Feedback Loop Games
@feedbackloop.bsky.social
A history of cheating in chess, from the Mechanical Turk in the 18th century, to psychic battles in the audience during the Cold War, to the monetization of cheating drama in the era of social media
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtN-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtN-...
Everyone's Cheating At Chess (Allegedly)
YouTube video by Sarah Z
www.youtube.com
July 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
A history of cheating in chess, from the Mechanical Turk in the 18th century, to psychic battles in the audience during the Cold War, to the monetization of cheating drama in the era of social media
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtN-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtN-...
Today's board games—which are not about money—depend on fragile social norms. At the table, we're at once competitors and comrades. Even mundane games ask for a trust that is not universally held, like teaching or therapy.
This has not always been possible, and it may not always be possible.
This has not always been possible, and it may not always be possible.
June 14, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Today's board games—which are not about money—depend on fragile social norms. At the table, we're at once competitors and comrades. Even mundane games ask for a trust that is not universally held, like teaching or therapy.
This has not always been possible, and it may not always be possible.
This has not always been possible, and it may not always be possible.
"I did Liberation Day tariffs in Victoria 3, and it all went well until the famine in Colorado, the 2 lost wars with Canada, and the president beating a man to death with a stick"
An ironic simulationist take on tariff policy By Joshua Wolens, benevolent dictator and warden of virtual Colorado
An ironic simulationist take on tariff policy By Joshua Wolens, benevolent dictator and warden of virtual Colorado
I did Liberation Day tariffs in Victoria 3, and it all went well until the famine in Colorado, the 2 lost wars with Canada, and the president beating a man to death with a stick
But apart from that, would recommend.
www.pcgamer.com
May 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"I did Liberation Day tariffs in Victoria 3, and it all went well until the famine in Colorado, the 2 lost wars with Canada, and the president beating a man to death with a stick"
An ironic simulationist take on tariff policy By Joshua Wolens, benevolent dictator and warden of virtual Colorado
An ironic simulationist take on tariff policy By Joshua Wolens, benevolent dictator and warden of virtual Colorado
A search for a missing game designer and a meditation on the inaccessibility of history. Who shows up in the archive, and why? And what does it cost to uncover our past?
Amabel Holland encourages us all to participate in the stewardship of shared history in this wonderful video essay
Amabel Holland encourages us all to participate in the stewardship of shared history in this wonderful video essay
I spent a year trying to find out who designed a fifty year old board game. Here's what I found out.
youtu.be/MWteJW-wYas
youtu.be/MWteJW-wYas
Uncredited: Searching for Lost Board Game Designers
YouTube video by Mary & Amabel Holland
youtu.be
May 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
A search for a missing game designer and a meditation on the inaccessibility of history. Who shows up in the archive, and why? And what does it cost to uncover our past?
Amabel Holland encourages us all to participate in the stewardship of shared history in this wonderful video essay
Amabel Holland encourages us all to participate in the stewardship of shared history in this wonderful video essay
Penetrating analysis of who wins on reality TV from @leighalexander.bsky.social
Reality TV depends on being seen as both game and not-game, with stars both playing and not-playing. Does this internal contradiction help explain our reality TV president?
xleighalexanderx.substack.com/p/what-makes...
Reality TV depends on being seen as both game and not-game, with stars both playing and not-playing. Does this internal contradiction help explain our reality TV president?
xleighalexanderx.substack.com/p/what-makes...
What Makes a Great Reality Star?
And what happens when one is the American President?
xleighalexanderx.substack.com
May 6, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Penetrating analysis of who wins on reality TV from @leighalexander.bsky.social
Reality TV depends on being seen as both game and not-game, with stars both playing and not-playing. Does this internal contradiction help explain our reality TV president?
xleighalexanderx.substack.com/p/what-makes...
Reality TV depends on being seen as both game and not-game, with stars both playing and not-playing. Does this internal contradiction help explain our reality TV president?
xleighalexanderx.substack.com/p/what-makes...
A theory of gateway games by @gengelstein.bsky.social.
