I believe that most of us do not have a clear vision of what power looks like divorced from cruelty and exploitation, and so we have come to fear and resent power in all of its forms (while our political enemies have learned to idolize cruelty as an attainable proxy to their own stymied power).

Picked up a full set of basic "Hero Kids" RPG books at the used bookstore down the street. So now planning a Zelda-inspired session (campaign?) with my 7 & 10yos. One wants to play Ganon's daughter. The other wants to be Ghanti, the foxshifter thief from the Link to the Past comics.

Quick reminder that declarations of technological inevitability are declarations of power; they are intended to make individuals feel like they don't have the power to refuse a technology. It's a narrative intended to produce a power effect pretending to be a descriptive statement.

It is one thing for professors to resist AI in education; it is far more powerful when students do. Only a coalition between the two groups of students and teachers —and not the antagonistic one between “cheaters” and “cops”—will be powerful enough to create a movement.

As a parent / educator / game designer, it's so PAINFUL & UPSETTING to see my own kids have their expectations & instincts about learning be narrowly trained by superficial, gamification-powered edutainment apps -- required by their schools -- that are supposed to prep them for standardized testing.

Okay, I think I like these designs better? The Mothra symbol was most complicated, and I'm still not totally satisfied with it. I think I want it to look more like the version of the symbol they make out of tables, with the antennae-esque S-shaped sunbeam lines.

Thinking about making some shirts or jackets, as kaiju-themed protest gear. Kinda wish I could include Mothra too, but don't have a catchy phrase for her yet. "No cult but Mothra"?

The real secret is that all games are inherently broken and/or only partly finished. Because they need players to complete them through the act of play. Otherwise they don't exist. Games only exist when they are being played. Better games have specially designed holes in them where players fit.

I suspect the D&D board games are secretly the best version of certain flavors of D&D, like how the Exalted Quickstart is the secretly the best version of Exalted.

What's the over/under on how long it'll take WOTC to make a one-shot GMless module for D&D? Oh wait... they already did! And it was the best version of 4E (with a few quibbles, like movement not really mattering, and few opportunities for roleplaying).

Interesting stuff from Jon but clearly wrong: the best introduction to our hobby is clearly a multi-session campaign TTRPG with combat rules you need to revise.

Here are the first pick-up RPGs students chose to try this semester, in "Indie RPG Studio": - Home @wetinkgames.bsky.social - Alice is Missing @spenserstarke.bsky.social - Treehouse Dreams by Graypawn - Fall of Magic @heartofthedeernicorn.com - O Captain, My Captain @oneshotrpg.bsky.social

you know what time it is. another valentines day right around the corner, another set of indie tabletop rpg valentines

It may seem surprising that the U.S. government wants to resume nuclear weapons programs, but center-right security folks have been suggesting that for decades. I was in the room when the head of a major U.S. think-tank tried to convince the foreign minister of JAPAN to build nukes. Not kidding.

Petra and Vanessa are back today with a guide to last night's show in @rollingstone.com! Read this, then grab their book from @dukepress.bsky.social! "But Bad Bunny always finds a way to get many complex messages in his performances, just as he does with his songs."

Hey @jenkatwrites.bsky.social: just wanted to let you know that I finally drafted the "Bling Ring dungeon crawl" game, to use as an example for the students in my current Indie RPG Studio class. It's not good yet, but that actually makes it a better example, so they can dissect its problems.

Eastwood Guitars loves designing modern takes on classic unusual instruments, so I emailed them a while back to suggest a new version of the Japanese 1960s Winston/Kawai electric banjo. Just now, this model popped up for pre-order. Unreal. eastwoodguitars.com/products/eas...

DHS was created with an intentionally Orwellian name, amid the Islamophobic and xenophobic environment of the early War On Terror moral panic and its associated right-wing suspension of even the most basic human rights for everyone. Abolish the whole department.

Education is a public good for all. When politicians censor classroom teaching in order to narrow the field of topics that students can engage in, they rob them of a stellar world class education. This is what is happening at Texas A&M & other institutions in the state. 🧵

Pretty great pre-winter-storm haul at the used bookstore. Already own @jmstar.bsky.social's Durance & multiple editions of Montsegur 1244, so those will go to my university library's new indie games collection. But check out that old Chaosium larp book co-written by our Forge colleague Walt Freitag!

it sucks that to stay solvent in any kind of self-employed creative field rn you have to maintain constant cognitive dissonance - everything is objectively Very Bad but also gotta find and speak to an audience (who also knows that everything is Very Bad) and… it’s a lot!

At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.

We're playing @megueyb.bsky.social @lumpley.bsky.social 's Doomed Pilgrim + Firebrands excerpts + @johnharper.bsky.social 's Lasers & Feelings + Pocket Danger Patrol in my "Indie RPG Studio" class today. Wish me luck as I weird out some college students with micro-scale mini-games.

