Fresh Releases

This is where new blogs and games that I’ve written will appear. This section will not be present every week, so keep an eye out for it!

The Workshop

This is where the meat and potatoes of each week’s output will be present, where I talk about what I’ve done over the week and what I’ve learned via doing it.

This week, I’ve been working on getting this newsletter set up, which has been a bit scary in truth. Figuring out what service is the best for the value is something that I’ve really struggled with. Part of me worries that making the wrong decision here will have heavy long term consequences, as I worry about the difficulty of transferring my readers to another site. Hopefully I’ve made the right choice!

In addition, I’ve also been working on my submission for the upcoming Golden Cobra larp competition. I’ve finished the rough draft, and I’m planning on letting it rest for now while I do some reading into past submissions to see what I can do to bring things into line with expectations. It’s a simple game, but I think an impactful one, about heritage, food, and community, all mediated through a digital format.

One thing I’ve learned from working on this project is that when creating a low intensity experience that aesthetic distance is in many ways not necessary. While there is a lot of weight associated with food and eating, the focus here is on exploring comfort food in a friendly space. This means removing alibi and metaphor can raise the intensity somewhat, but won’t bring it too high. Also, removing character removes bleed, because there is no distance between the player and the experience, so all feelings experienced are inherently real. This technique is of limited applicability, but perfect for these sorts of smaller rituals.

There is another game that I’ve played that uses similar techniques in a much more intense way, but I’m not allowed to talk about that game. (If you know, you know.)

I am definitely looking forward to submitting to the Golden Cobra after several years of not doing so. I know that the ratio of submissions to mentions doesn’t favor anyone, but not receiving any mentions to date has been a bit disheartening. I’m not expecting anything this year, and I’m working actively on managing my disappointment ahead of time. It’s a continuing project for my mental health.

I’m also looking at No One Emerges Triumphantly, the game I’m bringing to Metatopia, and realizing just how much work I need to do for that. Still, I have time, I can get it to he level of done needed for playtesting.

Ludography

This section will be for the games and the games texts that I’ve been playing and reading, along with any coherent insights that I’ve gained from them. This section is most likely going to be more of a list, since it takes me time to really digest game ideas.

Ru’s Roleplay Rants - Ru has put out a whole bunch of new blogs since I last checked, and her writing is always insightful to me. I think she’s the best TTRPG theorist that you’re not reading. This article in particular has got me thinking a lot about the way that instrumental play can be adjusted for in the design process to try and create lower stress play experiences.

Golden Cobra Archive - I’m going through past submissions in an attempt to get a better understanding of what has been put out before and how to make my games better from them.

Hades 2 - The link between witchcraft, materials gathering, and crafting is one that I am thinking on very seriously.

Your Chronicle - This game is definitely far more of a toy than many, but it’s a toy where you unlock new parts as you make progress with it, but progress is very slow, built on ever-expanding cycles. It’s a great fidget toy for my brain.

Works in Progress

This section is going to be more of a list, just putting down my works in progress, how far along they are, and deadlines as appropriate.

Unnamed Golden Cobra Submission - First Draft Done - Final Due October 13
No One Emerges Triumphantly (Creepypasta TTRPG) - Concept Done - Alpha Due November 6
The Rule Book Analysis (Theory Blogpost) - Notes Done
When the Strings Are Cut (Experimental TTRPG) - First Draft Begun