DonE
@optional.bsky.social
let me fish out my sociologist card from my old wallet, I think it said it was good for life
co-managing ed @gamerswithglasses.bsky.social
previous at Unwinnable, Uppercut Crit, Bullet Points Monthly, Wireframe, Polygon, Symbolic Interaction & more
co-managing ed @gamerswithglasses.bsky.social
previous at Unwinnable, Uppercut Crit, Bullet Points Monthly, Wireframe, Polygon, Symbolic Interaction & more
Pinned
DonE
@optional.bsky.social
· 13d
It's December 29th in California, and that means that @optional.bsky.social is thinking about... Halloween. It's time to talk about @draknek.bsky.social's Spooky Express.
Spooky Express' Halloween Logic — Gamers with Glasses
Spooky Express is an admirably coherent puzzle game that fits neatly into the groove made by its predecessors. Its designers smoothly translated its Halloween theme into puzzle mechanics. But it coul...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
ICYMI, I posted this review of Spooky Express yesterday. Check it out!
I’m just gonna add this as supplementary material:
January 9, 2026 at 5:51 AM
I’m just gonna add this as supplementary material:
This is a really good reason to subscribe.
In even more concrete terms, if you sign up at the moment, you'll get 12 issues of Unwinnable Monthly and 12 issues of Exploits entirely free, and that should distract you from doomscrolling for at LEAST one whole day, probably two.
January 8, 2026 at 5:34 PM
This is a really good reason to subscribe.
Went to the first track night of 2026 last night. Was slow as shit. Still counts!
January 8, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Went to the first track night of 2026 last night. Was slow as shit. Still counts!
Reposted by DonE
First 2026 piece is here! @dirtlord77.bsky.social's VILE: Exhumed is a scathing examination of men that frequent the worst parts of the internet, as well as the culture that emboldens them, presented as an engaging puzzle game. Damn shame Steam banned it.
Check it out: exalclaw.com/2026/01/08/v...
Check it out: exalclaw.com/2026/01/08/v...
VILE: Exhumed Shines A Light On The Internet’s Most Toxic and Entitled Corners
Passwords are all that stand between you and some of the Internet’s worst cesspools.
exalclaw.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:00 PM
First 2026 piece is here! @dirtlord77.bsky.social's VILE: Exhumed is a scathing examination of men that frequent the worst parts of the internet, as well as the culture that emboldens them, presented as an engaging puzzle game. Damn shame Steam banned it.
Check it out: exalclaw.com/2026/01/08/v...
Check it out: exalclaw.com/2026/01/08/v...
Reposted by DonE
We don't have to live like this.
January 7, 2026 at 5:59 PM
We don't have to live like this.
Reposted by DonE
🎉 Welcome to the Public Domain, COMPOSITION WITH RED, BLUE, AND YELLOW
(1930) 🎨
🖼️ Piet Mondrian’s most iconic painting is Neoplasticism in refined form with primary colors, black lines, & asymmetrical balance distilled to essentials.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay
(1930) 🎨
🖼️ Piet Mondrian’s most iconic painting is Neoplasticism in refined form with primary colors, black lines, & asymmetrical balance distilled to essentials.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay
January 6, 2026 at 7:01 PM
🎉 Welcome to the Public Domain, COMPOSITION WITH RED, BLUE, AND YELLOW
(1930) 🎨
🖼️ Piet Mondrian’s most iconic painting is Neoplasticism in refined form with primary colors, black lines, & asymmetrical balance distilled to essentials.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay
(1930) 🎨
🖼️ Piet Mondrian’s most iconic painting is Neoplasticism in refined form with primary colors, black lines, & asymmetrical balance distilled to essentials.
Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai...
#PublicDomainDay
I dig it. backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
January 6, 2026 at 5:17 PM
I dig it. backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
seeing people I know climbing in the top 1000 of the Sektori leaderboards and, meanwhile, I'm pretty happy that I made it to a third boss last night. that's a new best for me, which is nice. #optionalplaying
January 6, 2026 at 4:44 PM
seeing people I know climbing in the top 1000 of the Sektori leaderboards and, meanwhile, I'm pretty happy that I made it to a third boss last night. that's a new best for me, which is nice. #optionalplaying
Another good one from UFO 50: Avianos. Dinosaur- and bird-themed strategy with some fun complications, including autobattling. In the game's fiction, this would be from 1985 - and that would have been wild. #optionalplaying
backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
January 5, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Another good one from UFO 50: Avianos. Dinosaur- and bird-themed strategy with some fun complications, including autobattling. In the game's fiction, this would be from 1985 - and that would have been wild. #optionalplaying
backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
backloggd.com/u/done/revie...
Wrapped up a round of Pingolf and finished at the top. It was a good time getting there, especially figuring out all the ways that the game really was a blend of pinball and golf. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
January 4, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Wrapped up a round of Pingolf and finished at the top. It was a good time getting there, especially figuring out all the ways that the game really was a blend of pinball and golf. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
My congressional representatives have been useless. I wrote them, anyway. You should, too, if you have them.
January 3, 2026 at 6:25 PM
My congressional representatives have been useless. I wrote them, anyway. You should, too, if you have them.
Reposted by DonE
Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.
January 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.
Reposted by DonE
every day I wake up and think
are you fucking kidding me
are you fucking kidding me
January 3, 2026 at 5:31 PM
every day I wake up and think
are you fucking kidding me
are you fucking kidding me
It looks like Trump, his cabinet, and his collaborators in the US military have attacked Venezuela. I want to know what, if anything, congress is going to do about this.
January 3, 2026 at 4:24 PM
It looks like Trump, his cabinet, and his collaborators in the US military have attacked Venezuela. I want to know what, if anything, congress is going to do about this.
