Happy Solstice!

Some days I am very jealous of @connievdc.bsky.social and her fictional dragon facts. In my world, some birds have ten interesting things about them (forcing me to choose) and some birds...are birds.

A MESSAGE FROM THE VOID WHAT IF YOUR PATH IS UNIQUE AND YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE? YOU ARE ENOUGH

Beautiful how to play video from @kovray.bsky.social for my game Sanibel, coming mid January. I am so excited for you all to play this game! I may be a little relentless about it in the next few weeks.

Greetings from Sanibel, where we're doing an event with the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow to celebrate my forthcoming game about collecting seashells, called...Sanibel. I ♥️ this place so much. TIL their slogan is #shellyeah 🐚🌊🐚🌊🐚

I am generally not naturally interested in GMT games but this one...I am so curious to play this!

Saw this via @crystalsully.bsky.social and oooh boy did I need this reminder when it was seen.

I like to imagine that the person who dreamed up this study was one of the kids using whippits in the parking lot, who eventually got clinical treatment for their depression...but then was like "but it felt like the whippits also helped, am I wrong?

Y'all I just got an advance copy of the next Wingspan & Finspan expansions and I am SO EXCITED. @stonemaiergames.com will start talking about them later in December, for release in January. Pictures soon!

This is also about boardgame culture

In today's NYT crossword

Did you play games yesterday? My Black Friday tradition is to play published boardgames, but my Thanksgiving tradition is to play the folk game Eat Poop You Cat / Telephone Pictionary. Some of my favorites yesterday:🧵

The Hidden History of Women Game Designers daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-h...

Of course I would say this, but we need to talk about the moral & ideological case for play & leisure more than ever. So much political discourse - especially from the super-rich - assumes we ought to construct society around forcing citizens to spend most of their one, unrepeatable life working.

My friend Matt maximizes gaming w friends by shoving everything in the box and packing up later. He's started filming his reboxings and I find them kind of mesmerizing. This one is also of interest for how he fits all Wingspan expansions (to date) in with the base game!

NONE SHALL PASS

Gift link, cool project!

I have been in Europe for almost a month and am now at DAU Barcelona for Devir's 25th anniversary. I have had the great good fortune to hang out with many board gamers and designers on this trip. And I have heard from them over and over that they are scared to visit the US right now.

Also: ✅ Played Bohemians in Paris, (and, shown here, on the train from Paris to Lyons). Really enjoying this one. The theming is delightful. But @mattleacock.bsky.social keeps beating me!

✅ Played Carcassonne in Carcassonne

Sanibel made this "Top 10 of Essen" list from @polygon.com!

Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.

To my English board game bubble... The following question was raised by @brettministerium.bsky.social in my community: Is there a curated feed of English-speaking board game blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels? Something like this site that we can use in Germany. #Boardgame #Brettspiel

I have friends from way back visiting me at Spiel today. What should we try to play/see, besides Sanibel? (They're gamers but none of us managed to do any homework on this question!)

I have been trying to figure out why I am so shaken by the imagery of the White House being torn down. I mean, obviously the huge metaphor...but this. Part of it is this:

Y'all Hasbro made me a BEACH in the novelties area. With ACTUAL SHELLS

Hey I'm at Essen, stop by the Avalon Hill/Hasbro booth in hall 7 to check out my forthcoming game Sanibel. I'll be there each day at 4. If you're press/etc I've got some time set aside that you can book through them, or just DM me.

This is the result of some discord shitposting, but I'll bet it applies to some of you here too 👀

🎲✂️ Howdy! @czamboni.bsky.social and I are looking to connect with TTRPG / LARP creators from outside of North America creating games that address oppression and resistance from a cultural perspective. We're putting together a list for potential guests for our podcast-in-progress! #TTRPG #LARP

halfway through this video I knew I was going to share it, because it's so good...but then he started talking about ME 😬😂 Looking forward to meeting you @matthewdunstan.bsky.social !

heartbroken to learn the pope sympathizes with the poor. how can i continue to believe in god

THIS IS IMPORTANT STOP SCROLLING AND READ THE WHOLE THING

Ugggh I hate packing so much and I am packing for a MONTH spanning Norway to Spain (highs in the 40s to 70s F) What are your packing tips?

Tariffs are putting US game companies out of business. (Note this is the US subsidiary of AMIGO, not the whole German company)

And most of the east coast, too.

DC folks: TODAY 12-5 at Brookside Gardens (in Wheaton MD) is the annual MAWDC mushroom fair. Bring mushrooms you want us to ID, look at the incredible diversity of the ones we brought in, take a guided walk, check out mushroomy merch, & more. I'll be demoing Undergrove!

In celebration of World Octopus Day, we wanted to revisit one of our favorite cephalopod sightings, the glass octopus — Vitreledonella richardi filmed during a month-long #PhoenixIslandsCoral expedition in 2021.

This was a great episode of Ologies: * interesting philosophical dilemmas * smart charitable donations & @givingmultiplier.bsky.social * Alie discovers Unitarian Universalism * at the end, how a game (Tango) could foster collaboration & mutual respect in ppl with differing beliefs and values

Many sea stars begin life as young fairy-like creature (called a brachiolaria) that float through the open ocean. Eventually, a small star forms within them (here in yellow). The fairy-like brachiolaria sinks under the star’s weight, and the star pops out! 🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)

starting soon!

Tonight!

omg I just figured out how to make Google Calendar show Germany times concurrently with US times so I don't have to toggle back and forth. Planning across time zones is still such a pain...

I'm giving an online talk for Mass Audubon on Wednesday. Register for free below, and check out their very cool fall lineup!

I watched "The Hobby" last night with a group of tabletop game designers, and what a treat! The film looks affectionately at board games from the perspective of pro and amateur designers, players, and influencers. It captures how much game design has itself become a hobby in the story of... 1/▶️

🎲 Looking for something new for game night? Why not try one of these fungus board games — forage, grow, and strategize your way through the through the fungal kingdom! Reviews in this #UKFungusDay blog by Jassy Drakulic @jassydrak.bsky.social: ukfungusday.co.uk/fungusboardgames

I've been promoting our next DMV tabletop game event, but this morning it feels wrong to post without comment. 🌸 Local communities belong to a place, and our place contains Washington, DC. Many game designers are federal employees or contractors by day. During a government shutdown, many of us 1/▶️

There are many more important reasons to be upset about the looming government shutdown, but I am scheduled to go bird banding and give a talk at Patuxent Research Refuge tomorrow morning 😭

It looks like Osmosis (2025) by Agnès Largeaud is the 1,000th game added to this list on @boardgamegeek.com! 🎉 Thanks to @mcfluffy.bsky.social for that one, and to several others who contributed yesterday, including @bartgamedesign.bsky.social and @sblendito.bsky.social! Keep 'em coming!

I just noticed this list is up to 988 games. Who wants to find the missing 12 that will get us to 1000? boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/297...

I’m part of Hasbro’s #WomenInnovatorsOfPlay event again. Learn more and register here: spark.hasbro.com/womeninnovat... Also launching that day is their WIP Design Challenge. Winners get $10,000, mentorship, and a trip to Hasbro HQ. (but this year they're esp looking for mass-market toy ideas.)