Coming from journalism and content creation, I’ve always been fascinated by how people interact with games — not just as players, but as communities, storytellers, and problem-solvers.
This year I’m exploring two questions that keep showing up in my work:
- How can we support players in the moment they get stuck — without breaking immersion?
- How can we shape gaming culture without sacrificing creativity, humor, or community freedom?
Both are works in progress. I’m here to exchange ideas, find sparring partners, and talk to people working on either. If one of these resonates — let’s connect.
Journalism and analysis: burghard.name (German) · Medium (English) Survival game guides since 2015: klabbi.info
How can we support players in the moment they get stuck — without breaking immersion?
Why do so many players leave the game to look for help — and what if they didn’t have to?
We’ve all seen it: a player hits a wall. They pause. They open Google. They scroll through Reddit, Steam Guides, or a 12-minute YouTube video where the actual tip comes at 8:17.
The result: immersion is gone, frustration builds, some players don’t return.
I’ve been publishing survival game guides since 2015 on klabbi.info — that’s where this question started. I’ve watched how players seek help, what formats work, and where the friction is. My observation: the problem isn’t that players need help. It’s that the moment they go looking for it, they leave.
I’m currently building a mobile companion app that delivers context-sensitive hints for survival games — keeping players in flow, avoiding spoilers, and reducing the Google-exit moment. The concept has been through user validation and early technical development.
I’m looking to talk to:
- Developers of complex or open-ended games (survival, sandbox, strategy)
- UX designers working on reducing player friction
- Publishers exploring retention beyond the first ten hours
How can we shape gaming culture without sacrificing creativity, humor, or community freedom?
What kind of spaces are we actually building — and who gets to stay in them?
Competitive and open-world games can create remarkable communities. They can also produce environments of exclusion, harassment, and gatekeeping that quietly push players out.
I’ve been running a social experiment in Rust since 2023 under the pseudonym Evil Clown — building in-game institutions like the Church of the Skull God, a player-run bank, and a workers‘ union, all on PvP servers. The experiment: does roleplay change how players treat each other? What happens when someone refuses to raid and opens a hotel instead?
The answer, so far: yes, it changes things. Not always, not completely — but enough to be interesting.
This connects to a broader question I’m researching: How do we design community spaces — through mechanics, moderation, and narrative — that make positive play the default, without killing what makes games worth playing?
I’m looking to talk to:
- Community managers dealing with moderation at scale
- Developers building social or emergent gameplay mechanics
- Researchers working on player behavior and community design
Copyright 2021-2026, KlabauterMannLP. All Rights Reserved. | Impressum | Datenschutz
