xeneth.design
@xeneth.design
A Quixotic Game Designer in Exile
xeneth.design - He/Him
xeneth.design - He/Him
It's clear that despite Fortnite, the cultural memory of Simpsons apocrypha has dulled, given you can freely market dairy substitutes as "MALK" without a significant percentage of customers being forced to think about rat milk...
November 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM
It's clear that despite Fortnite, the cultural memory of Simpsons apocrypha has dulled, given you can freely market dairy substitutes as "MALK" without a significant percentage of customers being forced to think about rat milk...
With the closure of almost all arcades and incidental cabinet spots, video games lost one of their most powerful viral tools; incidental spectatorship.
To see each other play is to visualize and consider our own participation.
Monkey see, monkey do...
To see each other play is to visualize and consider our own participation.
Monkey see, monkey do...
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 PM
With the closure of almost all arcades and incidental cabinet spots, video games lost one of their most powerful viral tools; incidental spectatorship.
To see each other play is to visualize and consider our own participation.
Monkey see, monkey do...
To see each other play is to visualize and consider our own participation.
Monkey see, monkey do...
The context of one's current task is capable of warping all reason.
I need to REMEMBER how angry I got about a simple packaging trick like having 1 of 3 random back-of-box treatments.
Fun for the consumer and packaging designer alike!
...But the person stocking the shelves...
I need to REMEMBER how angry I got about a simple packaging trick like having 1 of 3 random back-of-box treatments.
Fun for the consumer and packaging designer alike!
...But the person stocking the shelves...
November 7, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The context of one's current task is capable of warping all reason.
I need to REMEMBER how angry I got about a simple packaging trick like having 1 of 3 random back-of-box treatments.
Fun for the consumer and packaging designer alike!
...But the person stocking the shelves...
I need to REMEMBER how angry I got about a simple packaging trick like having 1 of 3 random back-of-box treatments.
Fun for the consumer and packaging designer alike!
...But the person stocking the shelves...
Broken mirrors are a relatively common find.
They're euclidean and perfectly safe, so long as the weather is clear and you aren't carrying any Labubus on your person...
#5amFrequency
They're euclidean and perfectly safe, so long as the weather is clear and you aren't carrying any Labubus on your person...
#5amFrequency
November 1, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Broken mirrors are a relatively common find.
They're euclidean and perfectly safe, so long as the weather is clear and you aren't carrying any Labubus on your person...
#5amFrequency
They're euclidean and perfectly safe, so long as the weather is clear and you aren't carrying any Labubus on your person...
#5amFrequency
...I keep tripping over examples of YouTube script writers deploying "if I do say so myself" outside of self-congratulatory contexts.
"The level design in this game I'm reviewing and didn't help make is mighty impressive, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!" sounds extremely silly to me.
"The level design in this game I'm reviewing and didn't help make is mighty impressive, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!" sounds extremely silly to me.
October 28, 2025 at 9:38 PM
...I keep tripping over examples of YouTube script writers deploying "if I do say so myself" outside of self-congratulatory contexts.
"The level design in this game I'm reviewing and didn't help make is mighty impressive, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!" sounds extremely silly to me.
"The level design in this game I'm reviewing and didn't help make is mighty impressive, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!" sounds extremely silly to me.
I sincerely hope that remaking Halo CE in a new engine is the exercise that team needs to get a handle on what Bungie used to be, so that they can chart a course forward that results in something that actually feels new and interesting...
October 28, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I sincerely hope that remaking Halo CE in a new engine is the exercise that team needs to get a handle on what Bungie used to be, so that they can chart a course forward that results in something that actually feels new and interesting...
"...there's nothing WRONG with the size of your average unlocking world platformer; exploring huge maps for dozens of hours has been a part of the formula for longer than we've been calling them metroidvanias!
However, if you play more than 2 of these a year I think you've noticed some patterns..."
However, if you play more than 2 of these a year I think you've noticed some patterns..."
Steam Community :: Xeneth :: Review for Microvania
Listen, there's nothing WRONG with the size of your average unlocking world platformer; exploring huge maps for dozens of hours has been a part of the formula for longer than we've been calling them m...
steamcommunity.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:09 AM
"...there's nothing WRONG with the size of your average unlocking world platformer; exploring huge maps for dozens of hours has been a part of the formula for longer than we've been calling them metroidvanias!
However, if you play more than 2 of these a year I think you've noticed some patterns..."