Gateway games have "one way flow." You get something, you spend it on something else, you buy victory points. Each step is an interesting choice, and some games add a "twist"—but as a rule, gateway games avoid feedback loops.
Sad for us!
Gateway games have "one way flow." You get something, you spend it on something else, you buy victory points. Each step is an interesting choice, and some games add a "twist"—but as a rule, gateway games avoid feedback loops.
Sad for us!
New GameTek!
I propose a Design Pattern for "gateway-style" games.
gametek.substack.com/p/grand-unif...
🎲✂️
I propose a Design Pattern for "gateway-style" games.
gametek.substack.com/p/grand-unif...
🎲✂️
Grand Unified Gateway Theory
A Design Pattern
gametek.substack.com
May 5, 2025 at 3:38 PM
A theory of gateway games by @gengelstein.bsky.social.
Gateway games have "one way flow." You get something, you spend it on something else, you buy victory points. Each step is an interesting choice, and some games add a "twist"—but as a rule, gateway games avoid feedback loops.
Sad for us!
Gateway games have "one way flow." You get something, you spend it on something else, you buy victory points. Each step is an interesting choice, and some games add a "twist"—but as a rule, gateway games avoid feedback loops.
Sad for us!
Still here, still thinking about games
March 29, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Still here, still thinking about games
A thoroughly researched history of wargaming, from ancient Rome through Prussian kriegspiel to Starcraft, by Super Bunnyhop
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Am...
March 28, 2025
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Am...
March 28, 2025
Kriegsspiel! How Napoleon Accidentally Invented Strategy Games
YouTube video by Super Bunnyhop
www.youtube.com
March 29, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A thoroughly researched history of wargaming, from ancient Rome through Prussian kriegspiel to Starcraft, by Super Bunnyhop
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Am...
March 28, 2025
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Am...
March 28, 2025
From the depths of BGG:
An historical account of an elaborate Victorian murder party, where the host started preparations weeks in advance by "planting cryptic personal messages in London newspapers as clues"
They did not have to go so hard.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Posted Nov 28, 2024
An historical account of an elaborate Victorian murder party, where the host started preparations weeks in advance by "planting cryptic personal messages in London newspapers as clues"
They did not have to go so hard.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Posted Nov 28, 2024
Murder Party: elaborate LARPing, Soirées-Enquête, Jubensha, and Neysa McMein | Ordinary recreations which we have in Winter, and in most solitary times
boardgamegeek.com
December 23, 2024 at 4:52 PM
From the depths of BGG:
An historical account of an elaborate Victorian murder party, where the host started preparations weeks in advance by "planting cryptic personal messages in London newspapers as clues"
They did not have to go so hard.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Posted Nov 28, 2024
An historical account of an elaborate Victorian murder party, where the host started preparations weeks in advance by "planting cryptic personal messages in London newspapers as clues"
They did not have to go so hard.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Posted Nov 28, 2024
A game can look like one thing while it does another thing entirely
Patrick Klepek on Balatro, a video game rated 18+ by PEGI that *looks* like poker but contains no gambling.
patrickklepek.substack.com/p/is-balatro...
Posted Dec 17, 2024
Patrick Klepek on Balatro, a video game rated 18+ by PEGI that *looks* like poker but contains no gambling.
patrickklepek.substack.com/p/is-balatro...
Posted Dec 17, 2024
December 18, 2024 at 8:29 PM
A game can look like one thing while it does another thing entirely
Patrick Klepek on Balatro, a video game rated 18+ by PEGI that *looks* like poker but contains no gambling.
patrickklepek.substack.com/p/is-balatro...
Posted Dec 17, 2024
Patrick Klepek on Balatro, a video game rated 18+ by PEGI that *looks* like poker but contains no gambling.
patrickklepek.substack.com/p/is-balatro...
Posted Dec 17, 2024
"He'll be worth $50,000 in the end"
A poignant vignette on parenting, marriage, and The Game of Life by Youngna Park
youngna.substack.com/p/eight-vign...
Posted Dec 2, 2024
A poignant vignette on parenting, marriage, and The Game of Life by Youngna Park
youngna.substack.com/p/eight-vign...
