One of the recent examples of good [[Worldmaking]] is Mork Borg, a Swedish TTRPG. https://morkborg.com/ The real power in this [[game]] is design, everything else might not be so effective if the visuals were not that strong and unique. This goes to show that coherence and believability in worldmaking is inextricably linked to the visual, but also to a non-exhaustive, implied visuality. A good example of this is Dark Souls, a series of games that do not exhaust their own world through endless exposition, like some western rpgs do (most notably, look at the last Dragon Age game, a game that really gets in its way). Explaining is the enemy of worldmaking in many ways, things have to be implied in a non-obvious manner, and much like in real life, we ever only get the fragments and cues, never the full story. (dark souls and from software work in general would need a full text of its own) In games in particular, the full story is in the gameplay, not in the narration - the full story really has to be filled in and completed by the player - literally. For games, Duchamp's dictum that the work of art is always finished by the observer is literal law. But, it is also not enough to give hints only, while leaving too much out - look at Mortal Shell, a Dark Souls clone made by designers and art directors coming from a more commercial, concept art background. While not a bad game, as a piece of worldmaking it does not work, as it is a collection of predictable cliches which makes it extremely superficial. This game has no real mystery and it rings hollow (pun intended:). It also feels like a game made just for profit by someone very cynical and no real sense of wonder and respect for the work. A sense of wonder one can not really feign, even if one possesses superior technical skill. This cynicism is often what one can find with these high profile art directors and commercially successful artists who make concepts for the film and game industries. What I felt when I played this game was that it was made by a mind captured by capitalist realism, a mind that does not believe truly in the possibility of other worlds, a mind to which worldmaking is only an excuse. They are imprisoned by the demands of "the industry" as they see it, which is really a hint into the heart of their ideology. This reveals something very important to a careful observer, that the so called industry is a name that these mercenaries give to their master - an invisible dark eye of capital, regulating global imaginarium. This dark eye is a global conglomerate of media companies that determine and regulate how we imagine, visualize and dream. These mercenaries are its soldiers and bureaucrats just waiting to censor and marginalize anyone not in line. They perpetuate and guard the "allowed" ideas, which always contain excessive violence and certain types of fantasy, and hat full of tropes. Everything not tethered and plugged in to the eye will be assimilated or erased - look at the recent Disco Elysium and ZA/UM fiasco. The saddest thing about Mortal Shell is that it was made not as a work of art, but as an offering to the altar of the dark eye. The authors could not even imagine operating outside of its purview, something many other indies can do, Disco being a great example. If the commercial art approach would not do, we could say that the game needs to feel like it needed to be made, like any good story. A good sign of success is always if the game lives beyond the screen and inspires a community. Making worlds is ultimately about making communities that offer some resistance to the dark eye.