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James Manning

@jimaroonie

Videogames, digital cultural heritage and digital play cultures researcher. Lecturer, RMIT University. Board Member, Freeplay.net.au. Managing Editor, Journal of Games Criticism.

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Latest posts by James Manning @jimaroonie

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A thread on ZEN AND SLOW GAMES (MIT Press, 2026)

22.01.2026 14:16 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 6
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Marathon, Reprise I’d been feeling all kinds of uneasy ahead of the currently-ongoing Stress Test for Marathon (2026), in that I had such a potently bad experience last couple...

I wrote about Marathon (2026) again, trying to figure out why it pushed me to tears.

blog.aurahack.ca/marathon-rep...

01.03.2026 04:08 πŸ‘ 878 πŸ” 226 πŸ’¬ 48 πŸ“Œ 1
Graph showing the relative share of game engines used in Global Game Jam from 2018 to 2026.

It mainly shows a relative decrease of the Unity share from nearly 80% to 57%, while Godot grew from 1.4% to over 25%. There's a notable inflexion point in the year-on-year growth from Godot in 2024.

Graph showing the relative share of game engines used in Global Game Jam from 2018 to 2026. It mainly shows a relative decrease of the Unity share from nearly 80% to 57%, while Godot grew from 1.4% to over 25%. There's a notable inflexion point in the year-on-year growth from Godot in 2024.

The 2026 Global Game Jam #GGJ26 was last weekend, so let's take a look at their historical data for engine usage.

πŸ“ˆ @godotengine.org is having a good run!

#Godot is now firmly established as the #2 engine in game jams (correlated by #GMTKJam data), rapidly closing the gap with #Unity.

03.02.2026 20:45 πŸ‘ 268 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 6
Baby YouTube thumbnail depicting a vanishing mommy. Baby will explain how peekaboo works

Baby YouTube thumbnail depicting a vanishing mommy. Baby will explain how peekaboo works

The Surprising Physics behind Mommy

26.01.2026 12:51 πŸ‘ 7089 πŸ” 2280 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 30
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crazy etymology

26.01.2026 09:13 πŸ‘ 1414 πŸ” 272 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 23
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Zen and Slow Games Slowness and reflectiveness have always been part of the video game medium, though they have been used very differently throughout its history. In Zen and Sl...

Hilo de la cobertura mediΓ‘tica de ZEN AND SLOW GAMES, por si querΓ©is saber mΓ‘s del libro.

(Libro disponible aquΓ­: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...)

25.01.2026 19:54 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Yellow taxi goes vroom! Completing a collecting pizza ingredients minigame showing one second remaining on the clock.

Yellow taxi goes vroom! Completing a collecting pizza ingredients minigame showing one second remaining on the clock.

I love a good game and a sight read close call.

22.01.2026 10:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Freeplay | 2026 Survey An Update from Freeplay

An update: Unfortunately Freeplay didn’t secure multi-year funding and is potentially looking at its last year of operation. We’re exploring what comes next & want your input.

Read our full statement here: www.freeplay.net.au/survey2026

Help us decide our next step here: forms.gle/W4ZSns1bGCX1...

20.01.2026 01:35 πŸ‘ 114 πŸ” 70 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 38

Really sad to hear today that Freeplay Independent Games Festival is likely coming to the end of its adventure in 2026 after 22 incredible years. Freeplay has been pivotal to my own career and I have some complex, straight out contradictory feelings about the announcement I wanna try to articulate.

20.01.2026 10:15 πŸ‘ 125 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 3
a blender 3d render of a viewmaster-style scene with kermit and robin the frogs looking at a real frog.

a blender 3d render of a viewmaster-style scene with kermit and robin the frogs looking at a real frog.

ok ok last muppet render for now 🐸

23.10.2025 19:06 πŸ‘ 6337 πŸ” 1568 πŸ’¬ 33 πŸ“Œ 4
Stacks of old game cartridges and video game books by Lost in Cult are arranged in front of blue-shaded archive shelves.

Stacks of old game cartridges and video game books by Lost in Cult are arranged in front of blue-shaded archive shelves.

Games preservation took steps forward in 2024 - but still has a long way to go
www.eurogamer.net/games-preser...

04.02.2025 10:10 πŸ‘ 76 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 4
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Ok, so this one felt earned.

20.11.2025 10:32 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Mario Kart is all about skill. Ofc I knew where I was going.

16.11.2025 10:52 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How to catch a darn(er) dragonfly.

14.10.2025 10:54 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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dur

#pixelart

21.09.2025 21:47 πŸ‘ 343 πŸ” 69 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

All the better for you asking!

11.09.2025 11:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

How cool are these!?

09.09.2025 23:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Old habits die hard.

23.07.2025 04:34 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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❄️ Frosty Games Fest will premiere Sun, June 8
⏰ Tune in at 9am AEST, 11am NZT, or 4pm PDT (June 7)!
🍦 With 50+ games set to be featured, the lineup is chocka-block with some of ANZ's finest.

We can't wait to share our first ever showcase with you! πŸ’™

08.05.2025 01:55 πŸ‘ 129 πŸ” 79 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 14
A tarot spread of The Lovers, Death, and Fortune, in bright red and pale blue, with the words 'Freeplay - Angles' on top.

A tarot spread of The Lovers, Death, and Fortune, in bright red and pale blue, with the words 'Freeplay - Angles' on top.

Freeplay Angles 2025 - Coming this Winter

Talk submissions now open: forms.gle/U5jQ2RRnTPxb...

Info @ freeplay.net.au

30.04.2025 04:23 πŸ‘ 75 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 9
WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THEY DID SOMETHING
"LIKE A BOSS" I ASSUME THEY DID NOTHING AND JUST TOOK CREDIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK.

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THEY DID SOMETHING "LIKE A BOSS" I ASSUME THEY DID NOTHING AND JUST TOOK CREDIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK.

26.04.2025 05:07 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Digital Cultural Heritage Archives - University of London Press

The University of London Press is now accepting for new proposals for short-form books (20,000–30,000 words) on Digital Cultural Heritage on themes of use, access, value(s) and ephemerality uolpress.co.uk/book-series/... #BDCAM25

03.04.2025 15:39 πŸ‘ 67 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Call for Paper: Historicizing G.A.M.E.S. 2025 – Gaming, Artifacts, Memory, Experience and Society by Confoederatio Ludens Bern, Switzerland, September 11-12, 2025 Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=histgames2025 Submission deadline: March 14, 2025 How do we write a history of...

A great team of colleagues from @chludens.bsky.social together with @unil.bsky.social are organising a very cool conference on the β€˜History of video games from the players’ perspectives’ #GameStudies this September

HERE you can find the #CFP: chludens.hypotheses.org/3389

@pachuki.bsky.social

05.03.2025 09:52 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Heaps o’ stuff ey.

30.03.2025 10:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

RHYTHM HEAVEN

30.03.2025 02:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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I built a Playstacean!

21.03.2025 23:50 πŸ‘ 31964 πŸ” 8798 πŸ’¬ 346 πŸ“Œ 452
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Alpha Impact: Understanding the Atomisation of Gen Alpha’s Attention Today, we’re launching Alpha Impact, a new piece of research from SuperAwesome on the technological, economic, and cultural trends shaping Gen Alpha (kids born between 2010 and 2024) and their impact ...

The era of microscenes.

14.03.2025 21:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Significant developments.

14.03.2025 21:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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PORTAL - laboratory blueprints www.deviantart.com/vgcartograph...

13.03.2025 12:50 πŸ‘ 93 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

I love this.

12.03.2025 19:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0