Alexei Pepers
@apepers.bsky.social
Technical system designer, proc gen ranger/druid, Roguelike Celebration MC, kaiju groupie (she/her)
Pinned
Alexei Pepers
@apepers.bsky.social
· Jan 23
Designing for System Suspense | 2025 Schedule | Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Attend 750 sessions for game designers, programmers, artists, producers, audio, business, and marketing professionals over 5 days at GDC.
schedule.gdconf.com
Speaking of Polaris - I’m giving a 60 minute lecture at GDC about system suspense, a topic from a previous year! I’ll be able to dig into some case studies that didn’t make the report - so if you’re into systemic games and designing for surprise, check it out 😊
schedule.gdconf.com/session/desi...
schedule.gdconf.com/session/desi...
Up past 2 AM looking through old family albums to see the hidden page with the photo of naked Russian-Canadian folk-Protestant protestors, with a diversion of finding my great-great grandmother’s baby head being used as an example in a phrenology journal. Filled with post-Xmas pre-new years spirit 😆
December 28, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Up past 2 AM looking through old family albums to see the hidden page with the photo of naked Russian-Canadian folk-Protestant protestors, with a diversion of finding my great-great grandmother’s baby head being used as an example in a phrenology journal. Filled with post-Xmas pre-new years spirit 😆
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
New blog post (and email newsletter): azhdarchid.com/designing-fo...
Thematic expression in game design, or: Why Dune (1992) rules
Games like Dune (1992) and Pirates (1987) are hardly ever made any more. What sets them apart?
azhdarchid.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:29 PM
New blog post (and email newsletter): azhdarchid.com/designing-fo...
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
December 13, 2025 at 4:59 AM
After multiple days of being responsible and using up leftovers, I just spent two hours making dashi, tonkatsu, and finally katsudon. My inability to do anything in moderation has never tasted so good.
December 7, 2025 at 4:28 AM
After multiple days of being responsible and using up leftovers, I just spent two hours making dashi, tonkatsu, and finally katsudon. My inability to do anything in moderation has never tasted so good.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Steal, sneak and persuade your way through the simulated city of Fortuna.
🏛 Watch the new gameplay trailer and sign up for our Alpha playtest: store.steampowered.com/app/2946850/...
🏛 Watch the new gameplay trailer and sign up for our Alpha playtest: store.steampowered.com/app/2946850/...
December 4, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Steal, sneak and persuade your way through the simulated city of Fortuna.
🏛 Watch the new gameplay trailer and sign up for our Alpha playtest: store.steampowered.com/app/2946850/...
🏛 Watch the new gameplay trailer and sign up for our Alpha playtest: store.steampowered.com/app/2946850/...
Advent of Code Day 1 beginning with “the elves have discovered project management,” as the in-universe explanation for it being 12 days this year instead of 25, is unbelievably good.
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Advent of Code Day 1 beginning with “the elves have discovered project management,” as the in-universe explanation for it being 12 days this year instead of 25, is unbelievably good.
My high school Macbeth had a dramatic sword break, via strong magnets holding the blade to the hilt. One night the actors messed up the choreography and instead of back of stage, the dull but very heavy sword flew into an audience member’s face. I’m realizing now how normal that sort of thing is 😅
incredible quote lol
November 29, 2025 at 2:10 AM
My high school Macbeth had a dramatic sword break, via strong magnets holding the blade to the hilt. One night the actors messed up the choreography and instead of back of stage, the dull but very heavy sword flew into an audience member’s face. I’m realizing now how normal that sort of thing is 😅
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
do yourself a favor and dont even hate-watch that shit this year, man. go see a movie. edgar wright's new thing is in theatres. demonschool is out in 2 days, birdcage is out tomorrow. play something from your backlog. tron 2.0 is $10 on gog. catch up on some tv. do groceries. whatever.
November 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
do yourself a favor and dont even hate-watch that shit this year, man. go see a movie. edgar wright's new thing is in theatres. demonschool is out in 2 days, birdcage is out tomorrow. play something from your backlog. tron 2.0 is $10 on gog. catch up on some tv. do groceries. whatever.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
"Malort advent calendar" is already such an unhinged concept but every little window just having Malort in it really pushes it over the edge into something transcendently funny
November 15, 2025 at 12:54 AM
"Malort advent calendar" is already such an unhinged concept but every little window just having Malort in it really pushes it over the edge into something transcendently funny
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
Do other folks have nightmares about the shitty parts of game dev, even long after the fact? Layoffs, project cancellations, terrible leadership. They suck enough the first time but my brain just loves to relive them instead of sleeping 🥲
November 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Do other folks have nightmares about the shitty parts of game dev, even long after the fact? Layoffs, project cancellations, terrible leadership. They suck enough the first time but my brain just loves to relive them instead of sleeping 🥲
I am so excited to spend my commute listening to coverage of Fëanor’s bullshit. As Kawa pointed out, our emergency go-bag currently contains my copy of The Hobbit, but not my passport. So this is great news for me specifically.