On my secret prior history of game design with @ludopolitics.bsky.social & the Oulipian influence on my work on Tacklebox

With all the buzz around Tacklebox, I'm so glad @rascal.news focused in on my favorite thing about the game—the reuniting of childhood friends @ludopolitics.bsky.social & @inauthenticity.bsky.social to flesh out its cards after diverging lives & decades apart. It was such a treat reconnecting them!

follow the page for The Endtimes Trilogy if you like weird storygames, GMless games, games with a GMPC who's a total jerk, games with playing cards, games with tarot cards, games with dice, games inspired by Krasznahorkai books, games inspired by 10 cloverfield lane, anthology trilogies, zines, etc

I’m planning a column about women and games next year. I want to discuss how stories about women are told/received in games, and how does womens’ criticism exist- where/what is it? If you are a woman game writer/dev/critic and would like to share your thoughts, dm or email [email protected] !

Narrascope 2026 open call: The Experience Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds through Narrative Seeking projects in the realms of augmented/mixed reality, interactive installations, haunts, escape rooms, live performances that leverage tech, and more. narrascope.org/experience/

Happy to see "An Unknown Brand" included among the Scaffold Top 50! & many thanks to @justinhendrix.bsky.social and @somewordslit.bsky.social for publishing the story originally

Lying to Americans to manufacture consent --> manufacturing consent by simply appearing to manufacture consent --> consent pre-manufactured. No need to do anything

Here's some example maps that are fun to think about:

Neoplastomacy 1. Pick a neoplastic painting by Mondrian. 2. It's the map for a game of Diplomacy. 3. Every colored space (Red Yellow Blue Grey Black) is a starting Supply Center. Each color (other than white) is played by a different player. 4. Every space has a Supply Center. 5. It's Fall 1930. Go.

I need everyone to make a shitpost game that fits into at most 3 posts on here before the end of the year otherwise thr sun will not rise again

Things I re-learned this year: (1) Working harder can't fix Systemic Problems. I need to be strategic about tackling those, w/ others. (2) The U.S. Public is frustratingly hesitant about direct action against blatant cruelty & corruption. Shut it down! (3) People like my games? Always a surprise.

A quick publishing/writing wrap up for 2025: My story "A Haunting" was published in @ergot.bsky.social and later featured in @lithub.com.web.brid.gy's "One Great Short Story to Read Today"; you can read it here:

100% this.

Trying to figure out if I can make a Neoplastic board game for the Public Domain Jam, since several 1930 paintings by Mondrian and van Doesburg become public domain on Jan 1.

Reminder that when it comes to historically inspired art and media the question “but how accurate is it??” Is both one of the most boring to ask and also pretty unhelpful.

Thinking about the different contexts of "prompt writing" today. When I try to write good prompts for RPGs (for random cards, for PBTA moves), I'm trying to create interesting structures where I myself cannot know what the emergent outcomes will be -- they are context- & player-dependent.

I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry "things published in 1930 will enter the public domain in 6 days." itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

Jonathan is as great collaborator as he is a designer, with multiple all-but-art-complete RPGs publishers would be lucky to have in their catalog. Hell, I want to publish him again too—it'll just be 2+ years before I have room. Now's your time to seize the momentum & start a convo: www.jwalton.media

Ask me how good Lofty Beacons and RESTLESS are, just ask me, potential publishers

Year I first designed an RPG: ~1995. Year I first discovered indie RPGs: 2002. Year I first did a game jam: also 2002 (Game Chef 1). Year I first sold something at GenCon: 2006. Year I first made a significant profit: 2025. You never have to stop making games, even if it never becomes your day job.

And solo games connect us more clearly to the ancient practice of journaling & chronicling & letter-writing, as well as fiction that uses that structure (Frankenstein, Dracula, Journal of a Plague Year, The Moonstone, Silence, etc.). What is a character sheet if not a record of a fictional person?

Nice thread. Other alternative histories, through Diplomacy & the negotiation games that came before & after (including "model UN," etc.); "memory palaces" and other imagined fictional spaces; "make believe" of all kinds; interactive theatre; experimental art: Dada/Fluxus/Situationists, etc.

Tacklebox is kinda blowing up at the moment, thanks to Quinn's Quest (~1500 copies & counting). Just in case anyone's interested, I would also be open to co-publishing some of my other games (Geiger Counter, Planarch Codex, Restless, Tomb Priestesses, Lofty Beacons, Metrofinal, Last Kings, etc).

Currently reading: "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell (1996). Continuing the trend of religious-themed weird fiction.

Thrilled to learn that my story "A Loss" has been nominated for @altcurrent.bsky.social's Best Small Fictions by @newworldwriting.bsky.social. Thanks to Kim Chinquee, Elizabeth Wagner, and Evan Harrison for nominating it and for all their work at New World Writing. You can read "A Loss" here:

Check out the full video on the Quinns quest YouTube channel at YouTube.com/ at quinns_quest or by searching “Quinns quest” in the search bar. You can get a copy of Tacklebox through our website, link in our bio. Get weird with your friends! #ttrpg #larp #indiegame #roleplayinggame

Restructuring with a hard r