psychhound games │luka brave
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psychhound.bsky.social
psychhound games │luka brave
@psychhound.bsky.social
250 followers 290 following 120 posts
luka brave. he/they. #indiettrpg designer & grad student studying therapeutic applications for games. pitbull dad

working on #spiritkeepttrpg - a multiplayer campaign #ttrpg designed to help players heal from complex trauma

https://psychhound.com/
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psychhound.bsky.social
this game and 4 others are on sale right now until halloween!! if you're looking to get into the spooky mood, look no further!! i've got multiplayer games for families & adults, a duet game, and two spooky solos!! please check it out :D

itch.io/s/161859/hal...
a screenshot of an itch sale showing the TTRPGs mama werewolf, familiar field trip, the graveyard game, crescent grin, and a heart starts beating
October 14, 2025 at 10:42 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
my thesis on therapeutically applied #ttrpgs was published!! 40,000 words about the psychology, linguistics, and therapeutic impact of multiplayer tabletop roleplay, including a brand new study on ttrpgs building emotional resilience!!

www.proquest.com/docview/3251...
Abstract: This thesis aimed to further research on a growing method of play therapy, therapeutically applied tabletop role-playing games, and examine its users as a discourse community with shared but unmet needs. Several methods were taken to accomplish this goal. A literature review explored the current state of the research. Then, a study with 109 participants was conducted to deduce the connection between tabletop role-play and emotional resilience. Finally, five popular texts in the tabletop role-playing game genre were analyzed against seven criteria, synthesized from therapeutically applied role-playing game community experts, to determine if currently available texts fulfilled the needs of this community. The texts included Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, New World of Darkness, Apocalypse Keys, Wanderhome, and Songs for the Dusk. This research found that the benefits of tabletop role-playing games are shared between clinical use and home use, but that currently available texts are not ideal for fulfilling therapeutic purposes. Therefore, the thesis includes the foundations of a new text that is designed to be perfectly suited to the requirements of this genre: a game called Spiritkeep, designed to help players heal from complex trauma through long-term play. As the therapeutically applied role-playing field is growing in use by experts as well as in popular attention, the development of this new text has the potential for great impact in the role-playing community.
September 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
i didn't consent to be a part of this marketing video or your marketplace. i do not want my games in this video. if you wanted to create a solution for our community you should've actually consulted us first
a screenshot of the video with several games circled in red
September 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
almost to 40 followers on the shadow / giant 2e prelaunch!! 2 player #ttrpg following a jaded adult and traumatized, magical child with touchstones like marvel's logan, #strangerthings, & #tlou

some VERY RAD guest writers will be announced soon!! all queer & trans writer team!!

👀👉 igit.me/sg2e
a banner for the TTRPG shadow / giant. it shows a silhouette of an adult and child holding hands as well as the title shadow / giant in bold letters. text reads "2-player TTRPG / GMless + Oracles / d6s + Playing Cards." the banner is in speckled risograph style, like an old pulp comic, with orange and blue overlapping to make a green image and font.
August 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
woah shadow/giant #5 on itch right now :O

if y'all like the lone wolf & cub trope, jaded adult & traumatized magical child (logan, the last of us, the walking dead, bioshock, etc etc) ... maybe check out? >:)

#ttrpg #indiettrpg
psychhound.itch.io/shadow-giant
a screenshot of itch.io, showing the most popular physical games. shadow / giant is fifth on the page
July 8, 2025 at 3:07 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
IS ANYONE ELSE SEEING THIS

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO ME !!!!!

you all want to vote for with breath & sword, a solo game that helps you calm down from anxiety attacks as you play, soooo bad -> forms.gle/oiCoF28rWqa3...
a screenshot of itch.io showing the ttrpg "with breath & sword" by psychhound as the number one game under the popular physical games tab
June 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
in a few hours it'll be my 30th birthday :) a great present would be checking out my games (on sale!) and reposting

psychhound.itch.io
a spread of pages from the ttrpg "a heart starts beating." it shows two pages of rules with stylized layout including a circle of red text around a dark image of the moon a page from the ttrpg "shadow/giant" showing the character mechanics for the giant. it is stylized to look like it was written in a notebook a spread of pages from the ttrpg setting zine "how high!" it shows potential npcs and the wolf pack pantheon. it has a foggy forest background a page from the ttrpg "a pyrite bullet" showing character and party roll tables. the background is an 1800s american encampment
June 14, 2025 at 1:57 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
speaking of With Breath & Sword, i teamed up with @gamingthemind.bsky.social to let them distribute some free copies in their chill out rooms at UK conventions!! really cool opportunity!!

