R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
@rericreuss.bsky.social
Game Designer & Dad. Best known for Spirit Island.
He/him. Black Lives Matter. Trans Rights are Human Rights. Also on ohai.social/@REricReuss (Mastodon), but here more.
My website: https://rericreuss.com/
He/him. Black Lives Matter. Trans Rights are Human Rights. Also on ohai.social/@REricReuss (Mastodon), but here more.
My website: https://rericreuss.com/
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
In Ecuador’s Pastaza province, the Kichwa community of Pakayaku has kept 400 km² of Amazon rainforest free from mining, oil and logging through a self-organised guardian force. buff.ly/tmtqu4s
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests
PAKAYAKU TERRITORY, Ecuador — Deep in the heart of Ecuador’s Amazon, where the Bobonaza River winds through ancient forests in Pastaza province, Sacha Gayas spreads out a hand-drawn map across her…
buff.ly
November 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
In Ecuador’s Pastaza province, the Kichwa community of Pakayaku has kept 400 km² of Amazon rainforest free from mining, oil and logging through a self-organised guardian force. buff.ly/tmtqu4s
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
The last two days have involved some emotionally-rough work, so this afternoon I'm taking a break & re-reading @maxgladstone.bsky.social 's Wicked Problems before jumping into the just-released Dead Hand Rule.
Today is SO MUCH BETTER.
Today is SO MUCH BETTER.
October 31, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The last two days have involved some emotionally-rough work, so this afternoon I'm taking a break & re-reading @maxgladstone.bsky.social 's Wicked Problems before jumping into the just-released Dead Hand Rule.
Today is SO MUCH BETTER.
Today is SO MUCH BETTER.
From Cultural Survival: mailchi.mp/culturalsurv... Of course, many of them are things that are great to do anytime, not just today!
Today I'm finally starting Braiding Sweetgrass, which has been on my to-read list for ages.
Today I'm finally starting Braiding Sweetgrass, which has been on my to-read list for ages.
15 Calls to Action on Indigenous Peoples Day!
mailchi.mp
October 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
From Cultural Survival: mailchi.mp/culturalsurv... Of course, many of them are things that are great to do anytime, not just today!
Today I'm finally starting Braiding Sweetgrass, which has been on my to-read list for ages.
Today I'm finally starting Braiding Sweetgrass, which has been on my to-read list for ages.
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
‼️🚨KICKSTARTER WORKERS ARE ON STRIKE🚨‼️
As of 8am this morning, the workers of Kickstarter United/OPEIU Local 153 are on strike.
WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A BOYCOTT! Creators and allies, please continue using and supporting the platform.
As of 8am this morning, the workers of Kickstarter United/OPEIU Local 153 are on strike.
WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A BOYCOTT! Creators and allies, please continue using and supporting the platform.
October 2, 2025 at 12:15 PM
‼️🚨KICKSTARTER WORKERS ARE ON STRIKE🚨‼️
As of 8am this morning, the workers of Kickstarter United/OPEIU Local 153 are on strike.
WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A BOYCOTT! Creators and allies, please continue using and supporting the platform.
As of 8am this morning, the workers of Kickstarter United/OPEIU Local 153 are on strike.
WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A BOYCOTT! Creators and allies, please continue using and supporting the platform.
This is a really good explanation of stuff I've seen over the past decade+.
ICYMI: Part One of my thoughts on how the “free speech culture” movement contributed to the moment of historical censorship www.popehat.com/p/how-free-s...
How "Free Speech Culture" Is Killing Free Speech: Part One
Blurring The Lines Between Official Censorship And Individual Criticism Built The Intellectual Foundation For Trump's Assault On Free Expression
www.popehat.com
September 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
This is a really good explanation of stuff I've seen over the past decade+.
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
Hey, if you can help me out, take a moment and back or share my new Kickstarter?
Even if you don't use VTT's there are options to support us that would mean the world to me. Thanks!
Even if you don't use VTT's there are options to support us that would mean the world to me. Thanks!
And we're live!
Please help us bring our actual play podcast (from @manysidedmedia.bsky.social and @talesyettold.com )to life and bring Coyote & Crow content to @foundryvtt.store and @roll20.net
www.kickstarter.com/projects/coy... #TTRPG #RPG #tabletop #NativeSky
Please help us bring our actual play podcast (from @manysidedmedia.bsky.social and @talesyettold.com )to life and bring Coyote & Crow content to @foundryvtt.store and @roll20.net
www.kickstarter.com/projects/coy... #TTRPG #RPG #tabletop #NativeSky
Coyote & Crow: Digital
Expand Coyote & Crow across multiple digital platforms
www.kickstarter.com
September 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Hey, if you can help me out, take a moment and back or share my new Kickstarter?
