This is part two of a series about the hidden goblin problem in RPGs. Goblin illustration above by Tony Diterlizzi,… Read more Handling the hidden goblin
Category: WRITING
The problem of the hidden goblin
“The hidden goblin problem is about the things you don’t say in a game that’s made of saying stuff. It’s about how exactly role-playing games are done.”
The game design of “The Tyrannosaurus Game”
The Tyrannosaurus Game is a children’s book by Steven Kroll. It was first published in 1976, but I’m reading the… Read more The game design of “The Tyrannosaurus Game”
The game design of Isabel Allende’s “Ripper”
[Note: this is spoiler-free!] Literary heavyweight Isabel Allende published in 2014 a crime novel, Ripper. A fascinating, swirling study of… Read more The game design of Isabel Allende’s “Ripper”
Reframing the racism in “The Call of Cthulhu”
Illustration by Michael Komarck; thanks Evie for finding this! “The Call of Cthulhu” is H. P. Lovecraft’s most famous story,… Read more Reframing the racism in “The Call of Cthulhu”
Life’s Lottery/Choose Your Own Autobiography
I recently read two interactive books that, instead of recounting an adventure, explored a person’s life. The first was Neil Patrick Harris’s… Read more Life’s Lottery/Choose Your Own Autobiography