Amabel Holland
@amabel.bsky.social
She/her. "Widely considered one of today’s most innovative game designers." - The New Yorker
Board games: https://hollandspiele.com
video essays: youtube.com/@hollandspiele
Patreon: patreon.com/amabelholland
sidekicking: youtube.com/@SBPlaysGames
Board games: https://hollandspiele.com
video essays: youtube.com/@hollandspiele
Patreon: patreon.com/amabelholland
sidekicking: youtube.com/@SBPlaysGames
Pinned
Amabel Holland
@amabel.bsky.social
· Jun 16
📌I'm Amabel (she/her), a board game designer. Out of my 80+ games, I'm best known for City of Six Moons and Irish Gauge.
I co-own the publisher Hollandspiele. In my spare time I make video essays about the future & history of games.
I'm a slutty poly trans woman, and I talk about all of the above.
I co-own the publisher Hollandspiele. In my spare time I make video essays about the future & history of games.
I'm a slutty poly trans woman, and I talk about all of the above.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Introduced my 20mo to cream cheese literally three minutes ago and now if I give him a piece of plain bagel he looks at me like I did war crimes
November 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Introduced my 20mo to cream cheese literally three minutes ago and now if I give him a piece of plain bagel he looks at me like I did war crimes
Reposted by Amabel Holland
I run into this question a lot (but re: board games) and this advice doesn't work for everybody stuck at this stage, but: start and finish a small thing first, something with essentially no obstacles. One of my earliest board games was like this, which eventually was published as Northern Pacific. 🧵
I'm incapable of comprehending how people make games.
All my Godot projects are just blank canvas I use to throw random shit at a wall and break things.
How do people start, develop, and finish things??
All my Godot projects are just blank canvas I use to throw random shit at a wall and break things.
How do people start, develop, and finish things??
November 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I run into this question a lot (but re: board games) and this advice doesn't work for everybody stuck at this stage, but: start and finish a small thing first, something with essentially no obstacles. One of my earliest board games was like this, which eventually was published as Northern Pacific. 🧵
Reposted by Amabel Holland
I was going to apologise for reposting about being available for work on the new year, but actually I refuse, and maybe someone will give me a job purely to stop me posting about it.
November 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I was going to apologise for reposting about being available for work on the new year, but actually I refuse, and maybe someone will give me a job purely to stop me posting about it.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Brianna Ghey was not murdered for being Esther Ghey's daughter, and Esther locating the problem of her daughter being murdered by radicalised cis kids in her daughter being trans is a result of her class loyalty. She simply wants to prevent kids from being trans. She gets no more grace from me.
November 11, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Brianna Ghey was not murdered for being Esther Ghey's daughter, and Esther locating the problem of her daughter being murdered by radicalised cis kids in her daughter being trans is a result of her class loyalty. She simply wants to prevent kids from being trans. She gets no more grace from me.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
okay sorry I cannot shut the fuck up about this topic, instead of another massive thread, here
November 6, 2025 at 11:29 PM
okay sorry I cannot shut the fuck up about this topic, instead of another massive thread, here
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Reposting with alt text because nobody’s done that yet. Will be doing this in multiple parts because it is MASSIVE.
November 11, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposting with alt text because nobody’s done that yet. Will be doing this in multiple parts because it is MASSIVE.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Pro Tip: if you dodge Wilbur’s advances 200 times in a row, you can unlock the sigil for Estelle’s legendary weapon
November 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Pro Tip: if you dodge Wilbur’s advances 200 times in a row, you can unlock the sigil for Estelle’s legendary weapon
Thomas Lennon essentially playing a celebrity TV ghost hunter/grifter, but for cryptids, who is also kinda Steve Irwin with an inexcusably bad cartoon Australian accent
Now, it would seem as though you are describing a bad movie, but I see Thomas Lennon in the cast, so clearly I'm just reading you wrong.
