Nick Mangiaracina
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nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Nick Mangiaracina
@nickmanwrites.bsky.social
890 followers 740 following 2.1K posts
he/him (HevyD elsewhere)
- Narrative Design/Game Writing - nickmanwrites.com
- Contributor @monstervine.com
- Professional Inquiries: nickmanwrites@gmail.com
https://linktr.ee/nickmanwrites - Open for Work
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nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Nick Mangiaracina @nickmanwrites.bsky.social · Oct 19
My name is Nick. I write about video games, for video games sometimes, and am a cute dog haver.
Picture of Felix, a tri-color Pembroke Welsh Corgi, laying on the back of my chair with his paws hangin' out.
nickmanwrites.bsky.social
With the way things are going this might be your last chance to build a computer for the rest of the decade.
wario64.bsky.social Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 45m
PC Building Simulator 2 coming to PS5/Xbox Series on Feb 26th www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qV3...
February 16, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
parkermolloy.com
Yes, it is. I. Refuse. To. Vote. For. Someone. Who. Won't. So. Much. As. State. Their. Support. For. People. Like. Me. To. Exist. In. Society. With. Full. Civil. Rights.

Fuck right off with your "is now a good time?" Of course it is!
February 16, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
yarnspinner.dev
Every few days when someone gets a moment, we add a few new games to the Yarn Spinner showcase. We still have a huge list to get through, but it's such a fun little job and the page is looking so great already! yarnspinner.dev/showcase/
Yarn Spinner Showcase
Explore games built with Yarn Spinner—from indie darlings to major studio releases.
yarnspinner.dev
February 16, 2026 at 5:23 AM
nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Youth sized shirt. "When I grow up I want to be six seven" There's a picture of a ruler that tops out at 6 foot 7 inches.
February 16, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
floppyadult.com
I do not think Highguard is a good game. In fact I think it’s pretty poor compared to the many other options you have for shooters. But that release was far from a nuclear winter scenario. They had big numbers at launch. That the benchmark was apparently miles beyond that is business malpractice.
February 12, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
pookleblinky.bsky.social
Bluesky was literally meant to be a cryptobro social network for grifters, LinkedIn sludge, and libertarians who know way too much about age of consent laws.

Jack Dorsey *left* when instead of weird and off-putting cryptonerds, trans people started hanging out here.
shobitap.org Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 17h
Can you think of examples where people use technologies differently from what the developers intended, whether unintentionally or as an act of resistance?
February 15, 2026 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
cooperatives.bsky.social
Wage theft is the largest form of theft in the United States, dwarfing other kinds of theft. Companies steal up to $50 billion or more from workers annually, with only a tiny fraction ever recovered and paid to employees. This perpetuates income and wealth inequalities.

www.epi.org/publication/...
Wage Theft (when employers steal from employees) Minimum wage violations: $23.20 billion Overtime violations: $8.80 billion Rest break violations: $4.00 billion Off-the-clock violations: $3.20 billion Other types of theft Larceny: $5.30 billion Burglary: $4.10 billion Auto theft: $3.80 billion Robbery: $0.34 billion *all $ amounts are per year *all data is for the U.S. https://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2018/09/wage-theft-vs-other-forms-of-theft-in-the-u-s/
January 17, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
electricairship.com
Happy Valentine's day from this cute couple!
#jimmyandthepulsatingmass #IndieDev #Valentines #ValentinesDay
February 14, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
brunodias.bsky.social
"No one can afford to buy games" is one explanation for what's going on in the games industry but it doesn't really explain the rapid contraction. I think more salient factors are:

1. dependency on external investment that has dried up
2. rapidly changing patterns of consumption post-covid
February 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
scitydreamer.bsky.social
Today, we're stepping back in the past! We're looking at the new definitive console edition of Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass!

