Best of Skeleton Code Machine
Looking back at some great articles you might have missed
Welcome to Skeleton Code Machine, a weekly publication that explores tabletop game mechanisms. Spark your creativity as a game designer or enthusiast, and think differently about how games work. Check out Dungeon Dice and 8 Kinds of Fun to get started!
As Skeleton Code Machine approaches its 100th post and 2,500 subscribers, it’s a good time to look back at some past articles. If you are one of the hundreds of new readers, welcome! I’m so glad you joined us!
It can be hard to know where to start in the Archive, so here’s a “Best of Skeleton Code Machine” list to get you started. It’s a mix of the most popular articles and the ones I personally enjoyed writing the most. I’ve grouped them into some common themes to make them easier to navigate.
Not sure where to start? You can’t go wrong with any of the following:
Different ways of thinking about players
A good game design starts with the player. What kind of experience do you want the player to have? What kind of fun are you targeting? These articles will help you build a vocabulary for talking about fun in games, and what motivates your players.
Different ways of thinking about games
There are many different models we can use to dissect games, analyze them, and find ways to make them even better. These articles explore concepts like the CCI model for player agency. Handy tools to have in your design toolbox.
Dice and probability
Almost everyone loves rolling some shiny math rocks. These articles dive into some of the probability behind the dice. The Dice Week series looks at five different traditional dice games you can use in your designs. The Input-Output Randomness series helps you choose the right kind of randomness for your game.
Combat mechanisms
Most TTRPGs and many board games involve some form of fighting, conflict, or outright combat. Whether you prefer mechanical simulation or abstracted narrative, combat can be tricky to implement well. Here are some articles to inspire you.
Helpful resources
If you want less game theory and more practical resources, these articles are for you. The public domain art ones have been particularly popular, with well over a million views on social media.
If you have a favorite article, I’d love to hear which one it is! Please leave a comment with the one you enjoyed the most!
— E.P. 💀
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Skeleton Code Machine is a production of Exeunt Press. All previous posts are in the Archive on the web. If you want to see what else is happening at Exeunt Press, check out the Exeunt Omnes newsletter.
I found the 8 Types of Fun really interesting, so much so that I used it to run a game design activity for our Take Your Child to Work Day! Really interesting to break down why different games can be fun in different ways.
I've been meaning to go through your backlog—this helps a great deal!