Skeleton Code Machine

Skeleton Code Machine

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Minimalist game design with Compile
Exploring minimalist game design and how Compile's multi-use cards create strategic depth with just a few simple game components
 • 
Exeunt Press
7
Playing the Chaplain's Game
Exploring the use of coins as a divination mechanism in Mechs to Plowshares, a solo TTRPG about war, anxiety, paranoia, identity, and purpose by…
10
Not my space zoo. Not my alien monkeys.
Exploring the use of DIY tiles in Menagerie, a solo journaling and storytelling game about running a failing alien space zoo.
2
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Public domain art resources
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12
More public domain art resources
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12
Make your own one-page RPG (Part 1: Introduction)
16
Get creative with one-page RPGs
17
10 Affinity Publisher Tips
 • Exeunt Press
13
How fragile is your game design?
43
Don't ask these playtesting questions!
10 of the best questions to ask after a board game or TTRPG playtest, and 3 questions you should avoid. Lessons learned from playtesting at Unpub 2025.
21
How to pitch your game at Unpub
10 things you can do to improve your game pitch whether it is for a publisher, retailer, customer, or player. Lessons learned from Feedback Frenzy at…
5
Dirt and speed... flat out!
Exploring the "flat out" push your luck mechanism in Rallyman: DIRT and why you should look at the entire mechanism when making something new.
5
We had a fight and everyone won.
Exploring combat encounters where even the loser gets a reward in Crown of Ash, and how this might reduce loss aversion effects in tabletop games.
15
Make your own TTRPG adventure!
ADVENTURE! is a new guide from Skeleton Code Machine covering everything you need to make your first (or next) TTRPG adventure. Available for pre-order…
6
What is a core game loop?
Exploring the concept of a "core game loop" in tabletop board games and roleplaying games, why it benefits players, and how it can become a compulsion…
22
🌱 TUMULUS Together gift subscriptions
Celebrate Skeleton Code Machine's 4,000th subscriber by giving TUMULUS to someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to subscribe.
Will you confront the Dark Lady?
Exploring the challenges of designing a solo hidden movement deduction game via Black Sonata.
6
Get creative with one-page RPGs
Exploring the limitations and creativity in one-page RPGs with Lacksmith by Jamie Daggers, an entry in the 2024 One-Page RPG Jam
17
Skeleton Code Machine
Skeleton Code Machine
Spark your creativity as a tabletop game designer or enthusiast, and think differently about how games work. ENNIE-nominated!
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