Aaron A. Reed
@aaronareed.bsky.social
690 followers 280 following 88 posts
Maker of books, games, games about books, and books about games. Social media content syndicated to multiple platforms: https://linktr.ee/aaronareed
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aaronareed.bsky.social
Yay I'm finally here! I'm Aaron A. Reed, a writer and game designer who has written books about games, games about books, and lots of permutations in between. You might know me from Ice-Bound, Blue Lacuna, 50 Years of Text Games, or my latest thing, a #TTRPG: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/a...
Downcrawl 2E - Roleplaying in a Weird, Wondrous Underworld
Downcrawl 2E is a TTRPG toolkit for exploring a weird, wondrous underworld of stalactite cities and fungal gods. Now supports zero-prep and solo play!
www.backerkit.com
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
lamemage.com
"Which would you rather play, a GMless or a diceless RPG"

To which I say, "why not both"

To which you say, "examples please"

Leaving out (checks notes) every single one of my games, let me throw out a few. If I miss your favs, chime in!
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
mrsambarlow.bsky.social
Hey it's #SteamSale! You can get
🔥 IMMORTALITY for $9.99
👁️ TELLING LIES for $4.99
☕ HER STORY for $4.99
& wishlist Project C and Project D whilst you are there...
It's a good time to play good games in the present and wish for good games in the future! ✨
store.steampowered.com/developer/Sa...
aaronareed.bsky.social
Wow, Alien Earth started out so strong but has sure gotten real dumb the last couple episodes...
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
n-w-f.bsky.social
It’s an honor to help launch this series with @anasalter.bsky.social
anasalter.bsky.social
The first copies of my next book, a short reflection on the lasting impact of indie game Undertale, have arrived at @uchicagopress.bsky.social and are in good company with @n-w-f.bsky.social's upcoming book on Animal Crossing. Find both at: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/se...
First books upcoming in University of Chicago Press's Replay series: Undertale: Can a Game Give Hope? and Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Can a Game Take Care of Us?
aaronareed.bsky.social
⬇️ 🚨🚨Heads up, this sale ends tonight!🚨🚨

This is a _rare_ occasion when my physical books are on sale as well my digital stuff (probably increasingly rare if the tariff situation continues to worsen).
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
quakefultales.bsky.social
I cannot recommend Aaron's books enough, they are fantastic games and 50 years of text games is an amazing dive into the history of games that has largely been left out of the popular consciousness
aaronareed.bsky.social
ReSkies or NuBlues or whatever they're called on here much appreciated 🙏
aaronareed.bsky.social
🎃🍁🍂AUTUMN SALE!🍂🍁🎃 All my books and games are on sale for one week only to celebrate the impending arrival of cooler days and pumpkin lattes.
RPGs: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher...
50 Years of Text Games: if50.textories.com
Subcutanean: subcutanean.textories.com
Cool swag: aaronareed.net/store/
Screenshot of DriveThruRPG showing the Downcrawl Deck and other recent RPG titles at a 20% discount.
aaronareed.bsky.social
Absolutely! But with only fifty chapters there were hundreds it would have been great to cover that didn't make it in 😭

(I mean that very literally, I had a long list of over 1000 possible games and a shortlist of several hundred...)
aaronareed.bsky.social
At that last link BTW you can pick up a print copy of Where The Rock Stops: I only did a tiny print run of 100 zines, so grab it soon if you want it!

Also, this is a rare sale where my physical books are all discounted too, so snag a 50 Years of Text Games or Subcutanean if you've been waiting!
aaronareed.bsky.social
🎃🍁🍂AUTUMN SALE!🍂🍁🎃 All my books and games are on sale for one week only to celebrate the impending arrival of cooler days and pumpkin lattes.
RPGs: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher...
50 Years of Text Games: if50.textories.com
Subcutanean: subcutanean.textories.com
Cool swag: aaronareed.net/store/
Screenshot of DriveThruRPG showing the Downcrawl Deck and other recent RPG titles at a 20% discount.
aaronareed.bsky.social
#Downcrawl2E Adventure Zine #2 is here (and ON SALE for launch week)! Explore a new underworld region clinging to an endless roof over bottomless void, in the legendary place Where The Rock Stops. #ttrpg #hexcrawl #DriveThruRPG
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

and SPEAKING OF SALES... (1/2)
Cover art for Where the Rock Stops, a Downcrawl adventure zine, showing black-and-white woodcut-style art of a zeppelin floating beneath a rocky ceiling with huge dangling stalactites.
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
monkeyslunch.bsky.social
@aaronareed.bsky.social's Downcrawl has blown me away with its simultaneous simplicity and complexity.
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Name a #TTRPG creator (designer, writer, illustrator, etc) you are currently obsessed with and a short point about why.

I'll go first!
aaronareed.bsky.social
I hiked the 211-mile John Muir Trail #JMT in the Sierra Nevada this summer, and made a video montage of thirty-second clips from each day of my trip: youtu.be/KXIiEFTvQ64
30 Seconds a Day on the John Muir Trail (JMT)
YouTube video by Aaron Reed
youtu.be
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
tanyaxshort.bsky.social
Look, some of you are sickos banging on the window at night, saying YES to more games like King of Dragon Pass

and YES to kaleidoscopic psychopomp journeys into underworlds

so you gotta say YES to Thousand Hells, it's the law
kitfoxgames.com
😈 Announcing Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists, a procedural narrative RPG by A Sharp @radiofreelunch.bsky.social and published by us!

▶ Wishlist the game now on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3794210/...
aaronareed.bsky.social
Lucky enough to be one of the writers involved in bringing this wild stygian world to life! If you've ever wanted to barter with a dead swan god or infiltrate the fortress where souls go to be flensed, wishlist this game...
kitfoxgames.com
😈 Announcing Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists, a procedural narrative RPG by A Sharp @radiofreelunch.bsky.social and published by us!

▶ Wishlist the game now on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3794210/...
aaronareed.bsky.social
About to fulfill a long-time dream by hiking the John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada. If you need me, I'll be back in August. 😎🌲🏔️
Selfie of Aaron in his kitchen wearing a backpacking pack and a slightly nervous smile. Map of the John Muir Trail showing it starting in Yosemite National Park, passing through Ansel Adams Wilderness, Devil's Postpile National Monument, the John Muir Wilderness, and King's Canyon and Sequioa National Parks, and finishing at Mount Whitney.
aaronareed.bsky.social
Not sure which zines you mean?
aaronareed.bsky.social
Great coverage of #Downcrawl2E from The Dungeon Dive with this video walkthrough explaining the game in detail and playing through a few moves as Bartok the Brother Botanist! #ttrpg
youtu.be/_zuQYhMwTgs?...
Keeping it Underground - Downcrawl 2e - overview with game play
YouTube video by The Dungeon Dive
youtu.be
Reposted by Aaron A. Reed
logodaedalus.bsky.social
The cool conference: narrascope.org
Link to toss them some $$ to keep the lights on: iftechfoundation.org/give/

This is a great org and event! If you support narrative in games, every little bit helps!
aaronareed.bsky.social
Biggest things I liked about Arc:
* Not having to care abt the difference between tab/bookmark/history (there's just pages, some starred, some active)
* Different workspaces 4 diff sets of pages
* Auto-pruning old tabs (I used to use an extension for this)

Any recs for similar browsers/workflows?
aaronareed.bsky.social
Pour one out today for the Arc browser, which elegantly solved a number of web surfing frustrations using clever human design ingenuity. Officially discontinued today in favor of an AI clownshow. Getting so goddamn sick of this hypewagon paving over everything beautiful and useful.