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Steven Stoermer

@stevenstoermer.bsky.social
99 followers 109 following 49 posts

EIC at Deleted Saves, words at Start Menu and Stop Caring. www.deletedsaves.com Views own.

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
16 years ago, Kieron Gillen included a thing of mine in the Sunday Papers. When I started writing about video games again after many years, a goal I set for myself was to get into the Papers again. Thanks @jamesandstuff.bsky.social for including me today, it was uniquely meaningful. bit.ly/4gKiEsc
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Deleted Saves @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
@dykedeitz.bsky.social leads off Deleted Saves Issue #3 with a banger about one of my favorite games, Papers Please. Featuring artwork by @shaferbrown.com ! Stay tuned for more essays dropping this month to round out Issue #3. www.deletedsaves.com/papers-pleas...
deletedsaves.com
Papers, Please and the Reality of Being an American Tranny
Getting my identity documents in order made me feel like Jorji, balancing the fluctuating demands of a ridiculous government with the resources at my disposal.
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Micaela “grossly unremarkable balls” Deitz @dykedeitz.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
massive thank you to @autumn-wright.com, @stopcar.ing, and @ashlikeadragon.bsky.social for helping along the way. much love and admiration to @stevenstoermer.bsky.social for giving my essay a home. the inimitable @shaferbrown.com drew the brilliant art work that’s so pretty i want it on my wall.
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Nikhil Murthy @murthynikhil.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
This @stevenstoermer.bsky.social review of Amberspire makes great points on anti-capitalist game design. www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...
startmenu.co.uk
Review | Amberspire - Persevering Through Preservation — startmenu
In Amberspire, the titular city atop a necropolis expands steadily, but instability is a constant companion. The game contains an irresolvable tension at its core that, at turns, entertains, frustrate...
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I'm very happy to do something else when I'm supposed to be writing, and very happy to write when I'm supposed to be doing something else.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
There's something unique at the heart of Amberspire that delivers a message about our expectations for growth and how a city builder *ought* to play. @nictringali.bsky.social @hollynielsen.bsky.social @bithellgames.bsky.social Congrats on bringing a cool, nuanced, beautiful game to life.
startmenu.co.uk
Review | Amberspire - Persevering Through Preservation — startmenu
In Amberspire, the titular city atop a necropolis expands steadily, but instability is a constant companion. The game contains an irresolvable tension at its core that, at turns, entertains, frustrate...
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I wrote about Amberspire for Start Menu! A puzzle game wrapped in a city builder, it takes a different tack to the "eco-builders" genre.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Calling it now, this is going on some best of lists for the year.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Absolutely lovely piece, delivered as only Wallace can.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
IGN employees deserve fair pay.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
A ton of great writing this week. Thank you for featuring my piece on Battlefield 6 for @stopcar.ing! Find it here: www.stopcar.ing/a-vivisectio...
stopcar.ing
A Vivisection of Battlefield 6
Battlefield 6 has arguably saved the franchise. But at what cost?
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Wallace @exalclaw.com · 17/05/2026
New Observing Digital Space Debris is out! Today's poem is inspired by Motorslice, titled "Break Time." Yk the drill at this point: excerpt below, full thing free at the link, share if you like it, and try to have a nice Saturday: www.patreon.com/posts/observ...
A screenshot of Motorslice where protagonist P, dressed in an orange jumpsuit with a chainsaw attached to her back, hangs from a yellow bar above a pit that looks bottomless.If only everything wasn't an attempt to feed Goliath 

