# Merritt K

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**merritt k**,[4] formerly **Merritt Kopas**, is a Canadian writer, editor, and [video game designer](/source/Video_game_designer).

k is known for her games *LIM*, *HUGPUNX*, and *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."[5] Much of her early work is no longer available, k said those works "felt personal in a way that I was uncomfortable with", and that post-[Gamergate](/source/Gamergate_(harassment_campaign)), "being personal online was a much more dangerous proposition...for a lot of people."[6]

k is the author of Internet fiction and zines such as *Dear Pauline* and *These Were Free on my Blog*.[7][8] k is the editor of the [Twine](/source/Twine_(software)) game print anthology *[Videogames for Humans](/source/Videogames_for_Humans)* and co-author of the poetry collection *Total Mood Killer* and the comics-poetry hybrid text *Internet Murder Revenge Fantasy*. In 2024, she published *LAN Party*, a photo book revisiting the early 2000s heyday of the [LAN party](/source/LAN_party).[9] From 2019 to 2023, she was an editor at *[Fanbyte](/source/Fanbyte)*.[10]

## Career

k grew up with games and the *[Choose Your Own Adventure](/source/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure)* book series, though her academic background was in sociology. Her first game to attract wider attention was *LIM*, released on her website for free in 2012. *LIM* was made in [Construct 2](/source/Construct_(game_engine)), and is a maze game about navigating public spaces and the perception of others. It was made during her first summer publicly presenting as a queer woman, and was an expression of that experience.[11][12][13]

Also in 2012, she discovered the [interactive fiction](/source/Interactive_fiction) tool [Twine](/source/Twine_(software)). Though Twine was first released in 2009, k credits [Anna Anthropy](/source/Anna_Anthropy)'s 2012 work, *[Rise of the Videogame Zinesters](/source/Rise_of_the_Videogame_Zinesters)*, for bringing it to a wider audience. k authored works using Twine, and was grouped into a 'queer games scene' which featured other trans women creatives such as Anthropy, [Mattie Brice](/source/Mattie_Brice), and [Porpentine](/source/Porpentine_(game_designer)), the presence of which lead k to declare in *[Lambda Literary](/source/Lambda_Literary)* that "hypertext and digital games are totally trans genres".[13][11][14] In 2015, k published *Videogames for Humans*, a collection of conversations between Twine authors and critics.[14][15][16][17]

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.[7] Some of her smaller pieces, such as the game *Super Consent*, deal with the complexities of issues like [consent](/source/Consent) and why and how they should be dealt with in culture.

In September 2016, the [NYU Game Center](/source/NYU_Game_Center) announced k as its first-ever artist in residence.[18]

## *(ASMR) Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just For You*

*(ASMR) Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just For You* was designed by k in [2015](/source/2015_in_video_gaming). The [Twine](/source/Twine_(software)) game features American actor [Vin Diesel](/source/Vin_Diesel) providing a "quick game" of the fantasy [tabletop role-playing game](/source/Tabletop_role-playing_game) *[Dungeons & Dragons](/source/Dungeons_%26_Dragons)* to help the player feel better about themselves. Diesel is also a big fan of *D&D*.[19] The game involves pictures of the actor as well as text introducing the game to the player.[19] The [autonomous sensory meridian response](/source/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response) (ASMR) aspect of the game is in the gameplay rather than as audio.

## Podcasts

k hosted her own podcast called *Woodland Secrets*, where she interviewed primarily women, people of color, and queer people.[20] On June 19, 2016, she began hosting *Dadfeelings*, a podcast about fictional dads and the feelings associated with them. k also guest starred on the [Polygon](/source/Polygon_(website)) podcast *CoolGames Inc.* for an episode.[21]

## Games

- *TERF War* – July 2012[22]
- *LIM* – August 2012[23][24][25]
- *Princess Queen* – September 2012[26]
- *Brace* – October 2012[27]
- *A Synchronous Ritual* – October 2012[28]
- *Queer Pirate Plane* – December 2012[29]
- *Bubblegum Slaughter* – January 2013[30]
- *Octopy* – March 2013[31]
- *Hugpunx* – June 2013[32]
- *Consensual Torture Simulator* – October 2013[33][34]
- *Take Care* – October 2014[35]

## References

1. merritt k (September 11, 2016). ["73: Cory Silverberg"](http://woodlandsecrets.co/episode/73). *Woodland Secrets*. pp. 1:50. Retrieved 20 November 2022.[dead link]

1. merritt k (June 23, 2021). ["Episode 26: Ev O'Driscoll"](https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/khole?selected=ZAM2016410006). *The K-Hole*. [Megaphone](/source/Megaphone_(podcasting)). pp. 5:40. Retrieved 20 November 2022.

1. k, merritt (April 17, 2017). ["my full name is merritt k. all other renditions are deprecated"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170422110939if_/https://twitter.com/merrittk/status/854047158277988353). No. 854047158277988353. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

1. ["merritt kopas"](http://mkopas.net/about/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

1. Amy Rose Spiegel (2017-03-28). ["Conversation: merritt k on changing your path"](https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/merritt-k-on-changing-your-path/). *[The Creative Independent](/source/The_Creative_Independent)*. Retrieved 2024-09-10.

