Haven't posted, been away from reality in the wilderness. Here are some pics of my journeys, featuring a couple friends to keep it relevant 😁😁

June newsletter just dropped! Check it out for card designs, demo information, and other cool info :D

We've got new card layouts (which I'll be showing off in the next newsletter) AND we're on Tabletopia now, so the game can be played in all its 3D glory, for free! Feast your eyes on the session from last night, and maybe come visit the Wasteland soon!

Hey, I fixed the economy! In Monster Wasteland! Tonight's playthrough went at the desired pace - our heroes managed to secure a Weaponry victory, killing a whopping FIVE monsters in the end. Big ups to the group for striking the "way too excited 90s video game ad" pose at the end there 😂

Lazy game design Sunday, nerfing my economy like a mad god. How're yall doing?

Part of having a dog means I get about 45 minutes of design pondering time baked into every daily walk. Currently thinking about ways to jack up the difficulty of a game without restricting resources or making costs higher.

Normalize making a banger game with two killer DLC packs, doing other things for A FULL DECADE, then coming back for a third round.

Lot of good moments from KublaCon but far and away the best was when a designer's kid asked to join a MW game and KILLED it, making some 4D chess plays that forced me to write new corner case rules, then told his dad mine was his favorite game that weekend.

Also I playtested my FOURTH wine-themed euro engine builder of 2026. It was a great game (revolved around a tile-building + worker placement loop) but boy howdy people sure do love those old grapes!

If you get surprised with AI art in a playtest you reserved a slot for, how do you react? I saved the "you don't need this" for feedback, but its presence infects my perspective of the rest of the game's creation and ideation.

Cool News Piece #2 - we've got prototype box art! And a box render!! And back of box copy!!! Also, I wish I'd gotten this sorted out three prototypes ago - yet another chapter in the saga of "doing things as out of order as possible. Live and learn for next time (and I say that as a threat) 😁

Cool News Piece #1 - as a pre-KublaCon treat, I'm going to be in Oakland Thursday night hosting games of Monster Wasteland at It's Your Move Games. Come out, ya sillies!

San Francisco board game people where do you like to go to play board games what is your favorite FLGS where should I visit?

One week until I'll be at KublaCon! Find me running Monster Wasteland games in the Protospiel area or maybe trying out yours!!!

Last v. of the rulebook was light on 'key concepts' - most card types weren't diagrammed til the actions associated with them were described. Surprisingly, folks said they'd rather key concepts be 3-4p longer before actions get explained. Almost done w/ revisions and keen to see if this is the case.

Lots and lots of big news coming over the next 2-3 weeks (check the newsletter/blog for some hints 😉) But for now, we relax with Onitama, one of my favorite 2p games.

Took a break to play some Flock Around with friends last night, which asks the question "Can friendslop be cozy and still be entertaining?" The answer is a resounding yes from this simple birdwatching game that is elegantly made and chock full of species to find.

I swear to god Ron, if you keep distracting me from misplaying this turn in Wingspan, I'm cropping you out of my wedding party photos.

The last 10 days have consisted of travel, getting sick from travel, and copy editing with a brain made out of mothballs, so I've been feeling a bit blech. Turns out a great pick-me-up is getting new layout designs in!! Here's a look at the new Monster card design, courtesy of the great Umut Çomak!

Going to the east coast for a few days and I have to fly, so I'm bringing my Emotional Support Hatethrob

I hope I can be as kind to the world as the person who just spent two hours reviewing and making notes on my rulebook 🥹

Cool event on Steam right now: youtu.be/E7Tm2Dcc0OQ?...

TTRPG About Me First game: D&D 3.5E Last game : ORCBORG Longest game: Session? Vampire the Masquerade Favorite game: Monster of the Week Favorite mechanic: anything where you gain XP from failing Favorite art: Morkborg or most of its variants

A friend just sent these photos to me of the game in its infancy - before layout, art, and new icons. When we were using bloodshot eyeballs to represent Bloodthirsty tokens... which inevitably led to googly eyes on all the Monsters. How far we've come.

Years of testing but I got a BIG one last night: "Completing Objectives feels like what we do in between having fun." They LOVED the game, one of the most positive responses I've had otherwise, and I've never heard this complaint before. It could have been one of a few things 🧵

Talking to a dev about a fun-sounding game they're making that lines up with my vibes and philosophy, but I had a sneaking suspicion... and I was right. Generative. AI. Even with a solid (allegedly) human concept and loop, you smell that soulless garbage rotting good ideas. Disgusting.

