John Walker - Industry Analcyst
@botherer.bsky.social
3.5K followers 370 following 1.5K posts
Co-creator of Rock Paper Shotgun, currently helping out at Kotaku, and still looking for a new long-term gig. I write www.buried-treasure.org, unearthing excellent unknown indies. Please consider supporting! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/buriedtreasure
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Reposted by John Walker - Industry Analcyst
botherer.bsky.social
My son (10) asked me if he could write articles for Buried Treasure so he could earn some money. I said sure, if he wrote at least 250 words and edited his work before filing it. So he did! Here's his review of Gems of War:

buried-treasure.org/2025/10/toby...

Please do leave a kind comment.
Toby Reviews: Gems Of War – Buried Treasure
buried-treasure.org
botherer.bsky.social
I was really impressed by his understanding of irony.
botherer.bsky.social
My son (10) asked me if he could write articles for Buried Treasure so he could earn some money. I said sure, if he wrote at least 250 words and edited his work before filing it. So he did! Here's his review of Gems of War:

buried-treasure.org/2025/10/toby...

Please do leave a kind comment.
Toby Reviews: Gems Of War – Buried Treasure
buried-treasure.org
Reposted by John Walker - Industry Analcyst
botherer.bsky.social
Chronoquartz by @infinitestairs.bsky.social is an outstandingly smart timeloop RPG puzzle game that had me cheering its cleverness throughout!

buried-treasure.org/2025/10/chro...

Please support Buried Treasure with teeny bits of money: www.patreon.com/c/buriedtrea...
Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz.
botherer.bsky.social
(I don't think this video is AI, btw. I think it's Unreal. But it's still so stunning tone deaf.)
botherer.bsky.social
I really hope so. Anywhere other than SF, so I can afford a hotel again.
botherer.bsky.social
GDC was one of my favourite things. It had many flaws, but it was a place that celebrated independent development like nothing else, and was so positive.

I hate this. I hate that it thinks there's a desire for it to be even more corporate, announcing it's "uniting the B2B games ecosystem" ffs.
botherer.bsky.social
Chronoquartz by @infinitestairs.bsky.social is an outstandingly smart timeloop RPG puzzle game that had me cheering its cleverness throughout!

buried-treasure.org/2025/10/chro...

Please support Buried Treasure with teeny bits of money: www.patreon.com/c/buriedtrea...
Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz. Chronoquartz.
botherer.bsky.social
I've also written about why Nintendo's approach of bankrupting individuals for the rest of their lives in its profitless campaign against piracy is cruel and pointless.

kotaku.com/nintendo-swi...
Nintendo Demands $4.5 Million From Switch Piracy Reddit Mod
After being ignored by Archbox, Nintendo is pushing for a default ruling
kotaku.com
botherer.bsky.social
Today I've written a piece about my fears for Pokémon TCG and Magic: The Gathering, as they put all their focus on adult collectors and in doing so are losing a generation of younger players of the games:

kotaku.com/pokemon-magi...
Pokémon And Magic Risk Losing An Entire Generation Of Players
Short-term profits from scalper-driven markets and quick-cash tie-ins do not invest in the future
kotaku.com
Reposted by John Walker - Industry Analcyst
botherer.bsky.social
Surely The Pokémon Company absolutely cannot care about the issues of scalping and scarcity if it's deliberately inducing further frenzies by adding rarities like this?
botherer.bsky.social
I solved it all by myself!

It was Cuboy, a Newgrounds series from 2009 that has never been released anywhere else.

How do I get Will Arbuckle and Andy Dennis to remaster these for Steam?

www.newgrounds.com/series/cuboy
Cuboy
www.newgrounds.com
botherer.bsky.social
That's not it, but it looks amazing!
botherer.bsky.social
I wonder if you can solve this one for me? I'm trying to remember a game, in which you played a cube-shaped character in a cuboid world, who spoke with a Northern English accent. It was extremely funny. And I haven't been able to remember what it was forever.
Reposted by John Walker - Industry Analcyst
botherer.bsky.social
You know how we know climate change is a real and dangerous thing, and yet it's so hard to FEEL it?

Yesterday at the reptile shop I heard the owner explain to some tortoise owners, "Winters here aren't cold enough any more for tortoises to hybernate."

That kind of brought it home.
botherer.bsky.social
I wonder what Roland Rat is up to these days.
botherer.bsky.social
You know how we know climate change is a real and dangerous thing, and yet it's so hard to FEEL it?

Yesterday at the reptile shop I heard the owner explain to some tortoise owners, "Winters here aren't cold enough any more for tortoises to hybernate."

That kind of brought it home.