Ian Howard
@leafydragongames.bsky.social
ENNIE-winning designer of One Breath Left, Here We Used to Fly, Aurora Decree, and more. Founder of Leafy Dragon Games LLC. Narrative Lead at Button Shy Games.
http://leafydragongames.com
http://leafydragongames.com
Reposted by Ian Howard
With this incoming storm, we have a FREE game to keep you busy! The Daily Weather is a little solo game about aligning the weather with a new puzzle each day. We released the PNP / PCIO files at our Kickstarter preview page and the response has been wild.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/239...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/239...
Coming soon: The Daily Weather
Challenge yourself to create the perfect forecast using each day’s unique conditions. Play every day!
www.kickstarter.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:03 PM
With this incoming storm, we have a FREE game to keep you busy! The Daily Weather is a little solo game about aligning the weather with a new puzzle each day. We released the PNP / PCIO files at our Kickstarter preview page and the response has been wild.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/239...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/239...
Is today the day that I go through my list of Discord servers and just leave every single one that I haven’t checked in multiple years?
No. But what a day that will be when it finally comes!
No. But what a day that will be when it finally comes!
January 16, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Is today the day that I go through my list of Discord servers and just leave every single one that I haven’t checked in multiple years?
No. But what a day that will be when it finally comes!
No. But what a day that will be when it finally comes!
Slightly diminish an RPG:
- Shadowtrot
- For the Regent
- The Quiet Season
- Kerfuffle
- Rushhome
- Shadowtrot
- For the Regent
- The Quiet Season
- Kerfuffle
- Rushhome
Slightly diminish an RPG
Vampire the Burlesque Cabaret in a Provincial Town Theatre
Vampire the Burlesque Cabaret in a Provincial Town Theatre
Slightly diminish an RPG
Torg Sometimes
Draw Iron
12th Age (obviously)
Beta World
Torg Sometimes
Draw Iron
12th Age (obviously)
Beta World
January 12, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Slightly diminish an RPG:
- Shadowtrot
- For the Regent
- The Quiet Season
- Kerfuffle
- Rushhome
- Shadowtrot
- For the Regent
- The Quiet Season
- Kerfuffle
- Rushhome
Reposted by Ian Howard
As a game creator it’s part of my mission to make games that connect people in community with one another, creating memories and cementing relationships.
In truth choosing joy, community, and play *is* a radical idea in this day and age.
Taking account of that power and using it is revolutionary.
In truth choosing joy, community, and play *is* a radical idea in this day and age.
Taking account of that power and using it is revolutionary.
Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to another 12 months of telling stories rooted in radical imagination, centering revolutionary ways to look at each other and ourselves, and making art about the razor-sharp teeth of hope. ✨
Let’s kick 2026 in the ass!
Let’s kick 2026 in the ass!
January 2, 2026 at 5:12 PM
As a game creator it’s part of my mission to make games that connect people in community with one another, creating memories and cementing relationships.
In truth choosing joy, community, and play *is* a radical idea in this day and age.
Taking account of that power and using it is revolutionary.
In truth choosing joy, community, and play *is* a radical idea in this day and age.
Taking account of that power and using it is revolutionary.
Reposted by Ian Howard
The 2025 Indie Groundbreaker Awards are here! Have you published a LARP, table top RPG, card, board, or other analog game in 2025? We want to see it!
Submit yours today: forms.gle/Jgnu7Ev5BnkU...
Visit www.igdnonline.com/groundbreakers for more details. Submissions close on January 31st.
Submit yours today: forms.gle/Jgnu7Ev5BnkU...
Visit www.igdnonline.com/groundbreakers for more details. Submissions close on January 31st.
January 1, 2026 at 6:03 PM
The 2025 Indie Groundbreaker Awards are here! Have you published a LARP, table top RPG, card, board, or other analog game in 2025? We want to see it!
Submit yours today: forms.gle/Jgnu7Ev5BnkU...
Visit www.igdnonline.com/groundbreakers for more details. Submissions close on January 31st.
Submit yours today: forms.gle/Jgnu7Ev5BnkU...
Visit www.igdnonline.com/groundbreakers for more details. Submissions close on January 31st.
Reposted by Ian Howard
It’s time! SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2026 CARDBOARD EDISON AWARD ARE OPEN! Board game designers, show us what you’ve been working on! Deadline is January 31: cardboardedison.com/award
January 1, 2026 at 1:35 PM
It’s time! SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2026 CARDBOARD EDISON AWARD ARE OPEN! Board game designers, show us what you’ve been working on! Deadline is January 31: cardboardedison.com/award
Reposted by Ian Howard
Hey #MAGfest folks!
