Ben Taels
@bentaels.bsky.social
Kiwi, Dad, Human Factors Psychology PhD, & Games User Experience Research.
Formerly Epic Games, Player Research, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Te Manatū Waka, & Hamilton Zoo.
Formerly Epic Games, Player Research, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Te Manatū Waka, & Hamilton Zoo.
Pinned
Ben Taels
@bentaels.bsky.social
· Jan 3
Throwing Out the Dopamine Shots: Reward Psychology Without the Neurotrash
YouTube video by GDC 2025
youtu.be
Some talks that I have given:
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Reward in games (without the dopamine neurotrash): youtu.be/xkg9ocYDLr8?...
Human Error and game design: youtu.be/JyuR2fKvQ20?...
What road safety can teach us about reducing toxicity in games: youtu.be/WMYoCuZ3Fa8?...
Reposted by Ben Taels
This is the country that made LEXX – a show about a mall cop, sex slave lizard hybrid, and zombie warrior flying around the galaxy in a planet-destroying, giant bug spaceship powered by brains and shaped like a dick – we can and MUST be that country again!
For CBC Arts, I wrote about why I think Canada needs to revel in the beauty of its weirdest impulses www.cbc.ca/arts/canadia...
OPINION | Canadian TV needs to get weird again | CBC Arts
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, English Canadian screens were filled with bizarre, fever dream-like shows. Writer Niko Stratis argues that we need to back to that
www.cbc.ca
January 21, 2026 at 9:06 PM
This is the country that made LEXX – a show about a mall cop, sex slave lizard hybrid, and zombie warrior flying around the galaxy in a planet-destroying, giant bug spaceship powered by brains and shaped like a dick – we can and MUST be that country again!
Reposted by Ben Taels
Ok I need to spell this out more slowly, clearly: Greenland is Inuit land and nobody but Inuit should be getting to decide what happens to it
January 22, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Ok I need to spell this out more slowly, clearly: Greenland is Inuit land and nobody but Inuit should be getting to decide what happens to it
In a team multiplayer game when someone is eliminated should you show a spectator cam right away or a kill cam that shows how the player died?
It is going to depend on your game and audience, however, in my experience players typically prefer spectating over kill cams
#ux #gamedev
It is going to depend on your game and audience, however, in my experience players typically prefer spectating over kill cams
#ux #gamedev
January 21, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Taels
completely unironically, this is how we'll know
Everyone in his inner circle would be insider trading trading on his death on Kalshi before turning the plane around
January 21, 2026 at 4:11 AM
completely unironically, this is how we'll know
They should update the definition of Cargo Cults to include intricate clockwork introductions to TV shows in addition to starting movies with a bunch of IP characters all merging into the logo of the property
Absolutely corporate superstition at play
Absolutely corporate superstition at play
January 21, 2026 at 7:37 AM
They should update the definition of Cargo Cults to include intricate clockwork introductions to TV shows in addition to starting movies with a bunch of IP characters all merging into the logo of the property
Absolutely corporate superstition at play
Absolutely corporate superstition at play
Reposted by Ben Taels
If you're going to compare yourself to Mamdani, you better be promising free public transport and childcare, and affordable rents.
January 21, 2026 at 2:22 AM
If you're going to compare yourself to Mamdani, you better be promising free public transport and childcare, and affordable rents.
Reposted by Ben Taels
Happy THE POWER FANTASY #15 day!
January 21, 2026 at 7:13 AM
Happy THE POWER FANTASY #15 day!
Lord of the Rings and Metal are just naturally a fit.
In German even more so.
youtu.be/9ysGwmBmBCs?...
In German even more so.
youtu.be/9ysGwmBmBCs?...
Feuerschwanz - Rohirrim - Taels of LotR Edit
YouTube video by Ben Taels
youtu.be
January 21, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Lord of the Rings and Metal are just naturally a fit.
In German even more so.
youtu.be/9ysGwmBmBCs?...
In German even more so.
youtu.be/9ysGwmBmBCs?...
A common finding in analytical analysis of churn is that the biggest, clearest, predictor of churn is people reducing the time they play
Sometimes this can be the only really big significant factor due to how strong a signal it is
Sometimes this can be the only really big significant factor due to how strong a signal it is
January 20, 2026 at 6:50 PM
A common finding in analytical analysis of churn is that the biggest, clearest, predictor of churn is people reducing the time they play
Sometimes this can be the only really big significant factor due to how strong a signal it is
Sometimes this can be the only really big significant factor due to how strong a signal it is
Reposted by Ben Taels
The absolute accuracy of this.
January 18, 2026 at 10:23 PM
The absolute accuracy of this.
Reposted by Ben Taels
Apparently the AI bros are on another round of "Hatsune Miku is AI, checkmate luddites" so this is just a reminder that the singer behind Miku was paid and still earns royalties, and beyond that, Miku is nothing more than a MIDI soundboard with advanced pitch converter options, it is not genAI.
January 19, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Apparently the AI bros are on another round of "Hatsune Miku is AI, checkmate luddites" so this is just a reminder that the singer behind Miku was paid and still earns royalties, and beyond that, Miku is nothing more than a MIDI soundboard with advanced pitch converter options, it is not genAI.
