Going to @awesomecon.bsky.social? Skip the line and pick up your badge here instead! It costs less than mailing and you get 10% on almost everything in the store on the day you pick up your badge.

The Quiet Year is now back in stock no matter where you live! The Quiet Year is an award-winning map-making game about building community after the collapse. It comes in a little box with everything you need to play. And it's back in stock in the US! store.buriedwithoutceremony.com/products/the...

A pair of short videos from @gamesbymondo.bsky.social with quick tips for making two essential elements for pitching a game design to publishers: How to make a pitch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkqg... How to make a sell sheet: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uan_...

There’s almost exactly ONE WEEK LEFT to submit your unpublished board game design to this year’s Cardboard Edison Award!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

I have designed a week of bird-themed puzzles for Raddle! The first is SCREECH → OWL at raddle.quest/335

Great day demoing solo journaling games at Your Hobby Store with #DesignedintheDMV Selections from: @stickydoodler.bsky.social @bigpuffingames.bsky.social @paulczege.bsky.social @exeunt.press @timhutchings.bsky.social And @tenacregames.bsky.social

Repost your ❄️ WINTER STORM GAME PLAN ❄️ Mine includes 👑 Kingdomino 🔌 Power Grid (for irony) 🔥 Burning my prototypes for heat

Just two weeks in and we're already over 20% to our goal! You all are amazing! If you haven't yet, check out the Solo But Not Alone 6 itch.io bundle, created by the wonderful @catlinggun.bsky.social & packed with 90 different solo TTRPGs of every genre & description. itch.io/b/3481/solo-...

Earn real treats for stupid human tricks in this zany, dice-less story game about senior shelter animals living their best lives together! Inspired by 1980s sitcoms like The Golden Girls, The Goodest Girls from Scryptid Games is a single-session, shared-GM TTRPG for 2-6 players buff.ly/Y1pY4i3

Some people are hoarding candles and toilet paper in preparation for the storm ❄️🥶❄️, but I think you should stockpile JOURNALING GAMES. Deb and I hope to see you in Alexandria this Saturday, well before the snow arrives!

I am happy to announce we are featured in the latest issue Tabletop Gaming! It even features a cover by @greywizard.bsky.social! I have loved gaming magazines since I was a kid so this is all particularly exciting for me 😁 www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/tabletop-gam...

We're still looking for DC / MD / VA game designers to include in our catalog of locally-designed games. Card games, TTRPGs, board games, journaling games -- if our local retail shops can sell it, we want to promote it!

What if...

Been reflecting on my design process as a whole Found out it's nothing to do with analysis, knowledge, or my own ability Instead, before a game is made, I start feeling the physical sensations of the game experience itself within my body. When I'm deep into a project it's like entering a dream 1/

The Wingspan Americas expansion is live on the Stonemaier store. It will be available in brick & mortar in a few weeks. Between this and last week's release of Sanibel, this is a big month for me! Hope you enjoy them both! ♥️🐦🐚

I'm excited to share that Neoludis will be translating The Bonsai Diary into French! www.instagram.com/reel/DTxIrTr...

CALLING ALL GAMERS! GKCP is organizing the tabletop area at @awesomecon.bsky.social 2026, and you can join us! Whether you're teaching board games, running a roleplaying game session, or hosting a tournament, we would love to have you. Interested? Apply here: forms.gle/CiAmmCVKmfP5NEvGA

Designed in the DMV is a local artist's collective based in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We help each other create and promote tabletop games of all types, including role-playing games, board games, card games, and LARPs. One of the most visible things we do is publish a catalog... 1/4▶️

Is there an equivalent to "dominant mechanics" in boardgames as there is in story games? Some approach to play that, once deployed, pulls all others into its orbit and renders them irrelevant or hard to remember?

I had the great joy of playtesting this game not that long ago at @breakmygame.com at @gamekastlecp.bsky.social. It's a realtime game that just nails the theme -- and it's fun! (We have such incredible tabletop design talent here in the DMV ♦️🎲)

New Blog Post! I (Emily) wanted to put down some tips for those of you who are hiring layout designers to layout your games. Thanks to the Explorer's Design discord also for their thoughts.

New review today! Check out my post on Make Your Own One-Page Roleplaying Game by @exeuntpress.bsky.social to see how it can help you publish your first 1-pager TTRPG OR level up your existing skills. Find my full review here: https://loom.ly/pU99q4U

Designers: when you submit your recent contracts to Cardboard Edison's survey, you help little guys (like me!) understand what a "fair market price" actually is. Transparency fosters a more equitable market: play your part!

New to the #SoloRPG List: Exclusion Zone Botanist by @exeunt.press You are a botanist assigned to explore and document the Exclusion Zone flora. Get in. Discover and document. Get out. CLICKY: solorpglist.com/search.php?i...

New to the #SoloRPG List: MIRU II by @hinokodo.com MIRU II is a solo-first hexcrawling analog horror game. Second in the Miru series and set 1 day after the end of the previous game. CLICKY: solorpglist.com/search.php?i...

