This game has had such a weird and winding journey. I’m so happy with how it is turning out and can’t wait to see it in print!!

The Seahorse & The Hummingbird@thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social · 6d ago

The exploration, iteration and evolution of Threed. Threed is a trick-taking slide-puzzle #boardgame that will squeeze your brains out of your ears. Designed by @rollplusfun.bsky.social and launching in early 2027.

Today we announce our next board game, "The Nights of King Ludd: The Luddite War on Industry 1811-?" A collaborative game of industrial sabotage ⚒️ 🔥 on Kickstarter September 2: www.kickstarter.com/projects/die... @joedewhurst.bsky.social @thedietzfoundation.bsky.social @ronengoldstein.bsky.social

Please forgive me some self-promotion here. My game Sykes-Picot was released in 2025, and I think it fits the criteria of the Summit Award quite well. It is easy to teach and play, and it covers a unique historical topic in a novel way. To anyone willing to nominate it, I'd be highly appreciative.

SDHistCon@sdhistcon.bsky.social · 2w ago

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Summit Award (for historical games published in 2025) and the 2026 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award (for historical gaming content published in 2025)! More info, and the nominations form, available here: sdhist.com/nominations-...

I love this thread. Reminds me of Nguyen's Games: Agency as Art. I especially love the idea that both losing and winning (and ideally all end conditions possible within the model) should be experienced to fully understand the game.

P H Lee 🪬@p-h-lee.bsky.social · 2w ago

following up on the last thing, i thought i'd talk a little bit about how i see systems of rules as art objects. basically, to me, a game system is an art object, but it is also an art object which can only be fully apprehended through play. the structure may be visible, but the themes will not be.

I'm excited about the possibilities historical gaming presents to us.

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 2w ago

I get asked a lot what kinds of games Hawk & Dove is looking to publish. I write a little about it here, in preparation for some bigger announcements in the coming weeks. 😜 www.hawkanddovegames.com/blog/what-is...

Public Domain Art is the lifeblood of small tabletop rpgs, but it can be a nightmare trying to find the right art and license. This week, I’ve re-uploaded my old list from 2020 (with updates) of public domain websites. That's 500,000+ public domain paintings, photos, maps, and film. Link below 🔗👇

Meet with designers and check out their creations

Game Market Comes to Gen Con 2026

Should the Gen Con 2026 exhibit hall and thousands of scheduled events not feature enough new games for your tastes — or if you're just in the mood for something different — be sure to check out Game Market Indianapolis, a one-night event taking place on Saturday, August 1 at 19:00 on the third floor foyer at the JW Marriott. Game Market Indianapolis is modeled after Tokyo Game Market, with designers presenting small quantities of self-published games sold directly to the public. GMI is organized by designer Taylor Reiner, who has arranged similar events previously, such as Game Market Vegas 2026, which I previewed in February 2026. Reiner told me, "We're so excited for this first year and are hoping to show off what's great about the indie game design scene and how this type of event is great for indie game designers and the gaming scene as a whole." You can see all of the designers taking part in GMI here, along with the games they'll be featuring and with linked rules for many of these games. Titles include: * Daytime Minutes, by Cardner and Alex Babakitis — in this trick-taking game, cards equal minutes, and you want to use as many minutes as possible on your 180-minute SIM card without going over. Luckily, trick calls in the evening as free and don't count against your balance! * Lunar Cycle, by Alan D. Ernstein — another trick-taking game, with some card values changing "with the moon". More specifically, after the first trick, 1s become 9s, then after the second, 2s become 10s, and so on. * **_That's My Poison_** , by Carl Klutzke — yet another trick-taking game, a phrase you'll find repeated a lot here, with players serving as chefs on a team. In each of three meals, each chef has a recipe showing two ingredients they want to collect, then they choose an ingredient they must avoid. Should they win a trick that contains this ingredient, they have to throw out everything! The lowest-scoring chef gives the team its final score. * **_Shortstack_** , by Marceline Leiman — in this trick-taking game, you have two hands simultaneously, and in a trick you first play a card from one hand as the suit (following the lead, if possible), then you play a card from the other hand as the rank. The lowest pair of cards wins, and if no pair is played, the lowest-ranked card wins the trick, with that player claiming the points on its ranked cards. However, if you win too many tricks, you're out of the hand and others score. * **_Fairies Are Everywhere_** , by Taylor Reiner and Ty James — this trick-taking game pits two humans against 1-7 fairies, with the humans trying to hit their secret bids for tricks taken and the fairies trying to make the humans win the same number of tricks. How do they do this? Each fairy gets a power card and a number of gems, and they can move around the table freely looking at the humans' hands, spending a gem to stop time and perform their power. Curious... * **_Through Line_** , by Lucas and Divya Hedgren — three players have three seconds each to draw one line, then the remaining players try to guess the image they drew collectively. * **_The Grid_** , by Rick Fuss — players start with five dice from a bag that contains six dice in each of six colors, and they take turns placing a rolled die in a 6x6 grid, with each number and color appearing at most once in each row and column, after which they draw a new die and roll it. If you can't place a die, discard one from your hand, then re-roll all of your dice, permanently reducing your hand size. Whoever last places a die wins. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Like what you read? Leave a tip to support independent board game journalism! Leave a tip

