Top all-time · #4436
Adrian Hon
Personal blog · mssv.netgameswriting
Adrian Hon writes mssv, a personal blog at mssv.net about games and writing. Since 2008, 17 different Hacker News readers have linked it 93 times, most often “What Alternate Reality Games Can Teach Us About QAnon”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-16, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (14) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link Adrian Hon's mssv.net posts on the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and adaptive AI tutors, on alternate reality games and QAnon as an ARG, and on Givewell. Comments cite these posts as sources.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 14 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Adrian Hon
Most-linked posts?
- What Alternate Reality Games Can Teach Us About QAnon3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2020-08-02
- Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2024-08-04
- Digital Sight Management, and the Mystery of the Missing Amazon Receipts3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-08-16
- /wiki/index.php/Givewell2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2009-01-23
- I'm Making Strandfall, a Solarpunk Orienteering Larp2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-04-29
- What's behind the rise of teens spying for Russia?2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-08-13
- Epos Daimon, the Magic School Where Teens Play Fascists2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-05-22
- The Collective Ambition Behind Odysseus, a Game-Changing Sci-Fi Larp2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-03-23
- Nikolai Evreinov, the 19th century Nathan Fielder2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-06-16
- The Future History of the World in 7 On-Screen Objects2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-05-06
What Hacker News says?
Lead designer of Perplex City here! Perplex City was an ARG (alternate reality game) produced by Mind Candy in 2004. Unlike almost all ARGs at the time, it wasn’t promoting a movie or TV or associated product - instead, we sold packs of puzzle cards that tied into the game’s story. Lots more on Wikipedia here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perplex_City This is a puzzle card I thought would either be solved very qu…
Comment linking /2020/08/02/what-args-can-teach-us-about-qanon/
on ““Find Satoshi” PerplexCity puzzle solved”Submitted Blue Prince is a roguelike puzzle masterpiece as a story · 188 points
HN discussion> The real future of education is a computerized personal tutor In Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", a plot device (not central), is The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. It is an adaptive AI tutor. To realize TYLIP, hard AI problems will need to be solved. Yet, it is possible the iPad is a big step towards a simpler Primer. "TYLIP is...a book that is powered by a computer so advanced it’s almost magical, and it t…
Comment linking /2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-primer/
on “Yes, The Khan Academy is the Future of Education”Submitted The Sphere as a story · 171 points
HN discussionEmptyEpsilon is used for a couple of interesting large scale or commercial immersive experiences, including the Odysseus larp and Bridge Command. I’ve written up both: Bridge Command: https://mssv.net/2024/07/31/bridge-command/ Odysseus larp: https://mssv.net/2025/03/19/the-collective-ambition-behind-o... There’s a discussion on HN about the latter, too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43414992
Comment linking /2025/03/19/the-collective-ambition-behind-odysseus/
on “EmptyEpsilon open source spaceship bridge simulator”Submitted The Collective Ambition Behind Odysseus, a Game-Changing Sci-Fi Larp as a story · 115 points
HN discussion> TYLIP is...a book that is powered by a computer so advanced it’s almost magical, and it teaches children everything. It does this through a fully interactive story. It teaches you how to read, how to do maths, it teaches you morals, ethics, even self-defence. http://mssv.net/2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-prime...
