Sometimes, play with psychopaths?
01.03.2026 14:22 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0@stickydoodler.bsky.social
I make games that spark imagination and empathy. I also promote tabletop game designers based in the DMV β¦οΈπ² (DC-MD-VA). ηΈηΈ to Big Sticky and Li'l Doodler. He/δ»/any. https://stickydoodler.itch.io/
Sometimes, play with psychopaths?
01.03.2026 14:22 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0As a teacher, coach, good conversationalist... it's a true art form isn't it?
01.03.2026 12:23 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I find my mere presence at the table changes everything. The most subtle impact is on vibe because people mirror emotions and it's hard not to be enthusiastic about your game, especially after you probably pitched it to get playtesters to sit down at the table at all.
01.03.2026 12:21 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0Isn't it the best game? It got our family through pandemic. I love that my kids can farm together and have that shared project. I think both of them gave up on dating when they discovered married life wasn't very exciting
01.03.2026 12:17 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I get where they're coming from, but there's a way to share their experience and warn of shady business practices without denigrating the product or your tastes.
01.03.2026 12:15 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Tip for self-publishers: don't screw over your FLGS. I hear this a lot from the stores we work with in the DMV: don't offer them one MSRP, then sell online for less. We saw why at a con, where customers price-checked against Amazon. FLGSs don't want to be lead gen for etailers
01.03.2026 12:09 β π 7 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Personally, honesty is something I want from a FLGS. If I want someone to kiss my ass I can go to a genAI. Hurting your profits by questioning customer choices is literally anti-algorithm, or shall we say... human?
(That said, it's still not nice to yuck someone's yum, so I get what OP's saying)
Love love love how this engine can depict different ecosystems π
28.02.2026 18:44 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I tried making a game about Tangier Island, in Chesapeake Bay, which is sinking at a very rapid rate. I realized after several playtests that the ideal version of this game would involve a big box, kinetic sand, mini houses, water, and getting kicked out of the convention center
28.02.2026 18:14 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Timeline palate cleanser π
π§Όπ«§
This 10 year anniversary lookback on Stardew Valley brings back some beautiful memories for me, and also offers a few useful tips for game design / development. It's one of the games that inspired me to try design myself:
youtu.be/geiTg6Z7w3A
I'm informed that this is #pombon, the fire puppy πΆ Pomeranian
28.02.2026 13:41 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
These raccoons are coming for you, Unpub!
π¦ποΈπ₯
Powergamers take on drama and kick its ass
27.02.2026 23:46 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Yayyy π§¦π§¦π§¦!!!
Those puppets look rad π
So are you telling me your table RESOLVED all the problems the puppeteers came in with?!?
This PokΓ©mon day you've gotta follow @laomao.bsky.social for the best PokΓ©dex of inkwash paintings. JUST LOOK AT THIS π
27.02.2026 21:03 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0D&D is the anime-sized warhammer to our dollhouse tinker toys
27.02.2026 18:06 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Hey, sorry to sound like a tool (as we used to say), but: what hammers are hot right now?
27.02.2026 18:05 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0"Fun" is a word locked onto games in a way that has no parallel in other media. A great book, play, or film can be engrossing, insightful, profound, etc., but none of those words are essential to describing the medium. Is the word "fun" definitionally inseparable from games?
27.02.2026 16:20 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Three games in heavy rotation with me right now all were tested at Unpub:
Hot Streak
Message from the Stars
Vanity Plates
Yes, I'm biased, but I also think they're great games. (And this reminds me I need to pick up Sanibel)
Damn I thought you were defining a TTRPG
27.02.2026 12:50 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Really cool and love the art!
Premise reminds me of the indie game "AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity" (2009)
So join us next weekend in Baltimore to play -- and shape! -- games you'll find on shelves and crowdfunds in the future!
Unpub deets (it's π!): www.unpub.org/upcoming-eve...
Elizabeth's designer diary: boardgamegeek.com/thread/36691...
Screenshot with highlight: "Within a week, I had made a new tile-based version, just in time to take it to Unpub." Link to article later in posts
When @unpub.org says you can "Play the games of tomorrow, today," they mean that quite literally. Check out this excerpt from @elizhargrave.bsky.social's design diary for #Sanibel:
27.02.2026 12:41 β π 9 π 2 π¬ 1 π 1
I really love it if you gave it a try and gave me your feedback. I'll be running playtests of BeTween at Unpub in just two weeks:
π
Sat, Mar 14
π 2:30-6:30
π BWI Airport Marriott
If you've ever been a child, I want your perspective!
5/βΉοΈ
unpub.preview.softr.app/festival-202...
Composition paper with handwritten words: "Feedback Page. This is a game in progress. Your feedback matters. Likes, dislikes, what you would have done differently. What you want more of."
BeTween started with a fictional story, but after a year of iteration I realized its true subject matter had slipped through my fingers. Li'l Doodler was well into middle school, her tween years behind her. So I shelved the fiction and started grabbing memories before they faded.
4/βΆοΈ
Li'l Doodler working on art for BeTween
The image, as edited by Li'l Doodler, depicting sculpture of a scaly hand emerging from water (by a younger Li'l Doodler)
The idea of BeTween came to me while playing one of those games featuring some fantasy kingdom. I thought of how books and film can depict ordinary life in moving ways and wondered why we don't do that in games. So I chose the most mundane yet universal subject I could think of: childhood.
3/βΆοΈ
watercolor painted over a blurred photo, depicting two children, one apparently curled up on the ground, and the other sitting
your own memories and imagination.
Every player draws cards from a deck full of photos from Li'l Doodler's life, then plays one to inspire a story in response to scene prompts. The photos are real, the scenes are real, but the stories fiction -- and yet, they seem to draw out real emotion.
2/βΆοΈ
zine with the words "Summer Plans" written in pencil
I call BeTween a "biography game" because I want it to convey something of my daughter's spirit -- specifically, that summer before middle school when she refused to grow up.
But it's a game, not a documentary: I want you to experience the last summer of childhood in your own way, drawing on
1/βΆοΈ
One more for y'all
27.02.2026 00:19 β π 26 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
So many lovely, lovely games there from amazing and beautiful creators. That row of Miru is gorgeous.
Hundreds of hours of exquisite play, I am jealous of your customers