Noah Wardrip-Fruin
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n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin
@n-w-f.bsky.social
4K followers 410 following 97 posts
UC Santa Cruz professor; makes/studies games, elit, AI, etc; co-editor MIT Press Software Studies series; parent; Quaker; Henson/Muppet fan; disabled; he/him

New book on Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the U Chicago Press Replay series
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n-w-f.bsky.social
It's the #BookBirthday of Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Can a Game Take Care of Us?

If you were one of the players swept up in the embrace of #ACNH, or one of the people puzzled by the whole phenomenon, I hope this book reveals something new.

Thanks to everyone at @uchicagopress.bsky.social
Book held open by hand, with two images of Animal Crossing, one on each page. There is text below the images, which begins: In time we got more rambunctious. We would run around playing tag and follow-the-leader, narrowly skirting the flower beds. He'd run laps around Resident Services, then suddenly head off toward another area of the island. I'd have a hint that he was about to climb a cliff or jump a stream, because I'd see a ladder or vaulting pole appear in his character's grip. He'd zig and I'd take a risk on zagging, opening or closing the distance between us. The game kept our running speed the same. I might tire out mentally, but I sure lasted longer than I would have physically.
October 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
n-w-f.bsky.social
Just arrived!

With this book, @paulcornell.bsky.social & @rachaelsmith.bsky.social have established the genre of "cute cryptid whodunnit." It's about as far from the drumbeat of bad news as I can imagine.

I can't wait to discover Who Killed Nessie!
The cover of Who Killed Nessie by Paul Cornell and Rachel Smith
September 17, 2025 at 1:30 AM
n-w-f.bsky.social
How did Animal Crossing: New Horizons come to mean so much to so many? Travel back in time with me, five long years back, to the early days of ACNH and the Covid pandemic
Front cover of Animal Crossing: New Horizons book by Noah Wardrip-Fruin
September 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
n-w-f.bsky.social
Playing Spiritfarer — because a cozy game about grief seems right about now — and I'm getting a pretty strong feeling that @thunderlotus.bsky.social has some #ACNH players on the writing staff
The main character is warned about Theodore and his brothers, shady retailers who run Raccoon, Inc A character saying to Theodore, "And you should be ashamed of yourself, you trash panda."
November 26, 2024 at 2:01 AM
n-w-f.bsky.social
I just realized I don't know how much I'm allowed to say. While I wait to hear from the press, here are the first and last images
A screen capture from the game Katamari Damacy. A small, green figure stands on one finger of a gigantic figure wearing a crown. A dialogue balloon from the gigantic figure reads, “Well, since you’re the Prince, you should do much, much better.” A screen capture from the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In the middle of the screen, a human stands in a green outfit. A dog plays guitar in the background. Interface text on the screen reads, "Ready to wrap things up for now?"
July 11, 2024 at 8:38 PM
n-w-f.bsky.social
The key to our species success is quite possibly superior #craft

www.theguardian.com/science/2023...
Section from Guardian article on how weaving and sewing may have been key to H Sapiens’s success
April 7, 2024 at 4:44 AM
n-w-f.bsky.social
I've just started Divinity: Original Sin 2. This is a good summary of my experience so far
An achievement for winning a persuasion event next to a scene of everything on fire
February 16, 2024 at 8:06 PM
n-w-f.bsky.social
Things are moving along nicely with my next book.

Not ready to announce yet, but this is one of the things I bought for research.
Special edition Nintendo Switch — Animal Crossing: New Horizons
January 29, 2024 at 5:15 PM