The KS is expected for late October/early November, so follow along at the link above to get notified when it goes live!

While you're waiting, enjoy this gorgeous full cover illustration, one of several illustrations that the immensely talented @boxen.bsky.social is providing for the book!

3/3

5-Star Match, my solo TTRPG about building and booking your own pro wrestling promotion, is finally shipping out to US backers!

While I’m very proud of this game, it could not have happened without the help of the following people:

Played my first game of Finspan from @stonemaiergames.com tonight and was thrilled to see this little guy! I obviously have a big soft spot for leafy sea dragons (the inspiration for our company name) and any game that includes one gets an automatic thumbs-up from me!

Just got my copy of Dawn of the Orcs by @lymerpg.bsky.social and I’m so stoked to play through this! Characters are sages who create a group of orcs to protect their nation against invaders, but over time the orcs change in fascinating ways. A neat concept that promises an intriguing experience!

8) Anamnesis by @goblinmixtape.bsky.social

I definitely have a type, and that type is “solo RPGs about memory”. While I haven’t played this one yet I know I’ll love it. The design is clean and elegant, with a strong concept, so I really need to dig up my Tarot set soon and give it a proper whirl.

7) Thousand Year Old Vampire by @timhutchings.bsky.social

I think most RPGers are aware of this one, with good reason. It’s equal parts art object, solo RPG, and rueful meditation on memory: that is to say, very specifically my jam.

Sadly I never finished my tale but one day I hope to play again.

6) Ten Candles by Stephen Dewey

This has been on my to-play list for so long! The proscribed experience, with a full set of lit candles, just sounds so unique and exciting that I’m almost afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype. The vibes are too perfect for earthly attainment.

5) Be Seeing You by @floaker.bsky.social

This is a super-niche game and here I am, sitting in my niche, waiting to play. 3-5 players, rotating roles, inspired by a very specific 1960s TV show. Delightful.

Tanya sent this to me for free for reasons I don’t remember & I am so grateful bc it rules.

4) Notorious by Jason Price

I don’t particularly care for Star Wars, but this game’s loving homage to the Boba Fetts of the world (universe?) is so intriguing to me. The artwork is delightful and the rules are fairly sleek. As a primarily solo player I have no excuses for not getting this tabled.

3) Fiasco by Jason Morningstar

One of my all-time favorite games since I first played it more than a decade ago. It’s hard to overstate how unbelievably stylish, sharp, and taut it is. And its gorgeously poetic prompts like “a stupid plan executed to perfection” sing eternally in my brain.

2) Xenolanguage by Thorny Games

A sci-fi game about alien linguistics from the team behind Dialect, AND it uses a Ouija-style planchette?!? Yeah, sign me up.

The fact that I haven’t even opened a game this unbelievably cool-looking is a scathing indictment of me as both a person and a gamer.

1) Spectres of Brocken by Aaron Lim

Giant mechs. Time-skips. Friends-turned-enemies. A Word Bank. THEME SONGS.

This is at the top of my to-play list for so many reasons (I repeat: THEME SONGS) but unfortunately I don’t have a group to try it out with so it sits on the shelf, taunting me.

I also got to play One Breath Left (from @stoutstoatpress.bsky.social and I) with my daughter. She moved expertly through the ship, carefully avoiding a monster that “smelled like poop” and had acid spit, to recover the incriminating footage and make a narrow escape just as her oxygen ran out!

Finally got a chance yesterday to crack open one of the Littlebox RPGs from the team at @storybrewers.bsky.social.

Our family had a great time with Villagesong. Gorgeous art, evocative setting, interesting prompts — but the best part is reading the song of your village’s history at the end.

brb just changing careers real quick

Setting up for the first real playtest of my solo pro wrestling RPG. Fingers crossed it’s not a total botch!

Finally got a chance to read through my copy of “Under the Autumn Strangely” by @thismaybegraham.bsky.social. Enthusiastically tapping the O Card [included in the game’s safety tools] to show my support for the unsettling vibes, gorgeous art, variable roles, and malleable story structure. Too cool.

I know that a solo RPG about professional wrestling is just too niche to live, but working on it gives me such joy that I almost don’t care. I think this is some of the best writing (and game design) I’ve done yet.