Tim Rodriguez

This weekend, at Night of the Living Cryptids, I’m debuting my latest micro game, “Not the Mothman…yet”. Afterwards, it’ll also be available on Itch and MothSpire.com

We’re one week out and Kung Fu Kittens has stalled at ~42% funding. If you’re interested in a new trick-taking game, come check this one out! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...

Watched an excellent couple of games of Spades played yesterday, and it got me thinking about how card strategy works in KFK; and as a result, I ended up undoing a rule that limits those strategies (in an effort to create certain kinds of action in gameplay). Gonna test some of that tonight at BMG!

Completely concur with Quinn here. FAE works in beautiful and not-so-mysterious ways, and while the the design trends have shifted a lot, this is still a top-tier system that will teach you a lot about how the mechanisms of speaking about your die rolls works.

I went to my first Baltimore Orioles game on Wednesday. That has been a long time coming, since I've considered myself a permanent fan of them since I got my first baseball card. And as soon as we sat down they proceeded to score 8 runs in an inning. So.... That was awesome!

Final hour for the early-bird free variant booklet for Kung Fu Kittens, my trick-taking game about elemental martial artist cats! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...

✂️🎲 A 🧵 A friend sent me this video that was talking about how the back of a game box is essential for stores to market and sell the game, given that they can’t have every game set up nor do they have demo copies of all games available. youtube.com/shorts/-hQBk...

It's FINALLY HAPPENING!

Loving this new Puzzmo offering! puzzmo.com/play/hue-com...

And.... The WINNER of the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award is: ASTROLABE by Yasaman Farazan! 2nd Place: Limelight by Cameron Fleming 3rd Place: Braggin' Wranglers by Luke Wolyncewicz 4th Place: Hatchlings by Alan Leduc Congrats to all the designers! Find out more at cardboardedison.com/award

Congratulations to Astrolabe! cardboardedison.com/award And well done to all the finalists. It was a joy to take part in judging all these games.

I love that Alan Moore occasionally says the sanest, most grounded thing imaginable, like it's just to keep the rest of us on our toes

Some people *want* to run real businesses and solve *real* problems. I've always been suspicious of this and the variety of related scheme-like punditry. www.joanwestenberg.com/the-passive-...

1. Your goal is to retrieve your treasure from a monstrous entity. 2. All you need is a pen and paper, but expensive software makes it much easier. 3. The rules are constantly being updated, but they’re still shackled to a system from the 1970s.

omg, nailed

The only prescriptive advice I’ll give young designers: Make games only you could make. Don’t ask me what I mean by that, cos you either already know - or you’ll figure it out.

Ask your nearest CEO what they’re favorite food is and see what they say. If they are all about Soylent and supplements as a way to fuel their productivity but have no interest in the beautiful sensation of food itself, BE WARY!!

I *adore* this breakdown of Bad Bunny’s halftime show. It’s long and very worth reading because the art of that performance was absolutely *chef kiss*

Latest little art piece: I’m making a sticker for my zine game that’s on BackerKit right now. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...

Aaaand we're live! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...

I love what I'm seeing my friends create these days, whether it's releasing albums, auditioning for NPRs TinyDesk, making amazing textile pieces, or magnificent visual artworks. It makes ~my~ the world better, and I'm happy y'all are doing these things.

We're not much longer for this Earth, but before the Grimoire is tossed into the River Styx, we're awarding 6x $50 USD micro grants to ttrpg designers or content creators that could use a small boost. 🖤 If this is you, apply using the form below. Open until Jan 31! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Maybe a little more of an even distribution than I’d have guessed. Still, sounds like six more fans?

dumb joke incoming... Photo by Michael Discenza on Unsplash

Teasing my next project! AMA! www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...

THREE WEEKS LEFT to get your board game design submitted to the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award! cardboardedison.com/award

Hey board game designers, it's nearly that time again: Get your prototypes and pitches ready for the 2026 Cardboard Edison Award! Submissions open January 1! cardboardedison.com/award

This thread is lovely. Read real things, folks.

Happy Holidays! We're running a sale on digital copies of the Tarot for Transformation collection to help fund the print run of the next 'zine in the series, "Make a Tarot Game"! Get all three 'zines in DRM-free PDF for only $20, here! itch.io/s/171885/tar...

Today in my brain: Winnie the Pooh predicted Web 2.0 naming conventions… example: the correct spelling of “Tigger” is T-I-Double-G(uh)-R

New blog post: Tim wrote up a brief overview of our (spoiler: very good) experience at PAX Unplugged this year. www.mothspire.com/pax-unplugge...

Back from #PAXUnplugged, which was such a beautiful, energizing experience for me this year. I wrote a thousand words on a new Solo RPG project before I even left the con and a looking forward to getting some great new things out the door this year. Here also is my requisite swag photo:

Maybe one of the best things I’ve read this week.

Weather looks great for our outdoor tabletop games fair on Saturday 10/18! ☀️ Swing by from 12-4 to meet local designers and join us for a moderated discussion between three established gamer designers inside People's Book at 4pm!

In Minneapolis this week, visiting game shops, colleagues, and friends, telling them about Gorgon’s Garden! www.mothspire.com/games/gorgon...

Conference organizers: If you want people who work outside of academia (or financially secure company), to give a talk at your conference bc you value their expertise, it's unreasonable to make them pay for registration. Artists/Nonprofit folks do not have the funding to pay you to share expertise.

Five weeks out. I'm launching a new Kickstarter for a really cool COOPERATIVE social deduction game. Please come and follow the project! The art is shaping up magnificently, and I'm so so looking forward to showing this off. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ogr...

The art is so good. I can't wait to show y'all more

Hello again, tabletop RPG designers! The second Bannerless Games Tabletop RPG Grant is now taking applications! I'm looking to award up to 10 grants at $200 apiece. Applications open until the end of the month. Apply here: bannerless.games/grants

TIL: Netflix customer service agents aren't allowed to voice their own complaints about Netflix. I can't imagine anyone likes the new household lockout system.. The agent I just spoke to certainly didn't. I also lodged a complaint about that.

New post up today! Part of a new "Games we Own" series. www.mothspire.com/cursed-court/

If you buy one of everything from #Booth449 at #GenCon2025, it'll be 136 pounds, and we'll give you as many free tote bags as it takes to carry them. $5300 if you get there when the booth opens Thursday! If you buy out the entire booth, yes, that'd be well over a ton of fantastic indie TTRPGs.

I'll give you a choice: take it or leave it. Exploring the concept of Hobson's Choice in tabletop games, how to identify them, and when they are a good (or bad) part of a game's design: www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/hobsons-ch... #boardgames #ttrpg #gamedesign 🎲✂️

This weekend you can find our game The Old Ways Must Go at Origins booth #1203, courtesy of @ipr.bsky.social For more in the Tarot for Transformation series of 'zines, visit www.mothspire.com/publishing/t...

This is the kind of thing that makes me extremely happy

Want to see me perform in Much Ado About Nothing this weekend? Info here! mailchi.mp/c96983537051...