WobbuPalooza
@wobbupalooza.bsky.social
Parlor game history, especially focused on early collaborative storytelling / roleplaying / Surrealist games but also forfeits and pre-1800 games in general:
https://wobbupalooza.neocities.org
https://wobbupalooza.neocities.org
Merry Christmas! On Mefi, I've condensed a history of Truth or Dare into a few links. Its Elizabethan relative was more of an Epiphany thing, and kissing forfeits were for the 12 days but also well-attested in general: www.metafilter.com/211554/A-gam... ... More at wobbupalooza.neocities.org/pledges
'A game of questions and answers ... as usual amongst merry-makers'
SNL's 'Truth or Dare' (Dec. 7; recap) highlights an aspect of Brian Sutton-Smith's 'The Kissing Games of Adolescents in Ohio' in 1959: 'a form of trial-and-error partnership, but without the...
www.metafilter.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Merry Christmas! On Mefi, I've condensed a history of Truth or Dare into a few links. Its Elizabethan relative was more of an Epiphany thing, and kissing forfeits were for the 12 days but also well-attested in general: www.metafilter.com/211554/A-gam... ... More at wobbupalooza.neocities.org/pledges
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
This spring I’m changing the sequence to put Little Wars & the Brontes (& pre-1900 collab storytelling games) up front, to set them up as equal as we explore literariness of games.
DIE is becoming the final synthesis, the invitation to the UnEssay as similar critical-creative work.
DIE is becoming the final synthesis, the invitation to the UnEssay as similar critical-creative work.
December 23, 2025 at 2:23 PM
This spring I’m changing the sequence to put Little Wars & the Brontes (& pre-1900 collab storytelling games) up front, to set them up as equal as we explore literariness of games.
DIE is becoming the final synthesis, the invitation to the UnEssay as similar critical-creative work.
DIE is becoming the final synthesis, the invitation to the UnEssay as similar critical-creative work.
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
I used to give a lectures on the history of (TT+C)RPGs and would dutifully start in the 70s because that's what was expected, but then open the last third with this map of Angria and ask if anyone knew what it was. The shared universe of the Brontë siblings! (this is mentioned downthread.)
December 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I used to give a lectures on the history of (TT+C)RPGs and would dutifully start in the 70s because that's what was expected, but then open the last third with this map of Angria and ask if anyone knew what it was. The shared universe of the Brontë siblings! (this is mentioned downthread.)
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
I added the Brontes in this year when my course was moved from “Technology, Literacy, & Culture” to “Intro to Literary Studies” — & when I took @kierongillen.bsky.social DIE (game & comic) as an organizing text (& includes Glass Town & Angria in its understanding of the history of TTRPGs)
I used to give a lectures on the history of (TT+C)RPGs and would dutifully start in the 70s because that's what was expected, but then open the last third with this map of Angria and ask if anyone knew what it was. The shared universe of the Brontë siblings! (this is mentioned downthread.)
December 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I added the Brontes in this year when my course was moved from “Technology, Literacy, & Culture” to “Intro to Literary Studies” — & when I took @kierongillen.bsky.social DIE (game & comic) as an organizing text (& includes Glass Town & Angria in its understanding of the history of TTRPGs)
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
I'd suggest looking up the German cotillion, basically dance-based game scenarios.
December 23, 2025 at 3:31 AM
I'd suggest looking up the German cotillion, basically dance-based game scenarios.
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
Also in the mix, Cindy Thornburg’s wildly popular “How to Host a Mystery” series starting in 1983, which arguably builds more directly on the earlier parlor role playing games of the 15-1800s than D&D does.
December 23, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Also in the mix, Cindy Thornburg’s wildly popular “How to Host a Mystery” series starting in 1983, which arguably builds more directly on the earlier parlor role playing games of the 15-1800s than D&D does.
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
Even when women were the academics doing the documentation! Blanche Trilling was collecting “social games” & “parlor games” in the 19-teens while a professor at the University of Wisconsin, and is basically unknown in the game design world today.
ia801509.us.archive.org/25/items/soc...
ia801509.us.archive.org/25/items/soc...
ia801509.us.archive.org
December 23, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Even when women were the academics doing the documentation! Blanche Trilling was collecting “social games” & “parlor games” in the 19-teens while a professor at the University of Wisconsin, and is basically unknown in the game design world today.
ia801509.us.archive.org/25/items/soc...
ia801509.us.archive.org/25/items/soc...
