Maurice Suckling
@writegameread.bsky.social
Writes stories, makes games, reads history.
Assistant Professor, Games and Experiential Media, RPI, NY. Researching narrative in games & historical simulations. Writer of stories for games. Designer of board games.
https://mauricesuckling.com
Assistant Professor, Games and Experiential Media, RPI, NY. Researching narrative in games & historical simulations. Writer of stories for games. Designer of board games.
https://mauricesuckling.com
Recent acquisitions of possible interest:
December 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Recent acquisitions of possible interest:
Today’s arrival: Prelude to Leipzig by John Theissen.
December 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Today’s arrival: Prelude to Leipzig by John Theissen.
Today’s movie:
December 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Today’s movie:
Today’s second game - 2-player Cabinet Noir (prototype). The British win, which means Berthier and Fouche tie in this case.
December 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Today’s second game - 2-player Cabinet Noir (prototype). The British win, which means Berthier and Fouche tie in this case.
Today’s first game - teaching 2-player Crisis: 1914 (with a power cut going on).
December 19, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Today’s first game - teaching 2-player Crisis: 1914 (with a power cut going on).
Today’s delivery: Beethoven’s Assassins by my PhD advisor of yesteryear, Andrew Crumey.
December 15, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Today’s delivery: Beethoven’s Assassins by my PhD advisor of yesteryear, Andrew Crumey.
Today’s game: back to Blood on the Clocktower with class. Different scenario today - Sects and Violence. Lots of fun, evil twins, a poisoned Oracle, and the demon narrowly defeated - right down to the wire. I believe this might be the optimum social deduction/systemic story game right now.
December 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Today’s game: back to Blood on the Clocktower with class. Different scenario today - Sects and Violence. Lots of fun, evil twins, a poisoned Oracle, and the demon narrowly defeated - right down to the wire. I believe this might be the optimum social deduction/systemic story game right now.
Today’s update: a new board for the prototype of the game I’m making with Wes Crawford on Japan’s surrender in 1945. This is for Part One - the cabinet discussions.
December 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Today’s update: a new board for the prototype of the game I’m making with Wes Crawford on Japan’s surrender in 1945. This is for Part One - the cabinet discussions.
Today’s game: Cabinet Noir. Prototype for French publisher Les Trois Zouaves. The game is about surviving Napoleon’s Empire and trying to back the eventual winner. In this game the Empire survives and de Monthion came out ahead.
December 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Today’s game: Cabinet Noir. Prototype for French publisher Les Trois Zouaves. The game is about surviving Napoleon’s Empire and trying to back the eventual winner. In this game the Empire survives and de Monthion came out ahead.
Today’s arrival: 1936: What If? (2016) Ty Bomba’s Rhineland Crisis gets kinetic.
December 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Today’s arrival: 1936: What If? (2016) Ty Bomba’s Rhineland Crisis gets kinetic.
Yesterday’s game with Narrative-Driven Analog Games: Lord of the Rings Reiner Knizia style. This did not end well.
December 9, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Yesterday’s game with Narrative-Driven Analog Games: Lord of the Rings Reiner Knizia style. This did not end well.
Today’s arrival: Armada, from Fortress Games.
December 6, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Today’s arrival: Armada, from Fortress Games.
Today’s game with Narrative-Driven Analog Games at RPI, Blood on the Clocktower. Werewolf got amped.
December 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Today’s game with Narrative-Driven Analog Games at RPI, Blood on the Clocktower. Werewolf got amped.
Everyone is a spy, although there will always be one Steward to Walsingham and one to Burghley at the start of the game. Players choose a character (see images attached) with restrictions & different abilities & disadvantages, & sometimes this means they are more likely to be Catholic or Protestant.
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Everyone is a spy, although there will always be one Steward to Walsingham and one to Burghley at the start of the game. Players choose a character (see images attached) with restrictions & different abilities & disadvantages, & sometimes this means they are more likely to be Catholic or Protestant.
It depends on the number of players (see images attached). Catholics want the same win conditions as the Protestants unless Elizabeth is excommunicated. Portuguese want the same win conditions as the Spanish unless the Portuguese Restoration happens.
December 4, 2025 at 11:53 AM
It depends on the number of players (see images attached). Catholics want the same win conditions as the Protestants unless Elizabeth is excommunicated. Portuguese want the same win conditions as the Spanish unless the Portuguese Restoration happens.
Today’s game: Elizabeth: England Aflame, 4-7 player prototype about spies in Elizabethan England. Today’s victors, the Protestants.
December 3, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Today’s game: Elizabeth: England Aflame, 4-7 player prototype about spies in Elizabethan England. Today’s victors, the Protestants.
Today’s arrival. Research for a game about Japan’s surrender in 1945:
December 1, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Today’s arrival. Research for a game about Japan’s surrender in 1945:
This weekend’s games: Hidden Strike: American Revolution, and Crisis: 1914.
November 30, 2025 at 10:25 PM
This weekend’s games: Hidden Strike: American Revolution, and Crisis: 1914.
This. Great mesh of military grand strategy and policy pov of ACW.
November 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This. Great mesh of military grand strategy and policy pov of ACW.
Today’s library loan: Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival by Stephen Greenblatt.
November 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Today’s library loan: Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival by Stephen Greenblatt.
Today’s arrival: The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully. Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber.
November 21, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Today’s arrival: The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully. Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber.
Today’s arrival: The Blood in Winter: England on the Brink of Civil Sar, 1642. Jonathan Healey.
November 20, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Today’s arrival: The Blood in Winter: England on the Brink of Civil Sar, 1642. Jonathan Healey.
Yesterday’s game: Back to Congress of Vienna. Ended at the end of the second turn, with the Grande Armee destroyed and the route to Paris open. But France beats Russia on a VP tie. I like this game.
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Yesterday’s game: Back to Congress of Vienna. Ended at the end of the second turn, with the Grande Armee destroyed and the route to Paris open. But France beats Russia on a VP tie. I like this game.
Today’s game: Congress of Vienna. Just one turn played today. But I now have a good sense of the whole game loop. Very much enjoying it so far.
November 12, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Today’s game: Congress of Vienna. Just one turn played today. But I now have a good sense of the whole game loop. Very much enjoying it so far.
This is the back of the book (I haven’t started it yet):
November 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
This is the back of the book (I haven’t started it yet):