Get your signed Sanibel by @elizhargrave.bsky.social at @gamekastlecp.bsky.social ! ♦️🎲

Art means so much more when you know the story behind it. If you're in the area, come meet Elizabeth and get your copy of Sanibel signed at @gamekastlecp.bsky.social this Sunday. 🐚♦️🎲🐚 (Then stick around for @breakmygame.com playtesting!)

🎲✂️ Quiz: What do the phrases on three cards have in common, based on our playtesting? (These are prompts for Dumpster Heist with @mistergross.bsky.social, but for purposes of this quiz, think of them as Apples to Apples cards)

Literally bean counting. (Photography by Big Sticky, trolling my "game design process") 🎲✂️

Jump in to the immersive world of journaling games with @bigpuffingames.bsky.social and me! 📍 Your Hobby Place, Alexandria VA 📅 Sat, Jan 24 🕥 10:30am-12:30pm Please join us - no journaling or gaming experience required! ♦️🎲

Periodic reminder that i sell these cool decks of cards for Moon Rings on itch! About half of them are gone now that MAGfest is over

"Theory of mind" describes the realization that other people have different minds than yours. I feel like it's a lifetime's work to truly internalize. Perhaps tabletop games appeal to me because within their magical circle, the hardest part of that work evaporates. Yes, a lot of games... 1/▶️

I’m floored by Dan’s thoughtful, thorny, personal engagement with Keep the Faith. “As a historiographical toolkit, it’s without parallel. Just flipping through the cards is a useful exercise, demonstrating how faith and religion can intersect with things both large and benign” Thank you!

Really cool perspective on solo RPGs, and a special spotlight on Miru by @hinokodo.com My focus as a creator run more towards introspective narrative, but it's really neat how our universe has expanded to offer such diverse choices to suit so many tastes!

Keep the Faith is a hybrid tabletop/roleplaying game by @gregisonthego.bsky.social that explores a religion in transition. As if there were any other kind! My review: spacebiff.com/2026/01/13/k...

I cannot understate the importance IPR plays in the indie game ecosystem. Here in the DMV, our small-scale designers and artists are more than happy to hand-deliver our products to local retailers, but that's hard to fit into their existing operations. That's where IPR fills the "last mile"... 1/▶️

As always, Bluey puts it best: "The rules make it fun!"

My post about Logan's Friend Cards yesterday didn't include an example, so I'm excited to share one with you today. What do you think -- does using a game-informed layout help you think about how you show up as a friend?

My designer diary for The Two Towers: Trick-Taking Gameis up on the BoardGameGeek homepage! boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogp...

I reread @lighthive.bsky.social's "Friend Cards" and really want to recommend a look-see for anyone who is interested in becoming a more mindful friend and/or in Buddhist teachings about friendship. Modeled on character sheets from @possumcreekgames.com's Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast , Logan offers 1/▶️

Our game Abide is among the over 70 games available in the Solo But Not Alone bundle! You can get it for only $10 and help support Take This, a group working to raise awareness and decrease the stigma of mental health in the gaming industry If you've ever wanted Abide we hope you'll buy the bundle

Because it came up in a Discord server - Hit me with your best tips for running intrigue stories in games (LARP or tabletop)! Some of the big challenges: 1. Creating goals that intersect interestingly 2. Getting players invested (understanding the stakes + enough agency to act)

A small update to the production process for The Quiet Year - I've abandoned the hand-stamped box in favour of sticker labels. So much quicker and more consistent to assemble! Non-US customers can pick up a copy now! (US customers: soon!) store.buriedwithoutceremony.com

♻️ Repost for the Monday crowd. Coming up this week in DMV ♦️🎲 game design: 🏛️ Congress of Gamers, Rockville MD, Sat-Sun 📚 @breakmygame.com, Frederick MD, Sat 🏰 Break My Game, College Park MD, Sun 🐚 Sanibel signing with @elizhargrave.bsky.social, College Park MD, Sun Check the newsletter for deets!

One weekend of trying to make progress on my "object oriented story game," and all I have to show for it is this li'l guy. Meet Leetle Beetle, everyone.

I think "GM-less" games are one of the most exciting developments in tabletop, especially those that aim to expand the audience beyond the trad D&D paradigm. And I do mean "GM-less," because "GM-full" games showed me how sharing the load across the whole table assumes even... 1/▶️

I am in awe of of game designers who run playtests week after week. I feel like I'm constantly scrounging for time to invest into prototypes and iteration, and always trading off between designing and testing. Designers, how do you keep these two wolves fed? 🎲✂️

Some thoughts on Apiary from @connievdc.bsky.social. www.werenotwizards.co.uk/apiary-board... Its all about BEEEEEES IN SPAAAAAAAAACE

I'm proud to be part of this year's Solo But Not Alone bundle. It supports Take This, who envisions a game community that welcomes and supports people experiencing mental health challenges. My 2023 contribution reflects on my mother's schizophrenia. My game this year is not quite so dark, but 1/▶️

Memoir Games is set up at the MITS for Magfest! Write and draw to reflect on your personal memories in this zine collection of journaling games, such as "The Places I've Been" or "The Branching Paths" ! And check out the other cool games at the MITS in Riverview Ballroom too! #magfest #MITS