Giada Zavarise
@cheerfulgoth.bsky.social
Gamedev, cat lover, shitposter, content designer @ Paradox (Stellaris, Cool Unannounced Game) |
http://giadazavarise.com/ | https://cheerfulgoth.itch.io/ | https://cheerfulgoth.bearblog.dev/
http://giadazavarise.com/ | https://cheerfulgoth.itch.io/ | https://cheerfulgoth.bearblog.dev/
Pinned
Giada Zavarise
@cheerfulgoth.bsky.social
· Oct 19
PINNED POST
Hello, I'm Giada!
🗞️ Former games journalist (RPS, Eurogamer, PC Gamer)
📚 Narrative Designer (Monster Loves You Too!)
🖥️ Now Content Designer at Paradox
☀️ Still trying to finish Selling Sunlight in my free time I swear
Portfolio: giadazavarise.com
More small games: bricabrac.itch.io
Hello, I'm Giada!
🗞️ Former games journalist (RPS, Eurogamer, PC Gamer)
📚 Narrative Designer (Monster Loves You Too!)
🖥️ Now Content Designer at Paradox
☀️ Still trying to finish Selling Sunlight in my free time I swear
Portfolio: giadazavarise.com
More small games: bricabrac.itch.io
So the official version seems to be an half-dead, microtransactions-ridden hellscape, but
- The unofficial server is going strong
- This spiritual successor also exists: store.steampowered.com/app/2841320/...
- The unofficial server is going strong
- This spiritual successor also exists: store.steampowered.com/app/2841320/...
February 15, 2026 at 8:38 PM
So the official version seems to be an half-dead, microtransactions-ridden hellscape, but
- The unofficial server is going strong
- This spiritual successor also exists: store.steampowered.com/app/2841320/...
- The unofficial server is going strong
- This spiritual successor also exists: store.steampowered.com/app/2841320/...
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
This hits like an absolute truck, it *actually* uses the video form and, interestingly, the essayist's own access to looking a certain way in very clever ways. Highly recommend
I haven't seen much criticism on Mouthwashing, and of the stuff I have seen I have always kinda felt like folks were slightly missing the point on certain aspects of it. But this video is the first one to just sort of clearly lay out that the game is about rape culture
youtu.be/_YA3xvwXBv4?...
youtu.be/_YA3xvwXBv4?...
Mouthwashing and Men Who Hate Women
YouTube video by Westside Tyler
youtu.be
February 15, 2026 at 4:41 PM
This hits like an absolute truck, it *actually* uses the video form and, interestingly, the essayist's own access to looking a certain way in very clever ways. Highly recommend
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
And last is... me! Hi, I'm looking for work. I was the animation lead for Wanderstop. I rigged every character, set the animation style, hired and set schedules, and did a huge amount of animation and anim code, FX work, and more. Enjoy my new demo reel and then email me at [email protected]!
January 31, 2026 at 1:01 AM
And last is... me! Hi, I'm looking for work. I was the animation lead for Wanderstop. I rigged every character, set the animation style, hired and set schedules, and did a huge amount of animation and anim code, FX work, and more. Enjoy my new demo reel and then email me at [email protected]!
You know what I'd like to see more of? Shared settings that aren't big IPs. Just an indie studio, their broke comic friends and a writer or two making media about their shared brainrot
And I don't mean the equilibrium will tilt fully towards indies.
It will tilt to diverse franchises that aren't monolithic, but are distributed. (W40K, keeps coming to mind, but there are many more).
Not just transmedia but diverse in scale and distributed in approach.
It will tilt to diverse franchises that aren't monolithic, but are distributed. (W40K, keeps coming to mind, but there are many more).
Not just transmedia but diverse in scale and distributed in approach.
February 15, 2026 at 12:48 PM
You know what I'd like to see more of? Shared settings that aren't big IPs. Just an indie studio, their broke comic friends and a writer or two making media about their shared brainrot
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
"Isometric games don't exist" is a guide with 40 detailed charts about perspective in videogames.
It teaches you everything about isometry and what all the other game perspectives & projections are and how they work.
You can download it for free on my itch page
cyangmou.itch.io/isometric-ga...
It teaches you everything about isometry and what all the other game perspectives & projections are and how they work.
