John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
@spacegoblingames.com
Indie text game developer, creator of Seedship and Beyond the Chiron Gate. Now working on a pulp sci-fi adventure narrated by the villain!
Website: https://www.spacegoblingames.com/
Blog: https://write.as/johnayliff/
Header and avatar by Tom Morley
Website: https://www.spacegoblingames.com/
Blog: https://write.as/johnayliff/
Header and avatar by Tom Morley
Pinned
Space Goblin Diaries
John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games) is a creator of text-based games and interactive fiction
write.as
Coming soon* from Space Goblin Games:
(* when it's done)
"Foolish Earth Creatures: You Cannot Defeat ME!"
An interactive pulp sci-fi adventure narrated by the villain!
Follow the developer diaries here: write.as/johnayliff/
(* when it's done)
"Foolish Earth Creatures: You Cannot Defeat ME!"
An interactive pulp sci-fi adventure narrated by the villain!
Follow the developer diaries here: write.as/johnayliff/
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form:
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
November 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form:
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
She *delights* in being mean! Whereas I, an enlightened cyber-being, am mean without ever experiencing delight.
November 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
She *delights* in being mean! Whereas I, an enlightened cyber-being, am mean without ever experiencing delight.
For me, interactive fiction is all about letting the player express themselves through their choices.
For example, do you want to engage a giant alien cyborg on the moon in a gun fight, a sword fight, or a fist fight?
#screenshotsaturday #interactivefiction
For example, do you want to engage a giant alien cyborg on the moon in a gun fight, a sword fight, or a fist fight?
#screenshotsaturday #interactivefiction
November 8, 2025 at 10:45 PM
For me, interactive fiction is all about letting the player express themselves through their choices.
For example, do you want to engage a giant alien cyborg on the moon in a gun fight, a sword fight, or a fist fight?
#screenshotsaturday #interactivefiction
For example, do you want to engage a giant alien cyborg on the moon in a gun fight, a sword fight, or a fist fight?
#screenshotsaturday #interactivefiction
I think if I was this officer I'd be relieved not to have an official court ruling saying I'm a big baby who was injured by a sandwich hitting my body armour.
🚨🚨🚨 The jury has reached a verdict. Sean Dunn, aka the DC Sandwich Guy, has been found NOT GUILTY of assault.
November 6, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I think if I was this officer I'd be relieved not to have an official court ruling saying I'm a big baby who was injured by a sandwich hitting my body armour.
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
HEAD'S UP FELLOW #CREATIVES!
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
Grammarly Rebrands Company as Superhuman, Introduces Superhuman Suite and Superhuman Go
Superhuman Platform delivers proactive, context-aware AI agents that work in the flow of work, wherever people work Grammarly today announced it is changing its company…
www.grammarly.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
HEAD'S UP FELLOW #CREATIVES!
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
That Zohran Mamdani speech had like half a dozen "wow, he really went there" moments.
November 5, 2025 at 5:37 AM
That Zohran Mamdani speech had like half a dozen "wow, he really went there" moments.
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
read for filth by an alien from the 30s, smh
November 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
read for filth by an alien from the 30s, smh
Also, all those movies where an American girl falls in love with the prince of an obscure European country take place the same alternative universe in which Europe is a patchwork of tiny monarchies
Name movie or tv universes that aren’t connected but should be.
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Also, all those movies where an American girl falls in love with the prince of an obscure European country take place the same alternative universe in which Europe is a patchwork of tiny monarchies
Yes (Prime) Minister and The West Wing
Name movie or tv universes that aren’t connected but should be.
November 4, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Yes (Prime) Minister and The West Wing
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
I really love this Vincent Van Gogh quote:
"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."
No romanticizing the starving artist. Van Gogh said UBI all the way.
"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."
No romanticizing the starving artist. Van Gogh said UBI all the way.
November 3, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I really love this Vincent Van Gogh quote:
"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."
No romanticizing the starving artist. Van Gogh said UBI all the way.
"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."
No romanticizing the starving artist. Van Gogh said UBI all the way.
If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula
October 31, 2025 at 6:43 PM
If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula
New dev diary in which I talk about my progress this month, and a bit about what genre the game is and what genre it isn't. write.as/johnayliff/f...
Foolish Earth Creatures: October 2025
This month I've finished rewriting the "Space Interceptors" chapter based on the design guidelines I talked about in last month's dev di...
write.as
October 30, 2025 at 11:24 PM
New dev diary in which I talk about my progress this month, and a bit about what genre the game is and what genre it isn't. write.as/johnayliff/f...
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
[at unicorn fuck club]
Elon Musk: [rising from bushes] eyyyy it'sa me, elon!
JRR Tolkien: elon musk?!
Tolkien: my word! I don't think we've ever had you at OUR campfire before!
Tolkien: you're usually over there with that
Tolkien: [grumbling] midnight society
Elon Musk: [rising from bushes] eyyyy it'sa me, elon!