I'll be at the MITS hall all weekend during MAGfest with some tiny indie ttrpgs!
In addition to selling my games, I'll be demoing Moon Rings and playtesting a new game!
Come say hi!
I'll be at the MITS hall all weekend during MAGfest with some tiny indie ttrpgs!
In addition to selling my games, I'll be demoing Moon Rings and playtesting a new game!
Come say hi!
December 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Hey #MAGfest folks!
I'll be at the MITS hall all weekend during MAGfest with some tiny indie ttrpgs!
In addition to selling my games, I'll be demoing Moon Rings and playtesting a new game!
Come say hi!
I'll be at the MITS hall all weekend during MAGfest with some tiny indie ttrpgs!
In addition to selling my games, I'll be demoing Moon Rings and playtesting a new game!
Come say hi!
These bookcases make me wish I had a much better way to display my RPG collection — and I always love seeing a copy of Here We Used to Fly on someone’s shelf!
Finally put together a Tabletop bookcase!
Which one’s your favorite 😉
Which one’s your favorite 😉
December 29, 2025 at 4:59 AM
These bookcases make me wish I had a much better way to display my RPG collection — and I always love seeing a copy of Here We Used to Fly on someone’s shelf!
Reposted by Ian Howard
Ever wanted to design a solo rpg? I can probably offer some advice. This is just how I like to design.
A key design point is tension. The player should be trying to do something, but the game should work against their goals and giving them meaningful choices.
A key design point is tension. The player should be trying to do something, but the game should work against their goals and giving them meaningful choices.
December 28, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Ever wanted to design a solo rpg? I can probably offer some advice. This is just how I like to design.
A key design point is tension. The player should be trying to do something, but the game should work against their goals and giving them meaningful choices.
A key design point is tension. The player should be trying to do something, but the game should work against their goals and giving them meaningful choices.
Tactical Breach Wizards was the best game I played all year and it wasn’t even close. The writing is phenomenal: it’s difficult for a video game to be both genuinely funny and genuinely heartbreaking, yet somehow TBW pulls it off flawlessly. And it’s backed by very solid tactical puzzle gameplay.
tactical breach wizards is one of the funniest games i've ever played, and it has real heart. the tale of a navy seer and his stormwitch friend trying to stop an awful war, tbw is equal parts tactics puzzle and character study + fighting fascism!
December 28, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Tactical Breach Wizards was the best game I played all year and it wasn’t even close. The writing is phenomenal: it’s difficult for a video game to be both genuinely funny and genuinely heartbreaking, yet somehow TBW pulls it off flawlessly. And it’s backed by very solid tactical puzzle gameplay.
YES!
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
I had five fascinating conversations for this RPS piece, gathering perspectives on genAI chatbots in games, as seen in Where Winds Meet. Thanks to @meghna.bsky.social, @pyrofoux.bsky.social, @maxkreminski.bsky.social, and @chrisgardiner.bsky.social www.rockpapershotgun.com/horrible-bor...
December 26, 2025 at 6:47 PM
YES!
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!
As one of the KS rewards for Sock Puppets — a LARP where you make and operate actual puppets — the inimitable @kurtrefling.bsky.social offered the chance for backers to play a game with Herman, the puppet Kurt built to hype the game.
So what game did I pick? SOCK PUPPETS.
So what game did I pick? SOCK PUPPETS.
What was your favorite gaming experience of 2025? (Note this isn't your favorite *game*, but your favorite moment that happened in a game...)
December 25, 2025 at 12:54 AM
As one of the KS rewards for Sock Puppets — a LARP where you make and operate actual puppets — the inimitable @kurtrefling.bsky.social offered the chance for backers to play a game with Herman, the puppet Kurt built to hype the game.
So what game did I pick? SOCK PUPPETS.
So what game did I pick? SOCK PUPPETS.
This thread is chock-full of great writing advice!
One I’ll add from my own experience: You don’t have to write it down to write it. I workshop a lot of sentences while I’m doing chores or thinking about other things. They rarely make it to the page intact, but I still get better from the practice.
One I’ll add from my own experience: You don’t have to write it down to write it. I workshop a lot of sentences while I’m doing chores or thinking about other things. They rarely make it to the page intact, but I still get better from the practice.
a lot of writing advice is shit. magical results if you follow this 1-sentence promise. show! write every day! character driven! they're flat because either they're 1) focused on being glib instead of being 2) actionable, like, wtf does character-driven even mean 3) unrealistic. every day?
what is your least favorite piece of writing advice and why? 👀
December 24, 2025 at 3:36 AM
This thread is chock-full of great writing advice!
