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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 19h

Heck yes! I'm so excited to see how the final thing turned out.

Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Heavy Cardboard @heavycardboard.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

An Infamous Traffic - Second Edition - TONIGHT at 1900 EDT! If you're a fan of @colewehrle.bsky.social designs, tonight is a big night! It's going to be a fantastic evening of smuggling, intrigue, & taking down a dynasty! www.youtube.com/watch?v=OueC... See y'all then! @wehrlegig.games

youtube.com

An Infamous Traffic - Second Edition (Kickstarter) - 4p Overview & Play-through by Heavy Cardboard

YouTube video by Heavy Cardboard

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

This is the perfect discovery before a long flight.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

My plan is to release them properly at some point during the campaign but I haven't had the few hours I need to prep them properly

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Arno @arnovandevelde.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The Folks over at @wehrlegig.games are running a kickstarter for their new game, Infamous Traffic. Seeing I have had the chance to play it a good bit already and I think it is worth checking out. It made sense to drop some thoughts to help people find out what it is about. shorturl.at/tXLP6

shorturl.at

Ignominious Kowtow | An Infamous Traffic: Second Edition

With the launch of the infamous traffic on kickstarter, Cole, Drew and company can start worrying about running out of second editions and we can start chatting about it. First a few important caveats...

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I appreciate it! Never hesitate to correct my bad pronunciations.

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Buried Giant Studios @buriedgiantstudios.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Have we tempted you with the thematic and historical argument of the game, but you just need to see it played for yourself? Them Wehrle boys are at it again! Join Cole has he gives his rolling teach of An Infamous Traffic and see if these brothers can keep the war at bay. youtu.be/LbSEM00L5lw

youtu.be

An Infamous Traffic Teach & Gameplay with the Wehrle Brothers

YouTube video by Buried Giant Studios

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In all cases though an interest in theme should trump everything else. If there's a theme that's caught your eye, follow that curiosity!

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It depends a little about what you like from those other games. If you like negotiation, check out John Company. If you like player coalitions and tense game states, check out Pax Pamir. If you love navigating the uncertainty that a hand of cards presents you with, check out Molly House.

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Armchair Dragoons @armchairdragoons.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Mentioned in Dispatches s17e5 Preview! Our audience as partners, not just consumers Cole Wehrle explains how they treat their audience and the differences with some other publishers youtube.com/shorts/6... #wargaming

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I'm live with Fred in just a couple of minutes. Come join us!

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Probably no genre has shaped my design practice more than old school economic games. There's nothing like a no holds barred fight in a spreadsheet! Come listen to Pete and I as we try to figure out what makes them so compelling and talk about their relationship to An Infamous Traffic.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Unlock and flip the board. I suppose I should have made that more clear!

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yup, we've got a bunch of videos coming down the pipe, including some playthroughs. The first one goes live this Thursday and I'll be doing an interview on Homo Ludens tomorrow that will talk about the game in detail as well.

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Fred Serval @fredserval.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For the next livestream on Homo Ludens I'll chat with @colewehrle.bsky.social about the second edition of An infamous Traffic. We'll be live on Wednesday, 9pm French time, 3pm EST, a perfect opportunity to ask all your questions and have a sneak peek at the game 👀💨 youtube.com/live/94SH4Ap...

youtube.com

An Infamous Traffic 2nd Edition - The History Behind Cole Wehrle’s Opium Trade Game

YouTube video by Homo Ludens

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For the last design diary for An Infamous Traffic before the KS launch, I'm writing about production design and art direction. Getting the look and feel of these historical games can be a tricky thing, and Traffic certainly has presented its share of challenges. boardgamegeek.com/thread/37779...

A person looks up at David's painting the Oath of the Horatii. The picture is massive and towers over them.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

What perfect timing! After Arcs came out I took about a year break from the game. With Beyond the Reach, I've had a good excuse to be playing it a lot again and rediscovering what fired me up about the game in the first place. This is a marvelous review and well worth the wait.

youtube.com

Herding a Space Whale | Arcs: Blighted Reach Review

YouTube video by analog arnie

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Alexei Pepers @apepers.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The schedule for @roguelike.club is up! We’ve got yet another stunning lineup with multiple people who are such a good fit I had assumed they’d spoken already 🤣 Time is fake and it’s just over two weeks until the con so check it out, buy a ticket, come hang out! www.roguelike.club/event2026.html

roguelike.club

Roguelike Celebration - Event 2026

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I've finished the first scenario, which I really liked. So my only complaint are the player aids which I want to reorganize a bit just so everything is on fewer pages. It's a really lovely piece of work. It's so clean!

