new prototype finally made it on paper after kicking around my head for over a year, this one's a Deadlock + Root inspired game where you play as different mobster families in a occult version of London. it played pretty ok for a first trial, finally got me out of my slump of 5 failed games in a row

me: so yeah sorry to bring you back but the funding board wanted to hear your perspective on the achievements of capitalism, like the moon landing Karl Marx: holy shit they patented seeds? me: is there hope in the modern age for communism? Karl Marx: the seeds in the fucking ground?

SCREAMING THIS FROM THE FUCKING ROOFTOPS

Idk but I think it was @katie.bzky.team who randomly mentioned silicone scar cream one day. On a whim I bought 10ml and tried it on a burn scar that developed eczema and it's the only cream that's lessened the redness/itching. 3 years, 4 dermatologists. And Katie solves it without ever seeing it

Didn't make it to the #cardboardedison finals, but got some absolutely excellent feedback from the judges which I've already started working on! I'm very glad I entered and I'm grateful for the time of everyone involved. Time to get straight back into creating and improving my board games! 🎲✂️

there's a slug in my bed wtf

i made a version of wikipedia you can doomscroll xikipedia.org

nothing will ever top belv's all time music compass banger

There’s almost exactly ONE WEEK LEFT to submit your unpublished board game design to this year’s Cardboard Edison Award! cardboardedison.com/award

CRASHOUT FOR THE AGES

Gary Larson: In my cartoon I invented Cow Tools as a cautionary tale Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools

just like in the fairy tales! #deadlock #batbook

It’s time! SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2026 CARDBOARD EDISON AWARD ARE OPEN! Board game designers, show us what you’ve been working on! Deadline is January 31: cardboardedison.com/award

Sometimes I wonder if I overspend on @dragonshield.bsky.social sleeves. But then I get to colour code cards from my prototypes like this and I realise it's definitely worth it (colours in alt text)

So #SPIEL25 had genAI cards on its main stage. UKGE is defending genAI board game companies on social media. How many major conventions in Europe are left who actually support human artists?

Mushroom game prototype in action! Has potential, need to rework some things for sure

#CraftWednesday working on a prototype of an area control game about mushrooms and trees growing alongside each other in a Bohemian forest. Aims to reflect real growing conditions. Thanks to @lookoutgames.bsky.social for the wooden components they were giving away at Essen, very useful stuff! 🎲✂️

Things that have surprised me about #SPIEL25 : - About 1/20 games use or touch up AI generated illustrations - The avg. game on display is mechanically much heavier than I expected - There are many more small/mid Asian developers here than Americans - No open play zone - <1% of people wear a mask 🎲✂️

Pubblo (selling themselves as a way for designers to meet publishers) is running a competition to coincide with SPIEL 25- if you sign up, you get free access to the site for the rest of 2025. Not sponsored, I'm just making sure the people who couldn't make it here know 🎲✂️ pubblo.com/spielpitch

University of Lleida researchers found that the type of board game you play with children doesn't have a large effect on what they learn; instead, any game that sufficiently engages cognitive functions seems to improve overall performance

Differences in play in adults talk: there are no fundamental differences between how children and adults play. But adults tend to see play as something limited to the professionals (actors, sport) and need to feel allowed to play. Hence the gravitation towards game rooms, cafes, evenings, facilities

Pedagogy and board games talk points: board games can mimic real scenarios children might otherwise be afraid of. Maintaining interest is difficult in the classroom, but strategic thinking and the challenges provided by games, together with the reward of winning, can provide strong motivation

Heading to SPIEL Essen for the first time! Not got any pitches but looking forward to it all. Anyone got recommendations for stalls, designers or friends who are going to be there who I should check out? Going to also be talking to manufacturers for sure if anyone wants any questions answered! 🎲✂️

trillion dollar industry

When you consider the *ecocide* alongside the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza, you begin to grasp the totality of the Israeli state’s attempt to eliminate both the Palestinians and their homeland. My column today. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

My carpet designing event entry from a Vintage Story server: "We Have Always Been Beautiful" 3 wide x 5 high, interior 32x64 pixels A carpet based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', except I have taken the artistic liberty of making the subject a trans woman.

Königssee, Germany. Shame about the haze today, otherwise an absolutely amazing view

#CraftWednesday Instead of printing double sided or having to glue backs to cards, I've started using card sleeves of different colours to differentiate between different decks (e.g. roles and resources). Makes them last much longer and feel better to play with as well!

A reminder: this is what's fuelling Elon Musk's racist text generation software over on the white supremacist website that major institutions can't stop using

Back on the south coast of England visiting family. Thanks to @irishrainforest.bsky.social and others I now look at landslip forests in a completely fresh way. It's amazing to see what grows on a landslip in a decade while it's out of the reach of grazing animals and human intervention.

if i can be y’all’s dad for a second: one of the most important things I’ve learned is that acquiring a skill is literally uncomfortable that awful moment where you feel confused and stupid and embarrassed? it means you’re about to learn something. and it’s *mandatory* if you want to get better

🎲✂️ I'm extremely grateful for free software such as LibreOffice and nanDECK that streamline the prototyping process to the point where I now can't imagine a world without them. What software do other game crafters use? Would people appreciate video tutorials on how to turn spreadsheets into games?

🎲✂️ One of the fastest lessons I learned when making game prototypes is you shouldn't be afraid of piggybacking. If you're determined to use a fun word instead of Discard, make sure it's painfully obvious. Every little unfamiliarity that slows a new player down will affect their uptake of your game.

🎲✂️ Been talking with friends about comeback mechanics in board games and I keep recalling this example: When playing best-of-3 rock paper scissors, the winner of the first round has a 67% chance to win overall. It's worthwhile to think about whether your game is more or less forgiving than that.

#CraftWednesday trying to at least appear organised with my prototypes! @jacksonpope.bsky.social saw you at UKGE but your stall was so busy every time I walked past I didn't get a chance to play! Hope it went great for you

Arch Enemies is almost ready to go for the UK games expo! Time to schedule some meetings! #boardgames 🎲✂️

This is where your Harry Potter money goes

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

There's nothing like the feeling of testing a new game prototype and having it work and actually be fun to play!

THE RISE OF END TIMES FASCISM My first major piece of the new Trump era, co-written with @astra.bsky.social. The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

"The left went too far" in contemporary U.S. politics is almost always a lie and a very convenient way to rationalize moral failure. For example, "MeToo went too far" replaces "I do not care about sexual violence or its victims and I don't want to have to even feel bad about that"

Georg Complains: New World "Order" This week I'm talking about the changing order of the major world powers, both the funny ha-ha, and the funny uh-oh. youtu.be/V4ky2wIimUY

I mean… Yeah. Yeah they do. For entirely known and warned-about reasons. Yes. www.science.org/content/arti...

One of my favourite photos I took in 2024: a view of a lake under Großglockner, Austria

went for a nice long walk to take in peak autumn

Disco Elysium offers a tremendous variety of roleplaying choices & alternate solutions I will never see because they'd disappoint Kim Kitsuragi

every now and then i get asked if i've heard of the critically acclaimed mmorpg ffxiv that includes the award-winning heavensward expansion but like. that game seems dangerous i've known people who've tried it and then i never see them again. every few months they post their wol and vanish again