Happy 25th birthday, D&D 3E
It’s August 10, 2000. I’m walking toward the seminar room at Gen Con, flanked by the best designers of Dungeons & Dragons ever. I hold a sheaf of 100 photocopied chapters in my hands. In each of these 12-page documents, Monte Cook has written one of the finest pieces of writing in D&D’s history, Chapter […]
In praise of the variety cryptic crossword
I’d like to tell you about my favorite puzzle type, the variety cryptic crossword. There’s a good chance that if you’ve heard of it, it’s your favorite puzzle type too. If you haven’t, I’m gonna try to bring you over to my side of the fence. Here’s why I’m doing this: Lone Shark just announced […]
Remembering Jim Wade
I’m saddened to let you know that James Wade, one of the foundational members of the RPGA, has passed on from brain cancer. When I was in Chicago, Jim became my best friend, gaming partner, and roommate. Jim and I were Lake Shore Drive misfits. We lived on the top floor of a lakefront skyrise […]
Putting the “Advent” in Adventure Game Design
My wife likes advent calendars. Sorry, Advent calendars. I had to have Evon, raised Catholic as she was, explain to me today that Advent is a period that includes the four Sundays before Christmas, starting on Advent Sunday. It might be in November. There’s a wreath. It has a pink candle and three purple candles. […]
WILLIAM SHAKESPEART’S “TOMAS THE CARPENTER”
Upon yon hillock stands a warlike spirit, He of a day most markedly moderne; His martial stance as staunch as men can hear it, Tomas the Carpenter treads on the cairn. O, as his ample stride has meanness seen, Then query not his pride; it too is mean. A dayman’s pay he draws for all […]
How Gamers4Harris happened
By now, if you’re a game or puzzle fan, you might have seen Gamers4Harris. It’s a website where more than 1,100 game and puzzle creators have supported Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. People who make just about every popular game and puzzle are on here: D&D, Destiny, Marvel Snap, Magic, The Sims, Call of Cthulhu, […]
Amber Cook was a curious person
James Ernest, Amber Cook, Rhea Friesen, Dan Mushalko, Paul Peterson, and me at Origins 2016. Photos by Marie Poole. I’m gonna tell you a story about someone who you should know about. Her name was Amber Cook. She was the most curious person I ever met. This story will give you a window onto why. […]
the day we drove a car into the ocean: a rant about international shipping
I often use this space to talk about challenges I deal with. Most of them are personal challenges, stuff that’s in my head. But this post is about a real-world challenge that bedevils me and many folks I know. It has been crushing me for years. I honestly don’t know how other company heads deal […]
Why The Hunting of the Shark matters (to me)
Hey folks. I’m writing to tell you about our new book The Hunting of the Shark: Twenty Years of Lone Shark Puzzlehunts. It’s a massive puzzle compendium of all the major puzzlehunts we’ve run over the last two decades. I don’t think you’ll find a better puzzle collection anywhere. You can read all about it […]
Memories of Teeuwynn
It’s been a couple months since my former co-designer Teeuwynn Woodruff passed away unexpectedly. It’s taken me till now (and talking to her husband) to feel up to sharing this post I wrote in September. Even though we worked as a team for 20 years, Tey and I had a big falling out a decade […]