James Barnhart ➡️ PAXU 25
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jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
James Barnhart ➡️ PAXU 25
@jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
370 followers 350 following 320 posts
Game Designer, Artist, Educator, and all around goof. Let’s talk making great games and great communities! Designer of Engage! Senior Game Designer l Null Signal Games
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jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
PAX Unplugged Designers, Publishers, and Playtesters - we just setup on Table D5 in the UnPub room! You find us here for the next 3 hours, if you are in the mood to try out a time traveling lane control! 🎲✂️
November 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
My JanksGiving roll for Netrunner at PAXU w/ @netrunner.nullsignal.games

What should I brew? I think Baz might be flying first class on Jet 🛩️ Chinio 🔪🔪🔪

#netrunner
November 21, 2025 at 12:31 AM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Aaah PAXU Tomorrow! I can’t wait to see all of you & what you’re working on! Where will you be and what are you doing?

I’ll be testing & pitching our new time travel lane control game “Once and For All” at UnPub

10am-1pm on Friday
Throughout Saturday at the PGMG table
1:30 - 4:30pm Sunday!

🎲✂️
November 20, 2025 at 3:50 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Game Designers! We will be hosting our monthly in person playtest w/ @breakmygame.com at Redcaps Corner tonight at 6:30pm. Designers! Sign up with the link below!

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...

Testers! Come support your local design community! 🎲✂️
www.eventbrite.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Game Designers! We will be hosting our monthly in person playtest w/ @breakmygame.com at Redcaps Corner tonight at 6:30pm. Designers! Sign up with the link below!

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...

Testers! Come support your local design community! 🎲✂️
www.eventbrite.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Three Bling decks in the top 16 of Netrunner Worlds and I am cheesing.

www.youtube.com/live/_zFW_-2...

#netrunner
2025 World Championship: Top 16 and Finals!
YouTube video by Null Signal Games
www.youtube.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Game Designers! We will be hosting our monthly in person playtest w/ @breakmygame.com at Redcaps Corner tonight at 6:30pm. Designers! Sign up with the link below!

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...

Testers! Come support your local design community!
Break My Game Playtesting - Philadelphia, PA - Redcap's Corner
Come playtest board games designed by local independent game designers!
www.eventbrite.com
September 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Hey y’all don’t sleep on Eric’s playtesting event at The Board and Brew this Thursday! I’ll be there testing my new lane control game and you should be too!

Designers sign up with the link below - testers just walk in!

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...
Break My Game Playtesting - Philadelphia, PA - The Board & Brew
Come playtest board games designed by local independent game designers!
www.eventbrite.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Hey y’all! Reminder that we will be hosting in person playtesting at Redcap’s Corner tonight at 6:30 pm with @breakmygame.com 🎲✂️

Designers - Sign up using this link

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...
Break My Game Playtesting - Philadelphia, PA - Redcap's Corner
Come playtest board games designed by local independent game designers!
www.eventbrite.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
If y’all are at TooManyGames Con today, I’ll be on the panel “From The Ground Up: Building a Thriving Game Development Industry in Your City” talking about @breakmygame.com and PGMG how we have formed designer communities in Philly. Come check it out! 🎲✂️
June 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Netrunner players! For those of you who miss Smoke, and the stealth mechanic more broadly, tell me why you love that mechanic and your favorite stealth cards and decks! Also interested in the opinions of stealth detractors! Why do you think this missed for you?

Asking for a friend
#netrunner
🎲✂️
May 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Tip #2 of “Elevating Your Card Design” ELEGANCE = DEPTH>COMPLEXITY: If I could give 1 bit of advice to a new designer it would probably be to set word count limits on their cards to increase their depth to complexity ratio. Compare “Birdcage” vs “Split Up”, which is better & why?

1/3 #Netrunner 🎲✂️
May 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Tip #1 of “Elevating Your Card Design” PLAY CONDITIONING & SIGNPOSTING: Make sure your designs reward players for play patterns that maximize intrinsic fun. Without this intention we risk players optimizing fun out of the game, so it’s incumbent on designers to make fun optimal!

