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/
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
Liebe Medien, ich kann die Schlagzeile "Keine Einigung zwischen USA und Dänemark" nicht mehr sehen. Wenn ein Bewaffneter eine Bank stürmt, titelt ihr doch auch nicht: "Räuber und Kassiererin finden keinen Konsens über Geldübergabe." Hört auf, imperiale Aggression als normale Diplomatie zu framen.
January 15, 2026 at 11:11 AM
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
Alternating play sessions between this and Ravager for maximum versimilitude?
January 15, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Alternating play sessions between this and Ravager for maximum versimilitude?
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
I am seeing folks still planning travel to the US for events.
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:50 AM
I am seeing folks still planning travel to the US for events.
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
So a reminder that this was what they were doing to White travelers last year before they'd really ramped up the ICE/CBP kidnapping/torture/murder machine.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/09/n...
Half of the people giving you feedback want to turn your game into something more familiar that drops the core innovation you wanted to have, but maybe they're right?
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
January 13, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Half of the people giving you feedback want to turn your game into something more familiar that drops the core innovation you wanted to have, but maybe they're right?
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Your game crashes so hard on some players' computers that the five layers of error reporting you've put in all fail.
Despite what the shiny front page tells you, the engine you're using doesn't usefully support this platform. All attempts at seeking help are answered by condescending assholes.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
January 13, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Despite what the shiny front page tells you, the engine you're using doesn't usefully support this platform. All attempts at seeking help are answered by condescending assholes.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
There is a critical bug you don't know about that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's been reported.
You're in the middle of an email or chat conversation with a promising influencer and then you get ghosted forever.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
January 13, 2026 at 3:58 PM
You're in the middle of an email or chat conversation with a promising influencer and then you get ghosted forever.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
You're partway through making a complicated prototype that promises to be fun once all the systems are in place, but you hate it already.
A witch has laid a curse on an important button in your game's user interface. No matter how many times you rearrange things and make it bigger and brighter and blinking and singing and give it tooltips and have the tutorial point it out, people will not notice it or click it.
January 13, 2026 at 3:14 PM
A witch has laid a curse on an important button in your game's user interface. No matter how many times you rearrange things and make it bigger and brighter and blinking and singing and give it tooltips and have the tutorial point it out, people will not notice it or click it.
The testers in your closed beta are too nice to point of the fundamental problems in your game until it's too close to launch to fix them.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
January 13, 2026 at 2:42 PM
The testers in your closed beta are too nice to point of the fundamental problems in your game until it's too close to launch to fix them.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a critical bug but the only player who's reported it is an uncommunicative asshole.
There is a game-destroying bug in the engine. The people who could fix it don't care.
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
January 13, 2026 at 2:30 PM
There is a game-destroying bug in the engine. The people who could fix it don't care.
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
File corruption eats hours of your best work.
People think your final art is placeholder, or vice versa.
(Genuinely, if you have suggestions on how to avoid these, let me know.)
Indie #gamedev would be perfect if I could avoid these moments, 1/x:
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
January 13, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Indie #gamedev would be perfect if I could avoid these moments, 1/x:
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
You suspect that parts of your game aren't good enough, but you don't know which. You'll rebuild a perfectly OK feature while leaving in something show-stoppingly bad.
No, my conclusion is that I will add actual meat motorcycles to my next game.
January 13, 2026 at 10:08 AM
No, my conclusion is that I will add actual meat motorcycles to my next game.
Oh wow I missed that particular plot beat!
January 13, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Oh wow I missed that particular plot beat!
Every time I see hyaluronic acid mentioned, I imagine a hyaluron as an especially gormless-looking proto-mammal.
January 13, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Every time I see hyaluronic acid mentioned, I imagine a hyaluron as an especially gormless-looking proto-mammal.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
BREAKING: Staggering scenes as brave Iranians stand up to their illegitimate government in Tehran... um, hang on, I'm being told this is actually Minneapolis. Forget I said anything...
January 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM
BREAKING: Staggering scenes as brave Iranians stand up to their illegitimate government in Tehran... um, hang on, I'm being told this is actually Minneapolis. Forget I said anything...
