Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
@joostvervoort.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Transformative Imagination, Utrecht University. Infrastructures of mystery. Games & transformative politics. Developing ALL WILL RISE: @allwillrise.bsky.social. Singer in @terzijdehorde.bsky.social. Insta: @joost.vervoort_artwork
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Infrastructures of mystery — scaffolding the wonder of existence
What if society would recognize and support the value of connecting to life’s mystery?
anticiplay.medium.com
Thread: stuff I'm passionate about/thinking about/working on. Top of mind for me is 'Infrastructures of Mystery' - how do we create societies where people can more easily commune with the depth and mystery of life - whatever that means for them? anticiplay.medium.com/infrastructu...
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Oomanakuttan, for instance, is a civil society leader who comes across as dour and snarky, especially to Kuyili with her wild ideas. He has decades of experience and sees change as a slow struggle that just takes lots of hard and boring work. (sketch by @monkeyverse.bsky.social). However,
November 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Oomanakuttan, for instance, is a civil society leader who comes across as dour and snarky, especially to Kuyili with her wild ideas. He has decades of experience and sees change as a slow struggle that just takes lots of hard and boring work. (sketch by @monkeyverse.bsky.social). However,
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Earlier this year, we released our debut trailer at Wholesome Direct! We’ve had a load of new followers since then, so in case you missed it, please check out our trailer!
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
September 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Earlier this year, we released our debut trailer at Wholesome Direct! We’ve had a load of new followers since then, so in case you missed it, please check out our trailer!
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
This means playing your cards right, or more precisely - playing the right cards. Strong evidence and showing that you've put in the leg work are good ways to connect to Oomanakuttan.
November 8, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This means playing your cards right, or more precisely - playing the right cards. Strong evidence and showing that you've put in the leg work are good ways to connect to Oomanakuttan.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
If you can understand this about Oomanakuttan, it may become easier to work with him and overcome his skeptical stance toward Kuyili and the team somewhat. #gamedev #personality
November 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
If you can understand this about Oomanakuttan, it may become easier to work with him and overcome his skeptical stance toward Kuyili and the team somewhat. #gamedev #personality
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
We had a fantastic character development session yesterday with the theam, where we discussed how the different theories of change that different people in our Muziris have get translated into cards they can play. 1/ #gamedev #indiegames #writing #characters
Kuyili, Shintu, and Joy. Our team. Just three ordinary people who choose to stand up to the powerful, and make them pay. You’ll need to look after them during All Will Rise, making sure they don’t burn out from their pursuit of justice.
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev #Art
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev #Art
November 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
We had a fantastic character development session yesterday with the theam, where we discussed how the different theories of change that different people in our Muziris have get translated into cards they can play. 1/ #gamedev #indiegames #writing #characters
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
good morning to everyone who strikes fear in the hearts of men
November 8, 2025 at 12:18 PM
good morning to everyone who strikes fear in the hearts of men
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Thanks for hosting another #PitchYaGame!
All Will Rise is an upcoming narrative courtroom deck-builder about ordinary people who make the powerful pay for destroying our future. Play as a lawyer, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
bsky.app/profile/allw...
All Will Rise is an upcoming narrative courtroom deck-builder about ordinary people who make the powerful pay for destroying our future. Play as a lawyer, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
bsky.app/profile/allw...
Earlier this year, we released our debut trailer at Wholesome Direct! We’ve had a load of new followers since then, so in case you missed it, please check out our trailer!
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
You can follow All Will Rise on our #Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#IndieGame #IndieDev #GameDev
November 7, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Thanks for hosting another #PitchYaGame!
All Will Rise is an upcoming narrative courtroom deck-builder about ordinary people who make the powerful pay for destroying our future. Play as a lawyer, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
bsky.app/profile/allw...
All Will Rise is an upcoming narrative courtroom deck-builder about ordinary people who make the powerful pay for destroying our future. Play as a lawyer, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
bsky.app/profile/allw...