One I’ll add from my own experience: You don’t have to write it down to write it. I workshop a lot of sentences while I’m doing chores or thinking about other things. They rarely make it to the page intact, but I still get better from the practice.
One I’ll add from my own experience: You don’t have to write it down to write it. I workshop a lot of sentences while I’m doing chores or thinking about other things. They rarely make it to the page intact, but I still get better from the practice.
Reposted by Ian Howard
Restocked!
Necromancer Heretic is a solo journaling game about a void sorcerer trying to bring their lover back from the dead.
Content Warning: violence, death, and blood.
www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Necrom...
Necromancer Heretic is a solo journaling game about a void sorcerer trying to bring their lover back from the dead.
Content Warning: violence, death, and blood.
www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Necrom...
December 23, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Restocked!
Necromancer Heretic is a solo journaling game about a void sorcerer trying to bring their lover back from the dead.
Content Warning: violence, death, and blood.
www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Necrom...
Necromancer Heretic is a solo journaling game about a void sorcerer trying to bring their lover back from the dead.
Content Warning: violence, death, and blood.
www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Necrom...
Reposted by Ian Howard
I've been thinking about how to organize a silent/solo game meetup for a while. At a library? Somewhere else? I love the idea of playing solo ttrpg games together.
The idea is not unlike silentbook.club but the logistics, as with all things, can be complicated.
Any experiences to share?
The idea is not unlike silentbook.club but the logistics, as with all things, can be complicated.
Any experiences to share?
Solo club?? I'd love more details! I was just thinking about organizing a "silent trrpg night" where everyone is playing solo ttrpgs and I'm milling around answering questions players may have.
Kind of a play on silent bookclubs.
Kind of a play on silent bookclubs.
December 20, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I've been thinking about how to organize a silent/solo game meetup for a while. At a library? Somewhere else? I love the idea of playing solo ttrpg games together.
The idea is not unlike silentbook.club but the logistics, as with all things, can be complicated.
Any experiences to share?
The idea is not unlike silentbook.club but the logistics, as with all things, can be complicated.
Any experiences to share?
Reposted by Ian Howard
For no reason whatsoever, gonna remind that you can support your local trans girl by buying my games directly from my lovely publishers!
High Tide www.underdoggames.com/products/hig...
Phantasmic buttonshygames.com/products/pha...
High Tide www.underdoggames.com/products/hig...
Phantasmic buttonshygames.com/products/pha...
High Tide
High Tide is a compact 2-player strategy game that comes with a travel-friendly storage bag—perfect for beach trips, café tables, or cozy game nights. Each round, players stack and shift tiles, aiming...
www.underdoggames.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:29 AM
For no reason whatsoever, gonna remind that you can support your local trans girl by buying my games directly from my lovely publishers!
High Tide www.underdoggames.com/products/hig...
Phantasmic buttonshygames.com/products/pha...
High Tide www.underdoggames.com/products/hig...
Phantasmic buttonshygames.com/products/pha...
Reposted by Ian Howard
While I think the most obvious transferable skill from Improv to playing TTRPGs is learning how to react to situations quickly and authentically, we should also take note that Improv (especially long form) can teach narrative pattern recognition to help call back to previous themes and characters.
December 16, 2025 at 2:16 PM
While I think the most obvious transferable skill from Improv to playing TTRPGs is learning how to react to situations quickly and authentically, we should also take note that Improv (especially long form) can teach narrative pattern recognition to help call back to previous themes and characters.
Reposted by Ian Howard
The 2025 Indie Groundbreaker Awards are nearly here and we need Judges! Do you know tabletop games? TTRPGs? Card games? Resource collection? We need your expertise. Join us on a panel of Judges to declare 2025’s best indie tabletop games.
forms.gle/2NpVyf4riA8v...
forms.gle/2NpVyf4riA8v...
Indie Groundbreaker Awards Judge Application
Use this form to apply to be a judge for the Indie Groundbreaker Awards.
forms.gle
December 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
The 2025 Indie Groundbreaker Awards are nearly here and we need Judges! Do you know tabletop games? TTRPGs? Card games? Resource collection? We need your expertise. Join us on a panel of Judges to declare 2025’s best indie tabletop games.
forms.gle/2NpVyf4riA8v...
forms.gle/2NpVyf4riA8v...
Reposted by Ian Howard
Today marks my 36th time around the sun!
I'm putting my stuff on sale for the next week
junkfoodgames.itch.io
I'm putting my stuff on sale for the next week
junkfoodgames.itch.io
December 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Today marks my 36th time around the sun!
