Max van der Merwe
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maxvdm.bsky.social
Max van der Merwe
@maxvdm.bsky.social
Makes stuff! Video games and .°˖✧technical art✧˖°.
prev ustwo Games, The Line Animation
London <-> SF
Reposted by Max van der Merwe
🚨🚨🚨

We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site.

• We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon
• Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n
• See more: designroom.site
Design Room
Video game oral histories
designroom.site
October 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Thank you, Big-Ass Rainbow, for reminding me that magic still exists.
October 14, 2025 at 3:52 AM
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October 9, 2025 at 7:21 PM
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damn. hoping it at least signifies something
It is a tale
Told by an idiot
October 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
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How to create beautiful terrain with erosion in Blender fast (thread) ✨
February 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Boarding my 11 hour, transatlantic flight with a promise to myself that I WILL understand the Caves of Qud when I land.
January 2, 2025 at 1:55 PM
You just know the Rayonné is the dirtiest synth bass you’ve ever heard.
December 28, 2024 at 4:53 PM
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I dont want AAA games anymore, i want games made by a little freak with a vision
December 12, 2024 at 8:15 AM
Oh hey, I did some fun work on this one! Well over a year ago now, very surreal to jump into a Monument Valley game as a player, essentially blind! (I assume it has changed greatly since my tenure)
December 11, 2024 at 2:28 AM
Hello America!
(please be normal)
November 6, 2024 at 1:43 AM
The tracker seems to imply a possibility that my flight could decide go to Jamaica today instead, which sounds ideal, fingers crossed!
November 5, 2024 at 2:07 PM
I have somehow, through a series of unexpected personal and economical events, found myself on a plane to relocate my whole damn self, from the UK to the US, on election day. Everything feels totally unreal, here’s hoping I land in a normal country!
November 5, 2024 at 12:16 PM
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Maybe the funniest ad copy I’ve ever seen
November 15, 2023 at 1:08 PM
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Hello! I'm a person who draws the sky a lot, but sometimes other things too! I'll be hanging out around these parts.
October 20, 2023 at 5:42 PM
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October 17, 2023 at 4:45 AM
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hurgh it's #portfolioday and i am very tired and am down for 3D generalist work

sure, all my portfolio stuff is characters and texture work but can you imagine how badass my gradient textures would look on props? get in here early and you get my great personality and jokes for free
October 10, 2023 at 4:14 PM
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I'm looking for gamedev and graphics peeps to follow. Who you got? Reposts appreciated!
October 10, 2023 at 2:23 PM
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Why should I care enough to read or behold something no one cared enough to actually make?
September 26, 2023 at 4:44 PM
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QRT the character VS how do you draw them
October 2, 2023 at 8:59 PM
Struggling with the lack of any kind of map in Cocoon! This is 100% a me problem, Cocoon seems so beautiful and incredibly well designed.
But being unable to look beyond my immediate surroundings combined with the number of blind forks and one way gates is very stressful for Maxes!
October 2, 2023 at 8:21 PM
Ag! Totally obsessed with The Devil's Plan. It's a korean reality game show with a heavy emphasis on game design, and a spiritual successor to 'The Genius' one of my favourite TV shows of all time! It's BACK baybee! (its on the netflix or can probably be gotten via other means or whatever)
October 1, 2023 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Max van der Merwe
👾 OUT NOW 🪡

vividfax.itch.io/crossle

Crossle is a daily cross-stitch pathfinding challenge where you have to complete all of the crosses in the pattern using the least amount of thread. I find a tactical combination of the English and Danish methods works best ;)
September 30, 2023 at 5:02 PM
Recording pitches with a face cam (yuck) and I’m not sure how people record long videos in isolation and remember to be aware of and personable to the camera. I’ve stuck a little guy up there to be my stand in audience and he’s helping me through it.
September 30, 2023 at 3:14 PM
Very cool to be working in an industry that appears to be crumbling apart at every imaginable front!
September 28, 2023 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Max van der Merwe
If you fuck up badly enough that nine hundred of your own employees lose their jobs, you should be laid off too
September 28, 2023 at 3:48 PM