Szechuan Taste in Cary, North Carolina, USA.
Spicy food, lots of variety, friendly staff, and a milk tea place just around the corner you could wander over to after.
We used to go there every Friday night (at least), and I have adorable photos of my kid there when he was a baby.
Spicy food, lots of variety, friendly staff, and a milk tea place just around the corner you could wander over to after.
We used to go there every Friday night (at least), and I have adorable photos of my kid there when he was a baby.
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 6:06 AM
Szechuan Taste in Cary, North Carolina, USA.
Spicy food, lots of variety, friendly staff, and a milk tea place just around the corner you could wander over to after.
We used to go there every Friday night (at least), and I have adorable photos of my kid there when he was a baby.
Spicy food, lots of variety, friendly staff, and a milk tea place just around the corner you could wander over to after.
We used to go there every Friday night (at least), and I have adorable photos of my kid there when he was a baby.
Reposted by Ben Taels
On Friday the Greens provided journalists a ‘prebuttal’ of the PM’s forthcoming speech. Today I feel we deserve some kind of prize (I mean, not the Nobel) for correctly predicting about 90% of the content, betting it would continue the relentless pursuit of the interests of the wealthy and sorted
January 19, 2026 at 12:45 AM
On Friday the Greens provided journalists a ‘prebuttal’ of the PM’s forthcoming speech. Today I feel we deserve some kind of prize (I mean, not the Nobel) for correctly predicting about 90% of the content, betting it would continue the relentless pursuit of the interests of the wealthy and sorted
Reposted by Ben Taels
hello. are any webworm readers in minneapolis, or directly know anyone involved in protests there? i'd love to touch base in the city: david@webworm.co
January 18, 2026 at 7:45 PM
hello. are any webworm readers in minneapolis, or directly know anyone involved in protests there? i'd love to touch base in the city: david@webworm.co
Reposted by Ben Taels
this is my favorite of the pharma promo mice i have come across online so far (a quarter of my pinterest is this stuff)
January 18, 2026 at 6:58 PM
this is my favorite of the pharma promo mice i have come across online so far (a quarter of my pinterest is this stuff)
Reposted by Ben Taels
My blog post about how software rendered depth based occlusion culling in Block Game functions is out now! enikofox.com/posts/softwa...
#GameDev #ProcGen 🎮
#GameDev #ProcGen 🎮
Software occlusion culling in Block Game
My GPU is the integrated Radeon Vega 8 that comes with my AMD Ryzen 7 5700G CPU. I tell you this so you know that my workstation is not a graphical computing powerhouse. It is, in fact, quite weak. To...
enikofox.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 PM
My blog post about how software rendered depth based occlusion culling in Block Game functions is out now! enikofox.com/posts/softwa...
#GameDev #ProcGen 🎮
#GameDev #ProcGen 🎮
The audio visualizer in Fortnite (on by default for all players) is an innovative UI element that genuinely improves and enhances the game, in addition to creating a fairer play experience.
So, why haven't more games implemented it? I think there are several reasons:
#gamedev #ui #ux
So, why haven't more games implemented it? I think there are several reasons:
#gamedev #ui #ux
January 18, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Ben Taels
So all it took for Shane Jones to find an environmental protection issue he cared about was a racism angle.
January 18, 2026 at 4:54 AM
So all it took for Shane Jones to find an environmental protection issue he cared about was a racism angle.
Who knows if this is true or not. But this kind of thinking an example of what is wrong with being short sighted data driven and not data informed
Data tells you people are looking at their phones. So instead of working out why your stuff isn't engaging and interesting you design for inattention
Data tells you people are looking at their phones. So instead of working out why your stuff isn't engaging and interesting you design for inattention
January 18, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Who knows if this is true or not. But this kind of thinking an example of what is wrong with being short sighted data driven and not data informed
Data tells you people are looking at their phones. So instead of working out why your stuff isn't engaging and interesting you design for inattention
Data tells you people are looking at their phones. So instead of working out why your stuff isn't engaging and interesting you design for inattention
Reposted by Ben Taels
if you have not been in the room where decisions like this are made, this is what they look like
spreadsheets of roles averaged to salary costs, and counts
spreadsheets of roles averaged to salary costs, and counts
NEW: Public records I obtained from Washington state offer an alternate look at the mass layoffs in the games industry
With each letter sent by Microsoft, Sony, WB, Amazon to notify the state of a mass cut was a long list of roles eliminated.
A stark accounting
www.gamefile.news/p/video-game...
With each letter sent by Microsoft, Sony, WB, Amazon to notify the state of a mass cut was a long list of roles eliminated.
A stark accounting
www.gamefile.news/p/video-game...
Video game layoffs also look like this
Via public records requests, some long lists of gaming jobs cut by Microsoft, Sony, Warner Bros. and Amazon in the state of Washington.
www.gamefile.news
January 17, 2026 at 8:38 PM
if you have not been in the room where decisions like this are made, this is what they look like
spreadsheets of roles averaged to salary costs, and counts
spreadsheets of roles averaged to salary costs, and counts
Reposted by Ben Taels
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 3:37 PM
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Reposted by Ben Taels
I keep seeing cool indie games with completely unreadable logos
January 17, 2026 at 7:48 PM