I was invited to be part of the Small Publisher Diaries Q&A Panel hosted by @tonytran.bsky.social at Unpub Festival 2026.
Here are 5 of the questions (and my answers) from the panel: omnes.exeunt.press/p/small-pub-...
#ttrpg #boardgames #publishing #unpub
Two people puzzling out a table of the prototype board game, Threed.
Two people puzzling out a table of the prototype board game, Threed.
At #Unpub, I finally started getting some testing done on Threed (nee Triptych by @rollplusfun.bsky.social). Threed is a trick-taking slide puzzle game, and it is a real brain-melter. The rules are short, the gameplay is simple, and it will scorch your psyche. I had...
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#boardgames 🎲✂️
Play testers mid-game during a play of the Interstellar Influence prototype, one of the designs I brought to Unpub.
Reviewing feedback forms from #unpub, I'm momentarily thrilled by receiving 4+ in average feedback across all categories for the two games I tested. But I know these games aren't nearly complete, with obvious flaws that I need to fix. This is a good reminder...
The Great Patch board game in action, as players discuss cards that can be combo’d for a more advantageous action to reduce waste in the Pacific Ocean
Six tests of The Great Patch at #unpub was a phenomenal way to really find the smooth spots, the sweet spots, and the rough spots. Overall, people love the theme, the cooperative engine building, and the pick up sticks. It is moving swiftly in the right direction and I am stoked to iterate!!
... right back to me with some tweaks and nailed it in one take! I am so happy with it.
I wanted to test it at #Unpub, so I set it up at my table. The first playtest of the whole con. My table was off to the side, so I wasn't seeing any action (yet). I pulled out a book.
As I sat...
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Four people playing a prototype of the board game Rune Rite at Unpub.
Ian Zang's Rune Rite sheet after playing. Some Rune Rite cards sit next to it.
I've been working on Rune Rite for, like, four years. The core loop has always been cool and fun and engaging, but the balance of incentives was never correct. Until now!
I asked Jamie Sabriel for a little help to bring it to 100%. They brought it...
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#unpub #boardgames 🎲✂️
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: omnes.exeunt.press/p/a-busy-week
#unpub #boardgames #ttrpg
A splay of components for the upcoming game Evenglow. At the forefront is a player board divided in half; a bluish-purple on the left and an orangey-pink on the right, each with a matching hex grid.
Bill Huffman and Pat Marino holding up the solo board for the upcoming board game Evenglow.
While at #Unpub, I got to see and feel some in-house pre-production components for Evenglow. It was a little overwhelming. It was real and in front of me, not a digital abstraction that only lives in my computer.
I’ve been keeping my excitement at arm’s length because…
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#boardgames 🎲✂️
It's the Tuesday after #Unpub and I'm exhausted. If you have any things you need to follow up on, I would start making that list today so you you do not forget. I will post my recap later this week once I get my thoughts together.
There were two games at #Unpub with real buzz, from where I sat. Games I heard about from multiple vectors. Both "road" games.
• Rough Roads
• Roads with No Name (by @ianzang.bsky.social)
Ooh, y'all in for it now. I'm gonna be runnin' my mouth about #Unpub for a solid week or two. I got fired up!
My cup? Full.
A very messy layout of an early prototype for the board game Sinister Plots. It's on a small table behind a bar in a hotel lounge.
I got in a four-player game of Sinister Plots at #Unpub After Dark (it's not as sexy as it sounds; it was just the hotel lounge). The first amazing thing was that I put the game on a table and people just materialized. Not because Sinister Plots is so irresistible...
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#boardgames 🎲✂️
A package from Always Awake is a welcome sight; also a thematically appropriate arrival during the weekend of #Unpub.
#boardgames
@connor.alwaysawake.games
You’d think that after four 18-hour days of #Unpub, I’d be ready for a long break from #boardgames 🎲✂️. Quite the opposite, though. I’m more energized than ever.
Except for the fact that I’m exhausted, dehydrated and malnourished. The spirit is willing but the flesh is smelly, neglected and abused.
A view of the unpub hall with full tables all around.
#unpub was hopping this year! Got in a bunch of great tests and played a ton of great games. Thanks to the organizers for another great year! And special thanks to @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social and @goosepoopgames.com for letting me use some time at their tables. They have great games brewing!
Two people at a table staring at a game of Threed, confused and concerned looks on their faces.
Quote of the Con about Threed:
“The more you understand it, the more difficult it becomes.”
I might put that tagline on the box.
#boardgames 🎲✂️ #unpub
I think I said this last year, but the only feel-bad part of #unpub is all the people I didn’t meet and all the games I didn’t play. Every moment was time wonderfully spent, but there isn’t nearly enough time to do it all.
I am reminded anew how brilliant and kind you all are.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Go play Djembe from @muse-and-mettle.bsky.social at table K3 at #unpub!!
I'm not going today, so my #Unpub is over
I had a great experience and wanted to reflect on it some as a ttrpg designer
micro tests, 15-20 mins w/ feedback, really worked. Doing more of these kind of events would be cool! Big thanks to Heather of @9thlevelgames.bsky.social for organizing
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Going to have to take a day or two before I revisit all the copious notes I took during #unpub, and check out the online feedback forms. Looking forward to my pepe silvia scrawls!
Home from #unpub Festival 2026! This was my first year, and I was completely unsure what to expect. What I got was an absolutely welcoming and funloving environment with people who love making and playing games in equal measure.
I know someone who I have passed at least 50 times. #unpub
How many of you have I walked past fifty times without even knowing it?
#unpub
Graphic announcing Greg L. as a winner.
Graphic announcing Jonathan C. as a winner.
Graphic announcing Karen S. as a winner.
Congratulations to our #Unpub $1000 manufacfuring credit winners: Karen S., Jonathan C., Greg L.! Look for the vouchers in your email boxes soon. 🎉🏭
Three cough drops.
Look at this place. I was just sitting here and @ianzang.bsky.social delivered unto me.
#unpub is the absolute best.
Photo of table C2 at Unpub with the game Splinters on the table
I'm at #Unpub all day today at table C2 if you wanna try out a 2 player ttrpg about breaking apart your souls to escape the oubliette! Also down to chat about the Designed in the DMV collective
#unpub you know you want this Juice! I’ll be in the ballroom from 10-2pm testing my speed poker/solitaire. Race against time and burn like a shooting star crashing through a window. Table N5 on the far side
