2020 has been an interesting balance of both good and bad. On the bad hand (do I even need to say it?), we have the global pandemic that has wrought immeasurable destruction and hardship, irreversibly changed the world of education forever, and this year my wife lost both her job and her grandmother. On a … Continue reading Balancing Writing and Teaching
Before We Begin If you haven’t already, you’ll probably want to go ahead and read Part One of this blog series, starting here. To summarize: it has become clear that the Pokémon has flatlined in terms of creativity. Sure, we get some new gimmick each generation like Mega Pokémon or Gigantamax, but that’s never enough … Continue reading Making a Modern Pokémon Game: Part 3
Before We Begin If you haven’t already, you’ll probably want to go ahead and read Part One of this blog series, starting here. To summarize: it has become clear that the Pokémon has flatlined in terms of creativity. Sure, we get some new gimmick each generation like Mega Pokémon or Gigantamax, but that’s never enough … Continue reading Making a Modern Pokémon Game: Part 2
Introduction So the Pokémon series has gotten stale. And by stale I mean it closely resembles that piece of bread that fell under your fridge 25 years ago and you just never bothered because you didn’t think it was that big of a deal but oh god now there’s an entire colony of mold living … Continue reading Making a Modern Pokémon Game: Part 1
a short story by Jacob Ryckman The helicopter flew low over the corn fields, the wind from the rotors bending the stalks down to the cold, hard earth. The sun hung low over the horizon, slowly descending the world into darkness. The captain’s breath fogged in front of him, the icy temperatures forcing him and … Continue reading The Hunter
a short story by Jacob Ryckman “Hello?” the girl asked, slowly walking through the abandoned hallway. “Is anyone there?” A light flickered a way’s away, but offered no response. She had gone to use the bathroom when the power went out at school. It wasn’t anything unusual, though; the school was old, and power outages … Continue reading Infestation
Chapter One The man’s eyes snapped open as a harsh breath filled his lungs with bitter, stale air. His blood was pumping, and he raised his fists in preparation to fight… Nothing. That was all he could see in front of him. Nothing. No light. Just darkness. He struggled to lift himself off the ground, … Continue reading The Gap In The Door
Those who know me know that I’m a bit of a dork. Those of you who don’t know me probably also know that I’m a dork. I mean, my current photo on this website is of me wearing a dinosaur dress-shirt with a book-laden bow-tie. Pretty sure you get the idea. As a dork, I … Continue reading Legend of Zelda: The Spirit of Adventure
When I was a student at university, studying to become an educator, my professors had plenty of advice. Suggestions about avoiding the teacher’s lounge your first year, about always providing positive feedback, about switching off on the weekends to save your sanity. Those were fantastic suggestions that I have taken to heart (although, especially when … Continue reading What They Don’t Tell You About Teaching
A short story by Jacob Ryckman The senator was walking through the town square when he was struck. The protestor had intended the tomato to smash against his face, hoping that it would cause him great disgrace and humiliation, but miscalculated his throw, and so the vegetable merely splattered against the senator’s briefcase. The senator’s … Continue reading On the Way to the Senate
Jacob Ryckman 