About me

Niels My name is Niels ’t Hooft. I was born in Leiderdorp, The Netherlands in 1980, grew up in Leiden, and now live in Utrecht with my wife Annemieke and daughters Mia and Sun. (Photo by Karlien ’t Hooft.)

I started my sole proprietorship Anticlimax in 1999, naming it after a spaceship in the comic book I’d just stopped working on. Hence the crashing spaceship. For years I posted a detailed, ongoing account of my wide-ranging work in my weeknotes, a more compressed, reverse-chronological overview of some of it is below.

2020

January: Big update of our Arnon Grunberg pilot app, with the author’s new novel and a bunch of earlier ones. This helps me raise funding for my start-up Immer, which is officially founded in April, together with Lennart de Meij and Saskia Freeke. We work hard for the rest of the year to soft-launch our digital reading app for both iOS and Android in October.
Also in October, Dustin is launched for iPhone by VPRO Medialab, a narrative AR game about an untrustworthy vacuum cleaner that I created together with Daniël Ernst, Annelies Termeer and many other talented people.
In the Summer, I publish a short story about the sound of Summer.

2019

With author Arnon Grunberg, and a wonderful team including Codeglue, SonicPicnic and Saskia Freeke, I release an iOS app with Grunberg’s latest novel ‘Good men’, meant to test our ideas for digital reading.
This is followed in the Fall by Lotus, a culmination of years of design research, as well as experimentation. I publish a long article about the development process. I should mention that the entire app was translated to English, including three bonus short stories I’m quite pleased with!
In the Summer, I join the Cross-Overpitch in Oostende, Belgium for a few days as a coach, helping creators develop their ideas and work in other media than their own.

2018

I research, talk (at a Murakami event on a cruise ship!) and write about the author Haruki Murakami and games.
At the Flemmish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) I start advising on video game subsidy requests.
For Lake, a narrative adventure game, I work with Gamious and Dylan Nagel on a European subsidy application.
Copywriting for Juniverse, a Qatar-based theme park by Trimoo.
Launching Toki Tori 2+ and Toki Tori on Nintendo Switch, for Two Tribes.

2017

Radio Laika, a series of 13 audio stories and a really cool zine.

Scan of digital literary projects with Paulien Dresscher and Emma O’Hare. For KVB Boekwerk and the Dutch Foundation for Literature, where I am an advisor.
Gouden Guppy jury member, promoting quality apps for young children, after the Kinder Media Awards take a new shape.
With Two Tribes I release RIVE: Ultimate Edition on Nintendo Switch, a year after the Steam/PS4 version of our “hard, fast & hilarious action game”. I developed the game’s world, characters and story, and continue working on its marketing.

After hundreds of installments, I drop my weeknotes in favor of a monthly newsletter in Dutch.
My left kidney is removed after a 75 mm cancerous tumor is discovered. I stay in the hospital for a week, then start preparing to do great work again!

2016

At the Control Conference, I do a talk about the development of RIVE’s story:

After helping Codeglue get funding for its team-based shooter Antegods, production starts. This includes the writing and production of a comic book.
My article about digital literature is published in Boekman 108.

2015

Lotus, my digital novella and prototype of Immer, starts development. It’s funded by the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Creative Industries Fund NL.
I work with Hubbub on Vrije Vogels (‘Free Birds’), a location-based museum game about freedom for children aged 8-12 and their families. Like on earlier Hubbub projects Code 4 (for the Dutch tax administration) and Ripple Effect (for Shell), I’m the copywriter.
I get a monthly tech column in popular science magazine KIJK.

2014

I consult for RIVM.
With David Nieborg, I write for New Scientist and visit Helsinki to profile the Finnish games industry.
In the Hybrid Writer’s Podcast, I interview 12 Dutch and Flemmish writers.
To wrap up Literatuur op het Scherm, I read a column to a packed audience at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

2013

Two Tribes releases Toki Tori 2, an ambitious puzzle adventure game for which I developed the backstory.
My third novel, De verdwijners, is published by Atlas Contact, which I celebrate with a first-of-a-kind read test.
With Codeglue, I develop an iPad version of my debut novel.
I join writing game Your Daily Victory Boogie Woogie.
I start spending time on personal game prototypes.
For Taskforce Innovatie Regio Utrecht, I write a booklet about applied games.

