Grayson Morley
@graysonmorley.com
Writer/Editor • Associate Director of Digital Communications at @bardcollege.bsky.social • Winner, PEN/Dau • Work in Polygon, PC Gamer, Catapult, the Iowa Review, and elsewhere • linktr.ee/graysonmorley • Opinions my own
Newsletter: backlogmag.com
Newsletter: backlogmag.com
Pinned
Grayson Morley
@graysonmorley.com
· Aug 1
Donkey Kong Bananza and reward density
How to beat the slog
www.backlogmag.com
Games, more often than not, are fun but not meaningful. As I get older, I appreciate games that are dense with reward, gratifying at every turn. Donkey Kong Bananza is a joy machine that breaks through my defenses with a dense matrix of pleasures behind every thin, breakable wall.
Watching Pluribus while sick and then having fever dreams about it is, I think, the way to experience it
December 27, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Watching Pluribus while sick and then having fever dreams about it is, I think, the way to experience it
Merry Christmas, Bluesky. Fraya loved her gifts.
December 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Merry Christmas, Bluesky. Fraya loved her gifts.
I don’t remember the Grinch doing this much arson in the Jim Carrey Grinch
December 25, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I don’t remember the Grinch doing this much arson in the Jim Carrey Grinch
One of my dog’s gifts is giving “opening of Death Stranding”
December 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
One of my dog’s gifts is giving “opening of Death Stranding”
Still never figured out what I meant by this
At some point in the past, I set the reminder “Get Christmas bagels for us” for today at 8 AM. If anyone knows what I meant by this, please advise.
December 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Still never figured out what I meant by this
Sick just in time for the holidays 😎
December 24, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Sick just in time for the holidays 😎
My mother recently learned how to do the suggested replies to my workouts on Apple Watch, and the results are so *not* how she speaks, it makes me smile
December 23, 2025 at 9:25 PM
My mother recently learned how to do the suggested replies to my workouts on Apple Watch, and the results are so *not* how she speaks, it makes me smile
How it started versus how it’s going
December 22, 2025 at 11:16 PM
How it started versus how it’s going
I’m not kidding when I say that I think running helps you be better at Baby Steps. Thinking about optimal foot striking translates really well lol.
December 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I’m not kidding when I say that I think running helps you be better at Baby Steps. Thinking about optimal foot striking translates really well lol.
At some point in the past, I set the reminder “Get Christmas bagels for us” for today at 8 AM. If anyone knows what I meant by this, please advise.
December 20, 2025 at 1:09 PM
At some point in the past, I set the reminder “Get Christmas bagels for us” for today at 8 AM. If anyone knows what I meant by this, please advise.
Among other stupid things about this, tacking it on to the beginning like this implies that he’s dead
December 19, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Among other stupid things about this, tacking it on to the beginning like this implies that he’s dead
Reposted by Grayson Morley
Do you know the song “Dominick the Donkey”? Every Christmas I lose my mind as my wife insists it’s a well-known classic.
Lou Monte - Dominick The Donkey (Official Lyric Video)
YouTube video by RHINO
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Do you know the song “Dominick the Donkey”? Every Christmas I lose my mind as my wife insists it’s a well-known classic.
Do you know the song “Dominick the Donkey”? Every Christmas I lose my mind as my wife insists it’s a well-known classic.
Lou Monte - Dominick The Donkey (Official Lyric Video)
YouTube video by RHINO
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Do you know the song “Dominick the Donkey”? Every Christmas I lose my mind as my wife insists it’s a well-known classic.
My favorite part of the writing process: Fighting Scrivener's compile menu before giving up in dejection and desolation
December 17, 2025 at 1:32 PM
My favorite part of the writing process: Fighting Scrivener's compile menu before giving up in dejection and desolation
Reposted by Grayson Morley
Y'all didn't learn about TKTK and it shows
December 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Y'all didn't learn about TKTK and it shows
Having one of those days where everything is going slightly wrong, so when the recipe I made at lunch went sideways, I said, "That makes sense."
