Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
@hpowellsmith.bsky.social
Narrative design // Honor Bound, Royal Affairs, Noblesse Oblige, Crème de la Crème, Blood Money from Choice of Games // Date Everything, King of the Castle, Love Island, Fallen London // they/he // hpowellsmith.com
Pinned
I'm a game writer and narrative designer who's worked on various indie and mobile games.
I'm best known for my CRÈME DE LA CRÈME series of queer dark academia text games. The fourth instalment, HONOR BOUND, is out Dec - wishlist here! shorturl.at/sq4dg
hpowellsmith.com
hpowellsmith.itch.io
I'm best known for my CRÈME DE LA CRÈME series of queer dark academia text games. The fourth instalment, HONOR BOUND, is out Dec - wishlist here! shorturl.at/sq4dg
hpowellsmith.com
hpowellsmith.itch.io
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Small, free act you can do to bring some good in this world: add positive reviews to ALL you Steam games, especially the small indies. You don't need to write anything smart, just "game good" is enough. Every positive steam review tips the algorithm and helps your fav artists get more sales
January 25, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Small, free act you can do to bring some good in this world: add positive reviews to ALL you Steam games, especially the small indies. You don't need to write anything smart, just "game good" is enough. Every positive steam review tips the algorithm and helps your fav artists get more sales
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Friday evening viewing recommendation? Watch VELVET GOLDMINE (1998) in our THE 90’s DOES THE 70’s collection!
❤️🔥 Todd Haynes’s deliriously glittering, hedonistic glam rock film follows journalist Arthur Stuart (Bale) as he launches an investigation into the mystery of Bowie-esque rocker Brian Slade.
❤️🔥 Todd Haynes’s deliriously glittering, hedonistic glam rock film follows journalist Arthur Stuart (Bale) as he launches an investigation into the mystery of Bowie-esque rocker Brian Slade.
January 24, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Friday evening viewing recommendation? Watch VELVET GOLDMINE (1998) in our THE 90’s DOES THE 70’s collection!
❤️🔥 Todd Haynes’s deliriously glittering, hedonistic glam rock film follows journalist Arthur Stuart (Bale) as he launches an investigation into the mystery of Bowie-esque rocker Brian Slade.
❤️🔥 Todd Haynes’s deliriously glittering, hedonistic glam rock film follows journalist Arthur Stuart (Bale) as he launches an investigation into the mystery of Bowie-esque rocker Brian Slade.
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Being a writer is starting an update with "I don't really have anything to talk about" and then writing more than 2000 words about writing in-game news stories that nobody will read. www.kickstarter.com/projects/753...
Update 89: If It Bleeds, It Leads · Nighthawks - The Vampire RPG
Greetings, all. Please pardon the recent quiet - it’s not for a lack of working, just that we’re now firmly in the part of the game where the big features and cool design things are all done and locke...
www.kickstarter.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Being a writer is starting an update with "I don't really have anything to talk about" and then writing more than 2000 words about writing in-game news stories that nobody will read. www.kickstarter.com/projects/753...
