About

My name is Joannes, and I started this blog in 2009 when I first heard of the role of narrative design in gaming. I have always held a keen interest in games, and more specifically, in their stories. Having mostly played games where story represents an important factor, I enjoy analysing the way it is implemented and presented. Along the way, I've started focusing more on writing a series of Short Scripts that lampoon stories in games. If you'd like to get in touch, please use the Contact form. Alternatively, you can find me on Twitter @playthroughline.

Here are some of the things I've done and only mostly regret.

The Editing Room

I've made no secret of the fact that my Short Scripts take their inspiration from The Editing Room, which comically abridges movies and ridicules their perceived flaws and idiosyncracies. When that site's founder, Rod Hilton, sent out a call for contributors in 2011, I knew I couldn't not throw my sarcasm hat into the ring. Rod liked my first script enough to turn me into a regular contributor, and I've written a bunch.

TelePlayTime

In 2015, I was made aware of the existence of TelePlayTime, a website that does for television shows what I do for videogames here at Playthroughline. I was contacted by the site's owner and that led to me contributing a series of scripts on the final episodes of AMC's Mad Men, one of my favourite shows.

HappyNiceTimePeople

After TelePlayTime went on hiatus, I was allowed to continue my recap work over at HappyNiceTimePeople, a site run by my The Editing Room co-author Rick Lewis. So far, I've recapped the entire second season of True Detective in the style you've all come to tolerate.

Gamasutra

I try to accompany every game's Short Script with a more in-depth post that takes a deeper (read: less caustic) look at one or more of the game's specific features. I've submitted several of those to Gamasutra, which have been picked up as Featured Posts. These have usually led to interesting discussions in the commentary threads.

GameQuarter

From 2010 to 2011, I was a volunteer news and features editor for GameQuarter, a Dutch gaming site. I provided wide news coverage as well as reviews and several features for them. They're all in Dutch, but I did get to review some major AAA releases. I also solely represented GameQuarter at 2011's Eurogamer Expo.

BeefJack

While I greatly enjoyed my work at GameQuarter, I realised that I preferred to let my thoughts be known in the Queen's English. In late 2011, I made the decision to answer BeefJack's call for new writers, and I was closely involved with them for almost two years. Towards the end of my tenure, I embodied a senior quality control position in which I oversaw the work of the other writers. In addition to regular news shifts, I contributed quite a few reviews and features as well. I was also part of BeefJack's presence at 2012's and 2013's Eurogamer Expo.

GriN

GriN is an Antwerp-based developer that primarily creates online and browser-based games. In 2009, I contributed a large amount of narrative design work for Encounter, one of their self-managed projects. Encounter is a persistent-world space trading game in the vein of EVE Online and Elite that can be played from a browser. The game's class system required four distinct factions that could all both co-operate and combat each other. As part of a complete story and universe bible, I drafted a narrative backdrop that catered to this particular setup.

In 2013, I worked with them on a game called Woolfe, an episodic platformer/brawler set in the Red Riding Hood fairy tale but with that customary dark twist thrown in. I was in charge of finetuning an established story foundation and writing dialogue and voice-over elements.

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