K Lam (she/her)
@ladylakira.bsky.social
Queer, scientist, analogue game designer, amateur origami artist 🦫🍁🌈
Game design is folk art
https://ladylakira.itch.io/
Game design is folk art
https://ladylakira.itch.io/
Me: <slept very poorly, kinda in a daze>
Also me: Ah, yes, I have finished this template and surely the detailed instructions I will write for it will be perfectly coherent and usable!
Me (tomorrow, presumably): what the actual fuck
Also me: Ah, yes, I have finished this template and surely the detailed instructions I will write for it will be perfectly coherent and usable!
Me (tomorrow, presumably): what the actual fuck
November 18, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Me: <slept very poorly, kinda in a daze>
Also me: Ah, yes, I have finished this template and surely the detailed instructions I will write for it will be perfectly coherent and usable!
Me (tomorrow, presumably): what the actual fuck
Also me: Ah, yes, I have finished this template and surely the detailed instructions I will write for it will be perfectly coherent and usable!
Me (tomorrow, presumably): what the actual fuck
Started playing Blue Prince and it's really interesting walking into a room, looking around and going "yup, I bet there's a puzzle here" and then moving on bc I can't quite figure out the shape of the puzzle yet
Is this how ghost hunters feel?
Is this how ghost hunters feel?
November 16, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Started playing Blue Prince and it's really interesting walking into a room, looking around and going "yup, I bet there's a puzzle here" and then moving on bc I can't quite figure out the shape of the puzzle yet
Is this how ghost hunters feel?
Is this how ghost hunters feel?
The problem with testing a game that requires that I hand material off to others bc I can't reasonably run enough playtests myself due to # of players involved and time commitment is that I have to write a facilitator section.
You're basically playtesting two intertwined systems and I don't wanna
You're basically playtesting two intertwined systems and I don't wanna
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The problem with testing a game that requires that I hand material off to others bc I can't reasonably run enough playtests myself due to # of players involved and time commitment is that I have to write a facilitator section.
You're basically playtesting two intertwined systems and I don't wanna
You're basically playtesting two intertwined systems and I don't wanna
Ok, one comment out of the end of the playtest continues to stick with me: "I just loved the story that came from this game!"
Friend, I promise you I didn't write that story into the game. That was all your work, and I'm happy it happened.
Friend, I promise you I didn't write that story into the game. That was all your work, and I'm happy it happened.
November 10, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Ok, one comment out of the end of the playtest continues to stick with me: "I just loved the story that came from this game!"
Friend, I promise you I didn't write that story into the game. That was all your work, and I'm happy it happened.
Friend, I promise you I didn't write that story into the game. That was all your work, and I'm happy it happened.
Playtest went well. Waiting for post game pizza delivery.
So tired
So tired
November 9, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Playtest went well. Waiting for post game pizza delivery.
So tired
So tired
That fun part of design where you reach the end of writing a series of splats and have to loop back around to rewrite everything because you learned a bunch of stuff along the way while writing....
November 3, 2025 at 3:22 AM
That fun part of design where you reach the end of writing a series of splats and have to loop back around to rewrite everything because you learned a bunch of stuff along the way while writing....
TFW you figure out why the larp you'd been working on feels wrong and clunky, and that fixing it will force a rewrite of half of it.
<checks calendar> I have about a week. That's fine. O_o
<checks calendar> I have about a week. That's fine. O_o
October 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
TFW you figure out why the larp you'd been working on feels wrong and clunky, and that fixing it will force a rewrite of half of it.
<checks calendar> I have about a week. That's fine. O_o
<checks calendar> I have about a week. That's fine. O_o
I was possessed by the herald of the pumpkin king and the autumn queen so I baked.
I'm not the baker in this family but I made pumpkin swirl brownies and a pumpkin tres leche cake. They both turned out phenomenal.
I have peaked. Just cover me in leaves and let me sleep until the new year.
I'm not the baker in this family but I made pumpkin swirl brownies and a pumpkin tres leche cake. They both turned out phenomenal.
I have peaked. Just cover me in leaves and let me sleep until the new year.
October 15, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I was possessed by the herald of the pumpkin king and the autumn queen so I baked.
