Austin Lancaster 🎮✍
@crawfordscat.bsky.social
Cinephilic "gamer". Based in Naarm (Melbourne).
Latest writing: https://umbycord.substack.com/
Latest writing: https://umbycord.substack.com/
I had a chat with Julián Cordero and Ian Berman to discuss the creative methods behind DESPELOTE -one of the most remarkable games of recent memory. Here's the full transcript, alongside my essay about its unique, freeform spoken dialogue.
DESPELOTE Interview: Developers Julián Cordero and Ian Berman on courting chaos to bring Ecuador to life.
"The less instructions we gave, the better performances we got from people"
open.substack.com
May 24, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I had a chat with Julián Cordero and Ian Berman to discuss the creative methods behind DESPELOTE -one of the most remarkable games of recent memory. Here's the full transcript, alongside my essay about its unique, freeform spoken dialogue.
Reposted by Austin Lancaster 🎮✍
Introducing 'Screen Play,' a new column examining the thresholds of the cinematic and the virtual.
In this first entry, Austin Lancaster explores the world of video game performance, looking at uncanny 'failures' & the desire for meaningful idiosyncrasy.
tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
In this first entry, Austin Lancaster explores the world of video game performance, looking at uncanny 'failures' & the desire for meaningful idiosyncrasy.
tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
Special Delivery: Acting Styles in Video Games
In the first entry of our new column about the thresholds of the cinematic and the virtual, Austin Lancaster explores the fruitfully uncanny depths of video game performances.
tinyurl.com
March 21, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Introducing 'Screen Play,' a new column examining the thresholds of the cinematic and the virtual.
In this first entry, Austin Lancaster explores the world of video game performance, looking at uncanny 'failures' & the desire for meaningful idiosyncrasy.
tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
In this first entry, Austin Lancaster explores the world of video game performance, looking at uncanny 'failures' & the desire for meaningful idiosyncrasy.
tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
I'll be writing a new column for Rough Cut, looking at resonances between video games and film.
The first article looks at Oblivion's buggy NPCs, non-actor performances, System Shock, Façade, Hitman, Out for Delivery and other related topics. tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
The first article looks at Oblivion's buggy NPCs, non-actor performances, System Shock, Façade, Hitman, Out for Delivery and other related topics. tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
Special Delivery: Acting Styles in Video Games
In the first entry of our new column about the thresholds of the cinematic and the virtual, Austin Lancaster explores the fruitfully uncanny depths of video game performances.
tinyurl.com
March 22, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I'll be writing a new column for Rough Cut, looking at resonances between video games and film.
The first article looks at Oblivion's buggy NPCs, non-actor performances, System Shock, Façade, Hitman, Out for Delivery and other related topics. tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
The first article looks at Oblivion's buggy NPCs, non-actor performances, System Shock, Façade, Hitman, Out for Delivery and other related topics. tinyurl.com/45t5uzht
STRAFTAT is suchcatnip...
January 24, 2025 at 3:13 AM
STRAFTAT is suchcatnip...
Teruo Ishii's Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) still haunts me...
January 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Teruo Ishii's Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) still haunts me...
Northern Journey's one-of-a-kind artstyle is one of the most beautiful ever devised?
January 16, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Northern Journey's one-of-a-kind artstyle is one of the most beautiful ever devised?
Be assured: the best map of the video game landscape is not the official map.
January 15, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Be assured: the best map of the video game landscape is not the official map.
@radiatoryang.bsky.social Hey Robert, have you played STRAFTAT? Been wishing for some mod-literate writing on the game but haven't been able any...
January 13, 2025 at 12:03 PM
@radiatoryang.bsky.social Hey Robert, have you played STRAFTAT? Been wishing for some mod-literate writing on the game but haven't been able any...
Dale and Dawson has something going for it: an Among Us-like set in a staitionery company's office. "Slackers" have to try to watch cat videos and sabotage the office without getting caught...
store.steampowered.com/app/2920570/...
store.steampowered.com/app/2920570/...
