David Stark - Zarkonnen
@zarkonnen.bsky.social
I make games about bad things happening to tiny simulated people and help run the Zurich gamedev community. He/him.
Website: https://zarkonnen.com/
Games: https://zarkonnen.itch.io/
Game Hub: https://www.swissgamehub.com/
Website: https://zarkonnen.com/
Games: https://zarkonnen.itch.io/
Game Hub: https://www.swissgamehub.com/
In my new game, Biomechanoid Repair Shop, you play one of those shopkeeper side characters in a #cyberpunk story, shown in just a scene or two before being gruesomely killed off.
zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne...
This could be you:
zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne...
This could be you:
November 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM
In my new game, Biomechanoid Repair Shop, you play one of those shopkeeper side characters in a #cyberpunk story, shown in just a scene or two before being gruesomely killed off.
zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne...
This could be you:
zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne...
This could be you:
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
So I've started working on a new game.
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
November 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
So I've started working on a new game.
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
So I've started working on a new game.
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
November 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
So I've started working on a new game.
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
It's called Biomechanoid Repair Shop, and it's basically Papers Please meets David Cronenberg.
I'll be regularly posting about its development, starting today: zarkonnen.com/biomech/a_ne... #gamedev
Foggy sheep!
November 5, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Foggy sheep!
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Video game where your research lab faces a catastrophic malfunction and *you* are a scientist who must leave behind environmental storytelling clues without alerting your coworkers that you are all definitely going to be dead in 24 hours.
And then your friend plays, using the clues you left
And then your friend plays, using the clues you left
November 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Video game where your research lab faces a catastrophic malfunction and *you* are a scientist who must leave behind environmental storytelling clues without alerting your coworkers that you are all definitely going to be dead in 24 hours.
And then your friend plays, using the clues you left
And then your friend plays, using the clues you left
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
This frontispiece in my book just made me laugh a lot. Is this Buddhist reincarnation, or some other form of afterlife?
September 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
This frontispiece in my book just made me laugh a lot. Is this Buddhist reincarnation, or some other form of afterlife?
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
The Cortylorhynchus considers my problems, nods sagely, and says, "have you tried basking in the sun about it? While being as spherical as possible?"
November 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM
The Cortylorhynchus considers my problems, nods sagely, and says, "have you tried basking in the sun about it? While being as spherical as possible?"
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
October 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
The royal pedo will henceforth be officially called "Andrew Mountbatten Windsor". It's not justice, but it's well-deserved.
October 30, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The royal pedo will henceforth be officially called "Andrew Mountbatten Windsor". It's not justice, but it's well-deserved.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
The video game industry has *already* been killed by rich failson assholes who don't know anything.
You can't look at the massive, industry-wide layoffs and armies of people fucked over in every single part of video game making, and think that its destruction is a future thing yet to happen.
You can't look at the massive, industry-wide layoffs and armies of people fucked over in every single part of video game making, and think that its destruction is a future thing yet to happen.
October 27, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The video game industry has *already* been killed by rich failson assholes who don't know anything.
You can't look at the massive, industry-wide layoffs and armies of people fucked over in every single part of video game making, and think that its destruction is a future thing yet to happen.
You can't look at the massive, industry-wide layoffs and armies of people fucked over in every single part of video game making, and think that its destruction is a future thing yet to happen.
@cstross.bsky.social Oh look, Case Nightmare Green
by OpenAI’s own estimates, hundreds of thousands of ChatGPT users are showing signs of manic or psychotic crisis every week
OpenAI Says Hundreds of Thousands of ChatGPT Users May Show Signs of Manic or Psychotic Crisis Every Week
OpenAI Says Hundreds of Thousands of ChatGPT Users May Show Signs of Manic or Psychotic Crisis Every Week
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:48 PM
@cstross.bsky.social Oh look, Case Nightmare Green
I rarely come across a new game I actually like to play, so I'd like to recommend Beneath Oresa, which is basically a Slay the Spire with juicy combat animations. And without those RSI-inducing drag motions.
store.steampowered.com/app/1803400/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1803400/...
Beneath Oresa on Steam
Beneath Oresa, a fighting roguelike deckbuilder, takes you deep within the city to confront your foes. As a strategist, choose your cards, upgrades, and artifacts wisely, but as a fighter, turn their ...
store.steampowered.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I rarely come across a new game I actually like to play, so I'd like to recommend Beneath Oresa, which is basically a Slay the Spire with juicy combat animations. And without those RSI-inducing drag motions.
store.steampowered.com/app/1803400/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1803400/...
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
A hard truth is that the search for artificial general intelligence as a commercial tool is fundamentally a reproduction of slavery. Not because computers are people or anything so silly, but because of the impetus: To acquire the products of humanity without the need for a human to consent.
