Texas law firm Gerstle Snelson, LLP shines in the 2027 Best Law Firms rankings, achieving top Spot for construction and professional liability.

In Loving Memory Of The Revd William (Bill) Snel

I open with Sagan Yee's _Last Call for the Redding District_ , a 3D narrative game that asks what would happen if mermaids had the life cycle of Pacific salmon. You swim home to a town modeled on Saskatoon, catch up with everyone you went to school with, decide who to spawn with, and then everyone dies. Danny Snelson, who advised Sagan's MFA thesis at UCLA, joins me to talk through clips from my interview with Sagan. We get into the dating sim as a power fantasy, a game that won't show you the meter behind someone's affection, and a surface meter that works like an oxygen gauge for desire. Along the way, Angela Washko's _The Game: The Game_ , Jessica Hopper's "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't" and Ted Chiang's lesson from Clarion West that world-building is one premise followed all the way to its end. Then three pieces from the site: Studio Oleomingus's new work for the 8th Anyang Public Art Project, _Is it any wonder that I hesitate even at the gates of paradise?_ ; You+Pea's book _Videogame Architecture: Building Virtual Spaces_ , which draws _Doom_ and _Elden Ring_ as building plans; and _Palestine Skating Game_ , where the soldiers can now surround you and you can fight back. We close on Dann Beeson's sticky-note storyboards for Messhof's _Blood Dungeon_ and Dave Shuff's Big Steel Battalion Box, the refrigerator-box cockpit we first climbed into in 2014, now in the permanent collection of The MADE. Plus the new Killscreen events page. ## Links * Fish Make O-Faces, and Other Lessons From the Redding District, my feature on _Last Call for the Redding District_ * Studio Oleomingus Shows a Game About Mapping Paradise * You+Pea Redraw Doom and Disco Elysium as Building Plans * In Palestine Skating Game, the soldiers can surround you * Sticky notes storyboarded Blood Dungeon's animated intro * Dave Shuff's Big Steel Battalion Box Wins Editor's Choice * Here's what it's like to play Steel Battalion in a tricked-out refrigerator box, from 2014 * Killscreen Events _Hosted by Jamin Warren with Danny Snelson. Music by_ Nick Sylvester_._

_Sorry about the earlier send today! I publish on Ghost, and the default is email. I often publish directly to the site and save email for big sends. Thanks for understanding!_ _Ok, on to this week's pick._ An aside New on the podcast: The Dating Sim That Won't Tell You Why. Danny Snelson and I talk through Sagan Yee's mermaid hookup sim, Oleomingus's paradise, You+Pea's building plans and a Steel Battalion cockpit in a box. Watch or listen ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

Cezar Mocan's satellite finds a lake missing and generates testimony instead of doubt. Danny Snelson and I follow that instinct through games and publishing.

Cezar Mocan's satellite finds a lake missing and generates testimony instead of doubt. Danny Snelson and I follow that instinct through games and publishing.

Cezar Mocan's satellite finds a lake missing and generates testimony instead of doubt. Danny Snelson and I follow that instinct through games and publishing.

Cezar Mocan's satellite finds a lake missing and generates testimony instead of doubt. Danny Snelson and I follow that instinct through games and publishing.