iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Robert Houghton @robehoughton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This year's Middle Ages in Modern Games conference gets started in about an hour. @vinicius-marino.bsky.social and @tesswatty.bsky.social have set up three days of awesome sessions which are well worth a look. It's completely free to access and you can ask questions all week.

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Rónán Hession @ronanhession.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Culture is not Domino's pizza. Art is on the terms of the artist. You open yourself to the mind of another and it's the artist's job to make that worthwhile. It's not like ticking your preferences on a dating app. It's not about saying "but I don't like carrots." Abandon yourself and enter.

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Dr. Mike Sellraiser III: Sell on Earth @profmikesell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I've been a teacher for almost 40 years. One rule I've followed since the beginning: Never insult students. It's a betrayal of the educational relationship. It's a bad look. And that shit gets back to them. If your students are frustrating you, it's your job to deal with it.

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Tales from the Mabinogion @mabinogiongame.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Interested in both the Middle Ages and video games? You're in for a treat next week! I had the pleasure of giving a keynote talk at last year's event, overall a super interesting occasion - very much looking forward to seeing the presentations this year! middleagesinmoderngames.net/mamg26/middl...

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Because why would engineering students ever need to study the ways their very expertise has been used and abused in the past, the way 'oh, I'm just an engineer solving a problem' has been a necessary and foundational lie in every modern system of oppression or extermination?

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 26/09/2026

I feel like one of the most radical, best and most rebelliously good things you can do right now in the informational online space is just....give people credit, love, support and shoutouts. Even if they just inspired you or prodded a thought you built on, name them and thank them loudly.

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Esther Wright @enwright.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Anyway I have a book recommendation for anyone who cares about this, and why none of this shit is new at all.

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BAKER @fuckyoubaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

MUCH RESPECT TO PEOPLE NICER THAN ME

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Úna-Minh (That's my first name!) 🔜 AdventureX @unaminh.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I write! I produce! I organise! I wrangle teams! I win awards! I work inside and outside of games! I‘ve successfully worked remotely since 2015. My work is extensive and I’ve had my hands in many pots 😊 Consider me, your five foot one Úna-Minh* *Úna-Minhs of other heights not included

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Stuart Ellis-Gorman @drcrossbows.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I'm bad at self promotion, but did you know that I'm also an editor and that you can hire me? I have edited history books (most recently for Osprey) and TTRPGs (for Modiphius and Exalted Funeral among others). Full list: www.stuartellisgorman.com/editor Can contact me via website or here!

stuartellisgorman.com

Editor — Stuart Ellis-Gorman

I am a historian, writer, and editor specialising in tabletop RPGs and board games. This page lists the projects I have worked on as both a writer and an editor.

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The Middle Ages in Modern Games @midagesmodgames.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The programme for our next asynchronous MAMG conference is live! We are very much looking forward to a batch of incredibly interesting papers! As always, our conference is held virtually at the following address: middleagesinmoderngames.net

The Middle Ages in Modern Games 2026
Possible worlds / Possible pasts
Conference programme
All times UTC + 1
Monday October 5th
9h45 – Opening Address. Vinicius Marino Carvalho and Tess Watterson
10h – Keynote Lecture

‘Why we play the Middle Ages? A proposition for engaged thinking
– Leandro Wallace
Monday October 5th
Session 1 - Design case studies

14h – ‘KAFLI 141”: An Interactive and Immersive Heritage Gamification Experience of the Acoustics of Lögberg, Þingvellir National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site, Iceland)’
– Emilio Marx & Ginebra Raventós de Volart, Acoustic Heritage Collective

14h20 – ‘Playing the Irish Annals: Narrative Agency and the Gamic Mode of History’
– Vinicius Marino Carvalho

14h40 – ‘Sources and Serendipity: Experimenting with randomisation and medievalism’
- James Baillie
Session 2 - Modding

16h – ‘Reconquering Lloegyr in Crusader Kings III: Modding as a counterfactual historiographical exercise’
– Maxime Kremer
16h20 – ‘Skyrim Puzzles Mods: Finding Indie Freedom within Mainstream Gaming’ – Andrew Griffiths
Session 3 – Ecology and the Non-Human

18h – ‘Tides of Pestilence: Mechanizing Eco-Anxiety within a Fourteenth-Century Dystopia’
– Blair Apgar

