Bart de Jong

Embroidery in light pink fabric, in a wooden hoop. There are four children playing london bridge in the style of a 1950’s coloring book. The text reads: if you want community, you have to be community. In a childlike font

Community isn’t something you show up to consume. It requires you to contribute, collaborate, and commit-create.

If you want community, you have to be community.

#craftivism

I get this one ever so often. It's generally novice designers who think games are just applied mathematics. I gently explain to them that 1) rigorous balance leads to boring gameplay, and 2) if they want to design good games they need to focus on the experience, not the system.

The Dutch say "gezondheid".

It was wild to suddenly be someone who gets interviewed at Essen! Really enjoyed the talk I had with Ramon about my two published games Bable and L'Oaf.

YouTube video by The Hungry Meeple Interview with L'oaf designer: Bart de Jong

🎙️ New interview!
I sat down with @bartgamedesign.bsky.social , designer of L’Oaf (the brain-melter Bable 😅), to talk baking, lazy workers, and the humor behind his latest game.

🎥 youtu.be/dGlEmHA-9hY

#BoardGames #EssenSpiel #LOaf #BartDeJong #TheHungryMeeple #TabletopGaming #BoardGameDesign #Bable

I guess it's not crazy that he continues, seeing how there's also people fiercely defending his every fart. The silence of others is what bothers me though. It should be acceptable to tell anyone who does this, even if he's the POTUS, that he's acting like a toddler and should get is shit together.

I'm looking at this as a complete outsider, but it's mindboggling to me that this guy is showing everyone his asshole and so many people choose to kiss instead of kick it. If we can make it the norm to call people out on behaviour like this, we would not end up with such people in power.

Altijd lachen met boomers zoals Herbert die denken dat zij mogen bepalen waar wij plezier aan beleven, terwijl wij de prijs betalen voor het plezier dat zij hun leven lang gehad hebben.

As a teacher I have no patience for such dumb takes. Ear defenders are a great tool for many kids, neuro diverse or not.

Really hard to make this list. Will change depending on mood and whatever I'm currently obsessed with. In no particular order:
- 7 Wonders: Duel
- Flamme Rouge
- Root
- Vantage
- The Quest for El Dorado
- Forest Shuffle
- The Crew
- Catan (with Cities & Knights expansion)
- Gloomhaven
- Sky Team

Would love that! We could do an exchange

You should make a game about this

My parents had this exact version. Pure nostalgia

Walking in my Shoes

I do think it helps for awareness. There's quite some designers on that list whose games I admire, but I wasn't aware of them because they're hardly talked about.

This weekend I'll be at Spellenspektakel, the biggest Dutch tabletop game convention. Come play a game of L'Oaf at booth 41, Hall 11!

Another aspect that I can't prove but think is there: designers who know how to write good rulebooks, also know how to make their games easy to understand.

Orbit Master Restore and rule the Zodiac celestial orbit in this interactive card game before the 13th sign creates a black hole.

Jason Gamber, the artist for L'oaf, just launched his new game on kickstarter. It's a game about zodiac signs but not about horoscopes. It's also a trick taker but kinda not. It's hard to explain. Anyway, just go check it out because Jason always does cool stuff.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/red...

That makes sense, I would probably do the same. Thank you for your answer!

Just got the expansion today, excited to try it!

Out of shameless curiosity: When the base game came out, I put up a small 'Leaders' fan expansion on BGG. It has some broad similarities to Allies. Was that any inspiration, or did I by accident roughly predict what the expansion would look like :)?

Thanks! Is there any way I can play a game that is not about a pipe here in Europe? I would love to try it

PAX Unplugged 2025 First Look Showcase PAX's First Look area is the "hot games" section of our event! Read on to learn about what games we're featuring this year, and how you can play them. How Were These Games Chosen? First Look games ar...

Anyone across the pond going to Pax Unplugged this year? My Game L'Oaf will be playable at their First Look section.

boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/366...

I mean, fortnite was already morally on the wrong end for exploiting the underdeveloped minds of kids and teenagers to make a profit selling cosmetic ingame items, but fuck them twice now

L'Oaf design diary | L'oaf We put a piece of ourselves in everything we create. Sometimes on purpose, often subconsciously. It was late in the development of L'Oaf that I realized which part of myself I had baked into this desi...

I wrote a thing (I was planning to write this before Essen, but only managed after, like a true loaf): boardgamegeek.com/thread/36030...

Don't observe the game, observe the players:
- What are their expressions?
- What gets them excited?
- What do they have trouble understanding?
- What choices do they make?
- What do they keep forgetting to do?

Observing the players tells you everything you need to know about the state of the game.

In Splendor the resources have identical rarity and are acquired in an identical way, but their values are not identical.

This was an excellent choice. I've definitely had years were it was a lot harder to navigate the halls than this year.

- signing so many copies of L'Oaf (I think y'all are nuts for wanting my autograph, but I loved it anyway!)
- meeting all the lovely people who came to say they loved L'Oaf and/or Bable!

My top Spiel moments:
- Meeting @semicoop.bsky.social and demo'ing L'Oaf for them
- Getting interviewed by @thehungrymeeple.bsky.social for their excellent podcast about food and games
- Chatting with @petewiss.bsky.social about games, losing our voices, and the @decisionspace.bsky.social podcast

If you want I can bring you in touch with the designer and/or publisher to solve this conundrum

(It hurts a bit to admit as I know them both personally, but yes, I agree that the rules are hard to parse in their current form)