Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
@seraphimseraphina.bsky.social
she/her • Writer, Game Designer, Professional Amateur • Co-moderator of the Dice Exploder Discord server • trans queer woman of color • that friend who probably has a game recommendation for you
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
Folks are still catching up to @armaanautomatic.itch.io's brilliant piece on The Ultimates #17 and ADHD:
comicsxf.com/2025/10/26/d...
comicsxf.com/2025/10/26/d...
Doom, Me & ADHD: Nothing in Marvel's Ultimates #17 needs fixing - COMICSXF
Doom learns that his torturer and foe is just another version of Reed Richards, and struggles with who he is in the face of that.
comicsxf.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Folks are still catching up to @armaanautomatic.itch.io's brilliant piece on The Ultimates #17 and ADHD:
comicsxf.com/2025/10/26/d...
comicsxf.com/2025/10/26/d...
i need more games for sickos. so many are so intensely aiming for broad appeal. whenever i find a game that is unapologetically weird it feels exactly like a glass of water in the middle of the desert. do your own specific thing. give me, the sicko, something i can sink my teeth into.
October 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
i need more games for sickos. so many are so intensely aiming for broad appeal. whenever i find a game that is unapologetically weird it feels exactly like a glass of water in the middle of the desert. do your own specific thing. give me, the sicko, something i can sink my teeth into.
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
Part 3 is here. The deep dive into the Ennies. If you're someone who doesn't know much about the Ennie Awards, you should read parts 1 and 2. But if you like a bit of inside baseball and are interested in award shows in general—this is the article for you.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/
How are the Ennies designed?
An insider's look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part three. How does the structure of the Ennies determine its outcomes? And what does it mean for others?
www.explorersdesign.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Part 3 is here. The deep dive into the Ennies. If you're someone who doesn't know much about the Ennie Awards, you should read parts 1 and 2. But if you like a bit of inside baseball and are interested in award shows in general—this is the article for you.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
Alright, the first in-depth article of my awards debrief is live. "How do the Ennies work?" A top-down look at my judging experience from A to Z.
Please share, leave comments, and ask questions. And don't forget to read part 1 if you haven't already.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-2/
Please share, leave comments, and ask questions. And don't forget to read part 1 if you haven't already.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-2/
How do the Ennies work?
An insider's look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part two. What is the award process like behind closed doors, and how do the judges select nominees?
www.explorersdesign.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Alright, the first in-depth article of my awards debrief is live. "How do the Ennies work?" A top-down look at my judging experience from A to Z.
Please share, leave comments, and ask questions. And don't forget to read part 1 if you haven't already.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-2/
Please share, leave comments, and ask questions. And don't forget to read part 1 if you haven't already.
www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-2/
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
one thing thats crazy is that all art movements are just systems of hundreds of individual little unique goblins, none of whom did the exact movement; particles of the movement wave
it sucks that its useful to know the name of every art movement
October 7, 2025 at 4:17 AM
one thing thats crazy is that all art movements are just systems of hundreds of individual little unique goblins, none of whom did the exact movement; particles of the movement wave
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
hi i'm getting a kickass set of new genitals installed in 2 weeks from now !! isn't that fucking cool ?
i could use a little bit of help with medical bills + housing expenses during recovery and so i've set up a little gofundme!
gofund.me/394dc2e93
i could use a little bit of help with medical bills + housing expenses during recovery and so i've set up a little gofundme!
gofund.me/394dc2e93
Donate to Support Jay Dragon's sicknasty bottom surgery, organized by Jay Dragon
Hi I'm Jay Dragon, a queer disabled game designer best known for her work on … Jay Dragon needs your support for Support Jay Dragon's sicknasty bottom surgery
gofund.me
September 29, 2025 at 11:57 PM
hi i'm getting a kickass set of new genitals installed in 2 weeks from now !! isn't that fucking cool ?
i could use a little bit of help with medical bills + housing expenses during recovery and so i've set up a little gofundme!
gofund.me/394dc2e93
i could use a little bit of help with medical bills + housing expenses during recovery and so i've set up a little gofundme!
gofund.me/394dc2e93
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
I wrote a little about criticism today. idlecartulary.com/2025/09/25/w...
What do critics owe us?
A few things recently happened in the discourse that raised the question, “what do critics owe us?”, in various forums across the TTRPG space. I have a response, but to understand it we must meande…
idlecartulary.com
September 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I wrote a little about criticism today. idlecartulary.com/2025/09/25/w...
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
September 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
The modern equivalent of a heartbreaker is some game that no one has ever heard about that has amazing design principles that are innovative or elegant or just really well done, but that are languishing on itch because no one has ever thought to read it.
September 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM
The modern equivalent of a heartbreaker is some game that no one has ever heard about that has amazing design principles that are innovative or elegant or just really well done, but that are languishing on itch because no one has ever thought to read it.
