31 December 1995. Still the perfect goodbye.

There are few things as frustrating and humbling as playing chess online.

10 years ago we were tobogganing in snow storms between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s 10°C and raining. Like last year. So fucking depressing.

"To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace" Spotted in Toronto, Canada

Balatro. What a crazy, addictive game. 🤩🥳

Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume? Me: I was a hockey dad. To 3 kids.

Mini-rant time. It bugs me when I see people post comments like this on BGG: Playtesting is a very challenging thing for publishers. It is HARD to get people to playtest, believe it or not. When I started in the industry, many moons ago, I thought this would be the easiest part of the job.

Driving to hockey practice with daughter #2 (11 yrs). We each get to choose a song to play, alternating back and forth. The songs: Taylor Swift Sea Shanty Taylor Swift Sea Shanty ...and we both sing along to all of them. 🎶😇

13-yr-old daughter: I lost my bus pass. Me: Well, you'd better find it... Her: [3-minute yelling rant about me stating the obvious and thinking she's stupid or something] Me: 😑

Ys thy childe textinge about Gothique Architecture? KNOWE THE SIGNES BRB: Buildinge rockinge buttresses OMFG: One mason finelye grinding SMH: Skillfullye made half-arch BTW: Beautiful transept wyndowe ROFL: Romanesque onlye for losers

Me in a crowded metro car: Man, that guy is talking super loud on his phone! Me in a newly-emptied metro car: That guy doesn’t have a phone

There’s a special kind of yum that comes from Blocking Bluesky Bitcoin Bros.

Chess is nuts: Playing a game online, made a few moves, and it turns out I'm playing this kind of game:

Can I get some love for the greatest Xmas movie of all time?

Missing all my amazing peeps at #PAXU … hope you’re all having a blast!!

Boardgame gang! What's your favouite Area Control game? And why? What makes it your fave? I'll start in the comments:

I can’t believe that in this day and age, people are still wearing fir.

Spent lunchtime playing this absolute BEAUT. I've been wanting to play this game again for ages, but haven't been able to get it to the table. IT'S SO GREAT.

Black Friday is stupid

Hi Blueskiers, I am doing some writing for an upcoming children's game, and I would like some advice from a Japanese person regarding kami. If you, or someone you know, can give me a moment of their time, I would greatly appreciate it! 😊

Post a GIF of your comfort show

1. 2001 Creamfields VIP pass 2. Kaleidoscope 3. Green bingo dauber 4. Laminated Race for the Galaxy Player Aid

They forgot to put "books" in quotation marks. Pack of asshats.

Slowly rebuilding and rediscovering connections with all the amazing people in the boardgame industry. Canadian cronies, represent!! 🇨🇦🎲🦫

Metal: Everything sucks, but I have my rage. Punk: Everything sucks, but I'll focus my anger. Rap: Everything sucks, but I know how to survive. Folk: Everything sucks, but there is beauty. Ska: Everything sucks, let's ignore it. Emo: Everything sucks, and I miss you.

Game design is great for this. I worked on a game for nearly 6 months, doing near-weekly reiterations. Got it to a playable state, only to be told, when I tested it with colleagues, that it worked, but it wasn’t fun.

I've been playtesting a game at work, and MAN, am I sick of it... But I remind myself that it's possible to be sick of a good game. Sometimes it's hard to keep that in mind.

There are no small card games, only small card people

Me in my Gekko chamber.

I’m the Rulebook Guy. What are some of your favourite boardgame rulebooks? Organization, graphics, tone…? I always loved the wackiness of Galaxy Trucker, and the organization of the Arkham Horror Card Game.

Sleeping Gods, end of first campaign. What a ride!! Congratulations to Ryan and Red Raven games, this was an unforgettable experience. 🥰🥰

Bloody Caesar at the arena? Don’t mind if I do! #hockeydad #girlpower

Is this just a Montreal thing…? People are starting to stop further and further back from the line at red lights and it drives me NUTS. Sometimes it’s a full car-length!!!

[Me as a boxing commentator] Oh no they're hitting each other again, this is just like last time.

ME: hey mr. tambourine man, play a song for me MAN: *tambourine noise* ME: great

Hold on, why doesn’t Mike Tyson have a guy spraying him with something? Seems unfair.

Is it just me, or is Jake Paul the biggest douchebag?

For the record, I hate the term “Skeeting”. Can we just drop The Other Place and move on, pls?

True story.

Trying to talk myself into getting this back up and running today. Played once and was a little overwhelmed getting into it. It’s been a while and the thought of re-learning it is a bit daunting. Anyone have thoughts on this one?

The date passed but friends, you know I had to acquire this shit

Tears. So amazing.

What is one of your comfort movies?

Me in the office yesterday]: See you all tomorrow! [My gf this morning]: Btw, I need the car today. Me:

It’s a shame. You guys had a pretty nice little country going for a while there.

I stopped posting on That Other Place so long ago out of sheer misery that I feel like I've forgotten how to Social Media.

Remember - there is TONS of great free and affordable art from real human artists out there. Game makers (big or small) do NOT need to use environment-killing theft-based generative AI "art" to make their games a reality.

I don't mention it very much on here but I have prints of a lot of my covers available to purchase on my website. I've just added new ones for Speakeasy, Galactic Cruise, Cascadero, Sausage Sizzle, and Calimala. Check them out at www.ianotoole.com/store

Boardgame Translating Night In Canada!

Playtesting in the office is a funny old thing. Does the game have issues, or am I just terrible at it?