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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · 8d

Alex this is the best thread on Bluesky and it's not even close

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · 9d

sock puppets in this cool indie game store's new inventory picture is looking like

Two people sit beside each other as a selfie is taken in a car. The person on the left has extremely colorful hair and a bright smile. The person on the right is unsmiling and monochrome. Editor's note: I believe this picture was originally shared on the internet by one of the people pictured, and that they were sisters? These distant memories. Who can say. Certainly easier to ramble into alt text then verify for you.

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Reposted by Kurt Refling

Alex Roberts @helloalexroberts.bsky.social · 13d

Can't overstate this! It feels wonderful to know that someone had a good time with your game. It's not just that they appreciate your work. Someone's day, maybe a day with their friends, got better because of something you put into the world. It's a special feeling.

momatoes @momatoes.com · 13d

If you enjoyed a game on Itch, leave a comment!

Honestly, it really brightens a creator's day. And it's a big encouragement for others who may be interested in getting that game.

Itch hides reviews from the game page, so I find comments more useful in the long run.

Like a game? Comment away!

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · 29d

Cowboys with Big Hearts is an i n c r e d I b l e game!! What happened to your cowpokes? To the Death Brothers?

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Sep 9

how did the game summer go?

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 27

And here's that post-script on wills.

Post-script: Wills are very important. Not just to ensure your wishes are respected, but also to make life easier for your loved ones.

The death industry is largely corporate-owned and profit-motivated, and their revenue streams rely on upselling grief-stricken clientele. I can't be clear enough about this: if you want to "just be tossed in the dumpster" or whatever half-joking thing you always say to mean "please do not spend much money on my death," know that your loved ones will be torn between your offhand assertions and the very real salespeople applying pressure at a very vulnerable time when decisions must often be made quickly.

In a perfect world, none of this matters until a very long time from now. But it's good to be prepared, and to take care of the people we love.

Be well.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 27

I wrote an article about how to manage your art in the event of your death, for tabletop RPG designers. Sharing here as screenshots with alt text.

Or, follow the link below:

www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/...

Some folks may have seen the article going around about J.D. Maxwell's absence after his Grimwild crowdfunding campaign. We don't know what happened to Grimwild's designer, and I would ask that we not speculate on the nature of his absence here. Still, this raised certain questions in my community of practice about art after death of the artist.

There are real options for how to handle creative works after death or incapacitation, if you make preparations while you're around. I'm going to share a practical approach in this thread.

Quickly, before we start: if you're not in the headspace to read this, that's okay. Close the tab. Your responsibility is to your well-being. Making a plan for your art is firmly in extra credit territory. It's okay to set this aside.

I'll break this down into four steps.

1. Keep organized records (ongoing).
2. Elect caretakers.
3. Set up a dead man's switch.
4. Document your wishes.

Both 2 and 4 are areas that benefit from an estate plan (including a legal will) if there's money involved. I am not going to discuss the drafting of formal wills here, but understand that wills are very important. See post-script in the comments.

Absence isn't the only time that itemized protocols would be helpful, though. If I think "I need to upload my game to itch.io," I'm either going to see none of these steps (and assume I'll be done instantly), or see all of these steps as an amorphous, daunting process that disinclines me to ever bother doing it. Breaking larger tasks into smaller ones helps you see the labour as something that can be performed in small pieces, and helps you plan an appropriate amount of time to get it done.

Plus, memory is unreliable! If there's something I only do once a year, will I remember those steps when it's time to do them again? Maybe not. That's why it's useful to have operating procedures written out, for you and anyone else who comes after.

2 - Elect caretakers.
If not you, then who?

The ideal person to handle your creative output after your passing is someone who you trust, and who values and understands your art. This is a little tricky, because those two things don't always exist in the same person. You might have a spouse, sibling, parent or child you loves you very much, but has no personal interest in your hobby.

Ask multiple people. If you get multiple affirmative responses, that means you have backups. Organize them in a hierarchy of responsibility so that if Person A is too busy (or overwhelmed, or absent, or already passed) when the unthinkable happens, Person B can then accept or decline the duty. If you ask a bunch of people and don't set a hierarchy, now you have a committee. And nobody wants to have to deal with a committee.

Much like being the executor of a will, caring for someone's art is an honour-flavoured burden. Your job is to choose people who are both willing and able to do this, and to make "no" a comfortable answer for them if they need it.

3 - Set up a dead man's switch.
A dead man's switch is anything that's designed to trigger if the operator is incapacitated or dead. This is what fires the message to your art's caretakers.

The simplest way to do this is probably Google's Inactive Account Manager. If your Google account is inactive for a specified period, Google's systems will attempt to contact you several times (through several avenues). If you fail to respond, it will provide access to some or all of your files or accounts to one or more people of your choosing. If you don't store your files on Google Drive, you can still use this feature to provide access to documents with sensitive information -- though be careful with what you choose to store in plaintext.

Some password managers also have this service. So do some paid services, but you need to be confident that they'll still be around if you aren't.

4 - Document your wishes.
Finally, this is what your art's caretaker is actually responsible for. Make sure your instructions are clear and feasible. You want it to be extremely obvious where your works are kept and what you want done with them. Consider:

Should some or all of your drafts be made public? Which ones? Where would they be published?

