iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Markus Elvig

GamesMarket @gamesmarket.global · 02/10/2026

The University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm (Hochschule Neu-Ulm, HNU) has founded a new Game Institute that brings together interdisciplinary experts and game studies scholars. The goal is to pave the way to becoming the "Game University Bavaria". www.gamesmarket.global/university-o...

gamesmarket.global

University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm Founds Game Institute

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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ea-nāṣir Must Die! has a release date: 13 October 2026! We are collaborating with @plusoneexp.bsky.social and @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social Copy/Paste Co-op for a full release on both digital and physical. An OSR (Mark of the Odd) adventure for 3–5 players set in Ancient Mesopotamia! #ttrpg #osr

A copper plate wanted poster of Ea-nāṣir that looks like the meme. And an illustration of Ea-nāṣir by Citaaticat.

Ea-nāṣir is a copper merchant from Ur.
Ea-nāṣir sold bad copper.
Ea-nāṣir received many complaint tablets.
Ea-nāṣir made many enemies.
Ea-nāṣir Must Die!

Cover of Ea-nāṣir Must Die!

Coming soon on 13 October 2026 from Copy/Paste Co-op UK & Plus One Exp US

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doctober @docseuss.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

the only crunch that should be inevitable is captain crunch. or possibly nestle's crunch. but like, if you're doing production crunch, you need a better production pipeline. and no "it's not crunch if you're having fun" sentiments are for people who don't understand or care that burnout is physical

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sam “ludonarrative disinterest” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

[rings bell] theoryslop! theoryslop! come get yer theoryslop while it's still hot!

one page. header reads "RPG DESIGNER THEORYSLOP ALIGNMENT CHARTS & SHEET." gray text under the header reads "You have 20 points to assign to each stat array, Pendragon-style. For tri- or otherwise multi-polar arrays, express the stats as ranges, e.g. “Gamist 1–7 / Dramatist 8–9 / Simulationist 10–20.”
subheaders followed by lines for writing read: "Designer: / Project: / Link:"
subheader reads "Binary Traits," followed by a list of silly game studies paired descriptors and space to write stats: "Ludologist / Narratologist // Game-as-Activity / Game-as-Object // Proceduralist / Anti-Proceduralist // Diegetic / Endogenous // Suitsian / Non-Suitsian // Closed Lusory Goal / Open Lusory Goal // Toy-Game / Meta-Game // Character-Locked / Authorial // Problem-Solving / Story-Telling // Rulebooks / Adventures."
subheader reads "Special Twinned Binary Traits (the Bartle Zone)," followed by gray text reading "Assign 20 points to each axis, but make a single roll when testing the combined traits." following is a two-axis chart, north-south reading "Social / Non-Social" and west-east reading "Aggressive / Passive."
in the second column, a subheader reads "Multi-Polar Traits" followed by shapes with stats at their corners: triangle, "Dramatist / Gamist / Simulationist"; square, "Agon / Alea / Mimicry / Ilinx"; hexagon, "Classic / OSR / Trad / Nordic larp / Neotrad / Storygames"; square, "Gamer / Actor / Socialite / Immersive."
a subheader reads "Skills," followed by a big list of 32 skills, with space for stats next to each: Academia, Acting, Art Direction, Blog, Cartography, Copyediting, Credit Rating, Day Jon, Game Studies, Graphic Design, Illustration, Layout, Line Editing, Livestream, Marketing, Networking, Operations, Organizing, Podcast, Printing, Production, Proofreading, Shitpost, Shortform Video, Social Media, Thirst Trap, Video Essay, Web Dev, Writ. (Adventure), Writing (Lore), Writing (Rules), Other: "
gray text reads "Sam Sorensen, September 2026"

same theoryslop designer sheet as before, this time filled out in handwritten green, for me, Sam. I skew towards problem-solving, goal-driven play, as well as towards adventures, imaginary worlds, and simulationism. the notable inclusions in my skills lists are a +6 in game studies, a +4 in academic, blog, layout, line editing, and adventure-writing, and a +2 in "museum," my "other" skill

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Dr Florence Smith Nicholls @florencesn.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Myself and @vongnome.bsky.social are working on a project and we're looking for zines that were made around 2014 (or the mid 2010s) that were in response to or reference gamergate, or mention the concept of "the gamer" in some way. Let me know if you have any leads on this!