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
Indeed. The purchaseable *product* we call the TTRPG begins in the 1970s with Western Gunfight, Chainmail, and D&D.
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
December 23, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Indeed. The purchaseable *product* we call the TTRPG begins in the 1970s with Western Gunfight, Chainmail, and D&D.
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
Soeben ist der Tagungsband " Spielgeschichte(n) - Games und Game Studies in medienkulturgeschichtlicher Perspektive" bei Transcript erschienen!
"Aus welchen Geschichten formen wir unsere Vorstellung vom Spiel?"
#gamestudies www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-6...
"Aus welchen Geschichten formen wir unsere Vorstellung vom Spiel?"
#gamestudies www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-6...
Spielgeschichte(n)
Welche Geschichten erzählen wir über Spiele? Wie ergibt sich aus den vielen Einzelgeschichten eine eigene Geschichte des Spiels?
www.transcript-verlag.de
December 1, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Soeben ist der Tagungsband " Spielgeschichte(n) - Games und Game Studies in medienkulturgeschichtlicher Perspektive" bei Transcript erschienen!
"Aus welchen Geschichten formen wir unsere Vorstellung vom Spiel?"
#gamestudies www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-6...
"Aus welchen Geschichten formen wir unsere Vorstellung vom Spiel?"
#gamestudies www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-6...
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
You know what? I’ll take it.
October 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM
You know what? I’ll take it.
Over on Metafilter, I've linked a few fun history podcasts, among other things: www.metafilter.com/210839/A-bus...
A busy year of podcast crossovers on literary / historical themes
Gary Gygax, notably sexist co-author of Dungeons & Dragons, was recently the subject of Claire Aubin's podcast This Guy Sucked ('it's never too late to have haters'). On her podcast, Aubin also...
www.metafilter.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Over on Metafilter, I've linked a few fun history podcasts, among other things: www.metafilter.com/210839/A-bus...
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
I've been meaning to write up a history of the game Charades, and I finally got around to it this weekend. It's mostly a discussion of Neysa McMein's "The Game," plus a couple of translations from Charles Sorel on similar games and a long timeline / bibliography wobbupalooza.neocities.org/charades
Notes on Charades
The history of the game of Charades with a timeline and bibliography
wobbupalooza.neocities.org
September 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
I've been meaning to write up a history of the game Charades, and I finally got around to it this weekend. It's mostly a discussion of Neysa McMein's "The Game," plus a couple of translations from Charles Sorel on similar games and a long timeline / bibliography wobbupalooza.neocities.org/charades
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
The #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge starts in 9 days! We’re in single digits folks! There is still plenty of time to come join us as we prepare!
#HorrorSky #FilmSky #HorrorMovies #MutantFam
Guidelines: spookysarahsays.com/100-horror-m...
Discord: discord.gg/KyRaQhF5kZ
#HorrorSky #FilmSky #HorrorMovies #MutantFam
Guidelines: spookysarahsays.com/100-horror-m...
Discord: discord.gg/KyRaQhF5kZ
100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge: The Guidelines
It's that time of year! Here you can find the guidelines for the 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge, hosted by Spooky Sarah!
spookysarahsays.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge starts in 9 days! We’re in single digits folks! There is still plenty of time to come join us as we prepare!
#HorrorSky #FilmSky #HorrorMovies #MutantFam
Guidelines: spookysarahsays.com/100-horror-m...
Discord: discord.gg/KyRaQhF5kZ
#HorrorSky #FilmSky #HorrorMovies #MutantFam
Guidelines: spookysarahsays.com/100-horror-m...
Discord: discord.gg/KyRaQhF5kZ
I love that knights at a tournament in the French Renaissance added a LARPing or roleplaying element so that they could pretend to be knights-errant from medieval literature as they encountered each other in the tournament www.metafilter.com/209376/Knigh...
