The US fertility rate is 1.6 children per couple. Fertility has been below the replacement rate (of 2.1) since the 70s. Yet our population has increased from ~200m to >300m since then. Why? Immigration -- and continued immigration is the only possible way for us to keep pace with global rivals.

My daughter asked for this cake for her birthday. Lavender and vanilla bean paste? Took some effort to find that. I made it (wks after her actual birthday), just before she left on the train to Pittsburgh - taking some cake - to see her half-sibling. inbloombakery.com/london-fog-c...

It’s giving Hamilton vibes.

I reviewed VAL(IANT) OR VAL'S GUIDE TO HAVING A BROKEN VAG, for Indie Game Reviewer. It's free short, and one of the best student games I've ever played. It's a personal journey about a young woman who experiences vaginal pain. indiegamereviewer.com/valiant-or-v...

It's almost #Halloween, which means it's time for @indiegamereviewer.bsky.social's Top 13 Halloween Games for 2025! This year's list features #indiegames from @moonhood.bsky.social, @jrhudepohl.bsky.social, @warkus.bsky.social, @katanalevy.bsky.social... indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-hallo...

I reviewed SNUFKIN: Melody of Moominvalley at Indie Game Reviewer. It's a gentle game consisting mostly of navigational and stealth challenges, set in the world of Tove Jansson's Moomin books for children. indiegamereviewer.com/snufkin-melo...

I have a somewhat satirical post on Netflix's announcement that it has obtained film & TV rights to the boardgame Settlers of Catan on Tabletop Quester here: tabletopquester.com/netflix-to-d...

I posted a profile of Digital Eel, a pioneering indie game developer, on Indie Game Reviewer: indiegamereviewer.com/developer-pr... They were "indie before there was indie," which is literally true; they released their first game before Steam existed, basically on faith and a prayer.

Also attended Game-A-Palooza, an indie game event with 50-ish developers attending, taking copious notes, and will write it up for Indie Game Reviewers. gameapalooza.love

Busy day today: attended the No Kings protest in Park Slope, Brooklyn, reprising my sign based on this 19-century image: live.staticflickr.com/189/51003032...

Indiegamereviewers has a post about Halloween-relevant games. I mention PRIM, a graphic adventure in which you play Death's daughter; and GHOST TOWN PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, a sort-of MMO in which you carve pumpkins and leave them for other players to encounter. indiegamereviewer.com/top-13-hallo...

I reviewed Desert Angels for Indie Game Reviewer. Its a kind of narrative walking sim, but with FPS elements. indiegamereviewer.com/desert-angel...

Well. I guess I'll never buy an EA game again.

Wow.... A YouTube review of a D&D fanzine I published 50 years ago was not what I expected to encounter today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UmO...

I reviewed Petit Island for Adventure Game Hotspot. I didn't hate it, but felt lots of other games do cozy narrative puzzle games with platforming elements better. adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4939/...

Today, my wife ended her subscription to Disney+, and I ended mine to Hulu. When asked why, I said, "I don't give money to companies that kowtow to fascism, and as a former Disney employee, I am bitterly ashamed."

I reviewed EARTH, a fairly complex boardgame about planting plants for Tabletop Quester. It's a decidedly mixed review; well-designed system, but emotionally flat. tabletopquester.com/earth-the-bo...

Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu reviews Paco for AGH. A gorgeous free small-scale adventure about a tiny clown with a lot of heart adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4999/po…#indiegamem#adventuregameme

I am one of the designers of Paranoia, a TTRPG. We have Japanese and Italian licensees, with recent new additions. Our author copies of the Japanese edition have been returned to the publisher, for no good reason; and the Italian publisher cannot send because... Republicans.

I reviewed Ark Nova, a boardgame of competitive zoo building here: tabletopquester.com/ark-nova-com...

I used to write for a bunch of publications before the Internet came around. When it did, I was like, cool, now I can get paid the full value of the content I provide! Turns out, that's zero. I still wire, tho. indiegamereviewer.com/tiny-booksho... adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4751/...

I reviewed Tiny Bookshop for Indie Game Reviewer. It's a cozy business sim; your bookshop is in a trailer you haul around to different locations in a small seaside down, stocking books and making recommendations to customers. indiegamereviewer.com/tiny-booksho...

50 years ago, our food was safe. Nibble on ground beef? No problem, the FDA made sure it was safe. Today? Cook the hell out of that, not safe anymore! Why? Republicans.

I have an idea I think every Democrat wanting to recapture blue collar votes should consider. Bring back unions. 60 years ago, most Americans lived a decent life. 60 years ago, 35% percent of Americans belonged to unions. Today, 10% belong to unions. Coincidence? Nope. Why? Because Republicans.

