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john ๐ŸŒผ

@metajarra

(he/him) toronto indie gamedev and artist articles in Into the Spine and Unwinnable new games always at http://metajarra.itch.io

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10.12.2023
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Latest posts by john ๐ŸŒผ @metajarra

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I try not to do ranty threads anymore, but man, this Valve GDC graph has just rubbed me up unbelievably badly

This was presented as a good thing - "more games are finding success!" -- when actually the data has just been presented in a tricksy way to make it look like everything is fine

12.03.2026 11:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 850 ๐Ÿ” 233 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 13 ๐Ÿ“Œ 36
Wordle Creator's New Game Is Definitely Not As Chill As
Wordle
by RILEY MACLEOD
11 MAR 2026
T EVIL
Parse word
I Cannot Stop Thinking About
Marathon
by GITA JACKSON
11 MAR 2026
With Australian Games Media On Its Knees, A New Magazine Is Trying To Keep A Scene Alive by LUKE PLUNKETT
10 MAR 2026
A Reminder That Al Grifters Are Also Selling Fake Video Game Guidebooks On
Amazon
by LUKE PLUNKETT
10 MAR 2026
RESIDENT EVIL

Wordle Creator's New Game Is Definitely Not As Chill As Wordle by RILEY MACLEOD 11 MAR 2026 T EVIL Parse word I Cannot Stop Thinking About Marathon by GITA JACKSON 11 MAR 2026 With Australian Games Media On Its Knees, A New Magazine Is Trying To Keep A Scene Alive by LUKE PLUNKETT 10 MAR 2026 A Reminder That Al Grifters Are Also Selling Fake Video Game Guidebooks On Amazon by LUKE PLUNKETT 10 MAR 2026 RESIDENT EVIL

No story about SubStar on Aftermath even though this is a huge blow to the adult game dev world, cataclysmic and affecting may game devsโ€™ futures online

11.03.2026 17:28 ๐Ÿ‘ 223 ๐Ÿ” 72 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 9 ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
Kansas Sends Letters To Trans People Demanding The Immediate Surrender Of Drivers Licenses
"The legislature did not include a grace period."
ERIN REED
FEB 25, 2026
88
5
21
Share
Kansas Sate Capitol // farzinvousoughian

Kansas Sends Letters To Trans People Demanding The Immediate Surrender Of Drivers Licenses "The legislature did not include a grace period." ERIN REED FEB 25, 2026 88 5 21 Share Kansas Sate Capitol // farzinvousoughian

1. Numerous transgender people in Kansas are reporting that the state has sent them a letter demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses.

Those driving could be arrested, charged, and see privileges revoked.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

26.02.2026 01:06 ๐Ÿ‘ 6356 ๐Ÿ” 3475 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 239 ๐Ÿ“Œ 909
an announcement image for project menagerie. text overlaid on pictures of the three debut indie games and collections. 
on the left is the parfum nostalgique visual novel series by priro.pro, 
in the middle is the ed naarel anthology, a collection of interactive fiction, 
and on the right is data sparrow's hypersports collection, three print-to-play sci-fi sports tabletop games.

an announcement image for project menagerie. text overlaid on pictures of the three debut indie games and collections. on the left is the parfum nostalgique visual novel series by priro.pro, in the middle is the ed naarel anthology, a collection of interactive fiction, and on the right is data sparrow's hypersports collection, three print-to-play sci-fi sports tabletop games.

Announcing Project Menagerie, my initiative to bring digital games to physical space.
I'm now working with an ever-growing collection of creators to make their games into super cool USBs!
Our 3 debut releases are available online or at one of our upcoming pop-up shops!

priro.pro/projectmenag...

07.01.2026 00:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 136 ๐Ÿ” 90 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10 ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
Preview
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...

In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney โ€” a former editor at The New York Times โ€” details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.

01.01.2026 18:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 7203 ๐Ÿ” 3394 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 58 ๐Ÿ“Œ 349
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The casualties already coming in. Grandmothers in their apartmentsโ€ฆ.

03.01.2026 19:21 ๐Ÿ‘ 2503 ๐Ÿ” 932 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 93
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BREAKING: Venezuelaโ€™s government has accused the US of launching attacks on civilian and military installations across several states, rejecting what it described as a "military aggression," according to an official statement.

๐Ÿ”ด LIVE updates: aje.io/p3fqh2

03.01.2026 07:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 1272 ๐Ÿ” 650 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 38 ๐Ÿ“Œ 71

Three million people live in Caracas, five million in the metro area. It's one of the densest cities in South America. Remember this in the morning when they try to spin this as anything other than a cold-blooded attack on a major civilian center.

03.01.2026 07:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 12364 ๐Ÿ” 4814 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 79 ๐Ÿ“Œ 62

Thrilled to be included this, speaking about the massive strides the industry has made in terms of organizing in 2025. Much love to game workers everywhere. โœŠ๐ŸŽฎ

01.01.2026 00:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 104 ๐Ÿ” 28 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
a collage of 15 different games included on the list, from silent hill f to elden ring nightreign

a collage of 15 different games included on the list, from silent hill f to elden ring nightreign

this was 2025, as told by 91 writers across the world

intothespine.com/2025/12/31/s...