I'm not the baker in this family but I made pumpkin swirl brownies and a pumpkin tres leche cake. They both turned out phenomenal.
I have peaked. Just cover me in leaves and let me sleep until the new year.
I'm not the baker in this family but I made pumpkin swirl brownies and a pumpkin tres leche cake. They both turned out phenomenal.
I have peaked. Just cover me in leaves and let me sleep until the new year.
Hi locals!
I'll be at Smallcon 2025 running a playtest for "The Blast Shadows of Gale Manor" and "Lumberjills"
If you're local, you should come and help me learn things
prairielarp.org/november-sma...
I'll be at Smallcon 2025 running a playtest for "The Blast Shadows of Gale Manor" and "Lumberjills"
If you're local, you should come and help me learn things
prairielarp.org/november-sma...
November SmallCon 2025
November SmallCon is a mini LARP convention running in Edmonton on November 7th, 8th and 9th. We are at Highlands Hall in north Edmonton, 6112 113 Ave NW. There is a small parking lot at the hall, …
prairielarp.org
October 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Hi locals!
I'll be at Smallcon 2025 running a playtest for "The Blast Shadows of Gale Manor" and "Lumberjills"
If you're local, you should come and help me learn things
prairielarp.org/november-sma...
I'll be at Smallcon 2025 running a playtest for "The Blast Shadows of Gale Manor" and "Lumberjills"
If you're local, you should come and help me learn things
prairielarp.org/november-sma...
While I think the underlying question of what itch is in the context of growing technofeudalism is an interesting one that I'll be chewing on (haha) for a bit, I think the analogy suffers here by not deeply examining what itch's "food" is
1/
1/
What do technofeudalism, Chinese restaurants, and struggling game platform itch.io have in common? @newmadras.bsky.social has some thoughts, especially about the "platform" part.
Itch.io isn’t like other platforms
It’s like a 3.5 star Chinese restaurant.
www.rascal.news
October 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
While I think the underlying question of what itch is in the context of growing technofeudalism is an interesting one that I'll be chewing on (haha) for a bit, I think the analogy suffers here by not deeply examining what itch's "food" is
1/
1/
Ok, I'm bringing a larp to a local larp festival, and pitches are due in a week.
A week is plenty of time to write a pitch except I haven't written the larp and my brain is such that I need more larp written before I can write a confident pitch
So I have a week to write a larp draft
Pray for me
A week is plenty of time to write a pitch except I haven't written the larp and my brain is such that I need more larp written before I can write a confident pitch
So I have a week to write a larp draft
Pray for me
October 1, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Ok, I'm bringing a larp to a local larp festival, and pitches are due in a week.
A week is plenty of time to write a pitch except I haven't written the larp and my brain is such that I need more larp written before I can write a confident pitch
So I have a week to write a larp draft
Pray for me
A week is plenty of time to write a pitch except I haven't written the larp and my brain is such that I need more larp written before I can write a confident pitch
So I have a week to write a larp draft
Pray for me
I would like to play every faction in this theological rift, kthxbai
Fiction:
Danru Ahwe, as a religion, posits the existence of a single soul, which was (and will again be, and also is) both god and all sapient life, but serially, not simultaneously.
The story goes...
1/?
Danru Ahwe, as a religion, posits the existence of a single soul, which was (and will again be, and also is) both god and all sapient life, but serially, not simultaneously.
The story goes...
1/?
September 28, 2025 at 3:38 AM
I would like to play every faction in this theological rift, kthxbai
Got a playtest for a mechanic scheduled tonight and I wrote the first act to be boring because I need to know if it actually is.
Playtests are weird
Playtests are weird
September 27, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Got a playtest for a mechanic scheduled tonight and I wrote the first act to be boring because I need to know if it actually is.
Playtests are weird
Playtests are weird
I have reached the point in a project where it is now work and I am going to have to block time for actually writing the damn thing or I'll lose a prime playtesting opportunity in Nov.
One of the primary reasons I stay a hobbyist is to avoid deadlines. What a tragic turn
One of the primary reasons I stay a hobbyist is to avoid deadlines. What a tragic turn
September 19, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I have reached the point in a project where it is now work and I am going to have to block time for actually writing the damn thing or I'll lose a prime playtesting opportunity in Nov.
One of the primary reasons I stay a hobbyist is to avoid deadlines. What a tragic turn
One of the primary reasons I stay a hobbyist is to avoid deadlines. What a tragic turn
A quick browse of this list gave me four new books that hadn't crossed my radar before for the cost of two credits.
If you've been growly about Audible's changed author payout plan and aren't tied to the exclusives, I def rec switching to Libro
If you've been growly about Audible's changed author payout plan and aren't tied to the exclusives, I def rec switching to Libro
September 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
A quick browse of this list gave me four new books that hadn't crossed my radar before for the cost of two credits.
If you've been growly about Audible's changed author payout plan and aren't tied to the exclusives, I def rec switching to Libro
If you've been growly about Audible's changed author payout plan and aren't tied to the exclusives, I def rec switching to Libro
Reposted by K Lam (she/her)
In the same way, playing a game can give me the opportunity to express, internalize, and crystallize my empathy.
It's not that the game's induced empathy in me from nowhere, it's that the game's given me intuitive, creative access to the empathy I've already been cultivating.
It's not that the game's induced empathy in me from nowhere, it's that the game's given me intuitive, creative access to the empathy I've already been cultivating.
September 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
In the same way, playing a game can give me the opportunity to express, internalize, and crystallize my empathy.
It's not that the game's induced empathy in me from nowhere, it's that the game's given me intuitive, creative access to the empathy I've already been cultivating.
It's not that the game's induced empathy in me from nowhere, it's that the game's given me intuitive, creative access to the empathy I've already been cultivating.
Reposted by K Lam (she/her)
It’s long past time that I take responsibility for what I wrote on Israel/Palestine in ON REPENTANCE AND REPAIR.
& with the Gaza genocide, our thinking about what amends & healing may ever involve is even more urgent.
Even if there may never be “forgiveness” or “atonement.”
& with the Gaza genocide, our thinking about what amends & healing may ever involve is even more urgent.
Even if there may never be “forgiveness” or “atonement.”
Gaza's Annihilation Can Never Be Forgiven
Revisiting On Repentance and Repair
www.lifeisasacredtext.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
It’s long past time that I take responsibility for what I wrote on Israel/Palestine in ON REPENTANCE AND REPAIR.
& with the Gaza genocide, our thinking about what amends & healing may ever involve is even more urgent.
Even if there may never be “forgiveness” or “atonement.”
& with the Gaza genocide, our thinking about what amends & healing may ever involve is even more urgent.
Even if there may never be “forgiveness” or “atonement.”
Today I am blocking out time to work on a proof of concept game to test a mechanic
Hilariously, I need the first few rounds of play to be boring AF bc I have to know what that feels like in the context that I'm building
Designing deliberately for a flavour of boredom is weird and kinda hard!
Hilariously, I need the first few rounds of play to be boring AF bc I have to know what that feels like in the context that I'm building
Designing deliberately for a flavour of boredom is weird and kinda hard!
September 14, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Today I am blocking out time to work on a proof of concept game to test a mechanic
Hilariously, I need the first few rounds of play to be boring AF bc I have to know what that feels like in the context that I'm building
Designing deliberately for a flavour of boredom is weird and kinda hard!
Hilariously, I need the first few rounds of play to be boring AF bc I have to know what that feels like in the context that I'm building
Designing deliberately for a flavour of boredom is weird and kinda hard!
Here's a fun experiment when you're really tired: what would a deliberately designed anti-expressionist game look like?
If you have a ready answer... Are you sure? What about if...?
Anyway, I'm still tired but now I have a brain full of writhing snakes biting each others' tails. Fun!
If you have a ready answer... Are you sure? What about if...?
Anyway, I'm still tired but now I have a brain full of writhing snakes biting each others' tails. Fun!
September 12, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Here's a fun experiment when you're really tired: what would a deliberately designed anti-expressionist game look like?
If you have a ready answer... Are you sure? What about if...?
Anyway, I'm still tired but now I have a brain full of writhing snakes biting each others' tails. Fun!
