PinnedA Dozen Fragments On Playground TheoryErin Hunter’s RPG After a long and particularly challenging day crafting new mechanics for my upcoming design, I decided to leave my office and walk to the nearby park, where I found the Wise Teacher sitting on a bench. She was eating McDonalds. I sat down with the Wise Teacher, and she asked…Game Design11 min readGame Design11 min read
Jul 3The Storyteller TechniqueEven games have a voice. When you sit down and read a tabletop RPG, the game itself speaks to you. The choice you make around narration heavily informs how people learn and play the game. Dungeons & Dragons has an anthropological voice, picking at pieces of the world the way…Game Design7 min readGame Design7 min read
Jan 2Possum Creek’s 2022 In ReviewThe year is over, and what a year it has been. This marks the second year I write a “year in review” article (2021 can be found here), and this time I’m working on this article at my dad’s cottage in Colombia. It has never felt less like winter for…Game Development11 min readGame Development11 min read
Jul 10, 2022The Game Left UnplayedGame mechanics shape the game played at the table, even when they’re not actually used during the game. This runs counter to many particular threads of game studies, specifically common claims (in the tabletop RPG space, at least) that the experience of a game is defined by what’s brought to…Game Design4 min readGame Design4 min read
Jun 15, 2022The Magpie’s Cube (Magic The Gathering)While other birds collect twigs for their nests, magpies collect jewels. I love to make games about ephemera, destruction and creation. I like when experiences are transient, when objects get altered forever, when my possessions carry the marks of historic adventures on them. I also like Magic: The Gathering. …Magic The Gathering16 min readMagic The Gathering16 min read
Feb 21, 2022One More Multiverse partners with Yazeba’s Bed & BreakfastOur newest tabletop role-playing game, Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, is a sprawling project. The tale of a found family within a magical house, its episodic storytelling, modular rulesets and web of guests means the entire game can change rapidly from one chapter to the next, and our larp-inspired approach to…Game Design7 min readGame Design7 min read
Feb 6, 2022Systems of RelationWhen I was a child, my best friend and I would play pretend on the playground. She would be a superhero and I would be a supervillain, and we would narrate a chapter from her incredible adventures. I would pose a challenge to her, but she would ultimately defeat me…Game Design7 min readGame Design7 min read
Jan 12, 2022Possum Creek’s 2021 In ReviewSo here we are, at the end of 2021 and the start of a new year. It’s a Long Grasping month in the Hudson Valley, the view from my office punctuated by thick mist and hungry branches. Rain is constant but snow is nothing but a memory. While it doesn’t…Publishing10 min readPublishing10 min read
Nov 20, 2021The Puzzle-Maker’s ParadoxOr, The Tricky Art Of Welcoming New Players — My dad reads all my games. It’s an incredibly touching and sweet thing he does, but I also feel bad when we discuss the games afterwards and it really sinks in for me how hard it is to read games. He’s tried to read other games by other writers, and…Game Design12 min readGame Design12 min read
Aug 19, 2021An Influencer (Fiction)Based on this Twitter thread. An influencer with a very relatable brand. She only posts memes you find funny. She eats the same sort of food you do. Her eyes look just like yours, she takes selfies just like you, in the same lighting, in the same way. …Fiction3 min readFiction3 min read
