emily koonce

9 DAYS LEFT to support Sickhouse's #fundraising!
Every contribution helps to build our new home, and you can get fantastic rewards, as the game bundle that includes Crockpot, a game by @koonce.itch.io 💙
Go to sickhouse.creativefunding.nl/project/crow... and insert a coin to keep #playfulart alive!

i cowrote the first episode of this game with @made-by-sam.bsky.social & now it has finally been released 💫

EVERYONE GO DIE 1000 TIMES !!!

big news: TALL TRAILS is OUT NOW !!

🥾 an exploration game where EVERYTHING goes in the boot!!
🤠 you're a little golem on a quest to find his purpose
🚀 use items as fuel in your ROCKET BOOT to blast yourself through the air!!

get it now Steam!
store.steampowered.com/app/2393760/...

so so proud of nyc & can't wait to see chicago start doing the same ❣️

A List Of Games By Trans People Before 2010

Happy pride folks

I'm still fleshing out the entries, but here's a list of over 200 retro games (pre-2010) which were made by trans people or which had trans people on the dev team.

We have always been here.

dotmaetrix.neocities.org/classictrans...

A crash course introduction into experimental indie games: Arthouse Games as a force for good & the activism of video games – The Candybox Blog

A crash course introduction into experimental indie games: Arthouse Games as a force for good & the activism of video games: www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/a-c...
"I’m not yet sure if I’m proud of myself for not giving up, but here it is. It exists. I hope someone out there will appreciate it…"

Chicago Indie Game Showcase Chicago Indie Game Showcase (C.I.G.S) is a one-day convention featuring independent games from Chicago and the greater Midwest.

We somehow not only blew through our initial goal in THREE HOURS but also our first stretch goal- needless to say C.I.G.S. 2025 is about to hit whole new levels for us. If you want to help build the future of Chicago indies, check us out!

#indiegame #indiedev

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ind...

New Post: Please Do, In Fact, @ Me.

I wrote a little bit about games academia/industry discourse, and what I think seem to be some common misconceptions about academic publishing (and academia in general, but mostly focusing on how to talk to academics).

www.possibilityspace.org/blog-academi...

Save 20% on Midwest Narrative Devs on Steam

My game Backwater Eulogy is part of Steam's Visual Novel fest that's happening rn, so I collabed with @vaaasm.com, @manateemailbox.bsky.social, and NQNStudios to release a narrative bundle! Check out some DIY goodness from the midwest.

#indiedev #indiegame

store.steampowered.com/bundle/50785...

some more photos from our Bloodrage Summer Fight Club event, our 80s underground fight club party game that's run on a PUNCHING BAG. it involves play money, betting, sabotage, a narrative twist and obviously so much punching.

WE DID A CRAZY ALT CONTROLLER PARTY AND IT WENT SO WELL IM LITERALLY STILL IN A DAZE ABOUT IT. nick showed da fuck UP with his incredible character costumes and also played our twist surprise reveal at the end. omg. OMG. AAAAA

you learn a lot about people when you go bowling with them

And if you have no idea what the alt ctrl scene is, there’s a panel on that happening on it Friday at 5:30! @koonce.itch.io is moderating, @robinwobbles.bsky.social will talk about wobbles, Erin will talk about academia, @windupthing.bsky.social will talk about punching stuff. It’s gonna be gr8

happening in 5 minutes !!!

giving a virtual talk at northeastern on tuesday, jan 21st at 12pm et about how boredom has shaped my career & philosophy as a designer ~

it's open to the public so come hang: www.eventbrite.com/e/im-bored-h...

& thank you to everyone i interact with online who rates things on itch or posts their favorite games of the year or blogs about their game design hot takes or does anything to cast their voice into the sea of the internet with interpretations of all the weird things you find on the periphery 💫

maybe i’m just out of touch with online spaces as the folk games town crier, but it’s nice to remember one of the reasons making anything is meaningful is that people interact with it & we are people & we should keep making silly little comments on each other's silly little games

i wanted to recreate that feeling for other people too so i finally started using itch as the social media platform it’s intended to be. i’ve been so enchanted by the way the online community functions & now i play games all the time & lovingly dig for games made by little freaks like me

however, it was so incredibly meaningful to get little comments & ratings on crockpot. reading an interpretation of my work feels like someone describing what you look like by telling you a story about themself. it’s something i’ve never really experienced before & is so magical

i had fallen out of love with games in the process of going to game school & seeing the industry & feeling as though i would never finish this “magnum opus that would define my voice as an artist” during that time everything game-related felt so grueling & insincere. the horror of disillusionment!

after the almost 6 (!!!) years it took to make this 25-minute-long game, i thought all i’d feel is relief to be done with this daunting creative task hanging over my head, but i never imagined putting this game online to feel so rewardingly *social*

little earnest 2am thread about releasing crockpot:

one of the best parts of finally setting this little birdie game free has been reading what people have written about it & finding fellow indie game developers who like to play with game design the way i do

My favorite games that I played in 2024

Shadow of the Erdtree
Receiver 2 (2020)
Crockpot
Indika
Northern Journey (2021)
Stone Story RPG (2023)
Time Bandit (2023)
Deadlock
The Exit 8 (2023) and Platform 8
Universal Paperclips (2017)
Pools
#BLUD

🧵 ->

mom !!! all the indie game dev darlings are making me blush !!!

crockpot by emily koonce, BLA? a game about being bored in the suburbs

CROCKPOT - @campemily.bsky.social serving midwest realness. Raw and honest. Mundanity as art. Beautiful and highly engaging.

koonce.itch.io/crockpot

cover of “The Games Issue”, it’s totally red and quite pretty, like the back of a playing card

the full article by Katie Cusamano, who did a fantastic job

"People tend to like not sitting around," Fuchs says.

this is the kind of searing game design insight that gets you into the New York Times

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's crockpot by emily koonce and BLA?: https://koonce.itch.io/crockpot

what's good, indianapolis --
showing crockpot at this tonight ✨

game writing advice is so weird to me. it's simple, folks... you're either a little freak or you're not