Lost in the Glow

Oh that rules! Great job, bud!

I'll be demoing/playtesting Lost in the Glow at @leveleater.bsky.social's Demo Expo this coming Saturday (the 13th) at the Co-Prosperity Sphere at 3221 S Morgan here in Chicago!

We'll be testing out the newest (and hopefully final) mechanic to be added to the game!

#ttrpg #postapocalypse #fitd

A hugely successful playtest exploring a new mechanic but now my brain is mush.

I am so lucky to have so many friends who are willing to spend precious hours of their weekend playing half-finished mechanics with me.

I'm reaching maximum screen saturation in my playtest setup. Finally getting to try out the map mechanics thanks to my lovely playtesters!

@conjette.art made this graphic, whatcha think about how it relates to game design?

I feel like scope creep is a necessary part of creative design. The straight path from "make it" to "make it good" can work for forms or very cut-and-dry tasks, but it usually doesn't work for creative projects or systems design and that's fine!

A cartoon about scope creep and creative process, using shapes as metaphor for projects

“Just make it exist!” Isn’t that simple, and neither is “making it good.”

I know the left hand graphic has been making the rounds and is meant as motivation, but as a frequent victim of Scope Creep, please learn from my mistakes 😂🥲

Oh hey, this is exactly what I've been struggling with lately!

Huddle around this ol' nuclear reactor and join the rest of the group!

That's a shame. If nothing else (if I remember right), those stories still feel like good horror or at least dark fables.

The book has definitely aged, but it's interesting to observe where and when it came from.

(Just in case there's something really wild towards the end, I didn't finish it.)

Do iiiittt

Haha! The artist curse runs deep. I have to purposefully keep other projects buried, so Godspeed to you for balancing them

A question for all my party people in the ttrpg space: What systems do you know of where travel and traversal are a mechanic? What ones do you think do this well?

Normally this is a part of a game gets glossed over as though the conquering heroes are taking the 409 bus to and from a mission

Give me a shout if you want to chat about it with someone! That sounds like a really fun project

It's a neat idea to tie the resource directly to plot consequences. I could see something fun where characters in a piece of media are trying to break out of the story they're stuck in

My next playtest start either tonight or Sunday and I am excited to try again. And hopefully be done. I'd quite like to not have to keep getting the game and rewriting dozens of pages.

We'll see!

It's painful to use your free time and evenings developing the new coolest idea you have only to figure out that this was a dead end. Sometimes cool things don't fit right now.

I'm not sharing this to be "boo hoo, I had to work hard", but I hate the perception that design is linear.

It's been quite a while!

Ever since Midwinter 2025, I've been sitting with the game and making the choice to rebuild some systems that I had spent months working on previously. It. Sucked.

It's also part of game design! Which I am having to come to terms with as a first time designer.

You have my undivided attention.

OOOH, sassy! I love that

If you haven't already added them, @lastpinepress.com and also hey, I'd appreciate the add!

Just finished my first playtest at Midwinter Gaming Convention! We already have our first major damage to a settlement. I can't wait to see how this keeps changing in my marathon three sessions tomorrow!

Shout-out to Carley and Patrick for stopping by to play.
#gamedev #ttrpg #fitd #postapocalypse

(Also, even with the most cursory glances so far, phenomenal work!!)

Thanks for the reminder post! Looking forward to checking them out

Hey, thanks for the boost!

Oh, cool! That's such an elegant setup! Looking forward to trying it out.

Hey! If you're going to be at the Midwinter Gaming Convention on Saturday, I'll be running playtests that day with a persistent story between all of the games!

Stoked to get to try out all of the new changes since my last convention!

I wonder if it can be partially attributed to the 00's trend for a game's quality was measured by how long of an experience it was to play.

Or perhaps a desire to compete with MMOs and their vast array of side activities.

Holy crap, nice! I love the creativity you can get up to with kitbashing or spare parts.

About to start a session with a pc falling down an elevator shaft, have a moment of silence in advance #ttrpg