Let's make it official:
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
Shelved By Genre
These are books discussed on the podcast Shelved by Genre!
bookshop.org
November 8, 2025 at 12:30 AM
I am so excited to spend my commute listening to coverage of Fëanor’s bullshit. As Kawa pointed out, our emergency go-bag currently contains my copy of The Hobbit, but not my passport. So this is great news for me specifically.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Its officially that time.
November 3, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Its officially that time.
Extra baseball has meant some extreme measures to try and actually make dinner before 10 pm
November 2, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Extra baseball has meant some extreme measures to try and actually make dinner before 10 pm
Please channel Forrest Best and end up stealing home off a single
November 2, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Please channel Forrest Best and end up stealing home off a single
It says a lot about the quality of my memory and also what baseball is like that only now, after 6 innings, have I realized that I was watching a replay of yesterday’s game and not the live game. Yesterday’s game which, to be clear, I did watch live.
November 2, 2025 at 2:09 AM
It says a lot about the quality of my memory and also what baseball is like that only now, after 6 innings, have I realized that I was watching a replay of yesterday’s game and not the live game. Yesterday’s game which, to be clear, I did watch live.
Played this with @procgenkawa.bsky.social to round out the night and it hit my highest compliment, which is that it made me exclaim “video games are good actually!!!”
The additions for this year are SO GOOD. This is free! It's packed with fun! Get your friends and get on this tonight!
It's that time of year... 🍂
🎃 The Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is BACK for 2025! 🎃
This year we can support up to 800 players at once in this seasonal pumpkin carving MMO!
This year's update comes with new areas and new secrets to find.
Hope you don't mind if I re-use the trailer from last year! 😅
🎃 The Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is BACK for 2025! 🎃
This year we can support up to 800 players at once in this seasonal pumpkin carving MMO!
This year's update comes with new areas and new secrets to find.
Hope you don't mind if I re-use the trailer from last year! 😅
November 1, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Played this with @procgenkawa.bsky.social to round out the night and it hit my highest compliment, which is that it made me exclaim “video games are good actually!!!”
Spent my Halloween evening watching the game. This is all I have to say.
November 1, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Spent my Halloween evening watching the game. This is all I have to say.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Rooting not just for a Game 7 of the World Series, but another 18 inning game that goes so long on Saturday night that the clocks fall back at 2am before it’s ended and everyone gets tremendously confused about what time it is.
October 30, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Rooting not just for a Game 7 of the World Series, but another 18 inning game that goes so long on Saturday night that the clocks fall back at 2am before it’s ended and everyone gets tremendously confused about what time it is.
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
The Video Game History Expansion Pack – Pitch your story
Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a new project — a book focused on game history outside of the usual North American perspectives.
crpgbook.wordpress.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:11 PM
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
So my bonus bit of #procjam content for this year is going to be the Lunch Hour Generator - five videos, five little tasks you can do in your lunch break, and at the end of the week you have something you can enter into the jam. I hope it helps encourage a few people to give the jam a go!
PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is back for another year! Join us on itch.io this November for another week of making something that makes something - a bskybot, a videogame, a digital artwork, a dice table or something else!
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
PROCJAM - The Procedural Generation Jam
A game jam from 2025-11-21 to 2025-12-01 hosted by PROCJAM. Let's Make Something! PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is a creative coding jam about making things that make things. This normally...
itch.io
October 30, 2025 at 2:40 PM
So my bonus bit of #procjam content for this year is going to be the Lunch Hour Generator - five videos, five little tasks you can do in your lunch break, and at the end of the week you have something you can enter into the jam. I hope it helps encourage a few people to give the jam a go!
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
Gaming stuff: Crusader Kings 3’s “All Under Heaven” is out now. I helped consult for historical accuracy and design on its representation of medieval Southeast Asia (and Siberia). Check it out! A fantastic expansion for a fantastic game.
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/crusad...
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/crusad...
Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven - Paradox Interactive
Build, Conquer, and Rule in the East. With Crusader Kings III - All Under Heaven, the vast and dynamic history of Eastern Asia comes to life. Claim the Mandate, unite your people, and shape the future...
www.paradoxinteractive.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Gaming stuff: Crusader Kings 3’s “All Under Heaven” is out now. I helped consult for historical accuracy and design on its representation of medieval Southeast Asia (and Siberia). Check it out! A fantastic expansion for a fantastic game.
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/crusad...
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/crusad...
Reposted by Alexei Pepers
in the netherlands major league baseball is called Honkbal Hoofdklasse
October 28, 2025 at 6:47 AM
in the netherlands major league baseball is called Honkbal Hoofdklasse