One of the great, unexpected joys of designing games is doing so in partnership with someone else. Especially when it's a great human being like Phil. Well, I'm pretty sure he's human, but I don't mind if he's five raccoons in a sweatshirt either

Do our media, including games, offer escape from the real world, or do they engage you more deeply with your lived reality? The original thread Logan quotes offers an "anti-escapist" game where you meditate on bugs you kill. What are other examples of anti- or non-escapist games?

I'm very excited by how Dumpster Heist hit with players at Unpub, especially those who've never tried a TTRPG before. I'm grateful that @mistergross.bsky.social let me join him on his quest to create the perfect "Role Party Game" to reach new audiences. A 🧵 on how it works... 1/▶️

@ipr.bsky.social is so critical to getting zine games into local retailers. Small businesses don't have time for paperwork, so five creators with separate consignment deals is a nightmare for most. IPR lets them buy in one step. Ask your FLGS to sign up with IPR if you want to see more indie games!

I love the local games shelf at @peoplesbooktakoma.com! Check out who's on top: #indiebookstore @evilhat.bsky.social 1/2 ▶️

DMV ♦️🎲 game enjoyers: @librarycongress.bsky.social is hosting a public symposium that will include a talk with @elizhargrave.bsky.social! The event looks at the American landscape from the perspectives of Create / Eat / Adventure / Play : www.loc.gov/item/event-4...

I think most game designers would be better served focusing more on practicing making games that will never get published than trying to design something specifically to sell it

As I like to say "I'm a game designer not a baseball player... I don’t pitch." I just like to make things and hang out with people and solve silly problems I make for myself. My games are a "success" or "complete" when one person goes "this is my favorite game" or "I loved this so much."

I spent a good amount of time at Unpub talking about whether our current tabletop ecosystem serves the reason why the vast majority of us make games, which is NOT to make the "elite 0.2%." Boyd, the owner of @gamekastlecp.bsky.social, came up with the best analogy: music. (🎲✂️ Thread: 1/▶️)

Near the end of Unpub yesterday, a designer came up to me and told me how profoundly BeTween had affected him after he played only 15-20 minutes of it, three days earlier. He'd remembered those primal feelings of pre-teen childhood... 1/4 ▶️

I just wrapped a playtest of BeTween, the game about being 11, with an actual 11 year old here at Unpub. She had a great time as the Creative trait, who can make up her own cards instead of using the default photos.

Hey AwesomeCon, if you love board and roleplaying games, head up from the exhibit hall to street level for the tabletop gaming zone powered by @gamekastlecp.bsky.social . Play the latest games including many designed here in the DMV. You might even meet local designers like @arcana-ttrpg.bsky.social

Hey ♦️🎲 DMV gamers: there's SO MUCH happening this weekend -- Awesome Con and Unpub just to name two! Check them all out there, and sign up for our high-value, no-filler monthly email to find out about tabletop events with local game designers: dmv-designed-games.beehiiv.com/p/tabletop-g...

@unpub.org keynote by @connievdc.bsky.social on soft skills in game design -- live thread. (Connie is a pillar of the DMV ♦️🎲 design community)

Looking for a chill RPG to counter our modern world's firehose of dread? Try... 🌳The Bonsai Diary by @stickydoodler.bsky.social (part solo journaling RPG, part meditative sketchbook - 'grow' a little tree that requires no water and no light, only nurturing energy from your imagination)

What a boost the Origins Award Finalist announcement gave to to the Bonsai Diary! @ipr.bsky.social is now sold out. But good news: a new shipment arrives in the warehouse today. More good news for retailers: I've upgraded the back cover to help you better sell in store (see next post)

RPG speed dating running full speed at @unpub.org

So Joe and I are excited to finally share that we signed ColorJam with @lunarpunk.games! I'm super pumped to work with a publisher who champions games that define victory in new ways the way ColorJam does! And check out this oversized coloring page:

Oops this panel about building local game economies / ecologies is actually 3-4 not 4-5 3️⃣🕒🥉 😅 Oops

Want to see your games on more shelves? Learn how to work with local retailers as a game designer to cultivate a local tabletop ecology -- not just an economy. TODAY at Unpub Festival 📅 Thu, March 12 🕓 4-5pm 🪩 Ballroom C

If you love games, come to Unpub, even if you don't design games yourself. I get so much joy from playtesting events from seeing the essence of a game before it's coated in a glossy finish. If, like me, you believe games are art, playing prototypes lets you see the fingerprint of the artist.

TIL what this blunt rolly thing does on my Fiskars cutter: it creases cardboard for box inserts! 🎲✂️

Panel 1 is with @stickydoodler.bsky.social and others from Designed in the DMV, and is about building local tabletop ecosystems. I'll share my experience with the PNW Indie Night Market, which @connor.alwaysawake.games organized, and other PNW Tabletop things. It's at 3 on Thursday in Ballroom C.

