Genuinely thrilled that a new generation of music lovers is getting introduced to Wolf Parade from the gay hockey show! People get weird and gatekeepy when pop culture moments like this happen. Why? "I'll Believe in Anything" is a phenomenal song and everyone deserves to hear it.

Apparently there's a new security exploit with TTS that allows users to join non-private sessions, mess with your mod, and run scripts that cause your computer to crash. Once again. Stop using the terrible board game software. The pile of reasons is a mountain at this point.

Everything about Obojima and Yanari has reeked of appropriation and borderline IP theft, but this extra dollop of zero media literacy and lack of compassion is shameful. Imagine watching Princess Mononoke and your only takeaway was "Those monsters deserved to die." Embarrassing.

Howdy all you new peeps! If you're curious about Conviction, you can find it here: www.lunarpunk.games/conviction You should also follow @lunarpunk.games , since that's my latest vessel for talking shop on games, breaking down their hierarchies, and publishing weird indie stuff.

I wish everyone who scooped up Taskmaster Live tickets just to flip them for 5x face value a very merry 0 points for not following the task as written on the card.

The deluxe edition of my favorite album of 2025 dropped on Friday! "That's Showbiz Baby!: The Encore" is the rare deluxe version where every new track feels as essential as the core album. An absolute must listen. Endless treats for fans of pop excellence.

Saving this because Dan once again communicates our shared disgust of AI generated creative work with eloquence and care. When folks ask why I feel the way I do about this mess, I'll be grateful to have this thread in the ol' dossier.

Over the last month, I've been working on this essay about the use of AI art in board games, "Is This Really What We Want?" Though it is contextually specific, it is also a reflection of my wider thoughts on the use of AI art and writing in creative contexts. www.meeplemountain.com/articles/is-...

Finally sharing my sizzle reel! If you're in need of video production work (or pretty much anything creative), hit me up, esp. at #PAXU! I don't ask for this much, but if you're in the #boardgames industry and like what I do, consider sharing this! I'm looking to book up 2026! linktr.ee/jcw.gay

Once again sharing my objectively correct opinion about the National Dog Show.

"How do I find my art style?" I've been a creative pro for 10 years, this is the number 1 question I get. They want creative work to be recognizably theirs in an instant-- like Miyazaki or Wes Anderson movies. This is the formula for art style, it's much simpler than you think.

It's the Monday after #PAXU and I'm feeling grateful for all the incredible people I've met. Some of you know I've been holding quite a lot of grief over the last month. Being with you was the boost of joy I desperately needed. Thank you for all the kindness, love, and experiences you shared!

A few folks have asked me when I'm playtesting the game that used to be called Roux Mates and Spell Week at #PAXU. Here's your answer! Matthew, Xoe, and I are running #CampCharmwood at the times here!

Pro tip from your fav community manager: When the platform the community runs on goes down due to some kind of mass outage, you can assume I already know about it. This is my job. You don't need to send me an email "just giving me a heads up".

Printing, cutting, and assembly is complete on all three prototypes for #PAXU! Ready to go! I'll be bringing... - The first physical iteration of the brand new board layout for #CampCharmwood - #OarDeal, a trick taker/shedder about a canoe trip - #Saros, an 18 card game about the sun and moon

"LUX" by Rosalía has been on nonstop rotation for me over the last few days. Its ambition, scope, and execution is stunning. Pretty handedly the most beautiful album of 2025 and a must listen.

The Midnight Market is live. The night is for indie games. 🌖 lunarpunk.games/midnightmarket

Everything is terrible so enjoy a selection from my new favorite YouTube channel. Most of the videos are of a cat and a lamb trying to decide who gets to sit on the big rock. Sometimes they both get to sit in the big rock. youtu.be/O12F4HkKMg8?...

I'm feeling so good about my lil trick taker/shedder that I've decided to pitch it at #PAXU! Oar Deal is a game about going on a canoeing trip and trying your best to not fall out of the canoe. It plays 3-5 players in about 25 mins with just 54 cards. DMs open to anyone interested!

The Shut Up & Sit Down review of The Old Kings Crown is excellent. No surprises there. But can we talk about the cameo appearance of High Tide by @marcelineleiman.bsky.social hiding on the bookshelf? Review incoming?

A few weeks ago, I made a comment about how I often find trick takers difficult to internalize. I figured there's no better way to learn about games you don't understand than to just jump in and see how they work from the inside out. So now I've made a trick taker and I think it's pretty fun!

🫨 We announced it in our September newsletter: Unpub Festival Badge sales and reserved tables will open on October 1st at 12pm ET!  More info:  https://www.unpub.org/upcoming-events/unpub-festival-2026

Once sentence. Six words. Three proper nouns, each one a plot twist.

good morning, i wrote a manifesto about a new direction for game design / play possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...