to the Goliath employing David and his rented slingshot, 

there might be space for real breaks — the ones where you can 

bathe in sunlight and let the grass hold your soreness 

and laugh at the plays being performed by the clouds — and space

for the question of if there's need to work 

at a building that blots out the sun.
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artemis, scary boss of stop caring @stopcar.ing · 14/05/2026
NEW ESSAY TIME @stevenstoermer.bsky.social on Battlefield 6 "[it] demures from naming names out of a dual desire. One, to present combat as an apolitical mirror image of the real world but that is vacuum-insulated from it. Two, to depict a fantasy of player agency" www.stopcar.ing/a-vivisectio...
stopcar.ing
A Vivisection of Battlefield 6
Battlefield 6 has arguably saved the franchise. But at what cost?
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Something about Battlefield 6 always rankled me, and I think I've discovered why it feels so hollow. It all started with the drones. @stopcar.ing gives home and hearth to my analysis. www.stopcar.ing/a-vivisectio...
stopcar.ing
A Vivisection of Battlefield 6
Battlefield 6 has arguably saved the franchise. But at what cost?
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Star Citizen is a real video game and this article does a good job proving it. However, the real question is "is CIG a video game company?" and the answer is no. CIG is a marketing analytics company but Roberts, as the visionary frontman on whom the marketing is built, cannot answer this. 1/3
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Deleted Saves @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Deleted Saves will run paid special features to help support those affected by the closure of Paste/Endless Mode. These will run outside the quarterly cadence to put money in pockets faster. Pitch me at deletedsaves@gmail.com. Literally anything you want.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Read Issue #2 of www.deletedsaves.com
deletedsaves.com
Deleted Saves
Critical analysis of video games and culture.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I'm honored @startmenu.bsky.social let me write so many words about Terra Invicta, a uniquely ambitious grand strategy game building off of @pavonisinteractive.bsky.social's experience with the Long War mods for XCOM. Find all my thoughts below! @hoodedhorse.bsky.social
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
It was a pleasure to spend some quality time with the TCR Marines and Waybackers of @overhypestudios.bsky.social new squad based tactics game, MENACE!
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I already liked Blood Cultures, but wow the soundtrack they put together for this game is next level. Thanks for flagging that in this piece @henrystockdale.com
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Props getting this featured on @critdistance.bsky.social !!
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Brendan Graeber @raggafragga.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
People really don't know just how tough it is to equip so many different musical instruments in the span of a single Game of the Year medley for The Game Awards.
A scene from The Game Awards where the orchestra is playing The Game of the Year Nominee Medley. Flute player Pedro Eustache is desperately trying to swap between several types of flutes, forced to pull up the inventory quickswap display from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
On the cutting room floor of this piece: a whole other article about Klei's other game, Oxygen Not Included, and a love letter to Sunless Skies. www.deletedsaves.com/chasing-bunn...
deletedsaves.com
Chasing Bunnies in Don’t Starve Together
You must already know the path to walk it.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
"cleaning out Pharloom was penance for the way I treated myself."
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Wallace @exalclaw.com · 10/12/2025
YAY YAY I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THIS So happy to be featured on @stevenstoermer.bsky.social ‘s new site Deleted Saves alongside Artemis. I wrote about my odd relationship with Cartoon Cartoon Summer Resort, an okay 2000 web browser game that I keep replaying for some reason
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artemis, scary boss of stop caring @stopcar.ing · 10/12/2025
So happy I can finally show off my contribution to @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social I wrote about Metal Gear Solid Delta and what is lost on the sacrificial altar of remakes and high-fidelity graphics. Needless to say: I was not a fan of the Snake Eater remake.
deletedsaves.com
Painting the Snake
I am not interested in the discourse that swirls around the question of whether or not remakes should exist. They remain, they persist, and they are a part of culture, whether we like it or not. Most ...
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
I've started my own quarterly publication for critical essays on video games! I couldn't have done it without such fantastic writers or the masterful editor's quill of @kellymerka.bsky.social
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Spindle, which I wrote about for @startmenu.bsky.social earlier this year, also fits into the "cozy spooky game" trend @emilyprice.bsky.social identifies in this excellent article about House Games.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