I'm putting my stuff on sale for the next week
junkfoodgames.itch.io
I'm putting my stuff on sale for the next week
junkfoodgames.itch.io
Mail day! Just got my copy of Moon Rings by @junkfoodgames.bsky.social and The Bonsai Diary by @stickydoodler.bsky.social! Pretty psyched to check these out.
This was also my first time ordering from @tabletopbookshelf.com but I’ll definitely be repeating the experience!
This was also my first time ordering from @tabletopbookshelf.com but I’ll definitely be repeating the experience!
December 6, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Mail day! Just got my copy of Moon Rings by @junkfoodgames.bsky.social and The Bonsai Diary by @stickydoodler.bsky.social! Pretty psyched to check these out.
This was also my first time ordering from @tabletopbookshelf.com but I’ll definitely be repeating the experience!
This was also my first time ordering from @tabletopbookshelf.com but I’ll definitely be repeating the experience!
Quite a bit of good advice in this thread! *Everything* I’ve accomplished in the game world has been the direct result of one of these truisms. They may seem simple and even obvious in places, but it’s always good to check your focus & reevaluate whether you’re making good choices for good reasons.
I was recently asked how I got into indie games and doing cool shit with @plusoneexp.bsky.social.
It felt weird saying, "I was an idiot on the Internet and it worked out this way."
So allow me, if you don't mind, to share some advice on replicating parts of my journey into ✨The TTRPG Space✨
It felt weird saying, "I was an idiot on the Internet and it worked out this way."
So allow me, if you don't mind, to share some advice on replicating parts of my journey into ✨The TTRPG Space✨
December 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Quite a bit of good advice in this thread! *Everything* I’ve accomplished in the game world has been the direct result of one of these truisms. They may seem simple and even obvious in places, but it’s always good to check your focus & reevaluate whether you’re making good choices for good reasons.
Reposted by Ian Howard
I'm delighted that 🌳 The Bonsai Diary 🌳 made Tabletop Bookshelf's holiday gift guide under the category "For the Artist, Drawer, and Doodler." I hope it brings delight to gamers and non-gamers alike!
Get free shipping if you order before tomorrow (Monday).
Get free shipping if you order before tomorrow (Monday).
It's holiday season, and this year we're excited to put together our first holiday gift guide, filled with our top recommendations to delight the tabletop gamer in your life.
tabletopbookshelf.com/blogs/news/s...
tabletopbookshelf.com/blogs/news/s...
November 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I'm delighted that 🌳 The Bonsai Diary 🌳 made Tabletop Bookshelf's holiday gift guide under the category "For the Artist, Drawer, and Doodler." I hope it brings delight to gamers and non-gamers alike!
Get free shipping if you order before tomorrow (Monday).
Get free shipping if you order before tomorrow (Monday).
For me, personally, my goal is always to tell a resonant story — whether that’s a small emotional story told through my character’s actions, an exploration of a specific theme or motif, satisfying repetition or inversion of established elements, or layers of plot unfolding like a puzzle box.
What, in your opinion, is the actual end goal or "purpose" of playing a TTRPG?
This is for an in-progress writing project and would really love input (via replies, quotes, and/or shares).
This is for an in-progress writing project and would really love input (via replies, quotes, and/or shares).
November 30, 2025 at 1:20 AM
For me, personally, my goal is always to tell a resonant story — whether that’s a small emotional story told through my character’s actions, an exploration of a specific theme or motif, satisfying repetition or inversion of established elements, or layers of plot unfolding like a puzzle box.
Reposted by Ian Howard
...and Here We Used to Fly by @kurtrefling.bsky.social and @leafydragongames.bsky.social still has a special place in my heart as a golden-tinged exploration of nostalgia and childhood.
Go get some games and support indie artists!
6/⏹️
Go get some games and support indie artists!
6/⏹️
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
...and Here We Used to Fly by @kurtrefling.bsky.social and @leafydragongames.bsky.social still has a special place in my heart as a golden-tinged exploration of nostalgia and childhood.
Go get some games and support indie artists!
6/⏹️
Go get some games and support indie artists!
6/⏹️
Reposted by Ian Howard
NOT MINE but my friend @boxen.bsky.social is working on this as an artist!
with 15 days left and only at 25% funding we need to get these numbers up folks!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lea...
with 15 days left and only at 25% funding we need to get these numbers up folks!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lea...
Infinite Paths
A solo TTRPG system
www.kickstarter.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:37 PM
NOT MINE but my friend @boxen.bsky.social is working on this as an artist!
with 15 days left and only at 25% funding we need to get these numbers up folks!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lea...
with 15 days left and only at 25% funding we need to get these numbers up folks!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lea...