Even if you don't use VTT's there are options to support us that would mean the world to me. Thanks!
Even if you don't use VTT's there are options to support us that would mean the world to me. Thanks!
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
My wonderful friends at @absurdistprod.bsky.social are looking for indigenous artists for paid work on their RPG.
Please share!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Please share!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Call For Artists
Call for Artists — 1000 Generations RPG Absurdist Productions is seeking a diverse group of artists for our upcoming tabletop role-playing game: 1000 Generations. About the Game 1000 Generations is a ...
docs.google.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
My wonderful friends at @absurdistprod.bsky.social are looking for indigenous artists for paid work on their RPG.
Please share!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Please share!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
I remember the experience of noticing, c. 1999, that this newer search engine "Google" just... *gave better results* than others.
Over the last month, I've had a similar experience with a search engine called Kagi. Searching over 100x/month requires a subscription, but that may be worth it to me.
Over the last month, I've had a similar experience with a search engine called Kagi. Searching over 100x/month requires a subscription, but that may be worth it to me.
August 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I remember the experience of noticing, c. 1999, that this newer search engine "Google" just... *gave better results* than others.
Over the last month, I've had a similar experience with a search engine called Kagi. Searching over 100x/month requires a subscription, but that may be worth it to me.
Over the last month, I've had a similar experience with a search engine called Kagi. Searching over 100x/month requires a subscription, but that may be worth it to me.
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
Reminder that Congress is out of session and it is the perfect time to look up when your members will be near you and tell them in person how you are affected by all this fuckery. Try to think of one specific ask -- stop funding genocide, stop tariffs, whatever you feel most strongly about.
August 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reminder that Congress is out of session and it is the perfect time to look up when your members will be near you and tell them in person how you are affected by all this fuckery. Try to think of one specific ask -- stop funding genocide, stop tariffs, whatever you feel most strongly about.
This is a fantastic overview of reactions to CGE's decision to pay JKR royalties: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...
I'm not a reviewer, but given CGE's current stance, I certainly don't plan on buying from or pitching to them. Which is really too bad, I'd liked them.
I'm not a reviewer, but given CGE's current stance, I certainly don't plan on buying from or pitching to them. Which is really too bad, I'd liked them.
Reviewers including No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down boycott Codenames publisher CGE for releasing new Harry Potter game while ignoring JK Rowling’s anti-trans rhetoric -
Some of board gaming's biggest and most influential reviewers are boycotting Codenames publisher Czech Games Edition, after the company decided to release a new Harry Potter-themed version of the game...
boardgamewire.com
July 29, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This is a fantastic overview of reactions to CGE's decision to pay JKR royalties: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...
I'm not a reviewer, but given CGE's current stance, I certainly don't plan on buying from or pitching to them. Which is really too bad, I'd liked them.
I'm not a reviewer, but given CGE's current stance, I certainly don't plan on buying from or pitching to them. Which is really too bad, I'd liked them.
Hello, I'm a board game designer in a film, except most folks don't realize that's a profession so I'm shown as a toy inventor instead. I'm manically obsessive and wildly, carelessly creative, working amidst drifts of previous half-baked designs... which to be fair is accurate. Just not the toy part
Hello, I'm a historian in a film. I study ancient celebrity secrets & lost treasure. I teach at a university but that's no impediment to me rushing off to another continent on no notice. All my info comes from discovering a mysterious document or inscription, whose translation is 100% unambiguous.
Hello, I'm an author in a film. I will be seen doing anything but writing a book, because typing is boring. Then I will have a 30-second montage of clicking away at a keyboard, I will hand a ream of paper to my editor who will declare it to be genius and a week later I will be atop the NYT list.
July 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Hello, I'm a board game designer in a film, except most folks don't realize that's a profession so I'm shown as a toy inventor instead. I'm manically obsessive and wildly, carelessly creative, working amidst drifts of previous half-baked designs... which to be fair is accurate. Just not the toy part
I knew Tom Lehrer was amazing - I loved his music, growing up - but I did not realize he was amazing in this particular way.
