Hi! I'm Athar

and I'm a writer of weird fun nonsense, often of the fantastical, historical, and interactive variety.My favourite thing in the world is stories that can only be told in their chosen medium, and I love stretching myself to try out new methods.I've written two interactive fantasy novels for Choice of Games and contributed to several game projects. I also have some short free-to-play games on itch.io, so do check them out!

Games

Marrowbreak - In ProductionInitially Kickstarted as a full TTRPG with its own setting and system, after my co-creator and publisher unfortunately had to bow out, I decided to rewrite Marrowbreak to instead be a system-agnostic world and adventure book.

An Imp and an Impostor - Choice of Games, 2025A 600,000 word interactive historical urban fantasy novel.You've spent years undercover, disguised as a human, infiltrating the city’s magical law-enforcement organization. They stole your magic from you. Can you steal it back?

There is an absence under your ribs where your other two arms should have been, used to be, aren't anymore, and it aches.
Steam | Google Play | App Store

The Dungeon That Hates You Personally - Jamcrawler entry, 2025This is an adventure setting supplement for the TTRPG PITCRAWLER by MacGuffin & Co., made as an entry for the jam they hosted, Jamcrawler.

Lore Master's Deck - The Story Engine, 2023The Story Engine: Lore Master’s Deck uses 8 double-sided card types to help writers and game masters generate lore for their settings. I was one of the guest writers who contributed card cues in keeping with the deck's format and style guidelines, and also acted as a sensitivity consultant.

Emerald Templars - The Geek Lyfe, 2023A dark fantasy TTRPG where the Emerald Templars fight to defend their lands from the threat of chaos magic. I was among the guest writers and crafted a city, its NPCs, and its monsters.

SPITE - solo journaling game, 2023SPITE is a game about eating your stats to spite your reflection, but also about knowing when to quit.Based on the Wretched & Alone and Breathless systems, this is not a game you're meant to win.

It tries to make smalltalk, asking innocuous things like, “How was work?” and “Are you hungry?”
Its voice is gentle. Its teeth are small and many.

salvage. - interactive short story, 2023After my first behemoth of an interactive novel, I wanted to challenge myself to write something more contained, and here it is!At just under 10k words, salvage. is a short Twine game about biting grief, alienation, and a beloved devil at your door. And also timeloops, because I love timeloops.It's playable in browser.

The devil of your homeland has come to pay his respects at your father’s death, dripping saltwater all over your threshold.
You can scarcely believe your good luck.

Deck of Worlds - The Story Engine, 2022The Deck of Worlds is a creative world-building deck designed for both writers and game masters. As one of the guest writers, I contributed card cues across many categories and genres, all in keeping with the Story Engine format and style.

The Dragon and the Djinn - Choice of Games, 2022A 710,000 word interactive Arab epic fantasy novel.You hold a djinn in a bottle. Make a wish! Will you slay the dragon, or overthrow the emir? Or will you free the djinn, and accept the consequences?

Short Fiction

  • - Poorly Salted, Well-Loved, Strange Horizons, Issue 11 August 2025 (3200 words)

  • You have only ever bought mombar frozen before, pre-cooked and pre-stuffed and ready to throw into the—blasphemy of blasphemies—air fryer, and this is why: the cleaning alone takes an age.

  • - Four Steps to Hunt a God, Strange Horizons, Issue 12 June 2023 (1300 words - also available as a Podcast)

  • Let’s get one thing clear from the start, everyone:

  • Your god did not want to leave you.

I'm also an associate editor at Baffling Magazine, a quarterly online magazine of queer speculative flash fiction.The issue I co-edited is coming out in December, so keep an eye out!

About

Athar Fikry is a writer of weird fun nonsense, including two behemoth interactive novels with Choice of Games: The Dragon and the Djinn and the recently-released An Imp and an Impostor, as well as some short fiction in Strange Horizons. They are also an associate editor at Baffling Magazine. They live in Cairo, Egypt with their menacingly high TBR pile and their many opinions on old Egyptian musicals. You can find them on tumblr @atharfi.