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
hi! i'm co-founding a new gaming website with my former polygon colleague @zoehhannah.com. it's called mothership.blog. i made it for someone like me... the kind of website i always wished we had in our space. watch the video to learn more :D
It's time to board the Mothership.
www.youtube.com/shorts/iEw90...
www.youtube.com/shorts/iEw90...
Board the Mothership.
YouTube video by Mothership Media LLC
www.youtube.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:04 PM
hi! i'm co-founding a new gaming website with my former polygon colleague @zoehhannah.com. it's called mothership.blog. i made it for someone like me... the kind of website i always wished we had in our space. watch the video to learn more :D
Cocktail concept:
- Passion fruit liqueur
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Hot water
➡️ Thot Toddy
- Passion fruit liqueur
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Hot water
➡️ Thot Toddy
January 10, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Cocktail concept:
- Passion fruit liqueur
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Hot water
➡️ Thot Toddy
- Passion fruit liqueur
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Hot water
➡️ Thot Toddy
I am currently getting 2-3 emails a day from the exact same scam template. What are these people trying to accomplish at this point?
January 7, 2026 at 11:43 AM
I am currently getting 2-3 emails a day from the exact same scam template. What are these people trying to accomplish at this point?
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
How to tell if a game has commercial appeal before investing years in its development? @zarkonnen.bsky.social has gone through a super interesting project mockup validation approach over the past few months and I highly recommend reading his findings 👇
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
Choosing my next game project using mockups
Last year, I posted a series of mockups on social media to determine my next game project, working together with the publisher/marketing company Metaroot. This is an in-depth post describing our motiv...
zarkonnen.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:45 PM
How to tell if a game has commercial appeal before investing years in its development? @zarkonnen.bsky.social has gone through a super interesting project mockup validation approach over the past few months and I highly recommend reading his findings 👇
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
An in-depth post on how I used a series of mockups posted to social media together with @metaroot.bsky.social to pick my next game project, Biomechanoid Repair Shop.
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
#gamedev
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
#gamedev
Choosing my next game project using mockups
Last year, I posted a series of mockups on social media to determine my next game project, working together with the publisher/marketing company Metaroot. This is an in-depth post describing our motiv...
zarkonnen.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:17 PM
An in-depth post on how I used a series of mockups posted to social media together with @metaroot.bsky.social to pick my next game project, Biomechanoid Repair Shop.
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
#gamedev
zarkonnen.com/mockup_valid...
#gamedev
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
Billionaires' vast wealth acts like a fleet in being - the mere threat of them using it to influence politics means that they get to influence politics for free.
December 29, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Billionaires' vast wealth acts like a fleet in being - the mere threat of them using it to influence politics means that they get to influence politics for free.
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Mods are asleep, post blobby Qing dynasty cats
December 28, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Mods are asleep, post blobby Qing dynasty cats
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Reposted by David Stark - Zarkonnen
Von Schattenrätseln bis zum Almauftrieb-Adventure, vom Hexen-Roguelite bis zur Natursimulation:
2025 hat die #Schweizer #Games-Branche etliche spannende Indie-Titel hervorgebracht, die ganz unterschiedliche Genres abdecken.
🎥 youtu.be/TVxwN1Hv9tc?...
#SwissGames #SwissIndies
2025 hat die #Schweizer #Games-Branche etliche spannende Indie-Titel hervorgebracht, die ganz unterschiedliche Genres abdecken.
🎥 youtu.be/TVxwN1Hv9tc?...
#SwissGames #SwissIndies
December 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Von Schattenrätseln bis zum Almauftrieb-Adventure, vom Hexen-Roguelite bis zur Natursimulation:
2025 hat die #Schweizer #Games-Branche etliche spannende Indie-Titel hervorgebracht, die ganz unterschiedliche Genres abdecken.
🎥 youtu.be/TVxwN1Hv9tc?...
#SwissGames #SwissIndies
2025 hat die #Schweizer #Games-Branche etliche spannende Indie-Titel hervorgebracht, die ganz unterschiedliche Genres abdecken.
🎥 youtu.be/TVxwN1Hv9tc?...
#SwissGames #SwissIndies
What I got up to in 2025: zarkonnen.com/2025
December 25, 2025 at 10:57 AM
What I got up to in 2025: zarkonnen.com/2025