January 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Dale and Dawson has something going for it: an Among Us-like set in a staitionery company's office. "Slackers" have to try to watch cat videos and sabotage the office without getting caught...
store.steampowered.com/app/2920570/...
store.steampowered.com/app/2920570/...
Genuinely the most exciting thing to hear about a game:
January 11, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Genuinely the most exciting thing to hear about a game:
The most beautifully strange video game experiment in authenticity turns v1.0 today.
Full of the simplest, most moving moments: trundling down a dirt road, wondering what's going on with a boat speeding across a lake. Not hostile, just trusting.
store.steampowered.com/app/516750/M...
Full of the simplest, most moving moments: trundling down a dirt road, wondering what's going on with a boat speeding across a lake. Not hostile, just trusting.
store.steampowered.com/app/516750/M...
Save 18% on My Summer Car on Steam
My Summer Car is the ultimate car owning, building, fixing, tuning, maintenance AND permadeath life survival simulator. You start the game with hundreds of loose parts and assemble both car and engine...
store.steampowered.com
January 10, 2025 at 1:08 AM
The most beautifully strange video game experiment in authenticity turns v1.0 today.
Full of the simplest, most moving moments: trundling down a dirt road, wondering what's going on with a boat speeding across a lake. Not hostile, just trusting.
store.steampowered.com/app/516750/M...
Full of the simplest, most moving moments: trundling down a dirt road, wondering what's going on with a boat speeding across a lake. Not hostile, just trusting.
store.steampowered.com/app/516750/M...
Reposted by Austin Lancaster 🎮✍
I've had a lot of reasons to think about this insight from @foddy.net's Jiggly Zone review lately.
January 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM
I've had a lot of reasons to think about this insight from @foddy.net's Jiggly Zone review lately.
Reposted by Austin Lancaster 🎮✍
greetings! just a reminder that i have an art book out! it also features a couple of essays exclusive to the book and some poetic snippets. you can purchase a copy here: www.mostancient.com/shop/great-art
January 6, 2025 at 6:34 PM
greetings! just a reminder that i have an art book out! it also features a couple of essays exclusive to the book and some poetic snippets. you can purchase a copy here: www.mostancient.com/shop/great-art
Best under-the-radar game of last year: Mask Quest, a platformer by increpare and undef. Politically urgent and funny, with brilliantly constructed level design.
Thoughtful writeup on @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell:
www.rockpapershotgun.com/mask-quest-r...
Thoughtful writeup on @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell:
www.rockpapershotgun.com/mask-quest-r...
Mask Quest review: the cops don't have to breathe
Increpare's latest is a gripping design experiment, a brutal platformer and a calculating social commentary, all in one go.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
January 8, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Best under-the-radar game of last year: Mask Quest, a platformer by increpare and undef. Politically urgent and funny, with brilliantly constructed level design.
Thoughtful writeup on @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell:
www.rockpapershotgun.com/mask-quest-r...
Thoughtful writeup on @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell:
www.rockpapershotgun.com/mask-quest-r...
Thrilled to have my writing on @phoenixup.bsky.social's Time Bandit Part 1: Appendanges of the Machine featured in @unwinnable.com's Exploits!
I discuss its relation to Inventing the Future, and the unique merits / challenges of adapting non-fiction into a game.
shop.unwinnable.com/product/expl...
I discuss its relation to Inventing the Future, and the unique merits / challenges of adapting non-fiction into a game.
shop.unwinnable.com/product/expl...
Exploits - Current Issue and Back Issues
A collaborative cultural diary in zine form. PDF only (orders fulfilled manually, please be patient!) Issue #81 - 15 Pages - Austin Lancaster on...
shop.unwinnable.com
December 5, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Thrilled to have my writing on @phoenixup.bsky.social's Time Bandit Part 1: Appendanges of the Machine featured in @unwinnable.com's Exploits!
I discuss its relation to Inventing the Future, and the unique merits / challenges of adapting non-fiction into a game.
shop.unwinnable.com/product/expl...
I discuss its relation to Inventing the Future, and the unique merits / challenges of adapting non-fiction into a game.
shop.unwinnable.com/product/expl...