#51in15 #5 : Tragedy LooperWe played this game as a whim after seeing it in CABS’s cabinets. It’s a time-travel/looping asymmetric puzzle game, where one player plays…02 April, 2015
51 in 15 #4 - Dead Man's Drawdeadmansdraw_large Dead Man’s Draw is a push-your-luck card game with a pirate theme to it. Kat got the limited edition via the Kickstarter…06 February, 2015
51 in 15 #3 - Love LetterWe originally went to Toys’R’Us to by a a LEGO set, but they had nothing we wanted. What they did have was the cute little Love Letter…30 January, 2015
51 in 15 #2 - FATE: Secrets of CatsThe Secrets of Cats is a pay-what-you-want setting book for FATE Core. I backed the FATE Core Kickstarter, and even got a nice, perfect…27 January, 2015
51 in 15 #1 - Dragon RampageIn Dragon Rampage (Board Game Geek), each player plays as the member of a party who, while exploring a dungeon, you accidently woke up the…15 January, 2015
InvocationBread on my lips My feet flat on the floor on the ground on the earth Energy fills me up and reaches deep into the center of the world. Up…07 January, 2015
Making Things That are ThingsOne of the other things I wanted to add to my goals was that I want to make some things that are actually things this year. I’m hoping to…06 January, 2015
2015 Goals and Guiding PrinciplesAs I wrote recently, I want 2015 to be a better year for me and for my sanity. The Guiding Principles for me are twofold: Make More Stuff…05 January, 2015
Designing Forms About PeopleLast week (and then again today) I went to Tsu, the new social media hotness, to create an account. I stopped when I got to this form to…30 December, 2014
Test Driven EpiphanySo, when I first started formally learning to write code, and do programming, we were taught the only and true method of it, a method now…16 December, 2014
GambitGambit, y'allSo, we were watching Korra last night, and discusing the titles of the different episodes and excited we were by them (for me…16 December, 2014
Interactive FictionThere’s a deep part of me incredibly fond of text adventures. I remember waiting for my Uncle’s TRS-80 to load (it took so long — I…11 December, 2014
New Year, New PlansSo, long time readers of the blog may know that I try to do a plan for what I’m doing in the coming year, so that I have some idea of…10 December, 2014
Things Change Like a CircleThis post was prompted by The Extinction of Blogs and Prototypes for Blog Revival at Chris Bateman’s Only a Game, as well as several other…05 June, 2013
March Game of the Month: Prism, rorriM, LzPlay my March Game, Prism, rorriM, Lz. Yes, it’s supposed to look that way! Commentary: The One Game a Month prompt for this month was…25 March, 2013
No UniverseSo, the lead designer of Borderlands 2 was talking about something that might have been a good idea. Then he called it “girlfriend mode…13 August, 2012
(Tropes vs Women) vs Internet IdiotsI like to think that I”m a reasonably empathetic person. That I can usually see where someone else is coming from and why they are doing…12 June, 2012
A quick bit of Diablo III dialogWhen you get the Scoundrel as an ally, the game has forced you to have Leah with you as well. The entire time the Scoundrel flirts with her…21 May, 2012
Harry Barefoot (Of the Bigglesport Barefeet)I’m hoping to play some original D&D with the Riders of Lohan tonight, so I spent a very few minutes making a character. This is an…14 May, 2012
On Paying AttentionMy daughter (aka Goddessdaughter) is lacking in certain important life skills. She doesn’t know that you jump on Koopa Troopers so they won…25 January, 2012
Pen and Paper Gaming Without the Pen or the PaperWell, it’s time to do some online gaming. I knew G+ would be good for this when I first saw Hangouts, but they made them better, and I…29 December, 2011
The Ongoing Search for the Perfect RPGI don’t completely remember my first gaming experience. I know it was one of the few at my friend Blair’s house, before his father — a…24 October, 2011
Elder Scrolls Replay: Arena, Part 2If there had never been another Elder Scrolls game, Arena would have been forgotten, or fondly remembered by a few gamers but largely…16 September, 2011
Elder Scrolls Replay: Arena (part 1)For a moment, something breaks me out of what I’m doing, and I realize that I’m leaning forward, chewing on my upper lip. My right hand is…14 August, 2011
Shattered Earth in PlayA few months ago, I started a campaign with my Shattered Earth setting. It was the product of some soul-searching about what makes a game…05 July, 2011
AvencastAvencast is an action RPG by ClockStone Software, an Austrian game development company. I’d never heard of it, until I saw it on Steam, and…12 June, 2011
Alphabetical RPG PlaythroughI blame Steam. Or maybe GoG.com Either way, it’s useful to have someone to blame. I went a long time with a substandard PC, and played a…30 May, 2011
