Ben Sandfelder
@bensandfelder.bsky.social
He/him. TTRPG designer, indie game developer, and writer pivoting into education.
• Atlanta-area Activist.
• GM for D&D, OSR, and other games
• Jewish, ADHD, bi disaster.
• Atlanta-area Activist.
• GM for D&D, OSR, and other games
• Jewish, ADHD, bi disaster.
I’m filing this under evidence that the “idea guys” are and always have been full of shit.
“What would you like to see” is such a tragic thing to ask after you’ve embraced a technology that’s supposed to translate your brilliant thoughts directly to glorious reality
February 17, 2026 at 11:23 PM
I’m filing this under evidence that the “idea guys” are and always have been full of shit.
I found the secret to getting good at pixel art:
1: Find sprites/a tileset you like.
2: Decide you don’t like the color palette
3: Recolor them w/ a color palette you like
4 Start tinkering/modifying/expanding the sprites
5: Oops you tinkered too much and now you have your own tileset/sprites.
1: Find sprites/a tileset you like.
2: Decide you don’t like the color palette
3: Recolor them w/ a color palette you like
4 Start tinkering/modifying/expanding the sprites
5: Oops you tinkered too much and now you have your own tileset/sprites.
February 17, 2026 at 10:53 PM
I found the secret to getting good at pixel art:
1: Find sprites/a tileset you like.
2: Decide you don’t like the color palette
3: Recolor them w/ a color palette you like
4 Start tinkering/modifying/expanding the sprites
5: Oops you tinkered too much and now you have your own tileset/sprites.
1: Find sprites/a tileset you like.
2: Decide you don’t like the color palette
3: Recolor them w/ a color palette you like
4 Start tinkering/modifying/expanding the sprites
5: Oops you tinkered too much and now you have your own tileset/sprites.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
we will be blessed as a society not when we have xcom 3 but when all of us have the free time to make xcom 3 for ourselves
I have a very simple and straightforward two-step plan to Save The Video Game Industry:
Step 1: Globally eliminate the concept of a classed society and redistribute all surplus resources among the populace, permanently enshrining social ownership of the means of production.
Step 2: Ridge Racer 8.
Step 1: Globally eliminate the concept of a classed society and redistribute all surplus resources among the populace, permanently enshrining social ownership of the means of production.
Step 2: Ridge Racer 8.
February 16, 2026 at 1:59 AM
we will be blessed as a society not when we have xcom 3 but when all of us have the free time to make xcom 3 for ourselves
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
February 16, 2026 at 7:37 AM
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
4e annoys because it doesn't pretend that it's fighting-adventure rules are anything else and expects you to use rules as written. By not lying about itself, it fucks up the normal D&D process of pretending that it's good for other things, which pretence is *self-fulfilling* via quiet rulings.
February 15, 2026 at 5:09 AM
4e annoys because it doesn't pretend that it's fighting-adventure rules are anything else and expects you to use rules as written. By not lying about itself, it fucks up the normal D&D process of pretending that it's good for other things, which pretence is *self-fulfilling* via quiet rulings.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
the more you learn about the antebellum south the more you transform into this
every plantation owner should have been put to death
every plantation owner should have been put to death
February 15, 2026 at 12:01 AM
the more you learn about the antebellum south the more you transform into this
every plantation owner should have been put to death
every plantation owner should have been put to death
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
“We should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” is words to goddamn live by
February 14, 2026 at 4:30 AM
“We should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” is words to goddamn live by
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
All games are political, and the best games are even more political than that.
February 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM
All games are political, and the best games are even more political than that.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
With tax season in full swing, here's our reminder that TurboTax owner Intuit spent two decades fighting to prevent Americans from filing their taxes online for free.
(Published 2019)
(Published 2019)
Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free
Using lobbying, the revolving door and “dark pattern” customer tricks, Intuit fended off the government’s attempts to make tax filing free and easy, and created its multi-billion-dollar franchise.
www.propublica.org
February 8, 2026 at 4:00 AM
With tax season in full swing, here's our reminder that TurboTax owner Intuit spent two decades fighting to prevent Americans from filing their taxes online for free.
(Published 2019)
(Published 2019)
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
Just been reminded of this fabulous truth
February 3, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Just been reminded of this fabulous truth
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
I don't know who needs to hear this, but teachers (ECE- graduate school) are fucking exhausted right now and have to keep teaching during *points to world*. It's rough normally, it's been extra rough for years, and right now it's basically boss levels rough. Don't beat yourself up, fellow educators.
February 2, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I don't know who needs to hear this, but teachers (ECE- graduate school) are fucking exhausted right now and have to keep teaching during *points to world*. It's rough normally, it's been extra rough for years, and right now it's basically boss levels rough. Don't beat yourself up, fellow educators.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
You have to have the values BEFORE… it’s time to practice them
February 1, 2026 at 3:50 PM
You have to have the values BEFORE… it’s time to practice them
THIS! EXACTLY THIS!
Some of my students have encyclopedic knowledge of FNAF/Poppy Playtime lore.
