BBG Digest - May 22, 2023
Award program & interviews
Hello! It’s been a while! I have a lot of updates, so I’ll be as brief as I can.
Writing
The first quarter of this year was the busiest I’ve ever been in the TTRPG space. Here’s a quick run-down of all the writing I did from February to April.
An island for These Stars Will Guide You Home
A tarot mechanic for Project ECCO
An adventure for Cloud Empress
An entire Wretched & Alone game called Outliers, which I wrote as the creator-in-residence at the Far Horizons CoOp. (The release date is May 25th! More on this soon!)
An entire 2-player game called The World We Left Behind, which I’ll talk about next update.
Needless to say, I’ve been using May to rest and recoup. And also to read a lot of games! Because…
Indie Groundbreaker Awards
…I’m a judge for this year’s Indie Groundbreaker Awards!
This is an annual awards program put on by the Indie Game Developer Network to recognize TTRPGs that have been released over the past year. I was honored to be invited to be a judge this year and I’m having a blast reading through all the entries. It feels great to sit down and read a bunch of awesome games after doing so much writing earlier this year.
Submissions are open through the end of May! You can find more info here.
Skyrealms
Skyrealms by Iko is now available (as a PDF - the physical version is coming soon)!
I was the editor for this setting book and I truly think it’s something special. Iko has created such a unique world with plenty of funky creatures. Also, it doubles as a coloring book! If you’re looking for a fun, weird fantasy setting to explore, consider checking it out.
My First Dungeon
Brian Flaherty had me on his podcast My First Dungeon for a 3-part Anamnesis series!
Part 1 - An interview with me about Anamnesis and solo TTRPGs
Part 2 - An actual play of Anamnesis with Brian & Abby, recorded as an improvised radio drama
Part 3 - A talkback with me about playing Anamnesis
I had such a fun time being on the show, and the audio drama is SO GOOD! I was delighted by what Brian & Abby came up with.
Also, My First Dungeon is currently wrapping up an actual play of the Die RPG. It’s incredible, I’m completely hooked.
INVICTUSCON Panel
Harlan & Jo Guthrie of the The INVICTUS Stream invited me to be part of their Game Designer Panel for this year’s INVICTUSCON!
The other panelists were Timm Woods, Jonny Sims, and Sasha Sienna, and it was moderated by Nathan Lurz. This was a fantastic time - I really enjoyed chatting with everyone about our design processes & ideas.
Learn and Relate Interview
Maurice Pointer interviewed me for his Learn and Relate series, in which he chats with all types of new business owners for advice about their field.
Maurice was a delight to talk to! As part of this series, he’s also interviewed a cinematographer and the owners of a tattoo business.
More Updates Coming…
So much has happened over the past few months that I’ll be posting another BBG Digest in just a couple weeks. My biggest announcement isn’t even in here!
As always, thank you for all the support. Excited to share even more with you soon!
~ Sam Leigh