However, if you play more than 2 of these a year I think you've noticed some patterns..."
On night four, the figure inside the broken screen manifested in earnest...
#5AMfrequency
#5AMfrequency
October 27, 2025 at 12:23 PM
On night four, the figure inside the broken screen manifested in earnest...
#5AMfrequency
#5AMfrequency
Few urban artifacts last a single night undisturbed, let alone the THREE this television has survived!
Highly suspicious.
The concave dent might simply make it undesirable, but I could've sworn I saw another figure reflected in that warped darkness...
#5AMfrequency
Highly suspicious.
The concave dent might simply make it undesirable, but I could've sworn I saw another figure reflected in that warped darkness...
#5AMfrequency
October 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Few urban artifacts last a single night undisturbed, let alone the THREE this television has survived!
Highly suspicious.
The concave dent might simply make it undesirable, but I could've sworn I saw another figure reflected in that warped darkness...
#5AMfrequency
Highly suspicious.
The concave dent might simply make it undesirable, but I could've sworn I saw another figure reflected in that warped darkness...
#5AMfrequency
Be glad the tech bros are obsessed with high fidelity Modern WarPorn aesthetics and shooter play so this feels as silly as it does.
The tech looks like it's ALMOST in a place where it could generate a whimsical non-sequitur AdventureTime-esque choose your own adventure here...
The tech looks like it's ALMOST in a place where it could generate a whimsical non-sequitur AdventureTime-esque choose your own adventure here...
Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.
October 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Be glad the tech bros are obsessed with high fidelity Modern WarPorn aesthetics and shooter play so this feels as silly as it does.
The tech looks like it's ALMOST in a place where it could generate a whimsical non-sequitur AdventureTime-esque choose your own adventure here...
The tech looks like it's ALMOST in a place where it could generate a whimsical non-sequitur AdventureTime-esque choose your own adventure here...
@ass.golf Big dumb re-read, (no idea why) and ran into the following panel with a certain amount of story foresight... (I'm nowhere close to caught up on QC)
Immediately wondered if this coincided with the moment you planned that direction, or if later on you just leaned way into the callback?
Immediately wondered if this coincided with the moment you planned that direction, or if later on you just leaned way into the callback?
October 22, 2025 at 7:37 PM
@ass.golf Big dumb re-read, (no idea why) and ran into the following panel with a certain amount of story foresight... (I'm nowhere close to caught up on QC)
Immediately wondered if this coincided with the moment you planned that direction, or if later on you just leaned way into the callback?
Immediately wondered if this coincided with the moment you planned that direction, or if later on you just leaned way into the callback?
Not sure it's my #1 but "The Bellhop Effect" is catchy/powerful.
Framing the player experience like a hotel stay in your game, the bellhop contextualizes future interactions; the room/view can be 5 stars, but how you initially handle their luggage acts like a multiplier on everything afterward...
Framing the player experience like a hotel stay in your game, the bellhop contextualizes future interactions; the room/view can be 5 stars, but how you initially handle their luggage acts like a multiplier on everything afterward...
What's your number one personal game design principle? And even better - does it have a cool name?
October 22, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Not sure it's my #1 but "The Bellhop Effect" is catchy/powerful.
Framing the player experience like a hotel stay in your game, the bellhop contextualizes future interactions; the room/view can be 5 stars, but how you initially handle their luggage acts like a multiplier on everything afterward...
Framing the player experience like a hotel stay in your game, the bellhop contextualizes future interactions; the room/view can be 5 stars, but how you initially handle their luggage acts like a multiplier on everything afterward...
It's nearly impossible to communicate with far-right extremists; there's this vehement insistence against the use of pronouns, meaning it's very difficult to refer to anyone in particular regardless of context.
October 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
It's nearly impossible to communicate with far-right extremists; there's this vehement insistence against the use of pronouns, meaning it's very difficult to refer to anyone in particular regardless of context.
I can see how all the legends of house elves and capricious domestic spirits got rolling...
Are we slowly filling apartments with specific items like scissors; when kitchen shears vanish, and aren't turning up even after the replacements have dulled?
Are there scissors in the walls, wild and free?
Are we slowly filling apartments with specific items like scissors; when kitchen shears vanish, and aren't turning up even after the replacements have dulled?
Are there scissors in the walls, wild and free?
October 21, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I can see how all the legends of house elves and capricious domestic spirits got rolling...
