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Mike Martens | Clear Keep

@clearkeep.bsky.social
1.1K followers 438 following 1.5K posts

he/him. UX & TTRPG. Visiting weird vistas. ENNIES & IGDN award winner. Creator: Planet Raygun, Sunken, The Wassailing, Tourist Hole Contributor: Public Access, Trophy, Butter Princess clearkeep.us

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 4h
Your record collection should be a trophy room of weird finds from flipping through bins and of personal white whales you had shipped from a shop in the Japanese countryside. This is the whole point of the thing: It’s the nostalgic, emergent, and tactile *experience* of discovery.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 22h
Why are list-numbering options in the same menu section as GenAI text? InDesign is drunk.
An Adobe InDesign menu with "Continue Numbering" sitting in the same set of options as Generate Text / Shorten / Lengthen and other GenAI features.
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Johan Nohr @nohr.se · 29/09/2026
If you can say yearly, weekly, daily, hourly, etc you should be able to say roundly and turnly.
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Lone Archivist @lonearchivist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Bookings now open for logo / brand design, editorial layout, crowdfunding graphics, and more! Hit the CONTACT button on lonearchivist.com.
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Tanya Floaker @floaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I keep saying this, but we have been in a long golden age of game creation, and it isn't done yet. I can't think of a better time to be into ttRPGs across my lifetime than now.
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This game was tickling my brain all last winter. It's pure Mike Martens goodness and will tickle your brain also.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Tourist Hole has been doing really well in retail shops and conventions … First run is sold out! So we're doing a second printing. It's a stark, whimsical exploration and escape of the stories we tell when we're in spaces between. If you'd like it on your shelf, contact @plusoneexp.bsky.social.
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I can't wait any longer! Time to reveal the covers for the Kingdoms Carved Combo! @robbiaburns.bsky.social manifesting a malicious modern Renaissance vibe for The 7th Order! @andrewbeauman.com & @thepressbetwixt.itch.io giving us a Y2K Illuminated manuscript for Ritual Deck! ttrpg.link/KCC 9/x
Two covers side by side. The 1st is "The 7th order" dripping in red in front of a leaning cathedral with harsh read light casting long shadows over a neighborhood. Three unaware security guards sit on a beat up patrol card taking a break in the foreground. 

