<<In October, 2013, the video-game designer Davey Wreden and a collaborator, William Pugh, released the Stanley Parable HD, a polished and expanded version of a prototype that Wreden had developed in college. Wreden and Pugh hoped that they might sell 50,000 or so copies of the new version in the course of its lifetime. They sold that many on the first day.

Wreden followed the Stanley Parable with a second critically acclaimed title, the Beginner's Guide, and cemented his reputation as a designer who defies convention. But his search for new forms never yielded a sense of personal uplift or fulfillment. It took him years, he said, to see that he had built a kind of mental prison. After the release of the Beginner's Guide, in 2015, he found that he could no longer write at all.

In January, 2016, Wreden began drawing for upward of five hours nearly every day. He would produce hundreds of pictures in the course of a six-month span, all of them variations on a simple scene: a pastoral clearing with a quaint-looking tea shop surrounded by trees, rocks, and brooks, which became the seeds of his new project, Wanderstop.

The game, which was recently released, belongs to a burgeoning genre of nonviolent titles devoted to relationships, crafting, exploration, and routine-to building, rather than destroying. In a 2015 lecture, Wreden declared that a fearful state of mind" within the mainstream video-game industry had led to "an art form in which by far the most ubiquitous form of expression is that of firing a gun." We have, he went on, "a culture where violence is understood and implied to be the central means of problem-solving." Wanderstop is a kind of rebuttal, prizing dialogue and contemplation over heroic acts.

Read a profile of the influential game designer, whose career has gone from the absurd to the practical>>
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/GEARS3

Hey Folks! We are back after a week off and discussed:

-- The EHG/GGG Situation around the #LastEpoch and #PathOfExile II seasons
-- #Wanderstop
-- #SplitFiction
-- #XenobladeChroncilesX
-- #Gunlocked / #BoonsAndBurdens
-- #TitansQuest2
-- #DuneAwakening

#AggroChat #516 - Cooperative Design
https://aggronaut.com/2025/03/23/aggrochat-516-cooperative-design/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqOFf3ujvu8

What are you playing this weekend?

We are playing #MonsterHunterWilds and @Azurakumo is sprinkling some #Wanderstop and #XenobladeChroniclesX into the mix

I’m waiting for my physical copy!

Do you know what reading Dick Warhard excerpts reminded me of? The Dresden Files (I read 1.5 books, supposedly stuff gets better).

So, uh, #Wanderstop just made me cry. I've been going through a very difficult period since losing my voice and having to put the @hearsepileup album, (and the band in general) on hold. The moments where Alta can't bring herself to lift her sword despite it being a foundational part of her identity... It really really got to me in an incredibly specific way.

I may write something about this soon - I think it's time.

Collapsing into a cozy video game before bed is just a good idea. #Wanderstop

:3

My spouse and I found a little Cohost easter egg in Wanderstop! Very unexpected but cute.

I wonder if anyone else has come across it?

Speaking of mental health, I can highly recommend playing Wanderstop.

It's really great, cozy and wholesome. And it definitely hits the spot for people suffering from burnout. I can relate so much to the protagonist.

The soundtrack is also extremely good.

https://questlog.app/games/wanderstop

What are you playing this weekend?

We arr playing #MonsterHunterWilds and @Azurakumo is sprinkling some #Wanderstop into the mix

I'm still undecided where I want to play #Wanderstop.

#SteamDeck? Then I could play it always and everywhere. But I use the Deck almost all the time without sound as the speakers are terrible and I don't want to isolate with headphones all the time. And as the Soundtrack is from #C418 I definitely have to play with sound.

#XboxSeriesX? Then I had the benefit of Quick Resume, which is probably really helpful for a game I will put many hours in. But the Controller is terrible.

#PS5? Then I would have the awesome haptic feedback from the Dual Sense controller. But the PS5 is currently our most used console. That would probably extremely annoying without Quick Resume. Depending on the options to save and load the game and the time it takes.

I know, that's the definition of a luxury problem. If it would have Cross-Save it would easy. Buy it on PlayStation and if I'm annoyed buy it on Xbox again.

Oh, I just saw #Wanderstop is out! This is twice as awesome for me as the game looks great and my favorite musician (#C418) finally released a new album!

Looking forward to play it. But first I will do a bit post game stuff in #GodOfWarRagnarok. May they can fix a few bugs this way before I try it out.

https://questlog.app/games/wanderstop

So life/time has been stablizing and I have been thinking I should return to streaming soon~ A few things in have in mind, but I wanted to ask what ya alll would be intereted in:

- Small Saga - been gifted by @steelsinarts.bsky.social
and was thinking about playing it anyways <3
- Split Ficton - would anyone be interested in playing it with me? Haven't seen anything other than trailers and I'm curious :3
- Wanderstop - game made by the creator of Stanley Parable, cozy, with heavy themes~
- Isle of Swaps - pokemon card simulator with little critters!

#Wanderstop is out!!! After #TheBeginnersGuide I’ll play everything Davey Wreden makes, here we go I love the characters already