David Stark - Zarkonnen
@zarkonnen.bsky.social
I make games about bad things happening to tiny simulated people and help run the Zurich gamedev community. He/him.
Website: https://zarkonnen.com/
Games: https://zarkonnen.itch.io/
Game Hub: https://www.swissgamehub.com/
Website: https://zarkonnen.com/
Games: https://zarkonnen.itch.io/
Game Hub: https://www.swissgamehub.com/
Solium Infernum is currently 50% off on Steam and you should buy it because it's an amazing strategy game that just... fixes the major problems in the 4X genre, and it's never received the love it should have had: store.steampowered.com/app/1893810/...
Save 50% on Solium Infernum on Steam
Take the Infernal Throne in this hellish turn-based grand strategy game. The Prince of Darkness has vanished, leaving Archfiends to conspire: muster your legions while intoning dark sorceries, devilis...
store.steampowered.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Solium Infernum is currently 50% off on Steam and you should buy it because it's an amazing strategy game that just... fixes the major problems in the 4X genre, and it's never received the love it should have had: store.steampowered.com/app/1893810/...
Good morning
February 2, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Good morning
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Well, no. You wouldn't.
They just *haven't booked*, mate.
They just *haven't booked*, mate.
GDC organiser says it "hasn't seen" any cancellations by international attendees following concerns over cost and US political situation www.gamesindustry.biz/gdc-organise...
January 29, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Well, no. You wouldn't.
They just *haven't booked*, mate.
They just *haven't booked*, mate.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
“Do violent video games make you violent” as a moral panic was such a shame because it elided the position of violence in the narrative, which DOES have real implications. Playing DOOM does not make you violent, but playing COD does propagandize you into supporting the American imperial project
January 24, 2026 at 5:40 PM
“Do violent video games make you violent” as a moral panic was such a shame because it elided the position of violence in the narrative, which DOES have real implications. Playing DOOM does not make you violent, but playing COD does propagandize you into supporting the American imperial project
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 12:52 PM
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
After adding milk the color is now "Insane Asylum Wall".
January 21, 2026 at 9:38 AM
After adding milk the color is now "Insane Asylum Wall".
Trying to make Kashmir pink chai and have ended up with a tea that's Pantone 448C AKA The World's Ugliest Color.
January 21, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Trying to make Kashmir pink chai and have ended up with a tea that's Pantone 448C AKA The World's Ugliest Color.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
"Globally, excess-mortality modeling places the true pandemic death toll in the tens of millions, with central estimates near 27 million worldwide, far exceeding official counts." boingboing.net/2026/01/16/c...
COVID pandemic enters seventh year with no end in sight
It's strange to think that the COVID-19 pandemic, which sent the world into lockdown seven years ago never ended. It continues to kill and cripple us, to this day. We…
boingboing.net
January 18, 2026 at 2:40 PM
"Globally, excess-mortality modeling places the true pandemic death toll in the tens of millions, with central estimates near 27 million worldwide, far exceeding official counts." boingboing.net/2026/01/16/c...
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
Liebe Medien, ich kann die Schlagzeile "Keine Einigung zwischen USA und Dänemark" nicht mehr sehen. Wenn ein Bewaffneter eine Bank stürmt, titelt ihr doch auch nicht: "Räuber und Kassiererin finden keinen Konsens über Geldübergabe." Hört auf, imperiale Aggression als normale Diplomatie zu framen.
January 15, 2026 at 11:11 AM
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
Alternating play sessions between this and Ravager for maximum versimilitude?
January 15, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Alternating play sessions between this and Ravager for maximum versimilitude?
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
I am seeing folks still planning travel to the US for events.
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:50 AM
I am seeing folks still planning travel to the US for events.
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
Half of the people giving you feedback want to turn your game into something more familiar that drops the core innovation you wanted to have, but maybe they're right?
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
January 13, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Half of the people giving you feedback want to turn your game into something more familiar that drops the core innovation you wanted to have, but maybe they're right?
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Despite what the shiny front page tells you, the engine you're using doesn't usefully support this platform. All attempts at seeking help are answered by condescending assholes.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
January 13, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Despite what the shiny front page tells you, the engine you're using doesn't usefully support this platform. All attempts at seeking help are answered by condescending assholes.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
You're in the middle of an email or chat conversation with a promising influencer and then you get ghosted forever.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
January 13, 2026 at 3:58 PM
You're in the middle of an email or chat conversation with a promising influencer and then you get ghosted forever.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
A witch has laid a curse on an important button in your game's user interface. No matter how many times you rearrange things and make it bigger and brighter and blinking and singing and give it tooltips and have the tutorial point it out, people will not notice it or click it.
January 13, 2026 at 3:14 PM
A witch has laid a curse on an important button in your game's user interface. No matter how many times you rearrange things and make it bigger and brighter and blinking and singing and give it tooltips and have the tutorial point it out, people will not notice it or click it.
The testers in your closed beta are too nice to point of the fundamental problems in your game until it's too close to launch to fix them.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
January 13, 2026 at 2:42 PM
The testers in your closed beta are too nice to point of the fundamental problems in your game until it's too close to launch to fix them.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a game-destroying bug in the engine. The people who could fix it don't care.
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
January 13, 2026 at 2:30 PM
There is a game-destroying bug in the engine. The people who could fix it don't care.
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
Indie #gamedev would be perfect if I could avoid these moments, 1/x:
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
January 13, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Indie #gamedev would be perfect if I could avoid these moments, 1/x:
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
No, my conclusion is that I will add actual meat motorcycles to my next game.
January 13, 2026 at 10:08 AM
No, my conclusion is that I will add actual meat motorcycles to my next game.
Oh wow I missed that particular plot beat!
January 13, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Oh wow I missed that particular plot beat!
Every time I see hyaluronic acid mentioned, I imagine a hyaluron as an especially gormless-looking proto-mammal.
January 13, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Every time I see hyaluronic acid mentioned, I imagine a hyaluron as an especially gormless-looking proto-mammal.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
BREAKING: Staggering scenes as brave Iranians stand up to their illegitimate government in Tehran... um, hang on, I'm being told this is actually Minneapolis. Forget I said anything...
January 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM
BREAKING: Staggering scenes as brave Iranians stand up to their illegitimate government in Tehran... um, hang on, I'm being told this is actually Minneapolis. Forget I said anything...