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
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
Overjoyed at all the applications we've had so far for this.
If you're thinking of applying, reminder that the deadline is February 28th
If you're thinking of applying, reminder that the deadline is February 28th
Are you making a story-focused indie game? 📖
Applications are open for the Story-Rich Showcase, our event that will run during the Summer Game Fest period and is built to champion narrative games that deserve the spotlight ❤️🔥
You can apply here 👇
📋 storyrich.games
Applications are open for the Story-Rich Showcase, our event that will run during the Summer Game Fest period and is built to champion narrative games that deserve the spotlight ❤️🔥
You can apply here 👇
📋 storyrich.games
February 18, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Overjoyed at all the applications we've had so far for this.
If you're thinking of applying, reminder that the deadline is February 28th
If you're thinking of applying, reminder that the deadline is February 28th
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
Monastic order of mangaka hand-copying crumbling doujins in the post apocalypse, OAV for Leibowitz
February 18, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Monastic order of mangaka hand-copying crumbling doujins in the post apocalypse, OAV for Leibowitz
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
If you’ve ever been curious to try out Pendragon, the least well-known of all the inkle games, it’s on sale to support the fight against Type 1 Diabetes for a few more hours!
Save 60% on Pendragon: Narrative Tactics on Steam
AD 673. Camelot has fallen. The Round Table must rally to save King Arthur. Narrative strategy game from the creators of 80 DAYS, with elegant tactics and a unique, dynamic story every time you replay...
store.steampowered.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:36 PM
If you’ve ever been curious to try out Pendragon, the least well-known of all the inkle games, it’s on sale to support the fight against Type 1 Diabetes for a few more hours!
I wrote an article for this! You can catch a sneak peek at 0:26 👀
February 18, 2026 at 7:19 PM
I wrote an article for this! You can catch a sneak peek at 0:26 👀
Started painting my Dark Mechanicum kill team. It's, ah, very experimental.
February 18, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Started painting my Dark Mechanicum kill team. It's, ah, very experimental.
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
My student accommodation refused to rescind a contract for a room I couldn't even legally travel to, unless I could find another person willing to take my place in a cramped student accommodation in a high risk zone. But please, tell me how students are the entitled one
This is emblematic of the consumer culture that fees have engendered.
What the hell did the students expect? It was a ONCE IN A CENTURY PANDEMIC. There were LAWS against congregating in public. Staff worked themselves to the bone to get online delivery working.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
What the hell did the students expect? It was a ONCE IN A CENTURY PANDEMIC. There were LAWS against congregating in public. Staff worked themselves to the bone to get online delivery working.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Students begin Covid compensation claim against 36 more universities
It comes after University College London settled a claim from students there over lost learning in the pandemic.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 17, 2026 at 11:12 AM
My student accommodation refused to rescind a contract for a room I couldn't even legally travel to, unless I could find another person willing to take my place in a cramped student accommodation in a high risk zone. But please, tell me how students are the entitled one
Reposted by Giada Zavarise
The Adult Analysis Anthology, the web's premiere destination for longform writing on adult games, is BACK with more planned essays than ever before, but we need your help to make it happen!
Support the creation of high-quality sex-positive writing from diverse voices HERE: itch.io/s/180048/aaa...
Support the creation of high-quality sex-positive writing from diverse voices HERE: itch.io/s/180048/aaa...
February 16, 2026 at 8:43 PM
The Adult Analysis Anthology, the web's premiere destination for longform writing on adult games, is BACK with more planned essays than ever before, but we need your help to make it happen!
Support the creation of high-quality sex-positive writing from diverse voices HERE: itch.io/s/180048/aaa...
Support the creation of high-quality sex-positive writing from diverse voices HERE: itch.io/s/180048/aaa...
If you're a little artist who just wants to tell a Cool Story you don't want to learn to code load-bearing shit like a save system, trust me
rpgmaker definitely isn't the right tool for everyone, but I think using opinionated pre-baked tools to make some games would be very instructive to a lot of folks setting out to make their epic custom dream game. they're a much lower-stakes way to learn important lessons like "how to tell a story"
February 16, 2026 at 8:23 AM
If you're a little artist who just wants to tell a Cool Story you don't want to learn to code load-bearing shit like a save system, trust me
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