Coming in a day late on this one after a busy weekend, but for my blog post this week I took some time to dig into the design ideas behind Ridge City Riders, my very recently released #TTRPG. If you're curious about why I think the game is neat, please read on!

Ridge City Riders is now live on itch! Ridge City Riders is a GM-less storytelling #TTRPG that uses a unique dice-exchanging system. Rip through Ridge City on customized hoverbikes, use spare parts to give your fellow riders an edge, and dream of a brighter future. I hope you check it out!

i have -3 followers on here, but please check out the game my partner has been working on for a hot minute!!! its a really interesting game!!! my bike was a piano a la vanessa carlton's thousand miles video!!!!

I play-tested this game and it was a real blast!

editing & playtesting Ridge City Riders was SUCH a genuine delight!!! this is a game that understands its genre touchstones so thoroughly. the process of making a tricked-out hoverbike and learning about your character & their community through it is SUCH a fun mechanic, ABSOLUTELY check it out!!!

It's out and it looks so cool! I playtested this way back when and had an absolute blast with it! Go check it out!

i had the privilege of playing this game early and i cannot recommend it enough. It's designed to be played in one session -- if you have time for a oneshot with your friends, or you take it to your board game night, it wouldn't be out of place. please play this game!!!

Ridge City Riders is a very good game and I've thoroughly enjoyed the sessions I have played with it. I'm excited that I got to make art for something so cool. Go to itch and get the game, you won't regret it.

Ridge City Riders is now live on itch! Ridge City Riders is a GM-less storytelling #TTRPG that uses a unique dice-exchanging system. Rip through Ridge City on customized hoverbikes, use spare parts to give your fellow riders an edge, and dream of a brighter future. I hope you check it out!

A couple of days ago, I sent files to the printer for Ridge City Riders, a TTRPG project that I've been working on on-and-off for the past year or so. I'll have a digital version live very soon, and print copies to bring with me to my local convention this month! Stay tuned...

UPCOMING GAME ANNOUNCEMENT Violent Delights is a chess-based rpg about Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. It depicts the masquerade scene in which our lovers first meet. The chess board represents the Capulet’s great chamber, and the players act as a cast of characters who correspond to chess pieces. 👇

It's Thursday Night, so time for ScreamingWyvern's Thursday TTRPG Shenanigans! Tonight at 6:30 PM pdt, I'm continuing last week's #solojournaling game, Alone in the Loop by @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social; in thirteen days, Tom died, for the seventh time since this started. youtube.com/live/9S0PkM6...

my doctor suggested I try PT. I shook my head sagely; it's a shame that medical professionals don't know that game is essentially lost media and can only be recreated via piracy

A little under the wire here, but I wrote this week about the delightful shenanigans of Titanium Court.

reconnaissance #marathon #fanart

still a few hours left to get a staggering amount of games, big and small, and contribute to protecting trans folks from Idaho's most recent anti-trans legislation itch.io/b/3525/ttrpg...

saw La Dispute last night and something I keep thinking about is that halfway through the show, the frontman very gently suggested that the audience put away their phones for a few songs and just enjoy being there, and the most remarkable thing was that they actually did

48 hours away from TTRPG Thursday with ScreamingWyvern, on the last day of the TTRPGs for Trans Rights bundle. Join me for Alone in the Loop by @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social and Assault on Castle Nachtenthal by @aaronbest.itch.io at 6:30 pm PDT - youtube.com/live/9S0PkM6...

Biweekly blog post time: I wrote about running a one-shot-ish game of Deathmatch Island, a pretty dang cool game that took me a little too long to wrap my head around. This led me to some thoughts about learning to run games and the part that one-shots can play in that process.

Biweekly blog post time: I wrote about running a one-shot-ish game of Deathmatch Island, a pretty dang cool game that took me a little too long to wrap my head around. This led me to some thoughts about learning to run games and the part that one-shots can play in that process.

games should ask things of you and you should be willing for a game to do so

For my most recent Backtracking blog post (in which I'm playing a game from my backlog for each year since I was born), I played Resident Evil 4 (the HD remaster on steam, but still the original) and reminisced about the particularities of popular action games of mid-aughts

fromsoft game narrative discourse often misses how the words are very good. item descriptions blah blah yeah sure. but "all things flourish, whether graceful or malign" is very good words

"Are indie games developing a gambling problem? We'll discuss this in our article by focusing in solely on recent examples that have slot facades while ignoring the entire history of mobile games made by actual gambling industry designers"

oh man yeah roblox is MARINATING in predatory monetization techniques that were imported from the worst of the worst elsewhere, it's baaad

To add a layer on this - I hate that og spellcheck and grammarcheck tools keep getting replaced by objectively worse gen-ai counterparts... So it ends up with gen-ai actively making the mechanical aspects harder, while simultaneously producing LaCroix Vanilla writing for lazy people.

