Why willpower makes more sense as a system than as a vibe
Most games treat willpower as flavor. Here's why that's a missed opportunity.
// Library
Writing & Notes
Essays, design notes, and the occasional poem. Some of this is about games. Some of it is about everything around them.
01 Essays & Thoughts
Thoughts on design, product, and the strange ways games and people interact.
What it feels like to write intelligent characters when you don't feel like one
On impostor syndrome, character writing, and the gap between the author and the page.
Notes from building a co-dev studio in a not-great funding climate
What it's like to start something when the money isn't flowing.
The player who doesn't want to optimize
Not everyone min-maxes. How do you design for the person who just wants to exist in your world?
02 Poetry & Fragments
Pieces that showed up and insisted on being written down.
The space between the mechanics
Inventory
Load screen
What the tutorial doesn't say
03 Design Notes
Working notes from games and systems. Not polished, but maybe useful.
On card-driven progression and session length
How long should a satisfying session be, and how do cards help or hurt?
Reputation systems that don't feel like spreadsheets
Making faction relationships feel alive without overwhelming players with numbers.
The problem with 'rest' in games
Why downtime mechanics often feel hollow and what might fix them.