Completed my Space Empires set, the full game with all rules seems pretty nuts, but when I have played with Expansion 1, I have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to play even while tracking teach per fleet and crew experience. Not sure how I feel about adding logistics to tht however.

What I have been working on the last little while at Digital Confectioners (pls wishlist): store.steampowered.com/app/2708040/...

🎲✂️ *New Episode!* @ericabouyouris.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social welcome @qarl.bsky.social, Jarratt Gray, @burntislandgames.bsky.social and @grandgamersguild.bsky.social to discuss the past, present, and future of SdJ Winner, Endeavor: Deep Sea. ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-347...

I am genuinely surprised Hudson Hawk has not become a sleeper cult film of interest. When I was in university, a group of friends and I watched it multiple times in the theatre. I need to rewatch it, and work if I was just had terrible taste when young.

After a great NZGDC, I get to spend the day visiting award winning game designer Jarratt Gray.

always appreciated Dr. Moonhattan's arc

New game coming from Digital Confectioners (where I work). The designer is Bryce Haywood, which is totally a name you will see again over the next few decades. It is a great co-op back pack survivors game I have enjoyed playing the hell out of. store.steampowered.com/app/3171540/...

Back from Berlin, with this! The Kennerspiel des Jahres:

Das Kennerspiel des Jahres ist: "Endeavor: Die Tiefsee" von Carl de Visser und Jarratt Gray erschienen bei @frostedgames.bsky.social und @boardgamecircus.bsky.social Atmosphärisches Unterwasserabenteuer mit viel Varianz und Tiefe Herzlichen Glückwunsch🎊🥳 #KeSdJ25 # SdJ25 #Brettspiel

In Berlin for the Spiel de Jahres, but also a rare moment where the Endeavor: Deep Sea team is mostly in the same place. So obviously testing time.

You know a game is coming together nicely when the internal tests end up with people making up shit-post memes about it.

This morning we received a 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗹 nomination for 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧: 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙎𝙚𝙖, so it feels like the perfect time to announce the next chapter! The 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧: 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙎𝙚𝙖 - 𝙐𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 expansion will push your adventures to the next level. Sign up to follow the campaign here: tinyurl.com/29suu9r9

Nominiert zum Kennerspiel des Jahres: „Endeavor: Die Tiefsee“ von Carl de Vissser und Jarrat Gray (Frosted Games / Board Game Circus) „Faraway“ von Johannes Goupy und Corentin Lebrat (Kosmos) „Neuland“ von Charles Chevalier und Laurent Escoffier (Game Factory)

If anyone ever breaks down the ways that high-ranking positions get filled, they'd better call it a meritoxicology report.

At the end of May I'll no longer work for Underdog Games. The owner is shrinking the company to almost nothing to give it the best chance of keeping the lights on during the tariff tsunami. It won't need new games (I manage our design studio, and design myself), so I'm done. 🎲✂️(1/7)

This result changes my opinion on AI driven search: "If you're looking to dance for alien gods, you could consider exploring the musical piece "Scythian Suite Op. 20: ii. Evil God and the Pagan Monsters Dance (Alien God)", which features a dance inspired by the Scythians' sacrifice to Ala."

It’s finally here! Mechanisms as Metaphors: How Board Games Create Meaning takes a look at how board games make persuasive arguments, how they might move us emotionally, and how the ways we talk about the form might hinder its development. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4z...

Truly the best mashup of Hasbro properties: dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/dnd-mr-potat...

In another timeline Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man are skins in Fortnite.

It is with deep sadness that we confirm the passing of wargaming legend and CSRA Chairman Rodger B. MacGowan, mere weeks after he and his family lost everything in the Palisades fires. Our most profound condolences go out to Steven and Mae. Rodger was, as Steven has said, a river to his people.

Great article on counterfeits in the tabletop game industry. www.law.com/therecorder/...

"The suspect is believed to have played a violent simulation of warfare, involving deliberate targeting of horses and reigious figures, with the ultimate goal of regicide."

Ready to solo Red Dust Rebellion as the Mars Government. I am using the Skycrane app to help run the Curiosity solo system.

While going for my afternoon wander, I found an odd little zine, comic and record shop has opened near where I work. A fantastic find!

Love yourself like RPG designers love Capitalized Words.

The cross-promotional IP use between things reminds me of when radio stations started to get an "identity" and that identity became essentially fixed with a set of songs tat defined that radio station genre forever. I feel soon it will become these are the IPs in everything forever.

The eclipse is coming! 🌞 🌝 Be ready!

TIL the San Fran International Airport has an aviation library with full old stacks library reverence feel, comfy chairs, desks, low light, and I currently have it all to myself.

I will be in San Fransisco next week for GDC. I hoping to meet up with other game designers, and I am very keen to catch up with other designers that do both board and video game design.

a probably disproportionate to the population amount of game designers have very low tolerance for boredom and very high experience seeking behavior

This video essay from the channel Crocodile Gambit about the imperialism mechanically inherent in Civ (and, I'd argue, civilization games generally) is well worth your time, and it's absolute bananas that it has less than four hundred views. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKXT...

Gorgeous box cover art released today in the monthly update by @gmtgames.bsky.social Very much looking for the release of this game.

You ever think about things like freespace 2 or the starcraft 2 campaign where you went "wow I can't imagine what this kind of thing will be like in 10 or 20 years" and the answer is that it was the last of that kind of thing ever made.

they’re called hooves, dummy🙄

You know Dasher and Dancer And Prancer and Vixen Comet and Cupid And Donner and Blitzen But they were all of them deceived for another reindeer was made

I played a good amount of games at Hanmer Gamefest: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Evacuation X2, John Company, 1848 Australia, Twilight Imperium, Taj Mahal, Pax Renaissance, Bruxelles 1893, Root, Pax Pamir, Scout (X many) and Return to Dark Tower

DrivethruRPG is offering a lot of great horror games for free today, including Vassen (folk horror RPG) and Bluebeard's Bride www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php...

In the 1680s, England was producing over a million decks of playing cards a year. It's hard to appreciate the scale of that until you realise the population was only 4.8 million. Our annual output of cards outnumbered humans 11-to-1.

The Spinoff providing the NZ Election coverage I needed: thespinoff.co.nz/politics/14-...

This puzzle may be a long journey. I got two copes of Cain's Jawbone, the Torquemada (the English crossword author, not the Spanish inquisitor)puzzle book with one puzzle. I have one intact, and cut the other into pages for sorting. Order 100 pages, determine 6 victims and murderers. Easy!

Apparently I am all forms of lawful, with a little neutral good. Which seems about right.

Excellent video on mindset for playing (also applicable for design) larger more involved games: youtu.be/4Or-fNLzckc?...

At NZGDC this today and tomorrow. Wellington's new conference centre, Takina, scrubs up well.

@nedgilmore.bsky.social Spanish art prisons from the Civil War as mentioned: blogs.bbk.ac.uk/research/201...

I am beginning to think social media sites should ritually be destroyed every seven years or so, followed by a great refollowing. I mean it seems we do that anyway, but perhaps it should be formalised.

Gamers can have opinions about videogame production but they will be untethered from reality 80% of the time. It's more an expressive literary form than material critique

Everyone complaining that dnd is janky trash is missing the point. Thats the good part. Its OUR janky trash.

@nedgilmore.bsky.social Gladius devs doing non-warhams version: https://youtu.be/HnOqCXzrDfs

look every time civilization has a big advance, like plumbing or gasoline, we all get lead poisioning so i think that's a big vote in the favor of this new superconductor