You can download it for free on my itch page
cyangmou.itch.io/isometric-ga...
February 13, 2026 at 6:30 PM
"Isometric games don't exist" is a guide with 40 detailed charts about perspective in videogames.
It teaches you everything about isometry and what all the other game perspectives & projections are and how they work.
You can download it for free on my itch page
cyangmou.itch.io/isometric-ga...
It teaches you everything about isometry and what all the other game perspectives & projections are and how they work.
You can download it for free on my itch page
cyangmou.itch.io/isometric-ga...
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
Another tool! Ink Explorer.
Visualises the shape of an Ink story and lets you play through from any point, watching variables (and tweaking them), keeping track of visit counts, and letting you snapshot and restore the state.
Early days - hope it's useful to someone!
medium.com/@wildwinter/...
Visualises the shape of an Ink story and lets you play through from any point, watching variables (and tweaking them), keeping track of visit counts, and letting you snapshot and restore the state.
Early days - hope it's useful to someone!
medium.com/@wildwinter/...
Visualising the Flow: Ink Explorer
TL;DR — A tool for stepping through Ink visually and keeping track of variables.
medium.com
February 14, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Another tool! Ink Explorer.
Visualises the shape of an Ink story and lets you play through from any point, watching variables (and tweaking them), keeping track of visit counts, and letting you snapshot and restore the state.
Early days - hope it's useful to someone!
medium.com/@wildwinter/...
Visualises the shape of an Ink story and lets you play through from any point, watching variables (and tweaking them), keeping track of visit counts, and letting you snapshot and restore the state.
Early days - hope it's useful to someone!
medium.com/@wildwinter/...
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
i often think about this review
February 14, 2026 at 3:13 AM
i often think about this review
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
Please share this post with your favourite cosy, wholesome, (darkly-cozy, unwholesome) creators who might want to come to an event in the South East of England! Surely there are many!
Any creators who want to get their green thumbs on Mandrake first can apply for a creator pass to New Game Plus: festival.games.london/profile/find
New Game Plus is the public showcase part of London Games Fest. We'll be on hand in person, so come and say hi!
New Game Plus is the public showcase part of London Games Fest. We'll be on hand in person, so come and say hi!
February 13, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Please share this post with your favourite cosy, wholesome, (darkly-cozy, unwholesome) creators who might want to come to an event in the South East of England! Surely there are many!
They should make a Silent Hill set in North Italy next Silent Hill P(adania)
February 13, 2026 at 2:32 PM
They should make a Silent Hill set in North Italy next Silent Hill P(adania)
I often joke about me never reading a book published past the eighties, but this thread really hits the nail on the head on WHY I find most mainstream contemporary literature insufferable
I feel kind of alienated from modern pop book and romance culture sometimes. Like it feels like what I want and what the average Online reader wants feels really different. And also what I want from fanfic and what I want from an original work are really, truly different about 99.9% of the time.
February 13, 2026 at 1:29 PM
I often joke about me never reading a book published past the eighties, but this thread really hits the nail on the head on WHY I find most mainstream contemporary literature insufferable
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
This what a Game Narrative Kaleidoscope looks like 👀
February 13, 2026 at 10:19 AM
This what a Game Narrative Kaleidoscope looks like 👀
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
I hate Valentine's Day it's a stupid made-up holiday EXCEPTing when it gives me an excuse to post Garashir www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR1z...
February 11, 2026 at 11:43 PM
I hate Valentine's Day it's a stupid made-up holiday EXCEPTing when it gives me an excuse to post Garashir www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR1z...
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
Last year, I had the dark and haunted pleasure of making the soundtrack for Occlude by @tributarygames.bsky.social. If you would like to use it to soundtrack your next occult ritual, you can now listen to it via this bandcamp link:
vortiganking.bandcamp.com/album/occlud...
Use it responsibly.
vortiganking.bandcamp.com/album/occlud...
Use it responsibly.
Occlude OST, by Vortigan King
4 track album
vortiganking.bandcamp.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Last year, I had the dark and haunted pleasure of making the soundtrack for Occlude by @tributarygames.bsky.social. If you would like to use it to soundtrack your next occult ritual, you can now listen to it via this bandcamp link:
vortiganking.bandcamp.com/album/occlud...