I'm very, very excited by what we've accomplished so far with The Dumpster Heist. Like mad scientists, Phil and I have cross-bred a party game and a TTRPG to produce... a Raccoon Party Game 🦝 We want this to be a game anyone can play - no RPG or improv experience needed!

👁️My favorite ancients in slay the spire 2 #art #inkwash #水墨画

My neighbor was one of the 300+ fired from WaPo last month. She wrote the very popular Local Events newsletter, which she's now relaunched as her own. Give her a follow -- and check out her coverage of @unpub.org! ♦️🎲 alisadailydose.beehiiv.com/p/a-festival...

Everyone showed off their Unpub prototype assembly last two week, but here I am scrambling at the last minute as always! Board and player cards for BeTween, a heartfelt story game about your last summer before middle school:

I was pretty surprised that The Bonsai Diary was actually nominated for an Origins Award, so I shot a video about how cool it is for GAMA to recognize solo and small press designers: youtube.com/shorts/hwXWd...

They're here! It's the Spring 2026 DMV Games Catalog ft 38 games from 21 designers local to DC, Maryland, and Virginia. I can't wait to share a flip-through with you and get them out to stores all over the ♦️🎲 DMV.

Tick tock set forward your clock and check out this itch asset pack i made of cool paper things I've collected and become really obsessed with great for collage and for filling in your stationery collection. oddsandents.itch.io/paper-paraph...

Repost with clarification that my friend is a middle aged dad not a kid (but he'll readily admit his tastes are childish!)

Designed in the DMV is excited to welcome @gamaofficial.bsky.social to Baltimore in 2027! (Img credit @gamesandstuffmd.bsky.social )

👂 I'm looking for suggestions 👂 My Best Bonsai Buddy was just diagnosed with lymphoma. His treatment will involve multi-day stays at the hospital, both painful and boring. I'll take your suggestions for audiobooks and very low-stress games / activities that could occupy his time...

This is a great read with a beautiful closing. I think aspiring designers like me are blessed to have giants like Grant who aim to "show them that in fact they are the man behind the curtain" 🎲✂️

The Bonsai Diary by @stickydoodler.bsky.social is a finalist for the GAMA Origins Awards. Gene talks about why solo journaling games are important: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwXW... #GAMA #solorpg #ttrpg #rpg #journaling #bonsai

The Bonsai Diary is a FINALIST for a 2026 Origins Award! To celebrate, I'm running a 50% off sale on digital downloads: itch.io/s/181452/ori... PLUS I've added 49 🆓 community copies for anyone who wants to play but can't afford the $2.50 price tag. HOWEVER, I do recommend the printed version...

😯😮🫢 The Bonsai Diary is a FINALIST for the 2026 Origins Awards!

maybe I wasn't getting punk'd after all

It's called Woman of Eden. You go back in time for just four journaling prompts with a neanderthal woman. I'm going to publish it together in a zine with Two Raw Morsels.

I think it's a movement not just a moment!

Something we learned early in the launch of Designed in the DMV is how retailers see events as a competitive advantage vs Amazon. The forward-leaning ones saw that doing events with us doubled that advantage by showing the community how we are all interconnected. 🌐

Last weekend, our three revolutionary factions failed to overthrow the czar, probably because we failed to accelerate the conflict fast enough. This is, as Dan observes, a game with a *viewpoint*. While we never got to the point where we turned on each other, our direction was clear... 1/▶️

One reason I call just them "journaling games" is they don't have to be played solo. It's also an extra word / two syllables that just confuses potential players from outside the TTRPG space I want to see more events try this!

Tip for self-publishers: don't screw over your FLGS. I hear this a lot from the stores we work with in the DMV: don't offer them one MSRP, then sell online for less. We saw why at a con, where customers price-checked against Amazon. FLGSs don't want to be lead gen for etailers

Timeline palate cleanser 👅🧼🫧 This 10 year anniversary lookback on Stardew Valley brings back some beautiful memories for me, and also offers a few useful tips for game design / development. It's one of the games that inspired me to try design myself: youtu.be/geiTg6Z7w3A

These raccoons are coming for you, Unpub! 🦝🗑️🔥

This Pokémon day you've gotta follow @laomao.bsky.social for the best Pokédex of inkwash paintings. JUST LOOK AT THIS 😍

Three games in heavy rotation with me right now all were tested at Unpub: Hot Streak Message from the Stars Vanity Plates Yes, I'm biased, but I also think they're great games. (And this reminds me I need to pick up Sanibel)

When @unpub.org says you can "Play the games of tomorrow, today," they mean that quite literally. Check out this excerpt from @elizhargrave.bsky.social's design diary for #Sanibel:

I call BeTween a "biography game" because I want it to convey something of my daughter's spirit -- specifically, that summer before middle school when she refused to grow up. But it's a game, not a documentary: I want you to experience the last summer of childhood in your own way, drawing on 1/▶️