Are we slowly filling apartments with specific items like scissors; when kitchen shears vanish, and aren't turning up even after the replacements have dulled?
Are there scissors in the walls, wild and free?
Are we slowly filling apartments with specific items like scissors; when kitchen shears vanish, and aren't turning up even after the replacements have dulled?
Are there scissors in the walls, wild and free?
When in doubt, stress the obvious I suppose...
Was just exposed to this MASTERFUL bit of ad slogan copy on a package of ice cream bars:
"A Life Without Anything Good Is Bad."
vanleeuwenicecream.com/our-story/
Was just exposed to this MASTERFUL bit of ad slogan copy on a package of ice cream bars:
"A Life Without Anything Good Is Bad."
vanleeuwenicecream.com/our-story/
Our Story | Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
GOOD-GOOD, NOT GOOD-BAD We started Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in a yellow truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 with a mission to make good ice cream that makes you feel good. Nowadays, people can spend so m...
vanleeuwenicecream.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:34 AM
When in doubt, stress the obvious I suppose...
Was just exposed to this MASTERFUL bit of ad slogan copy on a package of ice cream bars:
"A Life Without Anything Good Is Bad."
vanleeuwenicecream.com/our-story/
Was just exposed to this MASTERFUL bit of ad slogan copy on a package of ice cream bars:
"A Life Without Anything Good Is Bad."
vanleeuwenicecream.com/our-story/
Kiba is basically a kaiju that happens to be the size of your hand...
October 17, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Kiba is basically a kaiju that happens to be the size of your hand...
How does this keep happening?
MASSIVE budgets continue to be poured into almost decade-old snapshots of what the games market looks like.
Imagine how hype this would look in 2018, (almost certainly around the time it was greenlit, right?)
I mean, it's like 3v3 Smite but you can fly.
It is 2025!
MASSIVE budgets continue to be poured into almost decade-old snapshots of what the games market looks like.
Imagine how hype this would look in 2018, (almost certainly around the time it was greenlit, right?)
I mean, it's like 3v3 Smite but you can fly.
It is 2025!
Spellcasters Chronicles: Gameplay With Developer Commentary (Quantic Dream's New Game)
YouTube video by IGN
www.youtube.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
How does this keep happening?
MASSIVE budgets continue to be poured into almost decade-old snapshots of what the games market looks like.
Imagine how hype this would look in 2018, (almost certainly around the time it was greenlit, right?)
I mean, it's like 3v3 Smite but you can fly.
It is 2025!
MASSIVE budgets continue to be poured into almost decade-old snapshots of what the games market looks like.
Imagine how hype this would look in 2018, (almost certainly around the time it was greenlit, right?)
I mean, it's like 3v3 Smite but you can fly.
It is 2025!
Starting to think that most indie devs have some built up immunity to seeing letter-by-letter instantiating text "bounce" to a new line as word wrap kicks in.
The "reveal letters instead of printing them" solution is widely known and tutorialized in every engine, near as I can tell...
The "reveal letters instead of printing them" solution is widely known and tutorialized in every engine, near as I can tell...
October 15, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Starting to think that most indie devs have some built up immunity to seeing letter-by-letter instantiating text "bounce" to a new line as word wrap kicks in.
The "reveal letters instead of printing them" solution is widely known and tutorialized in every engine, near as I can tell...
The "reveal letters instead of printing them" solution is widely known and tutorialized in every engine, near as I can tell...
Think about how eager animators would be for a commission to reprise stuff in a branded context; they'd probably even quote great rates to iterate on existing work!
I don't buy that it's actually that much cheaper/easier, ordering artists to poorly imitate other artists from scratch.
I don't buy that it's actually that much cheaper/easier, ordering artists to poorly imitate other artists from scratch.
So, I stumbled across this animation (left) that a professional studio made for a commercial client last year and a lot of it seems VERY familiar to my 2023 'PEAS' animation (right)...
October 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Think about how eager animators would be for a commission to reprise stuff in a branded context; they'd probably even quote great rates to iterate on existing work!
I don't buy that it's actually that much cheaper/easier, ordering artists to poorly imitate other artists from scratch.
I don't buy that it's actually that much cheaper/easier, ordering artists to poorly imitate other artists from scratch.
"So how's the whole vibe coding thing going?"
* A bus goes by in the background, its side dominated by an ad: 'Hate Reviewing AI Code? AI Code Reviews!'
