This game had a lot of buzz at Unpub this year!

glitchy person in forest

Hard to believe another month has flown by since the last Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon update. Watch for the next one this Friday.

I'll talk about the new challenge system (SHX) used in the game when success is not guaranteed. It's 2d6 with a twist that I think makes it unique.

#solorpg #ezb

☝️

A busy week of playtesting and teaching: Epsilon, Ratsail, and Maps as Data I'm back from Unpub Festival 2026. Successful playtests of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon (coming to Kickstarter), the Ratsail/Turtchester board game, and a game map workshop at HU.

I actually taught a single-session workshop based on this article. You can read a little bit about it at the end of this update post: omnes.exeunt.press/p/a-busy-week

I am contractually obligated to repost the link every time this is mentioned.

EVERYTHING IS POINTCRAWL: www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/everything...

No worries! I do the same. 😅

👀

For EZB? It absolutely was an influence, even if I've never read the book! 😊

It's listed as an influence in the the front of the book and in the zonecore article.

What is zonecore? Creating Exclusion Zone Botanist led me to search for the origins and critical works of the genre. Here are five common elements of zonecore and a list of zonecore tabletop games for inspiration.

I plan to update the list of zonecore board games and TTRPGs soon.

If you have more examples that I missed, please post them in the comments of the article (not here).

omnes.exeunt.press/p/what-is-zo...

#zonecore #boardgames #ttrpg #stalker

Disadvantage of being an oversized size is The Bonsai Diary lives in the back of the box but hey look it's our friend The Other Plant Drawing Game by @exeunt.press

I wonder if Anamnesis by @goblinmixtape.bsky.social is first because "A"

GRIOT ANTHOLOGY

Digging into one of the GRIOT ANTHOLOGY games, published by @gamefiend.bsky.social / Thoughtcrime Games, at Skeleton Code Machine this week.

Using a card game to build mechs and eliminate threats!

Subscribe to read it Tuesday: www.skeletoncodemachine.com

#ttrpg #solorpg #mechs #griot #anthology

I’ve heard good things about the solo mode from @hinokodo.com. I don’t do much solo board gaming, but might need to give this one a try.

Got my copy and looking forward to getting this one to the table soon. Looks great!

A5 is best 5 or something.

Thank you!!!

Signal is the game that made me attempt to learn the difference between deduction and induction. Ended up learning about David Hume and Bertrand Russell’s turkey illusion along the way.

You can read it at SCM: www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/induction-...

Note I said "enjoy" and not "win". My win rate is extremely low with this game. 🫠

I continue to enjoy Pacts. It turns "I cut. You Choose." into a truly stressful and hard choice. Always relieved when it's the other players turn to cut!

You can read about it at SCM: www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/pacts-cut-...

I can't even explain how excited I am for this!!!

Look at this EZB plant drawing! 🌿

"Just seeing someone else’s process for design is inspiring, and I love that this book offers exercises so that you’re not just reading about adventure design, you’re also participating in it."

Love that the exercises are working for readers!

Adventure! Review Make Your Own TTRPG Adventures!

Woke up today to find some very kind words for ADVENTURE! in a review: sarahsoloadventures.substack.com/p/adventure-...

In case you missed it...

Rex Regnat at Unpub 2025 in Baltimore, MD

Oh wow, I played Rex Regnat at Unpub last year and really enjoyed it. Such an interesting theme combined with solid mechanisms.

I made a point to try anything @nomadotto.bsky.social was showing at Unpub this year and was not disappointed. 😊

Thank you so much for giving EZB a try. Love the drawing!

Oh this is very good! Thank you for sharing!

This idea that a D&D/OSR dungeon works like a Stalker-style anomalous zone is something I had a glimmer of while writing the article but failed to put into words.

It is a miss on my part, and should have been included in the "What is zonecore?" post at Exeunt Omnes.

Perhaps in a future post.

2/2

This is such a good post by @diyanddragons.bsky.social about Roadside Picnic that touches on the idea of "D&D adventurers are stalkers and the dungeon is the zone."

1/2

We did it! 1000 followers on the Kickstarter pre-launch page!

Now, if I could just finish this thing so we can launch...

I ☢️ Zonecore.