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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10h

What I know is that last year we paid a decent sum for a booth next to all the manufacturing companies, but this year were able to afford a booth in hall 3. We'll see if it was worth it or not

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10h

If last year is any indication, they try to categorize a little based on broad category of thing, but the big players get the central areas and the indies get shoved into the lanes and edges.

Hall 3 is usually the hall with the big companies, but that may have changed this year.

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 1d

Did you manage to bring in the Koi Koi rule where you can choose to stop taking points early, but if your opponent scores even a single point before you create another scoring opportunity, you lose it all?

Because I've been thinking about putting that brilliant mechanic into a game for years

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 1d

I have many designs but absolutely none I think would fit your box line. I can try shoehorning Ea Nasir into one of them If you really really want tho

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 2d

Being an experienced GM and also playing in a game is a bit like being a magician watching another act, because you see how they do their tricks, and also share in their frustration when the audience chooses to do anything but what you want them to do.
(private dm during game attached)

Me: Am I clocking right that the group has just talked themselves out of a thing you were willing to let them do? 😛

GM: Yes, lol

Me: GM senses activate!

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 3d

Got it perfectly! I was mainly worried about radicalization versus labor strike, glad the sign imagery worked

Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 3d

Doing some PACT prep work, and making some standees for pieces my graphic designer wont be able to get to.

I'm curious to hear if people can identify the pieces without needing text. Can you guess which of these pieces is which?

💠Labor Strike
💠Current Player
💠Executed
💠Radicalization

four pieces for a game, and i'm so sorry for blind people, but describing it in alts would give things away

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 3d

I enjoy playing Ark Nova on BGA, but it seems like every time I play against anyone rated 250+ I'm happily building my little zoo and ready to play my second/third animal when I look up and they're at 67+ points and accelerating. I don't know how people get such consistently good starts

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 5d

The term I've been using lately is super specifically nerdy and it's "Hanlon's Macuahuitl"

"Unfortunately these days, you can usually attribute things to both malice *and* stupidity"

James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 6d

It's difficult at times to hold both "this admin is doing lasting and serious damage to our institutions and the globe" and "this admin is full of the most bafflingly incompetent idiots you've ever seen who fall over themselves like a Vaudeville act constantly."

The duality of man is incredible.

Reposted by Zach

Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 7d

Today's video was a hard one for me to make - I wanted to talk about my experiences going through burnout in the last year or so as a game designer, and aspects of the wider tabletop industry that contribute to that.

youtu.be/D2rC_8F10R8

🎲✂️

The reality of being a full time game designer

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan

youtu.be

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 6d

Have you been watching my design posts of PACT with anticipation? Are you going to SPIEL Essen this year? Well I'm setting up the game at booth 3U130 Thursday Morning and Friday Afternoon!

Stop by!
Play!
Ask questions!

questions like "Is this Silksong: The Board Game?"

PACT prototype - play the game with the designer
10/23/25 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Hall 3 3U130

PACT prototype - play the game with the designer
10/24/25 1:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Hall 3 3U130

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 7d

🎲✂️
I love that James here honestly tells everybody at this lecture "you will have a hard time making abstracts a product, but it's fun and interesting to design them anyways"
youtu.be/qFxZ4cL6UJM?...

James Ernest: Traditional and Abstract Game Design

YouTube video by James Ernest

youtu.be

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 7d

I feel required to share this RPG about bugs being little bugs in a big world. It's quite a bit more optimistic than my take.

Plus you can build a base on a fox that carries you around, and I love it
felixisaacs.itch.io/pico-core-bo...

PICO Core Book (digital) by Felix Isaacs

A tabletop RPG about tiny bugs, huge adventures, and riding cats

felixisaacs.itch.io

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 7d

Hanlon's Macuahuitl

"Unfortunately these days, you can usually attribute things to malice *and* stupidity"

Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10d

How dare you say that about my favorite genre, Pagan Vaporpop Punkhop

Michael Meir Saltzman @saltzman.bsky.social · 10d

I say this as someone who really likes electronic music: the overwhelming majority of genres and sub genres have virtually no meaningful distinction & it makes me feel crazy when ppl try to make a new genre label for every other artist they like

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10d

I feel like NPC movement is non-diagetic in this game. No way me, a demi-god is struggle-bussing to get past some stupid red pods and spikes while Nuu is just waltzing past all the enemies to lick the boss I just killed

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10d

A screenshot of a boss dragon from the Dark Souls series, with the knight resolutely facing it down and Sherma happily singing within frame

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 10d

It's a stealth horror game, and while you need to sneak past enemies at times (where playing your little bell is necessary to regain FAITH, a critical resource), the way you get past most major bosses is by giving the depressed and cynical NPCs in the area enough hope to deal with the problem.

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 11d

🎲✂️
We're starting work on iconography and cards, in the hopes of having something to show off at Essen Spiel.

A variety of small icons for a board game, showing the player icons for 4 players and action icons representing movement of acorn pieces and treasure.

Jenna: Cocoon to show new moth with laurel leaves. laurel leaves are associated with royalty

Orich: Moth shape with broken wing and eye to show that Orich is always watching

Neith: Nothing works better than the web for this character

Matuk: Flame of Revolution plus instead of one matchstick, 2 which also represents bug antenna

Holy Bloodline:
Jenna earns support twice from the (lunae) faction
Jenna may move 3, displace 1, and shift 1

Shows off the action icons for the card

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 12d

I love love love the look of this!

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 13d

ludo-narrative synchrosity

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 15d

All good man, it's an interesting conversation.

I agree cardboard standees feel cheap, but that's because they are the affordable option for many low budget ($5000-, 1000 copies) indie kickstarters.

But if you just, please don't cheap out on the clip

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 15d

I've also been eyeing transparent acrylic with a two sided print as a great way to provide good looking pieces that don't feel chunky

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Reposted by Zach

HELL-azear @lazear.bsky.social · 16d

*after this is all said and done and people are looting the Oval Office.

Hey, this shit is all just spray-painted plastic.

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Zach @zhoekstra.bsky.social · 15d

Give me a better cost effective small batch version of miniatures and I will.

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