Reading is Fun-Demental

 

I don't sleep in a bed anymore, but my books do. Like the college rat girls of olde, I curl up in a nest of loose sheets and zines, and hope that I don't drool on anything I can't replace.

That being said, I oftentimes read those books (I'm not in it just for the increased flammability stat,) and some of the things I'm enjoying are pretty cool, so I'm going to take a post to tell you about them.

Rune - Spencer Campbell

I wrote a little essay for work hereabouts, but I love this game so much that I'm more than happy to reiterate. Rune is a solo rpg that plays with the soulslike conventions of Bloodbourne, where you play a deathless knight questing across realms for more power. It alternates between overworld exploration and grid based tactical challenges, which makes for an unfolding narrative with delightful dice allocation and threat valuation puzzles. Some of my favorite elements of this game are the sparseness of your component needs (a 4x4 grid and some way to represent monsters is all you need outside of the classic pencil, paper, dice,) and how robust the creator kit is (where you're given tools to make content on your own.) I'm thinking about making some minis to embellish my experience, and maybe some realms too. That's how pumped I am about this game.

 

 

The Doomed - Chris McDowell

A lightweight post-apocalyptic skirmish game for solo and co-op play, that prioritizes creativity and low cognitive load overall. I've gotten to play it alone and with my partner, and the ease of access to rules and procedure meant that they had more fun than they ever had trying my other wargames. If that endorsement alone wasn't enough, the book also contains oodles of models from Ana Polanscak, which sells a world of horror matched only by season 5 of the Magnus Archives (if you know you know.) For further reading and listening, see McDowell's Electric Bastionland, Into the Odd, and the Bastionland podcast, because they're also great resources for the burgeoning games designer.

Majisk Tjej - Jennifer Unpleasant

Mork Borg meets Madoka Magika in this chain-smoking, cunt-punting roleplaying game about magical girls who hate everyone. I haven't played it yet, but I'm cooking on a little one-or-three shot for folks who were likewise delighted by this find. It has a very anti-tryhard energy about it, and doesn't mince words for what its about and who its for. As I'm growing more acquainted with the genre and its subversions, I'm very much about this nonsense, and how infectious it is. I actually had my copy bought off me at a Dunkin Donuts the other day, and now I'll have had to buy it again. Genuinely, that's how I tell if a book is good is by counting how many times I have to replace my personal copy.

Perils and Princesses - Ryan Lynch

Speaking of things I've had to buy more than once, Perils & Princesses is an absolute gem of thoughtful and considerate game design. Its rules and layout are clear, clean, and easy to reference, as they were designed for Lynch's own children to enjoy before being brought to general markets. I've been tickled with my sales line of it being "a book that learned all of the right lessons from Mork Borg and Into the Odd," as it avoids many of the pitfalls of the progenitors' other descendants regarding layout and linearity. It gives its players the tools to be clever and brave while preserving the peace, and creative and empathetic when facing the monsters of this world or the next, but doesn't shame you if the murderhobo route is the one you pick. Hands down, this may be one of my favorite books of 2023.

Carnevale - Scott Burns and Michael Lanchbury

In an alternate history Venice, you can do parkour to fight Cthulhu, Dracula, or the Pope. I think I'm charmed the bombastic mechanics, where movement is king, and characters have a huge array of actions they can pick from. While I've yet to play the system, my impression from the rules is that Carnevale is a hodge-podge of Mordheim and Malifaux, with a dash of Crash Bandicoot. Particularly noteable (I think) is how quickly I became endeared to the static character profiles, where the optimization potential is surface instead of something one needs to build from scratch (which is a design sin I perhaps overindulge in.) I think there's a lot of potential for modding and roleplaying elements herein (thinking back to Polanscak's Monsterous Births,) but I'm excited to play within its own grim-mad setting. Between the Masque of the Red Death being laquered on thick, and the ostrich-riding clowns, I can't wait to immerse myself in this drowned hell of a city. 

So that's what I'm reading, but what I'm writing is a totally different story.

This January, I've begun work on a Newsletter to talk about what I'm up to. Without setting strict rules, this is where I'd make a monthly shout about projects I'm working on, things I'm learning, and anything else that seems like a fun thing to share. I'm doing this in part because Eve Harms has one and I think she's cool or something, and in part because I've taken over the newsletter at my dayjob, and I'd like to practice those skills I've developed for myself. Additionally, I think it'd help with making connections with folks who like the same things I do, and maintaining personal accountability as I keep to something like a schedule. Bubbleup is still in the simmering stage, but if any of that sounded like something you'd want in your email once a month, here's a link to get yourself subscribed with.

As always folks, thanks for reading, and stay safe out there. I'll see you in the next one.