Giggled to myself as I turned all the display picture books upside down on their easels this morning… my favorite harmless April Fools prank to do every year.

Are you at #PAXEast? Find the @sidequestbooks.bsky.social booth in the PAX Intersection room on the first floor for amazing games you can’t find on the Expo floor - look for the pride flags! As far as my games go, you could grab Allucinalia, Just Passing Through - or snag a free copy of Whelm!

Shoutout to the group I met at the Boys Go To Jupiter show who were so excited to accidentally overhear about and then accept copies of Whelm! last night. I hope your D&D session today is FANTASTIC!

Today’s the day dot gif!!!!

Hey PAX East folx! If you see us around, come say hi and you can get one of our swanky new stickers 🎉 #PAXEast #TTRPG

This just in - two ways to get ahold of my #microttrpg WHELM! at #PAXEast. One, find me and say hi! I'll have some copies, paperclip included, ready to give out to new pals. (And I'll be there all four days!) Two, check out @sidequestbooks.bsky.social where I hear they might have some copies too...

If there is one game I've published that I'd love more people to try, it's this one. So much so. That for the next week you can get the pdf for free!

I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland. And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.

Don’t be like me, opening every article in new tabs, getting engrossed in reading every amazing post, and forgetting to go back and vote. VOTE IN THE BLOGGIES!!!

Life is being pretty life-y these days. Going through some big changes, and I haven't felt like creating much, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of releasing small games soon. Maybe that momentum will get me back towards working on the larger game drafts that I want to finish.

My Zinequest project is live! In Small Folk in Big Coats you each play as a little guy in a stack masquerading a single big guy. You're unlikely to get caught, but you’re even less likely to work together. It’s very silly and easy to get playing. Go Check it out! tinyurl.com/sfibc

Proud to have “How Toys Become Real,” my Allucinalia hack, in this bundle - and to be alongside so many other talented game designers saying Fuck ICE all together. The goal is almost 50% funded!! itch.io/b/3484/no-ic...

Just filmed a very unique actual play for this yesterday! Played outside around a real campfire on a super cold day. Can't wait to share the story of Marshie the Cruel and Captain Evilsworth.

I saw this post and feel like this is a really important opportunity to talk about gender and my own background and the creation of Perils & Princesses and what it means to me as a personal piece of self-expression and as a communal piece of work as a role playing game community. 🧵

Social media is weird and I find myself wanting less and less of it.

I think my co-hosted Micro TTRPG workshop is sold out (ahhh!) but you can still catch me at the Game Designer Meetup, the Unpub Showcase, and all throughout the day!! COME TO SOMERCON!!!!

Sarah's bedroom in the movie Labyrinth is one of the best examples of set design as environmental storytelling and foreshadowing/backstory in the history of cinema. Everyone knows it is filled with things that you see later in the film, but there's even more that you don't notice at a glance.

Oh this is incredibly inspiring!

Who knew I could write so much about a game so short? New Devlog up now! maggiefrench.itch.io/revisions/de...

Felt inspired by how fun making Whelm! was, and gave one of my entries from the 36-Word RPG Jam a layout makeover. (I'll do the other one soon! maggiefrench.itch.io/revisions

2026 is the year I’m going to actually decide what newsletter platform to use… I have found several non-Substack contenders but decisions are my nemesis.

Library nerd over here, ready to nerd out on this topic - I may live firmly in the land of Children’s Librarian these days but I loved my cataloging classes in grad school!

The No ICE in Minnesota charity bundle submission period is now open: itch.io/jam/no-ice-i... All games, free and paid, TTRPG and browser based-alike are welcome Submissions are open until January 26 & the charity bundle supporting a Minnesota based Immigrants' rights org will go live in February

And we are LIVE! The solo gaming event of the year, Solo But Not Alone 6! Buy 90 items for only $10, all-new singleplayer TTRPGS! We have horny ones, we have scary ones, we have therapeutic ones and kid-friendly ones and more! itch.io/b/3481/solo-...

If sleepy, why not asleep?

