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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Control Magazine @controlmagazine.bsky.social · 2d

Krish Raghav ondervond hoe moeilijk het is om een huis te vinden. Het inspireerde hem tot het maken van Don't Get Your Hopes Up. Zijn eerste game ooit.

#gamedev #indiedev #dutchgames

Amsterdamse woningnood inspireert comic book artist tot game

Krish Raghav ondervond hoe moeilijk het is om een huis te vinden. Het inspireerde hem tot het maken van Don't Get Your Hopes Up. Zijn eerste game ooit.

www.control-online.nl

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 5d

For Bandcamp Friday, highly recommend checking out Simon's new album (which partly soundtracks Don't Get Your Hopes Up!). Out now on digital and cassette via Nocturnal Technology: nocturnaltechnology.bandcamp.com/album/victim...

VICTIM OF A NEW AGE, by Simon Frank

9 track album

nocturnaltechnology.bandcamp.com

Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 6d

That's fair! Making this game was my way of processing that trauma tbh 😭

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 6d

Please consider "Don't Get Your Hopes Up" for your spooky season coverage! A free 40 min game about the horrors of the Amsterdam housing market, with elements of cosmic and psychological horror. A disquieting, demented experience that is all-too-real.

Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/...

A screenshot from the game Don't Get Your Hopes Up shows the protagonists texting each other about a cursed apartment

Review on Steam for the game Don't Get Your Hopes Up, which reads: "Simultaneously Kafkaesque yet dismally grounded depiction of the horrors of the housing market, which very succinctly puts into words the same despair I've personally been overwhelmed by when increasingly lowering my standards browsing available rentals on Willow."

Review on Steam for Don't Get Your Hopes Up, whivh reads: "Very atmospheric, short experience. The endless basements house is my favorite. Rentable apartments have a liminal space vibe anyways, so why not go with the extreme version of it?"

A poster for the game Don't Get Your Hopes Up, showcasing its selection for the Game Devs of Color 2025 expo.

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Liam Deane @liamdeane.bsky.social · 7d

11. Don't Get Your Hopes Up

Lovely little game of househunting in Amsterdam turned into a demented fever dream. A lot of delightful local touches if you know the city but should be relatable to anyone who's interacted with a major city property market in the last decade. Completely free on Steam!

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 11d

I love that a significant source of traffic to Don't Get Your Hopes Up is, presumably, people dropping the link in their workplace group chats.

A screenshot showing sources of traffic to the game Don't Get Your Hopes Up on itch.io. the sources indicate incoming hits from Microsoft Teams and Slack apps.

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 13d

Thank you so much, Jingtong! 😭

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Jingtong 景桐 @zogzhu.bsky.social · 13d

Finally finished Don't Get Your Hopes Up (store.steampowered.com/app/3795490) by @krishraghav.bsky.social all I have to say is pls play it yourself! Without spoiling the experience too much here are my favourite moments in the game with minimal context

1. This was a brutal read, I audibly gasped

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 14d

Aaaah thank you so much for playing! I love Lil' Guardsman so much, and this means a lot to me ❤️

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Hilltop Studios @playhilltop.bsky.social · 14d

I really, really loved this bite-sized narrative 'horror' game last night. Do yourself a favour and check out Don't Get Your Hopes Up. www.rockpapershotgun.com/dont-get-you...

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is all architectural horror, human warmth, and unnervingly stoic pigeons

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is a short interactive comic about Amsterdam's housing shortage and architectural horror.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Dutch News @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social · 14d

Housing horror story: Amsterdam’s rental market is a video game www.dutchnews.nl?p=257626

Housing horror story: Amsterdam’s rental market is a video game

www.dutchnews.nl

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 14d

😳

Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 16d

Amazing as always from @nathanelamar.bsky.social and @gbienvenu.bsky.social! If anyone wants a good CD-Rip of that 琴努里 album I'm happy to share :)

Nathanel Amar @nathanelamar.bsky.social · 17d

Last July with @gbienvenu.bsky.social we made a zine on Chinese (un)popular music for a party we organized during the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) conference in Paris ("Do You Like Chinese Music"). Here it is now on PDF:
scream4life.hypotheses.org/4773

Zine “Do You Like Chinese Music” + Playlist

Last July, with my esteemed colleague and friend Grégoire Bienvenu, who wrote his PhD on Chinese hip-hop and host the fabulous podcast “Chine Yuefu” (in French), we decided to write a zine on Chinese ...

scream4life.hypotheses.org

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 16d

Surprise featured in Het Parool over the weekend, with my game's possible alternate title in the headline.

"GAME OVER: De Amsterdamse woningmarkt"

Het Parool @parool.nl · 18d

Game over de Amsterdamse woningmarkt: ‘Je strijdt tegen een soort onzichtbare vijand’

De gekte op de Amsterdamse woningmarkt is nu ook in gamevorm gegoten. Don’t get your hopes up is de veelzeggende naam van een game waarin je binnen een week een woning moet zien te vinden. En net zoals in het echt ligt teleurstelling altijd op de loer.

www.parool.nl

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Warp Door @warpdoor.com · 17d

Don't Get Your Hopes Up (@krishraghav.bsky.social)

"You're looking for a new apartment in Amsterdam.

