Noah Wardrip-Fruin
@n-w-f.bsky.social
UC Santa Cruz professor; makes/studies games, elit, AI, etc; co-editor MIT Press Software Studies series; parent; Quaker; Henson/Muppet fan; disabled; he/him New book on Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personal website: http://www.noahwf.com
Inventing ELIZA owes a debt of gratitude to two Noahs: Noah Wardrip-Fruin who inspired and encouraged the hunt for the ELIZA code and Noah Springer who shepherded the book along to completion. Many thanks for believing in this project! @n-w-f.bsky.social @noahspringer.com @mitpress.bsky.social
Thinking about #MLA27? The @eliterature.bsky.social has a CPF!! Please consider submitting!!! mla.confex.com/mla/2027/web...
Call for Papers: Creative Responses to Coding and AI: from Infrastructure to Output (2027 MLA Annual Convention)
mla.confex.com
ICYMI, @keefstuart.bsky.social said kind words in The Guardian about Raiford Guins's King Pong and my Animal Crossing: New Horizons
It’s a miracle!! They did it!! After lo these many years, the people at Disney figured out how to make The Muppet Show. Yaaaaaaay!! Appointment TV for Wednesdays.
kermit the frog is dancing in front of a red curtain on a stage .
Alt: kermit the frog is saying yaaay and flailing his arms in front of a red curtain on a stage .
media.tenor.com
So excited to share a stage with @n-w-f.bsky.social -- whose book is beautiful and so illuminating -- not to mention @djeanneh.bsky.social and @megancmoodie.bsky.social. Thanks so much to Megan, for her hard work making this happen, and to the Humanities Institute for hosting us.
Noah Wardrip-Fruin@n-w-f.bsky.social · 7mo agoNext week I'll be joining @danilynrutherford.bsky.social at UC Santa Cruz to talk about our new books with @djeanneh.bsky.social and Megan Moodie. It'll be a mix of the scholarly and personal, with two experiences of parenting and disability at the core thi.ucsc.edu/event/nurtur...
Next week I'll be joining @danilynrutherford.bsky.social at UC Santa Cruz to talk about our new books with @djeanneh.bsky.social and Megan Moodie. It'll be a mix of the scholarly and personal, with two experiences of parenting and disability at the core thi.ucsc.edu/event/nurtur...
Events for January 2026 – The Humanities Institute
thi.ucsc.edu
As the book exhibit at #MLA26 is wrapping up this morning, consider dropping by to check out the new Replay series from @uchicagopress.bsky.social with my book on Undertale and @n-w-f.bsky.social on Animal Crossing.
I'm quite curious to hear responses to this.
Noah…@noahspringer.com · 8mo ago🚨Calling all new media scholars🚨 If (and I emphasize if) a 2nd edition of the New Media Reader happened to be in the works, what additions would you like to see? What do you think could be excised? @docmofo.bsky.social @n-w-f.bsky.social @psssssssss.bsky.social mitpress.mit.edu/978026223227...
Great thread right here. Terrific wisdom for folks on the job market. So much better than reading and reacting to that other crap that’s floating around today.
Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 8mo agoFor civilians: an academic dept typically has to out maneuver other depts to get a tenure line! I tell grad students applying to red state jobs to indicate that they are familiar with & would be happy spending a decade or more there. A single sentence has moved them to the top of a pile. 1/
New from Colin Milburn and @ritaraley.bsky.social, this rich and extended meditation on the ubiquitous institutional discourse of appropriateness and what it would mean to think “Inappropriate AI”: uchri.org/foundry/inap...
A lot of the other faces of Nyarlathotep try to keep it subtle but FIFA Nyarlathotep is “hells yes I’m Nyarlathotep!!”
Angus Main@angusmain.bsky.social · 9mo agoThis is the most horrific trophy I’ve ever seen. It looks like a cursed object found in a desert crypt.
In normal academic writing, we use brief discussions of games to help us make a point. Writing a whole book about ACNH instead gave me an opportunity to explore complex, ambivalent experiences with the game — some of which I recently got to talk about with Emily Cerf news.ucsc.edu/2025/12/anim...
Ahead of new game release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons book reflects on comfort, community, and capitalism
Professor of Computational Media Noah Wardrip-Fruin speaks on themes explored in his new book
news.ucsc.edu
My work concerning the use of LLMs for authoring interactive narrative has just been published in Transactions on Games! We explore if LLMs could produce writing for IDNs, and if we SHOULD use LLMs in this creative writing from perspectives of actual authors. I'll let you explore our findings :)
Noah Wardrip-Fruin@n-w-f.bsky.social · 9mo ago"[Writers] preferred inspiration outside generated content and did not find the proposed collaborative work with LLMs enjoyable or fulfilling." ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
Haven't read the paper yet but in my experience LLM is just terrible at picking up what makes writers actually proud of their work like proses, themes and very tailored moments of obfuscation and reveal. Glad there's a study on it now!
