esteban
@estebanthinks.bsky.social
Boutique posts | Game Designer: Penny’s Big Breakaway, Chambara | he/him
Reposted by esteban
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:18 PM
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
Why are all my fire sprinklers evil
November 9, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Why are all my fire sprinklers evil
I adore all the people playing Kirby Air Ride for the first time and losing their minds posting clips of gameplay that look, to me as someone who has played the first game since middle school, like the most mundane normal clips of normal gameplay
November 9, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I adore all the people playing Kirby Air Ride for the first time and losing their minds posting clips of gameplay that look, to me as someone who has played the first game since middle school, like the most mundane normal clips of normal gameplay
I haven’t listened to a podcast in months…
November 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I haven’t listened to a podcast in months…
Reposted by esteban
Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.
Game design is simple, actually
So, let’s just walk through the whole thing, end to end. Here’s a twelve-step program for understanding game design. One: Fun There are a lot of things people call “fun.” But most of them are not useful for getting better at making games, which is usually why people read articles like this. The fun of a bit of confetti exploding in front of you, and the fun of excruciating pain and risk to life and limb as you free climb a cliff are just not usefully paired together.
www.raphkoster.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.
Favorite game I played this year
November 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Favorite game I played this year
My friends did an AMV festival last week so I made an Chainsaw Man one! I came away with an important lesson: don’t use Clipchamp to try and edit anything youtu.be/0s-muexL-5A
Pitbull Terrier - Chainsaw Man AMV
YouTube video by Esteban Fajardo
youtu.be
October 26, 2025 at 12:39 AM
My friends did an AMV festival last week so I made an Chainsaw Man one! I came away with an important lesson: don’t use Clipchamp to try and edit anything youtu.be/0s-muexL-5A
Reposted by esteban
1X111 by @abagames.bsky.social
one of the classic japanese game hobbiests, Kenta Cho recently tied together 111 of his single-button games into an old-school wario-ware you can play on your phone (he's been making tiny free games since the 80s)
abagames.itch.io/1x111
one of the classic japanese game hobbiests, Kenta Cho recently tied together 111 of his single-button games into an old-school wario-ware you can play on your phone (he's been making tiny free games since the 80s)
abagames.itch.io/1x111
August 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
1X111 by @abagames.bsky.social
one of the classic japanese game hobbiests, Kenta Cho recently tied together 111 of his single-button games into an old-school wario-ware you can play on your phone (he's been making tiny free games since the 80s)
abagames.itch.io/1x111
one of the classic japanese game hobbiests, Kenta Cho recently tied together 111 of his single-button games into an old-school wario-ware you can play on your phone (he's been making tiny free games since the 80s)
abagames.itch.io/1x111
Reposted by esteban
I've noticed the opposing team's fans only cheer when the opponents score on us. To win those fans over, I recommend we score on ourselves repeatedly; that will surely make them so happy they'll start supporting us. And I'm sure all our fans will keep cheering for us—who else is there to cheer for?
October 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I've noticed the opposing team's fans only cheer when the opponents score on us. To win those fans over, I recommend we score on ourselves repeatedly; that will surely make them so happy they'll start supporting us. And I'm sure all our fans will keep cheering for us—who else is there to cheer for?
Reposted by esteban
I gotta hand it to whatever advertising firm Informa hired to make these, there really is something almost poetic about GDC's advertising being "an AI-looking depiction of an industry staple being destroyed with no clear elaboration of what comes after." Masterclass in unintentionally nailing it.
October 9, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I gotta hand it to whatever advertising firm Informa hired to make these, there really is something almost poetic about GDC's advertising being "an AI-looking depiction of an industry staple being destroyed with no clear elaboration of what comes after." Masterclass in unintentionally nailing it.
