Excited that Brumble Quest was successful enough in its Gen Con debut that we're working on the next one for 2027. I have 🎲✂️'d a lot of Brumble Games but my newest one is the pick. Follow me here if you want more info early! :)
Joseph Arthur Ellis
@jarthurellis.bsky.social
Tech and game design at Plaid Hat Games. Anti-hate, anti-bigotry. He/him. I work on Forgotten Waters, Freelancers, Summoner Wars, Summoner Wars Online, and more.
Did manage a 🎲✂️ meetup at Gen Con at our hotel, played quite a few prototypes! Really enjoyed meeting @angrytetris.bsky.social and playing his SUPER smart chip game and playing @ianzang.bsky.social's hilarious prototype, plus more that aren't on bsky afaik. Shoulda taken pictures.
Got a selfie with the famous Patrick Leder at GenCon today, he picked up Super Auto Pets for a friend
I swear I'm the best in the world at inputting the digits from the authenticator app before the time runs out.
Nicky Ricky Dicky Dawn: Funny Face
ALT: Nicky Ricky Dicky Dawn: Funny Face
static.klipy.com
Is anybody who hangs out here in 🎲✂️ going to or know about the Community Playtest Night at #GenCon2026 ? Thinking about a design meetup with some of the folks I know, but maybe we should just go there instead ?? Looks like maybe they sold out and added a second set of tickets.
Brumble Quest is an odd fit for the Plaid Hat catalog, a ten-minute prisoner's dilemma that plays with up to fifty people at once, although perhaps only with yardsticks or laser pointers. Despite its oddness, however, it's a near-perfect small-box production. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/07/20/b...
Delver’s Dilemma
Brumble Quest is a peculiar inclusion in Plaid Hat’s catalog. Unlike their other touchstones, whether expandable duelers like Ashes and Summoner Wars or comedy adventures in the vein of Forgo…
spacebiff.com
I'm designing a little poker-adjacent puzzle game. It's digital although you COULD play it with a 52-card deck if you were willing to do all the work. Base rule implementation is almost done, then will move on to animation/sound, modes, menus, etc. Will post progress in the 🎲✂️ feed if nobody minds.
Liminal space in EscapeThis escape room in Mansfield Ohio!
I have done 🎲✂️ on a lot of games with asymmetric player powers, and I have NEVER regretted cutting down on timing windows early in the design phase. The fewer the better, and the more often the effects can be done by an active choice instead of a triggered effect, the cleaner it'll feel.
I like World Order, but I am not liking the expansion with the events. Very fiddly, rules wise.
Is it possible to do good 🎲✂️ and produce a good game that you personally dislike? I don't think so. Every game I've made comes from what I want as a gamer. For example, I have no understanding of what people want out of a solo variant, so I should probably just stay away from such things haha.
Over the years, I've 🎲✂️ many Brumble Games and it has helped my design/developer skills immensely. Most of them will never be played by anybody besides my friends, but I heartily recommend doing small designs without a product in mind.
Please reply and recommend your top 🎲✂️ related Gen Con events for 2026!
So much 🎲✂️ discourse is about the tactics of game design, e.g. clever ideas, weird techniques. But most of what you need to be successful at game design is strategy e.g. a schedule for iterations, a system for getting honest feedback, a commitment to not calling it done until it's actually great.
Hey friends Please meet my big nasty baby 🥰 I’m honored to work with PHG on this. Happy Friday!
Plaid Hat Games@plaidhatgames.bsky.social · 3mo agoAnnouncing The Monolith! Link in the comments below. #themonolith #kickstarter #plaidhatgames
Many hours later that post is still up, the photos are still up, and the only clarification is in the comments. Seems like they're happy to let less plugged in backers still take these photos at face value. Pretty scummy IMO.
🥧 suzanne 🥧@425suzanne.bsky.social · 3mo agoIf the factory provided this? YIKES. Also... it is pretty obvious instantly there are issues with the images. I'm really surprised it wasn't caught before being shared as progress.
Streaming a coding afternoon at twitch.tv/joepinion . Starting soon!
joepinion - Twitch
game design and tech at Plaid Hat Games
twitch.tv
Coding stream, come say hi: twitch.tv/joepinion
If you're into deep dives of game balance, check out the stream starting in a sec: twitch.tv/joepinion 🎲✂️
joepinion - Twitch
joepinion streams live on Twitch! Check out their videos, sign up to chat, and join their community.
twitch.tv
The thing that we all ACTUALLY want from AI is a sci-fi phone/computer assistant that we can just talk to casually and it opens files and moves folders around and does all that boring shit for us. So far the attempts, like Gemini on my phone, are beyond pathetic far WORSE than old google assistant.
I hope Josh Hutcherson doesn't regret going for it with this faceplant of a segment, because us fans of TI4 still really loved it. XD youtu.be/XtcPqkNW8vY?...
Josh Hutcherson Calls The Hunger Games His College Days; Says Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Is Scarier
YouTube video by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
youtu.be
Playing some Summoner Wars Online live in 15 minutes... with dragons! Will give away some digital decks during the stream.
Plaid Hat Games@plaidhatgames.bsky.social · 9mo agoWanna see the new Drakesun Rebellion take on the Guild Dwarves? Even better, wanna watch Colby and Joe slap each other around? Heck yes you do! Watch the carnage on Twitch, Tues, Nov 17 at 1:00 eastern! #SummonerWars #SummonerWarsOnline #PlaidHatGames www.twitch.tv/plaidhatgames
There's just nothing like fresh eyes on a 🎲✂️ prototype. For ourselves (and the people playing with us regularly), we all have too much of what the game wants to be or has been in our heads. There just is no way to think your way out of it, you have to see what a new player sees.
My newest 🎲✂️ experiment: trying to design a regular-ass worker placement game. My games tend to have weird innovations in them, which involve a ridiculous amount of work and a lot of games that are dead ends. What will happen if I try something more contained?