The only prescriptive advice I’ll give young designers:
Make games only you could make.
Don’t ask me what I mean by that, cos you either already know - or you’ll figure it out.
(Empathy) Sorry in advance for the garish data transfer of migration you’ll have to manage.
I tried proton, which ultimately felt like more compromises than benefits. Big security vs usability tradeoffs IMO. Nothing is as open and as integrated as gmail. I ended up with iCloud which is not bad. And while services are geared towards macs, it’s more x-platform than is obvious.
And it’s arguably even worse when someone enters the wrong phone number (yours) and all of a sudden you are hit with a flurry of two dozen different fractals of texts.
Ask your nearest CEO what they’re favorite food is and see what they say. If they are all about Soylent and supplements as a way to fuel their productivity but have no interest in the beautiful sensation of food itself, BE WARY!!
I *adore* this breakdown of Bad Bunny’s halftime show. It’s long and very worth reading because the art of that performance was absolutely *chef kiss*
Sticker graphic: hexagon with a space background and two large tentacles pushing beyond its borders.
Latest little art piece: I’m making a sticker for my zine game that’s on BackerKit right now.
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
I love what I'm seeing my friends create these days, whether it's releasing albums, auditioning for NPRs TinyDesk, making amazing textile pieces, or magnificent visual artworks. It makes ~my~ the world better, and I'm happy y'all are doing these things.
We're not much longer for this Earth, but before the Grimoire is tossed into the River Styx, we're awarding 6x $50 USD micro grants to ttrpg designers or content creators that could use a small boost. 🖤
If this is you, apply using the form below. Open until Jan 31!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I am coming to your city (in April) and gonna *make* you have such a fun night out with me. Similar to, but distinct from, the night we hung out with Cat & Simon and played your quickdraw phone game. I have such fond memories of that night. So… you’re in for it.
Maybe a little more of an even distribution than I’d have guessed. Still, sounds like six more fans?
Are you a sucker? If so, what kind?
1️⃣ I'm not a sucker
2️⃣ The lollipop kind
3️⃣ I am a sucker for hexagons in space!
📊 Show results
Background image is two women talking, having cocktails. Foreground text reads "Yeah, I'm doing Dry January... I haven't taken a bath since Christmas."
dumb joke incoming...
Photo by Michael Discenza on Unsplash
logo for the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award
THREE WEEKS LEFT to get your board game design submitted to the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award! cardboardedison.com/award
It’s so good
2026 Cardboard Edison Award logo
Hey board game designers, it's nearly that time again: Get your prototypes and pitches ready for the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award! Submissions open January 1! cardboardedison.com/award
This thread is lovely. Read real things, folks.
Happy Holidays! We're running a sale on digital copies of the Tarot for Transformation collection to help fund the print run of the next 'zine in the series, "Make a Tarot Game"!
Get all three 'zines in DRM-free PDF for only $20, here! itch.io/s/171885/tar...
Today in my brain:
Winnie the Pooh predicted Web 2.0 naming conventions… example: the correct spelling of “Tigger” is T-I-Double-G(uh)-R
New blog post: Tim wrote up a brief overview of our (spoiler: very good) experience at PAX Unplugged this year.
www.mothspire.com/pax-unplugge...
Absolutely a highlight of my con!
Games and books acquired at PAX Unplugged. Highlights include the Mycelia board game, the Language Lovers Lexipedia, Torchlit trick-taking game, the Black Lipstick RPG, Cryptid Cabin Candles from Cavalry games, and stickers from another trick taking game titled Period Party.
Back from #PAXUnplugged, which was such a beautiful, energizing experience for me this year. I wrote a thousand words on a new Solo RPG project before I even left the con and a looking forward to getting some great new things out the door this year.
Here also is my requisite swag photo:
Maybe one of the best things I’ve read this week.
Weather looks great for our outdoor tabletop games fair on Saturday 10/18! ☀️ Swing by from 12-4 to meet local designers and join us for a moderated discussion between three established gamer designers inside People's Book at 4pm!
In Minneapolis this week, visiting game shops, colleagues, and friends, telling them about Gorgon’s Garden!
www.mothspire.com/games/gorgon...
Conference organizers: If you want people who work outside of academia (or financially secure company), to give a talk at your conference bc you value their expertise, it's unreasonable to make them pay for registration. Artists/Nonprofit folks do not have the funding to pay you to share expertise.
Five weeks out. I'm launching a new Kickstarter for a really cool COOPERATIVE social deduction game. Please come and follow the project! The art is shaping up magnificently, and I'm so so looking forward to showing this off.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ogr...
