i will bite raw coffee beans

is that a sword over your head or are you just damoclesed to see me?

Looking out towards the new stars, visiting Waypoint Constellations an evening celebrating the fragile, miraculous craft of making video games
FEATURE by @firkraags.bsky.social www.sifter.com.au/post/looking... @waypoint-events.com

Games blogs and journalism were a big reason why I got into gamedev, so keeping up with them is important to me.

I have an RSS server that I use to read a bunch of gaming and gamedev sites and blogs. Generally I stick to smaller sites and Australian (local) sites to keep the feed manageable. Favourites include Automaton, gamedeveloper, Checkpoint Gaming, NextPlay, WellPlayed, Screenhub, Read Only Memories.

Kind words from Leah about Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic + many other highlights. Give it a read, especially if you couldn't make it to PAX!

A photo of the game Isopod (by Sbug studios), playing on a steam deck.

"Better a wizard than a capitalist."

#isopod

Waking up to do my 9-5 after 2 weeks of games events and conference and pretending I’m not absolutely wrecked

PAX Aus 2025 Highlight - Key Fairy Key Fairy is a hand-drawn, folkoric, pacifist bullet-hell game that is mechanically and artistically distinct.

Key Fairy, one of last year's highlights at PAX Australia, has returned and appears even more remarkable and innovative a year later. @paxaus.bsky.social @soyoudontneedto.bsky.social

checkpointgaming.net/features/202...

Having just read your posts with more details, I think something along the lines of the Outward defeat scenarios would really work with the ideas of commitment and the lack of a quest log + save slots. Maybe the mycological transformations can stand in for passing travellers/bandits?

It does change the artificiality of video game death, and really emphasises the passage of time and the existence of the world/community beyond the player in a way other games don't though. So if that's your angle I think it's a good option.

I'm split on whether it counts as a "lose" state so if you want the player to be completely immortal it might not be the way to go. Playing the game, I didn't really think of it as dying. Sometimes it makes sense to surrender yourself to fate rather than burn resources trying to win.

The player might be dragged back to a city, they could be left in a ditch with a bunch of their equipment stolen, or they might be rescued by a traveller who gives them a gift. Time always moves forward, and which scenarios are good or bad is often subjective to the player's situation.

I'm not sure this is exactly what you're looking for, but one game that comes to mind is Outward. When you run out of HP your character falls unconscious, and then wakes up somewhere else. What happens after is slightly random but affected by your location and factional relationships.

Hey #PAXAus and #MIGW folks, don't forget to do your RAT tests this week!

I've seen a few cases of PAX Pox as well as Covid reported by people from this weekend.

Keep yourselves and your community safe ❤️

This game is bad but I do try to avoid continuing to play games that I'm not learning anything from, and the question does specify "games that you finished" so this might be a different type of answer to other people's answers.

Besides the combat system being theoretically promising (although the encounter design renders it completely dull), the most interesting aspect of the game is that the ways in which it feels derivative and annoying could very much be intentional. If that's the case I respect it.

Probably The Caligula Effect: Overdose.

Came at a time where I was craving JRPG comfort. It's mechanically competent, I see the vision, but in terms of aesthetics and narrative design it is a disaster. Nothing about this game feels like it's working quite right.

Congrats to the aberrate team for their win!!
@aberrategame.bsky.social

Just market your game!? Silly goose, just market your game! What's that? You enjoy making game?? You enjoy the process of development??!? You want to spend more time making games?!? Don't! Spend your time doing marketing!!! This is game development!! You are in advertising now! Why are you crying?!?

I am really ruthless with tabs. There's a sense of anxiety that sets in whenever I have more than 6, typically I keep around 2-3. I start dumping any stanky old tabs into bookmarks or a big markdown file full of links when I feel I have too many.

Don't Stop, Girlypop! Lite on Steam Now available in bite-sized demo form! Don’t Stop, Girlypop! is a Y2K arena movement shooter where standing still is not an option. ❤ Just ❤ Don’t ❤ Stop ❤ Moving! ❤

!!! Don't Stop, Girlypop has a demo out!! Oh my god!!! store.steampowered.com/app/3828820/...

PAX Aus 2025 Highlight - Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic is a moody RPG from Sydney studio i will bite raw coffee beans, following the occult and the underworld.

Shin Megami Tensei fans will certainly want to keep their eye on this little RPG gem that drew crowds at PAX Aus 2025.

@iwbrcb.bsky.social @paxaus.bsky.social

checkpointgaming.net/features/202...

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic on Steam A first-person, turn-based journey into the occult. Who will stand with Aleister at the end of days?

store.steampowered.com/app/2621030/...

And finally, Your Holy and Virtuous Heretic, which I can best describe as 'Shin Megami Tensei and Daggerfall put in a blender'.

Dread Delusion was my favorite game of last year, and this game REALLY reminds me of it in a lot of ways.

I'd never been to PAX before this year. I've never been to a convention of its size, full stop, even as an attendee, I normally just don't have the money. After this year I think I understand now why people go, year after year, and I didn't even buy anything apart from a few pins lol.

Among the many other good things about finally going to PAX, I got to meet people in the aus games scene and beyond that I'd only ever talked to online. I got to show my game to people who I honestly never thought I'd ever see or meet, much less find out that they actually think my game is good.

A person in a brown robe (myself) standing in front of a demo stand for my game, Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic.

That's a wrap for #PAXAus and #MIGW, thanks to everyone who came to see the game! It's honestly felt like a dream and seeing people enjoy the game very much reminded me why I do what I do.

PAX 2025.xlsx

Here is a player facing spreadsheet of 150 indie games from PAX. Aus, NZ and SE Asia. Game name, steam (or other) link, demo y/n, genre, comments (which I'm editing). Please share. Let's work together to connect people to Aussie indies. I'm going to tag people next. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

PAX Aus 2025 was a testament to the enduring magic of games | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games PAX Aus 2025, across three days of celebration, proved just how vast the world of gaming is, and how it can weave everyone together.

pax aus 2025 was a special one

super grateful to the reception to the parallels talk ! but everyone at pax keeps saying it was "confronting" and "existential" whilst we're both standing next to the "i love yaoi" post it at our booth

A convention stand display for Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic with 2 monitors. On the left is an old CRT monitor and on the right is a conventional LCD monitor.

A dark ritual has been prepared at #PAXAus Rising... The CRT is back! Come to Stand 34 and be freed of your human need for modernity and fidelity, embrace the artifacts of an era long past!