Use it responsibly.
vortiganking.bandcamp.com/album/occlud...
Use it responsibly.
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
RPG Maker Fest 26 has begun! 🏰🎮
Final Profit is participating and is on sale for the event.
Fest page: store.steampowered.com/sale/rpgmake...
Final Profit: store.steampowered.com/app/1705140/...
Final Profit is participating and is on sale for the event.
Fest page: store.steampowered.com/sale/rpgmake...
Final Profit: store.steampowered.com/app/1705140/...
February 10, 2026 at 1:05 AM
RPG Maker Fest 26 has begun! 🏰🎮
Final Profit is participating and is on sale for the event.
Fest page: store.steampowered.com/sale/rpgmake...
Final Profit: store.steampowered.com/app/1705140/...
Final Profit is participating and is on sale for the event.
Fest page: store.steampowered.com/sale/rpgmake...
Final Profit: store.steampowered.com/app/1705140/...
I IMMEDIATELY guessed it was an rpg maker 2000 game because I recognised the default font. I am cursed by an incredibly useless superpower
blades of heaven, screenshot, pc (2005) www.mobygames.com/game/19103/b...
February 11, 2026 at 6:18 PM
I IMMEDIATELY guessed it was an rpg maker 2000 game because I recognised the default font. I am cursed by an incredibly useless superpower
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
February 11, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Love Windows 11 rebooting for an update during the night and losing a bunch of unsaved opened documents. Definitely the behaviour I want from my trusty OS
February 11, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Love Windows 11 rebooting for an update during the night and losing a bunch of unsaved opened documents. Definitely the behaviour I want from my trusty OS
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
I am absolutely not kidding
Discord's new age verification rules got you down? Allow me to suggest an alternative: Internet Relay Chat
Launched in 1988, IRC was created by and for computer nerds, and it won't hold your hand but it also doesn't want to see your face.
www.pcgamer.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I am absolutely not kidding
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
genuinely haunted by stickybear on the cd-i. this bear is so fucking ugly but he lives in heaven. everything is animated on 1s and this world knows no pain or suffering. i feel like i've seen something i shouldn't have.
November 8, 2024 at 5:08 AM
genuinely haunted by stickybear on the cd-i. this bear is so fucking ugly but he lives in heaven. everything is animated on 1s and this world knows no pain or suffering. i feel like i've seen something i shouldn't have.
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
bring them back
de-extinction them
de-extinction them
May 10, 2025 at 6:35 PM
bring them back
de-extinction them
de-extinction them
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
the god of fear and hunger acknowledges your suffering
January 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
the god of fear and hunger acknowledges your suffering
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
I'm still looking for full-time or contract work – I'm a narrative design generalist with credits on multiple shipped titles. I focus on taming the complexity of narrative systems, writing prose, and leading narrative teams.
brunodias.dev/bio
brunodias.dev/bio
Bio
Bruno Dias is a game designer and writer. Previous credits include Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Neo Cab, and Pathologic 2.
brunodias.dev
February 6, 2026 at 1:30 AM
I'm still looking for full-time or contract work – I'm a narrative design generalist with credits on multiple shipped titles. I focus on taming the complexity of narrative systems, writing prose, and leading narrative teams.
brunodias.dev/bio
brunodias.dev/bio
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
i know that this is an unpopular take, but everyone starting their own newsletter as a revenue stream is not a sustainable model for writing and reporting or for people who love and want to pay for media.
A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.
February 4, 2026 at 2:50 PM
i know that this is an unpopular take, but everyone starting their own newsletter as a revenue stream is not a sustainable model for writing and reporting or for people who love and want to pay for media.
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
everybody should check out @direkris.itch.io's You Are Jeff Bezos (direkris.itch.io/you-are-jeff...), which is my favorite illustration of how obscene this amount of wealth is (and doubles as a prime example of how "games" can be more than pure entertainment)
February 4, 2026 at 7:08 PM
everybody should check out @direkris.itch.io's You Are Jeff Bezos (direkris.itch.io/you-are-jeff...), which is my favorite illustration of how obscene this amount of wealth is (and doubles as a prime example of how "games" can be more than pure entertainment)