Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
@boardgametextbook.com
Indie video game, music, and board game nerd. AuDHD. Dedicated rulebook hater. Author of Every Board Game Rulebook is Awful.
www.youtube.com/@BoardGameTextbook
boardgametextbook.com/EBGRIA.pdf
www.youtube.com/@BoardGameTextbook
boardgametextbook.com/EBGRIA.pdf
Pinned
Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
@boardgametextbook.com
· Nov 13
boardgametextbook.com
I used to rewrite board game rulebooks as a hobby. I was getting good at it, but something still felt wrong about it.
Then I took grad school classes in technical writing.
And then I started to hate all rulebooks.
And I had to write 90 pages and a new rulebook about it.
Latest draft on my site.
Then I took grad school classes in technical writing.
And then I started to hate all rulebooks.
And I had to write 90 pages and a new rulebook about it.
Latest draft on my site.
December 19, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today I learned that breakcore is not the same as hardcore breaks. Breakcore is closer to digital hardcore (which is not the same hardcore as the hardcore in hardcore breaks).
As a fan of EDM, yes, I agree that whoever names the new subgenres of EDM must be stopped.
As a fan of EDM, yes, I agree that whoever names the new subgenres of EDM must be stopped.
December 15, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Today I learned that breakcore is not the same as hardcore breaks. Breakcore is closer to digital hardcore (which is not the same hardcore as the hardcore in hardcore breaks).
As a fan of EDM, yes, I agree that whoever names the new subgenres of EDM must be stopped.
As a fan of EDM, yes, I agree that whoever names the new subgenres of EDM must be stopped.
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Cat is brought in as a prisoner to the monkey guardroom, 1630s. By David Teniers, whose day is today.
December 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Cat is brought in as a prisoner to the monkey guardroom, 1630s. By David Teniers, whose day is today.
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
I hate how much I enjoyed this
BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦
BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦
December 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I hate how much I enjoyed this
BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦
BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦
It's funny going back to play Dream Quest and realizing how it's closer to Nethack than Slay the Spire.
• Leave and return to shops whenever
• Level up by experience points
• Elemental resistances are still a thing (e.g. your fire mage finds a fire-immune red dragon at the bottom and you just die)
• Leave and return to shops whenever
• Level up by experience points
• Elemental resistances are still a thing (e.g. your fire mage finds a fire-immune red dragon at the bottom and you just die)
Whenever I see a game designer/publisher say they "need" genAI "art" I want to point them to one of the greatest (and most influential) games made this century.
December 15, 2025 at 12:59 AM
It's funny going back to play Dream Quest and realizing how it's closer to Nethack than Slay the Spire.
• Leave and return to shops whenever
• Level up by experience points
• Elemental resistances are still a thing (e.g. your fire mage finds a fire-immune red dragon at the bottom and you just die)
• Leave and return to shops whenever
• Level up by experience points
• Elemental resistances are still a thing (e.g. your fire mage finds a fire-immune red dragon at the bottom and you just die)
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
December 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Learned today that “Galápagos” comes from a Spanish word for tortoise, meaning that “Galápagos Tortoise” is,
in fact,
a tortology
in fact,
a tortology
December 13, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Learned today that “Galápagos” comes from a Spanish word for tortoise, meaning that “Galápagos Tortoise” is,
in fact,
a tortology
in fact,
a tortology
Not me playing Things in Rings for the first time and the rest of the table getting increasingly baffled as I move their 22nd card into the red-only ring
(Red was "man-made")
(Red was "man-made")
December 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Not me playing Things in Rings for the first time and the rest of the table getting increasingly baffled as I move their 22nd card into the red-only ring
(Red was "man-made")
(Red was "man-made")
I know this is another viral marketing stunt from the company that was caught using AI in its promo material, but you got me. I drove past a shuttered Hooters with the Duolingo owl hanging over the Hooters owl, and I wondered what tf was happening. I am successfully trolled.
Mysterious Duolingo signs pop up at closed Hooters restaurants - Dexerto
Mysterious Duolingo signs have been popping up at closed Hooters restaurants across the United States, leading to a number of theories about what they mean.
www.dexerto.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I know this is another viral marketing stunt from the company that was caught using AI in its promo material, but you got me. I drove past a shuttered Hooters with the Duolingo owl hanging over the Hooters owl, and I wondered what tf was happening. I am successfully trolled.
You know those jokes about white people being so bad with food they make chicken salad with RAISINS in it?
I bought dried cranberries to eat with yogurt.
There's a chicken salad recipe on the back. It's called "Farmer's Chicken Salad."