31.12.2025 22:13 ๐Ÿ‘ 250 ๐Ÿ” 99 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 70

it's been so wonderful to write a few words for this together with my best friend! thank you so much Diego for inviting us โค๏ธ I can't wait to read everyone else's work tomorrow!!

31.12.2025 01:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
a wordpress screenshot showing an article called "stories of 2025". it displays a hero image with a collage of 15 video games, as well as the following text: 21,107 words, 112 minutes read time. last edited a minute ago

a wordpress screenshot showing an article called "stories of 2025". it displays a hero image with a collage of 15 video games, as well as the following text: 21,107 words, 112 minutes read time. last edited a minute ago

tomorrow

30.12.2025 19:09 ๐Ÿ‘ 62 ๐Ÿ” 19 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10

this is a Canadian petition to uphold charter rights for transgender and minority communities

if youre Canadian, please sign it. if youre not Canadian, please share it.

www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...

20.12.2025 03:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 3000 ๐Ÿ” 3748 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 29 ๐Ÿ“Œ 83

if you've finished UNBEATABLE and it speaks to you, the best thing you can do is buy a copy for your enemies

11.12.2025 18:38 ๐Ÿ‘ 239 ๐Ÿ” 45 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 7 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The best games of 2025 give a glimpse into a better world โ€” where artists can invite audiences into their memoirs, where AAAs are thematically ambitious and small teams can sculpt epics.

This is also my 100th(!!) proper video on YouTube, a milestone seven years in the making
youtu.be/tJ4X6FsLn6Y

11.12.2025 16:54 ๐Ÿ‘ 1065 ๐Ÿ” 158 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 27 ๐Ÿ“Œ 21
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It took a while, but Nuclear Throne Update 100 is out now! (and 50% off on Steam) store.steampowered.com/app/242680/N...

05.12.2025 18:06 ๐Ÿ‘ 959 ๐Ÿ” 457 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 31 ๐Ÿ“Œ 78
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Yesterday, the Epic Games Store decided at the last minute not to distribute the game, after having previously approved a release build. HORSES is otherwise now available on GOG, Itch, and Humble for $4.99. www.horses.wtf

02.12.2025 17:10 ๐Ÿ‘ 2168 ๐Ÿ” 1208 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 78 ๐Ÿ“Œ 236

Since our fucking government isnโ€™t observing World AIDS Day, I will. In 1990, I started taking care of people in the last stages of AIDS in their homes. I did this for nearly two years. The home care company I worked for had meetings for those of us who solely (or nearly solely) took care of PWAs.

01.12.2025 12:16 ๐Ÿ‘ 602 ๐Ÿ” 262 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 24

mediterranea inferno was such an important game to me, and it's devastating to see Santa Ragione create another work of art only to get banned from steam :(. if you can, please buy this on another site next week and support a wonderful studio

26.11.2025 04:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Steam intentionally killing an old, respected, and beloved decade old indie game studio through bullshit policy is fucking wild

26.11.2025 01:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 658 ๐Ÿ” 220 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 7 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
a classical lolita (pale, redhead with hime cut, greek jewish) , a gyaru (sicilian, fake blonde hair, medium tan), and a visual kei goth (dark-skinned, textured hair in a sujimori style, black) in a paper-scrap art style looking up at a little cat jumping over them. they are surrounded by a collage of italian cookies and the title "rigmarole!" is placed in an arch above them.

a classical lolita (pale, redhead with hime cut, greek jewish) , a gyaru (sicilian, fake blonde hair, medium tan), and a visual kei goth (dark-skinned, textured hair in a sujimori style, black) in a paper-scrap art style looking up at a little cat jumping over them. they are surrounded by a collage of italian cookies and the title "rigmarole!" is placed in an arch above them.

Announcing my new project, Rigmarole! ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿˆโœจ

A point-and-click adventure visual novel about a NY-Italian gyaru and her fruity mahjong buddies driving across the country to go snatch back her Nonna's cat from her gay homophobe rock star cousin!

priro.itch.io/rigmarole
This one's gonna be a wild ride.

19.11.2025 19:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 73 ๐Ÿ” 45 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

maybe we could use another splash screen.

12.11.2025 06:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 3921 ๐Ÿ” 1409 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 27 ๐Ÿ“Œ 27

if we talking about the game awards can we talk about their silly games for impact category aka the diversity award. its so silly they will put queer games and games with poc leads (all indie btw) in that category but never nominate them in anything else

06.11.2025 20:27 ๐Ÿ‘ 182 ๐Ÿ” 57 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

once again, Bluesky has deleted Sama'a's account in spite of its minimal activity and strict observance of the site's rules.

