iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rü @rbrandis.eu · 13/09/2026

🐦‍⬛I love the crows in @deck13interactive.bsky.social's Venetica, or should I say the crow in Jack Keane? Now I'm not even sure, if it maybe was already in Ankh. Anyway, it is just so cute 💓 #lowpoly #crows

a square image with 4 panels, depicting the model of a black crow from Deck13's 2009 roleplaying game Venetica

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/08/2026

I'll be @gamescomdev.bsky.social & gamescom this year again. 😊 ℹ️ I'm branching out as freelancer as of now! 🌟 Come talk to me if you are in need of a 🎲 game producer with extensive experience in the management of small and mid-sized teams and/or 📜 historical advisor.

Screenshot from a development build of the game "13 Rosas" showing a room decorated with arches and illuminated by a single lamp at the center of the wall. In front of the wall sits an alter with a bouquet of red roses on it.
On the bottom of the image a black banner holds both the logos of the events "gamescom dev" and "gamescom".
A pink tag across the image reads "I'll be there" referring to the posters presence at both conferences.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 26/06/2026

✨ What a surprise! I wrote this short piece on the necessity to organize workers with the help of gaming and game communities together with Alex Petrus last year and it finally came out ❤️ Let me know what you think 💭 metanarratives.org/gamers-of-th...

Read letters on white background showing the title of an article by Rüdiger Brandis and Alexandra Petrus called "Gamers of the World Unite! Organising the Digital Proletariat"

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 02/06/2026

Time to learn french 🏴🚩

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 28/05/2026

So happy I could contribute the text Historical Theory and Game Design to the amazing Writing Game Histories anthology by @enwright.bsky.social, Iain Donald, and @doktornick.bsky.social! ✍️🕹️📜 Hit me up if you want to chat about anything related to historical game development 😺 Link in the comment!

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 29/04/2026

Brain: You've been reading and writing for 9 hours. You should call it a day. Relax. Me: Ok, you are right. Brain: Oh hey, what's that there? That looks interesting... Me: ¡Coño!

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/02/2026

If it isn't the much talked about Zeitgeist delivering fresh games ❤️lovingly crafted and ✊propagated by @maxhaiven.bsky.social and @plutopress.bsky.social to my door today 🤩 I know what I'll bring to the next union meeting for educational purposes ^^ #boardgames #politicalgames

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 21/01/2026

💬🦜First talk of the year come up today 🎈 I'm heading out to the @unicologne.bsky.social to talk at the Colloquium of Digital Cultural Heritage about one of dearest topics: Historical theory and the design of historical games ❤️✨ #history #historicalgames #gamestudies #gameresearch

Screenshot from the 2022 PC game "Pentiment" with title for a talk called "Historical Theory and Game Design" written below

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 17/01/2026

I might not be the an Assassin's Creed fan, it's more an abusive relationship being a historian. BUT Mirage must simply be the best game of the series because I can cuddle cuts. And man do I stop in the middle of a any mission to do so 🐈🐈‍⬛🐱😸 #cats

Screenshot from Assassin's Creed Mirage showing the main character Basim cuddling a cat on his arms.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 26/12/2025

Vibe therapy by trucking

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 02/11/2025

After Utopian fiction on to Argentinian experimental literature of the 1950s. Cortázar's Hopscotch can be read in multiple ways, from front to back or by following several predefined different paths. An existentialist stream of consciousness indulging in the deconstruction of its own form.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/10/2025

New thing I'm trying: Posting all the harmless books I'm reading to relax... Let's start with Le Guin's The Dispossed. What utopian fiction have you been reading lately?