wericmartin.com

I arrived in the Netherlands May 24th and filed for our visa three days later. Slowly but surely, we’ve been making our stay here official. Six weeks later and it is. Our visa is approved and our residence cards are ready for pickup. We have BSNs. Our business is registered with the KvK.

Playtested Spindletop, my board game about early 20th c. oil prospecting in Texas, last night at a local Utrecht event. It’s been a while, and I was happy to see it back on the table. The game is very solid, but there are a couple of things still picking at my brain about it. A quick thread. 🎲✂️

Some more Hawk & Dove news! We'll be at several conventions later this year. OFJH in September in Bordeaux, Essen, and Batalladores in November in Zaragoza. Looking forward to meeting new folks in the historical and wargame space!

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 4w ago

Another Hawk & Dove update went out today via our newsletter! Progress on Painkillers and announcing our attendance at several conventions across the EU this fall. As always, if you're interested in what we're up to, please share and subscribe! www.hawkanddovegames.com

Father’s Day involved Dutch “pancakes” and a nice bike ride to a local swimming area, complete with beach, zip lines, and water slides. It was a good one! @colewehrle.bsky.social couldn’t help but think of what you told me about the pancakes over here.

Inaugural blog post.

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 2mo ago

As we've been settling into our new lives here in Utrecht, I've had more time to devote to thinking about Hawk & Dove, its origin story, and how my experiences in gaming shape its DNA. Here are some thoughts. Please take a look if you're interested: www.hawkanddovegames.com/blog/origin-... Thanks!

I LOVE designing boardgames. But there's this phase in the process when the problems are these tiny, niggling details that must be addressed, and it's the most tedious. I enjoy the testing and coming up with solutions. I enjoy trying them out. I hate changing all the assets to do those tests... 🎲✂️

Big company announcement.

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Relocation complete. Eight days into resettling in the Netherlands and the home office is mostly functional. After weeks of limbo and movement, it feels good to take a concrete step toward stability and rootedness. Gonna make some incredible games in this space.

It’s happening! I landed in Amsterdam at 7:20am Sunday morning. It feels odd knowing I won’t be returning stateside for a long time. This is home now. There’s still a ton to do to get settled but we’re here and that’s huge.

This whole thing is fucked up and I’m glad this person has been removed from a position of influence. However, there remains a significant tension between BGG as the main repository for board game information and the fact it is a privately owned company with little oversight of its practices or bias

Amabel Holland@amabel.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"I denied your ad request on BGG because I spend my free time curing demonic possession, and also I think you shouldn't publish your game which I think you made in ignorance of the real depravity of Satan and his works" is a fucking insane thing to write in an email www.reddit.com/r/boardgames...

I just announced Hawk & Dove’s first game! If you too want to get these newsletters, come subscribe at www.hawkanddovegames.com Thanks!