if you want to check the game out, you can get it here: psychhound.itch.io/with-breath-...
a photo of several physical copies of the TTRPG "with breath & sword" spread out on a table
June 2, 2025 at 11:57 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
oh btw 🥰👍
a graphic showing "2025 crit award nominee". the image is of a chibi blue dragon and dice the graphic for the 2025 crit awards best solo games nominees. it includes "with breath & sword" by psychhound games
June 2, 2025 at 3:17 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
new #indiettrpg up 🎉🎉 toxic yuri bury your gays haunted house solo journaling "walking sim"

(inspired by the prompts for may's @eternaljam.bsky.social and @aavoigt.bsky.social's discussion of a ttrpg walking sim)

psychhound.itch.io/a-heart-star...
the title for "a heart starts beating / a queer haunted house game". the text is framed on a black background and the rest of the image is dark crimson and black florals a screenshot of the game showing a page of dice mechanics that has stylized text and a page on ending the game. the second page has text wrapping around an image of a moon with a glowing red figure falling beneath it. the spread is in dark brown, gold, and red a spread from the game showing a ritual for "the void." one side of the spread shows a glowing red figure falling through the frame, the other side has red text. the background is dark brown spreads from the game showing the section for the house's rooms and the first room. the room has four items to find and two rituals to complete. the background is deep crimson and one side has a gold floral pattern overlayed on it with a gold outline of a hand reaching up
May 29, 2025 at 5:35 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
moving halfway across the country at the end of the month to a safer area (bye oklahoma), so buying my #ttrpgs would really go a long way right now!! i've got solo journaling, some duets, 1page oneshots, silly competitive multiplayers, you name it!! AND on sale :) reposts helpful

psychhound.itch.io
a spread for a ttrpg called "you are thinking about silver". one half of the page is black with light gold text. the other half of the page has a gold-toned old artwork of hunting dogs attacking a wolf the playbook page for "the giant" in the game "shadow / giant". the background is an open notebook with a pencil lying on it, and the text is laid out and made to look as though its written on the notebook a page from the one-page game "the pyrite bullet". the background is a gold-toned photo of an 1800s encampment in the desert in front of a mountain. the text and roll tables have been designed around the background image, with graphic design embellishments like a pink sun and mountain outline spreads for the setting zine "how high". the background is a misty forest. one page shows npcs on a table and the other page shows information about the pantheon. the color scheme is dark green, white, black, and vibrant red
May 24, 2025 at 12:53 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
these are such a treasure trove. working on a new #indiettrpg and everything from these pages except the little person outline comes from public.work!
a two-page spread from a haunted house horror game. one page has a 6-box checker board type pattern. the textured, dark brown squares have gold and red text in them. the other squares have gold-toned patterns of what look like colored pencil drawn lens flares. the other page has gold and red text with a dark reddish brown furniture upholstery like pattern. halfway down the page there is an outline of a person who looks like they're falling a two-page spread from the same game. the top half of the page is a light tan paper like texture with very faint circular drawings. the bottom half is a deep red floral pattern. on the left page, there are large chunks of text that curve around a circle that is not filled by anything. on the other side, there is less text that curves around a half-circle containing a vintage drawing of an explosion with a parachute falling away from it. some of the text is disjointed with letters too high or tilted away from the rest of the word
May 18, 2025 at 3:29 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
howdy! i started publishing in december '22 and have published 26 ttrpgs to date! i just graduated with my masters studying and publishing on therapeutic and educational ttrpgs. my big project is #spiritkeepttrpg which helps players heal from complex trauma. love doing layout too! psychhound.itch.io
a spread for a ttrpg called "you are thinking about silver". one half of the page is black with light gold text. the other half of the page has a gold-toned old artwork of hunting dogs attacking a wolf the playbook page for "the giant" in the game "shadow / giant". the background is an open notebook with a pencil lying on it, and the text is laid out and made to look as though its written on the notebook a page from the one-page game "the pyrite bullet". the background is a gold-toned photo of an 1800s encampment in the desert in front of a mountain. the text and roll tables have been designed around the background image, with graphic design embellishments like a pink sun and mountain outline spreads for the setting zine "how high". the background is a misty forest. one page shows npcs on a table and the other page shows information about the pantheon. the color scheme is dark green, white, black, and vibrant red
May 15, 2025 at 5:01 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
some extremely crunchy photos, but i got to present about #ttrpgs at a conference last weekend!! i presented a study i did on using ttrpgs to develop emotional resilience. the study is being published too 🎉 i'll update when i know a date for the publication :)
a photo of OP, a pale man with short brown hair and glasses, presenting in front of an audience at a conference. he is gesturing and speaking a photo of OP, a pale man with short brown hair and glasses, presenting in front of an audience at a conference. he is gesturing and speaking
May 3, 2025 at 9:28 PM
psychhound.bsky.social
the only things she knows in this world are be cozy, eat hot soup, and lie
a tan pit bull snuggled with two big blankets on a couch, laying with her head on a pillow a tan pit bull snuggling with a blanket on the couch and asleep. she's wearing blue space themed pajamas
April 18, 2025 at 4:49 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
sometimes my dog gets maxed out on grumpy and the only way to fix her is to put her jammies on her, give her some warm soup or some oatmeal, and then put her down for a nap. because simply she's a toddler disguised as an 11 year old #pitbull #dogsky
a tan pit bull wearing blue space themed pajamas asleep on a couch. she's facing away from the viewer and has both her back legs up on the back of the couch
April 18, 2025 at 4:45 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
i have a queer weird west poetry zine up on itch :) here's one of the poems from it

