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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦

@ironiciconic.bsky.social

1.2K followers 780 following 910 posts

Award-winning writer, game designer, & programmer. Wrote for Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys & BAFTA-winning Hercule Poirot: The First Cases. Partner @ Talespinners. Cat sorcerer. Canadian. (He/They)

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · Apr 23

Time to update my intro!

I'm Chris Tihor, a game writer and designer, and founder of @ironiciconicstudios.ca. I've worked on a bunch of things but may be best known for working on Nancy Drew and Poirot games. More recently I worked on Monaco 2 and (the sadly cancelled) Life by You.

A group shot of the main characters of Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys with game title in the lower center of the image.

A game cover depicting the figure of a young Hercule Poirot striding forward with other mysterious characters surrounding him.

An image depicting 4 bands of colour with the silhouettes of the figures of security bots chasing Pockets in front of them. The title Monaco 2 is also silhouetted across the coloured bands.

A depiction of a sunset on a tropical island with a blue car driving along a road and a couple holding each other and gazing at the sunset. The game title "Life by You" hangs in the air.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 4h

Nice. A number of open-world games are good like that: they let the player loose to engage with the story as much or as little as they want.

The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 5h

That's really cool. I wonder if there are particular types of stories that work well with that kind of gameplay, or at least manage to not get in the way.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 5h

Yes. It can be a real effort. Sometimes, I'll start a new game just to get the baseline again and it makes it easier to switch to an old game.

The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 5h

Interesting! Maybe strategy and narrative engage different parts of our brains and you find it relaxing and/or pleasurable to focus on the one part and not the other?

I find I'm that way with First-Person Shooters. I often don't want a lot of story, I just want to get to an action-game flow state.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 5h

Thanks! It's tricky to describe in words the inner workings of your own mind sometimes. But I'm always curious how other people's brains work.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 5h

The shape is made up from gameplay, mechanics, narrative, design, etc. but also includes the details of my own particular playthrough.

No idea if anyone else experiences games this way or if I'm just a weirdo.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 6h

If I want to go back to the first one, I have to recreate the shape. The more complicated the game, the more difficult to do. It's easier to start the game over and make a new shape.

Some favourite games I've played enough that the shape of it exists in my permanent memory.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 6h

I'll often continue playing the same video game for weeks on end because I know that if I stop and switch to something else I'll never go back to the first one.

In part, this is because in order to play the game, I hold the shape of it in my head. Play another game, the shape is replaced...

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 7h

Or you could watch The Good Place. Maybe both?

Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 7h

A History of Philosophy in 81 Video Lectures: A Free Course That Explores Philosophy from Ancient Greece to Modern Times

Above, you can watch 81 video lectures tracing the history of philosophy, moving from Ancient Greece to modern times. Arthur Holmes presented this influential course at Wheaton College for decades, an...

www.openculture.com

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 7h

(Not bragging, just pointing out that can happen and there is no reason that it can't happen more if game companies allow it.)

The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 7h

It *can* happen. I'm a freelancer and work for clients remotely while living in a city that's not a game dev capital.

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Draculanna 🧛🌿👁️ @annacwebs.bsky.social · 7h

I think it should remain possible to work professionally on video games without having to move

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GamesIndustry.biz @gibiz.bsky.social · 18h

Owlcat Games has launched a free game development learning resource, featuring over 350 learning resources including software recommendations, tutorials, and online courses

www.gamesindustry.biz/owlcat-games...

Owlcat Games sets up educational resource hub for game devs

Studio partners with Fireshine Games, 11 Bit Studios, Gaijin Entertainment, and Midwest Games to build database of over 350 learning resources

www.gamesindustry.biz

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 1d

The Signal: Stranded on Sirenis looks like it's right up my alley. Gonna have to try out their demo on Steam.

The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 1d

UI pet peeve: I click a "Log In" button on a website and it pops up an account registration page where I have to click a second "log in" link in order to actually log in.

The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 1d

At least with a cool dream:
1. An actual person had the dream
2. An actual person is telling the story of their dream

Chris Franklin @errant-signal.com · 1d

Even putting aside the fact that AI can't do this and will never be able to do this

Who would *want* this? Who wants a bespoke personal TV show? That they can't meaningfully engage anyone else with? That no human had a hand in crafting? You might as well tell someone about a cool dream you had.

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 2d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 3d

This two-parter below is exactly why it's hard to make clothes in the United States.

Let's look at how much it costs to produce a button-up shirt in the US. 🧵

Someone on Twitter replies to me: "meh. buy american or stfu."

Two hours later, in a separate thread, the write: "$30 for a single button-up is ridiculous unless it is decent quality silk."

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 3d

Are we certain that those are actual tech bros in the photo? They look like they're AI generated from a prompt. Even their names seem AI gen.

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that one video game writer @deathmeetauthor.bsky.social · 3d

“Changing narrative is easiest”

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 6d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 5d

Somehow we had a successful game launch in 2025: A thread 🧵

We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!

So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here

➡️➡️

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Josh @joshmlabelle.bsky.social · 6d

Just announced! I've been working on an interactive novel in the Hunter: The Reckoning franchise!

Day For Night lets you play as a veteran Hunter fighting back against the monsters of Hollywood over one blockbuster summer.

store.steampowered.com/app/3133670/...

Hunter: The Reckoning — Day For Night on Steam

These monsters aren’t just in the movies! Will you hunt the vampires, werewolves and others stalking Hollywood, or will you become a monster instead? An interactive, text-based game set in the World o...

store.steampowered.com

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Jules Sherred (he/him) @geekyjules.julessherred.com · 7d

I'm so happy to see this finally completed!

New $38.1M Indigenous Law wing opens at UVic share.google/1TLeIREfb1MB...

New $38.1M Indigenous Law wing opens at UVic

The University of Victoria is celebrating the opening of its new Indigenous Law wing, which spans a whopping 2,440-square-metres (26,264-square-feet) and connects to the Murray and Anne Fraser Buildin...

share.google

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 7d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 7d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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The Chris TiHorror Picture Show🫦 @ironiciconic.bsky.social · 7d

Some days I just want to nap.

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Giada Zavarise @cheerfulgoth.bsky.social · 7d

she doesn't even know what a merge conflict is

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