Noah Wardrip-Fruin@n-w-f.bsky.social · 9mo ago"[Writers] preferred inspiration outside generated content and did not find the proposed collaborative work with LLMs enjoyable or fulfilling." ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
"[Writers] preferred inspiration outside generated content and did not find the proposed collaborative work with LLMs enjoyable or fulfilling." ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
Could vs Should: Exploring Prompting Strategies and Writer Perspectives Towards LLM Assistance in Storylet Authoring
Large Language Models (LLMs) and procedural narrative practices have grown significantly over the past few years, but there are many questions about their newfound capabilities. In the context of vide...
ieeexplore.ieee.org
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form: forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
Game Narrative: A Kaleiodoscopic View
So here's the idea: 60-75 game writers, from all levels of experience but excluding players/reviewers without craft experience. Each person contributes 500-1000 words each on a writing / narrative des...
forms.gle
Jon Ingold@jon.inkle.co · 9mo agoSay - 500 to 1000 words on legitmately any topic, from 75 writers. Royalty split equally; which lulu can do. It’s a good idea and I’ve just finished a game. Do you mind if I steal it and/or ask for editorial help
I'm honored to be included in this exciting collection of new university press books!
Association of University Presses@aupresses.bsky.social · 9mo ago#TeamUP and #ReadUP in the arts, performing arts & media studies with works by @uchicagopress.bsky.social, @n-w-f.bsky.social, @cmupress.bsky.social, @nupress.bsky.social & more in the #UPWeek Gallery https://bit.ly/3WTl7XD
#TeamUP and #ReadUP in the arts, performing arts & media studies with works by @uchicagopress.bsky.social, @n-w-f.bsky.social, @cmupress.bsky.social, @nupress.bsky.social & more in the #UPWeek Gallery https://bit.ly/3WTl7XD
OPPORTUNITY! Creative Assembly - UK - Principal Narrative Designer Not affiliated. Shares welcome! www.creative-assembly.com/careers/view...
Principal Narrative Designer | Creative Assembly
As a Principal Narrative Designer, you will be tasked with creating and implementing engaging dialogue and compelling characters. You will craft the game's narrative journey while collaborating with t...
creative-assembly.com
Reposting! Do you know someone working at the intersection of Interactive Art, Performance, and Games? We’re hiring!
Elizabeth Swensen@swensen.bsky.social · 11mo agoSpread the word! We have an open Assistant Professor search in my department of Performance, Play & Design, which combines Theater, Dance, and Games faculty in the Arts Division at UCSC. This position would teach in our Art and Design: Games and Playable Media BA program. recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF01998
Bribing people to donate to @ucscmonsters.bsky.social . We’re raising money for the 2026 Festival of Monsters and the $ is matched. So, if you would like me to make you an emotional support ghost, donate $30+ and send proof/address to ucscmonsters at gmail and I’ll make you one! bit.ly/monstergive
Bring the 2026 Festival of Monsters to life! It's Giving Day at UC Santa Cruz and monster matches magically turn $1 into $2. bit.ly/monstergive Your support means the monsters live to lecture another day, #give2ucsc @dsas #monsters
👻 Happy Halloween! What better time to discover the inaugural volume in Lever Press's film|minutes book series?: 'Bride of Frankenstein' by @shanedenson.bsky.social dissects the 1935 classic through sound, technology, and time itself minute-by-minute.🎃 🍿 bit.ly/3JzEdPr @leverpress.bsky.social
🚨CALL FOR PAPERS 🚨 The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Chrono Trigger playstorypress.org/2025/10/30/c...
Call for Papers! The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Chrono Trigger – Play Story Press
playstorypress.org
Come work with me! We've opened the search for a full time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Game Arts at Pratt Institute. A good match would be an artist, game developer, or educator with an active creative practice in indie games, game studies and theory, playful coding, or art games.
Assistant Professor Digital Arts, Game Arts 2026 (71102)
The Department of Digital Arts at Pratt Institute invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in Game Arts at the rank of Assistant Professor, beginning in Fall 2026. The successful ca...
schooljobs.com
In happier news: for Critical Inquiry, I reviewed @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer’s WHY WE FEAR AI, which has just lately been catching some deserved hotness. 🔥 Read my take here: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/matthew_kirs...
Critical Inquiry
A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t... It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article. Please share :)
The Video Game History Expansion Pack – Pitch your story
Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a new project — a book focused on game history outside of the usual North American perspectives.
crpgbook.wordpress.com
We’re playing the Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival tomorrow! 🎃 And we've got a SPECIAL GUEST... Join us LIVE this Thursday on Twitch as we play with the game’s CREATOR, @adamgryu.bsky.social at 8:30pm EST for a fun Halloween hangout full of ghosts, pumpkins & secrets! ✨Follow on Twitch buff.ly/JFTqgrY
Today Nintendo announced a Switch 2 and 3.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Why would they make a major new update for a game more than five years old? Why would they bet on nostalgia for something from the Covid-19 pandemic? www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/...
Animal Crossing: New Horizons sails ashore with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and free content update Jan. 15 - News - Nintendo Official Site
Ahoy! New things are en route to your island getaway, whether you’re planning to arrive on these shores for the first time, or already a seasoned Island Resident. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons – N...
nintendo.com
