Graeme Devine
@graemedevine.com
Game designer that probably made some games you played as a kid, dog lover and a dad. Views expressed here are my own.
Pinned
Graeme Devine
@graemedevine.com
· Nov 13
Well since we're all back here... this still sums me up well, and Bella is smiling in that photo which is always good. Here's a slide of the few of the games I made over the centuries. You may have played some of them when you were young!
There is SO MUCH UI in a Backgammon game. I thought I had all the possible UI done given I already have 83 other games in this game (Full Deck Solitaire). But nope. Professional Art Text 4 UI banner time!
February 2, 2026 at 7:03 AM
There is SO MUCH UI in a Backgammon game. I thought I had all the possible UI done given I already have 83 other games in this game (Full Deck Solitaire). But nope. Professional Art Text 4 UI banner time!
Been getting my AI to double in backgammon. That is, ask the player if they wish to bet double on the game (this is simplified).
It's very hard to write an AI that can say "okay, ask now" when it's not 10 moves away from an obvious win. You need to ask when both players think a win is possible.
It's very hard to write an AI that can say "okay, ask now" when it's not 10 moves away from an obvious win. You need to ask when both players think a win is possible.
February 1, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Been getting my AI to double in backgammon. That is, ask the player if they wish to bet double on the game (this is simplified).
It's very hard to write an AI that can say "okay, ask now" when it's not 10 moves away from an obvious win. You need to ask when both players think a win is possible.
It's very hard to write an AI that can say "okay, ask now" when it's not 10 moves away from an obvious win. You need to ask when both players think a win is possible.
Reposted by Graeme Devine
Lessons Learned from Making Seventeen Board Games
A talk I gave for @graemedevine.com's Game Design class at California State University, Monterey Bay
🎲✂️
A talk I gave for @graemedevine.com's Game Design class at California State University, Monterey Bay
🎲✂️
Mike Berg - We Heart Games Talk at CSUMB
YouTube video by Graeme Devine
www.youtube.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Lessons Learned from Making Seventeen Board Games
A talk I gave for @graemedevine.com's Game Design class at California State University, Monterey Bay
🎲✂️
A talk I gave for @graemedevine.com's Game Design class at California State University, Monterey Bay
🎲✂️
I'm not sure what was worse today. My migraine or the news. (it was definitely the news)
January 31, 2026 at 12:52 AM
I'm not sure what was worse today. My migraine or the news. (it was definitely the news)
Reposted by Graeme Devine
I think YouTube should ban AI videos or make it something you can switch off. Upload one and not mark it AI? Ban them.
January 29, 2026 at 4:29 AM
I think YouTube should ban AI videos or make it something you can switch off. Upload one and not mark it AI? Ban them.
Mike gave a masterclass on design. Class was absolutely blown away and busy taking notes the whole talk. And what a career! Absolutely a legendary game designer.
Talking to some game design students tomorrow... here's the final slide of my deck:
January 28, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Mike gave a masterclass on design. Class was absolutely blown away and busy taking notes the whole talk. And what a career! Absolutely a legendary game designer.
Reposted by Graeme Devine
Dear Adobe,
No, I don't need the AI to summarize. No, I don't need the AI to help me search. No, I don't need the AI to help me resize the margins. No, I don't need the AI to do anything.
What I need is to hit the print icon without your product crashing from all of the AI popups.
No, I don't need the AI to summarize. No, I don't need the AI to help me search. No, I don't need the AI to help me resize the margins. No, I don't need the AI to do anything.
What I need is to hit the print icon without your product crashing from all of the AI popups.
January 28, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Dear Adobe,
No, I don't need the AI to summarize. No, I don't need the AI to help me search. No, I don't need the AI to help me resize the margins. No, I don't need the AI to do anything.
What I need is to hit the print icon without your product crashing from all of the AI popups.
No, I don't need the AI to summarize. No, I don't need the AI to help me search. No, I don't need the AI to help me resize the margins. No, I don't need the AI to do anything.
What I need is to hit the print icon without your product crashing from all of the AI popups.
So happy to see Laurie Palmer get UCSC's Distinguished Teaching Award this year. We talked a long time ago prior to me being faculty there. Her rep as a teacher is legendary at UCSC. events.ucsc.edu/event/dta-le...
Distinguished Teaching Award Lecture — Teaching Week 2026 – Events
events.ucsc.edu
January 28, 2026 at 7:46 PM
So happy to see Laurie Palmer get UCSC's Distinguished Teaching Award this year. We talked a long time ago prior to me being faculty there. Her rep as a teacher is legendary at UCSC. events.ucsc.edu/event/dta-le...
I might possibly know the class Mike is teaching to tomorrow. :-)
Students are hyped!
Students are hyped!
Talking to some game design students tomorrow... here's the final slide of my deck:
January 28, 2026 at 4:28 AM
I might possibly know the class Mike is teaching to tomorrow. :-)
Students are hyped!
Students are hyped!
This is an awesome article about numbers and making them fun. Yes, really...