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
triangle agency is a fun game to play with your friends :)
September 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
triangle agency is a fun game to play with your friends :)
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
@seraphimseraphina.bsky.social published a really neat case study of Triangle Agency today with @jdragsky.bsky.social's Expressionism as a frame! It's very cool to see someone doing a deep read of what's going on within our game and how that affects/supports certain modes of play.
Post by @seraphim-seraphina
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Expressionism in Practice: A Case Study of Triangle Agency · Introduction
Recently Jay Dragon released an essay outlining her vision for an artistic movement oriented at a specifi…
www.tumblr.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:14 PM
@seraphimseraphina.bsky.social published a really neat case study of Triangle Agency today with @jdragsky.bsky.social's Expressionism as a frame! It's very cool to see someone doing a deep read of what's going on within our game and how that affects/supports certain modes of play.
I've been thinking on how to apply the expressionist manifesto as a lens for looking at games, and I decided to demonstrate that approach by analyzing how Triangle Agency aims at expressionist goals and, in doing so, earns a place in my heart.
www.tumblr.com/seraphim-ser...
www.tumblr.com/seraphim-ser...
Post by @seraphim-seraphina
💬 0 🔁 1 ❤️ 1 · Expressionism in Practice: A Case Study of Triangle Agency · Introduction
Recently Jay Dragon released an essay outlining her vision for an artistic movement oriented at a specifi…
www.tumblr.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I've been thinking on how to apply the expressionist manifesto as a lens for looking at games, and I decided to demonstrate that approach by analyzing how Triangle Agency aims at expressionist goals and, in doing so, earns a place in my heart.
www.tumblr.com/seraphim-ser...
www.tumblr.com/seraphim-ser...
This touches on a principle I embrace- lenses, not boxes. Putting things in boxes means defining hard boundaries, losing nuance, and resigning ourselves to only benefiting from one framing. Using lenses instead of boxes means we can use more of them, and see what we learn from new perspectives. 1/2
i think a lot of conversations about whether or not a game "is safe" would be more productively shaped by:
- how risky is this game
- are players aware of and consenting to this risk
- what are tools players can use to mitigate risk
- how risky is this game
- are players aware of and consenting to this risk
- what are tools players can use to mitigate risk
September 16, 2025 at 5:59 PM
This touches on a principle I embrace- lenses, not boxes. Putting things in boxes means defining hard boundaries, losing nuance, and resigning ourselves to only benefiting from one framing. Using lenses instead of boxes means we can use more of them, and see what we learn from new perspectives. 1/2
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
this is esp. useful cuz sometimes people will say "this game/approach isnt safe" when what they often mean is "its more risky"
this lets us now ask... if its more risky, what do we do to scaffold that risk? what do we do to help support people who want it?
this lets us now ask... if its more risky, what do we do to scaffold that risk? what do we do to help support people who want it?
i think a lot of conversations about whether or not a game "is safe" would be more productively shaped by:
- how risky is this game
- are players aware of and consenting to this risk
- what are tools players can use to mitigate risk
- how risky is this game
- are players aware of and consenting to this risk
- what are tools players can use to mitigate risk
September 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
this is esp. useful cuz sometimes people will say "this game/approach isnt safe" when what they often mean is "its more risky"
this lets us now ask... if its more risky, what do we do to scaffold that risk? what do we do to help support people who want it?
this lets us now ask... if its more risky, what do we do to scaffold that risk? what do we do to help support people who want it?
This wasn’t even the most memorable part of the night! Credit for that goes to when the other three workers tried to force me to bargain with them via violence, and I threatened to fire the last person to not leave my office- peeling off one and just barely enabling me to survive. Fantastic game!
heres a play report from @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social who is currently the reigning champion
September 12, 2025 at 1:01 PM
This wasn’t even the most memorable part of the night! Credit for that goes to when the other three workers tried to force me to bargain with them via violence, and I threatened to fire the last person to not leave my office- peeling off one and just barely enabling me to survive. Fantastic game!
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
I wrote a pseudo-memoir feelings blog using @jdragsky.bsky.social's qualities of expressionist games as a frame! It's available with a free sign-up on the Haunted Table Patreon. There are precious few hot takes so don't get too excited! Thinking out loud.
www.patreon.com/posts/you-ma...
www.patreon.com/posts/you-ma...
You May Not Press F | Haunted Table Games
Get more from Haunted Table Games on Patreon
www.patreon.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I wrote a pseudo-memoir feelings blog using @jdragsky.bsky.social's qualities of expressionist games as a frame! It's available with a free sign-up on the Haunted Table Patreon. There are precious few hot takes so don't get too excited! Thinking out loud.
www.patreon.com/posts/you-ma...
www.patreon.com/posts/you-ma...