November 11, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Thomas Lennon essentially playing a celebrity TV ghost hunter/grifter, but for cryptids, who is also kinda Steve Irwin with an inexcusably bad cartoon Australian accent
I spent a couple days after watching this mostly-boring fever dream trying to find out why it has this absolutely stacked cast & near as I can tell people just really liked the director as a person and said, "sure, why not" & that's incredibly charming
"oh you know that movie where Michael Shannon dresses as bigfoot while drunk & is hunted by Ian McShane because bunnysona Christina Hendricks left Shannon for wolfsona Ron Perlman in a small rural town that's like 80% furries, also it's about Christmas"
November 11, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I spent a couple days after watching this mostly-boring fever dream trying to find out why it has this absolutely stacked cast & near as I can tell people just really liked the director as a person and said, "sure, why not" & that's incredibly charming
"oh you know that movie where Michael Shannon dresses as bigfoot while drunk & is hunted by Ian McShane because bunnysona Christina Hendricks left Shannon for wolfsona Ron Perlman in a small rural town that's like 80% furries, also it's about Christmas"
November 11, 2025 at 1:35 PM
"oh you know that movie where Michael Shannon dresses as bigfoot while drunk & is hunted by Ian McShane because bunnysona Christina Hendricks left Shannon for wolfsona Ron Perlman in a small rural town that's like 80% furries, also it's about Christmas"
Reposted by Amabel Holland
that mod was never interested in empathizing with anyone, seemed annoyed when anyone shared anything, thanked a non-binary attendee for "being an ally to trans people", and kept going on about how important it was to have a Carry Letter to prove you weren't doing a fetish by going to the bathroom
Exactly, and sometimes I wish I had been psuedonymous. At a local trans support group a couple years ago I started talking about death threats & harassment, & the moderator said "well don't be a public figure" and, like, cat's out of the bag on that one
November 11, 2025 at 12:31 PM
that mod was never interested in empathizing with anyone, seemed annoyed when anyone shared anything, thanked a non-binary attendee for "being an ally to trans people", and kept going on about how important it was to have a Carry Letter to prove you weren't doing a fetish by going to the bathroom
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Fascism can't win without outlets like the NYT and WaPo continuously doing this.
Please stop sending money to these outlets. The bland, white-friendly recipes and word puzzles aren't worth it.
Fund @theflytrapmedia.com, or @unraveledpress.com, or any number of local independent journalists.
Please stop sending money to these outlets. The bland, white-friendly recipes and word puzzles aren't worth it.
Fund @theflytrapmedia.com, or @unraveledpress.com, or any number of local independent journalists.
November 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Fascism can't win without outlets like the NYT and WaPo continuously doing this.
Please stop sending money to these outlets. The bland, white-friendly recipes and word puzzles aren't worth it.
Fund @theflytrapmedia.com, or @unraveledpress.com, or any number of local independent journalists.
Please stop sending money to these outlets. The bland, white-friendly recipes and word puzzles aren't worth it.
Fund @theflytrapmedia.com, or @unraveledpress.com, or any number of local independent journalists.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
I do my best to not downplay myself or my work anymore when I meet folks because, as a politician friend of mine taught me, it takes real courage for a stranger to approach you, especially if you've made a difference in their life. So, even if you feel kinda weird about being notable--
November 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I do my best to not downplay myself or my work anymore when I meet folks because, as a politician friend of mine taught me, it takes real courage for a stranger to approach you, especially if you've made a difference in their life. So, even if you feel kinda weird about being notable--
Reposted by Amabel Holland
This is a wonderful and fascinating thread about being pony famous (meaning: highly notable but in a very niche space. Term originates from MLP fandom, hence the name).
My experience is somewhat different than Amabel's, but my unease with the threats of parasociality and harassment are the same.
My experience is somewhat different than Amabel's, but my unease with the threats of parasociality and harassment are the same.
when discussing parasociality & harassment, I refer to myself as a kinda-sorta public figure, or a half-assed or niche public figure
my therapist hit me with: bitch* you were profiled in The New Yorker, strangers discuss your work, you are a public figure full stop
(*"bitch" implied not literal) 🧵
my therapist hit me with: bitch* you were profiled in The New Yorker, strangers discuss your work, you are a public figure full stop
(*"bitch" implied not literal) 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM
This is a wonderful and fascinating thread about being pony famous (meaning: highly notable but in a very niche space. Term originates from MLP fandom, hence the name).
My experience is somewhat different than Amabel's, but my unease with the threats of parasociality and harassment are the same.
My experience is somewhat different than Amabel's, but my unease with the threats of parasociality and harassment are the same.
"new batman film completely stalled as they wrack their huge brains to try to explain why the joker doesn't have a moustache under his make-up"
I don't really care about Bond movies but this whole "how are they going to bring him back?? we must respect the continuity of this storied franchise" stuff is bonkers because the Craig films were not in any kind of "continuity" with the ones that came before it
what are they even on about?
what are they even on about?
November 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
"new batman film completely stalled as they wrack their huge brains to try to explain why the joker doesn't have a moustache under his make-up"
I don't really care about Bond movies but this whole "how are they going to bring him back?? we must respect the continuity of this storied franchise" stuff is bonkers because the Craig films were not in any kind of "continuity" with the ones that came before it
what are they even on about?
what are they even on about?
November 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I don't really care about Bond movies but this whole "how are they going to bring him back?? we must respect the continuity of this storied franchise" stuff is bonkers because the Craig films were not in any kind of "continuity" with the ones that came before it
what are they even on about?
what are they even on about?
