Elizabeth Hargrave
@elizhargrave.bsky.social
Nature geek, feminist, board game designer (Wingspan 🪶, Tussie Mussie 💐, Mariposas 🦋, The Fox Experiment 🦊, Picky Pixie 🧚♀️, Undergrove 🍄, and coming in 2026: Sanibel 🐚).
https://www.elizhargrave.com/
https://www.elizhargrave.com/
Happy Solstice!
December 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Happy Solstice!
Some days I am very jealous of @connievdc.bsky.social and her fictional dragon facts. In my world, some birds have ten interesting things about them (forcing me to choose) and some birds...are birds.
a cartoon eagle with glasses and the words i 'm so boring
Alt: a cartoon bird with glasses. He covers his face with his wings in frustration and complains, "I'm so boring"
media.tenor.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Some days I am very jealous of @connievdc.bsky.social and her fictional dragon facts. In my world, some birds have ten interesting things about them (forcing me to choose) and some birds...are birds.
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
A MESSAGE FROM THE VOID
WHAT IF YOUR PATH IS UNIQUE AND YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE?
YOU ARE ENOUGH
WHAT IF YOUR PATH IS UNIQUE AND YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE?
YOU ARE ENOUGH
December 15, 2025 at 1:22 PM
A MESSAGE FROM THE VOID
WHAT IF YOUR PATH IS UNIQUE AND YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE?
YOU ARE ENOUGH
WHAT IF YOUR PATH IS UNIQUE AND YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE?
YOU ARE ENOUGH
Beautiful how to play video from @kovray.bsky.social for my game Sanibel, coming mid January.
I am so excited for you all to play this game! I may be a little relentless about it in the next few weeks.
I am so excited for you all to play this game! I may be a little relentless about it in the next few weeks.
Sanibel | How to Play | Learn to Play in 9 Minutes!
YouTube video by kovray
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Beautiful how to play video from @kovray.bsky.social for my game Sanibel, coming mid January.
I am so excited for you all to play this game! I may be a little relentless about it in the next few weeks.
I am so excited for you all to play this game! I may be a little relentless about it in the next few weeks.
Greetings from Sanibel, where we're doing an event with the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow to celebrate my forthcoming game about collecting seashells, called...Sanibel. I ♥️ this place so much. TIL their slogan is #shellyeah 🐚🌊🐚🌊🐚
December 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Greetings from Sanibel, where we're doing an event with the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow to celebrate my forthcoming game about collecting seashells, called...Sanibel. I ♥️ this place so much. TIL their slogan is #shellyeah 🐚🌊🐚🌊🐚
I am generally not naturally interested in GMT games but this one...I am so curious to play this!
last week i had the pleasure of running #crossbronxexpressway for an undergrad class at The New School. always great seeing students connect the concepts from the class to the actions on the board. it's a large part of why i made the game.
@gmtgames.bsky.social
@gmtgames.bsky.social
December 9, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I am generally not naturally interested in GMT games but this one...I am so curious to play this!
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
Saw this via @crystalsully.bsky.social and oooh boy did I need this reminder when it was seen.
May 16, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Saw this via @crystalsully.bsky.social and oooh boy did I need this reminder when it was seen.
I like to imagine that the person who dreamed up this study was one of the kids using whippits in the parking lot, who eventually got clinical treatment for their depression...but then was like "but it felt like the whippits also helped, am I wrong?
Nitrous Oxide: Inhaling “Laughing Gas” Could Be Surprisingly Effective For Treating Severe Depression
www.iflscience.com/nitrous-oxid...
www.iflscience.com/nitrous-oxid...
Nitrous Oxide: Inhaling “Laughing Gas” Could Be Surprisingly Effective For Treating Severe Depression
A new meta-analysis has looked at the evidence, and it’s promising.
www.iflscience.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I like to imagine that the person who dreamed up this study was one of the kids using whippits in the parking lot, who eventually got clinical treatment for their depression...but then was like "but it felt like the whippits also helped, am I wrong?
Y'all I just got an advance copy of the next Wingspan & Finspan expansions and I am SO EXCITED. @stonemaiergames.com will start talking about them later in December, for release in January. Pictures soon!
December 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Y'all I just got an advance copy of the next Wingspan & Finspan expansions and I am SO EXCITED. @stonemaiergames.com will start talking about them later in December, for release in January. Pictures soon!
This is also about boardgame culture
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
This is also about boardgame culture
In today's NYT crossword
November 29, 2025 at 1:23 PM
In today's NYT crossword
Did you play games yesterday? My Black Friday tradition is to play published boardgames, but my Thanksgiving tradition is to play the folk game Eat Poop You Cat / Telephone Pictionary. Some of my favorites yesterday:🧵
November 28, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Did you play games yesterday? My Black Friday tradition is to play published boardgames, but my Thanksgiving tradition is to play the folk game Eat Poop You Cat / Telephone Pictionary. Some of my favorites yesterday:🧵
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-h...
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers - JSTOR Daily
Nineteenth-century women turned music lessons into interactive entertainment, complete with spinning wheels and ivory counters.
daily.jstor.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-h...
