Matthew Dunstan

#BlacklistCGE is trending on bgg!

Let’s keep it going! Keep interacting with the post!

Keep taking up space and disrupting the comfort of complicity. 🎲✂️

#Blacklist CGE | Codenames: Back to Hogwarts Hey everyone! It’s the day after Gen Con and I’m planning to be in recovery for at least a week before I can really be active again—but I wanted to offer this resource to the community who wants it. ...

I created a thread where I share the link to the zine I made on bgg for the new codenames.

Surely there will be transphobes who come to attack me for it—so please help support me on there!

boardgamegeek.com/thread/35536...

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan One game design practice I've changed that saves me a lot of time

My latest video talks about one of the things I have changed about my game design practice that has saved me the most time - minimising the work I do on a game before I test it.

youtu.be/Yy1c-57mvaU

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Thank you Taylor! It’s funny how things changed for me without me ever consciously deciding to change my approach.

Good thread in creativity and blank page syndrome:

This was a bit vague and esoteric, so I want to give a more concrete example, especially for folks who don't know my design history deeply.

When I used to have the "games are just a bunch of mechanisms tied to a theme" mindset, I would always be flummoxed by a familiar pattern.

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YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan Can you make money from print and play games?

Thanks Jeff! As to your curiosity, I made a video that might be interesting to you:

youtu.be/WzeSNkR5MIQ

Last day of term is always a chance for some #boardgames courtesy of the excellent @postmarkgames.bsky.social @matthewdunstan.bsky.social @rorymuldoon.bsky.social Whole class Aquamarine has always gone down well, but today we take to the seas for a 30 player game of Voyages!

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan I can't get these games signed. What did I do wrong?

In this week's video I look over some of my older designs that never found a home, and reflect on some reasons why they weren't published. Hopefully it is insightful for other designers facing the same frustrations!

youtu.be/MZhEicl9JZk

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Ouch :( I’m sorry. That sucks.

Thank you so much! That’s so kind of you to say - and glad it brings you so much fun!

It’s so hard! I follow the forums so I can answer questions, hard to ignore everything altogether.

Yeah that can be really tough as well :(

You've got to have a tough skin to be a designer:

Reading numerous comments about a game that isn't even released yet, with folks already calling it a 'tired, uninspired design'. Wow, thanks buddy, its not like I spent months working on the game, trying to balance publisher and IP wants.

Argh. 🎲✂️

Swedish Annual Game-design Awards All things related to the Swedish Annual Game-design awards: a competition for those who have discovered the joy of making their own board games. Read more on our webiste: https://saga.boardgamedesign...

The talks by the Swedish Annual Game design Awards (SAGA) are now public on YouTube. We started giving them in English once we realised that there was a bigger interest than we originally thought.

youtube.com/@saga_game_d...

Very cool! Yes, I love designing with interesting constraints.

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan The one realisation that led to an award winning game

Today's video is about the development of @postmarkgames.bsky.social latest game, 52 Realms: Adventures, and the one thing I needed to realise to finish it!

youtu.be/KCR544KH7FQ

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LUCCA GAMES in black, with a red slightly diagonal stripe underneath reading AWARDS in white. below are black laurel leaves surrounding BOARD GAME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2025

A man with dark hair parted in the centre smiles at the camera, with abstract art on ceramic tiles behind him. Black and white. Board game designer Matthew Dunstan.

A bearded man with short, spiky brown hair looks directly into the camera. He wears a black hoodie with a meeple logo on one breast, and a white t-shirt underneath. Blurred foliage and pink flowers are visible behind. Board game designer Gregory Grard.

A man turns to smile at the camera with his teeth showing. Short dark hair swept to one side and a short beard. Wearing a black t shirt, in front of blurred red bricks in the background. Board game designer Tomas Holek.

Five of board gaming’s ‘most active and prolific’ designers up for this year’s Lucca Comics & Games designer of the year award:

boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...

Huge congrats to @matthewdunstan.bsky.social, @mropla.bsky.social ‬and all the others without BlueSky accounts!

When I'm working on a game that isn't firing yet, I don't try to solve problems with "conventional wisdom" approaches anymore.

I look for opportunities to make the game indistinguishably mine. This gives me a more compelling result every time. Know what your game design fingerprint is. 🎲✂️

Image of three games in the BGG hotness. At number 1 is Dungeons and Dragons: Builders of Baldur's Gate. At number 2 is Vantage, and at number 3 is The Anarchy.

Pretty special day to have one of your games at #1 in the BGG hotness! :)

Thanks Antoine! Yes, it should be out by Essen, hopefully sooner!

Thanks Rodney :) I might have to rewatch some of your older vlogs for parenting tips!

I've moved from Substack to Kit for my email newsletter (thanks @elizhargrave.bsky.social for the inspiration!) - if you haven't already signed up you can do so here:

matthew-dunstan.kit.com/d76e07cf96

Thanks Rodney! Yes, I miss running into you as well, I hope life is treating you kindly. One day I'll have to come to PEI and visit :) Although harder with a 1 year old...

It's a very lucky day when Rodney at @watchitplayed.tv explains one of your games - can't wait to share Builders of Baldur's Gate with you all!

Four years ago I made a small game called Card Rails. It was my first venture into self-publishing non-RPGs, and it was terrifying, but I got lots of love.

After much imposter syndrome, I am finally recording the rules teach to upload. I'll open up orders soonish, 125 copies or so? #CCMF

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Game dev hot take: your initial idea is probably at least 2-3x bigger than it needs to be, and this immediate overscoping is what keeps so many games from making it through the prototype phase.

Learn how to design the least to do the most, and add from there after you make your proof of concept.

Thank you so much Rob!

Really interesting design idea! You see it a lot in abstract games where you win if your opponent can no longer take a move.

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan Game design is a craft. Treat it like one.

In today's video I talk about game design as a craft, and the consequences of how that shift in thinking can influence your own game design journey.

youtu.be/z5teC9KriYQ

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