CaptainKlutz
@captainklutz.bsky.social
Environmental Physicist, card and board game designer, karaoke enthusiast
Queer mixed-race chronically ill immigrant
Queer mixed-race chronically ill immigrant
Sometimes I wonder if I overspend on @dragonshield.bsky.social sleeves. But then I get to colour code cards from my prototypes like this and I realise it's definitely worth it (colours in alt text)
November 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Sometimes I wonder if I overspend on @dragonshield.bsky.social sleeves. But then I get to colour code cards from my prototypes like this and I realise it's definitely worth it (colours in alt text)
So #SPIEL25 had genAI cards on its main stage. UKGE is defending genAI board game companies on social media. How many major conventions in Europe are left who actually support human artists?
@ukge.bsky.social shared a post on Instagram about a card game that has gAI 'art'. People (including me) commented on it expressing their disappointment. UKGE chose to respond by hiding the comments.
Should we assume UKGE is pro gAI and doesn't care for artists without whom the con wouldn't exist?
Should we assume UKGE is pro gAI and doesn't care for artists without whom the con wouldn't exist?
November 1, 2025 at 9:11 AM
So #SPIEL25 had genAI cards on its main stage. UKGE is defending genAI board game companies on social media. How many major conventions in Europe are left who actually support human artists?
Mushroom game prototype in action! Has potential, need to rework some things for sure
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Mushroom game prototype in action! Has potential, need to rework some things for sure
#CraftWednesday working on a prototype of an area control game about mushrooms and trees growing alongside each other in a Bohemian forest. Aims to reflect real growing conditions. Thanks to @lookoutgames.bsky.social for the wooden components they were giving away at Essen, very useful stuff! 🎲✂️
October 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
#CraftWednesday working on a prototype of an area control game about mushrooms and trees growing alongside each other in a Bohemian forest. Aims to reflect real growing conditions. Thanks to @lookoutgames.bsky.social for the wooden components they were giving away at Essen, very useful stuff! 🎲✂️
Things that have surprised me about #SPIEL25 :
- About 1/20 games use or touch up AI generated illustrations
- The avg. game on display is mechanically much heavier than I expected
- There are many more small/mid Asian developers here than Americans
- No open play zone
- <1% of people wear a mask
🎲✂️
- About 1/20 games use or touch up AI generated illustrations
- The avg. game on display is mechanically much heavier than I expected
- There are many more small/mid Asian developers here than Americans
- No open play zone
- <1% of people wear a mask
🎲✂️
October 25, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Things that have surprised me about #SPIEL25 :
- About 1/20 games use or touch up AI generated illustrations
- The avg. game on display is mechanically much heavier than I expected
- There are many more small/mid Asian developers here than Americans
- No open play zone
- <1% of people wear a mask
🎲✂️
- About 1/20 games use or touch up AI generated illustrations
- The avg. game on display is mechanically much heavier than I expected
- There are many more small/mid Asian developers here than Americans
- No open play zone
- <1% of people wear a mask
🎲✂️
Pubblo (selling themselves as a way for designers to meet publishers) is running a competition to coincide with SPIEL 25- if you sign up, you get free access to the site for the rest of 2025. Not sponsored, I'm just making sure the people who couldn't make it here know 🎲✂️ pubblo.com/spielpitch
Pubblo - A digital marketplace connecting the board game industry
Powering licensing deals in the board game industry. Connect designers, publishers, and distributors worldwide with standardized pitches and streamlined workflows.