I reviewed Wanderstop. It's an attractive, cozy tea-making game with the humorous element that Alta, the protagonist, doesn't really want to be in this game. She'd much rather be in a rogue-like sword combat game, but she's stuck here making tea. adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4751/...

I have thousands of book, and my shelves are overflowing. Today, as I have done before, I took a backpack full of books to the Housing Works used book shop, to donate things I don't think I'm likely ever to reread. And, uh, obviously bought some books off their shelves too. Still, more out than in.

I reviewed Leila, a kind of point-and-click adventure game, for Adventure Game Hotspot. It's unusual for a p-a-c game because it's fundamentally an older woman's meditation on the course of her life and the challenges she's faced. adventuregamehotspot.com/review/4639/...

I reviewed Old Skies, a point-and-click adventure with a time travel theme, by WadjetEye Studios, a long-time and excellent developer of graphic adventures, helmed by Dave Gilbert, here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

He also served as a 1stlieutenant of infantry in WWII, helping to defeat the Axis, and I can only imagine what towering rage he would feel at your firm's supine surrender to authoritarianism today. Needless to say, should I require legal representation in future, I will not be looking to Paul Weiss

Sent to Paul Weiss: As the son of Edward N. Costikyan, who served you as a partner for decades. I am writing to express my contempt for your craven surrrender. My father was, in the 60s, Chairman of the NY County Democratic Committee.

Sundance is moving from Utah to Boulder, CO, so go Buffs, even if it annoyed me that the parking for CU games are on the wrong side of the Boulder Creek bike path from the stadium, so I had to be really careful biking home on game days. Still, +money for a Blue State. (I lived in Boulder 2016-17.)

I covered the Game Developers Conference for Adventure Gamers here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

I reviewed (not actually Sid Meier's) Civilization 7 here: www.rockpapershotgun.com/sid-meiers-c...

I reviewed Thank Goodness You're Here! here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

It's still the Gulf of Mexico. End of story. Thanks.

I've played and and while obviously a very different experience from the tabletop RPG, is true to the setting and aesthetic of the original game.

I received today my copy of PARANOIA: THE UNCOOPERATIVE BOARDGAME, based on the tabletop RPG I designed years ago with Dan Gelber and Eric Goldberg. It is published by Modiphius, and designed by Juan Echenique, Javier A. Caburrasi, and Staffano Guerriero. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42...

My uncle, Andrew Costikyan, served in WWII as a member of the First Motion Picture Unit -- his command was Ronald Reagan. He was one of the first American troops in Belsen, and filmed the near-starvation survivors and heaps of corpses. Some of us have no doubts about the truth of the Holocaust.

I reviewed Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

It is an anthology of essays on the topic of tabletop game design, with essays contributed by Jim Dunnigan, Stone Librand, Peter Olotka, Richard Garfield, and Ian Schreiber among others. There are also (not free) print and ebook versions, if you prefer.

My book, TABLETOP: ANALOG GAME DESIGN, published originally by Carnegie Mellon's ETF Press and co-edited with Drew Davidson of Carnegie Mellon, has been released under a Creative Commons license, and is now available as a free PDF: playstorypress.org/books/tablet...

I reviewed Life Is Strange: Double Exposure here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

I ate several times at the New World Home Kitchen restaurant in Bearsville, NY. It closed in 2018, but its founder and head chef, Ric Orlando, now sells spice rubs and hot sauces (and has a new restaurant in Albany). I can recommend their Purple Haze Psychedelic hot sauce: ricorlando.com/purple-haze

When I was a teen, I used to publish a mimeographed fanzine, with about 100 people I'd mail it to every few weeks. I would often take new issues down to the United Nations, because UN stamps on mail dropped off in NYC would be delivered anywhere, and I thought mailing with UN stamps was cool.

Today I: bought a red pepper to make a Chinese dish featuring that, pork, and tofu in hoisin sauce. Bought a Christmas tree. Played LIFE IS STRANGE: DOUBLE EXPOSURE, which Gamer Gate 2.0 people are targetting as too "woke;" I quite like it, and plan a review.

Wrote my senator and assemblyman, from both my domiciles in NY, encouraging them to pass a "Freedom to Read" bill similar to that NJ recently adopted, protecting librarians from censors. nj.gov/governor/new...

My first Internet account (in the mid-90s) was with an ISP called mordor.com. I lived in Jersey City; it was in Hoboken. I thought it funny; "the smokes and stinks of Mordor," per Tolkien, and that's a fair description of northern New Jersey (at least around Perth Amboy; JC and Hoboken are nicer).

I reviewed Dustborn, a narrative game influenced by Life is Strange and Route 96, here: adventuregamers.com/articles/vie...

I reviewed PRIM, a point-and-click adventure game here: Https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/prim

Oh, also: use DuckDuckGo for search. No Google or Meta platforms, remember?