10.11.2025 19:06 ๐Ÿ‘ 143 ๐Ÿ” 188 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
As Steam cracks down on adult games, one dev urges taking back control Game developers fear for the future of games with LGBTQ themes, which is leading some to pursue alternate (and way cooler) forms of distribution

Well! There we are! Me and Val! The handsomest men to ever grace the Indie game scene!

It's an absolute honor to say Parfum Nostalgique has been featured on @polygon.com . I'm gonna go scream now.

www.polygon.com/steam-adult-...

12.10.2025 16:10 ๐Ÿ‘ 117 ๐Ÿ” 81 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 12 ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
'We're not safe here'
In the immediate days after, creators have found themselves at a loss of what to do.
Game developer krispycat, also known as ButterflyLatte, reports that her NSFW game demo, known as "The Seventh Bride," was deindexed, and is only shown when specifically searched for. It wasn't just this game, either.
"On a whim, I tried to search up my SFW games as well - Wendy, warm, Like Seafoam.
These games are fairly innocent and wholesome; 'warm' and 'Wendy' star children.
However, they don't appear in the suggestions either - I suspect it's because they're yuri games," she recounted, describing a genre of fiction which depicts romance between two female characters and has no inherent sexual elements.

'We're not safe here' In the immediate days after, creators have found themselves at a loss of what to do. Game developer krispycat, also known as ButterflyLatte, reports that her NSFW game demo, known as "The Seventh Bride," was deindexed, and is only shown when specifically searched for. It wasn't just this game, either. "On a whim, I tried to search up my SFW games as well - Wendy, warm, Like Seafoam. These games are fairly innocent and wholesome; 'warm' and 'Wendy' star children. However, they don't appear in the suggestions either - I suspect it's because they're yuri games," she recounted, describing a genre of fiction which depicts romance between two female characters and has no inherent sexual elements.

Some creators report that an entire game jam
- or collection of games developed in a short period to build community - was affected. The Toxic Yuri Game Jam, consisting of over 200 different games, saw significant hits, with over half of the games delisted and several being completely removed from the site. One user, known as Kastel, describes how a joke game they made was delisted squarely for having the tag "erotic."
They mention how this jam was filled with first time developers, and how the occurrence of these bans led to mass panic, watching a happy community turn into people feeling completely doomed.
"I've done a bunch of these game jams, so I'm giving them advice. And then I'm looking at all this and it's just... what do I even say? This is a pretty bad situation. I can't pretend that this is good. This isn't a wonderful thing we can all survive. It's pretty rough. I feel bad for everyone, especially because it's their first wave of censorship."

Some creators report that an entire game jam - or collection of games developed in a short period to build community - was affected. The Toxic Yuri Game Jam, consisting of over 200 different games, saw significant hits, with over half of the games delisted and several being completely removed from the site. One user, known as Kastel, describes how a joke game they made was delisted squarely for having the tag "erotic." They mention how this jam was filled with first time developers, and how the occurrence of these bans led to mass panic, watching a happy community turn into people feeling completely doomed. "I've done a bunch of these game jams, so I'm giving them advice. And then I'm looking at all this and it's just... what do I even say? This is a pretty bad situation. I can't pretend that this is good. This isn't a wonderful thing we can all survive. It's pretty rough. I feel bad for everyone, especially because it's their first wave of censorship."

โ€œShe was not the only developer who reported the company singling out yuri content.โ€

Games journalists really dropped the ball on itchio targeting yuri content, both SFW and NSFW

The censorship of Toxic Yuri Game Jam hasnโ€™t gotten any coverage from the games press

11.08.2025 18:51 ๐Ÿ‘ 2608 ๐Ÿ” 1370 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 16 ๐Ÿ“Œ 24
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On itch.io, payment processors, and the developers and creatives affected - Press SPACE to Jump Itch.io deindexed adult, LGBTQIA+ and Furry media en masse across their site on July 23 due to pressure from payment processors, so creators are speaking up.

On itch io, payment processors, and the developers and creatives affected

I wrote about the itch deindexing, stripe, a religious group & a call to action + shared amazing words from 25 affected creators who took their time to write me.

๐Ÿ” RTs Appreciated ๐Ÿ”
#itch #indiedev #visualnovel #comic #novel

26.07.2025 05:46 ๐Ÿ‘ 1008 ๐Ÿ” 803 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 8 ๐Ÿ“Œ 19

you can be frustrated with how itch handled the situation but you also have Got to focus on the actual source of the problem. i for one am going to call some credit card companies today.

24.07.2025 11:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 790 ๐Ÿ” 240 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 8 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

i worked with our director RJ to put together a web page compiling phone numbers, emails, and petitions where you can make your voice heard - protect queer artists and sex workers and tell payment processing companies to end their awful policies harming safe spaces for creative art

24.07.2025 22:39 ๐Ÿ‘ 1651 ๐Ÿ” 1491 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 29 ๐Ÿ“Œ 15

BREAKING: President Trump signed an executive order directing states to criminalize and institutionalize people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health disabilities.

24.07.2025 21:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 6914 ๐Ÿ” 3731 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 894 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2560