I want to make a tribute to someone I cared about who just passed away long before their time. There are game companies with teams of 100s of people and budgets in the millions, but one of the most influential games to me ever was made by a single Italian woman, Adriana, from a small Italian town completely on her own. And I've come to appreciate this week that I'm not the only one that thinks like that.

She wasn't a loud or boastful person, but still a giant of her art. She taught me a lot about how good storytelling can be done in games ... things like NPCs have layers of relationships with each other, some public and some hidden, maps should package an entire story arc, and there's a relationship between story and space to do that. And her maps are the gold standard for me. I can't say her approach could be so simply reduced to a "feminine perspective", but she was known for things that are hard to find elsewhere and has sold me that more women should be making games. Fen reminded me that one of her hallmarks was rewarding small acts of kindness and compassion in everything she made, which is so rare as to be almost radical. And maybe the most sincere tribute I could give is that for my own maps, her work is my biggest influence. I had a few chances to chat with her and she was always very kind, sincere, and encouraging to people that wanted to learn from her. Riposa in pace, Adriana, creatore di mondi.