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
We are inspired in our worldbuilding by the idea of 'infrastructures of mystery' - what a society would look like that has been structured to give people's connection to the mystery of life a central, sacred place. anticiplay.medium.com/infrastructu... #indiegames #spirituality
Infrastructures of mystery — scaffolding the wonder of existence
What if society would recognize and support the value of connecting to life’s mystery?
anticiplay.medium.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
We are inspired in our worldbuilding by the idea of 'infrastructures of mystery' - what a society would look like that has been structured to give people's connection to the mystery of life a central, sacred place. anticiplay.medium.com/infrastructu... #indiegames #spirituality
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Our Murizis is also a city of many faiths and spiritual practices, that are in turn connecting in unusual ways with political and technological experiments. It starts with our tagline 'the river is a god, and they killed her' - but there are mysteries everywhere.
November 6, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Our Murizis is also a city of many faiths and spiritual practices, that are in turn connecting in unusual ways with political and technological experiments. It starts with our tagline 'the river is a god, and they killed her' - but there are mysteries everywhere.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
This allows us to play with that imaginative tension. What is the same? What is different? In our version of Kerala, the state, already known for being a place for utopian experimentation, becomes more unusual in terms of the interest people have in trying out new, utopian ideas. #utopia #indiegames
November 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
This allows us to play with that imaginative tension. What is the same? What is different? In our version of Kerala, the state, already known for being a place for utopian experimentation, becomes more unusual in terms of the interest people have in trying out new, utopian ideas. #utopia #indiegames
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
The mystery, depth, and weirdness of the world of Muziris makes for such a wonderful dynamic contrast with the more strategic, political side of the game: winning the court case, and building a movement. #indiegames #utopia
November 6, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The mystery, depth, and weirdness of the world of Muziris makes for such a wonderful dynamic contrast with the more strategic, political side of the game: winning the court case, and building a movement. #indiegames #utopia
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Another inspiration for our sideways speculative version of reality in Kerala is the 'Seeds of Good Anthropocenes' project that tries to find initatives and projects that already exist everywhere around the world - and that could inspire a better future. goodanthropocenes.net
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Another inspiration for our sideways speculative version of reality in Kerala is the 'Seeds of Good Anthropocenes' project that tries to find initatives and projects that already exist everywhere around the world - and that could inspire a better future. goodanthropocenes.net
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
An early decision in the development of All Will Rise was to go for a 'sideways speculative' version of Kerala - not in the future, but an alternative present reality that has many interesting similarities and differences compared to our own world. #gamedev #indiedev #speculativefiction
November 6, 2025 at 2:23 PM
An early decision in the development of All Will Rise was to go for a 'sideways speculative' version of Kerala - not in the future, but an alternative present reality that has many interesting similarities and differences compared to our own world. #gamedev #indiedev #speculativefiction
Reading about how one motivation for younger people to get involved in the Mamdani campaign was loneliness and a desire to find community brought me back to thinking about alchemizing the loneliness pandemic into social action. Wrote about that a few years ago: anticiplay.medium.com/heart-conste...
Heart constellations: killing the capitalist god of loneliness
How can loneliness be the starting point of social change? And how can games help?
anticiplay.medium.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reading about how one motivation for younger people to get involved in the Mamdani campaign was loneliness and a desire to find community brought me back to thinking about alchemizing the loneliness pandemic into social action. Wrote about that a few years ago: anticiplay.medium.com/heart-conste...
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Yeah that’s me live streaming for the first time in ages. Let’s see how that goes…
Hi all, our producer @nielsmonshouwer.bsky.social will be doing an All Will Rise live Stream on www.twitch.tv/speculativea... in about 15 minutes, tune in to chat about All Will Rise, Game production, Activism, and to see the current state of development of All Will Rise!
speculativeagency - Twitch
At Speculative Agency we want to help people think about their role in making a positive change in the world. To let people explore new and speculative forms of agency in their lives and the future of...
www.twitch.tv
November 6, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Yeah that’s me live streaming for the first time in ages. Let’s see how that goes…
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Hello, new followers! We are Speculative Agency, the team behind All Will Rise! It’s our upcoming video game, where you play as a lawyer who fights for the rights of the earth, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
November 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Hello, new followers! We are Speculative Agency, the team behind All Will Rise! It’s our upcoming video game, where you play as a lawyer who fights for the rights of the earth, as she and her team take a corrupt billionaire to court for a river’s murder.