Your once-confident search is morphing into panic.
Nothing is available. Anything will do.
Anything. "

PWYC - Windows, Mac, Linux: warpdoor.com/2025/09/21/d...

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 17d

Aaaah thank you so much for playing (and your very kind review ❤️). I actually have this guy on a t-shirt, albeit in white and with a rare misprint too close to the collar haha

A t-shirt from Amsterdam with a cartoon drawing of a Eurasian Coot, with the text "meerkoet minder politie", a play on words that roughly translates to "more coots, less police"

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

ben!! @500rats.bsky.social · 18d

plans to actually enjoy this city fell through, so i played @krishraghav.bsky.social's Don't Get Your Hopes Up instead!

i've been struggling to love amsterdam recently and it feels good to see that others do too. oh, the things we endure to live in a city with cool birds and good (non-dutch) food!

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Ruth Cassidy @velcrocyborg.bsky.social · 19d

from the game devs of colour expo: a whole free game! both *painfully* familiar (does anywhere not? have a housing crisis currently?) and meaningfully specific as a story store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/...

Don't Get Your Hopes Up on Steam

You're looking for a new apartment in Amsterdam. Your once-confident search is morphing into panic. Nothing is available. Anything will do. ANYTHING.

store.steampowered.com

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Rock Paper Shotgun @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social · 19d

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is all architectural horror, human warmth, and unnervingly stoic pigeons

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is a short interactive comic about Amsterdam's housing shortage and architectural horror.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 19d

Nic makes a good point about the moustache-twirling villainy of some characters in the game. BUT the housing market here is so fucked that I actually had to tone the villainy down. Almost all ridiculous lines in the game are DIRECT QUOTES, including everything Prof. Dr. Landlady says in the prologue

Text from an article about the game "Don't Get Your Hopes Up". It reads: "I think I've probably already written about my thoughts on subtlety when trying to explore an issue before (e.g I don't think it's necessary. Sometimes you want three power chords and a chanted chorus). This said, characters being this definitionally villainous in a "You'll never achieve your perfectly reasonable dreams, wayward heroes!" way does make me wonder where the line is. I bring this up because I think it's fair to describe at least one of the parallel journeys I took with the game as me challenging it to overcome a certain automatic weariness I have for projects that are very distinctly "about" something in a polemic sense. It doesn't take much though, honestly. Be righteous - just be charming about it. Luckily, this thing is charming as hell."

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 19d

Featured on @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social today, with an absolutely wonderful writeup and analysis by Nic Reuben:

"I had a hard time finding a single sentence in this thing I didn't want to screenshot." ❤️

www.rockpapershotgun.com/dont-get-you...

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is all architectural horror, human warmth, and unnervingly stoic pigeons

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is a short interactive comic about Amsterdam's housing shortage and architectural horror.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 19d

Thanks for featuring Don't Get Your Hopes Up! ❤️

James @cheapretrogaming.bsky.social · 19d

We're back to almost 20 games being showcased! Many have unusual premises! One is an adventure game that has a jellyfish who wants to destroy the world!

cheapretrogaming.com/2025/09/19/f...

#FreeGames #indiegames #adventure #pointandclick #hackandslash #actiongames #2dgames #platformer

Friday’s Free Games! Games With Unique Premises Are the Highlight This Week!

Today we’re back to a larger assortment of titles, with almost 20 games being showcased! Many of these have unusual premises! One is an adventure game that has a jellyfish who wants to destro…

cheapretrogaming.com

Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 22d

Here's the release trailer that was just featured on the @gdocexpo.com 2025 Direct, featuring the incredible Neighbours Burning Neighbours from Rotterdam!

youtu.be/kvfw3a6AhnE

Don't Get Your Hopes Up - Release Trailer

YouTube video by mrkrishraghav

youtu.be

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Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 22d

Don't Get Your Hopes Up is out now! Free on Steam + @itch.io

A 40-60 minute experience about the horror of the Amsterdam housing market, and that feeling of home that's always just beyond reach. A mix of fiction, non-fiction, and social commentary.

🔗: store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/...

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Reposted by Krish Raghav

Audrey @shockandaudrey.bsky.social · 22d

A game my extremely talented friend made, about the horrors of finding housing in our city, is available to play today! The art and music is killer and Krish should be raking in cash for it, but instead it is free. Check it out!

Krish Raghav @krishraghav.bsky.social · 29d

🎉 Don't Get Your Hopes Up is out Tue Sep 16!

A short game about housing shortage and horror in architecture. A wayward history of Amsterdam that has evaded archival capture. A weird, disquieting, experimental non-fiction piece.

Free on Steam / PWYW on itch: store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/...

A poster for the videogame "Don't Get Your Hopes Up", revealing a release date of September 16, 2025. The game will be free to play on Steam and itch.

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