I. Dear Reader There are lots of Godzilla movies—around 40 across Japanese and English. Each of those movies showcase a monster but at the same time, they showcase more than that. Godzilla is usually born from nuclear fallout. The destruction he causes are the ripples of a greater disaster, the fear he elicits an echo…

I. Dear Reader, I missed an edition of this regular round-up of new games on itch. If this is the first time you’re seeing one of these: they are mostly games that came through this form. I haven’t played or read them but each of them has something that made me sit up and pay…

I. Dear Reader Thanks to everyone who replied after last week’s post! I received lots of positive feedback on both ideas, which is easily the best outcome I could’ve asked for. Lots of people were thinking about how much work it would be and that was also really kind. I really appreciate that. The end…

I. Dear Reader, Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about what this newsletter is about. We’re coming up on the 5th year anniversary, that’s part of it. But also, come the weekend, I’m often struggling to figure out what goes here now. Curation is the heart of the show, of course. But what about this…

I. Dear Reader, Taking my regularly planned break from writing this section this week but I’ve got a cool announcement for next time. I think I’ve figured out a running series to explore over the course of the next few months. Till then, have a safe week, Thomas II. Media of the Week III. Links…

I. Dear Reader, This week, on the Yes Indie’d podcast, I spoke to Caro Asercion about their game about a quartet of doomed musicians, Last Train To Bremen. This is a game that feels extremely approachable. (Though the content can get a bit edgy in the sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll sense.) On the podcast, we…

I. Dear Reader, I think of the old-school fantasy gaming scene or OSR as a mostly conservative design space – I don’t mean that politically, it’s as diverse as any scene as far as I can tell. I mean that design-wise, they often frame the past as a land of promise. Or at least, they…

I. Dear Reader, It’s February and that means it’s time for the Rascal News pledge drive! There’s three more newsletters in February and in each one of them, I’m going to be talking about what the site is, what it means for something like it to exist, and why I think its worth supporting. If…

I. Dear Reader, Spent this week mostly grieving. It’s not a normal newsletter subject and I don’t really have much to say on something so personal. But I have this poem saved from Ghayath Almadhoun and I thought I’d share it. It makes me think about how sometimes the natural response to grief is to…