I've written a book! Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves is the story of procedural generation - the tech behind games like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress. It's about how it works, the games that use it, and the art and magic behind it.

Out May 7th, in bookshops: linktr.ee/next_level 🎲🔮

March 16, 2026 - 19:26 UTC

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Yo, congrats!
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Haha thanks so much Andrew! Are you still London based? Drop me a DM maybe we can catch up sometime (there might be an event for the book in London also)
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Preordered 🤩
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thank you sabine <3 i really hope you like it!
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YES, HAHA, YES
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Congrats! Cant wait to read it! You should come visit and give a book talk here - maybe at the start of next semester - will email you!
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Yes!! I am so excited. Have we ever properly chatted? I feel like I met you when I gave a talk at ITU a long, long time ago but it's kind of mad how little we've had a chance to talk in person. Can't wait.
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Awesome and congratulations! Pre-ordered my copy!
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Thank you so much!
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I assume that you wrote the whole thing with a markov chain based on all your posts, right?

congrats :D
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There actually is a bit where I feed a chapter into a Markov chain and use part of the output haha. 😄 thanks so much pal
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This looks great. And "#1 New Release in Game Programming" -- congrats!
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Oh! Man! I hadn’t noticed that, what a nice surprise. Also you… live in Southampton??? I had no idea!
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Pre-ordered. Looking forward to the chapter for Elite.
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This looks great! Pre-ordered :)
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pre-ordered :) i have always found this magical, and never delved in to the details! the way you talk about the material in the replies here convinced me of this being a passion project — super excited to read (and probably implement)!
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Thank you so much! Yes this is pretty much my life's obsession, Thinking about procedural systems, randomness, how you create through that and how it changes how we think. I love it. I hope you love the book!
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Congrats Mike, that's awesome!
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Thanks Justus! 💜
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yipee and congrats :)) excited to read!!!
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Thank you pal! I will try and find myself at something you’re at in the next year, it’s been too long.
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Wow this looks right up my alley. Pre-ordered!
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thanks tom! i hope you like it!
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Wow, amazing!
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Treated myself to a copy too - hype!!
And a Daido Moriyama photobook to get free shipping (why does this still work on me)
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Aww thank you so much pal! I actually have some Moriyama with me in the office today haha
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Congrats. I will definitely pick it up. Waterstones says it is 22 pounds for a hardcopy. That's a steal!
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I mean hardback obviously. I'll have to check the local Waterstone's shop to see if I can preorder through them. I am actually traveling to the UK, but a week or so too soon...
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There are chapters on Minecraft, Rogue, Elite, Spelunky, Caves of Qud, as well as noise functions, machine learning, academia and more - but you don't need to be a programmer, a game developer or a hardcore gamer. If you've ever rolled some dice or shuffled a deck of cards, you'll enjoy reading it!
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This is a celebration of a creative field that stretches back decades, before videogames even. It's my tribute to the best people I know and the beautiful things they've made. If you want to know why procedural generation matters today - and why it isn't generative AI - this is the book for you.
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cool! is there a TOC?
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There's one on the Bloomsbury site! www.bloomsbury.com/uk/next-level-9781399423427/
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This is right up my alley. Looking forward to checking it out!
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That sounds awesome, Mike! Can't wait to dive into the world of procedural magic. 🎮
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Thank you!
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Awesome!!! Congrats
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yeahhhh! looks fantastic
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HELL YEAH
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🙌 finally haha
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Hyped for a full chapter on which the best noise is!
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Spoilers: it's the friends you made along the way.
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Woah congrats Mike!!!
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Thanks so much Remy! <3
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Congratulations Mike! Can't imagine all the work and effort this must have taken, but I get the feeling you must also have had a lot of fun!
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Thanks so much Lana! It was surprisingly stressful at times but it was so nice to reflect on all of this stuff. Felt like bringing a huge chunk of my life together in one place.
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Neat! Definitely gonna give it look!
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omg congrats mike, very timely!
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thank you meghna! amazingly the chapter on generative ai is still pretty bang on. but yeah the longer i spent writing it, especially the bits about the people and communities, the more emotional it felt as a book, given *gestures at everything*
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Seems not to be available in the EU? Yet?
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It should be! Some friends in the Netherlands found a listing on a Dutch book site.
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Oh HELL YES
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Is it coming to America? Tried the Amazon link and its UK only and the book didnt come up in a quick search on Amazon
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It should be on Amazon US yes! Does this work? www.amazon.com/Next-Level-Making-Games-Themselves-ebook/dp/B0G4RJ2HN3

I'll try and fix the linktree later :)
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wow congrats!
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Thank you! It's been quite a marathon haha.
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Omg!!! Huge!!! Congrats!
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Thank you!
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Sounds great!
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Preordered! Can't wait for May!
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Thank you Bernhard! And thanks for being one of those avatars I've known online for what feels like forever now heh :)
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Very cool, preordered! Although I had to manually change the url on Amazon to .com instead of .co.uk because it actually blocked me from buying the eBook from that domain?
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Ah! Congratulations!!!
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Will there be an audiobook version 👀
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Short answe: not sure yet! Will ask my editor 🙂
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Wow this is big! Congrats!! I'll be reading this for sure 🙌
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Ah thank you!
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Great stuff bud. Looking forward to it.
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haha thank you man! i hope i've done it justice.
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@afomera.dev might be relevant to your interests!
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I wrote a whole chapter about Minecraft haha! (Block Game looks lovely, I love to see people building games like this).
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Aaaaa this is so exciting!
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Absolutely slotting this into the schedule for the Game Developers’ Library pod in a month or two
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yesss
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OMG!
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i know right. we are gonna take over bookshops together, with games.
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Get us at bsky.app/profile/makemagazin.de a copy. I am sure we can have a review. :)
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I’ll get in touch with my editor! Do you have an email or somewhere I can get in touch?
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Perfect timing to give myself a birthday present--ordered, and I can't wait to read it!
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Ebook ordered! Looking forward to it 🥰
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Oh dang this is exciting, can’t wait to read!
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Ends up being a bit expensive to purchase in US but I’m still strongly considering it because I see the value of the content - my sons would love this 🥹
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Congrats!! kicking things off my bookshelf to make room
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people talk about borges like he's soooo clever and great but he doesn't even mention spelunky once. get outta here!
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