Status BMO Apr 22, 2026
It's interesting to work my way backward through Kyle Thompson games, because I'm moving from his games with greatest complexity to least. Yet there are some really great fundamentals across all of his games that effectively communicate his design approach. Moving backward through the titles lets me experience his core ideas that permeate all of his games, but instead of …
It's interesting to work my way backward through Kyle Thompson games, because I'm moving from his games with greatest complexity to least. Yet there are some really great fundamentals across all of his games that effectively communicate his design approach. Moving backward through the titles lets me experience his core ideas that permeate all of his games, but instead of experiencing the games by perceiving the evolution of his design through progression, I'm seeing ideas stripped away to reveal their core and that isolates his key design verbs. And instead of feeling like Sheepo is an underdeveloped version of Islets or Crypt Keeper, like a first draft, it feels like a peek into Thompson's head, a minimalist rendering of the crucial verbs and affect he is aiming for. It's been quite an enlightening experience.
I'm also curious what effect moving backwards through his works now will have on my experience of Well Dweller later this year.