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nickferris.bsky.social
Nick Ferris
@nickferris.bsky.social
160 followers 71 following 370 posts
I make boardgames, take photos, and grow things in dirt. Tall, but not too tall. Favorite food: sandwiches. Connecticutie. he/him

https://nickferris.carrd.co/

“It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”
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nickferris.bsky.social
Nick Ferris @nickferris.bsky.social · Jun 9
🎲✂️I recently started working on my 50th board game design. Over 17 years, that's about 3 a year, though nearly half of them were 2013-2015, and only 11 are since 2020. To celebrate, let's do a post-a-day thread about every single one of them, even the really really bad cringe ones!
nickferris.bsky.social
I heard we're sharing photos of our assembly lines. Mine is more of a pile, but at least the cards are here and everything is printed! #IGNM #PAXUnplugged #boardgames #AWizardologistMostHexasperated
Stacks of cards, rules, and package envelopes for A Wizardologist Most Hexasperated with a copy of the game splayed open in front. That weird tool is something my wife gave me to make folding rules easier. She says it is called a bone press which I think sounds rad.
November 12, 2025 at 11:26 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
This is a feed of designers bringing their games to Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged 2025 next week. Right now, it is chock full of folks cutting, printing, boxing, and otherwise willing their games to life.
November 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
This is it. This is the singular photo that's going into the high school textbooks in the 21st Century American History chapter.
nbcnews.com NBC News @nbcnews.com · 6d
President Trump is seen in the Oval Office after a man collapsed during a White House event.

The event on lowering the costs of weight loss drugs resumed after an attendee collapsed, prompting administration officials to pause the event and usher reporters out of the room.
nbcnews.to/47KinRo
November 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
I'm not just reposting this because I have a game in it (Fright Factor, up for pre-order now @newmilky.bsky.social), but because this is essentially a terrific holiday shopping guide for all of us who are virtually out of shelf space but want to keep buying great games.

Sometimes smaller is better!
October 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
Post an image from the last episode of Star Trek you watched.
Sprocket, JR, and Roo from Star Trek Scouts jumping in the air and fist-pumping.
October 5, 2025 at 12:44 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
Let's all prove Daniel's wife right and buy some of the new games coming from New Mill... like "Fright Factor"... which would prove *my* wife right that people want to play games I make.
dnlnwmn.bsky.social Daniel Newman // New Mill Industries @dnlnwmn.bsky.social · Oct 3
my wife keeps telling me that if i want to sell more games i should “do marketing” but like…i don’t want to…

so, like, tell your friends and stuff that i’ve got games to sell, yeah?

newmillindustries.com
New Mill Industries
newmillindustries.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
A glowing review for Fright Factor, my upcoming trick-taker, among a tremendous slate of games that'll be popping up for pre-order on the New Mill website in less than half a day. www.newmillindustries.com

Also 100% concur that @asmeesh.bsky.social is an S-tier artist!
September 30, 2025 at 4:25 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
💯To add to this, if you have a decent-sized playtesting group, try to have a couple of those folks not touch your game at all until way late in development. Eventually those who have played your prototype often become dull to the impact of your minor improvements and can't see the bigger picture.
jarthurellis.bsky.social Joseph Arthur Ellis @jarthurellis.bsky.social · Sep 26
There's just nothing like fresh eyes on a 🎲✂️ prototype. For ourselves (and the people playing with us regularly), we all have too much of what the game wants to be or has been in our heads. There just is no way to think your way out of it, you have to see what a new player sees.
September 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
I am once again asking for you to move to my town and vote for me.
A grassy yard full of election signs for our town's Democratic Party. My name is on one of them, running for Planning & Zoning.
September 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Nick Ferris
dnlnwmn.bsky.social
New preorders from New Mill coming on Wednesday, October 1! I'll go into a little detail about one each day for the next 4 days!

First up (in alphabetical order) is Fright Factor, by @nickferris.bsky.social with art by @asmeesh.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 9:41 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
🎲✂️I've just printed a big stack of cards on cardstock. Due to thermodynamics, the printer spits out the paper all curvy.

