Rob Harper

I DO NOT want AI to come up with game ideas and playtest them for me

I DO want robots to do the tedious painful parts like cut out a card sheet and then stuff them in sleeves for me

I SHOULD NOT make robots that have access to the sharp edges necessary to cut cards

Open up my torso and you'll find this etched onto my ribcage like the zinger to some cosmic horror novel.

Or The Archers

Wow.

Anyone in need of cash and looking to do some grotty art? Looking to spend £40, I'd like an A5 re-imagining of this piece from an Arthur Conan Doyle short story. I feel it's likely AI has been used on this version, so I'd like to commission someone to draw something with the same proportions

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan How much money I made as a game designer in 2025

In today's video I go over what I earnt as a full time game designer in 2025, comparing my income over the past few years and how it varies from game to game.

My aim has always been to increase transparency in the industry and help newer designers with what to expect.

youtu.be/avLL2siSmyc

🎲✂️

Wanted: Regional Director to work for an organisation opposed to home working. The successful applicant will be expected to work from home.

YouTube video by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq STOP USING GENERATIVE A.I (Original Song)

This is one hell of a public service announcement from Mr Wild that I can very much get behind...

Something compelled me to make this

I was invited to a con in Puerto Rico soon after the hurricane. They were rebuilding everywhere, parts of the island were still without power. Trump was of course screwing them over.

I didn't feel it was right to go, but I was told repeatedly to please come, they needed tourism back.

1/

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan Game balance is overrated - do this instead

Today I delve into the topic of balance in games, and discuss why there might be some much more important things to do than optimising for a perfectly balanced game. I also look at feelings that players might ascribe to imbalance, but that are actually caused elsewhere.

youtu.be/7fpbTsZI3EI

🎲✂️

Wow, some people really need to get out more. Or less. Not sure.
Sorry to see you've been getting this crap aimed at you.

Ahh, a classic passage from the Tao of Zaphod

A board game with loads of tokens, including poo tokens, on various parts of the board.

Just had a nice evening playing @jontexmo.bsky.social's game about renaissance poo, Night Soil. Lots of fun, but I did sooo, sooo badly. I got the hang of things by the end, but it was way too late. Looking forward to another try tough.

YouTube video by Beyond Solitaire Thoughts from a Minnesota Gamer

I don't like being this vulnerable in public but I also felt like I had to say something. youtu.be/1qlEn8ob2ns

"Friends, we really need to consider this from the BBEG's point of view..."

Have they used a graphic of 3 intermeshed cogs that wouldn't be able to move in real life as some sort of illustration of being an effective machine?

the Molly House stand at UK Games Expo

Are you interested in history and/or historical board games?

If so, please take 5 minutes to complete the form below for me. If not, please share it with people who you think might be interested.

forms.gle/wbfWAn2JFp4N...

Thank you. 😊👍

#boardgames #HistoricalGames #history

Yup, let's have some naive and over-optimistic, please.

Played this quite a lot as a kid/teen - definitely has something to it, and deserves to be better remembered.

A card that says Gas Light is Introduced in London with an illustration of lamplighters

Playing Timeline: British History. Odd that they included this card showing something that never happened.

Suggested EU response:

- US airbases now represent an armed presence, inside our borders, of a nation that is openly threatening to invade our territory
- Withdraw the threat or we have no choice but to close those bases
- This turns USA from a global power to a regional one, overnight

1/5

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan Stop trying to design good games

Today's video is about approaching game design in a new way - trying to design a bad game from the start!

youtu.be/wj3IZtxw_PI

🎲✂️

Eyebrows are Fair Game

The latest episode of 'But Why Vikings?' is out right now. Inside this audio dumpling you'll find some tasty, hot tabletop game opinions from myself and @ava.foxfort.net on limited communication games, games as in-world objects, and a very odd question at the end.

open.spotify.com/episode/6cOa...

YouTube video by WereNotWizards They.

I feel every word of this from @werenotwizards.com

And now, lets ask a grumpy old man what he thinks about late stage capitalism..

www.werenotwizards.co.uk/they/

The Great Hunger Easy-to-learn, card-driven game, rich with historical detail; explores 19th-century Irish expansion, blight, famine, & emigration. 2-5P

While I love my niche stupid hobby of historical board gaming, sometimes it does just make me want to scream. Take the latest example, a board game about the Irish Potato Famine where you get to compete with friends to see who survives best (?)
www.kickstarter.com/projects/com...

Fundraising for The Trussell Trust. Support UK Food Banks and WIN GAMES. January Raffle. Tickets £1. Main prize: Wyrmspan - 1st runner up: A Gentle Rain - 2nd Runner Up: This Game is Killer: Alien on Board

The January raffle in aid of @trusselluk.bsky.social, the UK food bank charity, is underway!

If you want to be in with a chance to win some games, please take part here: tabletopgamesblog.com/raffle

Also, please reshare!!

#charity #foodbanks

A 2-d virtual boardgame prototype, with a map board of coloured tiles, assorted cards, and a score tracking board

It has been a while, but @alcannon.bsky.social and I got our game (formerly The Artifact and probably needing a new name now) in front of a 3rd party tester again. We've done a lot of changes, and it mostly works, but we now have a heap of insightful feedback to be working with (thanks, Laurie!). 🎲✂️