(Linking near end of thread so you get the whole thing)
(Linking near end of thread so you get the whole thing)
So I sent an email to the NSA historians. And I asked them: hey, when was this first noticed, and how much of a gas did people think it was? Did he get in trouble for it? That sort of stuff.
The answer came back: "We've never heard of this before. It's news to us."
The answer came back: "We've never heard of this before. It's news to us."
July 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I knew Tom Lehrer was amazing - I loved his music, growing up - but I did not realize he was amazing in this particular way.
(Linking near end of thread so you get the whole thing)
(Linking near end of thread so you get the whole thing)
Yeah. While there are certainly households that can manage it these days, as you add common confounding factors (caring for kids/aging parents, disability, exhausting/high-hour jobs, cooking being unpleasant or high-drain rather than easy & enjoyable, etc) it quickly becomes less & less reasonable.
I see grocery/takeout shaming discourse going around again, so this is your periodic historian reminder that cooking from scratch daily while working has never been sustainable, and for millennia everyone either relied on takeout & restaurants or ate in huge households w/ big dorm-like group dining.
July 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Yeah. While there are certainly households that can manage it these days, as you add common confounding factors (caring for kids/aging parents, disability, exhausting/high-hour jobs, cooking being unpleasant or high-drain rather than easy & enjoyable, etc) it quickly becomes less & less reasonable.
AB Con is holding their yearly fundraiser! www.kickstarter.com/projects/olu...
The con supports the board gaming scene in Africa (generally) / Nigeria (particularly), introducing hobby games to people who've never tried them and encouraging the local design community. 👍👍
The con supports the board gaming scene in Africa (generally) / Nigeria (particularly), introducing hobby games to people who've never tried them and encouraging the local design community. 👍👍
www.kickstarter.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
AB Con is holding their yearly fundraiser! www.kickstarter.com/projects/olu...
The con supports the board gaming scene in Africa (generally) / Nigeria (particularly), introducing hobby games to people who've never tried them and encouraging the local design community. 👍👍
The con supports the board gaming scene in Africa (generally) / Nigeria (particularly), introducing hobby games to people who've never tried them and encouraging the local design community. 👍👍
I've *finally* finished migrating my low-bandwidth email list! These days it's mostly "I'll be at convention X", but news about the future of Spirit Island will also go there. (Once there's anything to say and I can say any of it publicly.)
rericreuss.eo.page/newsletter-s...
rericreuss.eo.page/newsletter-s...
R. Eric Reuss - Newsletter signup
Sign up for R. Eric Reuss' very-occasional email newsleter
rericreuss.eo.page
May 4, 2025 at 12:27 AM
I've *finally* finished migrating my low-bandwidth email list! These days it's mostly "I'll be at convention X", but news about the future of Spirit Island will also go there. (Once there's anything to say and I can say any of it publicly.)
rericreuss.eo.page/newsletter-s...
rericreuss.eo.page/newsletter-s...
This is so well-put!
Instead of the whole savior nonsense, & putting pressure on youths, we all need to understand there's joy to be had in community, in helping others & being helped, & that everyone is responsible for everyone else, not because we're all the same but because we're all different and we need each other.
May 3, 2025 at 8:03 PM
This is so well-put!
So many people have reached out to me (❤️) that I'm having trouble responding to individuals (for which I apologize). I've made a short post on my website which answers the two most common questions I'm getting: "how are you?" and "what now?" rericreuss.com/2025/04/17/s...
Sad Greater Than Games news – R. Eric Reuss
rericreuss.com
April 17, 2025 at 11:57 PM
So many people have reached out to me (❤️) that I'm having trouble responding to individuals (for which I apologize). I've made a short post on my website which answers the two most common questions I'm getting: "how are you?" and "what now?" rericreuss.com/2025/04/17/s...
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
ELECTION RESULT: A team of city council members in Rolla, Missouri, have been pushing anti-LGTB policies, including a ban on drag shows and book censorship.
Voters just ousted all three of these city councilors who were running for reelection, backing candidates backed by a local LGBT group.
Voters just ousted all three of these city councilors who were running for reelection, backing candidates backed by a local LGBT group.
April 9, 2025 at 2:27 AM
ELECTION RESULT: A team of city council members in Rolla, Missouri, have been pushing anti-LGTB policies, including a ban on drag shows and book censorship.