I love this topic. I stumbled across it after hearing about the idea that certain numbers are 'funnier' than others. I noticed that funny numbers tend to be the opposite of "round" numbers, so I think it comes down to their incongruity-
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
"Good Numbers" Interlude: Funny Numbers — Alexander King
So far, we’ve been discussing the aesthetic qualities of numbers and exploring the concept of what numbers are “Good” for games. Let’s digress for a moment though. Sometimes, veering off the beaten pa...
www.literallyaking.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:54 PM
This is an awesome article about numbers and making them fun. Yes, really...
Reposted by Graeme Devine
I love this topic. I stumbled across it after hearing about the idea that certain numbers are 'funnier' than others. I noticed that funny numbers tend to be the opposite of "round" numbers, so I think it comes down to their incongruity-
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
"Good Numbers" Interlude: Funny Numbers — Alexander King
So far, we’ve been discussing the aesthetic qualities of numbers and exploring the concept of what numbers are “Good” for games. Let’s digress for a moment though. Sometimes, veering off the beaten pa...
www.literallyaking.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:58 PM
I love this topic. I stumbled across it after hearing about the idea that certain numbers are 'funnier' than others. I noticed that funny numbers tend to be the opposite of "round" numbers, so I think it comes down to their incongruity-
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
www.literallyaking.com/blog/good-nu...
My number one test of a new game I've made a prototype for is to see if my wife will play it when I don't ask her to. I've achieved that a few times and it is always a good, although not certain, sign.
January 27, 2026 at 6:21 AM
My number one test of a new game I've made a prototype for is to see if my wife will play it when I don't ask her to. I've achieved that a few times and it is always a good, although not certain, sign.
Do I know anyone on BlueSky that loves Backgammon? I added Backgammon to my game Full Deck Solitaire and would like a few testers to see if the AI is up to snuff. It beats my wife and I but we aren't Roger Moore level (he famously loved Backgammon).
January 26, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Do I know anyone on BlueSky that loves Backgammon? I added Backgammon to my game Full Deck Solitaire and would like a few testers to see if the AI is up to snuff. It beats my wife and I but we aren't Roger Moore level (he famously loved Backgammon).
Reposted by Graeme Devine
A couple of solo(able) trick taking #boardgames feature in the blog today. For Northwood! is good… The Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking game though, has a great solo mode.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/12040/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/12040/b...
The Tricky Art of Solo Trick Taking. | GrahamS Games
boardgamegeek.com
January 26, 2026 at 8:08 AM
A couple of solo(able) trick taking #boardgames feature in the blog today. For Northwood! is good… The Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking game though, has a great solo mode.
boardgamegeek.com/blog/12040/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/12040/b...
This weekend was … I’ve no words. It’s like we are in a nightmare we can’t wake up from and certainly can’t control.
“There are no devils in hell; all the devils are here”
“There are no devils in hell; all the devils are here”
January 26, 2026 at 7:06 AM
This weekend was … I’ve no words. It’s like we are in a nightmare we can’t wake up from and certainly can’t control.
“There are no devils in hell; all the devils are here”
“There are no devils in hell; all the devils are here”
We played a bunch of rounds of flip 7 and loved it. Highly recommend it!
January 26, 2026 at 4:08 AM
We played a bunch of rounds of flip 7 and loved it. Highly recommend it!
Reposted by Graeme Devine
I really need to return to the ZX Spectrum Next, and spend some quality time with it. Preferably by playing something like Xeno Brigade Extinction... technoshedsoftware.com/product/xeno...
January 25, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I really need to return to the ZX Spectrum Next, and spend some quality time with it. Preferably by playing something like Xeno Brigade Extinction... technoshedsoftware.com/product/xeno...
I swear I started today adding chess puzzles to Full Deck Solitaire....
January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM
I swear I started today adding chess puzzles to Full Deck Solitaire....
Reposted by Graeme Devine
Karl2D beta is here. It's a 2D game creation library written in Odin. In this newsletter I talk a bit about how that platform support is set up news.zylinski.se/p/karl2d-bet...
Karl2D beta is here!
With Windows, Linux, Mac and Web support
news.zylinski.se
January 23, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Karl2D beta is here. It's a 2D game creation library written in Odin. In this newsletter I talk a bit about how that platform support is set up news.zylinski.se/p/karl2d-bet...
My answer for today? Whiskey.
January 23, 2026 at 6:16 AM
My answer for today? Whiskey.
Google Slides is currently not showing speaker notes (www.reddit.com/r/gsuite/com...) it's not like that's where I put the stuff to tell my class alongside my slides... oh wait...
From the gsuite community on Reddit: Speaker Notes & Top Ribbon Disappearing (Slides)
Explore this post and more from the gsuite community
www.reddit.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:13 AM
Google Slides is currently not showing speaker notes (www.reddit.com/r/gsuite/com...) it's not like that's where I put the stuff to tell my class alongside my slides... oh wait...
One of my favorite shows. I'm interested to see where it goes. The first three seasons were absolutely incredible.
🔥FOR ALL MANKIND SEASON 5 IS COMING ON MARCH 27 ON APPLETV 🔥
For All Mankind — Season 5 Official Teaser | Apple TV
YouTube video by Apple TV
m.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:16 PM
One of my favorite shows. I'm interested to see where it goes. The first three seasons were absolutely incredible.
Reposted by Graeme Devine
A photo of all the good computer games I own
January 21, 2026 at 1:53 PM
A photo of all the good computer games I own