Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith

@biffybeans.bsky.social

Writer / Visual Artist / Independent Historian Solo board / historical game enthusiast & designer - 2024 Zenobia Award semifinalist. TEDx Speaker. Amateur genealogist. Late dx Autistic/AuDHD

1.1K followers200 following1.2K posts

Lots of public libraries would love your unwanted board games for their collections- especially historical board games. Why not give them a call? I just donated a 2nd batch to mine, up to 37 in total. And now they've asked me for additional suggestions to add to their collection. 😁

Current Lynchian order: -Elephant Man -Blue Velvet -Mulholland Dr. -Fire Walk With Me -Lost Highway -Inland Empire -Wild at Heart -Straight Story Need to re-watch Dune & Eraserhead.

I just re-watched Boogie Nights for the first time in many many many years and cannot believe what an absolute freaking masterpiece this film is. To me, this is Goodfellas level of excellence.

Rewatched The Favourite. Loved it again as much as the first time. All three actresses are excellent in it but Olivia Coleman is 🔥 Also watched Kinds of Kindness this week and really enjoyed it. (More than Bugonia- which might need a 2nd viewing) Love Yorgos.

Played this in the 70s, bought it off EBay a few years ago f/ my birthday. It makes me laugh when the ball rolls back down. What are your thoughts on dexterity games? Do you have any that you enjoy playing solo? Are vintage dexterity more or less fun than modern ones?

Introduce yourself with (just) 5 concerts you’ve seen, no jam bands Metallica 5x (once w / Cliff) Megadeth Anthrax Slayer Testament I saw a LOT of concerts in the mid-late 80s. So much thrash. It was a great time for music.

I watched & rewatched more movies in 2025 than I have in decades. Film o’ the year: Dead Man. Other favs: Stranger than Paradise, Beau is Afraid, Licorice Pizza, Garden State, Vast of Night, Frankenstein, Margot at the Wedding, Klute, Wanda, Slacker, Mallrats, Mulholland Dr, The Bikeriders #filmsky

My birthday is today. It’s always been weird to try & celebrate a BD while the majority of the world is celebrating the coming of the New Year. A BD on the last day of the year always seems to make me reflect in ways where I place too much emphasis on what I did or did not accomplish this year.

My Dec. 2021 after becoming a #sologamer during the Pandemic. I’ve since purged at least half of these. Love: Palm Island, Star Realms Frontiers, Friday, DSD6 & The Game. Like: Architects, Maquis, Desolate, Aerion, Gate, & Death Angel. Lots of PNP games here as well.

Stephanie Smith reposted

City of Six Moons isn't for everyone; many folks are frustrated by the ambiguities present in the "puzzle" to center it as a cultural & anthropological fiction-object, and I get that, hate away But man, I wish my haters wouldn't say it's a scam. Everything I do in life & art is earnest & sincere

Holiday gift of this worker placement game to myself f/ solo play. Just finished 1st game- made a few mistakes but I like it! Love me some small box games. Solo is very simple to run. #soloboardgamer

I am typically a voracious reader of fiction but this book took me over a year to finish. It was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read because the difference between it and the movie kept tangling my brain. (The book is told from Chief’s perspective.) Both movie & book are A+.

iOS 26 is just so awful. It feels like a joke. Its whole tone is disharmonious. Its as if they showed it to absolutely no one before releasing it. I guess that’s one way to get me to reduce screen time.

Been working on the Polish branch of my family tree the last few months (found 3rd, 4th & 5th GGPs!) and discovered the holiday tradition of paper cut snowflakes- which I used to make w/ my mom when I was little. Look up Wycinanki paper cutting to see more traditional colorful & symmetrical designs.

Just finished watching Once Upon a Time in America f/ the 1st time since I rented it on VHS a hundred years ago- though I’m not sure I ever saw the 2nd half. Loved the 1st half. Strongly disliked the 2nd half. Breathtaking cinematography throughout. Hated Noodles. 2 🍇 scenes??? #filmsky

Stellarion is a sad no f/ me. Love the art & the idea of gameplay but the symbols make my head swim + some actions are unintuitive. Rulebook text is hard to see against the background art. I’m 1 for 3 w/ Oniverse games. Still have Aerion but passed on Nautilion. Which Oniverse games do you like?

Anyone else enjoy making game components with no real intention to design a finished game? I imagined these were the remains of a lost civilization & had a blast trying to figure out how to play it. This painting is mine, as are all the hand carved stamps used to create the game pieces. ✂️🎲

While @amabel.bsky.social and her amazing City of Six Moons was surely on my brain as I made this at the start of the year, I think I was more so inspired by something I’d seen in the Egyptian wing at the Met Museum in NYC where there were no instructions & must rely on imagination to play.

I’ve always been a voracious reader, so why has it taken me a year to read half of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? It’s an excellent book- so why can’t I get through more than a few pages at a time? My best guess is b/c it’s so different to experience the story through Chief’s eyes. More to absorb?

Watched Casino tonight f/ the 1st time in many years (on Prime) & things were changed/edited from the original version which was a total turn off. Having ditched almost all of my physical media ages ago, maybe I finally get why some people have held onto theirs.

Why is Amazon using UPS to deliver books in plastic bubble mailer bags? There was no question that my copy of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island would be damaged once I opened it. (It was) 😔

Played Finspan f/ the 1st time today- played solo w/out the Nautoma b/c I wasn’t interested in it. Instead, I just played BYOS, scoring -2 per card w/ the group icon per one of the designers. I’m a big fan of explicit rulesets & while I thought this one was pretty good, I still found a 🧵🪡

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typically added on by a different designer, I often feel like having to stop and run a bot breaks my (inattentive ADHD) focus. I am overall pleased w/ the purchase. I assume it would be more fun if I had others to play w/. Have I said how much I love the fish cards? They picked the BEST fish and

all the art is great. Not going to lie, I do kind of wish this game was optimized f/ solo BYOS instead of using a bot. (I should really try the Nautoma to see the difference in experiences.) I also wish there were side games to play w/ the cards. Did anyone ever do that w/ Wingspan I wonder?

Played Finspan f/ the 1st time today- played solo w/out the Nautoma b/c I wasn’t interested in it. Instead, I just played BYOS, scoring -2 per card w/ the group icon per one of the designers. I’m a big fan of explicit rulesets & while I thought this one was pretty good, I still found a 🧵🪡

couple missing things. (I made assumptions- hope I got them right.) I ADORE the fish cards. I love fishing games (Have 5!) and I do like how this plays. Will I try the Nautoma? Maybe? The process feels a little disconnected to me. When I solo, I like keeping my head in the game. As solo bots are…