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Elisa Mekler @elisamekler.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Our team recently read a bibliometric analysis of Games & Culture papers (doi.org/10.1177/1555...) – and it's iffy, to say the least. The paper makes all kinds of claims about the journal's influence on game studies – and there's hardly any analysis that would support this ...

doi.org

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Elisa Mekler @elisamekler.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Do you make games? Do you study or teach games? Do you create videos or blog about games? -- What theories or ideas help make good games? -- Share your opinion in our 10min online survey w @dooleymurphy.bsky.social & @florencesn.bsky.social res58.itu.dk/limesurvey/I...

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Dr Florence Smith Nicholls @florencesn.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

My favourite slide from #chi2026 was @vongnome.bsky.social 's "cruel optimism ahead" traffic sign

Slide with an orange diamond traffic sign that says "cruel optimism ahead"

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Elisa Mekler @elisamekler.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

🎮 Do you know any *good* theories for making games? 🎮 Share your thoughts in our survey res58.itu.dk/limesurvey/I... Whether you are a game dev, scholar, educator, or blog about games. @dooleymurphy.bsky.social and I would love to hear from you! 🌟 Thanks for participating and reposting! 🌟

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Jón Kristinsson @jonkk.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

does anyone have any game design articles/videos/talks about non-addictive game design principles? lots of "the perfect feedback loop!" and "how to make your game extra addictive!" videos out there, so was just wondering if someone's done the opposite in terms of design philosophies.

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Xalavier Nelson Jr. @writnelson.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

"B-But if we don't use AI, how will we storyboard cutscenes--" MOTHERFUCKER MY WIFE LET ME USE HER CROCHET PLUSHIES, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

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Elisa Mekler @elisamekler.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Proud supervisor moment -- Congrats @vongnome.bsky.social on getting your paper conditionally accepted to #chi2026! Stay tuned for the preprint on How Character Creator Interfaces Afford Non-Binary Gender Expression

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Jordan Magnuson @jordanmagnuson.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I'm excited to share that Game Poems Issue 1 is now live at www.gamepoems.com/issue01 A new online literary magazine dedicated to exploring the artistic and poetic potential of short-form videogames by publishing new games directly in a playable format. Thanks for playing and sharing!

gamepoems.com

Game Poems #1

An online literary magazine publishing short-form videogames directly in a playable format. Issue #1 features interactive works by international artists and game designers.

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🐔 Brian Bucklew 🐔 ₑͤ＞∿＜ₑͤ ∞🌮 @unormal.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

one thing that's really funny is that when luther went to post his thesis, nailing things to the church door wasn't some weird proclamation, it was like a normal way to post public notice, just the common bulliten board, so he literally just went like Power and Efficacy of Indulgences 🧵 1/98

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Chloe Appleby @chloeappleby.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

ALT: GAMES applications close in one week (midnight 11 Jan) if you want to apply do it now or you’ll forget and be so mad at yourself

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Jaws Slayer 🎃 @jesawyer.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

ready to talk online

Yōtei screenshot of a ronin with arms crossed and the prompt text R2 FIGHT TO THE DEATH

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Markus Elvig @vongnome.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Not exactly a glossary, but something in the style of the software studies lexicon for RPGs could be an interesting resource 🤔

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Ricardo Tavares from 🌍 dreamup.games @dreamup.games · 25/12/2025

Somebody should write up a #ttrpg contested glossary. Just a list of common terms of our hobby, what they could mean, how do they actually have no agreed meaning and why they shouldn't be spelled like that. Suggested entries: TTRPG, narrative, GMless, adventure, rules-lite, Actual Play...

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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 22/12/2025

Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".

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Jacob Geller @jacobgeller.com · 08/12/2025

This is exactly what I do upon finishing a podcast

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Jean Ketterling @jeanketterling.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

We are recruiting game makers affected by the 'NSFW' policy changes on Steam and itch.io for a survey. This survey is part of a broader project on the factors that shape the production, distribution, and consumption of porn games. More info about the project and survey at www.pppproject.com

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

NEW PUB ANNOUCEMENT! out today in @ejcs-journal.bsky.social, I wrote about lolcows, livestreaming, and how platform affordances and anti-fan practices catalyze digital freakery. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

The cover page for my EJCS essay on digital freakshows

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Jules Eileen Roscoe Fitzgerald @julesaroscoe.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

For @404media.co this morning: a group of immigrant rights organizers are helping people use Fortnite to practice what to do if they encounter ICE agents in the wild. And I got to see it. www.404media.co/ice-defense-...

404media.co

Inside an ICE Defense Training on Fortnite

A group of immigrant rights organizers are helping people use Fortnite to practice what to do if they encounter ICE agents in the wild.

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