• Good March

    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…

    Thomas Manuel

  • South Korea

    I. Dear Reader, I published an article on Rascal News this week about the Korean RPG scene and I thought I’d tell you the story of that story. Around late November last year, I was listening to the Korea episode of the World of RPGs podcast. In that podcast, the host Moritz speaks to a…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Last Train to Bremen: Folk, Theatre & More

    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…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Old School & Avant-garde

    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…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Time To Be Annoying

    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…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Day Late

    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…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Jan Mini-Letter

    I. Dear Reader, No post this week but please enjoy the links! As always, Thomas II. Media of the Week III. Links of the Week Rascal News (It’s been a great week on the site so apologies for sharing so many links!) Articles IV. Small Ads All links in the newsletter are completely based on…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Incomplete Games

    I. Dear Reader So last week, I talked about the quest for complete games and mentioned that one of the reasons they’re so rare is because some people like them that way. The other reason is that they’re really hard to do. Complete games often feel like the realm of professional businesses (and of course,…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Complete Games

    I. Dear Reader, When D&D (1974) first came out, it wasn’t a complete game. In The Elusive Shift, Jon Peterson quotes a person saying in 1979 that “D&D is, in fact, less a game than a design-a-game kit”. Over the last 50 years, that’s a tension that hasn’t gone anywhere. Today, there are lots of…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Two Zero Two Five

    I. Dear Reader, It’s a new year and this newsletter continues its inexorable march towards its 5th anniversary. Nothing shall stop it except all the usual things that stop stuff like this. I hope you enjoyed the pre-planned surprise of not receiving an email in your inbox last week. It was nice to take a…

    Thomas Manuel