Comment linking /2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-primer/
on “Designing a 'Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer' from Diamond Age”Submitted Playing First Contact in Eclipse, a 3-Day Sci-Fi Larp as a story · 69 points
HN discussionSince this has been reposted by the same poster several times, I don't feel bad about reposting my review calling it a "glorious failure": https://mssv.net/2023/12/26/the-invincible/ tl,dr: It looks incredible, like no other game you'll see today, and it grapples with deeply interesting themes – but it's extremely annoying to play and suffers from a serious lack of editing. There's just too much friction to become t…
Comment linking /2023/12/26/the-invincible/
on “An indie studio created a game based on Stanislaw Lem's novel”Submitted A Weekend at the Immersion Larp Festival as a story · 69 points
HN discussion- bd · 2009-01-15
MetaFilter also works this way. Self-policing is a big part of the community [1][2]. There is a even a whole section of the site devoted to discussing internal stuff (called appropriately MetaTalk [3]). Sometimes I miss something like this on HN - a separate space for meta stuff. BTW MetaFilter is the only other online community I'm aware of that has quality on the level of HN (despite being even larger - over 56,00…
Comment linking /wiki.cgi?SelfPolicing
on “News.YC faster (plus new traffic stats)” Submitted What Alternate Reality Games Can Teach Us About QAnon as a story · 66 points
HN discussionPerhaps iBooks 2 is a continuing step towards the bringing the fictional Young Lady's Illustrated Primer of Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" towards reality. The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is an adaptive AI tutor. To realize TYLIP, hard AI problems will need to be solved. Yet, it is possible the iPad 3/iBooks 2 is a step towards a simpler Primer. "TYLIP is...a book that is powered by a computer so advanced i…
Comment linking /2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-primer/
on “Apple announces iBooks 2, iBooks Author to "reinvent textbooks"”Submitted Unauthorised AI Bots on Reddit Are Eroding Sociality as a story · 48 points
HN discussionI’m the OP; I went to the Starcruiser later in its run and had a very different experience. Here’s my writeup: https://mssv.net/2023/08/07/star-wars-galactic-starcruiser/
Comment linking /2023/08/07/star-wars-galactic-starcruiser/
on “The Collective Ambition Behind Odysseus, a Game-Changing Sci-Fi Larp”Submitted Tonight with the Impressionists as a story · 36 points
HN discussion- bd · 2008-12-08
Ah yes, you are right. I also didn't realize it's not even genetic programming as DNA seems to be just polygon data, not polygon-drawing programs. BTW your comment was eponysterical :) http://mssv.net/wiki.cgi?Eponysterical
Comment linking /wiki.cgi?Eponysterical
on “Genetic Programming: Evolution of Mona Lisa” Submitted Digital Sight Management, and the Mystery of the Missing Amazon Receipts as a story · 28 points
HN discussionI call The Invincible a glorious failure in my review: https://mssv.net/2023/12/26/the-invincible/ tl,dr: It looks incredible , like no other game you'll see today, and it grapples with deeply interesting themes – but it's extremely annoying to play and suffers from a serious lack of editing. There's just too much friction to become truly immersed. Still, other games can only wish their failures were this daring.
Comment linking /2023/12/26/the-invincible/
on “A small studio made a game based on a Stanislaw Lem's novel”Submitted A Thousand Primers, Not Just One as a story · 23 points
HN discussionMy first thought upon hearing that it was Push Pop Press was education. Because of their work with Al Gore. Maybe even the predecessor to the TYLIP. Perhaps it could even be field-tested at the beneficiary school district(s) of the $100M pledge. In Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", a plot device (not central), is The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. It is an adaptive AI tutor. To realize TYLIP, hard AI problems w…
Comment linking /2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-primer/
on “Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook”Submitted Experimental Playgrounds as a story · 19 points
HN discussionFuck that noise -- if you'd have even bothered to google their name, you'd have found that Givewell are total scumbags: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/15547/GiveWell-or-Give-em-Hel... Summaries: http://mssv.net/wiki/index.php/Givewell They got caught out because they were blatantly astroturfing for themselves and slagging 'competing' charities all over the web. Then it turns out that even by their own generous accou…
Comment linking /wiki/index.php/Givewell
on “The trouble with non-profits”Submitted All Souls: The toughest test you’ll ever take as a story · 15 points
HN discussionAt least one HN long-time contributor and non YC will launch a company that does stupendously well and he/she will reference HN as a vital resource/support in their formative days. Videogames continue to evolve into real-time collaborative tools. The 1st edition of The Primer (a magical in the Arthur C. Clarke sense AI device). "A book that is powered by a computer so advanced it’s almost magical, and it teaches chi…
Comment linking /2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-primer/
on “Ask HN: A New Decade. Any Predictions?”Submitted Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser as a story · 11 points
HN discussionTreading carefully because a sibling comment has already been banned, but I'm reminded of the QAnon-as-ARG view: https://mssv.net/2020/08/02/what-args-can-teach-us-about-qan... https://medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analy... It contains many of the familiar "satanic panic" elements such as wild allegations of child abuse.
Comment linking /2020/08/02/what-args-can-teach-us-about-qanon/
on “But down in the underground, you’ll find someone true”Submitted Lorelei and the Laser Eyes as a story · 10 points
HN discussionI'm still a little upset with Givewell after what they did over at Metafilter. http://mssv.net/wiki/index.php/Givewell
Comment linking /wiki/index.php/Givewell
on “In Memory of Aaron Swartz”Submitted Bad Education as a story · 5 points
HN discussion
