A Month of Straturdays

back babyyyyyy

First off, the newest issue of MNKRM is out now! Taking a much needed week off meant that I didn't have as much time to flesh out a full post for this one, so February is extra minimalist. It's free, what do you want. Read and subscribe here.

I played some board games with the fam while on holiday but decided not to write that all up here, that was just for fun. I did win Ticket to Ride Netherlands twice though.

I also played a little Lockpick Solitaire, which you can find somewhere here on the blog and also in my upcoming Kickstarter campaign for zine month! I was going to launch on the 1st of Feb but holiday came first, so I’m thinking of going live this coming Monday. Very small, fun little project, a bit different but that’s the stuff folks seem to like from me. Follow here so you don’t miss out.

Straturday time! I managed to play a little Sasquatchers while I was away, which is a very fun little turn-based strategy game a la Fire Emblem, except your units are the members of a cryptid hunting social media channel. All the usual mechanical language of strategy games turned to a new purpose, with a great photography system in place of combat. I’m all about strategy genre stuff that gets its juice from places other than violence! More on that soon perhaps??

This week’s strategy game creator or thing worth checking out is Mountainside Tabletop. These guys make battle reports for skirmish games on YouTube, mostly Kill Team. No interest in the game personally, I feel nothing when I look at a space marine, but these guys are clearly super chill, just two bros hanging out and having fun. That’s the energy I need if I’m going to watch someone play games. They elevate the vibes with some excellent audiovisual production (end of turn recap animations? crazy good lighting? each team has its own bespoke theme tune? come on). Recommend watching their stuff!

Anyway that’s all I can think of for now, I’ve still got holiday brain. Back to work on Monday, speak soon and happy hobbying

MNKRM #3

Issue 3 of MNKRM is out now! Investigate and infiltrate a secret meeting at the hottest satellite rave in the junk belt. Read and subscribe free here.

Also, voting is now open for the GAMEABLE category of the 2023 bloggies! I’m nominated alongside some fantastic writers, I recommend reading them all and voting for your favourite here. You can find more info and stay up to date on the rounds of voting over the next few days on Zedeck’s socials - I’m also up for an award in the next category which I believe starts voting next week.

Finally, the great Jennell Jaquays, creator of the megadungeon, has sadly passed away. She leaves behind a great legacy of work as a true pioneer. Thoughts are with her loved ones.

MNKRM #2

 New issue of MNKRM out now! d50 pop up ads, mostly scams. Read and subscribe for free here.

MNKRM #1

 New issue of MNKRM out now! Read free here.

New issues come out on the 10th of every month. You can subscribe for free to get each one sent to your email when it comes out, or if you want to tip me a few quid a month you can do a paid subscription.

If we get just 10 more paid subs in the next couple of weeks, I won’t have to worry about rent this month which hasn’t happened in a while! So tell ur friends, see you in the next one x

MNKRM

Everyone seems to be doing newsletters these days. I know I always enjoy reading them. But I knew if I did one of my own it’d have to be something a bit different, fun enough to keep me writing, and most of all useful to the folks who subscribed. I waffle on long enough already here - I wanted this thing to be like a monthly injection of succinct, practical game material.

Announcing MNKRM!

1000 words of sci-fi horror resources, new issues on the 10th of every month. The first issue just went live, you can read it and subscribe for free right here.

This month’s theme is BASICS. It’s pretty much all the stuff you need to get you game started - a hub location, micro-adventure and some sources of inspiration. We’ve got bioengineered bullet beetles, a conversation with eyeball soup, and - because it’s me - a playable in-universe gambling game.

The idea behind MNKRM is that once a month you’ll get this concentrated shot of game juice directly into your inbox, all ready to take to the table, and hopefully there’s at least something in there you want to steal or take inspiration from for your next game.

Things like stats and item prices will be written for Mothership, because that’s what I run and have experience writing for, but there’s not reason you can’t adapt MNKRM material for a game of Alien or Death In Space (which my MoSh stuff tends to be a good fit for totally anyway tbh).

Anyway - it’s totally free to subscribe, so please go ahead and do so! I’ve also added an optional paid tier at $5 USD a month, which is the lowest amount substack will accept. People who pay don’t get anything special or extra, but it’s a great way to support this project specifically, or you can think of it as a tip jar if you like this blog or my work in general.

Anyway, that’s all for this month from MNKRM. Don’t forget to subscribe, and I’ll see you next time.