Daniel Vella

Just received physical copies of our volume of essays on the games of From Software, out now on @tuneandfairweather.bsky.social - and it's an even more gorgeous thing than photos can convey. I was planning on doing some work today but might just stare at this on the shelf instead.

As an incorrigible city lover, I've long been a fan of @commapress.bsky.social's excellent Reading the City series, so I'm thrilled to have a story in The Book of Valletta, out in just two weeks! Pre-order at: commapress.co.uk/books/the-bo...

As an incorrigible city lover, I've long been a fan of @commapress.bsky.social's excellent Reading the City series, so I'm thrilled to have a story in The Book of Valletta, out in just two weeks! Pre-order at: commapress.co.uk/books/the-bo...

Exciting news! Myself and @bettibo.bsky.social are series editors for our UEP series on Critical Studies in Games and Culture 🥳🎮🕹♟️🥅 Feel free to reach out to us directly to have a chat about your ideas and whether they would be a good fit! More info at www.exeterpress.co.uk/collections/...

Join on Teams in 30 minutes (10.30 UK time) if you want to hear me talk about how Kant and Schiller's aesthetics are still relevant to how we understand games! teams.microsoft.com/meet/3291455...

On my way to Manchester as an invited speaker at the Aesthetics of Games Conference, which runs tomorrow to Wednesday! The conference is free to follow online for anyone who's interested. philevents.org/event/show/1...

Those of us designing study programmes, putting together reading lists and writing text books increasingly face the question: what are the key texts of academic game studies? Bring your perspective to our workshop in Warsaw in November (as part of CEEGS 2026): ceegs.fsv.cuni.cz/wp-content/u...

We couldn't be happier to have Nico Delort's work on The Scholar's Codex! Can't imagine I'll ever work on a more beautiful book.

FromSoftware and Romanticism, Dark Souls II and Walter Benjamin’s theory of history? Justin Fenech reflects on Scholar's Codex and the depth of the FromSoftware Games in new @geeknative.bsky.social article. www.geeknative.com/240233/a-wor... @gua-le-ni.com @tuneandfairweather.bsky.social

It was less than one month ago that the European Data Centre Association explicitly told the EU it had to choose between AI and its climate targets as if this was even a question. Meanwhile 'the world is on fire' is not even remotely a metaphor at this point.

No science fiction could have prepared us for just how stupid the end of the world can be. "The environment was on the brink of collapse, and so, rather than deal with that, we burned what fuel we had left getting computers to scam each other for money."

Proud (co-)supervisor time! Last Friday, Ana Laura Matos Torquato successfully defended her PhD at the a Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil). Her PhD touches on horror, the metaludic and subjectivity, and centred on making an adventure game about the migrant experience of urban space.

Proud (co-)supervisor time! Last Friday, Ana Laura Matos Torquato successfully defended her PhD at the a Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil). Her PhD touches on horror, the metaludic and subjectivity, and centred on making an adventure game about the migrant experience of urban space.

I don't follow football, but I do love a good underdog story, and since everyone's talking about Cabo Verde, it's my duty to share this remarkable compilation of synth-accented 70s funk/pop/afrobeat from the islands. Perfect summer music! analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/space-...

I don't follow football, but I do love a good underdog story, and since everyone's talking about Cabo Verde, it's my duty to share this remarkable compilation of synth-accented 70s funk/pop/afrobeat from the islands. Perfect summer music! analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/space-...

Right now the world is full of people who want to code and write and paint and film stuff and people who want to play and read and look at and watch stuff and nobody is allowed to do any of that because some unrelated third guy isn't making enough money off the deal

Unprecedented heatwaves are cooking us to death in our homes, the ecosystems we depend on are collapsing, and our planet is becoming unliveable, but that's a small price to pay to have the computer tell me I'm a special little baby.

People who have seen Backrooms and also played Persona 5: so the Backrooms are essentially Mementos, right?

People who have seen Backrooms and also played Persona 5: so the Backrooms are essentially Mementos, right?