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
It's Perfect Tides: Station to Station release day! After 4 years the game exists and it's ready for you. Here is the launch trailer to get you through the work day
January 22, 2026 at 9:29 PM
It's Perfect Tides: Station to Station release day! After 4 years the game exists and it's ready for you. Here is the launch trailer to get you through the work day
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
TR-49: OUT NOW
Narrative deduction / audio drama
"Outstanding" - PC Gamer
"Politically fierce" - Polygon
"One of the best" - Thinky Games
"I wanted to know everything" - RPS
"Impressive - very impressive indeed" - Eurogamer
$6.99 / ~6 hours
Steam: tinyurl.com/2jvt9ewk
iOS: tinyurl.com/4ucwx4s7
Narrative deduction / audio drama
"Outstanding" - PC Gamer
"Politically fierce" - Polygon
"One of the best" - Thinky Games
"I wanted to know everything" - RPS
"Impressive - very impressive indeed" - Eurogamer
$6.99 / ~6 hours
Steam: tinyurl.com/2jvt9ewk
iOS: tinyurl.com/4ucwx4s7
TR-49 - Official Trailer
YouTube video by inkleStudios
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM
TR-49: OUT NOW
Narrative deduction / audio drama
"Outstanding" - PC Gamer
"Politically fierce" - Polygon
"One of the best" - Thinky Games
"I wanted to know everything" - RPS
"Impressive - very impressive indeed" - Eurogamer
$6.99 / ~6 hours
Steam: tinyurl.com/2jvt9ewk
iOS: tinyurl.com/4ucwx4s7
Narrative deduction / audio drama
"Outstanding" - PC Gamer
"Politically fierce" - Polygon
"One of the best" - Thinky Games
"I wanted to know everything" - RPS
"Impressive - very impressive indeed" - Eurogamer
$6.99 / ~6 hours
Steam: tinyurl.com/2jvt9ewk
iOS: tinyurl.com/4ucwx4s7
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Jennie Willow was an arrogant woman. The sort who thought calling herself Witch Queen would have no consequences. You have to be careful when telling stories about yourself that those tales don’t attract the wrong sort of attention. Especially teeth and talons attention. – Mary Hider #VOH
January 21, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Jennie Willow was an arrogant woman. The sort who thought calling herself Witch Queen would have no consequences. You have to be careful when telling stories about yourself that those tales don’t attract the wrong sort of attention. Especially teeth and talons attention. – Mary Hider #VOH
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
NEW ARTICLE: Scams, Asset Flips, and Naive Amateurs: The Horse Girl's Guide to Recognizing which Games are Worth Supporting
www.themanequest.com/blog/2026/1/...
www.themanequest.com/blog/2026/1/...
Scams, Asset Flips, and Naive Amateurs: The Horse Girl's Guide to Recognizing which Games are Worth Supporting — The Mane Quest
Horse Games are an underserved niche and their players are practically begging for new projects to follow and support. With this article, I want to give people in the horse game audience some tools an...
www.themanequest.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:28 PM
NEW ARTICLE: Scams, Asset Flips, and Naive Amateurs: The Horse Girl's Guide to Recognizing which Games are Worth Supporting
www.themanequest.com/blog/2026/1/...
www.themanequest.com/blog/2026/1/...
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
The Long Neolithic is continuity with our fundamental nature. To step into a stone circles is to know we are pattern makers, season markers. It is a knowing we have always looked to sky, always had our rituals and mysteries of death. We are lithic. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday
January 18, 2026 at 3:43 PM
The Long Neolithic is continuity with our fundamental nature. To step into a stone circles is to know we are pattern makers, season markers. It is a knowing we have always looked to sky, always had our rituals and mysteries of death. We are lithic. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
They call them corpse roads, coffin paths. They call them wraith ways, lych lanes. Routes carved into the land by those grief-heavy feet coming from outlying places to distant churches for burial. Death as procession, death as ritual journey. A haunted hodology. – Dr. M. Benn
January 17, 2026 at 10:45 AM
They call them corpse roads, coffin paths. They call them wraith ways, lych lanes. Routes carved into the land by those grief-heavy feet coming from outlying places to distant churches for burial. Death as procession, death as ritual journey. A haunted hodology. – Dr. M. Benn
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
There are days when the rain refuses to take a breath, when the morning mist forgets it bad manners to outstay your welcome. It's then I'm sure the playing fields are haunted. I hear shouts from phantoms teams, invisible crowds watching games where the final whistle never blows. – Tom Foster #VOH
January 16, 2026 at 11:56 AM
There are days when the rain refuses to take a breath, when the morning mist forgets it bad manners to outstay your welcome. It's then I'm sure the playing fields are haunted. I hear shouts from phantoms teams, invisible crowds watching games where the final whistle never blows. – Tom Foster #VOH
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
👀 @ign.com
TR-49 - Official Release Date Trailer
YouTube video by IGN
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:22 PM
👀 @ign.com
bad news: they got upset (found out their best friend had casually killed someone, etc)
good news: it wasn't about their magic, yay!
good news: it wasn't about their magic, yay!
off to my Hunter the Vigil larp today in which my adorable paramedic character just learned some unsettling magic; they'll surely not be upset this time!