I put down some thoughts about game design, what it’s good for, and what it isn’t good for in this zine! Plus, a short guide to help get you started making a game if you’ve never done that before: gregisonthego.itch.io/rulebooks-fo... ✂️ 🎲 ✊ 🔥

Update to this chart that I share a lot. Not breaking news: Game design teams are still OVERWHELMINGLY all men. About 7% of the top 500 games have a woman or non-binary person credited as a designer. A 🧵of related charts: (1/6) 🎲✂️

If you're following along with today's board game/TTRPG discourse, the "genuinely cool stuff brewing behind the scenes" quote posted here is the incredible variety of games in development right now that blur the boundaries of RPGs and board games. How about a thread of some of my favorites?

If you want to explore design territory that moves away from this focus on colonialist domination or capitalist productivity, start at the end: the game's outcome. What are players trying to accomplish and why? Do they really need to have the most, or is it reasonable to have enough?

this is about how some ttrpg designers see board game designers but is also, depressingly, about how many board game designers see board game designers it's changing, albeit slowly, and gosh I'm glad for that

Sometimes a rulebook read through is all you need to know a game is going to be special. High Tide packs so much puzzle into a delightful and compact package. It's every bit as good as you've heard.

So in October I’ll be launching my first ks! It’s a bundle of two spooky card games: Club Spooky and That’s the Spirit. I’ve talked about them before, but I wanted to finally do a proper introduction and talk about my goal for all this. 🧵1/6 www.kickstarter.com/projects/alw...

I just finished Amabel Holland's book "Cardboard Ghosts." Anyone interested in game design should read it. It's wonderful. The final chapter in particular nearly brought me to tears as validation of why the games I make and the games I'm inspired by are valid art. Moving and inspiring work.

This is such a supreme disappointment. 🎲✂️ Ultimate Guard, known for their popular game sleeves and deck boxes, are making a new line of Harry Potter themed products. Only through collective, direct action can we start to see change. Let them know of your discontent: [email protected]

Looking for tabletop gaming orgs that accept donations that benefit BIPOC in the industry. @rosegauntlet.bsky.social does the foundation take donations? @ttgda.bsky.social you have a grant program, right?

I'm sad to close out 2025 not being able to attend any Protospiel Online events, but if you can make this one, do it! @protospielo.bsky.social and @breakmygame.com continue to be the most inclusive and supportive online playtesting spaces and it's not even close.

As much as the last few weeks of board game and tabletop events have sucked (with sprinklings of wins scattered between), there's genuinely cool stuff brewing behind the scenes! I know it's hard to get excited when the news is terrible, but good things are happening as well! I promise!

Our official response:

You can now follow @blockcollectives.bsky.social! Join the discord and become an official Blocker!!

TTGDA statement about sensitivity around art depictions in games.

The media and content folks a publisher chooses to repeatedly hire or avoid often speaks volumes to their character and if they're a company you want to pitch to. Am I'm appalled by the racist content in @devirgames.bsky.social Ace of Spades? Of course. Am I surprised? I wish I was.

The vendors for the Indie Games Night Market have been selected and notified! Check out what's coming! www.newmillindustries.com/ignm

I'm sure CGE invested a lot to attend GenCon so they're trying to make the most of an avoidable mess, but it's genuinely bizarre to see them "posting through it" while they're on the receiving end of a pretty vocal boycott. All while doing zero moderation of their comments section? Yikes.

During Gen Con, I will have 250 of these zines with me. The goal is to inform normies about what’s going on with CGE and a call to action to join the blacklist. No buying, pitching, or covering CGE games until they give the community a proper apology and response on how they plan to make good. 🎲✂️

The leadership of the Tabletop Game Designers Association was disappointed to see the publisher CGE touting Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, a new Harry Potter-themed version of Codenames.

Over the last two days, the Bluesky account for Codenames has blocked 204 users. A substantial number of those accounts have Trans Pride flags in their user names. If you hadn't already made a call on where you stood with CGE, it's impossible to ignore the optics of how cowardly and gross this is.

I love my current Kate Bush profile banner. It's been with me pretty much the entire time I put an ounce of effort into my Online Presence™. But I passed this sign on the highway yesterday and I think this might be the new winner. What do we think? (PS: I wasn't the one driving!)

What a day. How about a timeline cleanse? According to the adoption paperwork from the shelter, my cat turned 20 today! He's almost definitely not that old but he's been in my life for 12 wild years. Happy Birthday, Baran!

I've stopped buying from publishers who continue to profit off the Harry Potter IP. As a designer, I've also stopped pitching to those publishers. I don't want my games in a studio portfolio next to games that fund anti-trans legislation. CGE is now on my no buy/no pitch list. Very disappointing.

At this point, it's no secret that @dropout.tv is the funniest and most thoughtfully crafted streaming subscription out there. But if you've been sleeping on Gastronauts, you're missing one of the low key best shows on the platform.

"If you’re not happy, you can leave. If you want more control over the company, it’s like, last I checked, I’m the tycoon. I think I’m wearing the hat – that’s my plan. So, if you wanted to run your own company, you should go do that." This is Dan's response to "Working for and with you sucks."