A dream of knights and faeries and what mischief and feelings might arise between them.

A solo game of sci-fi body horror

A GMless role playing game of duty and desire. (Playtest version)

An RPG which captures the feel of the Alien/Aliens films beautifully.

A card-based epistolary game about fading communication and saying goodbye.

A diceless, card-based story game about labour rights and the Battle of Blair Mountain.

A diceless, card-based story game about a detective and his hat. Perfect noir feel.

A deeply atmospheric game of people with dark secrets hunting monsters in Victorian London.

Do you remember Happy Days, with Fonzie, Richie Cunningham and all their pals in a nostalgic situation comedy back in the 1970’s? It was fun, exciting and spawned a whole generation of people who knew how to say “Heyyyyy” while showing two thumbs up. But one day it jumped the shark.

During the last year of COVID I’ve had the great delight of enjoying some regular Sunday night games with friends from America. We’ve played a wide range of one-shot games and playtests. Today I’d like to focus on the one-shot games which we have played which were written by Grant Howitt - well known for Honey Heist, but actually the purveyor of a very wide range of fine one-page games. These are presented in the order in which I played them.

Why I think Blades in the Dark is an important new design in tabletop RPG’s

Description and mechanics brought together beautifully through the rules for 'Aspects'

Time travel as an RPG genre is one with infinite possibilities, but really hard to do right. For my money, Timewatch is the best example out there today, and I’m going to tell you why.

I had always wanted to try a 'story game', but was afraid to try. I didn't think I'd have the creative wits to be any good at it, let alone enjoy it. So it was my great good fortune that my first exposure was via the amazing Grey Ranks.

I have come to understand that some of the very best games have mechanics which support the theme of the game in some way. For me the outstanding example of this is Ten Candles by Cavalry Games.

What is a good choice for an eCommerce solution for a small ttrpg publisher?

Digital notepads are some of my favourite apps for the ‘noodling around’ stage of game design

The choice of software for writing is as individual a choice as anyone is likely to make. I’ve shifted over time from one to another, and at the moment my preferred choice is iA Writer.

Move over indesign, there is a new kid on the block and Affinity Publisher is better for indie game designers than you!

Continuing playing The Between. In which questions about Figgs specialist pork pies are asked, work is suspended on the St Jame’s Street Ghost, and more clues are gathered about the Whatley Camera.

Continuing playing The Between. In which the mystery of the St James's Street Ghost starts, while Sally No-Face draws towards a close.

An account of stories told when playing The Between. In celebration of the successful crowdfunding just taking place.

In these days of instant messaging, WhatsApp and texts, the pleasure of writing and receiving letters is perhaps in danger of being forgotten.

Leo Marks was the principal code-maker for the SOE during the war. This book which is filled with wry humour and bureaucratic frustration covers his war from 1942-45. He was considered the “one who got away” from Bletchley Park, and has amazing insights into the secret war of the SOE.

This is the true stories of seven of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-occupied France. The author has taken a chronological view of events from the rise of Hitler in 1933 to the end of the war. Structurally the book has a good table of contents and index, and contains black and white photographs and maps. There is a bibliography of over one hundred books which have been used as sources.

John Wyndham was a master of writing dystopia science fiction from the point of view of ordinary people. I think this is one of his finest, with elements which are directly applicable to our international response to climate change.

In these days of instant messaging, WhatsApp and texts, the pleasure of writing and receiving letters is perhaps in danger of being forgotten.

Leo Marks was the principal code-maker for the SOE during the war. This book which is filled with wry humour and bureaucratic frustration covers his war from 1942-45. He was considered the “one who got away” from Bletchley Park, and has amazing insights into the secret war of the SOE.

This is the true stories of seven of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-occupied France. The author has taken a chronological view of events from the rise of Hitler in 1933 to the end of the war. Structurally the book has a good table of contents and index, and contains black and white photographs and maps. There is a bibliography of over one hundred books which have been used as sources.

So I decided to re-read 1984. I first read it about thirty years ago as a teenager, and I remember it being dreary and with a bit of horror at the end. Reading it now, I see it somewhat differently…