Reposted by esteban
"WHERE THE HELL ARE MY TAX DOLLARS GOING?!?" 🤔
People of Los Angeles, take a look at our easy-to-use budget website to see where your tax dollars are budgeted to be spent this fiscal year! 🔎
Visit: budget.lacontroller.app
People of Los Angeles, take a look at our easy-to-use budget website to see where your tax dollars are budgeted to be spent this fiscal year! 🔎
Visit: budget.lacontroller.app
October 3, 2025 at 4:42 AM
"WHERE THE HELL ARE MY TAX DOLLARS GOING?!?" 🤔
People of Los Angeles, take a look at our easy-to-use budget website to see where your tax dollars are budgeted to be spent this fiscal year! 🔎
Visit: budget.lacontroller.app
People of Los Angeles, take a look at our easy-to-use budget website to see where your tax dollars are budgeted to be spent this fiscal year! 🔎
Visit: budget.lacontroller.app
Big fan of Pumpy’s Big Clumpy
I strongly believe in the breadth and influence of independent art, to grant us oblique angles on the world and ourselves.
But also every indie game is somewhere on this spectrum:
But also every indie game is somewhere on this spectrum:
September 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Big fan of Pumpy’s Big Clumpy
Holy shit this interview ahahahaaa
September 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Holy shit this interview ahahahaaa
Found the craziest passport holder
September 21, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Found the craziest passport holder
Reposted by esteban
Now that I have some distance from my GDC talk, I think if I were to boil down my game design advice into a single sentence, it might be something like:
Focus less on adding stuff to your game, and more on developing connections between the stuff you already have.
Focus less on adding stuff to your game, and more on developing connections between the stuff you already have.
September 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Now that I have some distance from my GDC talk, I think if I were to boil down my game design advice into a single sentence, it might be something like:
Focus less on adding stuff to your game, and more on developing connections between the stuff you already have.
Focus less on adding stuff to your game, and more on developing connections between the stuff you already have.
god bless Open Doom Crescendo
September 9, 2025 at 4:22 AM
god bless Open Doom Crescendo
Reposted by esteban
The eye exam is the perfect game design. That big E is a great tutorial that teaches you the basic mechanic. But it doesn't baby you and quickly gets hard as they introduce the small and blurry enemies.
September 7, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The eye exam is the perfect game design. That big E is a great tutorial that teaches you the basic mechanic. But it doesn't baby you and quickly gets hard as they introduce the small and blurry enemies.
Reposted by esteban
September 8, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Long shot but if I know anyone who wants to buy a small boba business in downtown LA — space, equipment, branding, secret recipes — for an *outrageously* low price, I’m neighbors with the owners and they need someone to take over. It’s my favorite spot in the area, would hate to see it shut down 😔
August 28, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Long shot but if I know anyone who wants to buy a small boba business in downtown LA — space, equipment, branding, secret recipes — for an *outrageously* low price, I’m neighbors with the owners and they need someone to take over. It’s my favorite spot in the area, would hate to see it shut down 😔
Producers around the world praying that their devs do not read this and feel inspired to not update their Jira tickets
Team Cherry told me that Hollow Knight has sold 15 million copies, making it one of the biggest indie games of all time.
What's really wild is that in February 2019, when Silksong was announced, Hollow Knight had only sold 2.8 million copies.
The full story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
What's really wild is that in February 2019, when Silksong was announced, Hollow Knight had only sold 2.8 million copies.
The full story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Why ‘Silksong’ Took Seven Years to Make
The highly anticipated indie game has been in production for so long that it’s become an internet meme
www.bloomberg.com
August 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Producers around the world praying that their devs do not read this and feel inspired to not update their Jira tickets
Reposted by esteban
Asking my girlfriend why all of Hatsune Miku’s songs are so emo and she assures me that she also has songs about the boys being back in town
August 19, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Asking my girlfriend why all of Hatsune Miku’s songs are so emo and she assures me that she also has songs about the boys being back in town
Reposted by esteban
Games in pre-alpha
August 4, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Games in pre-alpha