I've supported written science fiction for many years, but shockingly in all that time I've never talked publicly about a comparatively new science fiction medium: computer games.
I've got about three hundred games in my Steam account, almost all science fiction or fantasy themed. Many of them are beautifully crafted games that can take upwards of a hundred hours to fully explore. I don't play new games very often anymore, though, because of other priorities — most of them related to my kids or my job. As a nearly 40(!) year old, I now prefer shorter experiences that I can fit in between my other commitments.
I was thinking about all this one night a few weeks back and I realized that I'd like to explore the intersection of science fiction short stories and short browser games. I decided to start building a new game called "Dyson Swarm", a short jaunt based on one of my favorite hard science fiction themes.
Developing the game has been so fun that I've decided to challenge myself and try to make six narrative-driven short games based on my favorite ideas from hard science fiction! I'm aiming for a rate of one per month. Playthrough time for each game will be around 1-2 hours.
I'm going to release the first one (Dyson Swarm) next week. If you'd like to join me on this six month adventure there's no special action to take, just stay tuned for my next email. If you know anyone who might enjoy this project I'd appreciate if you'd share it with them, I need all the external motivation I can get :)
Until next week!
Joe