The view of RPGs isn't wrong per se, but it's a distinction of form and function. the form of a rule is to restrict, but the function of a rule is to support playing the game well. This fantastic article is a great case study of this behavior that rules have. www.thomascummins.com/the-heresy-o...
September 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The view of RPGs isn't wrong per se, but it's a distinction of form and function. the form of a rule is to restrict, but the function of a rule is to support playing the game well. This fantastic article is a great case study of this behavior that rules have. www.thomascummins.com/the-heresy-o...
Just finished playing Persuasion by @xoe.gay for the second time in the past week- what a lovely, exciting game! I once thought TTRPGs might be better referred to as conversation games. Among other reasons, board games like this prove that wrong. 1/3
September 11, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Just finished playing Persuasion by @xoe.gay for the second time in the past week- what a lovely, exciting game! I once thought TTRPGs might be better referred to as conversation games. Among other reasons, board games like this prove that wrong. 1/3
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
i felt like people needed an example of an explicitly expressionist game following yesterday's article. so i drafted one up! it's called THE EXQUISITE CORPSE FACTORY and it's about drawing exquisite corpses to make a living
www.patreon.com/posts/first-...
www.patreon.com/posts/first-...
First Look — The Exquisite Corpse Factory | Jay Dragon (& Friends)
Get more from Jay Dragon (& Friends) on Patreon
www.patreon.com
September 9, 2025 at 7:37 PM
i felt like people needed an example of an explicitly expressionist game following yesterday's article. so i drafted one up! it's called THE EXQUISITE CORPSE FACTORY and it's about drawing exquisite corpses to make a living
www.patreon.com/posts/first-...
www.patreon.com/posts/first-...
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
"This game's rules is frustrating to players" not as a failure state, but as a fecund site of intentional design / artistic possibility.
I do think people have a hard time with this. It goes against orthodox, deeply held assumptions that friction between rules and players is Bad Design.
1/
I do think people have a hard time with this. It goes against orthodox, deeply held assumptions that friction between rules and players is Bad Design.
1/
September 9, 2025 at 3:23 AM
"This game's rules is frustrating to players" not as a failure state, but as a fecund site of intentional design / artistic possibility.
I do think people have a hard time with this. It goes against orthodox, deeply held assumptions that friction between rules and players is Bad Design.
1/
I do think people have a hard time with this. It goes against orthodox, deeply held assumptions that friction between rules and players is Bad Design.
1/
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
I read a draft of jay's new manifesto last week, and it stuck in my head so much that @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social and I spent two hours podcasting about it yesterday. That audio is now up behind the Dice Exploder Patreon.
September 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I read a draft of jay's new manifesto last week, and it stuck in my head so much that @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social and I spent two hours podcasting about it yesterday. That audio is now up behind the Dice Exploder Patreon.
Sam and I went through jay’s manifesto with a fine toothed comb, and it was a lot of fun to see what we dug up about our perspectives on expressionist games as a movement. Really happy with the conversation we had, and I’m very excited to hear and say more about it in the coming days and weeks.
I read a draft of jay's new manifesto last week, and it stuck in my head so much that @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social and I spent two hours podcasting about it yesterday. That audio is now up behind the Dice Exploder Patreon.
September 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Sam and I went through jay’s manifesto with a fine toothed comb, and it was a lot of fun to see what we dug up about our perspectives on expressionist games as a movement. Really happy with the conversation we had, and I’m very excited to hear and say more about it in the coming days and weeks.
This manifesto is such an explosive call to action, both explicitly through the clear goals it sets, and implicitly for how it demands other designers stand up and write their own manifestos. Jay has a lot to be proud of here, and it’s so cool to see the throughline from her earlier work to this.
good morning, i wrote a manifesto about a new direction for game design / play
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...
The Expressionist Games Manifesto
“Work! Intoxication! Brain-racking! Chewing, eating, gorging, rooting up! Rapturous birth pangs! Jabbing of the brush, preferably right…
possumcreek.medium.com
September 8, 2025 at 3:43 PM
This manifesto is such an explosive call to action, both explicitly through the clear goals it sets, and implicitly for how it demands other designers stand up and write their own manifestos. Jay has a lot to be proud of here, and it’s so cool to see the throughline from her earlier work to this.
Reposted by Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
good morning, i wrote a manifesto about a new direction for game design / play
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...
The Expressionist Games Manifesto
“Work! Intoxication! Brain-racking! Chewing, eating, gorging, rooting up! Rapturous birth pangs! Jabbing of the brush, preferably right…
possumcreek.medium.com
September 8, 2025 at 12:41 PM
good morning, i wrote a manifesto about a new direction for game design / play
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...
possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressi...