How can I describe that indescribable feeling when #boardgames just *flow?* Find out in this post on psychology, play, and Return to Dark Tower. @restorationgames.bsky.social @tburrellsaward.bsky.social @cephalofair.bsky.social @npcdesign.bsky.social @robdaviau.bsky.social @425suzanne.bsky.social

One odd feature of putting the ending behind two hyperlinks is I can see how many folks wanted to avoid 7th Continent spoilers. Over half the folks who read the post initially clicked the first spoiler link at the end, but 41% bailed after that spoiler alert. More than I expected, tbh. #boardgames

Anne Helen Petersen with an unsurprisingly perceptive take on using AI to automate learning. As a teacher, writer, and boardgamer, I believe the product *is* the process. Taking away the process is just another form of AI theft.

I shared my thoughts about "Keep (your) politics out of (my) boardgames" with @danthurot.bsky.social for @wyrdscience.bsky.social

A return journey to a mysterious continent, seven years in the making . . . Exploration, botany, history, and maybe an ancient curse . . . Do you have what it takes to make it to the end . . . and beyond? 🤔 (tl;dr here's a post on The 7th Continent) #boardgames

I don't like being this vulnerable in public but I also felt like I had to say something. youtu.be/1qlEn8ob2ns

This poem by an NBA chaplain eloquently conveys something I've been trying to say about why #boardgames can't always promote peaceful vibes: Peace*keeping* is all about protecting a status quo; it keeps the peace by silencing dissent. Peace*making* disturbs that peace to build a more loving world.

Happy MLK Day! ​“When machines and computers, profit motives, and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” -Martin Luther King Jr., Riverside Speech 1967 inthesetimes.com/article/mart...

We are calling for an immediate stop to all purchases from Upper Deck. Their total lack of communication is distressing—so we call upon everyone to help us escalate. No purchases from Upper Deck. No media coverage or posts of their games. Upper Deck will only respond when it hurts their wallets.

I had a wonderful time chatting with @ruelgaviola.com this weekend at @orcacon.bsky.social! If I said anything smart, I owe Ruel for his thoughtful questions.🤔 If I said anything inane, I blame Ruel for being so easy to talk to that I let my guard down.🙃

Fantastic discussion of a variant on detached design that I hadn't thought to discuss: when a game takes on rather than avoids an issue, but does so in an abstracting and trivializing way. Lots of good points here, so read the whole thread.

In 2025, I reflected on how the boardgame Maracaibo cloaks colonialism in peaceful feelings by making it feel like bloodless economic advancement. If this doesn't seem relevant in 2026, I'll just leave this here. 👀 #boardgames

I'm going to be doing a book talk for Unsettling Catan with @ruelgaviola.com next Saturday at OrcaCon! If you're attending, drop by for a fun chat! tabletop.events/conventions/... @orcacon.bsky.social

While I don’t condone bullying, research suggests the “other reindeer” have a reasonable case for not wanting to expand their "reindeer games." Data pulled from the boardgamegeek.com database using bgbester.netlify.app #boardgames #xmas

It's not as sexy as a fiery screed against #AI use in #boardgames, but my latest post does critique how calling digital adaptations “implementations” plays into the sloppy thinking that makes AI seem inevitable.

Fantastic video by Pam Walls on the increasing use of AI in board games, and the need (more than ever) to support artists, illustrators and graphic designers in the industry. youtu.be/Ci5pOjyJknI?...

This is an excellent piece about the perils of AI art broadly, and within our hobby more specifically. If we reach the point where AI art is found in every board game, I will stop playing and writing about board games. Simple as that.

The Hidden History of Women Game Designers daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-h...

Unsettling Catan by J. Rey Lee isn't a book just about Catan, but about eurogames and their characteristic features. This is me trying to talk about its most pertinent arguments. #boardgames

I've only just started reading Unsettling Catan by @jreylee.bsky.social but the introduction already includes bangers like this one. While also bringing up player *complicity*. I can't wait to get through more of its pages.

I just launched an AMA for Unsettling Catan over on boardgamegeek. Please drop by and ask me anything! Link: boardgamegeek.com/thread/36112... #boardgames #bgg

NPI does fantastic work! They were a major influence on Unsettling Catan, as I talk about in my latest design diary. #boardgames

The first book in the Tabletop Games series is now available! Start reading "Unsettling Catan" by J. Rey Lee at doi.org/10.3998/mpub...

Hey all, you can read Unsettling Catan: Detached Design in Eurogames free online right now! Stay tuned because instead of my typical monthly blog post, I'll be doing an AMA on BGG in a week or two. #boardgames #NewBook @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social @uofmpress.bsky.social

Unsettling Catan releases on Monday, so I sat down with Danielle from @uofmpress.bsky.social to do a Q&A on the book. (the interview was written, but I was sitting down at the time) #boardgames #catan @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social

Happy Essen Spiel to those who celebrate! 🎉 I won't be there but I love seeing all the posts.

