GenCon felt like a return to summer camp this year. Meeting so many incredible applied play folks I’ve only ever met online, demoing games with the all-star @hachettebgusa.bsky.social crew, and spending a week bunking with @jstaal.bsky.social was such a thrill.

If you didn’t play a pizza-based game while waiting for pizza, did you even go to GenCon?

Best part of the GenCon DnD Wizard Tower was the dragon puppeteers Cari’s Creatures! Their Such charming and adorable puppetry!

Remember Alf? He’s back. In card-drafting form! @hachettebgusa.bsky.social

Indianapolis the Monday before GenCon is the most liminal space I’ve encountered. All of the skywalks and parking garages between the Marriotts are straight eerie without cars or people.

So excited to back this one! This little guy has been jamming on nature documentaries lately and I go straight to “these penguins are fine, but what if they were uplifted by a virus into a space-faring penguin society?” Now there’s a game for that.

Rowan Rook and Decard@rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social · 3w ago

👀🚀⚡IT'S LIVE!⚡🚀👀 Scamper, scuttle and skedaddle there as fast as your many legs can carry you!

Finally getting some solo play in of Kronologic before running demos with @hachettebgusa.bsky.social in a couple weeks at GenCon. My mind usually sputters out during complex logic puzzles but being able to visualize them geographically and temporally is so helpful and flow-inducing!

Ran the inaugural game of Daggerheart from @darringtonpress.bsky.social at Ember Rest’s new space in Martinez last night. I always love showing players who have only touched DnD the joy of indie TTRPGs. Such a blast to have them build the world with me while sitting in a room with such vibes.

Just added two sessions of @landofeem.bsky.social to the calendar at @gamesofberkeley.bsky.social! The first is an introductory adventure on July 15 and is live for registration! Come get into some Jim Henson-style hijinks with me! All ages are welcome. gamesofberkeley.com/products/eve...

Products — Games of Berkeley

gamesofberkeley.com

East Bay Board Gang has been one of the best parts of moving to Berkeley. So happy to find an immediately welcoming and warm group of tabletop gamers. Got immediately pulled in to Call To Adventure tonight, making it a real @brotherwisegames.bsky.social themed week of gaming.

Just opening up the @storyenginedeck.bsky.social’s Lore Master Sampler from Free RPG Day, I’m nerding out about the design. Such a cool way to use the packaging to tell a story - what is this game and how do you play it- and hammer home the importance of intentionality in your craft.

Two amazing adventures from @darringtonpress.bsky.social and @brotherwisegames.bsky.social ready to go for Free RPG Day! Hanging out with Game Kastle Fremont this morning before rolling back to my FLGS @gamesofberkeley.bsky.social this afternoon!

I brought copies of Naptime, Sweet Phone by @stickydoodler.bsky.social to a facilitation this week and was so thrilled by the results: sleepy phones, tucked away in beds and out of folks' hands. It was such a fun way to begin the session and declare "We're focus on humans on the room, not screens."

So excited for this one. I love a GM-less game where you can get into some crazy world-build together! Plus they put pangolins on the front cover!

Rowan Rook and Decard@rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Ever wondered how a Pangolin says hello? Time to find out! The Children of Time: RPG open beta playtest is now available. Just follow the campaign to download it for free. bit.ly/4okQtDw

Saxophone Colossus was my first Jazz CD and what got me into playing saxophone back in middle school. Such an incredible musician who cemented my life long love of Hard Bop.

Blue Note Records@bluenoterecords.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Sonny Rollins (1930-2026) www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/a...

I’d watch a three hour movie of Grogu and Anzellans just walking around narrating what they see. Those puppets are the dang cutest things.

Had an amazing time at my first East Bay Board Gang meetup! Finally got a chance to play Fire Tower from @runawayparade.bsky.social after having it in the shelf since last GenCon. Can’t wait to pull it out again and add in the expansion.

Don't dull your shine for anybody! ✨ #dimension20

Stoked to be running the special one-shot celebrating the 1st anniversary of #Daggerheart at @gamesofberkeley.bsky.social next Thursday! Seats are available at the link below! Join me for some celebratory hijinks and the first game I’m GMing on the West Coast. gamesofberkeley.com/products/eve...

EVENT: Daggerheart RPG: The Wish Thief [5/21]

Daggerheart RPG: The Wish Thief Join us Thursday May 21st, 6-9pm, to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Daggerheart’s release! with a brand new one-shot!

gamesofberkeley.com

Went to check out the lizard friends at the East Bay Vivarium and got star struck by this super chill black-crowned night heron

It’s profoundly ignorant to suggest that the Pope should be fighting crime on behalf of the Catholic Church. Anyone who was remotely familiar with Roman Catholicism would know that that’s what Daredevil is for

Lots of tech dudes think the "idea" is the important part of creating, not the creative journey you take through work to give that idea actual meaning. Ideas are the easiest, cheapest and least fulfilling part of it. Giving ideas life through work, and sharing that work with others, is the stuff.

the Mountain Goats@themountaingoats.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Seriously it’s like there is a giant chunk of tech people who don’t understand that when you’ve learned how to write, you feel proud, you look forward to doing more of it, you cheerfully neglect your other work just so you can write more

Crazy that there’s no shoe-based Pokemon, yet. Seems like a missed opportunity.

I don’t often get shots of me GMing games, and am so grateful for some friends and players sneaking in a few this past weekend! I had a blast running #Daggerheart and even had a few Critical Role fans in full cosplay at the table!

I forgot that the Daggerheart QuickStart only has 5 pre-gens and hastily made Stumpy Deeproot, the wonkiest Clank Bard, as a 6th to fill in the gap at AwesomeCon. It’s so amazing to see people take a novel concept you had and completely bring it to life.

“Give me a hit of that snoot juice!” sounds so much better than “Where’s my bottle of Flonase?”

@notjenyesjen.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I think we should all start calling nasal spray snoot juice. #nasalspray #allergies

This is the kind of energy I wanna see at my tables! Go hard, test the limits of your holodeck until you find the walls, then break out of them.

Evil Hat@evilhat.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Listen, it wouldn't be the radical, swinging 60s if there wasn't a manifesto. Blades '68. Get in, buckle up, and lean forward. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...

Alysa Liu telling 60 Minutes “I love struggling, it makes me feel alive” is a legit revolutionary statement from a Bay Area native in a time when copious amounts of time and resources are being put toward convincing us to opt out of experiencing struggle, friction and self-actualization

Friendly reminder that just because LinkedIn is an insane cesspool of AI-written posts glorifying AI doesn’t mean the rest of the world wants to follow suit.

BoardGameWire@boardgamewire.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Ryan Dancey, a more than 30-year veteran of the tabletop gaming industry, has lost his COO job at publisher AEG a day after saying AI could generate game ideas as good as his company’s titles Tiny Towns and Cubitos: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...