indiehellzone.com/2026/02/04/j...
Screenshot of Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. Jimmy as a green haired low-level goon shakes a proper low-level goon who says: "You're a natural, kid, but goon try-outs were yesterday." Article text says: Speaking of the Petty Thugs, they were already a funny bunch, but in the 2020s, where goon took on a whole new definition? It’s comedy gold. I respect my gooners. I still love the Bear transformation, but I will proudly be a Low-Level Goon any day of the week.
February 5, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Get 'em, Adol!
A screenshot of the game Ys III: Wanderers from Ys for the MSX2, emulated through EGGCONSOLE on the Nintendo Switch.
February 14, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
moomanibe.bsky.social
I know it's meant in good faith but "if we just made smaller scope games and charged 20-40 dollars for them it would fix the industry" is very funny to me. indies release like 20 of those a week on steam. are you buying them? is the industry fixed? no? hm. sounds like you need a different solution
February 15, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
peachdelta.bsky.social
You can draw whatever you want. Never forget that
February 15, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
yrfatfriend.bsky.social
Millennials are killing the diamond industry
A screenshot of a New York Times Magazine story titled "Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back." A screenshot of a Financial Review piece called "Is Ozempic killing off the business lunch?" A screenshot of a piece from the Atlantic titled "Ozempic Killed Diet and Exercise: Doctors might be slow to admit it, but Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are making dieting and exercise obsolete." A screenshot of a San Diego Magazine piece reads "Is Ozempic Killing Restaurants? GLP-1 weight-loss drugs slash customers' appetites for food and alcohol, potentially spelling trouble for your favorite bistro as the meds' market booms."
February 15, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
cursedpingu.bsky.social
lol this is gonna burst so fucking hard
r/analytics • IOh We just found out our AI has been making up analytics data for 3 months and I'm gonna throw up. Support So we've been using an Al agent since November to answer leadership questions about metrics. It seemed amazing at first fast answers, detailed explanations, everyone loved it. I just found out it's been hallucinating numbers this entire time. Our VP of sales made territory decisions based on data that didn't exist. Our CFO showed the board a deck with fake insights. The Al was just inventing plausible sounding percentages. I only caught it by accident when someone asked me to double check something. I started digging, and holy shit, it's bad.
February 14, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
redcomets.net
Roses are red
We live on Earth
"Blame this on the misfortune of your birth"
February 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Get 'em, Adol!
A screenshot of the game Ys III: Wanderers from Ys for the MSX2, emulated through EGGCONSOLE on the Nintendo Switch.
February 14, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
yrfatfriend.bsky.social
When we talk about the ~ozempic discourse~ it's easy to think about that as a kind of broad social or marketing pressure that's applied equally to everyone with a body.

It's worth noting that it shows up in more acute & targeted ways, too. I'm getting more emails like this one than I have in years.
Screenshot of an email that reads “If you put as much energy in walking, therapy and trying to be a kind person - you may be able to help yourself On your last day, the way you spent you life spreading your anger about how fat people are treated instead of preaching hope and empowerment with the voice you have created But I suspect you have no self awareness. Addicts are narcissists and do not ever apologize or take personal responsibility You are fat because you choose to be fat.”
February 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
chronicillness.bsky.social
@upgradeaccessi1 just a reminder that chronic illness can still occur no matter how 'heatlhy' you eat, how many vitamins/supplements you take, and/or how much exercise. a person doesn't choose chronic illness. saying or implying that is ableist.
February 14, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
caitlinrozakis.bsky.social
STARTUP HELL is a lot of things - a searing satire of capitalism and corporate life, a teasing of urban fantasy tropes and their kickass heroines, a comic fantasy with some cute pets - but it's also a sweet romance! 💙📚
What the cast of STARTUP HELL by Caitlin Rozakis thinks of Valentine's Day
February 14, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
theswweet.myatproto.social
what do you even say to this
February 14, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
digitalcantina.com
I hear this hero is from Lake Zurich, one of my old stomping grounds. Love it. This is how we deal with fascists in IL.
razzball.bsky.social Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 2d
get the kid in the brown hoodie a scholarship
February 14, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
petermjgross.bsky.social
Stand Elsewhere: It's Stephen King's classic coming of age story, semi-competently re-imagined in Pico-8.

(With a radio mode that lets you listen to chiptune versions of 12 different tracks from the movie!)

postgoodism.itch.io/stand-elsewh...

#IndieDev #Pico8 #IndieGame
February 14, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
digitalcantina.com
Woah woah woah
Are you telling me theres an anime thats ending is synced up Yes' Roundabout?!?!
February 14, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Nick Mangiaracina
nickmanwrites.bsky.social
Man, this sucks. Could I start an achievement consulting firm to help with this? Because, man, what a bummer.

We've had some really shit-tier achievement lists lately.
A screenshot of the trophy list for Console Archives: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos. The trophy list contains 4 trophies total, 1 bronze for playing the game once and 3 golds for playing each level for 10 minutes.
February 13, 2026 at 11:48 PM