How do we design games that advance us, instead of appealing to compulsions from our evolutionary history?
Evolutionary psychologist Peter Gray contends that some games already do.
How do we design games that advance us, instead of appealing to compulsions from our evolutionary history?
Evolutionary psychologist Peter Gray contends that some games already do.
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sBy...
Podcast:
open.spotify.com/show/6GMbpa2...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
I always write a bit more on the grokludo website:
grokludo.com
In the last grokludo of 2025, Peter Gray explains the evolutionary advantage of play, the "instinct to practice other instincts," and how games are the most effective workout for our cognitive muscles.
16.12.2025 02:27 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Autism expert Tony Attwood explains some of the benefits of gaming for players with autism, and how one of the main ones - emotion regulation - can be a blessing and a curse.
Full ep: youtu.be/42bN90Nz6F4
Nice work man 🔥
11.12.2025 05:42 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Autism expert Tony Attwood says he is "very concerned" about loot boxes and the rising of gambling in games, especially for gamers with autism.
"Often they're not disclosing information to others where someone can be, shall we say ... it may be a partner, parent, friend, of moderation."
So good!
10.12.2025 00:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Tony Attwood, an adjunct professor at Queensland's Griffith University, operated a private clinic for many years focusing on Level 1 autism.
He's also the latest guest on @thejunglist.bsky.social's podcast, #grokludo, and uses the platform to voice his concerns about the rise of gambling in games.
Under a secretive billion dollar new deal, refugees in the Australian community are being ripped out of their homes and sent to Nauru.
"It's a wild escalation... Scenes similar to ICE'", says Ogy Simic of the @ASRC1
www.instagram.com/reel/DSCEmf_...
Autism expert Tony Attwood joins grokludo this week to talk about how people with autism experience games, and maintaining healthy hobby habits.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=42bN...
Newly discovered Game of Life spaceship looks like a Star Destroyer
conwaylife.com/forums/viewt...
Excited for this. Sy Hersh's memoir "Reporter" was a great read.
03.12.2025 00:04 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcTi...
Podcast:
open.spotify.com/show/6GMbpa2...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
I always write a bit more on the grokludo website:
grokludo.com
What can we learn from breaking down game design to its core elements?
@jzagal.bsky.social joins grokludo this week to talk about the Game Ontology Project - reducing and categorising game design elements to study them piece by piece.
This was fun and I maintain that stupidity should be one of the guiding principles of game marketing
28.11.2025 09:07 — 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
When press releases go terribly right 😄
@mode7games.bsky.social used to send absurd press releases with Monty Python-esque language, and... it's great? I dug up some old ones for Paul to read out loud.
Full ep: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEl1...
Labor and LNP voting against a motion to recognise Israel's genocide in Gaza
If you weren't already convinced of what complict scum our entire political class is
27.11.2025 03:06 — 👍 274 🔁 87 💬 14 📌 3
Full interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEl1...
26.11.2025 00:16 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I asked @mode7games.bsky.social about the third-party services & complex architectures forming the "higher end" of difficult end-of-life plans for games.
He contends the language itself is problematic, and trying to account for all scenarios in vague regulation will harm indies most.
⅔'s through, @davemilbo.bsky.social talks about the conflict-averse ALP gov & the Ratchet Effect, where Conservative govs have done everything to drag the economics to the Right & Labor has done nothing to reverse it.
I didn't hear 'Ratchet' but agreed wholeheartedly. 🫤
youtube.com/shorts/m9L86...
This was a great chat. I'm really calling for people working on games with more complex architectures (and also a greater technical understanding than me - not hard!) to be more transparent about any challenges around preservation.
24.11.2025 11:49 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Full ep: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEl1...
24.11.2025 09:27 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Regulation looms over publishers ending support for games - but it might hit indies hardest.
@mode7games.bsky.social tells grokludo about the technical complexities that neither industry nor Stop Killing Games have planned for.
I also got him to read his absurd press releases out loud 😁
These videos are a great illustration of a neural network's regression to the mean - the intent is to upscale/beautify, but every woman just gets resting Midjourney face.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9onr...
"4.2 civic organisations is the amount that in Aus, as a middle-aged man, I'd be in 50 years ago. Currently, statistically, it's zero." 👀
@thegameclub.bsky.social founders on the disappearing civic layer of society, and the health benefits of reconstructing it.
Full ep: youtu.be/oxOASkhi74U
Big city loneliness is a modern paradox that AI companion companies are aggressively marketing to.
@thegameclub.bsky.social has a different take - get people in the same room with shared interests and discussion prompts. Address the problem, not the symptom
Full ep: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxOA...
This is a great conversation about AI in relation to the gaming world. Chris Simon does a brilliant job, explaining some of the more technical aspects and limitations in a way that's easy to understand
18.11.2025 05:20 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
We cracked the code 👩💻
The Game Club founders @yug.bsky.social and Shay P. Leighton reveal their 'cheat code' for community in an interview with @thejunglist.bsky.social. It's not just about games—it's about fighting the loneliness epidemic. Get the full story: tinyurl.com/yn9rfvt3 #thegameclub
Antoun Issa's forensic, brutal takedown of the Guardian's inner workings & the patronising, racist, neo-colonial marginalising of POC there & framing of genocide in Gaza is really worth your time. Liberal white feelgood Australia laid bare. Starts @ 57mins. Excellent stuff from Sunday Shot.
16.11.2025 00:03 — 👍 43 🔁 12 💬 4 📌 2
Great chat with @thejunglist.bsky.social for his podcast about how games can serve as a tool in rebuilding the civic layer of our communities and our relationships to each other.
Matthew Farber, Marshall Ganz, Tracy Fullerton, Robert Putnam, and John Dewey all got a mention.
#communityorganizer