The second is "Ritual Deck: King of Games to the top right infront of light blues and whites clashing against the yellow aura of a dark shadow. The shadow stands behind a a smaller yellow and black figure holding a dueling sword with cards coming off of it and a crown motif behind them. In the foreground a purple haired student holds a green dueling staff of their own with a purple hair and masked shadow behind it.  It's Time To DUEL!!!
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For you Public Access weirdos …
Road sign that says "Monsters of Degoya County"
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Michael Van Vleet (he/him) @signalstation.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Did you know... there's a new issue of Sprigs & Kindling out? The free fanzine for Carved from Brindlewood games? You get free Silt Verses content! Weird gods & weird followers! Plus: entire games! Amazing layout variety! There's a reason these folks were Ennie-nominated. sprigsandkindling.com
sprigsandkindling.com
Sprigs and Kindling
An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Told this guy to come back in a couple weeks. No time for this shit right now.
Photo of a garbage can where the bag’s shadows have made a photo-realistic face. I mean, garbage ghost. it’s a garbage ghost.
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Lea Verou, PhD @lea.verou.me · 06/08/2026
🔥 New blog post: Dark mode toggles that expose three states (system, light, dark) seem like the best option. Until you think about user goals, that is. Before rushing to disagree, hear me out. lea.verou.me/blog/2026/da... PS: As a data point, @jakearchibald.com was converted after reading this 😅
lea.verou.me
Dark mode toggles: two states are enough • Lea Verou
Yes, the underlying model must have three states, but one is always irrelevant to the actual user goal. Users do not seek out solutions to problems they don’t currently have. A lot of the hate towards...
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Are they only “boogers” if they come out your nostrils? What if they slip out the back?
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I dropped the Public Access version of the elevator game into this one. And also you can play blackjack against Death in the form of an irradiated singing cowboy.
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Dinoberry Press @dinoberrypress.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Lair of The Reclaimed is a SUPER COOL dungeon! Jam made the map entirely from recycled materials like cardboard boxes and old papers. AND it features a ticking clock makes the party ask if it's worth it to face every monster they come across as the pressure builds.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
No, Warren Zevon did not write Werewolves of London about this. Please please stop. We have been over this so many times.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
There are two wolves inside me … - The ttrpg writer who sees the character-creation pick list as a chance to show the world my genius. - The ttrpg layout artist who needs all this irregular shit to fit onto a standard sheet of paper.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Warren Zevon with a speech bubble that engulfs the post below.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Apparently, some people think this is a satire of some contemporary discourse they "care more about," rather than being about Warren Zevon writing a song that is SOLELY, LITERALLY AND UNDENIABLY about werewolves in London. That thinking is exactly the cancer the werewolf-deniers want to spread.
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Richard @ R. Rook 🔜 Sleep @rrookstudio.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I just turned on "Sync with Mike Martens' Blocks and Mutes" and already life is easier.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Blocking on sight anyone claiming that Warren Zevon wrote Werewolves of London as an allegory for Isle of Dogs independence has made my social media experience soooooo much better. Go to SETTINGS and make this change NOW!
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It’s been an interesting project … I’m concurrently: - Refitting existing art and design - Guiding the visual identities in new directions - Assembling it all on a unified framework Digital previews went out to backers, and we will be hitting the print button sooooooon.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Putting the finishing touches on the Brindleverse Triptych this week!
Cover for By Endurance We Conquer. A snowy white landscape with a shadowy beastly figure.Cover for Beach Blanket Body Bag, with a drawing of a slashed up surfboard on a beach.Cover for DEAD-PILLED with the game's Blue Fairy staring at the viewer
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This fall, Kingdoms rise. Kingdoms fall. Kingdoms come. The 7th Order by Brian Miranda & the Ennie Award-winning Ritual Deck by @drlemons.itch.io are coming Sept 29th on @backerkit.com in the Kingdoms Carved Combo. 2 dynamic mystery games by 2 amazing creators ttrpg.link/KCC 1/X
ttrpg.link
Kingdoms Carved Combo
Get notified when Kingdoms Carved Combo launches on BackerKit!
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Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New obsession… www.instagram.com/p/Dcn_qfNCDPp/
A photo of the Mai 68 boardgame, where you control cops or protesters in Paris during the, surprise surprise, May 68 protests
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70s Sci-Fi Art @70sscifiart.bsky.social · 23/10/2023
Brilliant but sadly uncredited 1974 paperback artwork for "The Man Who Folded Himself," by David Gerrold.
A man's face and shoulders are visible, and they have surreal creases, as if he has been folded and unfolded into eighths. Also, a dozen tiny naked versions of him are clinging to his head, dangling from his mouth or diving out his ear. One of them is even climbing up and out of his left eye.
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Amanda/iamatrex @iamatrex.com · 20/08/2026
Sprigs & Kindling is hosting a free online writing retreat! November 9–15, 2026. This is a free week of writing, designing, playing, learning, and hanging out with other people who make and love CfB and Trophy TTRPGs. To register fill out the form linked on our website! sprigsandkindling.com
sprigsandkindling.com
Sprigs and Kindling
An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games
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Creative Wronging @creativewronging.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
83. Vows of the 7 Stricken Heads by @clearkeep.bsky.social A phenomenally silly hexcrawl through a grisly traveling circus for Cairn 2e 🤕 Perhaps my favorite collection of NPCs in this whole jam, all written with deranged gusto, and set to the aesthetic of "graffitied bar bathroom". It's great!
clearkeep.itch.io
Vows of the 7 Stricken Heads by Clear Keep
They've been blighted, removed, and put on display … but they've vowed revenge.
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
All the games in the Brindleverse Triptych got some cover revisions. DEAD-PILLED by @carrion-comfort.com got a total rework by @dread-herring.bsky.social & @clearkeep.bsky.social. Wes & the creative team knocked out several extra easter eggs for you. Late Pledges Open. ttrpg.link/bv3 20/x
A red pennant flag in the top left corner with a 3 inside points at The Gauntlet Presents.

"DEAD-PILLED" large and red with the 1st and last "D" reversed to create a pill shape sit over a blue and black halftone image of the blue fairy posing with hands under face in a close-up shot framing their head and neck.