They have the ability! What we [teachers and/or parents] need to give them is the motivation!
Some of my students have encyclopedic knowledge of FNAF/Poppy Playtime lore.
They have the ability! What we [teachers and/or parents] need to give them is the motivation!
If your kid can explain Pokémon evolutions and vulnerabilities for hours without stopping, they can roll with Melville’s extremely detailed screeds about harpoon types and how to use them.
My hot take about the “students cannot read whole novels / watch whole films / etc.” is that they can learn to do it. None of us are born with attention spans suited for long media. It is a learned skill and can be developed with practice.
February 1, 2026 at 3:08 PM
THIS! EXACTLY THIS!
Some of my students have encyclopedic knowledge of FNAF/Poppy Playtime lore.
They have the ability! What we [teachers and/or parents] need to give them is the motivation!
Some of my students have encyclopedic knowledge of FNAF/Poppy Playtime lore.
They have the ability! What we [teachers and/or parents] need to give them is the motivation!
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
Man the "gamergate destroyed society" ppl have been vindicated like a zillion times over the past year
January 31, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Man the "gamergate destroyed society" ppl have been vindicated like a zillion times over the past year
The thing about individualism is that it requires conceding/assuming that everyone else is just as selfish and would do the same thing in your shoes.
And that’s such a sad, wretched, and lonely way to live.
And that’s such a sad, wretched, and lonely way to live.
January 31, 2026 at 3:29 PM
The thing about individualism is that it requires conceding/assuming that everyone else is just as selfish and would do the same thing in your shoes.
And that’s such a sad, wretched, and lonely way to live.
And that’s such a sad, wretched, and lonely way to live.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
Real talk, if Thomas Paine were alive today he'd currently be in prison for sending "The Case for Bombing Their Homes" to his 500,000 Substack readers and then minutes after hitting the publish button attempting to purchase 57 tons of fertilizer
I think that overall substack has been a net negative for the American experiment, which is very funny because Thomas Paine would have loved substack
January 30, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Real talk, if Thomas Paine were alive today he'd currently be in prison for sending "The Case for Bombing Their Homes" to his 500,000 Substack readers and then minutes after hitting the publish button attempting to purchase 57 tons of fertilizer
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
Every creator should remake B/X, read or unread, remembered or dreamed, atleast once every 5 years or so, and I'm NOT JOKING.
You should remake dnd twice a decade. If not for the OSR's sake, for your own.
Take a stab at Blue Box!
Adnd!
Spelljammer!
Make the past *better* with your heart.
You should remake dnd twice a decade. If not for the OSR's sake, for your own.
Take a stab at Blue Box!
Adnd!
Spelljammer!
Make the past *better* with your heart.
January 30, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Every creator should remake B/X, read or unread, remembered or dreamed, atleast once every 5 years or so, and I'm NOT JOKING.
You should remake dnd twice a decade. If not for the OSR's sake, for your own.
Take a stab at Blue Box!
Adnd!
Spelljammer!
Make the past *better* with your heart.
You should remake dnd twice a decade. If not for the OSR's sake, for your own.
Take a stab at Blue Box!
Adnd!
Spelljammer!
Make the past *better* with your heart.
I knew, anecdotally, that it was bad but holy shit. That’s BAD.
Any regrets I had about changing careers are quickly disappearing.
Any regrets I had about changing careers are quickly disappearing.
feel like this is one of the bigger labor stories of Our Current Regrettable Age variety.com/2026/gaming/...
One-Third of U.S. Video Game Industry Workers Were Laid Off in 2025, GDC Study Reveals
One-third of U.S. video game industry workers say they were laid off last year, according to GDC.
variety.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:55 PM
I knew, anecdotally, that it was bad but holy shit. That’s BAD.
Any regrets I had about changing careers are quickly disappearing.
Any regrets I had about changing careers are quickly disappearing.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
hi folks! i'm looking for full-time remote work in game design! my specialty is tabletop games (i've both self-published and contributed to award-winning & bestselling TTRPGs) but i've also written for jam-winning video games!
is your company hiring? get in touch & i can send my portfolio!
is your company hiring? get in touch & i can send my portfolio!
January 27, 2026 at 8:06 PM
hi folks! i'm looking for full-time remote work in game design! my specialty is tabletop games (i've both self-published and contributed to award-winning & bestselling TTRPGs) but i've also written for jam-winning video games!
is your company hiring? get in touch & i can send my portfolio!
is your company hiring? get in touch & i can send my portfolio!
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
The US Holocaust Museum being more outraged by Tim Walz saying that, like Anne Frank, children today are in hiding from armed agents of the state, than they are about the fact that children are in hiding from armed agents of the state, is why Holocaust remembrance culture is in crisis.
January 26, 2026 at 11:30 PM
The US Holocaust Museum being more outraged by Tim Walz saying that, like Anne Frank, children today are in hiding from armed agents of the state, than they are about the fact that children are in hiding from armed agents of the state, is why Holocaust remembrance culture is in crisis.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
January 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
Reposted by Ben Sandfelder