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
You can follow along with All Will Rise by wishlisting us on Steam or following our Kickstarter page. The project will go live early next year!
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3165340/...
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3165340/...
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
Coming soon: All Will Rise: a narrative courtroom deck-builder
All Will Rise is a narrative courtroom deck-builder about ordinary people who make the powerful pay for destroying our future.
www.kickstarter.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
You can follow along with All Will Rise by wishlisting us on Steam or following our Kickstarter page. The project will go live early next year!
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3165340/...
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3165340/...
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...
#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Follow our fearless team!!
Love these drawings by @pormaro.bsky.social <3
In All Will Rise, it’s not just the people who are affected by the oil spill leading to the river on fire. It’s animals too, including vultures. Becoming a symbol of the ecological devastation, Kuyili sees spectral vultures circling the billionaire’s - the culprit’s - tower.
#Halloween #IndieDev
#Halloween #IndieDev
November 5, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Follow our fearless team!!
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
When we started developing All Will Rise our focus was on the court case - mostly struggling against corporate power. But as we developed the game and tested early demos with players we realized that we wanted to focus more on a mix of power AGAINST corporates and power FOR a vision of the future.
November 5, 2025 at 11:56 AM
When we started developing All Will Rise our focus was on the court case - mostly struggling against corporate power. But as we developed the game and tested early demos with players we realized that we wanted to focus more on a mix of power AGAINST corporates and power FOR a vision of the future.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
We work with the sociological concept of 'emotional energy', which is very helpful describe the dynamics of collective action. Strong emotional energy can come from collective joy AND care AND standing up against injustice. Mamdani builds emotional energy on a basis of real social policy.
November 5, 2025 at 11:53 AM
We work with the sociological concept of 'emotional energy', which is very helpful describe the dynamics of collective action. Strong emotional energy can come from collective joy AND care AND standing up against injustice. Mamdani builds emotional energy on a basis of real social policy.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
It's good to compare @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's win to the victory of @robjetten.bsky.social in the Netherlands, which has been described as being 'vibes over policy', and rightly so, given his party's neoliberal program. Mamdani brings powerful vibes based on real social action. Big contrast.
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
It's good to compare @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's win to the victory of @robjetten.bsky.social in the Netherlands, which has been described as being 'vibes over policy', and rightly so, given his party's neoliberal program. Mamdani brings powerful vibes based on real social action. Big contrast.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Our corporate exec Rishabh is definitely all 'vibes over policy'.
November 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Our corporate exec Rishabh is definitely all 'vibes over policy'.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Tessa and colleagues also discuss, specifically, transformative power - the power to really change things for the better. Prefigurative power is about imagining a better future, countervailing power is about fighting back against the powerful; reinforcive power helps stabilize new power structures.
November 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Tessa and colleagues also discuss, specifically, transformative power - the power to really change things for the better. Prefigurative power is about imagining a better future, countervailing power is about fighting back against the powerful; reinforcive power helps stabilize new power structures.
Reposted by Joost Vervoort - Infrastructures of Mystery
Similarly, different types of power (power to, power with, power over) are juicy sources of storytelling and game play, sometimes dark, sometimes more positive. See this paper by Tessa de Geus, Flor Avelino and colleagues: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
November 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Similarly, different types of power (power to, power with, power over) are juicy sources of storytelling and game play, sometimes dark, sometimes more positive. See this paper by Tessa de Geus, Flor Avelino and colleagues: link.springer.com/article/10.1...