Did a makeshift component list for the rulebook. I knew this game had a lot, but this is quite the two-page spread 😅

More monsterposting as I give the website and rulebook a touchup 😀 We've got two Gigantic monsters - the Glintstalker and the Willful Wisp. The first lets you negate damage if you offer up items as a trade. The second ruins the spaces it lands on and uses its powers to lure units at night 😈

Whose job was it to tell me that 30% of game design is designing a game and 70% is being in some sort of logistical hell? Currently getting Monster Wasteland on Screentop, which has a 32MB limit. TOTAL. There's an "original DOOM filesize" joke here but I'm too tired.

Protospiel only allows designers to do 5 hours of testing at an event! Which makes sense but now I have to be..... social 😱😱😱😱😱

Took a little break from all the madness to Roll for the Galaxy tonight. This is the first game I've played in a month that I haven't been giving or receiving feedback for. It feels good to nurture the part of my brain that just sits back and builds a galactic empire.

I would prefer feedback via pigeon courier... #gamedev #indiedev #boardgamedesign 🎲✂️

Graphic design is my passion or something like that. Also, I'll be at #KublaCon in May!!!

TokenCon recap posting! The last playthrough I hosted was an absolute delight. One of the players brought their grandma and her sister to the table, fresh off a quilting retreat! Everyone tried their hardest but eventually the Cult of Desmani player took a monster to the face and that was that 😮‍💨

The term "4X" isn't entirely accurate to describe Monster Wasteland so I made up a new one 🤷

A delightful day of showing off Monster Wasteland at TokenCon. My groups were 10/10 and took vastly different approaches to conquering the Wasteland. These folks really leaned into the expendability of Followers, which is what happens when people listen to the Cult of Desmani player...

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One last test before the storm. This group built a TON of Settlements, which cost them some items but you can't argue with results.

A co-op push-your-luck game about urban planning is an IMMEDIATE back from me 🥹🥹🥹 Can't wait to crack into the Tabletop Sim version.

Joining the @breakmygame.com Discord has been one of the best things I've done for this game. Living in ABQ limits my reach (we've got a killer design group tho) but the games I've read/played and the advice I've gotten on there is indescribably heartening and inspiring and I wish I did it sooner.

Can't even AAAAAAAAA correctly this week 😭

Potentially found a graphic designer but don't want to message them because I can't fully commit before TokenCon but what if they fill up before then!?!?! 😬

Yooooink! 😁

Another game I played in the RoC Green Jam was Pioneers, by PHANthasmal. Players play as planetary colonizers or natives fighting back against giant harvesting rigs represented by books. The rig mechanic was novel and made for interesting gameplay choices, and the natives won every time 😎 link below

I won a game jam!!! The 1-2 player co-op minifig game "Lil' Green Men" is #1 in the Rule of Carnage Winter Green Jam! If you wanna be a couple of lil' green men going on an abduction joyride, click the thing :D

More Rules of Carnage Green Jam! Ooze Wranglers by Dave Schmidt, a welcome entry in the "guys on an alien planet collecting stuff" genre. I braved a swamp and its beasties, wrangling three oozes in a clever by-the-books co-op battler. Wish I'd had time for a campaign - the progression looked neat.

Heroposting while my mind melts prepping for TokenCon! The Bravo Batallion are badass bikers who take the offensive, getting in Monsters' faces and helping others do the same. General Cameron Henri II makes vehicles cheaper, and Buckshot Benji Black can sit a Monster right on its ass 💪😤

It's Friday so we're Heroposting! Monster Wasteland has four factions, one of which is the Vernese Rangers. They're shady characters and keen navigators who know the Wasteland by heart. The Vernese heroes are Espen Nightcloak and Ani Treestrider, who help the factions move around the map unseen 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

Playing games from the Rules Of Carnage Winter Green Jam. First was GOBSMACKED, a minifig game of goblin rasslin' by @alexeivella.bsky.social it was a hilarious time. The goblins Puke and Puke 2 did some bashin' and smashin', leapt from pillars, and called in crowd favors for a Puke 2 victory!

A friend of mine is getting some raw data for a Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary project. If you're a fan of that weird elf boy Link and his various adventures, you should take this survey real quick! www.surveymonkey.com/r/SSQQHYD