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
Of course I would say this, but we need to talk about the moral & ideological case for play & leisure more than ever. So much political discourse - especially from the super-rich - assumes we ought to construct society around forcing citizens to spend most of their one, unrepeatable life working.
November 24, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Of course I would say this, but we need to talk about the moral & ideological case for play & leisure more than ever. So much political discourse - especially from the super-rich - assumes we ought to construct society around forcing citizens to spend most of their one, unrepeatable life working.
My friend Matt maximizes gaming w friends by shoving everything in the box and packing up later. He's started filming his reboxings and I find them kind of mesmerizing. This one is also of interest for how he fits all Wingspan expansions (to date) in with the base game!
Wingspan with all Expansions Reboxed into Original Box
YouTube video by Reboxing with Matt
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 12:38 AM
My friend Matt maximizes gaming w friends by shoving everything in the box and packing up later. He's started filming his reboxings and I find them kind of mesmerizing. This one is also of interest for how he fits all Wingspan expansions (to date) in with the base game!
NONE SHALL PASS
November 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
NONE SHALL PASS
Gift link, cool project!
We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies. It’s a Revelation.
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Gift link, cool project!
I have been in Europe for almost a month and am now at DAU Barcelona for Devir's 25th anniversary. I have had the great good fortune to hang out with many board gamers and designers on this trip.
And I have heard from them over and over that they are scared to visit the US right now.
And I have heard from them over and over that they are scared to visit the US right now.
November 14, 2025 at 7:31 AM
I have been in Europe for almost a month and am now at DAU Barcelona for Devir's 25th anniversary. I have had the great good fortune to hang out with many board gamers and designers on this trip.
And I have heard from them over and over that they are scared to visit the US right now.
And I have heard from them over and over that they are scared to visit the US right now.
Also:
✅ Played Bohemians in Paris, (and, shown here, on the train from Paris to Lyons).
Really enjoying this one. The theming is delightful. But @mattleacock.bsky.social keeps beating me!
✅ Played Bohemians in Paris, (and, shown here, on the train from Paris to Lyons).
Really enjoying this one. The theming is delightful. But @mattleacock.bsky.social keeps beating me!
November 6, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Also:
✅ Played Bohemians in Paris, (and, shown here, on the train from Paris to Lyons).
Really enjoying this one. The theming is delightful. But @mattleacock.bsky.social keeps beating me!
✅ Played Bohemians in Paris, (and, shown here, on the train from Paris to Lyons).
Really enjoying this one. The theming is delightful. But @mattleacock.bsky.social keeps beating me!
✅ Played Carcassonne in Carcassonne
November 6, 2025 at 7:33 AM
✅ Played Carcassonne in Carcassonne
Sanibel made this "Top 10 of Essen" list from @polygon.com!
The must-play board games from 2025's biggest board game fair
Standout titles from SPIEL Essen 2025 include Don't Starve: The Board Game and 7 Wonders Dice
www.polygon.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Sanibel made this "Top 10 of Essen" list from @polygon.com!
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.
Game design is simple, actually
So, let’s just walk through the whole thing, end to end. Here’s a twelve-step program for understanding game design. One: Fun There are a lot of things people call “fun.” But most of them are not useful for getting better at making games, which is usually why people read articles like this. The fun of a bit of confetti exploding in front of you, and the fun of excruciating pain and risk to life and limb as you free climb a cliff are just not usefully paired together.
www.raphkoster.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.
Reposted by Elizabeth Hargrave
To my English board game bubble... The following question was raised by @brettministerium.bsky.social in my community:
Is there a curated feed of English-speaking board game blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels? Something like this site that we can use in Germany.
#Boardgame #Brettspiel
Is there a curated feed of English-speaking board game blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels? Something like this site that we can use in Germany.
#Boardgame #Brettspiel
zuspieler.de – Brettspiel-Portal – Beiträge, Meldungen, Rabatte und Links rund um Gesellschaftsspiele
zuspieler.de
November 1, 2025 at 7:59 AM
To my English board game bubble... The following question was raised by @brettministerium.bsky.social in my community:
Is there a curated feed of English-speaking board game blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels? Something like this site that we can use in Germany.
#Boardgame #Brettspiel
Is there a curated feed of English-speaking board game blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels? Something like this site that we can use in Germany.
#Boardgame #Brettspiel
I have friends from way back visiting me at Spiel today. What should we try to play/see, besides Sanibel? (They're gamers but none of us managed to do any homework on this question!)
October 25, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I have friends from way back visiting me at Spiel today. What should we try to play/see, besides Sanibel? (They're gamers but none of us managed to do any homework on this question!)
I have been trying to figure out why I am so shaken by the imagery of the White House being torn down. I mean, obviously the huge metaphor...but this. Part of it is this:
Tell me a scenario in which Trump accepts that his completed ballroom is being used by a Democrat or a Republican he hates. This is, literally, a monument to permanence. It’s not the action of someone planning to leave.
October 23, 2025 at 6:35 AM
I have been trying to figure out why I am so shaken by the imagery of the White House being torn down. I mean, obviously the huge metaphor...but this. Part of it is this: