Nox loves train games.

Fun mail day! @travisdhill.bsky.social 🌱

Now that some life things have cleared up, I guess it’s time to finally double down on this next game design.

The 2027-2028 Higher Ed application cycle has begun in the Hill Household with the successful submission to two positions. Last year, I went 0/27. Let’s see how this year stacks up! #higheredwoes

@travisdhill.bsky.social They arrived! They look and feel fantastic, and the faint green paper wrapping was a nice touch.

Just know that people are out there making cool things independently and you can support them. Got cool mail from Robin Sloan (www.robinsloan.com) and Press Pot Games (presspot.games)

The first copy of my latest game is in the wild! Across 10 in-person days, a player collects scraps of the What Once Was and chronicles their learnings in their Artifacts Log as they return to the Old Growth. Part solo journaling, part junk journaling, all breaking 4th walls. Excited for this one!

Catherine Stippell@catstip.bsky.social · 4d ago

Very excited, @travisdhill.bsky.social !

What are your go-to cozy fall animated series/movies? Over the Garden Wall is in that mix, but I’ve also begun watching Hilda, and it has been purely delightful. What about you?

The weight of the world rests heavily on those who feel deeply. But what a beautiful burden it is to carry, to love deeply, to feel the totality of it all, to be pained by others’ pain and moved by love and creation and music.

@worldchamp.bsky.social!!! I watched the Audiotree vid. How incredibly incredibly cool. What a surprisingly lovely treat that was!

So I learned what #aceos are: art cards, editions, and originals. People make these as 2.5x3.5” cards and sleeve them! I am so inspired to make an entire playing deck of these! They just look super fun against each other. #collage

Travis D. Hill, Ph.D. ☕️@travisdhill.bsky.social · 6d ago

Going smallform with #aceos this time around.

If there’s anything I learned from my doctorate is that I have extreme executive function for things that MUST be done. Ejemplo: I wrote my take-home quals proposal 7 months before due date. However, I struggle with leisure. Games, drawing, TV. I find myself spinning at times, unable to choose/do.

Living in Texas is driving through a busy intersection where several people are gathered, holding signs. Your first thought is, “Did Planned Parenthood build a location here?” But you are surprised when it’s a bunch of anti-ice protestors.

Travis plays with paper #6. Has been a while since I had energy to collage. Enjoyed flipping through a new magazine tonight to find some interesting stuff.

Travis D. Hill, Ph.D. ☕️@travisdhill.bsky.social · last wk.

Sometimes the easiest #collage involves two pieces of paper.

I didn’t know I was on this! As a burgeoning TTRPG scholar with a couple of things in the hopper for this fall, this is so encouraging.

Caroline, doing the work@carolinethegeek.bsky.social · last wk.

As a reminder I have this starter pack that I'd love to add more folks to (mostly to make a fun custom feed of TTRPG scholar nerdery). I know there are more than 150 of us but I haven't hit that limit yet so... #TTRPG #RPG #TTRPGScholars go.bsky.app/NmSNGup

This sticker is five years old. That’s WILD.

Chrispy@cufrisbee.bsky.social · 2w ago

Third laptop this sticker has lived on. Impressed at how well it has transferred each time. Love it so much. @travisdhill.bsky.social

As someone who is an avid train gamer, I really understand the cognitive dissonance of this next statement, but I saw an Essen hotness game about extracting minerals for profit, and I would really love to have significantly fewer games about profit, about capitalism, about exploitation.

So if I got a fourth bug and a fourth flower, I collage an entire deck of cards. Part of me would be wildly interested to create a card game out of collaged art.

Travis D. Hill, Ph.D. ☕️@travisdhill.bsky.social · 4w ago

Y’all, I found a page of bugs. And a page of flowers. So I created a trilogie. This is bug-on-flower 1/3.

Sigh. This is me continuing to *checks notes* bang the drum about better supporting newer indie designers. We need and value feedback and criticism, but there are appropriate avenues to take and ways of communication. Demoralizing others and making them question their creations is not the answer.

Mock Ravage@mockravage.bsky.social · 3w ago

I need to get this off my chest. I participated in a game jam with a limited time frame. I tried something different. This was the 1st review I received. It’s hostile. Patronizing. Condescending. It’s hard as a creator not to be affected by it. I responded w/ positivity but it’s hard to move forward

Travis plays with paper #5. Poked at people today, playing with proportions and layering.

Travis D. Hill, Ph.D. ☕️@travisdhill.bsky.social · 3w ago

Came back to #collage again tonight, focusing on people.

Back in 2021, I was demeaned by a large content creator because I crowdfunded a game of only 100 physical copies, citing my inexperience, grad school, life, covid, etc. And they questioned my boundaries, across the whole internet. We only have the time given to us. Capitalism has ruined it all.

shing yin khor@shing.bsky.social · 3w ago

I see a lot of crowdfunding that ignores both self-creative+physical labor as a cost and your own 24hrs is literally the one thing that you cannot expand, and every single thing that increases friction is going to cost you bad when a KS does beyond expectation, even moderately.

There is no Destination. There is no Good Enough, no “once-I-make-it-here-all-will-be-perfect” plateau. There is Better. There is Progress. You don’t have to automatically be There. The process is important, maybe the most important. No how-to shortcut guide teaches us better than struggle.

I need to move somewhere that is 20 degrees cooler and has trees. Maybe an ocean. That’d be rad.

Quality controller is on spot today.

Travis D. Hill, Ph.D. ☕️@travisdhill.bsky.social · 3w ago

This was an exciting delivery to come home to! #ttrpg #zine

Because the value of a game is its widespread availability. This just irks me so much. And don’t come at me with “well, don’t you want people to play your game?” I mean, yes. But as a one person show I can only do so much. Thanks capitalism.

Daniel Wynter@boardgamefeast.bsky.social · 3w ago

Happened to hear a couple of podcasts in a row discuss the lack of value in reviewing small batch indie games and I understand the incentives but I also think it highlights the problem in filtering all coverage through the lens of reviews.

This was an exciting delivery to come home to! #ttrpg #zine

*speaking to my phone while trying to enunciate with my orthodontic journey* Me: “play Arirang by BTS” Phone: “now playing Rage Against the Machine’s self titled album” And you know what, I’m not even mad.

Hey y'all, some members from our ttrpg community some help. Beth and Angel Make Games are amazing designers and constantly lift others up. They've put together an Unhoused Fundraising Bundle. Please share and support if you can! itch.io/b/3855/unhou...

I began collaging tonight for the first time, and this felt great (?), appropriate (?) Either way, it was a fun first foray.

I am so proud of this game. It began as a PDF only, foldable one-page zine. Most importantly? It's about masking. It's about trying to hold onto yourself and your identity while in seemingly benign social situations where you don't feel like you got it all together.

Bees 🍄🌦️🍂@voiceofkosh.bsky.social · 3w ago

This just reminded me of one of my favourite little RPGs, Humans by @travisdhill.bsky.social which turned out to be amazing to play with my family while drinking. My mum had never RPd before but got really into it pretending extra arms were growing out of her. 😂 Skill checks aren't essential to fun.