Book Club

Quick update in response to my original post 2 weeks ago:

After an initial round of invites and testing, the site is now open to all. If you'd like to participate, visit https://community.writing-games.org and create an account using your preferred method, then click Book Shelf in the side nav to get started.

The site's Welcome post also has some useful tips and instructions, including how to provide feedback and suggestions to make it better.

So far, I'm the only one who has posted - so please don't be shy! 😅🙏

MUD Resources

I also wanted to let folks know about the existing MUD Resources site. It's a project I started about 5 months ago, when I decided that the single page on Writing Games was too limited.

Thanks in part to a growing interest in MUD dev, the new site has expanded a lot. Many additions are things I heard about on this subreddit or that were shared in the MUD Discord server, but I'm sure there's plenty of room for improvement. :)

Community contributions are welcome. See the instructions in the front page FAQs, or click the 'Edit page' link at the bottom of any page that needs fixing. And if you find it useful, please consider adding a link to it on your website/server to help spread the word.

---

And lastly, more of a teaser than a proper update: I'm currently working on an article that looks at community stats from this past quarter (July-September), as a sort of follow-up to the State of the Niche report. Stay tuned!

Hey, everyone!

I'm running an experimental book club, and I'm looking for folks who might be interested in giving it a shot.

The basic idea is that we read popular game design books and talk about them in the context of MUDs. Just for fun and learning. :)

I've previously tried running it on Discord in a more traditional way, but it was a challenge. Between differing timezones and shifting RL demands, it's hard for everyone to stick to the same reading schedule.

So I'm starting something fresh on a forum-based platform and tailoring it to be low-key, zero-pressure, asynchronous, and go-at-your-own-pace without spoilers.

The first book is Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences by Tynan Sylvester, the creator of Rimworld.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, lemme know!

Last month, in honor of MU* History, I invited game admins and longtime players to share something memorable about their favorite MUD. It's now my pleasure to share those submissions with the community!

Some things I learned or was reminded of:

• Always a good idea to keep regular backups.
• The earliest MUDs had some rather different challenges from today's games!
• Connections used to be soooo slooooow (I really take my high-speed internet for granted).
• There are, in fact, historic games without fantasy elements.
• Playing a game in another language can be a fun way to learn.
• MUDs continue to be unique because they're living, evolving worlds.

Stories published here:
https://writing-games.org/mu-history-month-2026/

Thanks so much to everyone who participated!!

I'd like to try something new this month: invite game admins and longtime players to share their games' origin stories, little-known facts, and tidbits of history that might not be written down anywhere else.

I've done enough interviews to know that every game has an interesting story behind it!

If I can get at least a few good ones, the plan is to showcase them on Writing Games, along with a link back to each game.

How to participate:

Submit your story here:
https://surveys.writing-games.org/mu-history-month-2026-iTtJSr

Story prompts / possible topics:

• The game's origin story. What were things like at the time?
• How the game got its name.
• A time the game survived a disaster. How did it manage to pull through?
• A tradition unique to the game. How did it start?
• An unexpected event that changed the course of the game's history.
• Someone or something that had a profound impact on the game or served as its inspiration.
• How the game changed your life.
• ...or any other bit of history you think is worth sharing with the community. :)

And some simple guidelines:

• Short is sweet. 1-2 paragraphs is a good target, though more is okay too.
• Avoid "you had to be there" stories, since those are harder for others to appreciate.

Deadline: Sunday, August 23.

Please forward the link to anyone you'd like to see participate - especially folks who might not be Reddit regulars! 🙏

Happy to answer any questions below.

When I'd heard that Starmourn went into Legacy Mode a few years ago, I assumed that was the end. Turns out I was wrong!

A big thank you to Argus and Marra for taking the time to share their experiences with me - and for giving me a glimpse into what it's like working on the sci-fi game from IRE.

Some of the topics covered:

• How the game became volunteer-run and completely free to play.
• The races, classes, skills, and systems that make it unique.
• How it's possible to play anything from a pop idol to a space pirate.
• Why Marra stands behind the idea that "limitations cultivate creativity."
• Argus' advice for aspiring storytellers and world-builders.
• What's new as of the past couple of months, and what's still in store.

Link to the article:

https://writing-games.org/starmourn/

A warm thank you to Aelyn for taking the time to share her work on Erion, which just recently celebrated its 21st anniversary!

Some of the topics covered:

• How Aelyn codes the game without the use of her hands.
• The sheer amount of content available in Erion, but more importantly:
• Some of the quality-of-life and accessibility features that set it apart.
• Aelyn's advice for starting and managing a MUD project.
• What's new as of the past couple of months, plus what's coming.

Link to the article:

https://writing-games.org/erion-mud/

It's finally done! The results from the survey have been published here:

https://writing-games.org/2026-state-of-the-niche-report/

Thanks for everyone's patience while I worked through the analysis and write-up - most of it probably won't be too surprising, but hopefully at least some of it is interesting.

It's longer than anticipated, too, so for the high-level points, I recommend skimming the table of contents.

Oh, and some tools and codebases got multiple positive mentions in the free-text responses - you'll find them listed in the "Shout-outs and thanks" section toward the end. =)

With help from some folks in the community, I'm running a short, anonymous survey on where the niche is at -- what people are excited about, what's worrying them, where they see themselves a year from now.

Anyone involved in the hobby is welcome, whether you've been here a day or decades. Takes about 1-3 minutes:

https://surveys.writing-games.org/state-of-the-niche-2026-8nXcSn

Open through May 24. Results will be shared after it closes.