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Jacob Garbe 💀

@logodaedalus.bsky.social

2.4K followers 240 following 200 posts

Quiet Poster. Retweets mostly spooky art, books, and the occasional original thought. Did a PhD on designing dynamic narrative systems in games. Senior Narrative Systems Designer @teamlfg.bsky.social Views my own.

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Oct 24

This is the most recent thing I've done that I can share. Some people have found it useful! If you're struggling with scope on a dynamic narrative project, try this Authorial Leverage Framework to help figure out how to course correct or prevent future woes: logodaedalus.github.io/Authorial-Le...

The Authorial Leverage Framework

Jacob Garbe’s PhD Dissertation on increasing authorability for dynamic/generative narrative systems

logodaedalus.github.io

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 11d

Yep! They have one slot for SF matches and one slot for Beijing matches…must have gotten lucky because they’ve been full ever since.

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 11d

I pretended to be deactivated and then bolt for the door when the referee came in to reset my opponent, which just goes to show you Never Trust A Mech Pilot. Alas, my turn rate was too slow.

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 11d

Apparently there are two SF robot boxing leagues and this is one of them: play.ufb.gg/play-now

Ultimate Fighting Bots

UFB (Ultimate Fighting Bots) - Fight Club for Humanoid Robots

play.ufb.gg

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 11d

I don't know how, but somehow I managed to get into a pick-up session and took control of a robot in Beijing in a boxing match. I got to knock out my opponent. This may be the most Bay Area Friday night activity I've ever done.

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Amy-Leigh Shaw @diveamydive.bsky.social · 21d

Hey! I have no idea how to do this, I’ve never made a List or Starter Pack before, but:

⭐️ If you’re a Games Writer/Narrative Designer looking for work, and you’d like to be added to my Starter Pack, lmk!
⭐️ If you’re looking to hire a Games Writer/Narrative Designer, check out this Starter Pack!

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 27d

(Although I suppose I’m agreeing with you because I don’t think anyone would say that’s healthy)

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 27d

I live in the Bay Area, so people who are willing to sacrifice human connection and family for getting ahead in their career isn’t as crazy as it sounds to many people! Especially if you billed it as “jump 80 years into the future”

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 28d

<one main character looks at the other> “I was brought out of cryosleep, what’s *your* excuse?”

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · 28d

My favorite Alien Earth theory that could apply to the entire Alien franchise is that cryosleep gives you brain damage.

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Aaron A. Reed @aaronareed.bsky.social · 29d

⬇️ 🚨🚨Heads up, this sale ends tonight!🚨🚨

This is a _rare_ occasion when my physical books are on sale as well my digital stuff (probably increasingly rare if the tariff situation continues to worsen).

Aaron A. Reed @aaronareed.bsky.social · Sep 7

Reminder: my #BookSale this weekend includes:

🚪 Subcutanean, spooky novel that changes for each reader: subcutanean.textories.com
⚔️ Downcrawl 2E, #TTRPG of underworld exploration: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
💾 50 Years of Text Games, history of interactive fiction: if50.textories.com

Downcrawl 2E - Aaron A. Reed | Downcrawl | DriveThruRPG

Explore cursed mazes. Build stalactite cities. Get addicted to mushrooms. Welcome Down. Downcrawl is a tabletop roleplaying toolkit that helps you build and explore a weird, wondrous underworld so far...

www.drivethrurpg.com

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 4

Yes I know.

Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 4

“Do I smoke? Oh, just enough to get vaccines” is such a perfect encapsulation of the insanity of American healthcare.

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Aaron A. Reed @aaronareed.bsky.social · Sep 4

🎃🍁🍂AUTUMN SALE!🍂🍁🎃 All my books and games are on sale for one week only to celebrate the impending arrival of cooler days and pumpkin lattes.
RPGs: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher...
50 Years of Text Games: if50.textories.com
Subcutanean: subcutanean.textories.com
Cool swag: aaronareed.net/store/

Screenshot of DriveThruRPG showing the Downcrawl Deck and other recent RPG titles at a 20% discount.

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Aaron A. Reed @aaronareed.bsky.social · Sep 4

#Downcrawl2E Adventure Zine #2 is here (and ON SALE for launch week)! Explore a new underworld region clinging to an endless roof over bottomless void, in the legendary place Where The Rock Stops. #ttrpg #hexcrawl #DriveThruRPG
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

and SPEAKING OF SALES... (1/2)

Cover art for Where the Rock Stops, a Downcrawl adventure zine, showing black-and-white woodcut-style art of a zeppelin floating beneath a rocky ceiling with huge dangling stalactites.