I've Seen This Scam BeforeThere are a lot of people who really want to be published authors. They’ll do just about anything to be one, and that opens them up to scam…16 March, 2011
Rift Travelogue: Final ThoughtsAs I said yesterday, I abandoned doing the big rift events, and focused on leveling my character. I killed 10 of those and 5 of that, and…24 February, 2011
Rift Travelogue: Rift EventsThis is a bit of a spoiler for the newbie areas of Rift. It’s also the strongest argument I can give for playing the game, so I feel…23 February, 2011
RIFT TravelogueSo, I mostly ignored RIFT because of the Pen and Paper game of similar name. I was told through Twitter that it wasn’t the same, then that…21 February, 2011
A Serious Question About ToolsEarlier this week, I finally joined the IGDA. Some of that was to support my friend Corvus’ bid for for the board. But I wouldn’t have done…09 February, 2011
Programming/Logic GamesI remember when the only “programming” game was crobots. It was a game where you programmed a robot (in a c-like language, thus the name…13 January, 2011
2010 Games in ReviewI’m not picking a game of the year, instead I want to think about what games I’m playing, and what has left a lasting impression on me. One…03 January, 2011
Enslaved : Fluidity FailureI recently picked up a copy of Enslaved as a rental, after hearing that it was reasonably short if not completely wonderful gameplay. It…18 November, 2010
The Great Echochamber, or Why the Internet is BadThe other day, I was looking on a forum for HTC Eris users about whether we were going to get an official Froyo (Android 2.2) install. The…17 November, 2010
Basic UpdateIt seems whenever I do these post-a-day commitments, there’s always a day that I can’t make it. Part of that is that I have a huge essay…16 November, 2010
Why Aspects?Now that I’ve described aspects, and talked about them in two posts, I want to talk about why I see such potential in this. RPGs grew out of…15 November, 2010
Aspects in Echo BazaarEcho Bazaar was first brought to my attention by The Border House Blog. I was at first hesitant — I don’t know how may of these sorts of…12 November, 2010
Aspects in FATEI was introduced to aspects in FATE, particularly through Spirit of the Century and Dresden Files RPG. In a lot of ways aspects in FATE…11 November, 2010
AspectsI recently wrote on Gameful that I was interested in “aspect-based gaming”. I didn’t define it, and no one is out there asking me what I…10 November, 2010
Shattered Earth Adventurer's League : Fire and IceZhenette focused her will and channeled her magic into the bit of stone in her hand. Magic flowed from the ether, through her crsystal-bound…09 November, 2010
Shattered Earth Adventurer's League : FamilyFoster stood leaning against the stone retaining wall. Keelie stood on top of it, which put her head about even with Fosters. She looked…08 November, 2010
Shattered Earth Adventurer's League: BriefingCommander Bess Nightingale addressed the Silverwings. “We’ve got a couple of assignments for you to pick from. Normal rewards apply.” The…05 November, 2010
Shattered Earth Adventurer's League: Delivery In Thirty Minutes or LessThe Edge Bar and Grill wasn’t technically on the edge, as it was inside the safety fence. Adventurer’s League Silverwings Troop was on the…04 November, 2010
Shattered Earth Adventurer's League: RatsWhat D&D campaign doesn’t have the party fighting a rat swarm or dire rats sometime early in the game? As they approached the place the…03 November, 2010
Video Game Interface: To Menu Or Not To Menu?I’ve now had a chance to play Fable 3 and experience it’s “menu-less” interface. I was also a fan of Black and White, also by Lionhead, and…02 November, 2010
Tales From Shattered Earth: The BalanceThe sun’s rays shown up through the water disk, as it prepared to rise. Jaxom, special assistant to the Druid Guild Council Representative…01 November, 2010
Shattered Earth: ClarificationOkay some people have said that it’s a bit confusing what I’m asking from players for the Shattered Earth game, and as I’m still looking for…29 October, 2010
Tales from Shattered Earth: SoapboxAnnie watched from the shadows, waited to see if he’d be back today. If so, then good news for her and the old man. People distracted were…29 October, 2010
Shattered Earth Tales: Lovers on MinosTwo dwarfs, Harriet and Lottie, lay in the magicite field, the purple glow of the crystal trees surrounding them. Mining tools were placed…28 October, 2010
Shattered Earth Tales: Porting the Harvest“It’s like this,” Jimmy said. “You wear the gauntlets of orge power, or the belt of giant strength — never both, you hear? You grab a…27 October, 2010
Shattered Earth Campaign TeaserThe astrologist peered through the telescope. Extending the tower had helped a bit, but the air around the Scepter had just expanded, still…25 October, 2010