Hawk and Dove

hawkanddovegames.com

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I just sent out our first newsletter to subscribers! The biggest piece of news is announcing our first game - Painkillers, one of my designs. I am immensely proud of this game and how far it has come since its inception. Here's a mini thread on the game as it is now.

Two of my favorite designers putting on a clinic! www.buzzsprout.com/1993070/epis...

Love This Giant with Cole Wehrle - Game Design Deep Dive

We welcome back Cole Wehrle (who hopefully needs no introduction) for a wide ranging discussion about expansions, Buried Giant- his new publishing home, and much much more. Outro music:

buzzsprout.com

Could not be more pleased to receive Penitent by @danbullock.bsky.social! More games like this need to exist - small batch, biting, passionate. I can’t wait to dig into it soon.

This conversation with Liz was, as always, a delight!

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I was very happy to chat with @beyondsolitaire.bsky.social about the what, why, and how of Hawk & Dove. Liz is always a pleasure and asks many good questions (as you'll hear me say about 15 times in this). Hit our website and join the newsletter to follow for more! www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJVc...

A week from today, we'll be flying to attend Circle DC, hosted by @fortcircle.bsky.social! Looking forward to seeing everyone and especially checking out all the games that are still in development.

Very cool story

James Wallis@jameswallis.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Can you believe this game won the biggest tabletop award in the world? Railway Rivals by David Watts (2nd edition, 1978), the first crayon-rail game, where you draw tracks directly on the board. Doesn't look like much, but it's one of only two British games to ever win the Spiel des Jahres (...)

If you're interested in the journey of a small new historical publisher, come check us out!

Hawk and Dove Games@hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Two weeks ago, we announced our existence to the world. People have been super supportive, and I genuinely appreciate everyone who has shown us kindness. For targeted updates about H&D's work, subscribe to our newsletter: www.hawkanddovegames.com Or, join us on Discord: discord.gg/MUpWNqJcks

If you don't know @drawnonward.bsky.social, you're missing out. He's a riot. And Liz is amazing, as always. Give a listen and back this game!

Liz Davidson@beyondsolitaire.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This week on the pod, I talked to Taylor Shuss about Walkable City, as well as several other projects. Check it out! @drawnonward.bsky.social youtu.be/SzqDZmmki6s

This is a great video by Matthew. Check it out. Most of what Big Pasti mentions is publisher choice. The design process should be rooted in each individual game and what it needs to express itself best. That may include eliminating players, roll and move, or any other supposedly "bad" choices.

Matthew Dunstan@matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Big Pasti's latest video, entitled "The 7 Deadly Sins of Board Game Design", had a real effect on me, and today's video is a response to his. I think there is a better way we can talk about game design. youtu.be/BY7TeikZcBw 🎲✂️

At #Unpub, I finally started getting some testing done on Threed (nee Triptych by @rollplusfun.bsky.social). Threed is a trick-taking slide puzzle game, and it is a real brain-melter. The rules are short, the gameplay is simple, and it will scorch your psyche. I had... 🧵 1 of #boardgames 🎲✂️

A few standouts I played were Sneaky Squirrels by Joe Kell and Threed by @rollplusfun.bsky.social. Sneaky Squirrels is a tactical risk assessment and memory game. Threed is a wonderfully brain burning trick taker/sliding image puzzle. Both were incredibly clever. I can't stop thinking about them.

CW: Opioids Anyone safe to do so should really experience @rollplusfun.bsky.social 's Painkillers. A very thoughtful presentation of the actions and mindset leading to the American opioid addiction epidemic where you play as the Pharma CEOs cashing in while addiction reigns.

Go check out this very cool game by a very cool designer!

Liz Davidson@beyondsolitaire.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Just backed Walkable City by @drawnonward.bsky.social and I'm so excited to play it! www.kickstarter.com/projects/fow...

I got all six games tested at @unpub.org this year. Thanks to the organizers and playtesters who make this possible! 🎲✂️

Brooks Barber@rollplusfun.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Here's a preview of the other five games I'm bringing to Unpub this year. Check 'em out if you want! Spindletop is the most developed. It's an economic hand management game based on Texas Hold 'Em poker mechanisms and the Texas oil boom of the early 20th century. Plus, it has Texagons!