pubblo.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Pubblo (selling themselves as a way for designers to meet publishers) is running a competition to coincide with SPIEL 25- if you sign up, you get free access to the site for the rest of 2025. Not sponsored, I'm just making sure the people who couldn't make it here know 🎲✂️ pubblo.com/spielpitch
University of Lleida researchers found that the type of board game you play with children doesn't have a large effect on what they learn; instead, any game that sufficiently engages cognitive functions seems to improve overall performance
October 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
University of Lleida researchers found that the type of board game you play with children doesn't have a large effect on what they learn; instead, any game that sufficiently engages cognitive functions seems to improve overall performance
Differences in play in adults talk: there are no fundamental differences between how children and adults play. But adults tend to see play as something limited to the professionals (actors, sport) and need to feel allowed to play. Hence the gravitation towards game rooms, cafes, evenings, facilities
October 24, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Differences in play in adults talk: there are no fundamental differences between how children and adults play. But adults tend to see play as something limited to the professionals (actors, sport) and need to feel allowed to play. Hence the gravitation towards game rooms, cafes, evenings, facilities
Pedagogy and board games talk points: board games can mimic real scenarios children might otherwise be afraid of. Maintaining interest is difficult in the classroom, but strategic thinking and the challenges provided by games, together with the reward of winning, can provide strong motivation
October 24, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Pedagogy and board games talk points: board games can mimic real scenarios children might otherwise be afraid of. Maintaining interest is difficult in the classroom, but strategic thinking and the challenges provided by games, together with the reward of winning, can provide strong motivation
Heading to SPIEL Essen for the first time! Not got any pitches but looking forward to it all. Anyone got recommendations for stalls, designers or friends who are going to be there who I should check out? Going to also be talking to manufacturers for sure if anyone wants any questions answered! 🎲✂️
October 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Heading to SPIEL Essen for the first time! Not got any pitches but looking forward to it all. Anyone got recommendations for stalls, designers or friends who are going to be there who I should check out? Going to also be talking to manufacturers for sure if anyone wants any questions answered! 🎲✂️
trillion dollar industry
October 16, 2025 at 10:40 AM
trillion dollar industry
Reposted by CaptainKlutz
Reposted by CaptainKlutz
When you consider the *ecocide* alongside the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza, you begin to grasp the totality of the Israeli state’s attempt to eliminate both the Palestinians and their homeland.
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here | George Monbiot
Consider the annihilation of agricultural land alongside the genocide – and grasp the chilling totality of this attempt to eliminate all life, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:59 AM
When you consider the *ecocide* alongside the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza, you begin to grasp the totality of the Israeli state’s attempt to eliminate both the Palestinians and their homeland.
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My carpet designing event entry from a Vintage Story server:
"We Have Always Been Beautiful"
3 wide x 5 high, interior 32x64 pixels
A carpet based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', except I have taken the artistic liberty of making the subject a trans woman.
"We Have Always Been Beautiful"
3 wide x 5 high, interior 32x64 pixels
A carpet based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', except I have taken the artistic liberty of making the subject a trans woman.
August 31, 2025 at 10:37 AM
My carpet designing event entry from a Vintage Story server:
"We Have Always Been Beautiful"
3 wide x 5 high, interior 32x64 pixels
A carpet based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', except I have taken the artistic liberty of making the subject a trans woman.
"We Have Always Been Beautiful"
3 wide x 5 high, interior 32x64 pixels
A carpet based on Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus', except I have taken the artistic liberty of making the subject a trans woman.
Königssee, Germany. Shame about the haze today, otherwise an absolutely amazing view
August 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Königssee, Germany. Shame about the haze today, otherwise an absolutely amazing view
#CraftWednesday Instead of printing double sided or having to glue backs to cards, I've started using card sleeves of different colours to differentiate between different decks (e.g. roles and resources). Makes them last much longer and feel better to play with as well!
July 30, 2025 at 6:46 AM
#CraftWednesday Instead of printing double sided or having to glue backs to cards, I've started using card sleeves of different colours to differentiate between different decks (e.g. roles and resources). Makes them last much longer and feel better to play with as well!
Reposted by CaptainKlutz
A reminder: this is what's fuelling Elon Musk's racist text generation software over on the white supremacist website that major institutions can't stop using
Incredible satellite image of the 33 (!!!!) operational fossil fuel combustion engines at the site of Elon Musk's XAI data centre
“appalling that xAI would operate more than 30 methane gas turbines without any permits or any public oversight"
@selc.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
“appalling that xAI would operate more than 30 methane gas turbines without any permits or any public oversight"
@selc.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
July 9, 2025 at 5:12 AM
A reminder: this is what's fuelling Elon Musk's racist text generation software over on the white supremacist website that major institutions can't stop using
Back on the south coast of England visiting family. Thanks to @irishrainforest.bsky.social and others I now look at landslip forests in a completely fresh way. It's amazing to see what grows on a landslip in a decade while it's out of the reach of grazing animals and human intervention.
