Ai refers to many technologies including machine learning and LLMs. What follows are thoughts mostly around LLMs and generative AI. The biggest innovation around AI is the advance in natural...
The Cone
It’s been a year since we said goodbye to Lacy, and I wanted to take a moment to share some more stories about her. The first, is The Cone. We met Lacy when she was six years old. She had not bee...
Notorious at play
Last week, I was a bounty hunter. I’ve been playing Notorious and Outsiders, two beautiful spiral-bound solo RPGs by Jason Price of Always Checkers Publishing. Note the gold lettering on the tit...
Review: The Price of Coal
Price of Coal is a GMless story game about labor rights, based on the historical period leading up to the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia, USA. Mechanically, it’s a mix of Fiasco and The...
Representations of the machine: a conversation with Jeff Stormer
I spoke with Jeff Stormer, host of Party of One Podcast about the secret to making guests unhinged, what makes superhero stories good, and the secrets of hair care success. Edited and adapted from...
August 2025 Roundup
Below are things I’ve learned, remembered, or found interesting in the past month: Sam Kriss is in his zombie era. Only one dinosaur fossil has ever been found in Washington stat...
Games as Art: Erin Tierney
I like it when games look nice: an interview with Erin Tierney Adapted and edited from a conversation on July 10, 2025. Alex: I first met you on a Cyberrats actual play that Jack of RPGs Uncovere...
Ty Pitre's three secrets of RPG design
Edited and adapted from a conversation on July 15, 2025 Alex: Now I understand that you are here to tell me the three secrets of RPG design. Is that right? Ty: That’s news to me, and I think the ...
Solo, Duet, and More: An Interview with Sam Leigh
Sam Leigh, independent game designer, shared with me her journey from publishing her first game to focusing on game development more substantially, from owning one tarot deck to making a breakout t...
Driving in Reverse
My entrypoint to the Forza series was Forza Horizon 4, an arcade racing game. I didn’t expect to like it. I don’t typically enjoy racing games, but I must have had it recommended to me, so I gave i...