My thesis “Archaeological Game Design: Video Game Archaeology as Interpretive Play and Play Preservation” is now online and open access! You can access the official version here, however this has some figures redacted: qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle...

Join us in #Rome on June the 3rd for a 'Bonfireside chat' with the authors of the Scholar's Codex! The event starts at 4PM at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Rome (Vicolo Doria), feat. @domford.bsky.social @danielvella.bsky.social, @nelevdm.bsky.social & more! CC: @tuneandfairweather.bsky.social

There are few game creators I can think of whose work is as vital as Rasheed's. This is game development as an act of resistance, and it deserves your attention and your support.

Settler-colonialism depends on the fiction of barren land to be claimed, and this fiction can only be created through scorched-earth violence. It's no accident this is in keeping with the practice of erasing Palestinian villages from the map. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Play HAMM-3R! 🚀 FREE + SHORT (5-10 mins.) >> hammer.gua-le-ni.com << An experimental game about tools and technologies made with @amidos2006.bsky.social, @demigiant.com and other friends at the @indigitalgames.bsky.social! 🔨

🌍 Worldwide game studies research connections! Find out what Matija Vigato, PhD student & research assistant University of Zagreb, thought about her research stay working with @gua-le-ni.com and @danielvella.bsky.social at the intersection of philosophy and games. 📰 www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/li...

*taps the sign with increasing weariness*

Sure Europe might have had some reservations about the US with the whole Greenland thing, but there's nothing like some good old-fashioned imperialism in the Middle East to bring old friends together.

If the idea of pursuing a Masters in game studies in Malta, with analysis, design and tech streams, sounds good to you, join our online info session later today!

A simple question leads MSc student Paul down a #gamestudies rabbit hole. ✨Hunicke, LeBlanc, @rzubek.bsky.social ▶️ @miguelsicart.bsky.social ▶️ Swink ▶️Adams & @jorisdormans.bsky.social #gamedev #gamedesign youtu.be/MFgTpQUbHZA?...

Finished @inkle.co's new TR-49 and it's predictably excellent, but I'm now fascinated by the distinct genre of scientific mysticism blended with interpersonal tragedy that characterizes so much of the British indie game writing scene (see also: Dear Esther, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture...).

The gorgeous soundstage landscapes of The Jade Raksha (Ho Meng-Hua, 1968)

Academics from around the world have come together to explore the themes and lore of classics like #Bloodborne, #DarkSouls and #EldenRing in "𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑'𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐗" ...and pre-orders are open! ONE DAY...I will have all the @tuneandfairweather.bsky.social collection on our shelves....ONE DAY... ❤️

I don't willingly use AI for anything, but the fact that every app insists on shoving it into my face means I keep seeing things like this which remind me why I don't willingly use AI for anything.

And our CfP is out! History of Games 2026: The Ages of Games. Epochs and Periodisations 25-27th June, City University of Hong Kong, School of Creative www.history-of-games.com/2026-hong-ko... Please share and hope to see you there!

The Scholar’s Codex is available for pre-purchase, published by @tuneandfairweather.bsky.social ! I’m so amazed to be part of such a well-crafted collection (the illustrations are gorgeous) edited by @domford.bsky.social, @gua-le-ni.com, @nelevdm.bsky.social and @danielvella.bsky.social.

Can finally talk about this book! @domford.bsky.social @gua-le-ni.com @nelevdm.bsky.social & I have been on this journey for a while with a great team of contributors, and it's amazing to see what T&F have done with it. Certainly the most gorgeous book I've ever been involved with.

Can finally talk about this book! @domford.bsky.social @gua-le-ni.com @nelevdm.bsky.social & I have been on this journey for a while with a great team of contributors, and it's amazing to see what T&F have done with it. Certainly the most gorgeous book I've ever been involved with.

Between the fog and the flame, a truth lies buried in ash.

Amazing item ahead. Watch this space!

Last month The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games, ed. by @add-hawk.bsky.social & John Richard Sageng, was also out! I've got a chapter on the idea of 'beauty' in the aesthetic philosophy of Kant & Schiller and how it applies to play & games, and it's in great company in this huge collection.