My end-of-year game design stats! Main takeaways: Voyage, Lodge, and Cozy Cafes were my main projects, but I spent a good chunk of time on Tiny Towns BGA as well. I am somehow making games at about the same rate with far less time as a parent. 🎲✂️ (1/5)

I just approved the final in game illustration for Lodge. We busted our ass on this. Gameplay rules and the art looks sick. @kickstarter.com here we come! @pickpocket.games @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social #boardgames #tabletopgames #kickstarter

The cliche that ‘having an idea’ is the hard part of writing is persistent and pernicious. Realising the idea is the craft of it. That FAQ of…

I just played my first round of Lodge with a pre-production copy with my mom, and she beat me 51-37! So excited to bring this cozy game to you all soon. #lodgegame

Game night cancelled

Lodge launches January 27th!

I got to see a sample copy of Lodge from @pickpocket.games in person for the first time yesterday! It looks lovely. This is the deluxe edition (my first deluxe anything).

Incredibly happy to announce I will have 40 copies of Fold & Fly! available at the Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged! Here's hoping everyone excited for the game can get one! 🌈🛫

I added a "game design resources" section to my site: www.petermcpherson.com/game-design-... This is a collection of mostly free online tools I use regularly, as well as links to excellent podcasts, blogs, and YouTube channels. I hope people find something helpful here! 🎲✂️

My latest self-published game Heavenly Bodies 🪐✨🌙 is now up on the Pax Unplugged preview list!! Help fulfill my dream of thumbing-up all the games at Indie Games Night Market 2025 to the top of the list!! I’ll periodically update this post when new IGNM titles drop in the preview!!

Got a specific game design problem you're trying to crack? We'd love to give our input in Missing Pieces, a board game design advice column in @ttgda.bsky.social's newsletter! You can submit questions here: docs.google.com/forms/d/1hc3...

Hey board game designers I made a list of Pax Unplugged publishers: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... "Would need to ask", means website and maybe contact, but their site doesn't mention submissions. Leave a comment if I need to fix something up.

There's a lot to love in this board game about DJing... including the really rad turntable board. It's a very cool bonus to me that the team behind the project is diverse and the game and the campaign feels pretty dang inclusive.

Hey y'all! This is not a drill! We are finally LIVE on Kickstarter! Cascadia: Alpine Lakes launches today and we cannot wait for you to try this brand new game that our CoLab team has been working on!

BOX COVER REVEAL! It's hard to put into words how proud I am of our team at @pickpocket.games. Design is brilliant (Pete McPherson @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social), art is beautiful (Leslie Herman), graphic design is sleek (Seth Nickerson). Support our small team by following the Kickstarter.

Update to this chart that I share a lot. Not breaking news: Game design teams are still OVERWHELMINGLY all men. About 7% of the top 500 games have a woman or non-binary person credited as a designer. A 🧵of related charts: (1/6) 🎲✂️

Check out Tiny Towns: Underground, several other lovely micro expansions, and a new game from Kasper Lapp—Live now on Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

Very exciting! A year ago @senfoonglim.bsky.social interviewed me for the Ludology Podcast about my unpublished game, Shanghai Noir, and narrative in games, and the episode is out! Here's the sell sheet for Shanghai Noir. If you're interested in playing/playtesting it, I have it on TTS. Let me know!

From the designer of Tiny Towns, @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social, we are proud to present Lodge! Draft room tiles and place them on matching floors to attract guests and construct amenities to keep them happy. Coming to Kickstarter January 2026! www.kickstarter.com/projects/cam...

We're cooking up something really special for our upcoming game, Lodge. I don't think you're ready for it...

Here's a glimpse at what Leslie Herman is cooking up for Lodge with @pickpocketgames.bsky.social !

I’m doing victory laps in my kitchen right now!!!! 💃🏼 CGE just announced they are going to be giving away 100% of the profit from their Harry Potter game to pro-trans charities!! www.instagram.com/p/DNG48n-IVP...

Tiny Towns is officially out on BGA today! Right now you can play with the base game cards in Master Builder, Town Hall, or Solo modes, but the expansions are on their way as well!

The leadership of the Tabletop Game Designers Association was disappointed to see the publisher CGE touting Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, a new Harry Potter-themed version of Codenames.

The complaint was why are you supporting somebody who is pouring her money into crushing trans people. CGE's reply is we are changing the world with the magic of every codenames version we make. Can't you be respectful. That's because they don't care because this is all about money.

OMG... Flip 7 is so complicated, Asmodee UK decided to let AI take a crack at the rules... (the screenshot is only the start of this.. this... this.) #Boardgames AI will screw us all www.asmodee.co.uk/blogs/news/h...