Disappointed but not surprised academia.edu wants to peddle AI slop reviews of my book. Disappointed and very surprised they generated an AI review of a book that’s not out anywhere. The publishers and I have no idea what they based it on. #AcademicSky #AI #writingcommunity (1/5)

So proud of @uofmichigan.bsky.social for investing in Open Access publishing! In a world where "you get what you pay for," we're used to free meaning cheap. But UMP lays out over $27,000* to make a book available to the public. That's putting ideas over profit. You can support their work here:

This is why Dan is good at what he does: when he says "Writing is thinking for me," he means it. Instead of churning out content to fit a formula, he just engages with games and sees where it goes. I tell my students this over and over, so I'm always happy to see someone say it so clearly.

Glad to see the Tabletop Games series at @uofmpress.bsky.social take off with @jreylee.bsky.social's book on Catan. Clear, unambiguous writing on abstraction and gaming with regard to colonial themes.

Took a minute, but I finally cracked triple digits! #boardgames #railroadink @horribleguild.bsky.social

these thoughts have been rattling around in my brain for about a year and i finally had some time to scribble them down. some thoughts on how games might emulate the act of 'doing' history jenyth.com/2025/01/03/h...

Can cultural criticism convince cardboard consumers to challenge colonialism and capitalism in Catan? Find out in my newest design diary. CU there! #boardgames @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social @uofmpress.bsky.social @beyondsolitaire.bsky.social @nopunincluded.com @stonemaiergames.com

Preorders for the Unsettling Catan audiobook are now live! My narration honestly isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but at least it's human. 🚫🤖🚫 You can listen to the preview for a sneak peek and the rest will release alongside the print and ebook versions in November. #boardgames #catan

Deconstructing the language of boardgaming? The very definition of fun!

🎲 From UMP's exciting new 'Tabletop Games' series, 'Unsettling Catan' traces how Catan sparked the eurogame boom while questioning how its “peaceful” design masks power, conflict, & imperialist themes in play. bit.ly/47Wj6k6 @uofmpress.bsky.social @livunipress.bsky.social

Just finished recording the audiobook for Unsettling Catan 🎤 There was definitely a learning curve but I had fun with it! If editing goes smoothly, this should be released alongside the print and ebook editions in November. #boardgames

Just got my advance copy! Unsettling Catan releases Nov. 4 lookingglance.com/unsettling-catan/ #boardgames @uofmpress.bsky.social

“I, Scientist,” my second post-pandemic Pandemic boardgame reflection is now up at The Looking Glance. I’ve now been at it for half a year, which I believe counts as a decade in non-2025 years! 🎉 #boardgames #standupforscience #pandemic @mattleacock.bsky.social

"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details: LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a... Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au... (This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)

I also have mixed feelings about the Devir and CGE wins. I’m thrilled these boycotts brought about swift, concrete changes. But activism alone can’t create the future we want. Boycotts are too reactive, fleeting, and pragmatic to change the culture responsible for these situations. 🧵(1/3)

This is so unsubtle that I'd guess they're going to try to call it parody. But parody isn't offensiveness with a joking tone. Parody has an incisive, critical soul. It punches up instead of down. Without doing any of that work, it's just plain offensive. (1/2)

Liz is so easy to talk to! I had a lot of fun and the time flew by! She probably also lulled me into rambling and saying something strange, but them's the breaks. 🤷‍♂️

My 2nd design diary for Unsettling Catan is live on BGG and lookingglance.com. I talk about why and how I chose six more recent eurogames to compare with Catan. Number 4 will shock you! Image credit to @semicoop.bsky.social @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social @uofmpress.bsky.social

When I talk about #boardgames not being immersive, that's relative to media designed for total absorption. This comic just wouldn't work for boardgames. *Panels from a chapter in "The I Wonder Bookstore" by Shinsuke Yoshitake, maybe my fav children's book author (though this one's for grown-ups).

If you love semantic arguments as much as I do, check out my new series on the language of #boardgames! This post kicks things off by looking at what naming and defining "boardgames" says about how we think and treat them. btw, the Captcha is fake so don't bother clicking it.

Check this out if you’re interested in history in #boardgames! I love how deeply Cole digs into Catan, a game sometimes exempted from discussions of historical games because of how hard it tries to be ahistorical. 🧵(1/3)

Thoughts on the Candyland Little Golden Book: 1. It makes the rainbow shortcut a choice instead of pure luck. 2. The characters willfully choose the longer path because it seems more fun. 3. It's fine to choose a suboptimal path for thematic reasons. Kids know what's up. #boardgames 🧵(1/3)

Why would anyone write 150 pages on Catan? If that seems as odd to you as it did to me, check out the first of three design diaries for Unsettling Catan, now available at lookingglance.com and bgg. #boardgames #catan @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social @uofmpress.bsky.social

Honestly wasn't expecting "neurodivergent kid makes connections" to be the crux of this story, but I'm there for it. 🚂 #tickettoride #boardgames @adriennekress.bsky.social