René Martin
@talkandplay.substack.com
He/him writer/game dev. culture/political posting, politics are in all aspects of life, including creative pursuits. #NAFO appreciator #BLM
Writing sporadically @ https://talkandplay.substack.com
Writing sporadically @ https://talkandplay.substack.com
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy
November 17, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy
An important artifact of the era:
September 22, 2025 at 2:03 AM
An important artifact of the era:
This is an oldie but goodie as well
June 15, 2025 at 12:38 AM
This is an oldie but goodie as well
Been free of kings for 247 years, not breaking that streak now
June 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Been free of kings for 247 years, not breaking that streak now
I think this is excessively doomer but I think there’s a good point it’s touching on: the vast majority of us aren’t in a position to solve major problems but we are in a position to live our lives and make thing to make life more enjoyable, so why not do it?
June 2, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I think this is excessively doomer but I think there’s a good point it’s touching on: the vast majority of us aren’t in a position to solve major problems but we are in a position to live our lives and make thing to make life more enjoyable, so why not do it?
May I propose a theory?
April 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
May I propose a theory?
And we’re back with a New Talk and Play! (Really late on posting this here, my bad) This one is about how a game tries to connect with its audience and how Legibility impacts how well that connection is made.
talkandplay.substack.com/p/whats-that...
talkandplay.substack.com/p/whats-that...
January 18, 2024 at 9:20 PM
And we’re back with a New Talk and Play! (Really late on posting this here, my bad) This one is about how a game tries to connect with its audience and how Legibility impacts how well that connection is made.
talkandplay.substack.com/p/whats-that...
talkandplay.substack.com/p/whats-that...
New Year, New Talk and Play! This one is about Balance, what we misunderstand about it, and where that misunderstanding comes from! We will be bitching about Grognards extensively. talkandplay.substack.com/p/no-gods-no...
January 1, 2024 at 6:39 PM
New Year, New Talk and Play! This one is about Balance, what we misunderstand about it, and where that misunderstanding comes from! We will be bitching about Grognards extensively. talkandplay.substack.com/p/no-gods-no...
New Talk and Play! This one is about how our current understanding of genre doesn’t meet the challenges we see in games because we’re using one word to cover three categories! talkandplay.substack.com/p/who-what-w...
December 18, 2023 at 5:47 PM
New Talk and Play! This one is about how our current understanding of genre doesn’t meet the challenges we see in games because we’re using one word to cover three categories! talkandplay.substack.com/p/who-what-w...
New Talk and Play Essay Today! This week’s post is about framing in media and the unique tools games have in that regard. We’re also discussing how framing can be abused, using The Last of Us 2 as a case study.
talkandplay.substack.com/p/strings-at...
talkandplay.substack.com/p/strings-at...
December 4, 2023 at 5:17 PM
New Talk and Play Essay Today! This week’s post is about framing in media and the unique tools games have in that regard. We’re also discussing how framing can be abused, using The Last of Us 2 as a case study.
talkandplay.substack.com/p/strings-at...
talkandplay.substack.com/p/strings-at...
My new post’s up! This one is about the gameplay vs story debate and why it’s stupid talkandplay.substack.com/p/in-word-an...
November 27, 2023 at 5:27 PM
My new post’s up! This one is about the gameplay vs story debate and why it’s stupid talkandplay.substack.com/p/in-word-an...
Got a new post up on Talk and Play! This one is the 2nd half of my 2-parter on encounter design, this one focusing on external elements to the encounter. I have the first part linked in the post itself, i Highly recommend reading that first.
open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
November 20, 2023 at 6:04 PM
Got a new post up on Talk and Play! This one is the 2nd half of my 2-parter on encounter design, this one focusing on external elements to the encounter. I have the first part linked in the post itself, i Highly recommend reading that first.
open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
It did lead to the single greatest Gadsen Flag meme ever created however
November 7, 2023 at 9:22 PM
It did lead to the single greatest Gadsen Flag meme ever created however
Talk and Play is back with a new post! This is the first in a 2 part series on encounter design. Part one is on player power open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
November 7, 2023 at 8:15 PM
Talk and Play is back with a new post! This is the first in a 2 part series on encounter design. Part one is on player power open.substack.com/pub/talkandp...
My new substack post is up! This one is about clashing themes in games and how they can undercut what would otherwise be incredible experiences talkandplay.substack.com/p/hooked-on-ca…
October 2, 2023 at 5:19 PM
My new substack post is up! This one is about clashing themes in games and how they can undercut what would otherwise be incredible experiences talkandplay.substack.com/p/hooked-on-ca…
Oh goddammit, Ian.
September 28, 2023 at 4:14 AM
Oh goddammit, Ian.
September 8, 2023 at 6:05 AM