a manifesto of indulgence

A Manifesto of Indulgence: Make Perfect Holes of Myriad Contours (amended)

Gamemaking, like all art, is an attempt at communication.
Not all attempts at communication need be sublime and meaningful; but if you can say something, ask something, seek something as honestly as you can, do so.

Some games are speeches, some games are private letters, some games are theses, some games are jokes, some games are articles, some games are a plaintive cry in the deep of night. There is no one right way to make a game, only what’s right for who you mean to reach.

If you do decide to speak up with a game, do so in all your glory and fullness.
Say the words that are yours and yours alone, roll your rs and mix your languages and use turns of phrase in the ways that only you do, that tell others that you are speaking.

You will say some really boring and wrong shit on the way to saying the right shit at the right time. It’s fine and well to make bad games. Not every single word out of your mouth is going to be perfect and world-shaking. Make the bad games to prepare yourself for the right ones.

You might dig a thousand holes before you dig one that’s perfect for you, that fits all your curves and contours. In the meantime, the holes you leave behind might fit someone else. Every hole has the possibility of perfection. Make lots of games.

A postscript with "I" statements:

I believe that gamemaking is artmaking is conversation is play is being human

I don’t make games to make *games* but I make games to *make* games. The process is worthwhile, enjoyable, fulfilling.

I want to make games like I cook meals for my family

I want to make games like I think of jokes to make my friends laugh

I want to make games like I shout at a shithead to fuck off

I want to make games like I apologise to my past self for not having the right words

I want to make games like I let off a really satisfying fart

I want to make games like I live

I want to be as honest as I can for as long as I can with as many people as I can

I want to help others make games the way they want to make them, if they would have my help, the same way others have helped me