Did not know until now about the Law of Jante, a satirical description of Scandinavian society that is oddly also held up as Good, Actually and it's just a list of the most abusive shit I have ever read
"You're not to think YOU are good at anything" "You're not to think anyone cares about YOU"
"You're not to think YOU are good at anything" "You're not to think anyone cares about YOU"
In the 2010s in particular, our international role-playing communities faced a lot of "Law of Jante" crap that, looking back on it, was this perfect feedback loop between Others' Jealousy and Creator-Inherent Internalized Feelings of Inadequacy.
In the 2020s, I think we all deserve more hugs.
In the 2020s, I think we all deserve more hugs.
y'know, as a kid you say you wanna be a writer or you wanna make video games & your family not only tells you how unrealistic it is but also that "you think you're better than us?!" & "you just want attention" & you quickly learn that having or expressing ambition is dangerous & will be punished
November 11, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Did not know until now about the Law of Jante, a satirical description of Scandinavian society that is oddly also held up as Good, Actually and it's just a list of the most abusive shit I have ever read
"You're not to think YOU are good at anything" "You're not to think anyone cares about YOU"
"You're not to think YOU are good at anything" "You're not to think anyone cares about YOU"
Reposted by Amabel Holland
It’s interesting: I’ve been thinking a lot about different kinds of fame, & we tend to talk about it as if it’s a monolithic experience. But it doesn’t take much to alter different parts of your life, even if you can still go to the grocery store, make no extra $$$, aren’t a household name, etc.
when discussing parasociality & harassment, I refer to myself as a kinda-sorta public figure, or a half-assed or niche public figure
my therapist hit me with: bitch* you were profiled in The New Yorker, strangers discuss your work, you are a public figure full stop
(*"bitch" implied not literal) 🧵
my therapist hit me with: bitch* you were profiled in The New Yorker, strangers discuss your work, you are a public figure full stop
(*"bitch" implied not literal) 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 10:58 AM
It’s interesting: I’ve been thinking a lot about different kinds of fame, & we tend to talk about it as if it’s a monolithic experience. But it doesn’t take much to alter different parts of your life, even if you can still go to the grocery store, make no extra $$$, aren’t a household name, etc.
Reposted by Amabel Holland
my parents essentially thought I was "turning into" a "gay boy" (they were more likely to use the f-slur for this, and quite liberally) and sexuality isn't gender but in a traumatized framework that folded all trans femininity into gayness, it felt distinct as a "gender".
November 11, 2025 at 10:51 AM
my parents essentially thought I was "turning into" a "gay boy" (they were more likely to use the f-slur for this, and quite liberally) and sexuality isn't gender but in a traumatized framework that folded all trans femininity into gayness, it felt distinct as a "gender".
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Ooh, this is a little complicated? Because no one at that time, myself included, understood I was a girl, but I also think my parents intuitively understood I wasn't a "boy" (a construction in their mind that was explicitly cishet) & some of that response was likely about that detected Otherness;
November 11, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Ooh, this is a little complicated? Because no one at that time, myself included, understood I was a girl, but I also think my parents intuitively understood I wasn't a "boy" (a construction in their mind that was explicitly cishet) & some of that response was likely about that detected Otherness;
Reposted by Amabel Holland
me to my pals: so I was spitroasting a friend but estrogen made my junk uncooperative & I had to tap out
me to my therapist: I was in (hides face) an encounter and I was um (blushes adorably) unable to maintain (avoids eye contact) my participation
me to my therapist: I was in (hides face) an encounter and I was um (blushes adorably) unable to maintain (avoids eye contact) my participation
September 5, 2023 at 4:14 PM
me to my pals: so I was spitroasting a friend but estrogen made my junk uncooperative & I had to tap out
me to my therapist: I was in (hides face) an encounter and I was um (blushes adorably) unable to maintain (avoids eye contact) my participation
me to my therapist: I was in (hides face) an encounter and I was um (blushes adorably) unable to maintain (avoids eye contact) my participation
Reposted by Amabel Holland
Just told my therapist about the time when I was like ten and my mother posed the hypothetical "if someone pulled a gun on us and fired, would you jump in front of it to save your mother's life" and apparently that's *not* a normal thing to ask a child?
huge if true
huge if true
October 6, 2023 at 3:09 PM
Just told my therapist about the time when I was like ten and my mother posed the hypothetical "if someone pulled a gun on us and fired, would you jump in front of it to save your mother's life" and apparently that's *not* a normal thing to ask a child?
huge if true
huge if true
Reposted by Amabel Holland
was just reminded of my previous therapist, who told me it was triggering when I talked about my trauma, described a heartbreak I experienced as "a challenge from the goddess of love, and I know you will pass it", and opened a session holding an acoustic guitar, proceeding to play a set on my time
November 8, 2023 at 12:55 PM
was just reminded of my previous therapist, who told me it was triggering when I talked about my trauma, described a heartbreak I experienced as "a challenge from the goddess of love, and I know you will pass it", and opened a session holding an acoustic guitar, proceeding to play a set on my time