Passive Aggressive by kdonaldson A 2-player trick-taker where your lead decides what your opponent plays and how won cards score.

Find the PNP at kdonaldson.itch.io/passive-aggr...

The community is voting on all the entries to narrow down to a list of 20 semi-finalists. Voting ends April 28, 2026 12:59 AM.

www.thegamecrafter.com/contests/fur...

Passive Agressive Overview YouTube video by Keith Donaldson

Vote for my 2-player trick-taker, where your lead decides what your opponent plays and how won cards score on Game Crafter.

Playing Pocket Wars from @terriblegames.bsky.social my “Curio” is a frying pan. If I roll Brainstorm the person I'm pointing at sautés two dice and rolls for damage, potentially taking two damage.

Excuse Me, Bear! by kdonaldson A beary polite game of memory, manners, and numbers!

The PNP and rules are available here kdonaldson.itch.io/excuse-me-bear

Excuse Me, Bear! YouTube video by Keith Donaldson

“Excuse Me, Bear!” Overview

Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels | kdonaldson | Screentop.gg Play Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels by kdonaldson on Screentop.

Play my entry for the 2026 Bad Comet Design Contest, Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels screentop.gg/@kdonaldson/...
Core Mechanisms: Press Your Luck, Set Collection, Selective Drafting

Ok … I loved Board Game Hut. Checked somethings off my list there. Sunny Board Games is also great.

I'm looking forward to the vlog.

Who are they?

Each round, teams flip an Allergy Card. It shows one or two colors — the boogers Boogie Monster can’t eat. Each player uses one pointer finger and works with their partner to dig 2 safe cubes out of their bowl before the other team.

Every round you win gets you a big white Snot cube in the bowl.

On the table today at PAX East Unpub is Boogie Monsters Picky Nose.

You win by collecting eight Snot Globs before the other team.

Every round you win gets a big white Snot cube in your bowl.

Each round, both teams flip an Allergy Card from their deck. The card shows one or two colors — those are the boogers Boogie Monster can’t eat. Each player uses one pointer finger. Work together to dig two safe cubes out of your team’s bowl before the other team.

That’s the math teacher in me. The cubes are Cuisenaire rods.

Thanks for the feedback! The plan is to submit for the upcoming Ravensburger inventor day.

Thanks! I need to find some kids and test that.

A playtester asked if they could rearrange the tiles in the meadow off turn. What do you think? Btw, this game is for kids 4+.

The distribution is triangular. Six 1s in the meadow means finding your first bear is almost guaranteed. Two 5s means finding your last bear is a race against scarcity and the other players’ memories. The game starts easy, tightens in the middle, and ends in a scramble.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The “anywhere” is the game. You now know that bear’s number and you choose where to store it for later. Everyone else watched you pick it up and put it down somewhere new, but they don’t know what number it is. Your memory of the meadow is your advantage. Their memory of your movements is theirs.

On your turn, say “Excuse me, Bear!” and pick up any bear from the meadow. Peek at the number. If it’s the one you need, say “This way, Bear!” and place it on your board. If it’s not, say “Oh sorry, Bear!” and put it back anywhere on the meadow.

You win by placing five bears on your Honey Line in ascending order. First to 5 wins.

You can only place one bear per turn, and it must be the next number in your sequence. If you have bears 1 and 2 on your board, you need a 3. Nothing else works. You can’t skip ahead, you can’t place out of order.

Nailed it! I’m not sure how no one knew it was Skrillex.

… playtesting in the Unpub booth at PAX East this weekend.

Peek at a bears number, but use your manners. Say "Excuse me, Bear!" first!  Find and place bears in ascending order to practice memory, numeracy, and etiquette.

Shipping my first prototype overseas was a traumatic experience. USPS would ship for $40 but didn’t have a clue about how customs charges are handled. FedEx wanted $400 to ship the same box. In the end I went with USPS and prayer. It made it Studiogiochi for Premio Archimede 2027. God is good!

The more experienced designers always seem to have another game at the ready to throw down at a playtest. I’m trying to follow suite.

Prototype for Black Ruth of Dogtown: a large player mat, rulebook, sigil cards, portent cards, and other bits.

The second 2026 Cardboard Edison Award finalist to arrive is Black Ruth of Dogtown by @kddgames.bsky.social! It was handed off to us in person at Unpub this past weekend! Details at cardboardedison.com/award

One more prototype … Freak Phenomics

Binding on a budget … looking for people to try my solo scrapbooking game, “The Interval.” I'll have copies at Unpub.

New skill unlocked: making neoprene playmat prototypes