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J. Walton

@ludopolitics.bsky.social

84 followers 120 following 73 posts

He/they. I teach about Game Design, Technoscience, & East Asia at CMU. Belatedly joining this thing to keep up with my creative & academic communities (comments my own).

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Feb 23

Hi folks. Not sure if I'm going to post a bunch here -- I'm trying to get back into blogging, actually -- but I want a way to keep track of what y'all are up to, particular in terms of indie games and games scholarship. Nice to see your digital faces again.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Aug 4

Just played the new edition for the first time on Tuesday! Ended up sacrificing my companion to an ancient evil at the bottom of the lake. They seemed totally cool with it, like they had suspected it was coming the whole time? (But, of course, their understanding of the game was entirely different.)

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Aug 4

Sorry, forgot to tag you too Patrick! The art looks SO GOOD.

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Reposted by J. Walton

Possible Worlds Games @possibleworlds.bsky.social · Jul 22

Announcing our next slate of TTRPGs—Cosmic Century Knights by @oneshotrpg.bsky.social & @worldstoforge.bsky.social, Homecoming by @meghanlynnftw.bsky.social, and Chuck by Tyler Crumrine—coming to Kickstarter September 2! Learn more and sign up for notifications at www.kickstarter.com/projects/cru...

Coming soon: PWG Presents: Cosmic Century Knights, Homecoming, & Chuck

Three new TTRPGs from James D'Amato & Drew Mierzejewski, Meghan Cross, and Tyler Crumrine!

www.kickstarter.com

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Aug 4

Jason Lutes (Perilous Wilds/Freebooters/etc.) sent me this photo of @possibleworlds.bsky.social at GenCon, selling the new edition of Tacklebox -- alongside Tyler's own game Better Strangers and other high-quality entertainments. Major thanks to Tyler, @inauthenticity.bsky.social, & our backers!

Image of the new edition of Tacklebox, with a sampling of 12 cards spread out on a table.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 28

I know this isn't news, but it's amazing how regularly we get hit in the face with the Overton Window these days.

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Reposted by J. Walton

Edmond Chang @edmondchang.bsky.social · Jul 27

The special issue on the 30th anniversary of #LaraCroft in Feminist Media Histories is out now... coedited by Josef Nguyen & Amanda Phillips... online.ucpress.edu/fmh/issue/11/3

Volume 11 Issue 3 | Feminist Media Histories | University of California Press

online.ucpress.edu

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 24

Wow, this cover is amazing.

J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 24

That game sounds pretty hype. So... are you gonna design it, or should I? :)

J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 7

Otherwise, you have to keep your day job and just find time to crank out your own games on the side, when you can, which may or may not find a sizable audience.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 7

It's also just practical, right? Having one big indie RPG hit is hard enough. But to be able to put them out consistently enough to pay your mortgage over years? Not happening! The only options are to diversify into publishing other people's games too or keep making supplements for original hit.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 7

Crown Him with Many (3) Crowns!

J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jul 7

With apologies to our Swedish comrades...

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jun 24

Absolutely. I'll DM you!

Reposted by J. Walton

Jen @ladyjenpool.bsky.social · Jun 22

Computers used to scream every time they connected to the Internet. They knew. They tried to warn us. We did not listen.

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Reposted by J. Walton

Haunted Nick Seaver @nickseaver.website · Jun 23

@rachelplotnick.bsky.social's books are so cool, from a history of pushbuttons to her new one about media technologies getting wet direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

License to Spill: Where Dry Devices Meet Liquid Lives

How everyday wetness—from finger smudges, sweat, and spilled drinks to showering and swimming—collides with consumers' media devices designed to stay dry.L

direct.mit.edu

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jun 23

IDK, that astrology dial track looks too queer to function.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Jun 23

Paul Czege gave me a heads-up on this post, and I'd be interested in helping, if that would be useful. I'm also working on finishing up a pixel art game, but it's pretty differnet -- a several-year-old Kickstarter gamebook zine that ballooned into something bigger.

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Reposted by J. Walton

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · May 9

Rümeysa Öztürk has been freed!!

Tufts student detained by ICE in viral video is released, thanks supporters

Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was released from ICE detention on Friday, offering brief words of thanks to supporters gathered outside the Louisiana facility.

www.nbcboston.com

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · May 9

Okay, fair. My first game, after all, was the Toon-based fighting game knock-off NIWWFF (No Idea What We're Fighting For), which... yeah, okay, fair.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · May 9

Let's bring back one of your games next! Hopefully you still have those drafts in a drawer somewhere? I haven't been able to find any of my old middle school game drafts, despite looking everywhere I can think of.

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · May 9

@inauthenticity.bsky.social is also the first person I met who designed their own games. We connected in middle school due to Robotech. But then he introduced me the joy of creating our own stuff in spiral notebooks. Now, 30 years later, we got to do that again, thanks to Possible Worlds.

Possible Worlds Games @possibleworlds.bsky.social · May 7

Tadd is one my favorite authors, but before this project I had no idea he was also one of @ludopolitics.bsky.social's childhood TTRPG friends! He absolutely nailed Tacklebox's tone, & connecting two schoolyard chums years later made the whole process even sweeter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/cru...

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Reposted by J. Walton

Tadd Adcox @inauthenticity.bsky.social · May 7

The Kickstarter for Tacklebox is live!

It's a fun, weird, uncanny game, and I really enjoyed working on it. I hope you'll check it out.

Possible Worlds Games @possibleworlds.bsky.social · May 6

Our campaign for Tacklebox—a surreal fishing RPG by @ludopolitics.bsky.social ft new cards by @inauthenticity.bsky.social & art by @patrickedell.bsky.social—and Better Strangers—a people-watching RPG by Tyler Crumrine w/ art by Ellie White—is NOW LIVE! Back today! www.kickstarter.com/projects/cru...

Tacklebox & Better Strangers: Two Card-Based TTRPGs

J. Walton's surreal fishing RPG Tacklebox & Tyler Crumrine's people-watching RPG Better Strangers return in new editions!

www.kickstarter.com

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J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Apr 13

Wow, that's really cool! I'll have to dive into it.

J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Apr 13

Other things that happen ALL THE TIME in the Hobbit but NOT ENOUGH in high-fantasy RPGs: getting captured (8 times), utter misery (8), being left behind (6), smart magic animals (5), fleeing (5), losing ponies & supplies (4), deus ex wizard (4), feasting (4).

J. Walton @ludopolitics.bsky.social · Apr 13

FACT: It's not a high-fantasy RPG if there's no rules for having a formal audience with a powerful being.

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