Posted Dec 2, 2024
December 6, 2024 at 5:08 PM
"He'll be worth $50,000 in the end"
A poignant vignette on parenting, marriage, and The Game of Life by Youngna Park
youngna.substack.com/p/eight-vign...
Posted Dec 2, 2024
A poignant vignette on parenting, marriage, and The Game of Life by Youngna Park
youngna.substack.com/p/eight-vign...
Posted Dec 2, 2024
"Cards and gambling authority John Scarne claimed to have invented one of the greatest board games of all time. Was he bluffing?"
Blake Eskin on the strange history of Teeko, an abstract game—and also a fantasy of intellectual achievement and community.
www.blakeeskin.com/articles/a-w...
Blake Eskin on the strange history of Teeko, an abstract game—and also a fantasy of intellectual achievement and community.
www.blakeeskin.com/articles/a-w...
December 2, 2024 at 7:12 PM
"Cards and gambling authority John Scarne claimed to have invented one of the greatest board games of all time. Was he bluffing?"
Blake Eskin on the strange history of Teeko, an abstract game—and also a fantasy of intellectual achievement and community.
www.blakeeskin.com/articles/a-w...
Blake Eskin on the strange history of Teeko, an abstract game—and also a fantasy of intellectual achievement and community.
www.blakeeskin.com/articles/a-w...
A case study on the fonts of Pentiment, a video game about books and writing and how words carry the awkward heft of history.
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
By @rileycran.bsky.social, posted Nov. 15 2024
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
By @rileycran.bsky.social, posted Nov. 15 2024
Today marks 2 years of Pentiment!
Here's a case study on how my colleagues and I at Lettermatic designed the game's fonts, with the talented team at Obsidian.
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
Here's a case study on how my colleagues and I at Lettermatic designed the game's fonts, with the talented team at Obsidian.
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
November 28, 2024 at 4:15 PM
A case study on the fonts of Pentiment, a video game about books and writing and how words carry the awkward heft of history.
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
By @rileycran.bsky.social, posted Nov. 15 2024
lettermatic.com/custom/penti...
By @rileycran.bsky.social, posted Nov. 15 2024
Lighthearted fun from the depths of BGG:
A Marxist critique of the Zoch Verlag edition of Potato Man.
"Can anyone recommend a more recent version of Potato Man which shows a deeper engagement with the principles of Marxism?"
boardgamegeek.com/thread/34081...
By Frederic Heath-Renn, Nov. 19 2024
A Marxist critique of the Zoch Verlag edition of Potato Man.
"Can anyone recommend a more recent version of Potato Man which shows a deeper engagement with the principles of Marxism?"
boardgamegeek.com/thread/34081...
By Frederic Heath-Renn, Nov. 19 2024
Confused about this game's approach to Marxism | Potato Man
I own the Zoch Verlag edition of Potato Man, and, as befits the product of a German publisher, it's clearly intended as an introductory primer to the concept of class struggle: as is obvious from the ...
boardgamegeek.com
November 22, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Lighthearted fun from the depths of BGG:
A Marxist critique of the Zoch Verlag edition of Potato Man.
"Can anyone recommend a more recent version of Potato Man which shows a deeper engagement with the principles of Marxism?"
boardgamegeek.com/thread/34081...
By Frederic Heath-Renn, Nov. 19 2024
A Marxist critique of the Zoch Verlag edition of Potato Man.
"Can anyone recommend a more recent version of Potato Man which shows a deeper engagement with the principles of Marxism?"
boardgamegeek.com/thread/34081...
By Frederic Heath-Renn, Nov. 19 2024
People always say "Kill your darlings," but why?
Kory Heath tells us why: "Darlings" can be "monkey traps;" fantasies about our work that aren't realistic. Design is the process of escaping these traps.
www.koryheath.com/monkey-traps/
Posted June 2, 2014
Kory Heath tells us why: "Darlings" can be "monkey traps;" fantasies about our work that aren't realistic. Design is the process of escaping these traps.
www.koryheath.com/monkey-traps/
Posted June 2, 2014
Monkey Traps – Kory Heath
www.koryheath.com
November 21, 2024 at 8:51 PM
People always say "Kill your darlings," but why?