18h20 – ‘The wilderness, self-reliance and community in Medieval Dynasty’
– Poppy Tester

18h40 – ‘Temporal Experience and Medieval Contemplation in The Longing’
- Jéssica Iolanda Bispo

Tuesday October 6th
Session 4 – Time and death

10h – ‘Possible Medieval Pandemics? How A Plague Tale Constructs a Playable Apocalypse’
– Ron Heckler

10h20 – ‘Death as Procedure: Sacred Language and Undead Labour in Graveyard Keeper’
– Baykar Demir
Session 5 – Analogue perspectives

12h – ‘Possibles Lives: An Autoethnographic Journey into a Lifetime Engagement with One TTRPG/LARP’
– Anastasija Ropa

12h20 – ‘From “Docufiction” to “Lawplay” — On Speculative Engagement with Early Medieval Law’
- Thom Gobbitt
12h40 – ‘The Dark Ages over Innistrad: Medievalism and Gothic Horror intersection in Magic the Gathering’
– Jakub Ivanecky
Session 6 – Morality & Ideology I

14h – ‘Between Feudalism and Empire: Liminal Temporality and (un)Grounded Aesthetics in Final Fantasy XVI’
- Johansen Quijano
14h20 – ‘Reimagining Medievalism in Chinese-Language Games: Wind Fantasy III and IV’ – Quangang Li

14h40 – ‘Medievalisms and Opposition to Institutionalised Religion in Worlds Beyond Number: The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One’ – Hannah Victoria
Session 7 – Lore analysis & in-game histories

16h– ‘Reading the Response to Bero’s Speech in Skyrim as a historical text’
– Phillip Wallinder

16h20 – ‘“Some may call this junk. Me, I call them treasures”: Invisible Trade Networks and Possible Worlds in The Elder Scrolls Series’
– Ricardo Santana

16h40 – ‘When an era comes to an end: agency, memory and micro-history in Pentiment’
- Ian Regueiro-Salcedo
Wednesday October 7th
Session 8 – Gender

10h– ‘Queens of Hell: Kleopatra, Lilith, and Possible Pasts in Medieval Fantasy Games’
– Kurtis Pope

Wednesday October 7th
10h20 – ‘‘I do not seek a marquis title but peaceful seas’: The imagination of an alternative Chinese maritime history in Uncharted Waters IV’
- Hanjun Shi
Session 9 – Nostalgia and Presentism

12h – ‘Between the Hearth and the Kremlin - Nostalgic Entanglements: Gender, Affect, andMateriality in Digital Depictions of Medieval Rus’’
– Kristina Wittkamp

12h20 – ‘Virtual Battles for the Past: Medievalism as Propaganda and Counter-Propaganda in the Russo-Ukrainian War’
Yaraslau Kot

12h40 – ‘When the Past Returns as the Future: Video Games, Roman Imaginaries, and Historical Possibilities’
Lu Yahuai
Session 10 – Alchemy and Deviance

14h – ‘The Sign Is Added Later: Blood Magic and the Moralisation of Possible Worlds’
- Peter Färberböck
14h20 – ‘Agendered Alchemy? Postmodern Rebis Analysis in Elden Ring
– Marcus Jensen

14h40 – ‘The Problem with Paladins: Eulogising Crusaders in CRPGs’ – Robert Houghton

15h – Closing Remarks
- Vinicius Marino Carvalho and Tess Watterson

The conference will be held asynchronously at the following address:
https://middleagesinmoderngames.net/

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The creators from one of my favourite games ever, plus writing from Holly? Deadlines be damned. I'm installing this today.

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Second last is the key. You've never played anything like this. I most certainly haven't. What a game!

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

100% These contradictions are breaking academia at the seams. I'm particularly incensed about the first. I don't have what it takes to shamelessly lie to people. Yet I'm expected to do it, and deemed a troublemaker for refusing.

