Andrew Doull
@andrewdoull.bsky.social
16th level information technologist, 12th level game designer | 60y in space https://half-apress.itch.io/60-years-in-space | pronoun he/him/his/his/himself
Pinned
Andrew Doull
@andrewdoull.bsky.social
· Jul 28
A Lot of Zeroes by half-a.press
A solo or coop game of mapping interstellar journeys.
half-apress.itch.io
I've release a new solo/coop TTRPG about mapping a journey through the Milky Way with your immortal and unusual crew. It's inspired by the High Frontier Interstellar board game I helped develop but goes much, much further: to the galactic core and beyond! half-apress.itch.io/a-lot-of-zer...
Reposted by Andrew Doull
It's absolutely no joke the amount of stuff about game design I learned by getting really into fighting games. There's even a cross-game, cross-era glossary of terms. Made by players. DESIGNERS in TTRPGs can't even agree and come up with such a resource. We got much to learn.
glossary.infil.net
glossary.infil.net
January 17, 2026 at 8:25 PM
It's absolutely no joke the amount of stuff about game design I learned by getting really into fighting games. There's even a cross-game, cross-era glossary of terms. Made by players. DESIGNERS in TTRPGs can't even agree and come up with such a resource. We got much to learn.
glossary.infil.net
glossary.infil.net
(Hmm apparently gear is only slang for meth in Australia).
January 17, 2026 at 8:31 AM
(Hmm apparently gear is only slang for meth in Australia).
Apparently the guys in the chicken shop were selling gear too bsky.app/profile/andr...
Half way through an interview for a job selling gym memberships, an undercover cop came in and asked the manager if they could set up surveillance of the chicken shop over the road
January 17, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Apparently the guys in the chicken shop were selling gear too bsky.app/profile/andr...
Auckland Commodore user group BBS
Okay, let's get nostalgic
What was the VERY FIRST online platform that you became addicted to posting on?????
What was the VERY FIRST online platform that you became addicted to posting on?????
January 17, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Auckland Commodore user group BBS
It turns out the answer is forget how to made game after taking 2 weeks off over Christmas.
Anyone written an article on how not to dedicate lifetime to making one game?
Want to dedicate a lifetime to making a single game? Read this article by @tanyaxshort.bsky.social first!
kitfoxgames.medium.com/e9b916491afe
kitfoxgames.medium.com/e9b916491afe
January 17, 2026 at 7:19 AM
It turns out the answer is forget how to made game after taking 2 weeks off over Christmas.
But after I added the feature my brain would say “nailed it!”
January 17, 2026 at 5:36 AM
But after I added the feature my brain would say “nailed it!”
Thinking about how one throwaway sentence I made about the significance of water becoming worthless in High Frontier has become central to the design of at least two High Frontier modules.
January 17, 2026 at 3:44 AM
Thinking about how one throwaway sentence I made about the significance of water becoming worthless in High Frontier has become central to the design of at least two High Frontier modules.
Almost all of it is just going to end up as additional trends in All Errors are My Own, and then some kind of paragraph about CEO solitaire in the main rules.
January 17, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Almost all of it is just going to end up as additional trends in All Errors are My Own, and then some kind of paragraph about CEO solitaire in the main rules.
Going through the High Frontier 4All modules to figure out what to add, and I'm hardly the person to be complaining about rules weight but there's a lot of rules weight in these modules.
January 17, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Going through the High Frontier 4All modules to figure out what to add, and I'm hardly the person to be complaining about rules weight but there's a lot of rules weight in these modules.