Cover of the novel The Dispossed by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 26/09/2025

Spooky season is upon us, so I'm giving a talk about ghosts @valuefnd.bsky.social's #TIPC4 💾 👻Spectres of the Past. The Practice of Historiography in Kentucky Route Zero ❤️📜 📄 interactivepasts.com/the-interact... Tune in, 10/10 at 3pm! 📺 www.twitch.tv/streamingthe... #gamestudies #historicalgames

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/08/2025

I'll be hanging around @ devcom & gamescom next week. If you want to talk about 🎲game design, 🎛️production, 📜history, 🪧politics or ✊workers’ rights, hit me up ❤️✨ I’ll also be part of a panel on unions and works councils in the games industry on Monday. Be sure, to not miss that 😊 #devcom #gamescom

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 04/06/2025

Am Freitag habe ich die Gelegenheit aus der Praxis zu berichten und sie mit Theorie zu verbinden. Beim Jahrestreffen der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin spreche ich zum Thema "Praktische Verbindungen von Spieleentwicklung und Geschichtswissenschaft". #gamestudies #history #historicalgamestudies

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 16/05/2025

I'll be hanging around @amazefest.bsky.social today and tomorrow. If you want to talk about 🎲game design & 🎛️production, 📜history, 🪧politics or ✊workers’ rights, hit me up ⭐❤️✨ I’ll also be part of a panel unions and works Councils in the games industry on Saturday. Be sure, to not miss that 😊

Cover image for a talk titled "Let's Reclaim the Workspace. Unions and Works Councils in Games"

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 22/04/2025

Alex Petrus and I are back to talk about cozy games. This week we head out to the Historical Materialism conference in Athens to talk about what cozy game communities teach us about transgressive play and how to deal with capitalism. hmathens.org #gamestudies #gameresearch #cozygames #ideology

A picture split in two parts. On the top we see a screenshot from the game Assassin's Creed Syndicate showing Karl Marx giving a public speech. On the bottom the title of the talk is displayed which is called: "Escpaing the Grind. Resisiting the Capitalist Realism of Digital Games"

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 11/03/2025

Winter's over, talks are back up. Next week, I am attending this years Young Academics Workshop at the @unicologne.bsky.social giving a talk on cozy games and ideology together with Alexandra Petrus. colognegamelab.de/research/con... #gamestudies #gameresearch #cozygames #ideology

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 17/10/2024

I'll be attending Games Ground next month⭐❤️✨ Together with the wonderful Marilena Cassetta, Lucas Maria Blatz & Nicole Stegmann, I’ll put together the panel “Press F to Empathise. The Importance of Social Skills for Being a Producer” 🎛️🎲 📅14th of Nov, 4:15pm, Portal Stage www.gamesground.de

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/08/2024

I'll be attending #devcom and #Gamescom next week. If you want to talk about 🎲game design & 🎛️production, 📜history, 🪧politics or ✊workers’ rights, hit me up ⭐❤️✨ I’ll also be giving a talk on “Democracy at Work. Unions and Works Councils in the Games Industry” together with @Felix Voigt.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 08/07/2024

I’ll be heading out to the University of Dortmund on Thursday to attend the conference “Playing the Field IV. Video Games and Politics” and talk about one of my side research projects “The Lack of Democratic Systems in MMORPG Guild Structures” 🎮 🕹 #gamestudies #gameresearch #mmo #mmorpg #democracy

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 18/06/2024

On my way to the Cologne Game Lab to give a guest lecture on UNIONS and WORK COUNCILS together with Matthias Grzegorczyk from ver.di. If you are studying at CGL, don't miss it. ⭐❤️✨✊ 🤔 This year is turning out to be heavy on the union topic for me. I wonder what that is?