KIM KITSURAGI - Never fuck with Kim Kitsuragi.

The amount I am able to naturally receive a compliment is to discord react to your message with a heart before replying with self-criticism. Sorry.

Reminder to all game designers: less text

Shockingly I haven't had any Big TTRPG Opinions to chatter about lately, so for my blog post this week I wrote something a bit like a play report for a story game that I played a week and change ago. I can't tell if it's compelling to read, but I had a good time writing it!

This is a really lovely write-up, and the specific attention paid to how kid-unfriendly GDC is. It calls to mind something that sticks with me: I know there's a million miles of difference between conventions and conferences, but they're both spaces full of interesting talks from creative folks...

UNSIGHTED is one of those games I think is really slept on: an incredibly hard metroidvania with a really interesting (and painful) narrative countdown clock which makes what you do really feel like it matters

This week I wrote about Cairn, a game I was inevitably drawn to as a (casual) climber and a fan of The Game Bakers' previous work. I wound up with mixed feelings, but they were *strong* mixed feelings, enough that it took time to unpack. I hope you find it interesting! (and beware of spoilers!)

you gotta understand the layers of marketing sheen on astro bot feels like taxidermy gone awry but the game itself is fun! sucks

This year's stream is over now, but don't worry! You can still support PCRF by purchasing our bundle for another 11 days (itch.io/b/3531/roll-...) and you can view the stream VODs on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/@rollplusbon...

I forgot to post before the block that I played in but the stream is going for about another day playing a bunch more cool games, so you should go tune in and donate!!!

IT BEGINS!!! Starting off day 1 of the stream on twitch.tv/rollplusbond are Mitchell, Remus, Cindy, Jenna, and Motion playing To See with Eyes Unclouded by Hate (waytooshiny.itch.io/to-see-with-... ) by waytooshiny

I have spent a *lot* of my life being insufferable. In a way, game design is kind of an outlet for that. But I don't think I would've gotten up here at all if it wasn't for folks enthusiastically telling pulpy stories.

I didn't catch this update until tonight, but a friend and I had a great time getting owned by the first new major area as we figure out how to contend with its nonsense. I truly adore how much this game has invited me into a style of play that I would NEVER have the patience to reach in an MMO

I wanted to write about my impression of running Mothership for the first time, and my aversion to the general ideas of OSR philosophies, and I wrote... a lot.... thoughtsabout.games/blog/posts/d...

Finally got around to publishing a Monster of the Week mystery that I wrote and ran almost 3 years ago now about an evil tech company building an evil AI (among other things). ...yes, it's a little on the nose, but I had fun running it and you might too! thecastlebuilder.itch.io/malcontent-a...

I reviewed Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator. It’s a great game and you can trust my opinion of it because im really good at the game

The schedule for this year's 7th anniversary stream is here! Tune in February 27th - March 1st for 72 hours of TTRPGs, benefitting Palestine Children's Relief Fund! (Note: All times in EST.)

I have a lil game in this bundle and so do a whole bunch of very cool designers. It's an important cause and a massive collection of awesome work, so it really deserves your support itch.io/b/3484/no-ic...

"But I do think culturally we are back to brunch." This month in Dialogue, @austinwalker.bsky.social goes long on craft, industry, and doing the work.

For my blog this week, I wrote about the relentlessly stylish rhythm adventure game Unbeatable. The storytelling in this game does a lot of things that bewilder me but it's built on so much loving and lavish art and music that it's hard not to come around on. thoughtsabout.games/blog/posts/g...

For my blog this week, I wrote about the relentlessly stylish rhythm adventure game Unbeatable. The storytelling in this game does a lot of things that bewilder me but it's built on so much loving and lavish art and music that it's hard not to come around on. thoughtsabout.games/blog/posts/g...

Democratizing the arts looks like universal income, low-barrier grants for both emerging and working artists, well-funded municipal arts & recreation programs, vibrant third spaces, and a well-funded public school system with progressive curriculum. Not a free pass for corporate-owned slop engines.

I'd like to add that like in all industries, when we stop understanding how our tools work, we become entirely dependent on the corporate entities that own the mold. We are trading the ability to build and repair for the convenience of being permanent tenants in someone else's infrastructure/subs.