"Well, the good news is there's money to be made fixing everything they're breaking... but, most of that money comes from bad investments, so..."
* A bus goes by in the background, its side dominated by an ad: 'Hate Reviewing AI Code? AI Code Reviews!'
"Well, the good news is there's money to be made fixing everything they're breaking... but, most of that money comes from bad investments, so..."
October 15, 2025 at 2:02 AM
"So how's the whole vibe coding thing going?"
* A bus goes by in the background, its side dominated by an ad: 'Hate Reviewing AI Code? AI Code Reviews!'
"Well, the good news is there's money to be made fixing everything they're breaking... but, most of that money comes from bad investments, so..."
* A bus goes by in the background, its side dominated by an ad: 'Hate Reviewing AI Code? AI Code Reviews!'
"Well, the good news is there's money to be made fixing everything they're breaking... but, most of that money comes from bad investments, so..."
At the time, I was critical of Nintendo for not putting the incredibly fun Kuribo's Shoe in more levels...
This would prove to be a glimpse into later Mario design philosophies of not letting the best bits become mundane through repetition!
They may have taken note of how memorable it made 5-3.
This would prove to be a glimpse into later Mario design philosophies of not letting the best bits become mundane through repetition!
They may have taken note of how memorable it made 5-3.
October 14, 2025 at 11:43 PM
At the time, I was critical of Nintendo for not putting the incredibly fun Kuribo's Shoe in more levels...
This would prove to be a glimpse into later Mario design philosophies of not letting the best bits become mundane through repetition!
They may have taken note of how memorable it made 5-3.
This would prove to be a glimpse into later Mario design philosophies of not letting the best bits become mundane through repetition!
They may have taken note of how memorable it made 5-3.
Based on a brief demo, I'm guessing #LoveEternal isn't gonna be the longest game, but it's refreshing to see surreal horror presented in a modern suburban context instead of the usual sci-fi/fantasy.
VVVVVV and Celeste are expecting, and Jordan Peele bought them a Silent Hill timeshare!
VVVVVV and Celeste are expecting, and Jordan Peele bought them a Silent Hill timeshare!
LOVE ETERNAL Demo on Steam
Wander a castle built of bitter memories in LOVE ETERNAL, a psychological horror platformer with devious trials and an unsettling, experimental narrative. Find a way out - or live in Shelter forever m...
store.steampowered.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Based on a brief demo, I'm guessing #LoveEternal isn't gonna be the longest game, but it's refreshing to see surreal horror presented in a modern suburban context instead of the usual sci-fi/fantasy.
VVVVVV and Celeste are expecting, and Jordan Peele bought them a Silent Hill timeshare!
VVVVVV and Celeste are expecting, and Jordan Peele bought them a Silent Hill timeshare!
Additional floors exist!
-Hold down the Door Close button then press Hold Door
-Keep holding Door Close and rapidly tap B for the sub-Basement levels
-Release Door Close only when the elevator begins moving (the display should now be flickering)
#5amFrequency
-Hold down the Door Close button then press Hold Door
-Keep holding Door Close and rapidly tap B for the sub-Basement levels
-Release Door Close only when the elevator begins moving (the display should now be flickering)
#5amFrequency
October 13, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Additional floors exist!
-Hold down the Door Close button then press Hold Door
-Keep holding Door Close and rapidly tap B for the sub-Basement levels
-Release Door Close only when the elevator begins moving (the display should now be flickering)
#5amFrequency
-Hold down the Door Close button then press Hold Door
-Keep holding Door Close and rapidly tap B for the sub-Basement levels
-Release Door Close only when the elevator begins moving (the display should now be flickering)
#5amFrequency
"Surprise all-hands meeting."
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
October 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
"Surprise all-hands meeting."
Each time the Twilight Cabinet manifests in the city, it chooses a new location.
Even though all interactions/tests have been benign thus far, this is the first time an object was ALREADY inside, so I left the suitcase well enough alone.
#5amFrequency
Even though all interactions/tests have been benign thus far, this is the first time an object was ALREADY inside, so I left the suitcase well enough alone.
#5amFrequency
October 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Each time the Twilight Cabinet manifests in the city, it chooses a new location.
Even though all interactions/tests have been benign thus far, this is the first time an object was ALREADY inside, so I left the suitcase well enough alone.
#5amFrequency
Even though all interactions/tests have been benign thus far, this is the first time an object was ALREADY inside, so I left the suitcase well enough alone.
#5amFrequency