👀 Shiny updated prototype ✨

In case you missed the news from @alderaceg.bsky.social, Tiny Towns: Underground is coming to Kickstarter this August, along with a bunch of other expansions for AEG games!

In 2020, Josh Wood had to cancel his Japan trip, and while the world was locked down, we all got to travel with him through Let’s Go to Japan. Today, we found out where he’s taking us next. Get your passports ready. #boardgames #AEG30 #LetsGoToJapan #LetsGoSeries

HEY!! YOU!! Yeah, YOU!! You think you’re not a “real” designer? That BULLSHIT 🐄 Indie Games Night Market is the perfect place for making and/or selling games for the first time! Take it from me—my game High Tide sold there last year, got signed, and is releasing at Gen Con!! Give it a shot!! 🎲✂️

ICYMI: Issue 19 is out now! In which @beneetakaur.bsky.social reveals what’s been sitting on her Shelf of Shame... And plays it! Go to senetmagazine.com to order a copy or subscribe. #boardgamesarebeautiful

🚨 Programming alert: Tiny Towns (designed by @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social) is now in beta on Board Game Arena 🚨

Hi friends—I'm starting a playtesting server for my games! I have a handful of projects I'm actively testing, and any feedback is always appreciated. Come play some games, or feel free to just join to see what I'm working on! discord.gg/hvSuTk3XJF

Unusual to sell an art book without listing a single artist on your page. gamefound.com/en/projects/...

City of Six Moons is a board game with a rulebook entirely written in an alien language… and it is FASCINATING. Tom lost his mind a bit, playing this one, and you can watch the results right here: www.shutupandsitdown.com?post_type=vi...

Tiny Towns is in beta on BGA! 🟥🔨🟦🔨🟨🔨🏠

New comic! Breaking news: Local gamer hears ‘12-player real-time’ and spirals into an overambitious planning frenzy. 🗞️🚨 You can read this week's blog post at www.semicoop.com/comic/fit-to... #boardgames #fittoprint @alderaceg.bsky.social @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social

Game design is so much about coralling uncertainty. Constructing a little pen where uncertainty can prowl around and delight onlookers but never actually escape the confines.

Our access to COVID vaccines is under attack. It’s more important than ever to make our voices heard by making public comment to the FDA by May 23 at 11:59 PM EST. Use our template available on our substack at peoplescdc.substack.com/p/vaccine-ac...

We're super excited to announce Cascadia: Alpine Lakes! A brand new stand-alone follow-up to Cascadia! Using dual-hex tiles, Alpine Lakes takes that Cascadia puzzliness you know and love to new heights - layer tiles to create peaks and valleys and populate them with wildlife!

genAI is the extremely high interest loan that tech is betting on because they truly believe that if we worship enough, the ai god will come down and magically fix all the resulting debt and global damage. why are we letting these guys drive

✨ I FINALLY have a professional website!!! ✨ Special thanks to my amazing partner Michelle!! Now I have a quick and easy portal for connecting my work information with publishers and other industry peeps!! GO CHECK IT OUT!! www.marcelineleiman.com

My first news update since January brings details on Tiny Towns on BGA, as well as updates on some fresh designs! www.petermcpherson.com/news#h.5cqmx...

Tiny Towns is in Alpha on BGA 🎉 Seeing a digital version of this game has been a dream of mine for years, and the developers and the team at @alderaceg.bsky.social put in so much work to test all 116 buildings. All expansions will be in the full release—couldn't be more excited! #tinytowns

We're playtesting Memento Mori live in just a few minutes! Come watch us play a cozy game about cemeteries 💀🪦⚰️

Sorry I missed yesterday's stream. I had to cancel so that I could catch up on sleep and errands. But we are back! @phantommeeple.bsky.social & I will be joined by @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social to do a live playtest of his game Memento Mori! I am excited to check out what has changed.

I am excited for the week even while exhausted.😂Happy Earth Day! @peterlmcpherson.bsky.social joins @phantommeeple.bsky.social & I for Ep 108! Sunday will be a double header! Nestlings then @bookofnerds.bsky.social & Jose joins me in person to play Butt themed games! @tabletopafterdark.bsky.social

Thinking over a game designer patreon as a concept, mulling over what I could offer to patrons. - Monthly games via PNP/free online service? - Going over sellsheets? - Playtesting of patron's prototypes? Consultations? - General Q&A? Do any of these sound enticing? Is anything obvious missing?

I finished the 4th piece in the Lord of the Rings cross stitch book mark set I've been working on! I love how much this one captures.