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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 6d

I appreciated the unique angle @qwertyprophecy.bsky.social brought to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, and the tightness of its execution. @monstertheater.bsky.social a solid addition to your publishing repertoire.

startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · 6d

Playing as the antagonist is not a new concept, but Dark Queen of Mortholme puts its own twist on the material in a short, but impactful, game.

@stevenstoermer.bsky.social reviews.

Review | Dark Queen of Mortholme - Witness Me — startmenu

Playing as the antagonist is not a new concept, but Dark Queen of Mortholme puts its own twist on the material in a short, but impactful, game. Steven Stoermer reviews.

www.startmenu.co.uk

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · 17d

It was my pleasure to review the excellent @staticdread.bsky.social for @startmenu.bsky.social

startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · 17d

Static Dread harnesses the isolation inherent to being a lighthouse keeper and gives it a Lovecraftian twist, making you the bulwark that keeps your community safe from eldritch terrors.

@stevenstoermer.bsky.social reviews.

Review | Static Dread - Ghosts on the Wire — startmenu

Static Dread harnesses the isolation inherent to being a lighthouse keeper and gives it a Lovecraftian twist, making you the bulwark that keeps your community safe from eldritch terrors. Steven Stoer...

www.startmenu.co.uk

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Reposted by Steven Stoermer

startmenu @startmenu.bsky.social · Aug 14

Becoming Saint sees you take on the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, real-time, tactical RPG.

Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to heaven?

@stevenstoermer.bsky.social investigates.

www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...

Review | Becoming Saint - Have You Heard The Good News? — startmenu

Becoming Saint sees you take the role of a wanna be spiritual leader as you conquer Italy in this roguelike, realtime, tactical RPG. Will you achieve sainthood in your life or make an early trip to h...

www.startmenu.co.uk

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jul 14

Rader's machine in Split Fiction is a symbol of the "frictionless cognitive offloading" of our thought processes to for-profit companies that have built a rentier economy within capitalism's aching bones.

stevenstoermer.medium.com/split-fictio...

Split Fiction: What does Rader’s machine have to do with AI, anyway?

For a game about stories, the plot of Split Fiction isn’t really the point. The nature of the machine in which heroines Zoe and Mio wind up…

stevenstoermer.medium.com

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jul 1

This only adds to my anticipation for the @dimension20.bsky.social live show in Seattle this month!

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jul 1

@brennanleemulligan.bsky.social's DnD campaigns contain great lessons for anyone interested in narrative design. Episode 49 of @worldsbeyondnumber.bsky.social is a masterclass in leveraging impactful, "weak" characters. Here are some reflections.

stevenstoermer.medium.com/pathetic-is-...

Pathetic is Poignant, in Brennan Lee Mulligan’s Campaigns

In his Dungeons and Dragons game “The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One,” Brennan Lee Mulligan introduces the witch’s apprentice Nif as…

stevenstoermer.medium.com

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 11

I appreciate your optimism but I regret to inform you we have a long, proud history of deploying our military (and militarized police) against our own citizens in this country.

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 10

Chief among these ideas are @kyla.bsky.social 's idea of AI as "frictionless cognitive offloading" and an extension of @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social 's "cloud rent" to an "AI rent" as the hyperscalers build an ownership stake in the AI models we use out of their massive computational resources.

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 10

An upcoming piece I wrote relates the game Split Fiction to generative AI based on similar insights. I'll be writing a companion piece focusing on AI out of what wound up on the cutting room floor.

Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · Jun 3

I'm biased, but this report is a must-read for anyone looking to understand the state of AI in 2025.

It explains how AI is entrenching power for big tech and the oligarch class, speeding deregulation, dislodging human expertise and threatening workers—and how there's still time to refuse all that.

AI Now Institute @ainowinstitute.bsky.social · Jun 3

NEW REPORT: Artificial Power, our 2025 Landscape Report, is out.

Today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. We urgently need to reclaim public power over the future trajectory of AI. Another path is possible.

Read the report: ainowinstitute.org/2025-landscape

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 4

Relevant quote: "At a time when it’s never been easier to host a blog or create a newsletter or whip up a few videos, it feels like the number of healthy, critical hubs is ever-dwindling. Well, it doesn’t feel that way. That number is dwindling."

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 4

Required reading for this era of games criticism.

David Shimomura @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social · May 29

We're stronger and better together. The friction can be good but only when it doesn't lead to infighting that supports the corporate interest.

But in order to dethrone that interest we are going to need to learn to fight more effectively and stand together more efficiently.

Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · May 29

"We’re going to need a new kind of solidarity. One that stands for more than platitudes and posts."

@unwinnabledavid.bsky.social‬ stresses the importance of solidarity in the current era of videogame and pop culture criticism:

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 3

Relevant quote: "The third facet of criticism that I see that “really grinds my gears” is the facet of criticism that nucleates around “personalities.” How many reader- and viewer-supported, worker-owned media orgs can we sustain? Like, truly?"

Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jun 3

This might be "The Critic As Artist" for games criticism. Part 2 is an incisive look at the issues plaguing games criticism today: noescapevg.com/the-spectacu...

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Mar 8

It only took me 750 hours in Paradox's Victoria 3 to figure out why I can't stop playing it.
stevenstoermer.medium.com/the-digital-...

#victoria3 #paradoxinteractive #videogames #strategygames

The Digital Brittleness of Victoria 3

In 1994, John Meriweather founded Long Term Capital Management on the basis of a computer program that looked for discrepancies in expected…

stevenstoermer.medium.com

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Steven Stoermer @stevenstoermer.bsky.social · Jan 24

The economy of long and short rests in Dungeons and Dragons is famously kind of broken. Can using some optional rules as limited resources help? @sherlockhulmes.bsky.social thought so in the latest High Rollers campaign, and I think he's onto something.

medium.com/@stevenstoer...

#dnd

Modified Heroic Long Rests

This is an expansion and refinement of the “Heroic Short Rest” proposed by Mark Hulmes, which is itself a refinement of the Heroic Rest…

medium.com

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