The Power of Play: The Olympic Games, Why Rules Matter, and Collaborative Experiences
Let the games begin!
There’s a chill in the air and soon-to-be-discounted Valentine’s Day chocolate lining the shelves at my local grocery store, so you know what that means: Happy February, everyone! Hope you’re staying warm, wherever you are. I’m thrilled to share what’s coming from rmrk*st Magazine in the month ahead!
Towards the end of 2025, we took stock of all we are looking forward to in the coming year at Remarkist and within our larger ecosystem. We had a great year moving towards some exciting developments. It made sense to bring all of that momentum, combined with the thrill of a new year and the new challenges they bring together to inform our editorial vision. Every January, folks collectively take stock of all they’ve accomplished and forge ahead with resolutions and goals. Similarly, we are focused on what we’d like to build in the year ahead, so our theme here at rmrk*st Magazine was Building Societies. Here’s what you might have missed:
We examined the framework of high school as a society in movies and TV shows, and how that particular backdrop mimics society structures in the world outside of it. Setting in any story world often determines how the characters function, grow, and build relationships. To that end, we explored the role of setting as character: how topography and geography dictate plot and an audience’s engagement with story. We also considered the role of found family vs. traditional family as it relates to society building, and how different family structures create unique opportunities for story and character development. If you haven’t yet taken a look at those pieces, please feel free to leave us some comments! We love good conversation, and hope to engage with you in 2026.
At the start of every month, we introduce a new theme for the content we’ll be publishing over the next few weeks. In pondering what we would focus on in February, I remembered something very exciting: the Winter Olympics in Italy are about to start! I love the Olympics, and I think many people do because it’s a collective, collaborative experience. No matter how old you are or what country you live in, this is an event that we all get to share. Watching coverage of the Games activates the good-natured competitive spirit in all of us. So with that in mind, we’ll be investigating the idea of Play.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing content under this theme as it relates to content and how we participate in and consume stories. From taking a deeper look at why rules in games and play matter to the power of collective, collaborative experiences, we will examine the role of Play and playfulness. We are excited to hear from you too: whether you’re a content creator here on Substack or on social media, feel free to let us know! We want to have conversations about these concepts with you, because collaboration is something we hold near and dear.
So consider this your invitation to come play with us! Over on Instagram, give a follow to both John Cabrera and Remarkist for fandom content and special event announcements. You can find more information about Remarkist on our Discord where we post regular updates about our entire ecosystem.
Our table of contents is below, but we look forward to publishing some surprises in addition to what you see here. Check back for updated links!
Why Rules Matter
By: Diana Franco
The Olympic Games and the Power of Collective Experiences
By: Diana Franco
Play and Collaboration
By: Diana Franco
An Exclusive interview with Author Matt Browning
By: Diana Franco
