I learned a lot by calling some people up on the phone. Most notably: physics matters.

Canticle came to life, and to my exact specifications. But my exact specifications were wrong. Fixing it led to an explosion of great ideas.

Mark Brown made a great video about finding great ideas. And it made me wonder: where did my best ideas come from, and how do I set myself up to have more?

Brian Bornmeuller's talk at NYU Game Center helped me finally articulate a question I've been wrestling with: what is Catacombian Games, exactly? In this episode I map out the five layers of the board game industry — design, publishing, manufacturing, distribution, and retail — and share how I'm approaching 2026 like a product manager: setting clear experiments, defining success criteria, and actually measuring results. 

A framework for deciding what needs to change next in a game prototype that I developed with my friend Walter Somerville. I used this recently to make some huge improvements to Canticle.

Games feel immersive and grounded when they are familiar and legible -- even from a distance. 

How do you give the emperor a sense of epiphany? How do you give the board a feeling of organic ideas-based growth? I picked the experience first, and designed around that.

This is a game that takes place in the past and the present. And I've never been so excited to work on something. Many more updates to follow on future episodes.

2025 was a creative explosion for me. Now it's time to focus up, and pick which prototype I will try to take to the finish line.

I tried (and failed) to make a basketball board game. I came up with some ideas that I loved, but ultimately decided to set it aside.