Shattered Earth D&D: Looking for some AdventurersHere’s the thing: I need more pen and paper tabletop gaming in my life, even if we need to replace the pen and paper with screens and…25 October, 2010
Running DresdenThe room was empty except for one person when we walked in. I had a bag full of the special FUDGE dice, the two Dresden Files RPG rulebooks…30 June, 2010
My Week In Gaming: June 14, 2010I began my week still having Nier, Blur, and Red Dead Redemption. Nier got moved up the Gamefly list, and Blur is on it waiting for Tam’s…14 June, 2010
Over the Weekend - June 7, 2010Given my schedule, I only have a few nights a week to focus on gaming, but tend to get a lot of gaming in on the weekends, particularly on…07 June, 2010
Crowd-Patrons of the ArtsOne of the joys of the internet is that it connects and levels things. Enough amateurs can be as right as an expert, and uniquely strange…05 April, 2010
Ada Lovelace DayToday is Ada Lovelace Day, and I pledged over a month and a half ago to write a post about a woman in technology and science who inspired me…24 March, 2010
The Three Modes of InteractingTo continue the experiential analysis, I wanted to recap the three modes of interacting as laid out by Norman in Emotional Design. Most…17 March, 2010
More than One Kind of ExperienceI’m reading Schell’s Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, which took me a while to pick up after his DICE talk which destroyed some of his…10 March, 2010
Neptune's PrideI’m not a big fan of appointment gaming, nor of competitive play of video games. I play card and board games, but those are over pretty…08 March, 2010
First Impressions: White Knight ChroniclesI suspect that if White Knight Chronicles hadn’t been a huge JRPG, it would have been a half hour, or one-evening game at most. But it isn…03 March, 2010
DisarrayWell, I did spend two hours of my weekend working on the Klik-n-Play Pirate Kart, but when I finally sat down to do it, I discovered that I…01 March, 2010
Dresden Files RPGA few weeks ago, I volunteered to run a Dresden Files RPG game at Origins this year. The games have to be on file with Origins by March…25 February, 2010
Um...Remember how I said I’d be quiet? Yeah. I’m really happy with this bit of code, though. It’s a programming chestnut that the hard things…24 February, 2010
Sucker PunchIt was a fairly interesting moment in a game without too many interesting moments: I’d just managed to get Cole and Trish back together by…23 February, 2010
Quiet or TechnicalSo this week, I’m either going to be quiet or technical. I do have some things to write about inFamous, but I’m focusing on coding htis week…22 February, 2010
Chelon's Diary Part 2: Ostagar and WildsThe ongoing diary of Chelon, Mage and Grey Warden. Start at the beginning. Duncan proved to be a good, and understanding, travelling…19 February, 2010
First Impressions: inFAMOUSThe PS3 game inFAMOUS was one of three angry-man open-world games that came out about the same time. The other two, Prototype, and Red…18 February, 2010
First Impressions: BayonettaBayonetta made the rounds of the blogs when it came out, largely because of it’s hyper-sexuality, and the fact it’s from the same creative…17 February, 2010
DelayedToday’s First Impressions: Bayonetta post has been delayed due to Protonaut. My suggestion? Go play that while I finish collecting gasses…16 February, 2010
President's DayWell, I’d normally talk about my weekend gaming, but my weekend isn’t over yet, thank to some of the more famous American presidents having…15 February, 2010
Dragon-Age: Chelon's Diary 1Chelon So, I took all the suggestions folks gave me for playing Dragon Age and decided to start over. I was having fun, with my knew mage…12 February, 2010
Pen and Paper: DFRPGEarlier this week, I volunteered to run the Dresden Files RPG at Origins. This morning, I got email inviting me to a group that has gotten…11 February, 2010
Look! Over There-- MaybeI posted a blog piece called ”Transgression and Kink” at my NSFW blog. I’m linking it here, to tie it in with the transgression and…10 February, 2010
Overlording III’ve had Overlord 2 for a while, but hadn’t played it (as it lived at Girl’s house for some time). I recently borrowed it, and began playing…09 February, 2010
SnowIt’s feeling like the natural thing for a Monday is weekend updatery and planning. So, that’s what you’re getting. I even made a tag for it…08 February, 2010
Sorry FolksMy self-indulgent character diary will have to wait until next week. I’m in a heavy coding phase, and learning all kinds of fun stuff. If…05 February, 2010
CanvasSo, I said the other day that I was going to work more with HTML5 since the triumvirate of Python/Pygame/PGU were starting to bother me. I…04 February, 2010
