Continuing research into the topic of game design from my previous overview post I was a positively surprised to find a Build a Better World TTRPG Jam:

“We live in capitalism,” said Le Guin, “Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.” It’s up to us, as games makers, to help people envision alternatives to how we live now, how we can build a better world.

TTRPGs are a fantastic way to build community and bring solace in harrowing times. Many of us, all over the world, are going through difficult and anxious days. With the community at The Lost Bay server we’ve decided to host this jam as a space for the indie TTRPG scene to come together and imagine a better future.

Not being able to fully participate by creating a game, I decided to host a workshop titled "Solarpunk: better futures among the changing climate - and how to design them". It's available on YouTube and PeerTube, with slides on slides …

Imagining a better future in the face of climate change is hard whether you use words - or images, as I have written extensively before. With no proper alphabet, let alone a dictionary, conveying the meanings such as degrowth or sharing economy requires a lot of careful, intentional work.

In the recent years, with the advent of generative AI we could see more and more articles on Solarpunk - or virtually anything - being illustrated by such mindless AI creations, wasting resources and stealing artstyles, while conveying nothing but vibes. Flooded by the sleek "trees on buildings" aesthetic we slowly lose any idea of what the better climate future ideas can actually be.

That's why together with almost a dozen artists, on the April 29th 2025 we launched the Story Seed Library - a new platform with intentional, human-made Solarpunk art licensed under a variety of Creative Commons licenses.

Now every person looking for an illustration for their essay, zine or event poster can make use of the artworks generously donated by …

I've always been interested in game design and how subtly it can teach and influence us. It's not only how a given game is constructed on the surface, but also what emergent behaviours it can induce in us - and make us internalize, more or less consciously.

I find Solarpunk fascinating as a genre which is connected to - but distinct from - other kinds of climate and science fiction. Its many perspectives are an attempt to balance a big, global narrative of saving the planet and creating a sustainable civilization with a very humane and communal perspective of our way there.

I've been working on this blogpost for a year and I see that it's never going to be as comprehensive as I would like to. In the spirit of "done is better than perfect", let me then present you with my Notes Towards - and hope that you find them useful!

Game Type Legend

V - Video Game
B - Board Game / Card Game
R - Role Playing Game / Storytelling Game

What makes a …

W INN:Poland pojawił się artykuł Sebastiana Luc-Lepianki pod tytułem Solarpunk – ruch społeczny, który może przemówić do ludzi bardziej niż akcje Ostatniego Pokolenia. Wprowadza on czytelników w tematykę Solarpunka, odnosi go do obecnych w Polsce protestów klimatycznych i opowiada o jego relacji z wiecznie-zjadającym-idee kapitalizmem. Artykuł obszernie cytuje moje własne komentarze oraz odwołuje się do pracy Fanpage Ekofikcji.

Więcej artykułów o ruchu, manifestów i opowiadań można znaleźć na stronie solarpunk.pl.

For a few years now, I've been analyzing how technology is represented in fiction and popular culture. I not only mean specific technologies or devices, but also the core concept of what technology is in a given genre, world or story. To illustrate with an example:

In most modern action and superhero movies, technology is always a weapon. We don't see widely-spread infrastructure, we rarely see plot-related neutral technologies, but we see a lot of new threats coming from tech, be it androids, satellites, laser weapons and other McGuffins. It is usually also an artifact, a prototype, something one-of-a-kind that cannot be replicated, or it will lose its plot relevancy. Wakanda cannot revolutionize African electrical grids with Vibranium the same way Iron Man doesn’t replace oil and coal worldwide.

On the other hand, in cyberpunk and dystopian futures, technology is either a means of oppression or rebellion. This time it's usually evil governmental/corporate infrastructure oppressing people, or some disruptive gadgets used by anarchist protagonists. Staying out of the …