Daniel Solis

“I had to flat out tell [the Microsoft sales team] VP we're not buying any fucking copilot - whereupon she revealed that the only thing she is being measured on for Q4 is sales of copilot, so if that's off the table the conversation is not interesting. LMAO”

YouTube video by Ezeekat What would you buy at the witches market?

Here's an overview of Yanari from @ezeekat.bsky.social! www.youtube.com/shorts/qnlJJ...

YouTube video by Danielle Standring Potions, Customers, and a Dash of Chaos | Yanari: The Witches Market 🧙‍♀️

Here's an overview of Yanari from Danielle Standring and SUSD. youtube.com/shorts/KItm9...

Obojima Tales From Yatamon A Leisure Fantasy D&D Campaign Setting and Board Game Inspired by Studio Ghibli and the Legend of Zelda.

My new card game Yanari is live on Kickstarter! Check it out! www.kickstarter.com/projects/198...
#boardgame

Aw that's unfortunate about the TV thing, but congrats on the passport!

If your fyp is draining your life, I have a secret tip:

Follow libraries. Doesn't matter where they are, they don't have to be local, just follow them all.

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

a bumper sticker which reads "Proud Parent of the Omelas Child"

Cover of PROTO: How One Language Went Global

Bookmark with notes and ratings

Bookmark with reading says notes by filled bubbles

PROTO
Laura Spinney

A lovely, enriching history of proto-indo-european language from its prehistoric origins to its many modern descendants. Merges archeology, linguistics, and genetic research. Catnip for me. Very approachable with a humanist spirit throughout.
#book #review #nonfiction #linguist

Slow start but a thrilling finish in this week's #UniversityChallenge. 🫨

Understandable, but they've had a surprising number of first-time submissions get on the show this year. Getting people to answer the phone from an unfamiliar number has been the hardest thing, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

The rules and PNP seem straightforward enough, so at least they're not straying into that particular trap.

As a retailer, I'll note that NPR Independent Radio is exclusively talking about big box stores. Honestly, trying to deal with all the independent FLGSs would be harder, it was just a something that hit me.

If so, it didn't come up in the final edit.

We still haven't solved it, but you should submit if you have an answer!

Oh! One other positive: They're very up front about cost-of-goods and trying to keep everything made out of paper and cardboard. That part is very real.

Positives about the series so far:
★ They define their goal for the game and keep that throughout.
★ The idea is just the start of many rounds of iterative testing.
★ The publisher bends development to fit their catalog. (A Planet Money game from a Euro or Japanese publisher may be very different.)

Re: History: It's concerning that there's no mention of prior games in this family. (Coloretto, New York Slice, Sheriff of Nottingham, Sundae Split, Tussie Mussie, to name a few.) Maybe that tangent just didn't make the final edit, but tabletop has erased history in favor of a myth of originality.

Re: Originality: New designers are very possessive about their game ideas, often being hesitant to even playtest, out of fear of their ideas being 'stolen.' Centering originality so much in the show's final cut makes a more dramatic episode, but reinforces a misleading narrative about the craft.

After listening to part 2 of the Planet Money #boardgame series, I raise an eyebrow as they hype up this being such an original game concept. Emphasizing that misleads the audience about how much the market values originality AND how original this game actually is. (It's an I-cut-you-choose game.)

YouTube video by NPR Planet Money X Exploding Kittens Board Game | NPR

Planet Money is developing a party card game with Exploding Kittens, which means they're explaining to NPR listeners the absolute basics of how to pnp a prototype. youtu.be/coTkbsBeSYY?...
#gamedesign #boardgame

Sunday Puzzle: First and last two letters NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Minnesota Public Radio listener Erin Rhode of Plymouth, Minnesota along with Weekend Edition Puzzle Master Will Shortz.

#NPR Sunday #Puzzle: Think of a famous singer. Replace the last three letters of the first name with an E. Also replace the last three letters of the last name with an E. The result will be a world-famous location. What singer is this?
www.npr.org/2025/10/05/g...

300ish responses. Feeling good that we solved this one. 🤓

Lift Off: How and Whys of "Lift" | Daniel Solis Get more from Daniel Solis on Patreon

LIFT OFF: How and Why of "Lift", that extra gap you sometimes see between board game box lids. A new post with examples from one of my recent projects.
www.patreon.com/posts/lift-o...
#boardgame #production #graphicdesign #artdirection

Not the worst civilian fashion we've seen on the show.

Come back next week for more! I'm posting a new Connections puzzle every Saturday through 2025.

I aim for fun most of the time. It's actually much easier to make an impossibly obtuse puzzle. Making one that's fun is much trickier. I like the ones where the whole board has a theme, besides the actual groups.

Blah Blah, Ad Nauseum, Bona Fide, Woo Woo, Yada Yada, Hocus Pocus, Ciao Ciao, So On, Status Quo, Later Gator, So Forth, Claptrap, Alma Mater, Bye Bye, Tah Tah, Flimflam

Welcome to Saturday! You made it! It's time for this week's #connections #puzzle. It was a rather busy few days, so I didn't get a chance to do the early testing I usually do. I hope it's acceptable!
connectionsplus.io/game/uy9Igs

YouTube video by John Brunelli Astronaut Ron McNair delivers the commencement at the University of South Carolina

Oh and did I mention he was a great orator, too? Here's Ron McNair's 1984 commencement speech. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXHg...

YouTube video by StoryCorps Eyes on the Stars

I'm reminded that Ron McNair may be the coolest human being who ever lived. He was a karate champion, laser physicist, saxophonist, and, tragically, a Challenger astronaut. But the thing that always gets me weepy is the library story. www.youtube.com/watch?v=okF5...
#nasa #space #history #library