In Duskpunk, @jamespatton.bsky.social writes with a political language whose warnings are legible in our own world, useful to anyone looking to interrogate real structures of oppression. Also, it's quite fun to play.
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startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Paired with a trusty pig, @stevenstoermer.bsky.social takes on the role of Reaper — and rolls across the map — in Spindle, a short meditation on grief with the vibe of a classic adventure game.
startmenu.co.uk
Review | Spindle - Don’t Fear Me — startmenu
Paired with a trusty pig, Steven Stoermer takes on the role of Reaper — and rolls across the map — in Spindle, a short meditation on grief with the vibe of a classic adventure game.
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startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
IT'S BACK! The startmenu Winter Spectacular returns for 2025! - Guest Pieces from people across the industry, including: journalists, developers, PR folks, AND MORE - Game of the Year Lists - The startmenu Awards - AND OTHER BULLET POINTS! All starting December 1st on www.startmenu.co.uk
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Me, trying to get my phone to do anything: TAP TAP TAP TAP Phone: what's that? My child: *gestures vaguely at phone* Phone: let me do every single function immediately!
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
I appreciated the unique angle @qwertyprophecy.bsky.social brought to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, and the tightness of its execution. @monstertheater.bsky.social a solid addition to your publishing repertoire.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
It was my pleasure to review the excellent @staticdread.bsky.social for @startmenu.bsky.social
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startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Becoming Saint sees you take on the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, real-time, tactical RPG. Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to heaven? @stevenstoermer.bsky.social investigates. www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...
startmenu.co.uk
Review | Becoming Saint - Have You Heard The Good News? — startmenu
Becoming Saint sees you take the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, realtime, tactical RPG. Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to h...
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Rader's machine in Split Fiction is a symbol of the "frictionless cognitive offloading" of our thought processes to for-profit companies that have built a rentier economy within capitalism's aching bones. stevenstoermer.medium.com/split-fictio...
stevenstoermer.medium.com
Split Fiction: What does Rader’s machine have to do with AI, anyway?
For a game about stories, the plot of Split Fiction isn’t really the point. The nature of the machine in which heroines Zoe and Mio wind up…
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
@brennanleemulligan.bsky.social's DnD campaigns contain great lessons for anyone interested in narrative design. Episode 49 of @worldsbeyondnumber.bsky.social is a masterclass in leveraging impactful, "weak" characters. Here are some reflections. stevenstoermer.medium.com/pathetic-is-...
stevenstoermer.medium.com
Pathetic is Poignant, in Brennan Lee Mulligan’s Campaigns
In his Dungeons and Dragons game “The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One,” Brennan Lee Mulligan introduces the witch’s apprentice Nif as…
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
An upcoming piece I wrote relates the game Split Fiction to generative AI based on similar insights. I'll be writing a companion piece focusing on AI out of what wound up on the cutting room floor.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Required reading for this era of games criticism.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
This might be "The Critic As Artist" for games criticism. Part 2 is an incisive look at the issues plaguing games criticism today: noescapevg.com/the-spectacu...
noescapevg.com
THE SPECTACULAR LEVIATHAN PART II
I don’t think I’m a big fan of where “criticism” writ large is headed.
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
It only took me 750 hours in Paradox's Victoria 3 to figure out why I can't stop playing it. stevenstoermer.medium.com/the-digital-... #victoria3 #paradoxinteractive #videogames #strategygames
stevenstoermer.medium.com
The Digital Brittleness of Victoria 3
In 1994, John Meriweather founded Long Term Capital Management on the basis of a computer program that looked for discrepancies in expected…
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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
The economy of long and short rests in Dungeons and Dragons is famously kind of broken. Can using some optional rules as limited resources help? @sherlockhulmes.bsky.social thought so in the latest High Rollers campaign, and I think he's onto something. medium.com/@stevenstoer... #dnd
medium.com
Modified Heroic Long Rests
This is an expansion and refinement of the “Heroic Short Rest” proposed by Mark Hulmes, which is itself a refinement of the Heroic Rest…
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