Knights LARPing as Knights at the Renaissance Faire in the Renaissance
In Pas d'armes and Late Medieval Chivalry, Marina Viallon's essay on 'a Roleplay Game from the Pas des Armes de Sandricourt (1493)' says 'the 'knights-errant challenge,' was held in the nearby...
www.metafilter.com
June 28, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I love that knights at a tournament in the French Renaissance added a LARPing or roleplaying element so that they could pretend to be knights-errant from medieval literature as they encountered each other in the tournament www.metafilter.com/209376/Knigh...
I loved @megannn-lynne.bsky.social 's poem "M.A.S.H," in the form of the children's divination game, so I posted it to Metafilter with additional historical and literary context about MASH, cootie catchers, and much earlier parlor game divination: www.metafilter.com/208032/Predi...
March 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
I loved @megannn-lynne.bsky.social 's poem "M.A.S.H," in the form of the children's divination game, so I posted it to Metafilter with additional historical and literary context about MASH, cootie catchers, and much earlier parlor game divination: www.metafilter.com/208032/Predi...
Reposted by WobbuPalooza
I've been working on this for the last couple of months and I'm so proud to be able to make something that helps folks play more, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint by reducing, reusing, and recycling their game materials. More on my idea for it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMs-...
March 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I've been working on this for the last couple of months and I'm so proud to be able to make something that helps folks play more, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint by reducing, reusing, and recycling their game materials. More on my idea for it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMs-...
Murder mystery LARPing has an interesting history too, not least because it's been attributed to the artist Neysa McMein. I've tried to untangle some of the details ... FYI @jameswallis.bsky.social @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social @jessnevins.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Murder Party: elaborate LARPing, Soirées-Enquête, Jubensha, and Neysa McMein | Ordinary recreations which we have in Winter, and in most solitary times
boardgamegeek.com
November 28, 2024 at 9:00 PM
Murder mystery LARPing has an interesting history too, not least because it's been attributed to the artist Neysa McMein. I've tried to untangle some of the details ... FYI @jameswallis.bsky.social @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social @jessnevins.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
The murder mystery parlor game "Murder in the Dark" has a fun history I enjoyed compiling this weekend. Probably TL;DR though, and maybe someone has done it already @jameswallis.bsky.social @jessnevins.bsky.social & @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social ?
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Murder in the Dark: light roleplaying and social deduction from the 1930s to the 1980s | Ordinary recreations which we have in Winter, and in most solitary times
boardgamegeek.com
November 25, 2024 at 8:33 AM
The murder mystery parlor game "Murder in the Dark" has a fun history I enjoyed compiling this weekend. Probably TL;DR though, and maybe someone has done it already @jameswallis.bsky.social @jessnevins.bsky.social & @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social ?
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Today, I'm working on another thing kind of like this old blog post. I'm not sure yet if it will be in the same format and location, but in some ways it's similar--more light roleplaying in the midst of old parlor games I don't usually track--so maybe ... boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
Kriegsspiele, Parlament, and Prince Albert: light roleplaying in German, 1796-1893 | Ordinary recreations which we have in Winter, and in most solitary times
boardgamegeek.com
November 25, 2024 at 3:45 AM
Today, I'm working on another thing kind of like this old blog post. I'm not sure yet if it will be in the same format and location, but in some ways it's similar--more light roleplaying in the midst of old parlor games I don't usually track--so maybe ... boardgamegeek.com/blog/13034/b...
I figure my posting history should show a little of what to expect, so here's my parlor game website. It's unpolished amateur work--I still wonder what else might turn up that could make me reorganize it. Meanwhile I update it in small ways from time to time wobbupalooza.neocities.org
Early Collaborative Games of Fantasy and Imagination
Collaborative storytelling games, early roleplaying games, Surrealist games, and parlor games throughout history, but especially in the 19th Century
wobbupalooza.neocities.org
November 25, 2024 at 3:42 AM
I figure my posting history should show a little of what to expect, so here's my parlor game website. It's unpolished amateur work--I still wonder what else might turn up that could make me reorganize it. Meanwhile I update it in small ways from time to time wobbupalooza.neocities.org