Start here: The best of Skeleton Code Machine
An updated list of the best articles you may have missed, including both old and new. If you are one of the 2,000+ new subscribers over the last year, here's where to start!
About a year ago, I posted a Best of Skeleton Code Machine list to get new readers started. If you are one of the 2,000+ new subscribers who have joined since then, welcome! I’m glad you found us!
With over 150 posts in the Archive, it can be hard to know where to start. So I grouped the best ones by theme to make them easier to find.
The essential, must-read list
If you asked me to give you a list of five articles to get started with Skeleton Code Machine, this would be it. These are the ones that get referenced the most, continue to be popular, and are most likely to change how you think about games. Consider it a crash course in tabletop game design fundamentals.1
Make your own one-page RPG
In 2024, I published a series of articles that shared my process and thoughts on creating one-page games like Exclusion Zone Botanist, Eleventh Beast, and Caveat Emptor. Now available as Make Your Own One-Page RPG in print, it’s become one of the top-selling items at the Exeunt Press Shop.2 I also just finished teaching a course based on it at my library!
Think differently about games
You may not be surprised to find that I think about games a lot — the mechanisms, the psychology of play, and the fundamental assumptions we all take for granted. Sometimes these thoughts turn into articles, usually more focused on pondering the topic than providing a clear answer. Many times your comments end up changing and refining my opinion!
Get some creative inspiration
I do not post game reviews.3 There are times, however, when a game contains an interesting mechanism or design element that catches my attention. It could be a good game or a bad one, but it does something that sparks my creativity. Here are a few to check out.
The most popular ones
There are a few Skeleton Code Machine articles that are perennial favorites, always staying at the top of the popularity lists. A few, such as the Make Your Own One-Page RPG series, were already mentioned above. Here are the others not already included elsewhere.
Which Skeleton Code Machine article is your favorite? Do you have one or two that you are likely to recommend to others? Please let me know in the comments!
— E.P. 💀
P.S. Want design inspiration? Subscribe to Tumulus and get a beautifully printed 50+ page zine every quarter, packed with “best of” articles, playable mechanisms, design exercises, and more. Issue 3 is shipping soon! 🩻
Skeleton Code Machine is a production of Exeunt Press. All previous posts are in the Archive on the web. Subscribe to TUMULUS to get more design inspiration. If you want to see what else is happening at Exeunt Press, check out the Exeunt Omnes newsletter.
In fact, these articles did form the framework for my Introduction to Tabletop Game Design class that I offered for free at my public library. It was just one way to support public libraries and won the PA Library Association’s 2024 award for Best Adult Program in the state!
If you’d prefer just the PDF, you can get Make Your Own One-Page RPG at itch.io.
The closest I get to posting reviews is the Recently Played section of the Exeunt Omnes newsletter. Subscribe if you want my impressions on games that I’ve enjoyed.
I loved the public domain articles. I took a lot of notes, and looked up all of the websites. So very helpful to me!