Not sure if it was the first, but I diligently hunted back issues of Action Force, as G.I. Joe was known in Finland. I read much of the story entirely out of joint, piece by piece as I found new issues in local used bookstores in Tampere and Helsinki.

When I first started working on Vampire 5th Edition core and the Anarch and Camarilla books, I had a longtime hobbyist's knowledge of rpg design, but I felt that wasn't enough. That's why I did a reading project where I read an rpg for each year they've been published.

Kapital! is a game about the class struggle. What more do you need? www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

Kapital! is a game about the class struggle. What more do you need? www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

Playing Puerto Rico was useful for understanding the critical discussion about it if nothing else! www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

As much as I can, for sure. Learning what has been done design-wise is extremely important. Another thing you get from reading the books is understanding how rpg books are constructed. This too is very useful.

Many believe larp and immersive experiences provide the agency they lack in everyday life. Is that true, or is the promise of "sovereignty" even stronger, darker pull? (The video for my Nordic Larp Talk last year is finally up! This was me thinking out loud on ideas I've since developed...)

In Wingspan, I ended my game just trying to make as many eggs as possible. www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

I missed on the opportunity to build the "Cuddling Room" in Caverna: www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

When we came up with this book, I was worried my references were outdated. I was thinking of Ville Valo and HIM, but fortunately Yungblud provided a contemporary update on the aesthetic.

Flashback to the time I created Judith Butler as a custom wrestler in WWE 2K24 (complete with a ring announcer call-out). Straight from the WWE Gender Performance Center!

Facebook's algorithm is showing me propaganda videos of Israeli women soldiers dancing while the IDF is on a murderous rampage all across Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and beyond. Modern fascism has its own depraved aesthetic texture.

I've found that both parts matter, and you can err by ignoring either. Muddy mechanics are awful, and mechanics without a dream to guide them are useless.

I thought this treasure was lost, but it was lurking in a crate from an office move. It's LOVE IS NOT CONSTANTLY WONDERING IF YOU ARE MAKING THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE by an anonymous author, not a Choose Your Own Adventure in which you, as an ace starfighter, must escape from a planet (cont.)

Actually managed to win a game of Great Western Trail on Boardgame Arena. Feels like a major life achievement. Not how my games there usually go.

Was at a screening of the serial killer film Maniac at Nightvisions and there was a Q&A with Caroline Munro afterwards. She was still perfectly sharp, bouncing off the interviewer who represented a classic type in these parts, the Taciturn Finnish Man.

As a fan of Teyon's Robocop I'm optimistic!

The current generation of European leaders has a lot of embarrassing sycophants, but even in that company Rutte stands out as particularly craven.

Chainsaw Man feels like it somehow escaped the step in the creative process where you make everything as bland and impersonal as possible.

iPad software updates: Fantasy: Amazing new features, cool new functionality! Reality: The presentation is changed slightly. Also half your apps stop working.

Enclosed some animals in Harmonies: www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

Won my first ever game of Splendor! www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

After everyone else has played it, I too tried Dominion. www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

I've never been able to get over how dorky the KKK terminology is. Pales in importance compared to their other crimes but still, so stupid.

Essential reading from @emilyhughes.bsky.social, who breaks down not just the disappointments and hazards of the current literary landscape, but also how the way we position ourselves in relation to art shapes our character as human beings. www.patreon.com/posts/mia-cu...

My games are on sale my games are on sale! Like, all of them!

All the Problems in This World, a wonderful game store in Berlin, is in trouble. It is perhaps the best niche roleplaying game store I've ever visited. (Also the only one outside Finland to stock Bad Sex: The Roleplaying Game!) www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-...

Made a lot of attacks under the void ring in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game. www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

Terra Mystica and Gaia Project were good, and Age of Innovation is good too. www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

The first band I ever went to see multiple times was Absoluuttinen Nollapiste, a Finnish rural art prog rock band. They combined a total and absolute lack of cool with a profound sense of being true. Saw them again today, first time in 20+ years. Still great. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vad8...

I want to introduce you all to something myself and @jacksonwryan.com have been working on. A PRINT MAGAZINE about video games and video game culture. We know things have been bad for games writing recently. We're asking, "do you want to Continue?" www.kickstarter.com/projects/con...

im at the eye doctors. there is a doctor here who has a whole ass star trek themed setup

I just released another short ttrpg zine. (I must remain) THE GLAD COWBOY is storygame where one player plays a Glad Cowboy and the other player plays The Repressed Horror At The Thing They Did. #ttrpg #indiettrpg kierongillen.itch.io/i-must-remai...

Hunting for Dracula all across Europe in Fury of Dracula: www.juhanapettersson.com/100-boardgam...

Joe, you'll be missed. Your performance at Woodstock remains a pure moment in American history.

It's the same here. When I LARPED back in my young days it was fun to just see the insane variety in how the events were structured and run. A real performance art for everyone.

Did you miss the chance to play Finland's biggest larp, the scifi blockbuster Odysseus? Did you play it and want to do it again? Check out the crowdfunding campaign for building a permanent location. Click on the link and secure your spot! www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

The book Larppi eläytymisen taiteena by Kaisa Kangas is an excellent, accessible and thoughtful exploration of larp in Finland and the Nordics. It's meant for a general audience but I suspect there's a lot of new information even for experienced larpers.

The epic Battlestar Galactica-inspired larp Odysseus has launched its crowdfunding campaign, attracting €100,000 in the space of five minutes! It really is one of the most sophisticated and spectacular larps out there, so if you're at all interested in what Nordic larp is like, check it out.

A melancholy French vampire short from 1967. Like a kitchen sink story of the difficulties of student life and also feeding from pigeons. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_0U...

"The world wants to ban children from social media, but there will be grave consequences for us all" #moralpanic www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I saw the movie The Voice of Hindi Rajab recently, and it was the most difficult to watch film of my entire life. It uses the actual audio from the call the child, Hindi Rajab, made to emergency services as she was being killed by the Israeli military in the car. An excellent movie, and so painful.

Today's lore reveal covers the Unseen Priests of the Long Rifle or, as they are more commonly known, Sniper Priests. This extended lore was written by none other than @grahammcneill.bsky.social , & art by @mikefranchina.bsky.social. www.trenchcrusade.com/lore/sniper-... #trenchcrusade

I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point. I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

Georgia was skating to MORTAL KOMBAT at the Olympics exhibition gala

In this lovely Harper's article about, essentially, how social media has cooked the brains of San Francisco, Scott Alexander runs headlong into Moravec's Paradox. If only someone could program by Q4 what it took millions of years of evolution to develop! harpers.org/archive/2026...

Part of the reason AI writing and art feels so repulsive has to do with the aesthetic journey. With human-created works, I can delve deeper into it and the journey is rewarding. I see more nuance, more detail, more references. With AI, it's the opposite: I look closer and see it's infinitely less.

Robots on surfboards... Supreme 80's cool.