December 16, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Having one of those days where everything is going slightly wrong, so when the recipe I made at lunch went sideways, I said, "That makes sense."
Me before: This game needed an editor.
Me now: This game needed a better editor.
Me now: This game needed a better editor.
Nintendo recorded more than 30 minutes of extra conversations featuring Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's chatty companion characters that don't currently appear in the game. https://bit.ly/4j0Ctw4
December 16, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Me before: This game needed an editor.
Me now: This game needed a better editor.
Me now: This game needed a better editor.
This was fun. I used Gentler Streak to come back from a running injury. I recommend it as a complement to your training plan. A reminder to check in with your body—and to be gentle with it.
December 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
This was fun. I used Gentler Streak to come back from a running injury. I recommend it as a complement to your training plan. A reminder to check in with your body—and to be gentle with it.
Metroid Prime 4 is like when your favorite band gets back together and produces a below-average album. It almost hurts more for the mediocrity. There are glimmers of what you love in it, but the disappointment is made more keen by the long absence.
Boy, Metroid Prime 4 sure does end!
December 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Metroid Prime 4 is like when your favorite band gets back together and produces a below-average album. It almost hurts more for the mediocrity. There are glimmers of what you love in it, but the disappointment is made more keen by the long absence.
Boy, Metroid Prime 4 sure does end!
December 15, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Boy, Metroid Prime 4 sure does end!
Great blog from @jmrivera.bsky.social. Not the point of the piece as a whole, but this section gets to the heart of something I’ve been feeling about games as of late:
We shouldn’t want “fun” as an endpoint for the medium. Games can and ought to be so much more than hamster wheels.
We shouldn’t want “fun” as an endpoint for the medium. Games can and ought to be so much more than hamster wheels.
December 12, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Great blog from @jmrivera.bsky.social. Not the point of the piece as a whole, but this section gets to the heart of something I’ve been feeling about games as of late:
We shouldn’t want “fun” as an endpoint for the medium. Games can and ought to be so much more than hamster wheels.
We shouldn’t want “fun” as an endpoint for the medium. Games can and ought to be so much more than hamster wheels.
What “All best,” would look like as a person
December 12, 2025 at 2:59 AM
What “All best,” would look like as a person
I will continue to play 7–10 hours of every new Lumines game, put it down, then happily buy the next one.
December 11, 2025 at 3:02 AM
I will continue to play 7–10 hours of every new Lumines game, put it down, then happily buy the next one.
Christ, and I mean this literally, wept
we all got cowed into avoiding "virtue signaling" as if the public affirmation of socially agreed upon ethical principles was somehow cringey instead of a significant part of what a "society" even is. now all there's left is vice signaling, and it's reshaping society.
December 8, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Christ, and I mean this literally, wept
Reposted by Grayson Morley
✨Some news!✨
J Wortham, culture writer of NYT Magazine and co-editor of BLACK FUTURES, has contributed a partial scholarship for a Black trans or gender non-conforming writer for the Root & Reverie winter 2026 cohort!
Please encourage a loved one to apply here: forms.gle/GWLxDPCLES6a...
J Wortham, culture writer of NYT Magazine and co-editor of BLACK FUTURES, has contributed a partial scholarship for a Black trans or gender non-conforming writer for the Root & Reverie winter 2026 cohort!
Please encourage a loved one to apply here: forms.gle/GWLxDPCLES6a...
December 8, 2025 at 1:28 PM
✨Some news!✨
J Wortham, culture writer of NYT Magazine and co-editor of BLACK FUTURES, has contributed a partial scholarship for a Black trans or gender non-conforming writer for the Root & Reverie winter 2026 cohort!
Please encourage a loved one to apply here: forms.gle/GWLxDPCLES6a...
J Wortham, culture writer of NYT Magazine and co-editor of BLACK FUTURES, has contributed a partial scholarship for a Black trans or gender non-conforming writer for the Root & Reverie winter 2026 cohort!
Please encourage a loved one to apply here: forms.gle/GWLxDPCLES6a...