I am going full Cool Hand Luke for my sustenance today.

One of the original playtests of the super fun game. At the AEG #Larkstone house Oct 2019

We launched a new Card Crafting game from John D. Clair on Kickstarter today. Our first game with John was Mystic Vale and this game is the evolution of that game and card crafting in every way. Proud of this project and the team putting it together. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

Ryan and I got to talk about the thing we did together that started it all. Could not imagine doing it with anyone else. L5R 30. www.facebook.com/legendofthef...

Time to make the donuts

Up at 4AM is my habit. On weekends my best days start with golf early. Today I have a tournament and don't T-Off until 11 so I am passing time getting ahead on some work. Mystic Lands? Smash-Up? A completely new project? It's exciting to have no priority and great choices.

We just flew past 1000 backers in the Fun Factory Kickstarter in the first 3 hours. Super excited to see how they engage with the gamification now that they are inside. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

Spending a few minutes this morning posting our Fun Factory list link across socials, looking for comments on what we might be missing. Always amazed at the ideas the community sees that we don’t. docs.google.com/document/d/1... #1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

We’ve reached the stage with the Fun Factory Kickstarter where tough choices have to be made. Which great ideas make it in, and which get saved for the future? I love this stage when there are too many good ideas, and you still feel like you’re getting enough done. #1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

Proof graphics for our Ding Ding hard enamel turn token. It is our free gift for newsletter subscribers during the Fun Factory Kickstarter. If you are not signed up for our newsletter you should. AEG has lots of fun things planned www.alderac.com/sign-up-for-... #1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

I’m up early like a kid on Christmas morning. The Forge Fire POD site is in soft launch, you can check out the presents, but I would suggest you wait to open them. We are still waiting on a few items. connect.forgefire.games/pages/produc...

It is amazing to me how many introverts are working in the gaming industry. I have always been a do think do person and my staff are think do think people. I hope they have done the thinking they need to do because this is a DO week.

I always wonder about the round-trip timing for a spoiler that drops like this. Will it travel through the Smash Up player grapevine? Will it lure curious fans over here to Blue Sky? Guess we’ll find out soon enough. 🤡 #1TBZ #SmashUp #boardgames

This one is totally on me. I don't want any of my hard working team to get blamed for this boneheaded move. The weeks before and after Gencon are scared ground. I know that.

Back from Gencon with lots of amazing memories. I do have one that is evading me. One of my friends gave me this printed 20 sided die. I can remember the moment it happened, them going into their bag to get it. I cannot remember who it was. I want to thank them for this die that NEVER misses. HELP

On my way to Gencon. I expect I will be giving more than one quick teach of this amazing new game we are launching at the end of August. I think everyone will be stunned at the deals in the Fun Factory kickstarter. Some of our best work yet.

Trying to focus on work but my brain is already at Gen Con, sprinting between demo tables like it’s the board game Olympics. Can’t wait to play, explore, and maybe sneak in a celebratory cocktail or two. #1TBZ #GenCon2025 #boardgames

I have been pulled into this vortex. Is learning how to make Tik Tok videos and brainstorming new games ideas work? My Monkey thinks so.

If you know you know.

No matter how good your artists are, if you don’t know what to ask for, the path to something great is slow, uncertain, and humbling. Mystic Lands is teaching me that again. Vision matters. Language matters Sometimes the magic doesn’t show up until Final_v9_reallyFINAL.psd. #MysticLands #boardgames

GENCON- So many of our early Gencon experiences started with packing a truck and then a road trip across the country. I am glad that is not necessary any longer but sometimes I miss the memories we made on the road.

I am seeing spoilers for the new Warlord out on the web. They have done a great job upgrading the game. Very exciting stuff.

I’ve played the Road to Gen Con scenario more than 30 times. It always starts with: “This year I get ahead of it.” It always ends with: “How did everything become a fire?” I have 16 turns left until departure. Thankfully, I’ve assembled a team of elite firefighters. #GenCon #LegacyGame

Her weapon is Joy. Her aim is true. The empire never saw it coming.

I spent the day connecting with my friends in the industry about our 30th Anniversary raffle. Some great companies are helping us celebrate. @allplay.bsky.social @wizkids.bsky.social @renegadegamestudios.com @arcanewonders.bsky.social and many more. Grand Prize for the raffle is growing.

This morning: reviewing amazing game pitches and chasing down great prizes for the AEG Gen Con 30th anniversary party raffle. Some days are just better than others. #AEG30 #boardgames #GenCon2025

Smash-Up players can't post memes like this now. :) Even if they are true and funny. A flood of new info about Smash-Up is hitting the streets. New Factions are featured in the Fun Factory Kickstarter. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

I am working on contacting companies about the Gencon shopping spree we are giving away at our 30th anniversary party. Lot's of friends willing to help out. It's going to be great.