What are some solutions for straightening these quick instead of waiting hours for weight and gravity to work?

Assume I have access to a forge or air fryer but NOT a microwave.
A bunch of printed cardstock, but it's all curvy and warpy. Card identities have been blurred to protect the innocent.
September 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
My upcoming trick-taker is in excellent company. Look for Fright Factor and more going up for preorder in October from New Mill Industries!
dnlnwmn.bsky.social Daniel Newman // New Mill Industries @dnlnwmn.bsky.social · Sep 10
ok ok sneak peek. here are the covers for the games that will be up for preorder next month. will talk about each of them soon!
Fright Factor cover RoboKraft cover Vegeterrors cover Yonkai no Yokai cover
September 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
A terrific write-up of the indie game market at PAX West. Lots of detail and photos. Potentially very insightful for folks planning to vend at Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged in November. 🎲✂️
fanfactories.bsky.social Joseph Z Chen 🔜 PAX Unplugged @fanfactories.bsky.social · Sep 9
A week ago I sold my games at the PNW Tabletop Game Market @ PAX West! Sold lots of Grunt Work & sold out of the ~20 copies of Flip Stack Burger Shack I handmade.

Check out my writeup of the experience & see some photos of the other designers there!

fantastic-factories.medium.com/selling-game...
Selling games at the PNW Tabletop Game Market
On August 30th, 2025 I was fortunate enough to be a part of 16 indie game designers selling their games at the PNW Tabletop Game Market @…
fantastic-factories.medium.com
September 9, 2025 at 9:35 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
I've been excitedly watching progress from folks vending at the Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged 2025, but now I can share some of my own: actual printed cards! They turned out super crisp and colorful, and the stock itself is sturdy and shuffles well. 🎲✂️
Actual printed cards for A Wizardologist Most Hexasperated, fanned out in three sets of six. On top of the stacks are Wise Lee, the Doughmancer, and the Transmutician.
September 6, 2025 at 10:58 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
"Look! Look! I finally found a strange new world!"
Lieutenant Erica Ortegas on a rocky moon holding a piece of a Gorn board game that she's supposed to eat because she won. Also, why don't humans have any board games where the winner eats the piece??? Seriously, someone get on that.
September 5, 2025 at 1:38 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
I really enjoy coming back to a shelved game design and taking an axe to all the things I convinced myself needed to be in it. 🎲✂️
September 1, 2025 at 1:31 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
Played Maracaibo today. Summary: go in a circle four times, workers aren't really workers, build cards, ignore combat. I took the book burning strategy, apparently.
Maracaibo board with lots of colorful spaces. Maracaibo box featuring boat and men and donkey. Maracaibo player board and lots of cards.
August 30, 2025 at 12:49 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
Here's a small preview of my upcoming super-quick social deduction game, A Wizardologist Most Hexasperated, debuting at the Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged 2025! 🎲✂️
Apprenticist: Minoring in Resigned Sighs Do not reveal! (If only the Wizardologist could remember who you are...) You win if the Wizardologist chose you, in which case the Wizardologist also wins. Image: A vectory graphic of a young black woman in red-orange wizard robes holding a branch-like staff with a magical tome at her side. Abracadabbler: Conjurer of Juice Boxes Do not reveal! You may reveal before being chosen by anyone. If you do reveal, choose another player. You win if you chose the Apprenticist or the Wizardologist chose you. Image: A young girl in pink oversized wizard robes and hat with a white-tipped magician's wand, leaping in the air with excitement.
August 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
For the day crowd, here's the list of everyone bringing games to the Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged 2025. There are lots of fun looking things here. Can't wait for November! 🎲✂️ #boardgames
August 27, 2025 at 3:46 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
Here's a list of everyone I could find on Bluesky who will be vending their games at the Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged 2025. I'm excited to see how everyone's plans develop as we get closer to this incredible event.