Farmers, who famously eat chicken with dried cranberries.
I bought dried cranberries to eat with yogurt.
There's a chicken salad recipe on the back. It's called "Farmer's Chicken Salad."
Farmers, who famously eat chicken with dried cranberries.
December 11, 2025 at 11:33 PM
You know those jokes about white people being so bad with food they make chicken salad with RAISINS in it?
I bought dried cranberries to eat with yogurt.
There's a chicken salad recipe on the back. It's called "Farmer's Chicken Salad."
Farmers, who famously eat chicken with dried cranberries.
I bought dried cranberries to eat with yogurt.
There's a chicken salad recipe on the back. It's called "Farmer's Chicken Salad."
Farmers, who famously eat chicken with dried cranberries.
I am not doing a good job of posting about myself anymore. I guess I really should've taken a picture of the deckbuilding game where I had a parade of sheep and wolves marching up to a bird that was raining down spikes on them while they murdered the secret mushroom.
December 10, 2025 at 12:22 AM
I am not doing a good job of posting about myself anymore. I guess I really should've taken a picture of the deckbuilding game where I had a parade of sheep and wolves marching up to a bird that was raining down spikes on them while they murdered the secret mushroom.
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
⚠️ STAND BACK
the quadrangulated heptagon is currently VERY ANXIOUS
the quadrangulated heptagon is currently VERY ANXIOUS
December 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM
⚠️ STAND BACK
the quadrangulated heptagon is currently VERY ANXIOUS
the quadrangulated heptagon is currently VERY ANXIOUS
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
💚🖤🤍 Aro Pride Dragon~
December 4, 2025 at 4:52 PM
💚🖤🤍 Aro Pride Dragon~
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
I’m so excited, my favorite Wrapped just dropped!
December 5, 2025 at 1:11 AM
I’m so excited, my favorite Wrapped just dropped!
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
November 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Simultaneously love and despise it
Holy shit. Here is Tolkien using question mark, then em dash, then lowercase. This is officially allowed.
December 1, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Simultaneously love and despise it
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Rascal News! Rascal News! Rascal News!
today instead of buying barely discounted crap, get a paid subscription to an independent media outlet! a little $ goes a long way towards supporting a free press. 🗞️
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
November 28, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Rascal News! Rascal News! Rascal News!
It's his year!
November 28, 2025 at 2:27 AM
It's his year!
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Terraforming Mars really thought they'd get away with renaming rounds as "generations" specifically for the purpose of confusing people who draw the two cards in the game that refer to the "end of a generation" and I'll never forgive them
Do not change the shared language just to sound smart
Do not change the shared language just to sound smart
I want to agree to this in principle, but there’s also a Phil Eklund way to do it incorrectly. Eklund would regularly rename mechanics without offering context, assuming that the player would have the same knowledge and instincts as he did. It resulted in a rulebook that sounded like a muddled code.
there is almost no feedback I will reflexively ignore as a game developer but “you shouldn’t name something X because people don’t know that word” is one of them. oh no! You might learn a new word! God forbid you take away a piece of knowledge from a game that’s not a brand of gun or some shit lol
November 27, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Terraforming Mars really thought they'd get away with renaming rounds as "generations" specifically for the purpose of confusing people who draw the two cards in the game that refer to the "end of a generation" and I'll never forgive them
Do not change the shared language just to sound smart
Do not change the shared language just to sound smart
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
My Magnum Opus: Cloud Tools
November 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
My Magnum Opus: Cloud Tools
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
Having just visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, this was a challenging, infuriating, and thought-provoking read.
I don't know how to introduce this one. After three titles about opium peddling, I figured the rest of SDHistCon would be breezy by comparison. I was wrong. The next day, I experienced one of the toughest board games I've ever played. Perhaps *the* toughest. spacebiff.com/2025/11/24/u...
Unnameable
After the first day of SDHistCon, where I played three games about opium peddling, I figured the second would be easier on my stomach. I could not have been more wrong. It has no name. Its designer…
spacebiff.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Having just visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, this was a challenging, infuriating, and thought-provoking read.
Reposted by Dean Ray Johnson ⚪
I really thought to myself "how bad could it be"
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I really thought to myself "how bad could it be"
Why are these all so good
Like actually sincerely good
The one with the purple bucket with inspired
Like actually sincerely good
The one with the purple bucket with inspired
Tiktok has really ushered in a new golden era of restaurant advertising
November 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Why are these all so good
Like actually sincerely good
The one with the purple bucket with inspired
Like actually sincerely good
The one with the purple bucket with inspired