Xalavier Nelson Jr. is a writer and narrative designer who also founded the game studio Strange Scaffold. He is most well known for titles such as Hypnospace Outlaw, Can Androids Pray, An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs, and more. He’s currently working on titles such as Sunshine Shuffle, and the neo-noir shooter El Paso, Elsewhere.

We talked to Xalavier about trying to create sustainability in the games industry, why games are the best way to explore how systems work, and why he says "fuck games as empathy machines."