If I missed you, please let me know and I'll add you to the list! 🎲✂️
August 27, 2025 at 1:29 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
When people casually ask what you do, always make up something outlandish for the first reply. "I provide therapeutic wrestling for endangered bears." or "I'm the chief meteorologist for Williams-Sonoma." That way, they'll listen to you intently when you tell them about your real, boring-ass job.
August 17, 2025 at 2:00 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
I sure do love a good rulebook without gameplay in the setup section. 🎲✂️
August 16, 2025 at 4:59 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
Someone left this treasure trove in our town's transfer station swap shed: dozens of VHS episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, mostly mid-to-late series. #startrek
Dozens of VHS tapes of Star Trek: Voyager episodes, the official Columbia House release. Mid-to-late series absolute banger episodes like Dark Frontier, Bride of Chaotica, Latent Image, Counterpoint. This was at our town's transfer station swap shed.
August 13, 2025 at 3:20 PM
nickferris.bsky.social
🎲✂️ 51st: A Wizardologist Most Hexasperated (2025). A 3-to-many-player 3-minute pure social deduction game. Some players hide or bluff, others interrogate or seek. Every player acts and wins uniquely, multiple winners likely. Some history 🧵...
The draft "cover" for A Wizardologist Most Hexasperated." 3-18 players, 5 minutes, Ages 10+, by me! Shows the Wizardologist, Apprenticist, Penguin, Parsley Sage, and Speniscographer. Wizardologist card draft. He's in a purple robe and not sure what the heck is going on. He does three things: 1. Reveal yourself! 2. Choose any player. 3. You win if you choose the Apprenticist, in which case so does the Apprenticist. Parsley Sage draft card. An elder among the herbal sages, known to sport neon green robes and haul around a giant sprig of parsley. She does three things: 1. Reveal yourself! Examine another player's hidden role. 2. Choose yet another unrevealed player. 3. You win if you choose anyone other than the Apprenticist.
August 10, 2025 at 12:16 AM
nickferris.bsky.social
nickferris.bsky.social Nick Ferris @nickferris.bsky.social · Aug 7
🎲✂️ 50th: They Who Whisper in Threads Not Yet Woven (2025). A secret role/faction, shifting alliance game for 4-20 players manipulating an abstract galactic timeline. I was shocked at how well this played on the first test--so shocked I put it on the shelf, lol. Another to revisit soon.
The five factions in the game, each with their own goals. Each player is secretly in one faction, you don't know how many of which faction are in any given game, and some goals vary depending on the number of players in the game in your faction. Continuum goal: At least 2 + (BigTeammates) chronological orderings in (Primary Timeline) Anachrons goal: "Continuum does not win AND EITHER: No Cataclysms in (Primary Timeline) OR Discoveries (if any) are in chronological order" Redactors goal: "Continuum does not win AND EITHER: No Awakenings in (Primary Timeline) OR Discoveries > Cataclysms > Awakenings" Myriadi goal: "Continuum does not win AND At least 2 + (Teammates) chronological misordersin (Primary Timeline)" Erashorn goal: "No other faction achieves its goal OR At least 3 + (Teammates) Cataclysms in (Primary Timeline)" Ability card: All Who Rise Shall Be Gathered. "Examine 1 Alternate Timeline. Reveal all Discoveries from it and draw them. OR Examine 1 Facedown card or Remove 1 Safeguard or Draw 1 random from any Alternate Timeline or Reveal your hidden faction and perform its Ability. The trick to They Who Whisper is that you have 5 ability cards in hand, one for each of the 5 factions, and the card backs match the faction. You can only play cards from the factions you DON'T belong to (unless/until you reveal, which can be dangerous), but the abilities on your faction cards would help your faction goals the most. Played over 5 rounds, your identity becomes less and less hidden as you play more cards from not-your-faction. Timeline card: The Machine That Dreamed of Itself, year 505,050,305. I'm not usually one for abstract-ish themes, but I kept this one vague and shadowy on purpose to keep the gameplay simple and the theming focused on the factions and their tasks.
August 9, 2025 at 11:50 PM