common-or-garden Mads 🦆
@madmacsfuryroad.bsky.social
Mads Mackenzie 💀 narrative game dev, mundane birdwatcher, sometimes cosplayer 💀 co-director @ Freeplay 💀 they/them, icon by Penta
Pinned
since my bio on here didn't have enough space and I have some new-new followers
hi, I'm Mads, I'm director/narrative designer at @fine-fiends.bsky.social and co-director at Freeplay
outside games work I'm into cosplay, and I love horror and birdwatching
hi, I'm Mads, I'm director/narrative designer at @fine-fiends.bsky.social and co-director at Freeplay
outside games work I'm into cosplay, and I love horror and birdwatching
back to writing this week. the new feeling is... i'm cooking and i don't fully understand what the meal is yet! but i'm cooking!
putting the drac script in-engine and nodding at all this stuff i wrote several months ago going mmm yes i was cooking. it's a good feeling.
November 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
back to writing this week. the new feeling is... i'm cooking and i don't fully understand what the meal is yet! but i'm cooking!
ah... Other M. Mackenzie
Oof. 😢
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
ah... Other M. Mackenzie
putting the drac script in-engine and nodding at all this stuff i wrote several months ago going mmm yes i was cooking. it's a good feeling.
November 14, 2025 at 1:27 AM
putting the drac script in-engine and nodding at all this stuff i wrote several months ago going mmm yes i was cooking. it's a good feeling.
MAN. I just learned one of my favourite historical fiction things misgendered one of the characters, but also his whole function in the narrative is to reflect on false remembrance and misuse of 'doing something in someone's memory', so I'm mad but I'm also impressed they reinforced their own theme?
November 13, 2025 at 1:50 AM
MAN. I just learned one of my favourite historical fiction things misgendered one of the characters, but also his whole function in the narrative is to reflect on false remembrance and misuse of 'doing something in someone's memory', so I'm mad but I'm also impressed they reinforced their own theme?
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
We're excited to announce that the Frosty Mini showcase will premiere on December 10 starting at 8am AEDT / 10am NZDT (that's December 9, 1pm PT for our USA friends)!
Tune in for exciting news and surprise announcements from 20+ of the coolest games made in Australia and Aotearoa NZ.
Tune in for exciting news and surprise announcements from 20+ of the coolest games made in Australia and Aotearoa NZ.
November 11, 2025 at 10:01 PM
We're excited to announce that the Frosty Mini showcase will premiere on December 10 starting at 8am AEDT / 10am NZDT (that's December 9, 1pm PT for our USA friends)!
Tune in for exciting news and surprise announcements from 20+ of the coolest games made in Australia and Aotearoa NZ.
Tune in for exciting news and surprise announcements from 20+ of the coolest games made in Australia and Aotearoa NZ.
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
Christchurch's playground elephant: demure, unassuming, shaped like a friend
Oamaru's playground elephant: ready for the next Punic war
Oamaru's playground elephant: ready for the next Punic war
November 11, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Christchurch's playground elephant: demure, unassuming, shaped like a friend
Oamaru's playground elephant: ready for the next Punic war
Oamaru's playground elephant: ready for the next Punic war
(dragging the video onto the internet with the big hook) here it is folks
The Parallels 2025 recording is live! Whether you want to revisit a favourite talk or see the show for the first time, it's available on our channel now:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD2a...
🎩🏈💀🃏⬜💐🧚🏠
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD2a...
🎩🏈💀🃏⬜💐🧚🏠
Freeplay Parallels 2025
YouTube video by Freeplay
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:07 AM
(dragging the video onto the internet with the big hook) here it is folks
we're returning Renfield to his natural habitat... England
(a barn owl swoops down and carries him off in its talons)
(a barn owl swoops down and carries him off in its talons)
Introducing some of the Aussie games we'll be sending to
@tothemoonexpo.bsky.social in Birmingham, England!🥳
If you're in the area, check out these games over in the indie section, 12-13 Nov!
🎫Ticket link: tothemoonexpo.io
💡Info about the games exchange: noblesteedgames.com/culture/game...
@tothemoonexpo.bsky.social in Birmingham, England!🥳
If you're in the area, check out these games over in the indie section, 12-13 Nov!
🎫Ticket link: tothemoonexpo.io
💡Info about the games exchange: noblesteedgames.com/culture/game...
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 AM
we're returning Renfield to his natural habitat... England
(a barn owl swoops down and carries him off in its talons)
(a barn owl swoops down and carries him off in its talons)
my new niche 'back in my day' complaint is that when i was a teen making AMVs i swear i could brute force basically any format into the editor, and now if anything is in a slightly wrong codec the editor starts crying and asks for it to be reencoded.