1/3 #Netrunner 🎲✂️
May 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Okay so with one NSG Netrunner expansion under my belt and two more on the way, I’d love to share some of the best practices and first principles I have adopted and applied in designing Elevation. Would folks be interested in this “Elevating Your Card Design” series/thread🧵? Lemme know below! ✂️🎲
May 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Philly Game Designers! Tonight we will be hosting our monthly in person playtest w/ @breakmygame.com at Redcap’s Corner, 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Designers sign up with the link below! Testers can just walk in and support their local design community! 🎲✂️

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...
Break My Game Playtesting - Philadelphia, PA - Redcap's Corner
Come playtest board games designed by local independent game designers!
www.eventbrite.com
May 19, 2025 at 12:31 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
AHHHH! The first Netrunner expansion I got to work on is out now! Everyone at NSG did an amazing job with this set and it’s release marks the first of my published design work to reach the hands of players around the world - pretty special feeling. Check it out! 🎲✂️

nullsignal.games/blog/elevati...
Elevation is Out Now! - Null Signal Games
Elevation is out now! See every card in the set below, check out the product page for details on how to get it, and build decks using the new cards on
nullsignal.games
April 24, 2025 at 5:57 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Philly Game Designers! Tonight is our monthly in person Playtest event with @breakmygame.com , 6:30 PM, at Redcap’s Corner. Designers, sign up with the link below! Testers, no need to register - just come out and support! 🎲✂️

www.eventbrite.com/e/break-my-g...
Break My Game Playtesting - Philadelphia, PA - Redcap's Corner
Come playtest board games designed by local independent game designers!
www.eventbrite.com
April 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Netrunner players! How would you build around this flip ID? Fast advance? Remoteless? How do you cover your central servers? What do you spend your influence on? 🎲✂️
April 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Breaking News! My first article with Null Signal Games is live! So excited to share two of my favorite ID’s in the set! Inverting the psychology of tags with Synapse Global is one of my favorite moments from Elevation design. 🎲✂️

nullsignal.games/blog/new-tal...
April 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Punk is definitely not dead as Phoenix rises from the ashes in Elevation. As many of you know, Anarch was a big focus of mine when designing the set. I literally screamed in excitement when I saw this ID spoiled. 🎲✂️

nullsignal.games/blog/out-of-...
Out of the Ashes: Anarch in Elevation - Null Signal Games
Playtester James joins us to debut a new Anarch identity and provide some insight into the new ways to play the faction that it enables.
nullsignal.games
April 10, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by James Barnhart ➡️ PAXU 25
netrunner.nullsignal.games
We have reserved a handful of cards which we want to give to people from marginalized groups to reveal. If you consider yourself as belonging to a marginalized group and want to have a card allocated to you, please fill in this form.

forms.gle/oxyiYaTkEGS7...

#ElevationPreviews #Netrunner
Elevation Preview Season Marginalized Groups Previews
We have reserved a handful of cards which we want to give to people belonging to marginalized groups to reveal, just as we did for RWR. We hope this will give them a brief moment at the forefront of t...
forms.gle
April 7, 2025 at 3:20 AM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Hey Game Designers! My team is recruiting 3 new associate designers to the Netrunner design team. If you are interested in working with me and this amazing org on one of the best games of all time, then apply! Happy to answer any questions about the role here! 🎲✂️

nullsignal.games/blog/april-2...
April 2025 Recruitment Drive - Null Signal Games
We're recruiting for our Production, Narrative, Design, Marketing, Convention and Eternal Balance Teams!
nullsignal.games
April 8, 2025 at 11:32 AM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
Y’all I’m geeking. The card fan for Elevation dropped recently. I want to hear your speculation about the cards! Call your shots now and I will give you +10 designer brownie points for each card you get right come April 24th ;) 🎲✂️

It has been an absolute joy to work on this set. IT LOOKS SO GOOD!
April 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
youtu.be/7-fSpi7ZHoQ?...

Y’all if you see something like this don’t just keep walking. Help the person who is be abducted - block the car, document everything, help the person who is being taken contact legal representation and family. We need to look out for eachother.
Video shows masked federal agents handcuffing Turkish student at Tufts University
YouTube video by Associated Press
youtu.be
March 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM
jakekbarnhart.bsky.social
A few years ago we said goodbye to our perfectly grumpy girl Catbeard at 13. Yesterday, her likeness was revealed immortalized on a Magic card. We miss her everyday but I am so grateful to the artist and art director who ensured that we will see her hop up on the table again. Love you Beardo ❤️
March 18, 2025 at 7:55 PM