Life in TikTokland, year 1 + advice for game devs for getting into vertical video

my most popular videos: lunch shitpost, BL joke, Australia complaints... three different genres?

I've been posting vertical videos on TikTok / Instagram Reels for about a year now. I already did my first week and my first month retrospectives, and now this is my reflection on my first year.

Numbers-wise, I'm doing OK. Not that follower counts mean much, but I have 2000+ followers on TikTok (from 0 a year ago) and 4000+ on IG (from ~1500? a year ago) and a couple viral videos with 1 million+ views across both.

More importantly, I do feel like I understand much better how to make videos, craft-wise and culturally.

The common cynical marketing advice for game devs here is to automate a third-party app to schedule gameplay clips every day. I don't think it's great advice. Personally I don't really watch these videos much myself. It's also a short-sighted media strategy, because what about your next game, what about when you quit / escape the game industry? Even from a cynical marketing lens, gameplay clips will not foster a parasocial fanbase that follows you through every career shift / era of your life.

If cold robot gameplay posting is working for you somehow, that's great. But if you're looking for an alternate strategy, here's what's been working for me -- posting like a human being...

Radiator Forever is "gay as a service" + its debut July 2026 update is Rinse And Repeat, now on Steam

CONTENT WARNING: This post is mostly "SFW" (Safe For Work) but the pictures are somewhat spicy, though Instagram-safe.

Radiator Forever is a new ongoing re-remaster / re-re-release of my short experimental gay games. I'm putting them all in one collection / package!... Or at least, that's the idea.

You can play it on Steam (login required) or on Itch, but use those direct links because it's hidden from Steam search for most users and it's even geoblocked in certain countries. (For step-by-step instructions to unhide the game, or to check whether you're on the geoblock list, see the main Radiator website.)

The first major update of this new era is Rinse And Repeat, my shower simulator game that I've never released on Steam... until now.

In this post I talk about the new release model, internet censorship hell, what's new with the games, and a rough roadmap for future updates...

My interview on Radio New Zealand about Americans

look at how laid-back I am

Recently I spoke to Radio New Zealand (RNZ) journalist Ke-Xin Li about... Americans. 

The radio segment is called "First Up: Increase in number of Americans granted New Zealand citizenship" if you want to hear my lovely voice, and the article is "Slower pace sees more Americans eye 'laid-back' Kiwi lifestyle" if you prefer to read my lovely voice.

The reporter found me through my Instagram Reels / TikToks about life in Aotearoa New Zealand. It was a pleasure speaking to her, although it has been a bit embarrassing for her to quote local NZ magazine The Spinoff's 2021 feature on me, especially since you're not supposed to brag about this kind of stuff here. For the record, I didn't mention it! I didn't talk about my games or do any self-promotion! See? I'm practically a kiwi already.

But I guess this all makes me a local expert on Americans now. Why are Americans invading New Zealand? Why are Americans so annoying? Listen, I don't have all the answers. Sometimes you just have to embrace the mystery.

Manifesto Jam 2026 - notes and links

Street Corner Orator, 1938 (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL)

Cécile Richard is running the 2026 edition of Manifesto Jam. Time is running out to submit your brilliant bold game design manifesto that will change the world! Quick, hurry and manifest, before submissions close on June 15th!

This year I've contributed a short little manifesto, called "A Game Is A Knife."

Already I notice some resonances with some of this year's manifestos, such as "I Hate Your Cozy Game", "Dare It Set Foot Upon This Hallowed Ground", and "Gameplay Never Mattered", 

Special shoutout to the interactive entries like "Artisanal Gruel", "The Future Is Possible!", and "Dead Body Manifesto" which add an extra layer to their words.

See also: a survey of video game manifestos, if you need some inspiration.

"Thanks for injecting me with 500 cursed Black Knight Ultra Greatswords" for Rock Paper Shotgun

I have a new piece up at Rock Paper Shotgun about Dark Souls 2 (2014), but no prior Dark Souls experience is necessary to read it.

It's about when I got hacked in Dark Souls 2. Basically a malicious multiplayer PvP invader can "inject" invalid items into your inventory, causing the game to crash if you try to open your inventory screen. In my case, my hacker injected me with 500 cursed swords, like truly cursed, more powerful than any intended in-game mechanic or lore. 

A really skilled player could probably finish Dark Souls 2 without opening their inventory ever again, but I'm not a really skilled player, so I had to figure out a way to unhack myself -- and the only way out was through the abyss.

The future of public game arts festivals and non-commercial games culture

Freeplay Parallels in 2024 in Naarm Melbourne, Australia

This year the oldest living art games non-profit in the world, Freeplay (Australia), announced they were like a year away from shutting down, so they're running a survey on what to do. They have some money, enough for one last conference, or one last showcase? Or should they do something else?

It's easy to see this as part of a broader global discourse about the future of non-commercial game arts events around the world. There used to be many more events, but now there's not. What's happening?

A lot of discussion happened on Bluesky, where it was instantly lost and forgotten in the churn of the feed. So I'm writing this post to archive / preserve some of that Discourse. I also want to add some of my own thoughts as an extra-special non-Australian outsider who visits occasionally.

Notes on level design workflow for the 3D platformer Big Hops

overview of the Ocean intro level

I made some levels for the 3D platformer game Big Hops by Luckshot Games, and it's finally released! You can now play it on Steam, Switch, and PS5.

So far the game is getting 7s, 8s, and 9s. Most players like the level design, though some kinda hate it, which is fair -- we went for a chill cozy-ish hands-off no-combat experience that won't hit for everyone, but the people who like it really do like it. I'd compare it to Psychonauts or Banjo Kazooie, with some Mario Galaxy / Breath of the Wild / Sly Cooper bits.

Despite the lack of complete universal adoration, I do think we figured out decent level design practices that worked OK for this scope / type of 3D action game. Some of these dev practices may surprise you; it certainly surprised me when I realized what we were doing. So in this post, I'll talk about some of our level design workflow for Big Hops...

SPOILER ALERT: I spoil some mechanics and levels, but not in detail. I don't spoil any of the story or the ending. Don't worry about it.

new Quake map: "One Need Not Be A House" for Quake Brutalist Jam 3

"One Need Not Be A House" is a large non-linear concrete bunker island / brick brutalism map that I made for Quake Brutalism Jam 3 -- a huge single player mega mod for Quake 1 with 77 (!!!) modernist-inspired levels made by the community.

You can download and play it for free here, as part of the QBJ3 mod at the Quake community hub Slipseer. This time the jam organizers even made a 100% free standalone download with no Quake purchase required!

(BUG REPORT, 13 JANUARY 2026: there's some reports that sometimes my map crashes Ironwail v0.81, which is the engine packaged in the standalone download. Sorry. As a workaround, you can use vkQuake instead. Or just skip it, there's 76 other levels to play anyway!)

In this post I talk about my inspirations, intent, and what happens in the level. 

This is your last SPOILER WARNING: if you care about spoilers, play the level for yourself first.