merritt k

merritt k
k at a GaymerX panel in 2014
Born	Ontario, Canada [1]
Other names	Merritt Kopas
Occupation	Game designer, Author

merritt k,^[2] formerly Merritt Kopas, is a Canadian video game designer and developer, as well as an author and a zine creator.

k is best known for her games LIM, HUGPUNX as well as Consensual Torture Simulator. She said that the theme of her games is "the capacity of digital games to convey care relationships; either to provide a sense of care to the player or to invest her in the project of caring for another."^[3] She is also the author of Internet fiction and zines such as Dear Pauline and These Were Free On My Blog.^[4][5][5]

k is the editor of the Twine game print anthology Videogames for Humans and co-author of the poetry collection Total Mood Killer and the comics-poetry hybrid text Internet Murder Revenge Fantasy.

Career

k was raised on games and the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. In 2012, she was inspired by games made with the interactive fiction tool Twine, and has made several games with the software since.^[6][7] LIM was released for free on the internet and is about trying to meet society's expectations.^[8] Her book, Videogames for Humans, was described by VICE Motherboard as "a 'historical document' that not only features games, but also the experiences of play that specific people have had with a game itself."^[9][10][11]

k greatly credits Anna Anthropy and her publication of Rise of the Videogame Zinesters in 2012 as having a great influence on the indie gaming scene.^[6] Her game (ASMR) Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just For You has been described as "an example of games as caregiving".^[12]

On her personal website, k has published such games as Minkomora, Obeissance, and Take Care – the last one described as a game in which the player reaches through the ether to offer comfort to a distressed person.^[4] Some of her smaller pieces, such a Texture Piece-style game called Super Consent, deal with the complexities of issues like consent and why and how they should be dealt with in culture.

Games

• TERF War – July 2012^[13]
• LIM – August 2012^[14][15]
• Princess Queen – September 2012^[16]
• Brace – October 2012^[17]
• A Synchronous Ritual – October 2012^[18]
• Queer Pirate Plane – December 2012^[19]
• Bubblegum Slaughter – January 2013^[20]
• Positive Space – February 2013^[21]
• Octopy – March 2013^[22]
• Hugpunx – June 2013^[23]
• Consensual Torture Simulator – October 2013^[24][25]
• Take Care – October 2014^[26]

Podcasts

k hosts her own podcast called Woodland Secrets, where she interviews primarily women, people of color, and queer people.^[27] On June 19, 2016 she began hosting Dadfeelings, a podcast about fictional dads and the feelings associated with them. k also guest stars on the podcast CoolGames Inc. for an episode.^[28]

References