2012

I blog about TV drama The Spiral for VARA.
Travelling to Berlin, I attend the Global Game Jam for the third time.

2011

My daughter Sun is born!
I go to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco for the first time.
I start writing for nrc.next really often, including a weekly column with David.
I consult for the Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie.

2010

I join the Global Game Jam for the first time.

2009

My daughter Mia is born!
In Official PlayStation Magazine I publish the serial story Ninja Gimmick Girl, in 12 monthly episodes, which later becomes the basis of Geometry Girl.
I translate and subtitle 75 episodes of the machinima series Red vs. Blue for Bright.
I work as game designer on documentary game Energy Risk, which becomes the interactive story Collapsus.

2008

I start writing for nrc.next regularly.
I get a writing grant for an ambitious novel called Sexy Sadie, which I work on for the next two years or so, but don’t finish. Yet!

2007

I’m part of Chronicles during Crossing Border, a year after Den Haag Verhalen.
My short story Het meisje in de motorsloep appears in a collection curated by Karin Spaink.
I write for GMR and Veronica Magazine.
And I buy and renovate a house.

2006

Out of Frankfurt and Kyoto, I translate the system menu and official Dutch terminology for Nintendo’s Wii.
For the very first issue of nrc.next I interview the founder of Lulu.com.
With Bart Breij, Vincent Leeuw and Debby Rijnbeek I start Bashers.nl.
My short story In een vulkaan is published in the collection 25 onder de 35.
Oh, I also get married to Annemieke!

2005

With Richard Borgman and Sigfrid van Driel I create jouwPSP, a one-off magazine about the PlayStation Portable. Later, an Xbox 360 edition is made with Bart Breij.
My second novel, Sneeuwdorp, is published.
I’m part of Hollandse Nieuwe, an exhibition at the Letterkundig Museum, and of the Querido Karavaan, reading from my work around the country.

2004

Among other publications, I write for Bright, Mister Motley and Power Unlimited.
I get a monthly column in Official PlayStation Magazine.

2003

My debut novel Toiletten is published by Querido. It’s soon nominated for the Debutantenprijs 2004 and translated to German.
I contribute to magazines like N Gamer and GameQuest, and write most of the copy for TV show Gammo.

2002

With Sigfrid, among others, I launch n3 Nintendo Magazine, in time for the GameCube console launch.

2001

GameSen and friends organize the (prescient, really!) Art in Games exhibition.

2000

GameSen moves to an office in Schiedam.
With Jurjen Tiersma I attend Space World in Tokyo, where Nintendo unveils the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

1999

With the foundation of my sole proprietorship, Anticlimax, I’m officially in business.
I start Total RPG, a site with long reviews of RPG’s, and GameSen, the first all-round Dutch games website.
I work for the Dutch N64 Magazine and a tiny games mag called Games+.
Visiting E3 in Los Angeles with my new friend Jurjen, I run into my hero Shigeru Miyamoto. Since then I interviewed him multiple times, cut my hair, and started wearing tighter shirts (but never too tight).

1998

I receive my HAVO certificate and get admitted to the Utrecht School of the Arts, but don’t go. Nearly two decades later I’ll do some game jamming and teaching there.
My first ever plane trip and games trade show, as I visit England for ECTS.
I also go to Germany for a preview of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which I write about in VPRO Gids and NRC Handelsblad.

1997

Journalist Rob Smit teaches me a ton about writing, as I start working for him.
We publish articles for publications like Autovisie, Oog & Oor and PC Consument, mostly about games.

1996

I get kicked off school and my real life begins.
ZHQ.com, my website about Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series, kickstarts my games journalism career and makes me some advertising money.