June 21, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Back on the south coast of England visiting family. Thanks to @irishrainforest.bsky.social and others I now look at landslip forests in a completely fresh way. It's amazing to see what grows on a landslip in a decade while it's out of the reach of grazing animals and human intervention.
Reposted by CaptainKlutz
if i can be y’all’s dad for a second:
one of the most important things I’ve learned is that acquiring a skill is literally uncomfortable
that awful moment where you feel confused and stupid and embarrassed? it means you’re about to learn something. and it’s *mandatory* if you want to get better
one of the most important things I’ve learned is that acquiring a skill is literally uncomfortable
that awful moment where you feel confused and stupid and embarrassed? it means you’re about to learn something. and it’s *mandatory* if you want to get better
I am surrounded by people who are outsourcing their own thinking to ChatGPT and they are quickly and obviously becoming dependent on it for even the most banal tasks. Once again, the "figuring it out" is the important part. Yes, you can use a crane to lift weights but you will not get stronger
June 17, 2025 at 3:46 PM
if i can be y’all’s dad for a second:
one of the most important things I’ve learned is that acquiring a skill is literally uncomfortable
that awful moment where you feel confused and stupid and embarrassed? it means you’re about to learn something. and it’s *mandatory* if you want to get better
one of the most important things I’ve learned is that acquiring a skill is literally uncomfortable
that awful moment where you feel confused and stupid and embarrassed? it means you’re about to learn something. and it’s *mandatory* if you want to get better
🎲✂️ I'm extremely grateful for free software such as LibreOffice and nanDECK that streamline the prototyping process to the point where I now can't imagine a world without them. What software do other game crafters use? Would people appreciate video tutorials on how to turn spreadsheets into games?
June 16, 2025 at 6:01 AM
🎲✂️ I'm extremely grateful for free software such as LibreOffice and nanDECK that streamline the prototyping process to the point where I now can't imagine a world without them. What software do other game crafters use? Would people appreciate video tutorials on how to turn spreadsheets into games?
🎲✂️ One of the fastest lessons I learned when making game prototypes is you shouldn't be afraid of piggybacking. If you're determined to use a fun word instead of Discard, make sure it's painfully obvious. Every little unfamiliarity that slows a new player down will affect their uptake of your game.
June 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM
🎲✂️ One of the fastest lessons I learned when making game prototypes is you shouldn't be afraid of piggybacking. If you're determined to use a fun word instead of Discard, make sure it's painfully obvious. Every little unfamiliarity that slows a new player down will affect their uptake of your game.
🎲✂️ Been talking with friends about comeback mechanics in board games and I keep recalling this example: When playing best-of-3 rock paper scissors, the winner of the first round has a 67% chance to win overall. It's worthwhile to think about whether your game is more or less forgiving than that.
June 7, 2025 at 8:19 PM
🎲✂️ Been talking with friends about comeback mechanics in board games and I keep recalling this example: When playing best-of-3 rock paper scissors, the winner of the first round has a 67% chance to win overall. It's worthwhile to think about whether your game is more or less forgiving than that.
#CraftWednesday trying to at least appear organised with my prototypes! @jacksonpope.bsky.social saw you at UKGE but your stall was so busy every time I walked past I didn't get a chance to play! Hope it went great for you
June 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
#CraftWednesday trying to at least appear organised with my prototypes! @jacksonpope.bsky.social saw you at UKGE but your stall was so busy every time I walked past I didn't get a chance to play! Hope it went great for you
Arch Enemies is almost ready to go for the UK games expo! Time to schedule some meetings! #boardgames 🎲✂️
May 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Arch Enemies is almost ready to go for the UK games expo! Time to schedule some meetings! #boardgames 🎲✂️
Reposted by CaptainKlutz
This is where your Harry Potter money goes
jk rowling funded a case going before the supreme court that argues it should be legal to discriminate against and persecute trans ppl.
yet still we have to listen to ‘centrists’ claiming she isn’t bigoted she just has ‘a difference of opinion’.
no trans ppl have a voice in these proceedings.
yet still we have to listen to ‘centrists’ claiming she isn’t bigoted she just has ‘a difference of opinion’.
no trans ppl have a voice in these proceedings.
April 16, 2025 at 9:50 AM
This is where your Harry Potter money goes