First game I finished in 2026 is the first one in UFO 50's fictitious chronology: Barbuta. More interesting than frustrating on balance, it benefits from the larger context of UFO. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
January 2, 2026 at 9:43 PM
First game I finished in 2026 is the first one in UFO 50's fictitious chronology: Barbuta. More interesting than frustrating on balance, it benefits from the larger context of UFO. backloggd.com/u/done/revie... #optionalplaying
Oops. Whelp, I got it the next time. #optionalplaying #sektori
January 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Oops. Whelp, I got it the next time. #optionalplaying #sektori
Ooh yeah. "[Game] is something I spent 2025 reading about: a system. The system is what it does, and it pushes me and every little artist in the orchestra into open conflict with each other."
hello. i wrote about the tumultous year of 2025, and my game of the year. i think it was more interesting than anything i played.
deep-hell.com/Game-of-the-...
deep-hell.com/Game-of-the-...
GAME OF THE YEAR - ROSES ARE RED, VIOLENCE IS TOO
I have, thus far, logged 400 hours in Prisoners of The Mist trying to escape the rapidly dawning end of the year. Many of my characters have started to be affected by the strange broken world they fin...
deep-hell.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Ooh yeah. "[Game] is something I spent 2025 reading about: a system. The system is what it does, and it pushes me and every little artist in the orchestra into open conflict with each other."
Okay, alright, back to brewing up ideas and also playing a bunch of games. Got plans for 2026, starting with more Alan Wake 2, Sektori, Demonschool, Skate Story, Hundred Line... and lots of reading and listening to do.
January 1, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Okay, alright, back to brewing up ideas and also playing a bunch of games. Got plans for 2026, starting with more Alan Wake 2, Sektori, Demonschool, Skate Story, Hundred Line... and lots of reading and listening to do.
I’d like to see GwG get mentioned on some of these lists of independent games publications that go around this time of year. We’ve been publishing good stuff since 2020, yet I rarely see the site mentioned in the same breath as other, similar sites.
December 31, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I’d like to see GwG get mentioned on some of these lists of independent games publications that go around this time of year. We’ve been publishing good stuff since 2020, yet I rarely see the site mentioned in the same breath as other, similar sites.
Cool format for this kinda thing.
The startmenu Awards return for another year with the debut of the first site-wide vote for startmenu’s Game of the Year! But before that, we’ve got a selection of critics’ choice awards highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2025.
The startmenu Awards 2025 | Winter Spectacular 2025 — startmenu
The startmenu Awards return for another year with the debut of the first site-wide vote for startmenu’s Game of the Year! But before that, we’ve got a selection of critics’ choice awards highlighting ...
www.startmenu.co.uk
December 31, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Cool format for this kinda thing.
This has to end in 2026. Palestinians deserve safety and freedom.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is far from over.
Today, the Israeli government announced that it would suspend the aid work of several humanitarian organizations that provide lifesaving aid to Palestinians in Gaza living through what Amnesty International and other groups labeled as a genocide.
Today, the Israeli government announced that it would suspend the aid work of several humanitarian organizations that provide lifesaving aid to Palestinians in Gaza living through what Amnesty International and other groups labeled as a genocide.
Doctors Without Borders among dozens of aid groups Israel moves to shut down in Gaza
Allied nations condemned the decision, warning it could halt relief operations within weeks.
www.motherjones.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This has to end in 2026. Palestinians deserve safety and freedom.
Really good stuff, great example for the ongoing Genre conversation. I’m already thinking about F-Zero with Samantha’s thoughts in mind…
What does it mean to embrace the evolution of a franchise? Especially when that franchise is something like Pokémon, which basically defined a genre and then...changed a lot? @srtrzinski.bsky.social explores the big questions, just in time for the New Year!
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/shi...
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/shi...
The Ship of Xerneas — Gamers with Glasses
After years and years of iterations, how can we tell if Pokémon still Pokémon? What is the relationship between franchise and genre? By some definitions, is Super Smash Bros . technically a Pokémon...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Really good stuff, great example for the ongoing Genre conversation. I’m already thinking about F-Zero with Samantha’s thoughts in mind…
ICYMI, I posted this review of Spooky Express yesterday. Check it out!
It's December 29th in California, and that means that @optional.bsky.social is thinking about... Halloween. It's time to talk about @draknek.bsky.social's Spooky Express.
Spooky Express' Halloween Logic — Gamers with Glasses
Spooky Express is an admirably coherent puzzle game that fits neatly into the groove made by its predecessors. Its designers smoothly translated its Halloween theme into puzzle mechanics. But it coul...
www.gamerswithglasses.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
ICYMI, I posted this review of Spooky Express yesterday. Check it out!
Reposted by DonE
My EOTY roundup for Stop Caring is now live, a bit more informal than the regular essays I provide,
I wrote about my 10 favorite games of 2025 and award one the coveted title of Stop Caring GOTY
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all the contributors and supporters in the beginning :)
I wrote about my 10 favorite games of 2025 and award one the coveted title of Stop Caring GOTY
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all the contributors and supporters in the beginning :)
2025 Roundup
A letter from 'the editor', her top 10 games of 2025, and Stop Caring GOTY.
www.stopcar.ing
December 29, 2025 at 5:20 PM
My EOTY roundup for Stop Caring is now live, a bit more informal than the regular essays I provide,
I wrote about my 10 favorite games of 2025 and award one the coveted title of Stop Caring GOTY
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all the contributors and supporters in the beginning :)
I wrote about my 10 favorite games of 2025 and award one the coveted title of Stop Caring GOTY
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all the contributors and supporters in the beginning :)