My new game Poke. Stroke. Grasp. is out now! Poke. Stroke. Grasp. is a short game best described as a meditative interactive poetry on body dysphoria. After A Museum of Self & Space I took some time to think about what I wanted the next couple of years to look like when it came to making games. This fall I'll be joining a doctoral program in Communication & Media Studies at the University of Oregon. It's a huge step and change in direction from my current life and something I've wanted to pursue for a few years now. I'll be focusing on queer games, the people who make them, the people who play them and where the twin shall meet. I often look at art as a middle-man between artist and consumer. This thing we make to communicate a vision/idea/joke/story is thrown out into the world for others to sit with, tear apart, applaud and destroy. That space, the communication between players and game creators is constant obsession for me. 

I finished A Museum of Self & Space and was like, now what? I can't take on another project that size for a long time. And I have to recognize that I missed the mark. And that's ok. For the next few years I really want to boil down my games, find the thickest most syrupy way of getting across my ideas. I want my games to be short, direct, and playable by anyone regardless of familiarity with games. My current inspirations are Nina Freeman, Bennett Foddy, and (always) Bahiyya.

Poke. Stroke. Grasp. is the first in a series of games with minimal, meditative interaction that is paired with voice over. I have at least one more in the pipeline and after that we'll see how it's going and what's the best course of action.  For now, games are a space for exploration and experimentation. I want to push what I can do and the types of games I make and I hope along the way I can make some type of impact.

I really hope you like Poke. Stroke. Grasp. 

Cheers,

Jack

p.s. the musical inspiration for this game was So The Flies Don't Come, by Milo and Kenny Segal https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/so-the-flies-dont-come