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 3

I'm just pissed because my headcanon of "no the eggs emit pheromones or psychic frequencies that make biological organisms stupid and lean in" can't survive contact with this episode where a moveable feast of fuckery is fully on display. (I am enjoying the show, I'm just currently incensed)

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 3

Like what in this narrative setup is a mission that would require, say, only competent vetted people? Like if this is the kind of mission you go "nah man let's send the interns, let's send some really disaffected people and then also pay them shit" like what's the *really well thought out mission*??

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 3

I want a prequel series showing how this crew of chucklefucks managed to capture not only a xenomorph, but multiple other species supposedly just as deadly.

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 3

The games industry is currently harder to break into than interstellar mechanics for nuclear-fueled ships on top secret missions for multi-national corporations.

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Sep 3

Weyland-Yutani (apparently): "let's spend billions of dollars on an interstellar mission to collect multiple living biological weapons, but also let's send multiple interns"

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Osama Dorias @osamadorias.bsky.social · Sep 2

It's my absolute pleasure to present to you our labor of love: Poly Fighter!

We are HeartLoop Games! ♥

Poly Fighter Game @polyfightergame.bsky.social · Sep 2

New studio. New game.

Step into the ring with Poly Fighter, a single-player roguelike fighting game where every run reshapes your style.

🖊️ Sign up to playtest: bit.ly/polyfighterplaytest

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilkn...

Poly Fighter - Reveal Trailer | Roguelike Fighting Game

YouTube video by Poly Fighter Game

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

ITEP @itep.org · Aug 29

The IRS wants Americans to weigh in on Direct File, the agency's free tax filing program.

We already know Direct File has been widely popular and successful.

The program could save Americans billions annually between filing fees and time costs.
www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs...

IRS asks for public input on free tax filing options to inform congressional report | Internal Revenue Service

IR-2025-85, Aug. 21, 2025 — The IRS invites the public to participate in an anonymous feedback survey on tax preparation and filing options, which will run through Sept. 5, 2025.

www.irs.gov

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Jacob Garbe 💀 @logodaedalus.bsky.social · Aug 27

...but invisible only to wraiths

Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Blue sky nice guy @rajandelman.bsky.social · Aug 15

Caterpillar waking up halfway through metamorphosis: I'm goo. Shit. Shit. Calm down. Go back to sleep. I'm really straight-up goo right now. Fuck

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Aaron A. Reed @aaronareed.bsky.social · Aug 7

Lucky enough to be one of the writers involved in bringing this wild stygian world to life! If you've ever wanted to barter with a dead swan god or infiltrate the fortress where souls go to be flensed, wishlist this game...

Kitfox Games 🦊 @kitfoxgames.com · Aug 7

😈 Announcing Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists, a procedural narrative RPG by A Sharp @radiofreelunch.bsky.social and published by us!

▶ Wishlist the game now on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3794210/...

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Reposted by Jacob Garbe 💀

Stacey Mason @stcymsn.bsky.social · Aug 4

Wow we’re having “games are art” discourse again! Just gonna leave this here.

From my dissertation:

2.1 Lenses, Not Boxes
I wondered whether this section was necessary, but games discourse seems to repeatedly find itself adrift in questions of whether _ counts as a _. We have seen
the question repeatedly: Do games count as art? Do games without goals count as games? Is The Sims a game? Are hypertexts interactive fiction? Are
Twine pieces literature? In fairness to the researchers cited here, all of whom I respect immensely, many of these sources pose or imply the question rhetorically. Still, the necessity of such a framing frustrates me.
"Is _ a _?" is, in my opinion, a fruitless question. The question can never be answered to anyone's satisfaction, and it often serves as either a provocation
to espouse politics or as a cover to institute gatekeeping. Its agenda is usually opaque
to onlookers and bewildering to those trying to advance the field from across disciplines.
We should be thinking in lenses, not boxes.
It is always more interesting to ask "If we think of _ through the lens of _, what do we learn?" We know it is more interesting to ask "What do we learn
by considering Tom Stoppard through the lens of poststructuralism?" than to ask "Is Stoppard's work poststructuralist?" And while some works may be more or less fruitful when examined through different lenses, sometimes the most unlikely pairings of lenses and objects are the most rewarding. Certainly any of the questions above would be much better served by reframing them in this way.

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