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 07/05/2024

Hey hey, people! I will be at @AMazeFest 🦩🌈 participating in a panel on UNIONS and WORKER CO-OPS. Don't miss it! ⭐️❤️✨✊ 🗓️🕜 Saturday, 11th of May at 13:30h sched.co/1cqXI #AMaze2024 #AMaze2024

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 15/03/2024

(1/3) Letztes Jahr durfte ich für die “Games und Erinnerungskultur“-Datenbank der @Digitale_Spiele zwei neue Einträge zu Kentucky Route Zero und WW2 Rebuilder schreiben und als Video schreiben, die nun veröffentlicht wurden. 😊🕹️🙏 #erinnerungskultur #digitalespiele #geschichte #games #historicalgames

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/03/2024

Nächste Woche gehts nach Bielefeld zur "Geschichte als Kritik Konferenz". Bin schon gespannt auf die tollen Diskussionen. Mein Vortrag steht auf jeden Fall schon bereit 🎮 🕹 #geschichte #kritik #games #historicalgames #gamestudies #deconstruction

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 26/02/2024

Freue mich beim nächsten #CouchCoop Stream als Gast mit dabei zu sein ☺️ Wird um Arbeit gehen. Diese Sache, die wir die ganze Zeit machen müssen für Geld und so.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 19/01/2024

Habe nächste Woche die Ehre über den "Einfluss industrieller Erinnerungskultur im Ruhrgebiet auf die Spielwelten von Gothic und ELEX" in Bremen bei der Konferenz "Digitale Spiele im Wandel" zu sprechen. 🎮❤️ Nostalgisches Thema für mich, gerade mit der drohenden Schließung von Piranha Bytes 😢

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 20/12/2023

Freue mich, dass ich mit einem kleinen Beitrag namens "Spuren der Vergangenheit: Geschichtsschreibung als kreativer Akt" an der neusten Ausgabe des LaG-Magazins mitwirken durfte🎲 lernen-aus-der-geschichte.de/sites/defaul...

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 16/12/2023

Going home to the kiosk that sold u your first football card, Pokemon card, center shock, beer and whisky.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 19/11/2023

I'm playing WW2 Rebuilder for an article and after getting the water out of the drydock to repair a submarine I found this. Never knew the origins of the Ninja Turtles reach that far back, and to Northern Ireland of all places. Good stuff.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 03/11/2023

Holiday reading assignment found on the street. Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, but in German. Let's get into some hardboiled detective fiction from the 1930s!

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 18/10/2023

Getting ready to head to Leipzig in the morning for the CEEGS 2023 conference. Anybody else coming? Maybe from the @akgwds.bsky.social peeps?

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/10/2023

Party in 3000 BC rocked.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/10/2023

or if you are in Germany -> join ver.di and found a works council ✊

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/10/2023

Preparing my Mafia 2 talk for next week and diving again into American meta-narratives. If you ever wondered where the American Dream was really pushed forward with all force, have a look at James Truslow Adams "The Epic of America" and just search it for "American Dream". It's fascinating.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 14/10/2023

From the golden year of 2002. Finally gonna play Arcade's first game Arx Fatalis. The start already feels like a mix of Elder Scrolls and Thief.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/10/2023

Next up on the reading list

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 12/10/2023

Tonight, gonna go down to the Mean Streets.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 10/10/2023

Labor negotiations. 5/5

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 10/10/2023

Selling cigarettes & the cleaners. 4/X

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 10/10/2023

Stacking boxes, collecting protection money. 3/X

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 10/10/2023

Walking the docs. 2/X

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 10/10/2023

Mafia 2's conscious focus on the act and condition of work is very rare in digital games. Sure, it's wrapped into a gangster story, but this might be just the reason, how such subversive topics made it into a game. Here are some impressions from my recent research playthrough. 1/X

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 09/10/2023

I'll be at the Central and Eastern European Game Studies Conference in Leipzig next week talking about one of my favorite games: Mafia 2. Hit me up, if you are there 🎮♥️ #gamestudies #liberalism #mafia2 #historicalgames #gameresearch

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 07/10/2023

Just arrived 😃 Catching up on my late 2000s backlog with some Dino love 💕

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 06/10/2023

Also the bar is full of movie posters. I have been playing blind all these years ^^

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 06/10/2023

Huh, somehow never realized this nod in #mafia2 before. Guess what I just watched ... hint: it stared a guy called Humphrey.

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Rü @rbrandis.eu · 28/09/2023

Shiiiet. Here we go again. xD

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