1. ["merritt kopas"](http://a-dire-fawn.itch.io/). *itch.io*. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

1. ["These Were Free On My Blog"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160428104913/https://a-dire-fawn.itch.io/these-were-free). *itch.io*. Archived from [the original](https://a-dire-fawn.itch.io/these-were-free) on 2016-04-28. Retrieved March 29, 2016.

1. Günseli Yalcinkaya (2024-01-18). ["Inside the world of 90s gamers and LAN Party culture"](https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/61751/1/lan-party-merrtt-k-90s-gamers-y2k-gaming-subculture). *[Dazed](/source/Dazed)*. Retrieved 2024-07-27.

1. merritt k (2023-05-31). ["So Long, and Thanks For All the Games"](https://www.fanbyte.com/legacy/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-games). *Fanbyte*. Retrieved 2024-07-27.

1. Keogh, Brendan (2013-05-23). ["Just making things and being alive about it: The queer games scene"](https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/5/24/4341042/the-queer-games-scene). *[Polygon](/source/Polygon_(website))*. Retrieved 2024-09-14.

1. *Creativity in the Digital Age Springer Series on Cultural Computing*. Springer. 2015. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-447-16681-8.

1. k, merritt (2014-07-08). ["Trans Women & The New Hypertext"](http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/07/08/trans-women-the-new-hypertext/). *[Lambda Literary](/source/Lambda_Literary)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140818055113/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/07/08/trans-women-the-new-hypertext/) 2014-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-09-14.

1. Chris Randle (May 25, 2015). ["'If You Stop and Look, You Will Literally Die': An Interview with Merritt Kopas – Hazlitt"](http://hazlitt.net/feature/if-you-stop-and-look-you-will-literally-die-interview-merritt-kopas). *[Hazlitt](/source/Hazlitt_(magazine))*. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

1. Joseph, Daniel (May 4, 2015). ["What's a Twine Game? Let Videogames for Humans Show You"](https://www.vice.com/en/article/whats-a-twine-game-let-videogames-for-humans-show-you/). *VICE Motherboard*. Retrieved April 27, 2017.

1. Gwaltney, Javy (May 29, 2015). ["Videogames For Humans edited by Merritt Kopas"](http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/05/videogames-for-humans-edited-by-merritt-kopas.html). *Paste Magazine*. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

1. *The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries*. Routledge. 2015. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-317-53398-6.

1. ["Announcing Artist in Residence merritt k"](http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/announcing-artist-residence-merritt-kopas/). *[NYU Game Center](/source/NYU_Game_Center)*. September 15, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

1. Kuchera, Ben (May 27, 2015). ["Let Vin Diesel be your Dungeon Master in this relaxing, comforting game"](http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/27/8674087/vin-diesel-dungeons-dragons-calm). *[Polygon](/source/Polygon_(website))*. [Vox Media](/source/Vox_Media). Retrieved April 15, 2017.

1. ["Woodland Secrets"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160306180639/http://woodlandsecrets.co/about/). *Woodlandsecrets.co*. Archived from [the original](http://woodlandsecrets.co/about/) on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.

1. ["CoolGames Inc. Episode 8: Austin Powers (feat. Merritt Kopas)"](https://soundcloud.com/coolgamesinc/episode-8-austin-powers-feat-merritt-kopas). *soundcloud.com*. Retrieved January 2, 2017.

1. ["TERF War"](http://mkopas.net/files/TERF_War/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. Leszkiewicz, Anna (February 19, 2013). ["The McDonalds sim and September 12: what does it mean for a videogame to be political?"](http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/02/mcdonalds-sim-and-september-12-what-does-it-mean-videogame-be-political). *[New Statesman](/source/New_Statesman)*. Retrieved 2016-08-22.

1. ["Lim"](http://mkopas.net/files/Lim/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. k, merritt (January 27, 2023). ["LIM"](https://merrittk.itch.io/lim). *itch.io*. Retrieved May 23, 2025.

1. ["Princess Queen"](http://mkopas.net/files/Princess_Queen/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. ["Sugarcane"](http://mkopas.net/files/Brace/Brace.html). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015.[dead link]

1. ["Sugarcane"](http://mkopas.net/files/asynchronousritual.html). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. ["Jonah"](http://mkopas.net/files/queerpirateplane.html). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. ["Jonah"](http://mkopas.net/files/bubblegumslaughter/bubblegumslaughter.html). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. ["OCTOPY"](http://mkopas.net/files/OCTOPY/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. ["HUGPUNX"](http://mkopas.net/files/HUGPUNX/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

1. [Leigh Alexander](/source/Leigh_Alexander) (December 12, 2013). ["Consensual Torture Simulator: Is game violence meaningful enough?"](http://gamasutra.com/view/news/206722/Consensual_Torture_Simulator_Is_game_violence_meaningful_enough.php). *[Gamasutra](/source/Gamasutra)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180805054941/http://gamasutra.com/view/news/206722/Consensual_Torture_Simulator_Is_game_violence_meaningful_enough.php) 2018-08-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-22.

1. ["Consensual Torture Simulator"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151025162920/https://gumroad.com/l/consensualtorturesimulator). *Gumroad*. Archived from [the original](https://gumroad.com/l/consensualtorturesimulator) on October 25, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

1. ["TAKE CARE"](http://mkopas.net/files/TAKECARE/). *mkopas.net*. Retrieved October 26, 2015. [dead link]

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merritt K](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_K) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_K?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.