Darksiders First ImpressionsBorderlands plot — at least as far as I’ve gotten into it — is largely non-existent. I’ve gotten several quests to kill some dudes, and a…03 February, 2010
Borderlands First ImpressionsMost of the old posts of this type went with the great hard drive failure of ‘09, but I like to talk about games before I’ve fully…02 February, 2010
pygame Frustrations(This article is going to be geeky and technical and ranty. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) As I’ve mentioned I’m prepping for the Glorious…02 February, 2010
WeekendNothing major to report gaming-wise today. I went to the local GBox to pick up a game: predictably, Mass Effect 2 was sold out, as were…01 February, 2010
January Wrap-UpWell, here we are, the last weekday in January. At the start of this month, I wasn’t sure I’d get through it. We’ve had a lot of local…29 January, 2010
Transgression: Thou Shall Not Commit AdulteryThere is a lot to say about sexuality in video games, from character models to treating romantic partners like vending machines. The…28 January, 2010
Transgression: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Part 2When I first thought about writing the transgression posts on killing, Assassin’s Creed was foremost on my mind. In the games you play as an…27 January, 2010
Transgression: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Part 1Here’s an interesting thing about today’s commandment. The proper translation of it is probably “You must not commit murder.” Murder is…26 January, 2010
Transgression: Thou Shalt Not StealThe rain it raineth on the just and on the unjust fella. But chiefly on the just, because the unjust steals the just’s umbrella. --Lord…25 January, 2010
Transgression by TransgressionThis week I’m going to delve back into my ideas around Transgression. To recap a bit, transgression is the breaking of a boundary, usually…24 January, 2010
EchoesI think some of it is nostalgia. Some of it is the nature of games to build on what came before. Some of it is certainly the hit driven…22 January, 2010
The Fantasy of CompetenceI’ve done some thinking since I wrote yesterday’s post about frustration in Dragon Age. I think my analysis was wrong, actually. It’s not…21 January, 2010
Playstyle FrustrationI’m having some real difficulty with Dragon Age: Origins. I feel like I want to play it. There’s — not peer pressure, but a sense from my…20 January, 2010
Short Post TodayMy Goddess Daughter evidently didn’t get the memo that the only thing she should bring home from school was refrigerator art, so all of us…19 January, 2010
That Liminal FeelingBy virtue of the magic circle, all games can be said to exist within a liminal space. But liminality is a mental state, you have to have…18 January, 2010
Liminality in GamesA liminal space is an other space, one which exists within the world, and separate from them. I’m interested in these spaces and much of…15 January, 2010
No Post TodayNo post today, it’s just my way of making Thursdays a little worse. Sorry about that. I did put up a new post on the erotica blog, though…14 January, 2010
The Desire for UnacceptanceHere’s a thought that occurred to me as I was writing yesterday’s post. If Tetris came out today, it’d be a casual game. So, why isn’t it…13 January, 2010
TransgressionTransgression in its primary sense is the violation of a moral law or duty. It can also be more generally defined as “the action of going…12 January, 2010
Connecting the Players to Your WorldYou have a bunch of players, and you’ve got a world you know they’ll enjoy playing in? Awesome! And when they get there, they don’t care…11 January, 2010
From Zelda, through D&D, to AmaranthLet me say up front, that I love designing worlds, particularly ones where I’m going to tell stories within them. Usually that means game…08 January, 2010
Zelda and Limitations CollideSo, yesterday I listed a bunch of limitations that my game has to contend with: Looting required Simple system or one people are familiar…07 January, 2010
PnP Game DesignI suppose in some ways this post will be obvious common sense. That begs the question of why I should write about it at all, but I think it…06 January, 2010
Pen and PaperingMy gamer roots are with pen and paper games. Oh, my family played the classic board games: Monopoly, Life, Connect Four. We later got…05 January, 2010
2010 GoalsI don’t like making resolutions. Resolutions always feel sort of wishy-washy and vague, and it’s either hard to do them, or hard to know…04 January, 2010
Device MeltdownIn one week, I had three devices fail on me. One was somewhat expected, and one was no surprise, the third destroyed my confidence. My Xbox…04 November, 2009
51 in 15 #7 - Dominion Base Set(yes, I’ve skipped #6; I’ll come back to it later, promise) Dominion is the original deck building game. I first heard about it at PAX-East…01 January, 1970