Skeleton Code Machine

Skeleton Code Machine

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May 2025

Can we use ADDIE to make a better rulebook?
Exploring the ADDIE model from the world of instructional design and how it might be used to create rulebooks that are more clear, concise, and…
6
How should we handle garbage time in tabletop games?
Exploring the idea of "garbage time" at the end of a game through the psychological lenses of cognitive closure, ambiguous loss, and the framing effect.
20
Drinking deep from the well of sadness
Exploring the Ocean Madness tracker in Deep Regrets, an "unfortunate fishing game about pulling progressively more horrifying things out of the ocean."
10
Where are the board game SRDs?
In which I ponder if the idea of a board game SRD or third-party license makes any sense. And if so, what would be required to create a culture of…
41

April 2025

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
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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…
17
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
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

March 2025

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