Hi Friends!

Europe began to melt in June. Last Week, at the peak of the heatwave, I left the house (somewhat against my better judgement, but I just couldn't stay locked up all day) and it really felt that just being outside was harmful to my body. 

I feel people have forgotten, or don't understand that Summers in Germany used to not be like that. People were losing their mind when the temperatures went over 30 degrees for a handful of days in July and August. And now we had over 40 degrees in late June. 40! If your body has that temperature you need to go to the hospital.

Anyway, my building is of the kind that stays hot for several days afterwards, so even though things have calmed down a bit, today really is the first day where it's not completely unpleasant inside (my thermometer says 27 degrees right now).

Gamedev-News

This is sort of "Gamedev" adjacent, but I'm going to be in Glasgow for the Glasgow Indie Games Fest to give a talk about Evil Game Design:

Evil Game Design - An Introduction | Glasgow Indie Games Fest

It was a bit touch and go, if I could actually manage to get there, because traveling is scary and expensive, but everything is in order and the talk is prepared. I'm really looking forward to going, because this might be the first time where I attend a games event where I actually know people beforehand.

I don't think that the talk will be recorded, so I'll probably do a local version of it once I'm back, just to have something to share. Also if you're in the area, or attending the event, feel free to get in touch. I'll be in Glasgow from July 10th-13th, and I especially need something to kill the time on the 13th, because my flight leaves fairly late in the day. Another thing I'm looking forward to are the temperatures. Weather forecast for my area says something around 35 degrees for the weekend, whereas it's supposed to be only 20 in Glasgow.

I'm also fiddling around with my secret "other" JRPG project and it's coming together quite nicely and quickly. Not going to tell you anything about it though, because then it wouldn't be a secret anymore.

Blogpost-Shares

For Manifesto Jam, I wrote about why people should love Dungeon Encounters:

Interesting things I played/watched/read

Never a huge fan of popular science writing, because it always sounds more sensationalist that it often is, but I still like that apparently they found microbes in Fog:

There's Something Living Inside Fog, Scientists Find

New research found that fog is rife with so much life that it's comparable to an ocean to an entire ocean in density.

Biology really has been a constant string of "the world really doesn't work like we thought it would" ever since it started. Even stranger then, how its popular perception seems to then be this very static, almost dogmatic thing that is being used as a cudgel for reactionary politics. Life is an amazing thing and I wish more people would see it as that.

Really enjoyed this post about people's relationship with social media:

your social media habits sound like an abusive relationship – ava's blog

The way some people feel like they need to act on big social media platforms is odd and as if they're traumatized.

In the wake of the announcement that apparently a future Yakuza Title is going to feature Tupac Shakur, despite him being dead, I stumbled over this article about his life and his work and it once again made me wonder how many of the deaths of openly transgressive and radical people in America were down to the state:

TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR | Artist, Rapper, and Son of a Black Panther — Juno Rylee Journalism

“They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor.”…

The Manifesto Jam Corner

There's many Manifestos from that Jam that I really liked, but I want to specifically shout out this one:

dead body manifesto by avery

Play in your browser

You can also just look over at all the submissions here:

Also, please read Em's response to some of the reactions towards the Jam itself:

Why Not Manifest?

Why Not Manifest?

Honestly, seeing so many people hit very similar notes with their manifestos made me really happy, despite them having a good deal of anger and frustration in them.

It was just nice to see that apparently I'm not alone with this feeling that things should be better than they are and in fact I think this frustration is starting to boil over.

It was also interesting to see who felt the need to react to the jam in a hostile manner and I just want to say here:

If you have a rather large social media following and are involved in videogames, and seeing a bunch of fringe creators express their frustration with the current state of things causes you to lash out towards them, you should re-examine the role you're playing. I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not a transgressive one.

See you in August!