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Galerinha blueskyzera, tenho um pedido: alguém tem fotos pessoais de locadoras de jogos nos anos 90/2000 e estaria confortável compartilhando elas pra uso em um livro? Fotos nessa vibe, ou mostrando os racks e pastas de jogos dsponíveis, eventos da comunidade, etc... pode mandar DM pra mais info :)

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Úna-Minh (That's my first name!) 🔜 AdventureX @unaminh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

MY HEART! We were waiting for the paperwork to finalise & it’s now OFFICIAL. Today @sirbeans.bsky.social & I are announcing our indie Irish #gamedev studio: ORGANIC MATTERS. We’re a lean, craft-led studio focused on human-made projects. www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1bX...

youtube.com

Announcing "Organic Matters": Our Irish Indie Game Studio

YouTube video by Organic Matters

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Rónán Hession @ronanhession.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

One of my fondest childhood memories was not knowing the name of any CEO of any company.

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🌑 @fell.energy · 01/09/2026

i want games made by people who get to keep their jobs

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inkle @inkle.co · 01/09/2026

The couple-based gameplay in GTA VI is very cool but meanwhile, have you played 80 Days by inkle studios ltd

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Jordan S. Carroll 🌹 @jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The study of the humanities depends on the radical idea that anything that humans think, feel, or create has value independent of any immediate utility or appeal to the people who study it.

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I've played the demo and can confirm it's turning out incredible. For anyone with a interest in Irish folklore: do not miss this out.

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Robert Houghton @robehoughton.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I had an awesome time with @michellefranklin.bsky.social on legends and lectures! Check out the episode and the spectacular back catalouge of you've missed any.

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Blair Apgar @blairapgar.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Just a reminder!

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Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Ocarina of Time is mostly about the differences between childhood and manhood, which mainly that boils down to having three pairs of shoes that you have to cycle through regularly instead of one.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Also it is with no small amount of irony that we’re all supposed to be up in arms about plagiarism and the theft of ideas/words whilst also being told that the AI revolution is inevitable and we should all embrace the word-stealer 5000 that is devouring all our work for free.

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Nana Moon { game dev } - WISHLIST BATHORY @moonana.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Hello Blueskiers! I am Nana Moon, lead developer at Moonana, I’m a Brazilian living in England. I made JRPGs before but I’m now making a Soulsvania: @bathorygame.bsky.social It has Vampires, Gothic writing & architecture and gameplay based on the giving and taking of blood! #gamedev #pixelart

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Historical Games Network @historygamesnet.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Weekend reading! Will Butler (@carrythezero.bsky.social) examines how genre functions as both a marketing & cultural classification system shaped by commercial viability & national contexts, & how contemporary games increasingly destabilise these boundaries: www.historicalgames.net/the-geofenci...

historicalgames.net

The ‘Geofencing’ Problem: Genres, National Identities and Global Games | Historical Games Network

Videogame genres have long served as the kindling on which game studies discourse fires rage. As long as there have been discussions around the categorisation of videogames, the specificities that cha...

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Kael de Vem, Exu • Wishlist na Steam @tejoestudio.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

o Vem, Exu existe porque políticas públicas de incentivo à cultura existem. a Lei Paulo Gustavo e o Edital das Artes financiaram este projeto. sem eles, não teria demo, não teria música do Zéis, não teria arte da Valdir. cultura se faz com recurso, não só com vontade. #indiedev

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Mariana J López @marianajlopez.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Lovely to see so many thoughtful responses come through 😊 The survey is now available in 3 languages: English, Spanish and Japanese. Thanks to students/staff from the Department of Language and Linguistics (York) for facilitating this. Do complete it and share if you can: tinyurl.com/5579y76e

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Lived in: 🇧🇷 🇮🇪 Born in: 🇧🇷 Parents: 🇧🇷🇧🇷 Grandparents: 🇮🇹 🇮🇹 🇧🇷 🇧🇷 Great-grandparents: 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 Been to: 🇮🇹🇮🇪 🇫🇷 🇪🇸🇦🇹🇲🇹 🇫🇮 🇪🇪 🇬🇧 (all countries) 🇺🇸🇦🇷 🇨🇱 🇯🇵

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

To be fair, "These ages, they are middle" sounds just like something Petrarch would say. And now I'd better shut up before Nolan decides to do a 14th C. sequel to his big loud movie. Featuring Anne Hathaway as Laura.

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 06/08/2026

Sending this out to whoever needs to see it: It's okay if you read slowly, there's no great victory in being able to read quickly, everyone kind of has their own reading speed, and that's perfectly fine. I'm just really happy you're reading. I hope it gives you joy at any pace. Thank you!