If you have a ready answer... Are you sure? What about if...?
Anyway, I'm still tired but now I have a brain full of writhing snakes biting each others' tails. Fun!
On a day when I woke up exhausted, a coworker brought in donuts to share.
I hope your day has a donut (metaphorical or otherwise)
I hope your day has a donut (metaphorical or otherwise)
September 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
On a day when I woke up exhausted, a coworker brought in donuts to share.
I hope your day has a donut (metaphorical or otherwise)
I hope your day has a donut (metaphorical or otherwise)
Today I asked for some recognition knowing the other person would say yes and they did.
It was still a bit scary and I do not like my brain sometimes, even though I recognize I'm short on sleep and that leaves me agitated
Anyway, I hope you are able to give yourself grace today if you need it
It was still a bit scary and I do not like my brain sometimes, even though I recognize I'm short on sleep and that leaves me agitated
Anyway, I hope you are able to give yourself grace today if you need it
September 11, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Today I asked for some recognition knowing the other person would say yes and they did.
It was still a bit scary and I do not like my brain sometimes, even though I recognize I'm short on sleep and that leaves me agitated
Anyway, I hope you are able to give yourself grace today if you need it
It was still a bit scary and I do not like my brain sometimes, even though I recognize I'm short on sleep and that leaves me agitated
Anyway, I hope you are able to give yourself grace today if you need it
Given that friction, tension and dissonance are central aspects of expressionist games, can you make a cozy expressionist game?
Here is a data point. Let me tell you about my character Mildred
1/
Here is a data point. Let me tell you about my character Mildred
1/
September 11, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Given that friction, tension and dissonance are central aspects of expressionist games, can you make a cozy expressionist game?
Here is a data point. Let me tell you about my character Mildred
1/
Here is a data point. Let me tell you about my character Mildred
1/
Am I currently considering what would be needed to turn a character grinder into an expressionist game? Maybe.
Do I have another project with a deadline I have to work on? Naturally.
Do I have another project with a deadline I have to work on? Naturally.
September 10, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Am I currently considering what would be needed to turn a character grinder into an expressionist game? Maybe.
Do I have another project with a deadline I have to work on? Naturally.
Do I have another project with a deadline I have to work on? Naturally.
I like a lens approach (there are no categories, only lenses) to game analysis and it's fun when a hot new lens makes ripples.
Like, is Poet Glorious an expressionist game? Maybe?! If it were, what does it reveal and how does the design succeed/fail?
You should try it on your games for funsies
Like, is Poet Glorious an expressionist game? Maybe?! If it were, what does it reveal and how does the design succeed/fail?
You should try it on your games for funsies
September 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I like a lens approach (there are no categories, only lenses) to game analysis and it's fun when a hot new lens makes ripples.
Like, is Poet Glorious an expressionist game? Maybe?! If it were, what does it reveal and how does the design succeed/fail?
You should try it on your games for funsies
Like, is Poet Glorious an expressionist game? Maybe?! If it were, what does it reveal and how does the design succeed/fail?
You should try it on your games for funsies
Dear Albertans,
Pls check the list of folks eligible for the COVID vaccine for free. You might be on it and not realize!
Of the things I didn't expect: ADHD, mood disorders, spectrum disorders, obesity (prob BMI based - bad metric but use it now if you can)
If you don't need to pay, don't!
Pls check the list of folks eligible for the COVID vaccine for free. You might be on it and not realize!
Of the things I didn't expect: ADHD, mood disorders, spectrum disorders, obesity (prob BMI based - bad metric but use it now if you can)
If you don't need to pay, don't!
September 9, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Dear Albertans,
Pls check the list of folks eligible for the COVID vaccine for free. You might be on it and not realize!
Of the things I didn't expect: ADHD, mood disorders, spectrum disorders, obesity (prob BMI based - bad metric but use it now if you can)
If you don't need to pay, don't!
Pls check the list of folks eligible for the COVID vaccine for free. You might be on it and not realize!
Of the things I didn't expect: ADHD, mood disorders, spectrum disorders, obesity (prob BMI based - bad metric but use it now if you can)
If you don't need to pay, don't!