January 11, 2026 at 4:05 PM
bad news: they got upset (found out their best friend had casually killed someone, etc)
good news: it wasn't about their magic, yay!
good news: it wasn't about their magic, yay!
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
I also encourage folks who read M/M to read more books with trans guys in it! a lot of these assumptions about what is or isn't a part of M/M are getting kinda wild
(and if you can't read THOSE because of assumptions about their bodies, then uh, there is a broader issue at hand)
(and if you can't read THOSE because of assumptions about their bodies, then uh, there is a broader issue at hand)
January 11, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I also encourage folks who read M/M to read more books with trans guys in it! a lot of these assumptions about what is or isn't a part of M/M are getting kinda wild
(and if you can't read THOSE because of assumptions about their bodies, then uh, there is a broader issue at hand)
(and if you can't read THOSE because of assumptions about their bodies, then uh, there is a broader issue at hand)
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
seeing M/M recced to escape cishet dynamics in F/M romance but F/F not even being mentioned for the same escape makes my head spin
if the very concept of a woman in a sexual/romantic situation, even with no men involved, brings deep discomfort, I’d gently suggest that something else is going on
if the very concept of a woman in a sexual/romantic situation, even with no men involved, brings deep discomfort, I’d gently suggest that something else is going on
January 11, 2026 at 3:45 PM
seeing M/M recced to escape cishet dynamics in F/M romance but F/F not even being mentioned for the same escape makes my head spin
if the very concept of a woman in a sexual/romantic situation, even with no men involved, brings deep discomfort, I’d gently suggest that something else is going on
if the very concept of a woman in a sexual/romantic situation, even with no men involved, brings deep discomfort, I’d gently suggest that something else is going on
my wife runs this one and keeps saying I should play a morally dodgy character next time, I feel like I'm being Lady Macbeth'd
off to my Hunter the Vigil larp today in which my adorable paramedic character just learned some unsettling magic; they'll surely not be upset this time!
January 11, 2026 at 10:39 AM
my wife runs this one and keeps saying I should play a morally dodgy character next time, I feel like I'm being Lady Macbeth'd
off to my Hunter the Vigil larp today in which my adorable paramedic character just learned some unsettling magic; they'll surely not be upset this time!
January 11, 2026 at 10:30 AM
off to my Hunter the Vigil larp today in which my adorable paramedic character just learned some unsettling magic; they'll surely not be upset this time!
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Method acting when playing the Pathologic series by being appallingly bad at the games so as to reflect the characters' incompetence 😌
January 10, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Method acting when playing the Pathologic series by being appallingly bad at the games so as to reflect the characters' incompetence 😌
Daniil's latest adventure was making a great breakthrough and getting so hyped up about it that he died from a heart attack, meaning I need to reload to a save I made this afternoon - congrats Daniil (this was because of me neglecting to trade enough, I've learned nothing from Artemy's adventures)
Method acting when playing the Pathologic series by being appallingly bad at the games so as to reflect the characters' incompetence 😌
January 10, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Daniil's latest adventure was making a great breakthrough and getting so hyped up about it that he died from a heart attack, meaning I need to reload to a save I made this afternoon - congrats Daniil (this was because of me neglecting to trade enough, I've learned nothing from Artemy's adventures)
Method acting when playing the Pathologic series by being appallingly bad at the games so as to reflect the characters' incompetence 😌
January 10, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Method acting when playing the Pathologic series by being appallingly bad at the games so as to reflect the characters' incompetence 😌
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Perfect Tides: Station to Station has been nominated for two IGF awards:
-Excellence in Narrative
-Seumas McNally Grand Prize
This is such a tremendous honor, and what a nice hurrah as and the team and the playtesters and I race towards the finish line.
