Friends
Here’s a list of websites, podcasts and blogs I keep coming back to. Some inspire me, some teach me something new, and some simply make me happy.
DOS Game Club
https://www.dosgameclub.com - DOS Game Club is a monthly podcast and online community I’m part of, where I also help edit the podcast. Think of it as a book club for DOS games: each month we all play the same game, discuss it on the forums, and close out with a podcast episode. It’s the only podcast focused purely on DOS games, and what makes it truly special is that every episode features community members as guests, joining in from all over the world. I love how the club lets me rediscover old classics and stumble upon games I’d never heard of, and one game a month fits easily into everyday life.
The Good Old Days
https://www.goodolddays.net - Hannes, better known online as Mr Creosote, runs The Good Old Days, a bilingual (English and German) community that asks whether those days were really that good, revisiting classic games from a modern perspective. Anyone can contribute, but many of the articles are his, and they’re insightful, often impressively well researched, and always fair. Sometimes I finish one thinking: “Huh, yeah, I guess that game hasn’t aged that well”. Just as often, though, I discover that a game I’d never paid attention to was way ahead of its time. Real love for old games, just without the rose-tinted glasses. He also created several text adventures.
Pixel Prophecy 🦄
https://pixelprophecy.com - Pixel Prophecy is Phil Strahl, a true jack of all trades, minus the “master of none” part. He makes games, music, pixel art, short stories, videos and much more, and he’s genuinely inspiring to follow. His weekly Twitch stream is a cozy mix of game dev, gaming culture, live music composition and drawing. He’s also known for his Ludum Dare post-mortem video series, a great watch for anyone curious about how game jam entries come together. Okay, I’m setting a limit of 3 additional links per link. Otherwise, things will get out of hand.
Thomblog
https://thomaspurnell.com - Tom ‘voxel’ Purnell is a web developer and retro game developer who makes new games for old consoles and computers. His blog is an excellent follow, covering game dev topics, the occasional dev woe, hardware tinkering and, much like my own blog, rediscovering the Amiga. He’s also a regular at game jams, and you can find many of his small free games on voxel.itch.io. He lives in Australia, where pretty much everything is trying to kill you, so better follow him now. Every new post is proof he survived another week.
usebox.net
https://www.usebox.net/jjm/ - Juan J. MartÃnez, aka reidrac, is a chill retro developer making lovely free games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, DOS (and more??). All of his games are free to play. His blog is well worth following too: alongside insights into his game development, he writes thoughtfully about a wide range of other topics. When he’s working on a game, he sometimes streams live on Twitch, and the VODs end up on his YouTube channel, a great chance to watch a retro developer at work.
Spielvertiefung
https://spielvertiefung.de - Spielvertiefung is the German-language podcast and (Discord) community of Jörg Luibl, former editor-in-chief of 4Players, and it’s where video game talk goes deep. 4Players’ subscription (“Pur”) was the first online magazine content I ever paid for and changed how I value free content, so after years of enjoying the podcast for free, supporting him directly was overdue. Few things make me happier than a conversation that really digs into a game, and Spielvertiefung delivers that with a guest lineup that reaches far beyond the typical old white male gaming crowd.
I’m missing!
Yes you are. Writing each of these little paragraphs takes quite some time, so the list will grow bit by bit whenever I find a quiet moment. Sorry to anyone I’ve missed for now!
Badges
If you want to link to my blog the way the good old internet intended, here’s a whole bunch of classic 88 × 31 banners to choose from:
