Bench tales

Six long-form notes on indie studios, soulslike rendering pipelines, roguelike history and what second-hand consoles actually need before they ship.

BENCH NOTE · ABOUT THE S

BENCH NOTE · ABOUT THE SHOP

Week one in Unit 12

We took the keys to a 280-square-foot box room in a warehouse split between a riso printer, a kombucha brewer and us. Here is the first week — what worked, what nearly burnt down.

Sunday · 19 May 2026 · 6 min

INDUSTRY · OPINION

Why physical still wins for indie

Steam removes ownership. itch.io is honest but invisible. Physical indie editions — limited runs from Fangamer, Limited Run, Special Reserve — are quietly the most aligned-incentive corner of the games industry.

Sunday · 12 May 2026 · 8 min

INDUSTRY · GENRE NOTES

A short history of the roguelike

From a 1980 dungeon-crawler on a VAX to Hades on Switch — how procedural generation, permadeath and run-based pacing became the dominant indie architecture.

Sunday · 5 May 2026 · 9 min

INDUSTRY · TECHNICAL DEE

INDUSTRY · TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE

How Bloodborne renders Yharnam

Yharnam is one of the most-modelled cities in games. Lance McDonald and Illusory Wall have spent years reverse-engineering FromSoftware's rendering pipeline. Here is what we learnt.

Sunday · 28 April 2026 · 11 min

INDUSTRY · GENRE BOUNDAR

INDUSTRY · GENRE BOUNDARIES

Metroidvania vs Soulslike

They look similar at a screenshot distance — winding maps, difficult bosses, dark palettes. But the genre architecture is fundamentally different, and the difference shapes what makes each one feel good.

Sunday · 21 April 2026 · 7 min

INDUSTRY · HARDWARE NOTE

INDUSTRY · HARDWARE NOTES

What second-hand consoles actually need

Every pre-owned console on the bench gets a process before it ships. Not all of them need everything, but most of them need three of these five. Here is the bench checklist, in plain language.

Sunday · 14 April 2026 · 5 min