psychhound.itch.io/crying-call
true love jackrabbit, jackrabbit, what is your fear? only wailing, gnashing teeth? ever sharpened, just for you? a dozen lovely daggers made for jumping flesh & slip-singing songs of your mother’s father’s mother’s father & the ripened juice of him down the throat of those who will always be bigger, stronger, faster? or the smell of blood, yours, & the smell of the hunt, theirs, & how they’ve never once considered their howls may keep you up at night? or do you fear loneliness, jackrabbit, knowing your seconds of perfect ecstasy will soon fade to the mere company of the moon & red dirt & a bloated cactus hoarding water? oh, to capture you in a moment, only movement, only an infinite understanding of the cyclical nature of life, the workings of a body, how the cosmos twirl around each other in just a like fashion oh jackrabbit, jackrabbit, do you fear you might never learn my name? or do you fear the most that you may, in one hot moment of glorious kindness, forget to be afraid at all, breathe deep, live well, & feel, for once, unlike your kin, peace in your heart, & that this, like all other things in the life of a jackrabbit, will be the death of you?
April 17, 2025 at 5:29 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
turned in my #thesis today 😵‍💫 its a 40,000 word text on therapeutically applied ttrpgs (TA-RPGs), looking at current use of them, the needs of the community, currently available games, and then laying some groundwork for a #ttrpg thats designed to induce therapeutic experiences. #spiritkeepttrpg :)
Abstract: This thesis aimed to further research on a growing method of play therapy, therapeutically applied role-playing games, and examine its users as a discourse community with shared but unmet needs. Several methods were taken to accomplish this goal. A literature review explored the current state of the research. Then, a study with 109 participants was conducted to deduce the connection between tabletop role-play and emotional resilience. Finally, five popular texts in the tabletop role-playing game genre were analyzed against seven criteria, synthesized from therapeutically applied role-playing game community experts, to determine if currently available texts fulfilled the needs of this community. The texts included Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, New World of Darkness, Apocalypse Keys, Wanderhome, and Songs for the Dusk. This research found that the benefits of tabletop role-playing games are shared between clinical use and home use, but that currently available texts are not ideal for fulfilling therapeutic purposes. Therefore, the thesis includes the foundations of a new text that is designed to be perfectly suited to the requirements of this genre: a game called Spiritkeep. As the therapeutically applied role-playing field is growing in use by experts as well as in popular attention, the development of this new text has the potential for great impact in the role-playing community.
April 17, 2025 at 2:51 AM
psychhound.bsky.social
since i aint gone to bed yet am i still on time for #portfolioday??

a selection of graphic design work ... at least the stuff i can share rn :) if youre interested in having a #ttrpg laid out please hmu for rates!

#indiettrpg #ttrpgcommunity
a spread for a ttrpg called "you are thinking about silver". one half of the page is black with light gold text. the other half of the page has a gold-toned old artwork of hunting dogs attacking a wolf the playbook page for "the giant" in the game "shadow / giant". the background is an open notebook with a pencil lying on it, and the text is laid out and made to look as though its written on the notebook a page from the one-page game "the pyrite bullet". the background is a gold-toned photo of an 1800s encampment in the desert in front of a mountain. the text and roll tables have been designed around the background image, with graphic design embellishments like a pink sun and mountain outline spreads for the setting zine "how high". the background is a misty forest. one page shows npcs on a table and the other page shows information about the pantheon. the color scheme is dark green, white, black, and vibrant red
April 9, 2025 at 6:57 AM