The reading room.
A quiet shelf for the books, games, films and shows we love, and what they teach us about telling stories. The first pieces are being written now.
Books
Most of the worlds we love started on a page. This shelf is for the novels, series and strange little books that shaped how we tell stories.
- Books that should be games (and the ones that never should)
- What a great fantasy map teaches a level designer
- Reading lists from the people who made the games you love
Games
Video games and tabletop games that tell stories through play. What worked, what moved us, and what we're still thinking about.
- A game's real genre is the feeling it lets you return to
- What cozy means: comfort, competence and low-friction mastery
- Telling a story through mechanics: notes from SNAkE
Film & TV
The shows and films we can't stop talking about, and what games and books can learn from how they hold an audience.
- The cliffhanger, the cold open, and the save point
- Adaptations that honoured the book, and why they worked
Seven questions we ask of every story we love.
Not scores. Questions. They work on a novel, a board game, a season of television or a hundred-hour RPG.
The Promise
What feeling does this story offer, and does it keep its word?
The Pull
What makes you keep thinking about it afterward?
The Reader It Wants
Who feels clever, safe, brave, seen or delighted here?
The Friction
Where does the telling get in the way of the tale?
The Time It Asks
A night, a season, a hundred hours, or a lifetime of rereading?
The Story of Play
Does meaning come from what you do, or from what you're told?
The Room It Fills
What does it sit beside in your life, and what does it replace?