Nomination list: tinyurl.com/2zzt8sw4
-Excellence in Narrative
-Seumas McNally Grand Prize
This is such a tremendous honor, and what a nice hurrah as and the team and the playtesters and I race towards the finish line.
Nomination list: tinyurl.com/2zzt8sw4
January 9, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Perfect Tides: Station to Station has been nominated for two IGF awards:
-Excellence in Narrative
-Seumas McNally Grand Prize
This is such a tremendous honor, and what a nice hurrah as and the team and the playtesters and I race towards the finish line.
Nomination list: tinyurl.com/2zzt8sw4
-Excellence in Narrative
-Seumas McNally Grand Prize
This is such a tremendous honor, and what a nice hurrah as and the team and the playtesters and I race towards the finish line.
Nomination list: tinyurl.com/2zzt8sw4
Pathologic 3!!! What a treat for me and a dreadful time for the Bachelor
January 9, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Pathologic 3!!! What a treat for me and a dreadful time for the Bachelor
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
TR-49 is out on 21st Jan!!!!
It’s the product of the wonderful @inkle.co team and a truly genius idea - but that’s classified for now…
But seriously, I loved working on this last year with @jon.inkle.co and @paulwarren.bsky.social 😊 and from the bits I’ve heard, @pabosher.com is brilliant too!
It’s the product of the wonderful @inkle.co team and a truly genius idea - but that’s classified for now…
But seriously, I loved working on this last year with @jon.inkle.co and @paulwarren.bsky.social 😊 and from the bits I’ve heard, @pabosher.com is brilliant too!
🚨⚠️ Release Date Disclosure! ⚠️🚨
TRAILER: VIDEO EVIDENCE, see below. Please watch, assimilate and share.
DESIGNATION: TR-49
GENRE: NARRATIVE DEDUCTION / AUDIO_DRAMA
DATE: 21st JANUARY
PLATFORMS: iOS / PC / Mac / Deck
This is what we know, so far.
TRAILER: VIDEO EVIDENCE, see below. Please watch, assimilate and share.
DESIGNATION: TR-49
GENRE: NARRATIVE DEDUCTION / AUDIO_DRAMA
DATE: 21st JANUARY
PLATFORMS: iOS / PC / Mac / Deck
This is what we know, so far.
TR-49 - Official Trailer
YouTube video by inkleStudios
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:52 PM
TR-49 is out on 21st Jan!!!!
It’s the product of the wonderful @inkle.co team and a truly genius idea - but that’s classified for now…
But seriously, I loved working on this last year with @jon.inkle.co and @paulwarren.bsky.social 😊 and from the bits I’ve heard, @pabosher.com is brilliant too!
It’s the product of the wonderful @inkle.co team and a truly genius idea - but that’s classified for now…
But seriously, I loved working on this last year with @jon.inkle.co and @paulwarren.bsky.social 😊 and from the bits I’ve heard, @pabosher.com is brilliant too!
Reposted by Harris Powell-Smith - HONOR BOUND out now!
Certain lanes force you to straddle two worlds. You walk with modernity of Dutch elm disease, pylon hum on one side, the other full of gates into ancient fields, the ghosts of old hedge witches. Despite this polarity, you never get a sense of the lane picking a side.– #MattAdams, 1981
January 8, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Certain lanes force you to straddle two worlds. You walk with modernity of Dutch elm disease, pylon hum on one side, the other full of gates into ancient fields, the ghosts of old hedge witches. Despite this polarity, you never get a sense of the lane picking a side.– #MattAdams, 1981