Kory Heath tells us why: "Darlings" can be "monkey traps;" fantasies about our work that aren't realistic. Design is the process of escaping these traps.
www.koryheath.com/monkey-traps/
Posted June 2, 2014
Kory Heath tells us why: "Darlings" can be "monkey traps;" fantasies about our work that aren't realistic. Design is the process of escaping these traps.
www.koryheath.com/monkey-traps/
Posted June 2, 2014
Sad to hear that Kory Heath has passed.
Here are the rules to Heath's game Zendo, which (truly!) teaches the players how to become scientists. It is a masterpiece.
(The rules call for Looney Pyramids, but you can play Zendo with anything you have around.)
www.koryheath.com/zendo/
Here are the rules to Heath's game Zendo, which (truly!) teaches the players how to become scientists. It is a masterpiece.
(The rules call for Looney Pyramids, but you can play Zendo with anything you have around.)
www.koryheath.com/zendo/
November 20, 2024 at 5:19 PM
Sad to hear that Kory Heath has passed.
Here are the rules to Heath's game Zendo, which (truly!) teaches the players how to become scientists. It is a masterpiece.
(The rules call for Looney Pyramids, but you can play Zendo with anything you have around.)
www.koryheath.com/zendo/
Here are the rules to Heath's game Zendo, which (truly!) teaches the players how to become scientists. It is a masterpiece.
(The rules call for Looney Pyramids, but you can play Zendo with anything you have around.)
www.koryheath.com/zendo/
From the depths of BGG: A sweeping treatise on the value of traditional games as a bulwark against the cultural ravages of modernity. Also a Schnapsen tutorial.
By the pseudonymous Marcus Ludicrus, posted November 17 2024.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/346...
By the pseudonymous Marcus Ludicrus, posted November 17 2024.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/346...
Learn How To Play Schnapsen In 10,000 Words, A Marcus Ludicrus Essay About Games, Cards, The Meaning of Life, And Many Things In Between
If you don’t know who Marcus Ludicrus is don’t worry because no one does, not even the man himself. But you can get a feeling for what Marcus Ludicrus stands for from his previous essay here.
In that...
boardgamegeek.com
November 18, 2024 at 4:29 PM
From the depths of BGG: A sweeping treatise on the value of traditional games as a bulwark against the cultural ravages of modernity. Also a Schnapsen tutorial.
By the pseudonymous Marcus Ludicrus, posted November 17 2024.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/346...
By the pseudonymous Marcus Ludicrus, posted November 17 2024.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/346...
Tim Clare on how playing games to promote brain health is like having sex to burn calories: it’s missing the point
Oh look! My Guardian article is online at last! I really enjoyed writing this one.
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/o...
The big idea: how games can change your life
To get the most out of play, we should embrace it for what it is, not as way to hone skills or train our brains
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2024 at 2:39 PM
Tim Clare on how playing games to promote brain health is like having sex to burn calories: it’s missing the point
Just visited Game Market West, bringing the scrappy, DIY, low print run culture of Japanese Game Markets to the US
www.gamemarketwest.com/oct-2024-games
www.gamemarketwest.com/oct-2024-games
Oct 2024 Games
Game Directory
www.gamemarketwest.com
October 19, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Just visited Game Market West, bringing the scrappy, DIY, low print run culture of Japanese Game Markets to the US
www.gamemarketwest.com/oct-2024-games
www.gamemarketwest.com/oct-2024-games
Reposted by Feedback Loop Games
A poem about the game of go by Jorge Luis Borges.
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
October 12, 2024 at 7:21 PM
A poem about the game of go by Jorge Luis Borges.
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
A poem about the game of go by Jorge Luis Borges.
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
October 12, 2024 at 7:21 PM
A poem about the game of go by Jorge Luis Borges.
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
The original Spanish, 1978: borgestodoelanio.blogspot.com/2014/06/jorg...
