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cmrn knzlmn

@ckunzelman.bsky.social

Critic. Tabletop columnist at The AV Club and Rascal News. Podcasts for Ranged Touch (Shelved By Genre | Just King Things | Game Studies Study Buddies). Wrote THE WORLD IS BORN FROM ZERO and EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED. Working on a Magic: The Gathering book.

10,365 Followers  |  802 Following  |  2,491 Posts  |  Joined: 16.06.2023
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Posts by cmrn knzlmn (@ckunzelman.bsky.social)

The close reading interest in the academy is also the result of a couple trends: the pendulum swinging back the other way from the β€œdistal” reading of DH and other modes and (sadly, stealthily, in another name) something that feels like a final door slamming on Theory

05.03.2026 15:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I think it’s a really important linkage and the game is fun!

05.03.2026 01:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Quantum Break

05.03.2026 00:42 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

eight hours left on this. probably less now. cos of how time works

04.03.2026 23:56 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

yes this is the point i'm making (although I do think there's some way for recursive revision of outputs to deal with this, introducing a kind of paranoia to the LLM via second order reading of the outputs)

04.03.2026 19:54 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is bad, and part of what makes it so bad is that this is clearly pulling from *genre* understandings of reality, which the statistical linguistic machine seemingly cannot distinguish from other text included in the training data. Truly an ideology machine where every episode of CSI is true.

04.03.2026 19:31 β€” πŸ‘ 1004    πŸ” 300    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 8

i need this. it will fix me.

04.03.2026 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

forget "which fictional characters could resist the ring" it's time for "which fictional characters really don't need or possibly already have the ring"

04.03.2026 17:50 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Quadrilateral Cowboy - Quadrilateral Cowboy March 2026 Update - Steam News Big fixes!

Happy to announce the Quadrilateral Cowboy March 2026 update! πŸ’ΎπŸ’ΎπŸ’Ύ

Details here: store.steampowered.com/news/app/240...

Big thanks to Ethan Lee www.flibitijibibo.com for making this update happen. Hire Ethan!!! flibitijibibo.com/maintenance....

04.03.2026 17:48 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

from reading their own materials about the development, part of what made it so good as that the french devs actually already has a strong handle on the history which led to some real debates about what to depict and how, which is maybe revealing about the others games (I write about it in the book)

04.03.2026 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

this is one of the best things I've ever seen bsky.app/profile/ghou...

04.03.2026 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Unity is the game I came to appreciate the most while writing EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED (bookshop.org/p/books/ever...) and I am really interested on how it plays at 60fps.

04.03.2026 17:32 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

universal rentier economy

04.03.2026 16:40 β€” πŸ‘ 33    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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After planning 2 more paid acts, narrative scifi power-washer Ambrosia Sky is instead finishing its story in one free update to 'maximize' its focus on what players loved: 'People got in on that sapph... So much for slow burn.

"I was expecting it to take longer for people to care about Maeve and Dalia's relationship," narrative director Kait Tremblay said. "But it did not. People got in on that sapphic yearning right away."

04.03.2026 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 108    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 5
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Amberspire, our dice driven science fantasy city builder, will release MAY 6!

Roll dice, grow a city, forge alliances, interact with an ecology, and read a history of the future.

PC, Mac, Steam Deck - May 6!

s.team/a/3350750

04.03.2026 15:01 β€” πŸ‘ 372    πŸ” 112    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 18
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A busy weekend pushed us out a day or two, but as of yesterday your podcatcher should have received the latest episode of GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, in which we journey into the deep past with the debut issue of GAME STUDIES from the alien world of July of 2001 rangedtouch.com/2026/03/02/9...

03.03.2026 15:15 β€” πŸ‘ 50    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

I’m the top Steam review for Reavers of New Rome

03.03.2026 22:06 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’ve just learned that I have the top Steam review of Reavers of New Rome

03.03.2026 22:05 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

You can read my book EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED to learn more about this, but Shira’s point is even sharper than she knows: the origin of the term is as fictional and and troubled as its current usage, meaning that from top to bottom it’s a phrase that produces chaotic outcomes.

03.03.2026 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 95    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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DEATH CUT IN STONE by Midnight Oil Publishing House A brutal old west skirmish game that hacks Luke Gearing's Violence System

The full release of DEATH CUT IN STONE it out!

Death Cut In Stone is a brutal old west skirmish game that hacks the Violence System by @lukegearing.bsky.social. Editing and layout from @forbiddenpsalm.bsky.social and art by the incredible VIL.

Grab it here πŸ‘‡

02.03.2026 19:26 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 4

I think about half of my teaching is in things I don’t have any interest in outside of my teaching them, but I have found diving into the specialties and trying to puzzle out how to make them interesting *to me* has made it worthwhile

03.03.2026 02:16 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
An ink drawing of a lightly armored person facing one of the fallen giants from dark souls 2.

An ink drawing of a lightly armored person facing one of the fallen giants from dark souls 2.

Forest of Fallen Giants

02.03.2026 23:58 β€” πŸ‘ 42    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

yeah it is the interleaving of the something there (and how it impacts the end of that plot) that matters a lot to me

01.03.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Three Necrons (skeleton robots) by John Blanche.

Three Necrons (skeleton robots) by John Blanche.

One Necron (skeleton robot) by John Blanche.

One Necron (skeleton robot) by John Blanche.

Necrons by John Blanche

01.03.2026 10:56 β€” πŸ‘ 195    πŸ” 42    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 1

If you were someone who was like "Wellll I don't need to re-read the Hobbit or listen to those guys talk about Bilbo and all those Dwarves, but maybe I'll get on board once LOTR starts..." well: We've made it to Fellowship.

27.02.2026 18:10 β€” πŸ‘ 239    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 2
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A long-expected episode: prepare your party favors, brush up on your lore, and get your traveling cloaks ready as SHELVED BY GENRE embarks on the Quest of the Ring today with our first episode on J.R.R. Tolkien's THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. rangedtouch.com/2026/02/27/t...

27.02.2026 15:35 β€” πŸ‘ 159    πŸ” 39    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 11
a zine titled "The Blocks Killed the Pittsburgh City Paper so Here are Some Things I Wrote for It and Its Blog and Also Some Photos From a Couple of Shows I Went to That Were Posted on their Blog (2011-2014)

a zine titled "The Blocks Killed the Pittsburgh City Paper so Here are Some Things I Wrote for It and Its Blog and Also Some Photos From a Couple of Shows I Went to That Were Posted on their Blog (2011-2014)

I did another ZINE COMPILATION of writing that is well over a DECADE OLD! this includes an essay on bruce springsteen (Also in the other zine), and interviews with James Jackson Toth and @advancebase.bsky.social

you can just copy and paste things into a file and save it as a PDF! for your friends

27.02.2026 02:42 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

it’s pretty far afield but it was one of the examples I was using to try to articulate my understanding of speculation

26.02.2026 05:17 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

But I think the real beauty of that season is that the king in yellow shit is NOT supernatural and is just a regular conspiracy of men, but beneath that is a real supernatural horror that is perhaps so nihilistic and undermining that rust recoils from it. It’s a pretty good show!

26.02.2026 05:16 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0