Quinn Brander
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quinnbrander.bsky.social
Quinn Brander
@quinnbrander.bsky.social
89 followers 350 following 31 posts
Big into designing games and making music. The crowdfunder for my upcoming roguelike board game Gone to Gaia is live on Gamefound, check it out!

tinyurl.com/24p95rza
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quinnbrander.bsky.social
Oh ho, Dan has tried Gone to Gaia and thinks it's neat!! So hyped for his write up!
danthurot.bsky.social Dan Thurot @danthurot.bsky.social · 2d
It has been a wild two weeks! Thanks to SDHistCon, the forthcoming Indie Games Night Market, and my own game days, we've played some truly incredible games. And these are only the ones I can talk about!

AMA.
board games: In the Shadow of Atlas, Heavenly Bodies, Adulting, Compile, Shakespeare's First Folio, An Infamous Traffic, South Pacific, John Company, Medusa's Garden, Hot Streak, Terra, Bowie, Numberwang, Spot It!, Qwirkle, Night Soil, Win Lose or Banana, Spooktacular, Gone to Gaia, Paper Pencil Stencil, Fold & Fly!, Coupon Clipper, The Old King's Crown, Conviction
November 18, 2025 at 9:47 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
When you reduce the possibility of epic fails in a game, you tend to also reduce the possibility of epic wins. I want my players to feel a wide gamut of emotions, and sometimes that means allowing them to step on a rake.
ericlang.bsky.social Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 8d
“Players shouldn’t have bad turns”

Is some of the most useless, privileged, nonsense game design reductionism I’ve ever heard.

Ewwwwww 🤮
November 13, 2025 at 8:17 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Ran Gone to Gaia with the wonderful Paula and Steven after hours at Supercell HQ. They overcame the Goldmonger and, filled with confidence, challenged thr devious Hundredeyes. Tragically, their luck ran out and Paula's hero Claudia suffered a mortal wound 💀😩
October 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
And we're funded! Thanks everyone for supporting new games, its really cool of you 🙏
October 21, 2025 at 8:11 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
If YOU are the person that gets us over the funding goal, I will compose a haiku about you ✍️
quinnbrander.bsky.social Quinn Brander @quinnbrander.bsky.social · 29d
We're at 96% funding! Would love your support to get us over the edge!
October 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
We're at 96% funding! Would love your support to get us over the edge!
October 21, 2025 at 7:15 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Had a great conversation with the illustrious @isaaconearth.bsky.social where we answer some follower questions about Gone to Gaia, link below if you want to check it out!
October 3, 2025 at 7:30 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Wowow reached 3000 followers!
September 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Yay we just crossed 2000 followers on GameFound! There's been a lot of momentum today and I'm not sure exactly why but pleased to see it!
August 5, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Quinn Brander
catacalypto.bsky.social
Stacey has what is to me the definitive analysis of all this discourse on games and art:
stcymsn.bsky.social Stacey Mason @stcymsn.bsky.social · Aug 4
Wow we’re having “games are art” discourse again! Just gonna leave this here.

From my dissertation:
2.1 Lenses, Not Boxes I wondered whether this section was necessary, but games discourse seems to repeatedly find itself adrift in questions of whether _ counts as a _. We have seen the question repeatedly: Do games count as art? Do games without goals count as games? Is The Sims a game? Are hypertexts interactive fiction? Are Twine pieces literature? In fairness to the researchers cited here, all of whom I respect immensely, many of these sources pose or imply the question rhetorically. Still, the necessity of such a framing frustrates me. "Is _ a _?" is, in my opinion, a fruitless question. The question can never be answered to anyone's satisfaction, and it often serves as either a provocation to espouse politics or as a cover to institute gatekeeping. Its agenda is usually opaque to onlookers and bewildering to those trying to advance the field from across disciplines. We should be thinking in lenses, not boxes. It is always more interesting to ask "If we think of _ through the lens of _, what do we learn?" We know it is more interesting to ask "What do we learn by considering Tom Stoppard through the lens of poststructuralism?" than to ask "Is Stoppard's work poststructuralist?" And while some works may be more or less fruitful when examined through different lenses, sometimes the most unlikely pairings of lenses and objects are the most rewarding. Certainly any of the questions above would be much better served by reframing them in this way.
August 4, 2025 at 12:25 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
I've been reflecting recently on why I make games. It goes back to childhood - when I was a kid, nothing could take me away from reality like games could. Especially in grade 6, when I was bedridden, all I had to keep me company was my Game Boy Advance. Part 1/x
August 2, 2025 at 1:28 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Gone to Gaia was hopping all day! LOVED seeing players having fun and getting lost in it for a while, it's the entire reason I make games 🤗
August 1, 2025 at 12:55 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
And we're off!
July 31, 2025 at 2:15 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
So stoked to unleash this at Gen Con!!
July 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Gone to Gaia cover art reveal!!

🌟🤩🌟
July 30, 2025 at 11:34 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
Aaand we're trapped in Minneapolis due to a case of Bad Plane 🛬 when life hands you delays, make delaymonade?
July 30, 2025 at 2:15 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
En route to Gen Con all the way from Rome, let's gooooo
July 29, 2025 at 11:52 AM
quinnbrander.bsky.social
I hear all the coolest board game enjoyers that are also too humble to say so are on this platform, is it true?
July 29, 2025 at 11:36 AM