Voters just ousted all three of these city councilors who were running for reelection, backing candidates backed by a local LGBT group.
Voters just ousted all three of these city councilors who were running for reelection, backing candidates backed by a local LGBT group.
If you mentally substitute "designing board games" for "writing novels", this video is EXTREMELY applicable to game design, with lots of good information/advice.
(Board games are, of course, *different* than books, so there are differences in, e.g., the revision process. But still.)
(Board games are, of course, *different* than books, so there are differences in, e.g., the revision process. But still.)
The Philosophy of Professional Writing: Brandon Sanderson's Writing Lecture #1 (2025)
YouTube video by Brandon Sanderson
www.youtube.com
March 21, 2025 at 12:18 AM
If you mentally substitute "designing board games" for "writing novels", this video is EXTREMELY applicable to game design, with lots of good information/advice.
(Board games are, of course, *different* than books, so there are differences in, e.g., the revision process. But still.)
(Board games are, of course, *different* than books, so there are differences in, e.g., the revision process. But still.)
This is also where I'm at for Generative AI.(*) My understanding is that power consumption is falling drastically (for queries, training a new one still uses oodles), but even at 0 environmental cost I'd still be cranky about "big corps/billionaires appropriate All Internet Text for personal profit"
I don't use AI for many reasons, but the main one being data/intellectual property theft.
March 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM
This is also where I'm at for Generative AI.(*) My understanding is that power consumption is falling drastically (for queries, training a new one still uses oodles), but even at 0 environmental cost I'd still be cranky about "big corps/billionaires appropriate All Internet Text for personal profit"
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
Old man attends WI hearing to support anti-trans bill, but had to sit through hours of trans voices/allies talking.
He changes his mind and apologizes for his past anti-trans views and activism.
He changes his mind and apologizes for his past anti-trans views and activism.
March 18, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Old man attends WI hearing to support anti-trans bill, but had to sit through hours of trans voices/allies talking.
He changes his mind and apologizes for his past anti-trans views and activism.
He changes his mind and apologizes for his past anti-trans views and activism.
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
Hayao Miyazaki's short guide to watercolor painting -- we put this translation together a couple of years ago
February 2, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Hayao Miyazaki's short guide to watercolor painting -- we put this translation together a couple of years ago
Reposted by R. Eric Reuss ➡️ PAX U
Holy heck!! My fav tea company and my fav game company, AND they collaborated to make an INDIGENOUS TEA??????
This literally could not get any better! Can't wait to try this blend!
This literally could not get any better! Can't wait to try this blend!
I've been waiting to announce this now for what feels like ages!
Add some flavor to your TTRPG table with our official Cahokia blend of tea. Preorder now!
www.fridaytea.com/products/cah... #NativeSky #Indigenous #IndigenousFuturism #roleplaying
Add some flavor to your TTRPG table with our official Cahokia blend of tea. Preorder now!
www.fridaytea.com/products/cah... #NativeSky #Indigenous #IndigenousFuturism #roleplaying
March 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Holy heck!! My fav tea company and my fav game company, AND they collaborated to make an INDIGENOUS TEA??????
This literally could not get any better! Can't wait to try this blend!
This literally could not get any better! Can't wait to try this blend!
Excellently insightful thread, well worth the read. (And it links to one of Bret Devereaux's excellent ACOUP posts, too!)
Strong, resilient systems are not efficient systems, and vice versa.
I don’t work in tech so I don’t know if it’s even true that, as some claim, “10% of programmers do 90% of the work.” But even if it were, and even if you could generalize that, losing 10% of air traffic safety, or food safety, or cancer research doesn’t just mean less revenue, it means more death.
February 21, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Excellently insightful thread, well worth the read. (And it links to one of Bret Devereaux's excellent ACOUP posts, too!)
If you design board games, or work in the industry, check out this NPI video. Not because the thumbnail is awesome (which it is), but because it looks into the origins of some oft-repeated conventional wisdom... which turns out to be a *very* worthwhile examination.
All I will tell you about our new video is that it is about arousal.
Enjoy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFCU...
Enjoy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFCU...
This is Arousal
YouTube video by No Pun Included
www.youtube.com
February 3, 2025 at 9:06 PM
If you design board games, or work in the industry, check out this NPI video. Not because the thumbnail is awesome (which it is), but because it looks into the origins of some oft-repeated conventional wisdom... which turns out to be a *very* worthwhile examination.