Dr Holly Nielsen

Me and my dad grinning behind the Great Deku Tree Lego set

DEKU TREE COMPLETED

Can’t thank Esther enough for inviting me to contribute to this collection! It was a real treat to contribute to an academic book from the perspective as both a historian and a game developer.

I think this book is going to be an essential one for anyone interested in historical game studies

Yeah I will take that from many people but not you, we are old ladies together

Picture of a glass with ice and a drink, and a switch 2 with animal crossing on it resting on legs wearing pyjamas

Saturday nights are for vermouth and starting a new Animal Crossing island

Reminder that from the beginning of next year I’m available for work!

Writing, narrative design, historical & narrative consultancy, research, teaching.

I’m particularly fond of applying historical approaches to worldbuilding & storytelling in interactive mediums

A Lego of Hestu from Legend of Zelda

I love him

The manual and some bits of Lego from the Legend of Zelda Deku Tree Lego set

Building this with dad today

A Pomeranian with a top hat and cane looking fancy

To be a complete egotist for a moment, when “Writing Game Histories” comes out in May, that’ll be my sixth academic publication- which isn’t too shabby for someone who has just finished their PhD!

(I think… this is where everyone is like “pfft when I finished my PhD I had 24 publications & 7 books)

11. ‘research is a creative process’: Writinf Histories with Games, James Coltrain, Leyla Johnson, Nikhail Murthy and Holly Nielsen (with Esther Wright)

Our discussion was a joy to have despite the fact that when it happened I was a week away from handing in my PhD thesis- the fact I managed to enjoy something at that stage should be an indicator of how interesting it was

Can’t thank Esther enough for inviting me to contribute to this collection! It was a real treat to contribute to an academic book from the perspective as both a historian and a game developer.

I think this book is going to be an essential one for anyone interested in historical game studies

UK union accuses GTA maker Rockstar Games of firing employees attempting to organise According to The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, the developer fired more than 30 staff last week for being members of a union-affiliated Discord channel

This should be reported alongside any coverage of the GTA 6 delay

www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...

Holly is cool, you should hire Holly to make your game world feel properly placed within its own history.

Aw thank you Brandon!

I finished my PhD and landed into a hellish time to be looking for work both in academia and game dev. So any reposts or quote posts are incredibly appreciated

YouTube video by Hippolyte 🪐 The blood on our Controllers - The Complicity of the Game Industry in the Palestinian Genocide

In light of the Future Class news, may I suggest you watch and share the documentary "Blood on our Controllers -The Complicity of the Game Industry in the Palestinian Genocide" that fellow alumni @pyrofoux.bsky.social worked on:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g748...

Looking for anything that might fit my experience really! And short contract/PT are of interest

That is an excellent jacket

I’ve worked really hard in multiple areas and I’m very good at what I do 🥲 just a smidge of stability for a little bit would be nice, as a little treat

Trying not to get totally warn down by finishing my PhD and entering the job market for both academia and the games industry at a time when both of them are collapsing - but it’s not easy!!!

Micro and Macro History Hello! I’m Holly Nielsen, a historian, writer and narrative designer. I’m lucky enough to be working on Amberspire, and Nic has kindly offere...

And if you’re like “I’m a game dev & I don’t see how a narrative person who is also a historian is helpful for me and my non-historical game”

Then you can read my design diary about some of the work I’ve done for Amberspire (which has a fantasy sci-fi setting)

lunardivision.net/micro-and-ma...

I’ve taught both history, public history, and game design students at BA & MA level

My collaborations include- V&A, British Museum, Historic Royal Palaces, BAFTA, University of Cambridge, BFI, HistoryHit, Ubisoft.

Alongside my game dev and academic work I also have a profile as a public historian

I’ve got a PhD, 5 academic publications (another on the way), 3 shipped games that I’ve done writing and/or narrative design for (3 more on the way), lots of experience collaborating with cultural institutions.

By-lines include The Guardian, New Statesman, Dezeen (& many others)

Reminder that from the beginning of next year I’m available for work!

Writing, narrative design, historical & narrative consultancy, research, teaching.

I’m particularly fond of applying historical approaches to worldbuilding & storytelling in interactive mediums

A small cottage and stone outbuildings with a rusting metal roof, edging is forest with evergreens and the occasional autumn coloured tree

Drystone wall with moss and ferns, behind is a field with sheep in, and behind that forest

A river with autumn forest

A field with sheep in lovely autumn light. One of the sheep is looking at me

My favourite walk in autumn, continued 🍁

Northumberland!

A river in a valley with autumn forest behind it

A river in a valley with autumn forest behind it, there a big rock with moss on top

A cliff with ivy on it and autumn trees behind

A small stream tumbling over mossy rocks in an autumn forest

My favourite walk in autumn 🍂

It's cool how we keep proving over and over and over again that there's a significant market for narrative-heavy, character-driven, single-player experiences in video games and publishers just categorically refuse to believe us

My eyesight is shit, my hearing is appalling, but one thing I do have is a very good sense of smell. And let me tell you, 90% of the time it is a curse.

This sounds excellent! Really looking forward to reading

For the past decade, I've been slowly cooking a small and humble book.

Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.

ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...