November 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
my new niche 'back in my day' complaint is that when i was a teen making AMVs i swear i could brute force basically any format into the editor, and now if anything is in a slightly wrong codec the editor starts crying and asks for it to be reencoded.
i used to work at a telco call centre, and from having to file fault tickets back then i've still got a reasonable sense of what's causing issues when i have network trouble with something now
November 7, 2025 at 10:41 AM
i used to work at a telco call centre, and from having to file fault tickets back then i've still got a reasonable sense of what's causing issues when i have network trouble with something now
YEAHHHHHH they've finally republished Blackwater in something other than a wristbreaking hardback let's go let's go
November 6, 2025 at 3:10 AM
YEAHHHHHH they've finally republished Blackwater in something other than a wristbreaking hardback let's go let's go
deeply frustrating to reach the bottom of what should be a much larger pool of books after only four books
I've been reading comp stuff for Drac research purposes and the shallow well is...
1) adult horror fiction
2) with a trans masc protag
3) who's not a teenager or in a school setting
I've been reading comp stuff for Drac research purposes and the shallow well is...
1) adult horror fiction
2) with a trans masc protag
3) who's not a teenager or in a school setting
November 6, 2025 at 2:09 AM
deeply frustrating to reach the bottom of what should be a much larger pool of books after only four books
I've been reading comp stuff for Drac research purposes and the shallow well is...
1) adult horror fiction
2) with a trans masc protag
3) who's not a teenager or in a school setting
I've been reading comp stuff for Drac research purposes and the shallow well is...
1) adult horror fiction
2) with a trans masc protag
3) who's not a teenager or in a school setting
Lal just told me they think 'every romcom is 50 First Dates'
November 5, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Lal just told me they think 'every romcom is 50 First Dates'
I'm back in the Giallo mines
November 4, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I'm back in the Giallo mines
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
love to write a self-serving motive rant where the character knows if they were honest they'd come off badly so they gotta get reeeally inventive with that explanation
November 2, 2025 at 3:00 AM
love to write a self-serving motive rant where the character knows if they were honest they'd come off badly so they gotta get reeeally inventive with that explanation
sometimes when I'm doing my 'does this word exist in 1930s English' checks I'll discover really weird exceptions like...
apparently 'skosh' is a bastardisation of 'sukoshi' from the post-WWII occupation of Japan?? Which I never would've thought of! It sounds like it should be an onomatopoeia!
apparently 'skosh' is a bastardisation of 'sukoshi' from the post-WWII occupation of Japan?? Which I never would've thought of! It sounds like it should be an onomatopoeia!
November 1, 2025 at 2:46 AM
sometimes when I'm doing my 'does this word exist in 1930s English' checks I'll discover really weird exceptions like...
apparently 'skosh' is a bastardisation of 'sukoshi' from the post-WWII occupation of Japan?? Which I never would've thought of! It sounds like it should be an onomatopoeia!
apparently 'skosh' is a bastardisation of 'sukoshi' from the post-WWII occupation of Japan?? Which I never would've thought of! It sounds like it should be an onomatopoeia!
hosted a Halloween movie night tonight and the coolest movie of the evening was... Cemetery Man
total fever dream full of abrasively weird characters and 'plot' beats that nevertheless had the energy and the visual style to make it work?? I was confused the whole way through but I had a blast
total fever dream full of abrasively weird characters and 'plot' beats that nevertheless had the energy and the visual style to make it work?? I was confused the whole way through but I had a blast
October 31, 2025 at 4:33 PM
hosted a Halloween movie night tonight and the coolest movie of the evening was... Cemetery Man
total fever dream full of abrasively weird characters and 'plot' beats that nevertheless had the energy and the visual style to make it work?? I was confused the whole way through but I had a blast
total fever dream full of abrasively weird characters and 'plot' beats that nevertheless had the energy and the visual style to make it work?? I was confused the whole way through but I had a blast
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
Happy Halloween! 🎃🦇🕯️
October 31, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Happy Halloween! 🎃🦇🕯️
finally read Piranesi, which was delightful, and also made me nod and go 'yeah...' a lot as someone who spent a year alone in lockdown as a grad student studying the actual Piranesi
October 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
finally read Piranesi, which was delightful, and also made me nod and go 'yeah...' a lot as someone who spent a year alone in lockdown as a grad student studying the actual Piranesi
my favourite people are antique tech restorationists who make videos showing how the equipment works... I owe you my life, everyone recording their 1920s lamps and speakers and cars in use
October 29, 2025 at 3:19 AM
my favourite people are antique tech restorationists who make videos showing how the equipment works... I owe you my life, everyone recording their 1920s lamps and speakers and cars in use
finally had a use for some notes I wrote back in 2018 on 19th century peasant economics and the pages with the info for the years I need are missing...
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
finally had a use for some notes I wrote back in 2018 on 19th century peasant economics and the pages with the info for the years I need are missing...
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
Reposted by common-or-garden Mads 🦆
They're practicing calligraphy! 🐦⬛🪶
October 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
They're practicing calligraphy! 🐦⬛🪶