Critique
False Dichotomies of RPG Design
Tabletop rpg design is plagued with either-or fallacies. "A book can be usable at the table, or it can be fun to read," is just one of them.
Why Combat Is a Fail State
Revisiting the old-school maxim "Combat is a fail state" and redefining what it means at my table and as a design theory for the OSR.
The Explorateur: Issue #5
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
How Do We Design a Gaming Community?
Do we have good communities, how can we build better ones, and what role do award shows have in community-building?
The Explorateur: Issue #4
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Vote in the Bloggies
The Bloggies 2025 are almost over. Read my synopsis on the nominees. Mark your calendars. And celebrate rpg blogging!
The Meta-First Way
An alternative (and experimental) approach to roleplaying games that does what fiction-first systems cannot.
Stop Hiding the Apes in Your RPG
How to show the cool and important parts of your game without muddling the work, burying the lede, and creating more noise.
Explorers Design in Review
A 2024 retrospective, the best Explorers Design articles of the year, and plans for the future.
The Explorateur: Issue #3
Monthly design discoveries for tabletop rpg designers including jams, critique, theory, and tools. Vetted. Looted. Curated.
Exploring Nighthawks
In this week's design delve, we inspect how tabletop games engage with fine art.
Accessibility in Tabletop Design
What is accessible design? Why is it important? And how can we get more of it in tabletop game design?
Tabletop Accessibility Checklist
A forever-unfinished list of guidelines for making analog games more accessible.