I have so many more :(
January 17, 2026 at 2:33 AM
I have so many more :(
Half way through an interview for a job selling gym memberships, an undercover cop came in and asked the manager if they could set up surveillance of the chicken shop over the road
January 17, 2026 at 2:32 AM
Half way through an interview for a job selling gym memberships, an undercover cop came in and asked the manager if they could set up surveillance of the chicken shop over the road
The only girl from the gym I ever dated went out with my brother for 3 years after we broke up
January 17, 2026 at 2:31 AM
The only girl from the gym I ever dated went out with my brother for 3 years after we broke up
These are rookie gym dramas. I had to break up a fight between two guys at midnight because I was the only other person there.
after six months at the gym you should have:
one woman you silently adore
one man you have beef with
biceps unrelated (she just left)
one woman you silently adore
one man you have beef with
biceps unrelated (she just left)
January 17, 2026 at 2:29 AM
These are rookie gym dramas. I had to break up a fight between two guys at midnight because I was the only other person there.
Anyone written an article on how not to dedicate lifetime to making one game?
Want to dedicate a lifetime to making a single game? Read this article by @tanyaxshort.bsky.social first!
kitfoxgames.medium.com/e9b916491afe
kitfoxgames.medium.com/e9b916491afe
January 17, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Anyone written an article on how not to dedicate lifetime to making one game?
Are you going to have any way of biaising the rolls/predicting the outcomes? I had to wrestle with this in A Lot of Zeroes for contacting megastructures and I’m not entirely convinced I’ve got it right.
January 17, 2026 at 1:55 AM
Are you going to have any way of biaising the rolls/predicting the outcomes? I had to wrestle with this in A Lot of Zeroes for contacting megastructures and I’m not entirely convinced I’ve got it right.
Embrassed to find that 5th ed D&D has sexed up the Oyugh art.
In my campaign goblins are the only monsters that don’t surrender.
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
January 17, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Embrassed to find that 5th ed D&D has sexed up the Oyugh art.
In my campaign goblins are the only monsters that don’t surrender.
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
January 17, 2026 at 1:39 AM
In my campaign goblins are the only monsters that don’t surrender.
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
OC stands for Otyugh (captured).
The three axis of TTRPGS are roleplaying vs systems vs we forced the GM to make a random goblin into an OC that we are now all in love with.
January 17, 2026 at 1:29 AM
The three axis of TTRPGS are roleplaying vs systems vs we forced the GM to make a random goblin into an OC that we are now all in love with.
Ok back with my patented “ran on it” explanation. But first some terminology. 🧵
January 17, 2026 at 1:25 AM
And as a result people end up talking past each other.
January 17, 2026 at 1:18 AM
And as a result people end up talking past each other.
And I don’t think it’s possible to square this circle. SDM is basically an argument that can only be made if you’re a role player, not a game player because the whole point of TTRPGs as games is the grain of the doubt created by the systems. SDM assumes a truth-value (doubt=bad) which is axiomatic.
January 17, 2026 at 1:17 AM
And I don’t think it’s possible to square this circle. SDM is basically an argument that can only be made if you’re a role player, not a game player because the whole point of TTRPGs as games is the grain of the doubt created by the systems. SDM assumes a truth-value (doubt=bad) which is axiomatic.
"Setting doesn't matter" is a valid, reasonable, and *critically important* argument which has been rendered ragebait and a punchline by pedantry.
January 17, 2026 at 12:58 AM
"Setting doesn't matter" is a valid, reasonable, and *critically important* argument which has been rendered ragebait and a punchline by pedantry.
Reposting because BlueSky threading sucks
TTRPGS consist of rules written in the rulebook (“all dwarves have beards”) and rulings made at the table (“I’m not a halfling I’m a dwarf who shaves.”). All rules and rulings lie on a spectrum: at one end they aim to reduce doubt about the game world - let’s call these settings - 1/
January 17, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Reposting because BlueSky threading sucks
* this is not quite correct. Rules and rulings can be about things other than the game world. Please adjust the above to assume I’m just talking about rules and rulings about the game world.
January 17, 2026 at 12:35 AM
* this is not quite correct. Rules and rulings can be about things other than the game world. Please adjust the above to assume I’m just talking about rules and rulings about the game world.