Do you want to offer certain collaborators or publishers the chance to finish and distribute some works? If so, how will rights (& revenue) be divided?

Is there any community you want to be informed of your passing, local or online? Would that include a message from you?

You may also have business concerns related to active Kickstarters or distribution. The approach to handling this will depend on your region and business structure.

If you read all of this and thought: This is too much work, nobody would care, and we've gone beyond the scope of my concerns or interest. Well, perfect. You've learned something. If there's no business stuff involved that would frazzle your loved ones, then it's okay to let your art die too. Maybe its job was to make you smile, or think, or learn something. Maybe it existed to bring a little bit of joy to a small group of people in a strange and scary world.

Maybe that's all any of us exist to do, really.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 24

i was an inch away from recommending the Mario Golf GBC RPG moments after your tweet, but lost my nerve, insecure about my mid-depth cut

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 24

WE CAN HAVE BOTH

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 21

I used Google Sheets to make the crossword. The little repeating squares should've been a perfect fit! But wanted a fancy-pants sheet that could highlight clues and check for mistakes.

So now there's a snappy, easy tickbox to highlight clues & check words!

But shit, folks. I made some spaghetti.

A crossword laid out on a spreadsheet, with a grid on the left and tickboxes on the right allowing the user to highlight clues and check words for correctness. One word on the grid is highlighted for the viewer.

An absolute mess of weird code, custom functions and indirect cell references that are working together to check words. AN ABSOLUTE MESS.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 21

I celebrated the fifth anniversary of my first published game with a crossword puzzle.

If I was a more sane person, that sentence would mean "I had a bubble bath and did a crossword puzzle in the tub." But no. I made one. Which, it turns out, is wildly difficult.

You can play it or read more here.

It's the fifth anniversary of my first game, so I made you something.

Hello darlings. You would think that after a few decades swimming in the stuff, I would be less surprised by time. The funny way it warps and flows and comes...

buttondown.com

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 15

It's actually both, sort of! The Fleet Street Pumping Station is the only hydraulic pumping station still in operation in Canada. It uses flowing water to pump water.

Originally (in 1874), its role was to pump water from the river to the distribution system, for firefighting. Now it also purifies.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 15

That big structure on the right (first picture) is the library I was telling you about! It's going to be such a beautiful building.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 14

More info in one week. If you're paying attention.
buttondown.com/Kurt

Kurt Makes Weird Games

Hi. I'm Kurt. I make games where you tell stories (with your friends). I also play games (with my friends). This is a newsletter about my games and art, and some glimpses into weird, funny or beautifu...

buttondown.com

Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Aug 14

I'm gonna be a tease about this one.

Text within a halo of dots. The text reads:
Name: #ERROR
Class: Xenon
Age: 83
Type: Mender / Local / Ghost
Grandchildren: 2
[name, common interest] x2
Achievement: 1
[career / hobby / obstacle overcome]
Regret: 1
[missed opportunity / harm caused]

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Reposted by Kurt Refling

Nick @deepdark.games · Aug 2

You can get HOME from IPR, but I'd also highly recommend:

Curios by @smolghost.bsky.social (a really cool investigation game that's a literal envelope full of evidence!)

& The Hourglass Sings by @kurtrefling.bsky.social (GMless worldbuilding inspired by Zelda!)

Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · Aug 2

17/17 And our #booth449 tour concludes. If you go back and look at the first two pictures you can see even more games along the back table, including The Monster Overhaul.

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Reposted by Kurt Refling

Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · Aug 2

6/17 Sock Puppets and friends!

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 30

Ooh! Any highlights / puppet pictures? 👀

Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 18

in case anyone saw this and thought "what a nice thing to share with the game designer; peter is pretty great," know that peter wrote a matching collection description, review and comment on the sock puppets itch page. GOAT behaviour.

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Reposted by Kurt Refling

Peter Elroy @fanterland.itch.io · Jul 12

This week at #RPGNightUtrecht we played Sock Puppets by @kurtrefling.bsky.social . What a unique joy it was! And a shining example of how you don't need mechanics when players know exactly what to do.

Craft materials and sock puppets at the play table.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 16

[Heated arbitration with the fetus union.]

And why do you work on the nose in week 8? Don't sniff around in there. It's not OSHA-compliant. You know what else gets made in that cavity. Use week 8 for something useful; develop empathy.

[An aide whispers in my ear.]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S YEAR 8.

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 15

i hope there's a D&D guy out there who thinks it's spelled "fivey".

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 9

in fact, i've made some

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Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Jul 9

this is why i have yet to play a true alex roberts game, but have a long history of engaging with alex roberts game instructions

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Reposted by Kurt Refling

🔪Slay-lor Kill-licity🗡️ @rollforfelicity.bsky.social · Jul 5

I got to play @kurtrefling.bsky.social’s Sock Puppets today and decided it wasn’t enough to make a puppet, I had to also dress like a children’s show puppeteer

Mirror selfie of me with my puppet, Large Bean. I’m wearing a rainbow striped dress and Sesame Street scrunchies.

Selfie of me (a human) and Large Bean (a sock puppet)

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