JRR Tolkien: elon musk?!
Tolkien: my word! I don't think we've ever had you at OUR campfire before!
Tolkien: you're usually over there with that
Tolkien: [grumbling] midnight society
October 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM
[at unicorn fuck club]
Elon Musk: [rising from bushes] eyyyy it'sa me, elon!
JRR Tolkien: elon musk?!
Tolkien: my word! I don't think we've ever had you at OUR campfire before!
Tolkien: you're usually over there with that
Tolkien: [grumbling] midnight society
Elon Musk: [rising from bushes] eyyyy it'sa me, elon!
JRR Tolkien: elon musk?!
Tolkien: my word! I don't think we've ever had you at OUR campfire before!
Tolkien: you're usually over there with that
Tolkien: [grumbling] midnight society
The thing about being uncomfortable with strangers speaking foreign languages around you is, you shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations anyway, didn't your mum ever tell you that's rude?
Vance says it is "totally reasonable and acceptable" for people to not want to live next door to people who speak a different language than they do
October 29, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The thing about being uncomfortable with strangers speaking foreign languages around you is, you shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations anyway, didn't your mum ever tell you that's rude?
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
I've built a socioeconomic system that depends on everyone to do useful work and act ethically except the people at the top, who get unimaginable rewards for being antisocial frauds and criminals. And I think it will stand the test of time
October 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I've built a socioeconomic system that depends on everyone to do useful work and act ethically except the people at the top, who get unimaginable rewards for being antisocial frauds and criminals. And I think it will stand the test of time
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
friend shared this, immediately updated my settings
October 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM
friend shared this, immediately updated my settings
It's a "war on drugs" until you're doing actual war crimes and then it's an antidrug campaign.
October 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
It's a "war on drugs" until you're doing actual war crimes and then it's an antidrug campaign.
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
Got reminded of the Vancouver video game lore.
October 23, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Got reminded of the Vancouver video game lore.
My earliest story I remember (I was 8 or 9) was "The Falcon", a sci-fi adventure about a little spaceship and its crew who saved the United Planets from evil aliens. The ship was called the Falcon because I didn't know what "Millennium" meant or how to spell it.
I was thinking about early writing recently and I'm curious—short fiction writers: what is the earliest short story you remember finishing that wasn't for a school project or anything?
October 21, 2025 at 10:23 PM
My earliest story I remember (I was 8 or 9) was "The Falcon", a sci-fi adventure about a little spaceship and its crew who saved the United Planets from evil aliens. The ship was called the Falcon because I didn't know what "Millennium" meant or how to spell it.
Beyond the Chiron Gate is 50% off on Steam as part of the Roguelike Celebration @roguelike.club sale! Along with many other cool games!
store.steampowered.com/app/2960700/...
store.steampowered.com/curator/4122...
store.steampowered.com/app/2960700/...
store.steampowered.com/curator/4122...
Save 50% on Beyond the Chiron Gate on Steam
Explore an endless text-based universe filled with exotic planets, strange life forms, and ancient civilisations. Manage a crew of space explorers, upgrade their ship, and brave dangerous worlds to ga...
store.steampowered.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Beyond the Chiron Gate is 50% off on Steam as part of the Roguelike Celebration @roguelike.club sale! Along with many other cool games!
store.steampowered.com/app/2960700/...
store.steampowered.com/curator/4122...
store.steampowered.com/app/2960700/...
store.steampowered.com/curator/4122...
I just did this and it got rid of the stupid copilot button, yesss
There’s a free application, shutup10++, that lets you disable all the shitty windows stuff with a series of checkboxes.
It even tracks if windows rolls anything back between updates and lets you reverse the changes with a click.
I can personally recommend shutup10++ if you need to stick with windows
It even tracks if windows rolls anything back between updates and lets you reverse the changes with a click.
I can personally recommend shutup10++ if you need to stick with windows
This is the future of Windows. Microsoft wants to rewrite Windows to turn computers into AI PCs that you talk to. It's now bringing AI features to all Windows 11 PCs today, in a bid to convince you to talk to your PC and let AI control it. Full details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/799768/...
October 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I just did this and it got rid of the stupid copilot button, yesss
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
folks can complain about the effectiveness of scheduled orderly mass protest but to think about it another way its the closest thing we have to the opening scene of A Muppet Christmas Carol where all the muppets sing "there goes Mr. Dipshit, there goes Mr. Ass" to Scrooge and it clearly bothered him
October 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
folks can complain about the effectiveness of scheduled orderly mass protest but to think about it another way its the closest thing we have to the opening scene of A Muppet Christmas Carol where all the muppets sing "there goes Mr. Dipshit, there goes Mr. Ass" to Scrooge and it clearly bothered him
Reposted by John Ayliff (Space Goblin Games)
RIP Drew Struzan
October 14, 2025 at 4:58 PM
RIP Drew Struzan