When I first started designing, it was really hard to get people to try my games. At the time, only my girlfriend would accept playing them, through what I would call "consensual emotional blackmail" And I'm realizing that that stage would have gone much faster now that I'm poly.

Ooooooo Canada

Public transit doesn't exist to make a profit, it is a public service. If you make it crappier so it doesn't meet people's needs, then charge more for it so fewer people can pay for it, *then* complain when fewer people use it, that shows a pretty fundamental lack of comprehension.

My latest tattoo!

There's a point where a board game prototype becomes "fun enough" that play testing it is not a burden or a favor; it's just playing a fun but incomplete game. I think getting to that point should probably be the initial goal of #BoardGameDesign, well before content, balance, or aesthetics. 🎲✂️

I've been listening to "Think Like A Game Designer", insightful game designer interviews by @justingary.bsky.social . Every so often I find myself writing down quotes, which I'll be sharing in this thread: 🎲✂️

If you ever run into a game that very clearly uses LLMs on @boardgamegeek.com, the best way to combat it is to tag it under “Family” as “AI Generated Illustration” It would be great if we had a category for generalized LLM usage—but at the least we can kick all of the garbage to the same space. 🎲✂️

this is about how some ttrpg designers see board game designers but is also, depressingly, about how many board game designers see board game designers it's changing, albeit slowly, and gosh I'm glad for that

I think at some point board gamers are gonna have to reckon with the fact that the Dice Tower is a menace. Legitimately a homogenizing force being imposed on board game design.

@amalelmohtar.com yo did you see this cool tattoo?? www.instagram.com/p/DOa6j9UElM...

A shitty thing made 100% of the way is infinitely superior to the perfect thing abandoned partway.

🎲✂️ High Society is a great example - explain the theme and all the rules just make sense (especially that end-game twist which excludes the poorest player). Change the theme and it would lose its magic.

Invaluable is a trading game I've had in my pocket for YEARS. Players are museum curators, buying and selling artifacts. It has this fun closed economy that tightens like a noose as the game goes on. I'm doing a limited print run of this, probably available from the end of August. Stay tuned! 🎲✂️

CLARIFICATION : The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline. They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY So spread this around They can be texted. They can be called.

« J’ose espérer que la considération des droits humains va avoir préséance sur toute forme de politisation et d’attaque sur la communauté ». Citation d’une entrevue que j’ai donnée pour @pivot.quebec : pivot.quebec/2025/06/12/q...

The vast majority of people I remember ringing the alarms about Project 2025 a year ago were transgender people. It didn't get any kind of coverage until well into the campaign. We used to be oracles and seers for a reason. And now so many centrists and moderates act like there was no warning. 🙄

Healthcare for seniors is *not* waste, fraud, or abuse. Food for hungry kids is *not* waste, fraud, or abuse. A $45 military parade for a draft dodging felon *is* waste, fraud, and abuse. Paying the National Guard to attack US citizens *is* waste, fraud, and abuse.

I’m throwing in my hat as a member of the @ttgda.bsky.social advisory board! 🎲✂️ Best of luck to everyone who is running!! If you’re a voting member of the association, come out for the vote! 🗳️

An area majority for two players? With a solo mode? There’s no way that can work well! Turns out you can achieve a lot if you’re equipped with a smile & a gun

.....No? Look, I write all of my books for literally three people and if anyone else likes or even reads them, that's pretty neat, but I want people "debating" my stories about as much as I want to eat a lightbulb.

To all the trans moms, I wish a Happy Mother's Day! 💐💝 Your motherhood is valid. Let's celebrate!

To all the trans moms, I wish a Happy Mother's Day! 💐💝 Your motherhood is valid. Let's celebrate!

If you call him Pope Leo XIV then you can stop dead naming the trans people in your life.

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

Anyone who insists trans women are only transitioning for a kink or to harass women or cheat at sports should be required to undergo 50 hours of facial and genital electrolysis for context.

As an indie publisher who is trying to spin into the handmade, artisan-style game experiences, I am intrigued by GMT's P-500 system. Do others use similar pre-order systems? Did others also consider this?

He-Man was originally supposed to be Conan. Mario was originally supposed to be Pop-Eye. Warcraft was supposed to be Warhammer. 50 Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfic. You are surrounded by intellectual properties that started as imposters. Tell that to your imposter syndrome.

Sometimes you need Ayda Aguefort. Sometimes is ALWAYS #dimension20 #fanart #unofficial #aydaaguefort

My games are manufactured in the United States. It is incredibly expensive to produce, there is almost no profit margin, we cannot distribute in stores, and I get frequent complaints about component quality for the pricepoint that allows us to eke out a living... in Detroit, a cheap place to live. 🧵

Anyone else ever get high and go swipe while listening to 90s pop and imagining a lifetime with every. Single. Person. Nah, just me?

As an indie publisher who is trying to spin into the handmade, artisan-style game experiences, I am intrigued by GMT's P-500 system. Do others use similar pre-order systems? Did others also consider this?

7. Don’t make excuses, make a plan. A lot of designers try to explain why they can’t act on feedback due to some constraint. The playtester doesn’t care, they just want to feel like they've helped. Thank them for their feedback, sit with it, and figure out what's actionable on your own time. Fin.

No. We are not living beyond our means. We have simply been denied the means to live.

Semi-annual reminder that Daylight Saving Time doesn't save electricity anymore and actively increases road death and heart attacks for the couple of days after the time change. It's long beyond time to end this idea of a long past era.

we fucked up calling it gender dysphoria instead of T-Pain

I don't want to hear another scientist claim our field is apolitical again. It's been a problem for years with climate science. Now the CDC is destroying gender-based research. Fascism comes for everyone and everything.

I'm working on a potential story about how Tariffs might affect the board game industry. Anyone with insight please don't hesitate to reach out!

As you may know, I co-designed the Mass Effect board game, which is in my favorite genre of board game: the dungeon crawl/tactical action Therefore I present this thread of 10 of my favorite board games in this genre, defined as 'you control single characters (not units or armies) and fight others'

This hopefully surprises no one, but trans rights are human rights, which should be non-negotiable. Subsurface Games being 100% run by trans people (by which I mean my partner and I), it is also the official party line for that.

This is I think my favorite time being interviewed. While I have been fairly relaxed and frank in my press appearances since I began transition, talking to another trans woman allowed me to be the most unguarded I have been, and I was asked questions a cis person wouldn't have thought of.

tired of watching cis people discuss trans issues like trans people aren't even in the room

“Democrats should also acknowledge that seeking a middle ground with a man who calls immigrants “animals” and says he will “protect” women “whether the women like it or not” is unlikely to land in a good place.” THIS time.com/collection/t...

Trans rights are human rights Women’s reproductive freedom is all of our freedom Immigrants make our nations better Fuck billionaires. All of them. Every last one. You can auction our elections but you’ll never buy our acceptance Fuck you

Lynn Conway, transgender science pioneer, has passed away. Comic by Sophie Labelle. www.instagram.com/p/C8H9GgixXy... #transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA

Three years ago, two years ago, 1 year ago, today #MakingGames 🎲✂️

It's Cardboard Time! Episode 88 is now live (anchor.fm/cardboardtime and most platforms). On today's episode, reviews of With a Smile and a Gun, Puppets in High Places (@subsurfaceamy.bsky.social), Twilight Inscription, and Mechanical Beast.

For all the movie girlies