Surviving Kenshi: Hardship, Agency, and the Beauty of the Unfinished

What happens when a game refuses to hold your hand—or even care if you survive? In this episode, we dive into Naomi Clark’s essay “Kenshi,” a sharp and deeply personal examination of the cult-favorite open-world RPG. Clark unpacks the game’s brutal beginnings, its resistance to traditional narrative arcs, and its focus on emergent gameplay shaped by survival, community, and systems of oppression. We discuss how Kenshi’s incomplete design becomes a feature rather than a flaw, and how a devoted modding community keeps the world alive long after development has ceased. Tune in for a conversation about failure, freedom, and the quiet revolution of unfinished games.