems this one landed as well. It is the longest course, one of the most complex ones to make, but also was really rewarding to see come together. Available (like all courses) for €40 at courses.ramiismail.com/courses/team...
Review by Elise Avery:

I am a solo dev, so the Teams course is more of a future concern than something I have much experience with. That said, the lessons in this course seem to apply to my past experience in game jams and school game projects, and I see a lot of wisdom in the course than can be applied to any future work in teams.

This feels like a good companion to the Games Business course as well, with this focusing more on the specifics of teamwork, feedback, and leadership, and the Games Business course rounding out the bigger picture.

I liked that the lessons emphasized repeated processes and provided some templates to guide your own development of these processes. As always a lot of the value of the course is in whether you follow through with the work, but the lessons and templates provide concrete steps towards following through, which is great.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 31/08/2026
Still can't believe how positive the courses.ramiismail.com reviews are - happy to be launching another course tomorrow, Teams 101. Focused on running your team(s) effectively, leadership, and ensuring you're setting yourself up for the best possible development process.
Review: “I've done a few online indie game dev marketing courses now. This was the best one I have seen. I am genuinely impressed by how much useful information was put into such a short course and explained so well.”
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 16/08/2026
Every time I release a new Levelling The Playing Field 101 course, I am a little nervous as to whether I've done well until some reviews start coming in. Luckily, it seems the new Directing 101 course -on being a Game/Creative Director for small team projects- is landing super well.
5 star review for Directing 101 by Elise Avery:

“I have rarely seen directing covered by courses, so I was excited for this one, and it was indeed very informative and useful. I am a solo developer, and many of the course's concepts apply most obviously to leading a team to do their best work but even so, the ideas contained in this course strike me as relevant to keeping the vision for your solo indie game on track. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the director's mentality during different phases of the project, and the emphasis on one-way doors in the development process.”
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 12/08/2026
Very proud of launching Direction 101, one of my favorite courses to work on for the Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses program. Directing 101 covers a somewhat more esoteric skillset in games, but a skill critical to game success. Available now! courses.ramiismail.com/courses/dire...
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 04/08/2026
😭😭😭
Four five-star reviews for Games Business 101.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 03/08/2026
Filed away my last pass on tomorrows LTPF newsletter article, which given that it's the 1st Monday of the month is a paid-members "Ask Rami" article. Really happy that I'm writing these again, because it means I receive great questions like these, ended up writing 3,000 words in response.
"Studio founder here. We are a studio of 7 people in North America. We've been funded by our publisher since 2023, and we've been working on our first commercial game, and we are [...] incredibly proud of the game. We made great progress throughout the project, despite some teething issues early on. After a few delays, our publisher has made clear they're out of patience and money and they want us to ship. It turns out we're bad at shipping - we've barely made any progress since then, everything seems to get stuck, and we are running out of time. How can we ship a game?"
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 02/08/2026
Levelling The Playing Fields' Marketing 101 course is live now at courses.ramiismail.com for just €40 - pay once, keep forever. The course discusses common indie marketing methodologies at the 101 level, including topics like funnels, store pages, tracking, showcases, demos, and festivals.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 01/08/2026
Getting read to launch Marketing 101 on courses.ramiismail.com - for those of you that bought the full package or pre-ordered, it should go live in the next hour and a half. For those of you interested, you can check the course details out at courses.ramiismail.com/courses/mark...
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 27/07/2026
OK, you know what, I am starting to believe I did well. It's so odd working outside your usual field - I make games, not educational courses - but I promise I threw everything I had at making these & it is so calming to see that people find the courses useful.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 27/07/2026
I love the utter chaos that recording the Mike and Rami Are Still Here podcast often brings about, but the Brighton Develop Beach Episode is special levels of chaos. mikeandrami.com
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 26/07/2026
Aaaah, second review! I've really never been as nervous about any release as this one and it turns out educational programs take much longer to get reviews for than games, so it is really help calm my nerves that the first responses are so good. Thanks, Elise!
A positive 4 star review for the Games Business 101 course.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 22/07/2026
First student review for courses.ramiismail.com Games Business 101. Genuinely thankful for the kind words, Mazen!
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 20/07/2026
Months of work, a lifetime of learning, but the Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses program launches right now. Eight €40 courses launching 10 days apart, I aim to make the critical less-spoken parts of indie gamedev accessible away from expensive visa-locked hotel bars. courses.ramiismail.com
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 16/07/2026
Live mikeandrami.com podcast at Brighton went great.
Mike Rose & Rami Ismail at Develop Brighton 2026
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 08/07/2026
World Cup 2026, Egypt-Argentina replay
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 03/07/2026
This is horrifying and so important. Israel's continued massacres, child murder, genocide, forced starvation, concentration camps, targeted and structured destruction of life, and ethnic cleansing continues. It's easy to not see the full scale of this unparalleled evil. archivegenocide.com
Israel Exposed — War Crimes Archive
64,515 videos · 17,904 photos
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 02/07/2026
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 30/06/2026
OK this was a lovely experiment but maybe let's not go with automated thumbnails
Rami Ismail showing the Games Business 101 card with just the worst thumbnail
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 30/06/2026
I'm happy to announce to game developers worldwide that almost every single one of us can now officially claim that at least one of our games did better numbers than the "Great American State Fair", and also that we did better at not shipping greybox assets for our setpieces.
That fair is empty.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 29/06/2026
oh god why is this but also damn but also why github.com/uellenberg/I...
PONG, in code, that self-modifies and compiles per frame.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 29/06/2026
I think my favorite thing about Mike and Rami Are Still Here is being able to invite people like @victoriatran.bsky.social onto the show to talk career, life, and also just catch up about *grabs transcript* uuuh Waluigi. Subscribe to the podcast, or just listen to this one over at mikeandrami.com
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 26/06/2026
With the shutting down of Concord and EOL for Destiny & the complete gutting of live-service stalwart Bungie, Sony announces a new company strategy focused on -wait sorry let me re-read I must've gotten it wrong... no that's what it says- yeah they're still trying to build a new not-Destiny y'all
In the PlayStation 5 generation, Sony Computer Entertainment's software output hasn't been as impressive as it was in the previous console generation. Due to SIE’s aggressive live service push, the Japanese publisher released several games - such as the ill-fated Concord from Firewalk Studios and Marathon from Bungie - that did not meet players' expectations. Despite this, President Hideaki Nishino confirmed they will continue to pursue live-service games, even as he heavily hints at a PlayStation 6 handheld designed to meet the changing playstyles of gamers worldwide.

