Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 2h

tonight in my 🔺game! raced out of a collapsing train, but stopped to beat a scammer, hand out haunted house flyers, perforate thieves, and accuse GM of railroading. Paid off teens with video games, kibitzed with a freaky shopkeep, phoned the absence in a friend's soul, and investigated our origins.

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Clayton @explorersdesign.bsky.social · 1d

Part 3 is here. The deep dive into the Ennies. If you're someone who doesn't know much about the Ennie Awards, you should read parts 1 and 2. But if you like a bit of inside baseball and are interested in award shows in general—this is the article for you.

www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/

How are the Ennies designed?

An insider's look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part three. How does the structure of the Ennies determine its outcomes? And what does it mean for others?

www.explorersdesign.com

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 1d

Uhhhhh the purpose of a system is what it does

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 1d

going into a dungeon in a dungeon game? Oh thank god. fighting in a fight game? Oh thank grid. HEISTING in a HEIST game? Hello sweet procedure!!

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 1d

A given RPG system is “for” whatever makes me feel a huge wave of relief when the players say they’re gonna do it

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 2d

intentionally taking distance from the way &game players engage with and talk about the game has actually helped me understand and rediscover its appeal--HOWEVER, every time I return to the actual design of the game and its supplements by its official publisher, I am unfailingly disappointed

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 2d

tonight in my elf game: fallout from the war: the city fallen, the queen slain, a patron god dragged to hell, friends fled or dead. at the same time, reunited lovers separated for 3 years (real time), grew closer as a team, and gained audience with the mushroom queen and agreed to kill her rival

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Ryan Lynch @outridercreative.bsky.social · 3d

I've distributed over 600 community copies of Perils & Princesses and I just put up a bunch more, in case you've been meaning to check out this game, but haven't had the means: outrider-creative.itch.io/perils-and-p...

Perils & Princesses by Outrider Creative

A Gritty and Pretty Fairy Tale Adventure Game

outrider-creative.itch.io

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 4d

The gameplay in Hades II is excellent, a worthy successor. But the narrative is so allergic to friction and character dynamics are so frequently the least interesting choice that the first ending rang hollow to me. I have very low hopes for the “true” ending that must exist—after all, Hades had one.

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 5d

If you’re talking about D&D modules published by WotC, I do think their information structure and conveyance is uniquely bad, and who is writing the module makes a ton of difference.

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 5d

tonight in forbidden lands: rapid bridge construction, lost horses to demon-wolves, summoned mist for our army to skulk through, used a secret passage to infiltrate the enemy fortress, sent sappers to blow up a wall in the rain, destroyed a catapult and a barracks, and demanded to see the manager

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 6d

OH GOD OH CHRIST

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 7d

tonight in my 🔺game: multi-track drifted, bounced a lollapalooza flesh-mass, cut through it with a blade-armored sandman then absorbed it, beat a trolley problem, threw the worst party ever for an insecure killer, got scrambled, reversed a flaming benzene river, and obsessed the devil with flowers

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 7d

This is deeply pathetic.

scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 7d

They know what side their bread is buttered on at least

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 8d

Feels very DOGS, which I would read if you wanted to pursue this! (Also Dogs in the Vineyard, of course, but the author has disavowed the game, even if the design is excellent)

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 8d

pronouncing “bourgeois” like “gorgeous” with a b

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 9d

Just gonna keep tapping the sign*

*𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 9d

tonight in my elfgame: almost got bisected, blasted open TWO magical cages, kited our foes in the 5th dimension, telekinetically retrieved the wizard's lover's soul-bond, fled 5th dimensional spiders, watched our OTHER wizard friend get deleted, made a lich VERY mad, and teleported back to home base

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 11d

May I gently suggest you have an unexamined assumption that the listed elements are being criticized as “bad” or “wrong”. they’re explicitly not. They’re (neutrally) identified as “not speaking to expressionism”. There’s no insinuation anywhere that not being expressionist is a negative quality.

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mcc @dryad.technology · 12d

At Queerness in Games con. Watching Avery Adler's keynote

Situate design and play within the body. You are an animal, making games for other animals.

Embrace the weirdness of the body. We're snotty, hungry, leaky, horny animals that are easily frustrated, excited, and startled.

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Pam, Godkillingway v.2025, Patch "Eepy" @thedovetailor.bsky.social · 12d

This is how we're doing so far! The TL;DR is, a Social Insurance issue prevented me from taking a loan, and tuition + all the books and supplies has been expensive. If you've got a coin to spare for this trying-hard-to-be-a-paralegal witcher, do toss one my way. If not, signal boosting is golden.

Buy Pammu a Coffee

Become a supporter of Pammu today!

ko-fi.com

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Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · 13d

New!

The Secret of the Night Market (Perils & Princesses)

www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/The-Se...

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 13d

A great summation of my experience with triangle agency as a whole

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scene_four @scenefour.bsky.social · 14d

tonight in my 🔺game: took out 2 massive loans, left an alien civilization hanging, took a shortcut to a murder train, vented a train car by deleting the front, puppeteered 2 sugar zombies, terrified civilians with our crawling, many-eyed freak, had dinner with them, and pinned it on Spirit Halloween

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