The hottest Worldbuilding Substack posts right now

Strong worlds offer structure and meaning, helping people feel like they belong and know what's expected of them. This creates a sense of purpose and connection.
The Internet helps create many weak worlds where it's easy to join or leave. These worlds often lack strong narratives but can have a big impact on our daily lives.
Platforms are tools for building worlds online, but strong systems matter more than just good stories. Companies must ensure their systems work well to keep their teams functioning smoothly.

Dune's worldbuilding strikes a balance between the familiar and the strange, making it unique and engaging.
Language in worldbuilding should reflect a balance of otherness and familiarity to enhance themes and characters.
Worldbuilding language should evoke reader imagination while still maintaining readability and evocativeness.

Join the Salon Series at the Collector tier to discuss utopian texts through deep-dive discussions on Zoom
Explore themes such as techno-futurism in 'Lathe of Heaven' and humanity from the perspective of robots in 'Psalm for the Wild Built'
Delve into utopian worldbuilding in 'Terra Ignota' and the balance between dystopia and utopia in Aldous Huxley's works

Stories help us understand the world better, and writing can be a way to figure out our own thoughts and feelings. It's all about being fascinated by ideas and emotions.
Historically, women's roles have been controlled in many ways, and it's important to think about how society might impose new forms of control in the future. We can see echoes of past practices in today's world.
The idea of merging human minds with technology, called mindbinding, shows how humans could interact deeply with tech in the future. This blend could bring empathy and intuition into powerful new roles.

Fictional worlds may lack complexity compared to real-world evolution.
Tolkien's Middle-earth, while detailed, is relatively simple in terms of population and culture.
To enhance fictional world complexity, creators often draw inspiration from real-world diversity.

Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

The future depicted in sci-fi can range from harsh and plausible like 'Void Star' to sophisticated and refined like 'A Memory Called Empire'.
Technology influences society by changing constraints and rewriting rules - it's not always good, but it matters.
Fiction, like 'To the Stars', offers a fantasy world where incredible feats are possible through suffering and teamwork, depicting an ideal that reality often falls short of.

A Gathering Storm for Cairn game is now available in multiple stores like itch.io and Third Kingdom games.
The creator is working on character retirement mechanics, worldbuilding about cities, and generators for Cairn game.
The creator is also creating an adventure for Cairn jam and planning to publish printable bestiaries.

Book Two of Dune delves into the Fremen culture and their mission to green Arrakis
The ecological themes of Dune resonate with current environmental concerns
The manipulation of the Fremen religion by Paul and Jessica raises moral questions

Worldbuilding is the act of designing a self-contained universe, creating a safe creative space separate from the earthly realm.
Creating from your world means work inspired and strengthened by an intentional inner world, allowing you to immerse yourself and lose touch with the shared world.
Worldbuilding prioritizes the symbolic and inspirational over the practical and rational, creating a source of inner confidence and resilience.

Access to and control of seeds can determine social class and power in the future.
Efforts are being made to restore Earth's ecosystem and food sources through seed growing despite challenges.
Resistance movements are forming to reclaim ownership of seeds and ensure a sustainable future for the planet.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong is an adventure game set in the Thousand Peaks planetary system.
The game features simple gameplay mechanics but offers a deep worldbuilding experience.
Echo of Starsong implements Asian storytelling traditions, focusing on unresolved character traumas and emotional expressions.