"We believe that live service games are content that attracts users on a global level, so we want to continue to revitalize the market through both first-party and third-party content," Hideaki Nishino said in a new interview with Famitsu celebrating the magazine's 40th anniversary. "We are not only focusing on promoting new releases, but also considering what we can do with older titles in the medium to long term. Also, this year we are planning to release our own live service title, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and we hope everyone will enjoy it."
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 25/06/2026
Tim, with all due respect, but what the fuck are you talking about? I'll come make some 3D flower pots at a 50% discount from your usual rate.
Tim Sweeney quoted in gamesradar.com

He refers to an example of making a flower pot model for a game. "The value is not in creating a perfect flower pot. It will be an absolute folly to spend a million dollars creating a flower pot, because the real value is in building the scene and building the game and building the narrative, and the gameplay, and making it awesome, and giving it a unique feel, and making something that appeals to gamers."
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 25/06/2026
The response to my new 101 video courses announcement (over at courses.ramiismail.com) is both super encouraging and hilarious
A screenshot of Rami's new video courses with a message sent to Rami's WhatsApp: "Saw the thumbnail and was worried this was gonna be an apology video lol"

Rami's response: "I’m sorry, my courses are affordable"
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 24/06/2026
Been working on this as part of my Levelling The Playing Field program for a while, as part of a mission of creating fairer access to knowledge. Eight 101 video courses for independent game dev, €40 each, available soon. Sign up for the launch announcement & newsletter at courses.ramiismail.com
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 23/06/2026
Nobody will be able to say I should've taken more photos
Bad Bunny in GelreDome, about to kick off
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 14/06/2026
"???"
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 13/06/2026
Somebody sent me this 2018 screenshot of why I really had to practice on suppressing my facial subtitles to get to a point where I get invited to televised talkshows more than once.
Rami Ismail at a talkshow, making an incredulous face at the things the currently speaking guest is saying.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 11/06/2026
Airstrikes, the famous natural phenomenon that routinely traps journalists, trapped a journalist, so random! She died as rescuers waited for permission to save her -- from who and why the permissions wasn't given and what would happen if they didn't get it is absolutely unimportant, trust us.
The Washington Post burying the lede because the lede is Israeli war crimes.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 10/06/2026
Would I have preferred a decade more Destiny? Yeah, yeah - I cried a good cry at the title screen.
Destiny 2 title screen.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 10/06/2026
The UK government wants you to know that two of these images are "understandable disorder", one of these is "the rules-based order", and one of them is "terrorism". Please follow the instructions carefully, or face consequences.
Understandable disorderUnderstandable disorderRules-based orderTerrorism
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 10/06/2026
The racist, violent, and destructive attacks in Belfast are "because people are rightfully concerned with the sense of unsafe-motherfuckers do you have eyes the most dangerous people are local racists & fascists & supremacists, not refugees fleeing the ungodly consequences of our global bullshit
Street with burned out houses after racists were "rightfully concerned"
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 02/06/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHmE...
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 27/05/2026
Managed to grab my Switch just before the fasten seatbelt sign went u-fuck
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 25/05/2026
Someone once asked me why they mark flight maps with parachute drop zones and areas - isn't the chance that you hit a parachutist with an airplane very small? It is, which is exactly why they're marked on the map: very small is not zero.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 22/05/2026
No worries - my screenshots were today at 10:25 today Amsterdam time
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 22/05/2026
The post says Google's new flagship AI model, Gemini Omni, allows multiple refinements of a video without "losing the thread" so where is the violin, google? Where did the violin go? HOW DID YOU LOSE THE WHOLE DAMN VIOLIN IN THE FIRST STEP
A screenshot of a video embedded in the announcement post of Google Omni. The video is of a violinist playing a song, generated by AI. A screenshot of a video embedded in the announcement post of Google Omni. The video is of the same violinist playing a song, transported to a grass field, generated by AI. The violin is missing. A screenshot of a video embedded in the announcement post of Google Omni. The video is of a violinist playing a song in a grass field, but now over the shoulder, generated by AI. The violin is missing.
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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 18/05/2026
Just so happy with how this game feels by now. Was rewatching an older trailer and it's already so solid here - only getting better & better You could help out a bunch with a wishlist over on Steam and a repost! store.steampowered.com/app/2396130/...
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