Apparently I accidentally put some personal purchase items into the company Amazon cart. My staff went down a rabbit hole of way worse things they could have found. Based on my cart VS their list I have been declared boring.

Excited for the rework of the Worlds Largest City. I told Frank I have lots of ideas. Hopefully I can be in the room for the big brainstorm. Not that the World Largest team needs my help. They killed it with the Worlds Largest Dungeon.

It's exactly what it looks like. I'm posted the Fun Factory announcement on the AEG thread and now I am reposting it here. Twice the bang, half the work. Live this moment with us now. BTW My team has put a tracker on my posts. Signing up here makes me look good. Show them I am irreplaceable.

My High School Star Crush, her and Terri Nunn from Berlin.

Feels like I’ve spent 50% of my time lately putting out fires and the other 50% trying to find the fun. Glad we’re finally ready to start talking about what’s coming. It’s been a journey and it’s almost showtime. #boardgames #next30years

‪Still working on that timeline, but I had to take a break to share photos of the stunning Tsuro edition I received from @calliopegames.bsky.social A‬ Kickstarter I backed a couple years ago. Now THIS is premium and totally worth the wait.

Mad respect to folks like Jamey Stegmaier who’ve built up years of social content. It’s no small thing. Building AEG’s full published games list and timeline is taking time, but it’s going worth it. Every game’s a chapter. Every chapter tells the story. #1TBZ

Decided if I want to do this right, I need a definitive list of every game we’ve published. Then I’ll sort out when they came out, one turn at a time. Here’s what I have so far: docs.google.com/document/d/1... #1TBZ #AEG30

L5R Players Over the years, there were some really cool, crafty prizes and trophies created. Does anyone have pictures of the Egg of Pan Ku or the Spider Book or other prizes from the Tomb? We’re did they end up? Would love to see them again!

Just recharging this weekend. Lots movies and a little golf. Gotta be ready in case aliens from Planet 10 show up again.

Before I dive into the L5R era, does anyone have requests? Stories you want told? Things you always wondered about? This part of the journey was wild, messy, and full of big swings happy to dig into whatever you’re curious about. #1TBZ

Over the past couple of days I recorded two 90-minute podcast sessions with the amazing Katrina Ostrander, one of the current stewards of the L5R brand. It got me hyped. Next up here on #1TBZ: the stories behind Legend of the Five Rings. Buckle up.

I had sold a few ads in Shadis #9, including one to a mail-order company called RPG International. At Gen Con, I met its owner, Ryan Dancey. He says I shook his hand across the booth and pulled him into the game industry, I think we pulled each other in. We’ve been building stuff ever since. #1TBZ

Thursday of Gen Con we learned a hard truth: the White Wolf “10,000 giveaway” was just a rumor. We gave out 400 copies. Total. That first day, we pitched Shadis to everyone who walked by. But something was wrong, the hall wasn’t where the people were. #1TBZ

This photo captures the moment perfectly: three guys, a cheap banner, a mountain of magazines, and absolutely zero clue what we were doing. First Gen Con. No sleep. All heart. #1TBZ

L5R- I’ve been asked to join a lot of L5R 30th anniversary conversations It makes me wonder, "Am I feeding an instant gratification monkey by spending so much time looking back?" I believe documenting the past can help those who’ll carry L5R forward so it is both worthwhile and fun. #1TBZ #L5R30

Back then, I had a spell cast on me. That affected others. If you were within 10 feet of me, anything seemed possible. That’s the only way to explain how we decided to drive 10,000 magazines to Gen Con, in an overloaded truck and a rented trailer, with almost no money and no real plan. #1TBZ

1993 We’d set the goal: give away 10,000 copies of Shadis at Gen Con. But we had a problem. Until now, Jolly had been printing in a local shop, on a Xerox machine. We needed a real press. Something that could handle big print runs and help us look like we belonged. #1TBZ

Jolly was still working at a print shop and with issue 7 and 8 we went to 8.5x11, it was finally big enough for ads, but the readership was still small. We looked at White Wolf and heard they gave away 10K issues at Gencon. We decided to go for it, that became the goal. Gencon or Bust #1TBZ

After I brought Shadis back to LA, there was a stretch before we made any big decisions. I moved back in with my parents, worked on a golf map in Palm Springs, and started becoming friends with Jolly. Dave and I had ideas, but it wasn’t “the plan” yet. The pieces were starting to move. #1TBZ

I brought that first copy of Shadis back to LA and showed it to some of my old gaming buddies Dave Seay, who had become a police officer in the City of Bell, took an interest. We started talking about how much fun it would be to help Jolly with the magazine. #1TBZ