at the bottom
by Wes Franks
A Horror Mystery game
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Rowan MacColl @skulkingfoxes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
During covid, I started this series of illustrations interpreting tarot cards. I eventually got distracted by work but these are still some of my favorite illustrations. I was really pushing myself in terms of storytelling.
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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
A comprehensive compendium of Soviet era logos www.presentandcorrect.com/products/sov... Back in stock online & in-store
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Baxter @cosmicspooks.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New post! We’ve got a big one today, folks. In honor of Japan’s spooky season, I asked 10 of my incredible horror expert friends to each recommend a work of Japanese horror they wish the world talked about more! You WILL walk away with at least one new ghoulish delight to love. Enjoy!!
tsundokudiving.com
Diving with Friends | Finding Hidden Horrors
10 horror fans share 10 hidden delights
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Emily C. Hughes @emilyhughes.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
if there's a writer you like, and you'd like to keep reading that writer's work, *you need to pay for their work*
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
We are in the final 36 hours of the Brindleverse Triptych & in striking distance of our final few stretch goals. (Including our mystery 30K stretch goal!) Can we get to our 600 Backer Stretch goal to unlock a bigger actual play grant fund? We will unlock the final mysteries? ttrpg.link/bv3 12/X
ttrpg.link
The Brindleverse Triptych
A set of three horror roleplaying games, based on the popular Carved from Brindlewood mystery system, each playable in 2-3 sessions. Brought to you by Plus One Exp & Gauntlet Publishing.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
For the Brindleverse Triptych, I'm hard at work building a layout design system for creators' open use. It'll allow anyone to produce a short-form Carved from Brindlewood game that's visually on par with the official releases. 🧵
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Wes Franks @carrion-comfort.com · 09/08/2026
It would make a happy birthday for you to finally follow the COME ON IN Backerkit. We've been waiting so long for you and have so much to show you. Like a free digital copy of the full game in Ashcan form. I'm so generous, I'm giving gifts on my birthday.
ttrpg.link
Come On In
Get notified when Come On In launches on BackerKit!
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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
WE'RE HEADED TO THE BEACH w/@iknowadamseats.bsky.social @davidjoneskrause.bsky.social Tony & Keeper @jasoncordova.bsky.social of @gauntletrpg.bsky.social! On a boat out to the island w/Chet (so dreamy) Hopefully nothing bad happens like last year It' couldn't... right? Youtube.com/plusoneexp 1/2
The words
"Beach Blanket Body Bag" 
cover a sun setting over a orange ocean with a volleyball net blowing slack in a retro vibed drawing. 

11a Saturday Aug 8th
11a Sunday Aug 9th
twitch.tv/tonyplusone
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
What’s particularly confounding is the logic … Why would winning statewide worry you about a contest that needs to be won statewide?
Quoted source from article: “It is deeply troubling to see radical, far-left candidates winning in places that are potentially presidential swing states.”
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Chaoclypse (Brandon Yu) @chaoclypse.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Since people seem interested, I've coded a version of this that yields better results, is more optimized, and allows you to customize the texture of the noise. It's free, and forever will be free. Enjoy! chaoclypse.itch.io/xerox-hell
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Morrus @morrus.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
When most of the internet is AI content and most of the traffic reading that content is AI bots, there doesn’t leave much room for actual humans online… www.fastcompany.com/91579817/dea...
fastcompany.com
The ‘dead internet theory’ is real. And it’s killing the web as we know it
If you can't monetize human attention, what do you monetize?
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Lisa DeBruine @debruine.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Today is the only day you can experience Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” on the day it is set. Audio: archive.org/details/brad... PDF: thephilosopher.net/bredberi/wp-...
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Does anyone know where "the average RPG campaign lasts 6 sessions" originated? This had a big upswell as a concept 5 years ago or so. But I'm not sure if there's actual data or it's just something we started saying.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Does anyone know where "the average RPG campaign lasts 6 sessions" originated? This had a big upswell as a concept 5 years ago or so. But I'm not sure if there's actual data or it's just something we started saying.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I wonder how much Stonetop will become a model for the next generation of PbtA (and -like) games and to what degree its scale will detract from that. (On its own, it’s def already a classic and a hit.)
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Oooh. I love that collage map.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Ever write a long thread about the heart of the ttrpg awards problem, look away to talk to a neighbor about your dog and his cancer scare, then turn your phone back on to find Bluesky has lost the whole thing? This is a tribute to that thread. (Also, he’s doing fine, “still here and making art.”)
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Carly's spaceships are top-notch but the scifi-scape background stuff is otherworldly.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Working on an album about how to survive in the wild, so that there's a canonically correct answer to the desert island question.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
When at the Plus One Exp booth, visit Tourist Hole.
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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out how earnestly people believed in Weekly World News … Stumbled into this existential horror.
"One thing that did well for the Enquirer and for us were predictions. In the 1980s, it was World War III. People were concerned and would grab predictions to see what the future holds. They were upbeat. Predictions imply there will be a world a year from now."
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