Translation into English by abstract game designer Luis Bolaños Mures, 2024: boardgamegeek.com/thread/33196...
Mats Steen suffered from a degenerative muscle disorder, but lived a rich emotional life in World of Warcraft. A remarkable true story about the power of virtual worlds by Ben Machell
www.thetimes.com/article/5ecd...
Posted Oct 5, 2024
www.thetimes.com/article/5ecd...
Posted Oct 5, 2024
We only learnt of our son’s secret online life after he died at 20
When Mats Steen died from a muscle-wasting disorder, his parents believed that his life had been a tragically lonely one — until hundreds of emails from strangers arrived. It turns out that he’d found...
www.thetimes.com
October 7, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Mats Steen suffered from a degenerative muscle disorder, but lived a rich emotional life in World of Warcraft. A remarkable true story about the power of virtual worlds by Ben Machell
www.thetimes.com/article/5ecd...
Posted Oct 5, 2024
www.thetimes.com/article/5ecd...
Posted Oct 5, 2024
From the depths of BGG: A deeply personal meditation on card games and philosophy by enigmatic pseudonym Marcus Ludicrus:
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/343...
Posted Sept. 29, 2024
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/343...
Posted Sept. 29, 2024
A Philosophy in Seven Or So Card Games And Just As Many Books Or So, The Personal Journey of Marcus Ludicrus Toward Tabletop Wisdom Or Lack Thereof
Marcus is called Ludicrus, or “full of ludus”. That he is Ludicrus is only a happy cognate because Marcus is also not real. But this geeklist is, which is all you need to read it.
Therefore, don't ta...
boardgamegeek.com
October 3, 2024 at 2:08 PM
From the depths of BGG: A deeply personal meditation on card games and philosophy by enigmatic pseudonym Marcus Ludicrus:
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/343...
Posted Sept. 29, 2024
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/343...
Posted Sept. 29, 2024
How to share painful truths about history without turning audiences away?
Laura Jedeed shares a deep lesson from LARP-museum Colonial Williamsburg: "Only when people feel secure will they feel ready to grapple with realities that might upset them."
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Aug 31, 2024
Laura Jedeed shares a deep lesson from LARP-museum Colonial Williamsburg: "Only when people feel secure will they feel ready to grapple with realities that might upset them."
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Aug 31, 2024
Where MAGA Granddads and Resistance Moms Go to Learn America’s Most Painful History Lessons
Welcome to Colonial Williamsburg, the largest living museum that is taking a radical approach to our national divides.
www.politico.com
September 11, 2024 at 2:45 PM
How to share painful truths about history without turning audiences away?
Laura Jedeed shares a deep lesson from LARP-museum Colonial Williamsburg: "Only when people feel secure will they feel ready to grapple with realities that might upset them."
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Aug 31, 2024
Laura Jedeed shares a deep lesson from LARP-museum Colonial Williamsburg: "Only when people feel secure will they feel ready to grapple with realities that might upset them."
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Aug 31, 2024
In an influential article for The Games Journal, J. Mark Thompson identifies four key features of abstract games:
1. Depth, many levels of skill
2. Clarity, find moves using heuristics
3. Drama, reversals of fate
4. Decisiveness, better player wins
jnsilva.ludicum.org/TJ/TJ1920/De...
July, 2000
1. Depth, many levels of skill
2. Clarity, find moves using heuristics
3. Drama, reversals of fate
4. Decisiveness, better player wins
jnsilva.ludicum.org/TJ/TJ1920/De...
July, 2000
jnsilva.ludicum.org
September 10, 2024 at 2:41 PM
In an influential article for The Games Journal, J. Mark Thompson identifies four key features of abstract games:
1. Depth, many levels of skill
2. Clarity, find moves using heuristics
3. Drama, reversals of fate
4. Decisiveness, better player wins
jnsilva.ludicum.org/TJ/TJ1920/De...
July, 2000
1. Depth, many levels of skill
2. Clarity, find moves using heuristics
3. Drama, reversals of fate
4. Decisiveness, better player wins
jnsilva.ludicum.org/TJ/TJ1920/De...
July, 2000