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
A hard truth is that the search for artificial general intelligence as a commercial tool is fundamentally a reproduction of slavery. Not because computers are people or anything so silly, but because of the impetus: To acquire the products of humanity without the need for a human to consent.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Isle of Beasts is a narrative strategy game I've been working on: your people have been exiled to a strange island, and must build a new life there. Gather resources, build shelter, explore the mysteries of the island, and decide what kind of society you will become.
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
October 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Isle of Beasts is a narrative strategy game I've been working on: your people have been exiled to a strange island, and must build a new life there. Gather resources, build shelter, explore the mysteries of the island, and decide what kind of society you will become.
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
Isle of Beasts is a narrative strategy game I've been working on: your people have been exiled to a strange island, and must build a new life there. Gather resources, build shelter, explore the mysteries of the island, and decide what kind of society you will become.
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
October 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Isle of Beasts is a narrative strategy game I've been working on: your people have been exiled to a strange island, and must build a new life there. Gather resources, build shelter, explore the mysteries of the island, and decide what kind of society you will become.
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
> zarkonnen.com/isleofbeasts
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Looking to play a simplified take on a classic strategy game? Play Airships: Lost Flotilla instead of Civ 7:
$5 ↔️ $70
Very Positive ↔️ Mostly Negative
Brother Zinn, a mysterious monk who gets better with every martini he ingests ↔️ Mangy Ben Franklin
store.steampowered.com/app/2858150/...
$5 ↔️ $70
Very Positive ↔️ Mostly Negative
Brother Zinn, a mysterious monk who gets better with every martini he ingests ↔️ Mangy Ben Franklin
store.steampowered.com/app/2858150/...
Save 20% on Airships: Lost Flotilla on Steam
Airships: Lost Flotilla is a steampunk autoshooter where you fight your way through waves of enemies on your way to a safe harbour. Destroy your foes, harvest wreckage, and upgrade your ship.
store.steampowered.com
February 6, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Looking to play a simplified take on a classic strategy game? Play Airships: Lost Flotilla instead of Civ 7:
$5 ↔️ $70
Very Positive ↔️ Mostly Negative
Brother Zinn, a mysterious monk who gets better with every martini he ingests ↔️ Mangy Ben Franklin
store.steampowered.com/app/2858150/...
$5 ↔️ $70
Very Positive ↔️ Mostly Negative
Brother Zinn, a mysterious monk who gets better with every martini he ingests ↔️ Mangy Ben Franklin
store.steampowered.com/app/2858150/...
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
October 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
Star Trek II is what happens when you don't give a well-rounded education to your genetic supermen. Khan had a decade to read Moby Dick and missed the central themes of the book.
October 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Star Trek II is what happens when you don't give a well-rounded education to your genetic supermen. Khan had a decade to read Moby Dick and missed the central themes of the book.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
if you enjoy the playful surreal-mundane vibes of Keita Takahashi (Katamari, NobiNobi etc), you can get a bit of a fix from Henry Halfhead, a strange little experience that's genuinely joyful but also a touch philosophical, about the purpose of play and curiosity. highly recommend.
October 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
if you enjoy the playful surreal-mundane vibes of Keita Takahashi (Katamari, NobiNobi etc), you can get a bit of a fix from Henry Halfhead, a strange little experience that's genuinely joyful but also a touch philosophical, about the purpose of play and curiosity. highly recommend.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
This Tumblr user summarizes something I've been feeling/doing lately. Against everything going on, it somehow feels helpful.
October 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This Tumblr user summarizes something I've been feeling/doing lately. Against everything going on, it somehow feels helpful.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
developer: put it down. we don't need another one
concept artist: (clutching tighter) no. this is my emotional support sky whale
concept artist: (clutching tighter) no. this is my emotional support sky whale
October 10, 2025 at 7:58 PM
developer: put it down. we don't need another one
concept artist: (clutching tighter) no. this is my emotional support sky whale
concept artist: (clutching tighter) no. this is my emotional support sky whale
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
it's not FOR us
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
it's not FOR us
Ooh, the long awaited Excel/buttplug.io integration!
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Vibe working is all about Office’s new Agent Mode.
buff.ly
October 1, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Ooh, the long awaited Excel/buttplug.io integration!
Currently in Heidelberg drinking local wine, reading "In Patagonia" and feeling very sophisticated.
October 1, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Currently in Heidelberg drinking local wine, reading "In Patagonia" and feeling very sophisticated.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
When it comes to adult games on Steam, winter is coming. And not in the fun way
An anonymous adult game developer contacted Steam for further clarification on Steam Early Access launch for NSFW content creators + DLC review for post-content NSFW additions. Here's what Steam said:
October 1, 2025 at 4:44 AM
When it comes to adult games on Steam, winter is coming. And not in the fun way