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Darach Ó Séaghdha @darach.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The real problem with rebooting legacy book characters to suit modern tastes is that you are giving people who are already established in entertainment an additional advantage over people creating new stories and characters that actually fit the zeitgeist. It is not progressive.

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Chloé Stawski @chlowski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

everything will definitely be alright ✨💗💜

fanart of Sakura, main character of Card Captor Sakura
she's wearing pink/reddish shorts with yellow elements, white crop top with purple stars on it, some sort of pink/red beret, high white socks and rollerskates
she's using the magic of a card to float or fly, and next to her is Kero, who's very happy to wear his own little cute dress

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The Middle Ages in Modern Games @midagesmodgames.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

A bit late...we know...but thanks to everyone who presented at and attended our strand at @imc-leeds.bsky.social last month. So many papers, so much to reflect on. Thank you everyone, we hope to see you next year 😊 Here's a photo of the organising team looking proud.

Organising team sitting at the front of a seminar room, behind them a screen with another member joining online.

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The Middle Ages in Modern Games @midagesmodgames.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Due to popular demand, and to make it easy for our colleagues just getting back after conference season, we decided to extend the deadline for this year's #MAMG conference. If you feel like participating, but haven't submitte yet, worry not! Make sure to send us an abstract by August 8th.

the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Research at the University of Winchester presents The Seventh Middle Ages in Modern Games Asynchronous Conference on 5 to 6 October 2026. The central themes of this year’s event are ‘Possible worlds / Possible pasts’.
In a time of growing political and environmental anxieties, the Middle Ages are often sought as a source of inspiration for alternative futures. Ecologically-minded games like Of Life and Land look to the medieval past to explore alternative, non-exploitative engagements with nature. Medievalist RPGs have long served as possibility spaces for players to interrogate and experiment with notions of sexuality, gender, and identity more broadly. Games like Scriptorium and Traveller’s Rest imagine medieval pasts divorced from the logics of violence often associated with the period. Medievalist fantasy games like Metaphor: ReFantazio openly engage with utopian thinking and our capacities to imagine possible worlds.
This conference considers the Middle Ages and Medievalism in Modern Games. We invite analytical ‘papers’ (comprising 400-500 words of text or 5-minute videos) and sessions of 3 to 5 papers which address any aspects of the medieval period or medievalism in any and all forms of modern games. We particularly welcome papers addressing the central conference themes of ‘Possible Worlds’ and ‘Possible Pasts’. The conference will be conducted remotely and there will be no registration fee. To promote accessibility and inclusivity, the event runs asynchronously across time zones.
We are able to accept papers in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words, brief biographies, and indications of time zone and availability as attachments in Word to midagesmodgames@gmail.com by Sunday 8 August.

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James Baillie @jubalbarca.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

New paper out! In this one, 'Light Linking: A Concept for Connecting Prosopographies', I go into some details on an alternative to authority files for connecting historical data together. journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/dc... #DigitalHumanities #DH #History #Data

First page of "Light Linking: A Concept for Connecting Prosopographies" in the Digital Classics Online journal.

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Climainfo @climainfo.org.br · 02/08/2026

Podemos levantar as mangas para mudar. #EleiçãoEClima

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John Marshall @jmarshallmed.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Delighted to see my latest article in PRIA in the wild. It analyses eight fascinating letters sent by Irish kings to the kings of England in the 13thC, while also providing a full transcription and translation of them in the appendix. Even better is that its open access: muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

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2dchaos - WISHLIST NECHROMIA!!! @2dchaos.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Do you want smaller games that are made by developers who are paid more and are not even kidding??? Wishlist one now! 🖤

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Blair Apgar @blairapgar.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Hi all! Just a reminder the CFP deadline for MAMG's annual asynchronous conference is approaching (3 Aug)! Our theme this year is 'Possible Worlds’ and ‘Possible Pasts’. The link below has the full CFP #MAMG #medieval #gamestudies @midagesmodgames.bsky.social tinyurl.com/MAMG2026

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Vinicius Marino Carvalho @vinicius-marino.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Celtic studies mutuals: you'll want to wishlist this game. If gaming's not really your hobby (yet), I can think of no better introduction.

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