Honestly, sharing my 48 Word RPG Jam entry one more time purely because I'm so proud of the cover and header art. Fun fact, I hand-drew the paper clips in sharpie. You should see all the rejected paperclip doodles that I didn't use... maggiefrench.itch.io/whelm

For the morning crowd!

My first (hopefully not only!) entry for the 48-Word RPG Jam... Whelm! Very, very pleased with how it came out! maggiefrench.itch.io/whelm Download it for free on itch! (And go check out the other jam entries while you're at it!) #gamejam #microrpg #ttrpg

This feels like the perfect activity for January 1!

Saturday Librarian-ing today, and manifesting a quiet, cozy day. Sadly, I could not manifest the city plowing the sidewalks from Friday-night-after-Christmas snow. So. Wish me luck on my walk in.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house... 🎄🎁✨

I have set up the page for 48-word RPG Jam, a sequel to 36-word RPG Jam. 🎲 It will be running from the 1st to 31st of January 2026. ✨ #48WordRPGJam itch.io/jam/48wordrp...

If you are in the area, you have to come! This is going to be super fun.

Just over 48 hours left! ⏳ A huge thanks to everyone who has shared the project for the past two weeks! Only 13% more to hit the goal!

Spending some time this month hacking one page #ttrpg systems, to keep myself consistent while I simmer on some longer and larger game design projects. Last week was Princess Sword, this week is Lasers & Feelings. What other one-page systems or SRDs do you like or recommend?

I finally got a chance to back "Mud Ghost Estate Redux—A Spooky Tumbling Tower TTRPG" by @wharthur.bsky.social on @kickstarter.com and I'm excited!! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wha...

Made a little one-page Princess Sword game (shoutout @cyborgurl.bsky.social), because it's really a fantastic system. In Cursed Be The Pen, play as an author who must write... and write... and write... maggiefrench.itch.io/cursed-be-th...

Been a hectic couple of weeks but I was able to create a little one-page game, free and new on my itch page! #solojournaling #ttrpg maggiefrench.itch.io/cursed-be-th...

Ah yes the classic "trying to publish a game and itch times out."

Wrote a little game hack for my writing group and it's so riddled with inside jokes that it can never see the light of day beyond the edges of our squad (purely for coherence reasons) - but gosh it was fun. Idk, it's kind of nice to make something just for me and a really small target audience.

So tired of brands trying to whisper conspiratorially in my ear (via online ads) like we're friends and they have to apologize for being SO convenient or SO on sale. "Oops! We messed up, we're too popular! Sorry you have to spend money on us! Here's a link!" It actively gives me the ick.

For the evening crowd!

Ok, I said no sales and I meant it... but I have but up community copies for Community Radio, Griot Anthology, and Wildfire Trilogy! And Playlist Dungeon is always free! Thoughtcrimegames.itch.io

Put my paid ttrpgs at 50% off for Itch Creator Day! 🫖 Just Passing Through, cozy fantasy duet 💤 Allucinalia, solo dreamscapes 💫 By Way Of Starlight, solo wishing 🐇 How Toys Become Real, based on The Velveteen Rabbit 🍃 Together & Ever, a community storytelling game itch.io/s/171019/bla...

Started making a holiday card spreadsheet and have come to the conclusion that I know too many people.

This play-through really warmed my heart, and I’m so honored and pleased that @jayottersong.bsky.social chose to play it!

*whispers* Copies of Just Passing Through and Allucinalia are on their way to PAX Unplugged where you can grab them from @sidequestbooks.bsky.social!! (Does this make me feel better about not being able to go to PAXU myself? A little bit!) #ttrpg #duetgame #solojournaling #PAXU

I loved this game when I reviewed it 10 months ago, and I love it still.

I have now figured out why I ran Train Jam in November instead of October last year. (Reason: I'm STILL recovering from October, and now I'm navigating bundle set-up in the lead-up to Thanksgiving.)

In the acknowledgments of my latest game (Allucinalia, version 2) I shout out @paulczege.bsky.social’s “The Ink That Bleeds,” a wonderful treatise on immersive journaling games. I carried my copy around with me while I was revising my work. I can’t recommend it highly enough. www.paulczege.com