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

That's quite true! I should make it clearer in the text, thanks! (For others reading: the Taiping uprising killed 5x-10x as many people as a percentage of total population and many millions more if just counting total people killed.)

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

In today's diary, I get into one of my favorite subjects: agency in historical games. Did the Opium Wars have to happen? Were the player's historical counterparts in a position to prevent them? It's a big subject, and a place where the 2e differs sharply from 1e. boardgamegeek.com/thread/37746...

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

YoYoni @yoyoni.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

4 more days to go on the Kickstarter Campaign for "The Nights of King Ludd: The Luddite War on Industry 1811-?" www.kickstarter.com/projects/die... In the comments I share some impressions of the game from the first players to engage with it. @thedietzfoundation.bsky.social #boardgames

kickstarter.com

The Nights of King Ludd

Rage against the Machines at the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The game also seems fantastic. The rules remind me a lot of GCACW with some lovely strategic-level choices around theater scope (maybe a bit like Almoravid). I cannot wait to dig in properly.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A rainy evening made for the perfect excuse to finally learn @gmtgames.bsky.social 's Cuius Regio which I'm pairing with C.V. Wedgewood's book on the 30 Years War. I've wanted to read this book for so long, and it does not disappoint. I can't believe she was so young when she wrote it (late 20s!).

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Kyle Ferrin 🧙‍♂️✍️ @d20plusmodifier.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Up late doing laundry and some Arcs expansion art because I have a doc appointment tomorrow. I love when I can make myself laugh. Gotta wear PPE when handling the Psionic Auditor. #arcsboardgame #illustration

Drawing: An alien in PPE is hoisting a baby alien that seems to be draining the life force from a third alien.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What's your favorite movie to share with someone who hasn't seen it?

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The weather begins to cool. The leaves are starting to change. It can only mean one thing: it's time to get the rules for the next WGG project into their initial layout.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I don't think so. I've been playing a lot of negotiation games this year though and you can see their influence on many of the new fates which have much stronger Summit dynamics.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Positional asymmetry is inherent to, I think, all games. It's the asymmetry that emerges as a consequence of play. There's nothing cheap about it--it's just the consequence of play in a space with any kind of strategic inertia.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Take care of yourself, Dan! Hopefully most of those plays weren't on those rickety little hospital dinner tables.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

In today's designer diary for An Infamous Traffic, I wrote about positional asymmetry and how a little player difference was good for the game's economy and historicity. If you're curious about some of the core design differences between 1e and 2e, check it out! boardgamegeek.com/thread/37713...

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

You are truly setting the bar for strategy videos. This is such an excellent deep dive.

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Reposted by Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen

Dan Thurot @danthurot.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Organism is a forthcoming abstract game about cellular evolution, positioning, and violence — and it's subtly brilliant. My preview: spacebiff.com/2026/09/17/o...

spacebiff.com

Goop vs. Goop

Board games aren’t always very good at themes. Actual themes, as in underlying messages, not “themes,” the settings that appear in a game’s artwork. One of the hobby’s…

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It's such a hard balance. I feel like I've generally really cut back my spending and backing (trying, instead to go deeper on what I have). The exceptions are are things I've looked forward to for a long time (like @amabel.bsky.social's new one!) or anything that feels urgent and new like this.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I mean, I think I've got an idea that might work!

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The game assembles itself out of the creative potentials of the players. It's a fascinating, multifaceted thing. There is simply nothing else like it. If you are interested in what games can do, even if you don't care about abstracts, back it. Games will be all the richer for its existence.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I first played Organism a few years ago and was struck by the absolute clarity of the design. It was as if someone had taken off the hood on a game like Hive and welcomed you to explore its vast space alongside the designers. To win the game, you have to think like a designer.

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Cole Wehrle 🔜 Essen @colewehrle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've known Ryan over a decade. We spent a lot of BGG cons together playing and talking about games. He's a true original. I loved his first game so much I begged for his prototype to write about it. boardgamegeek.com/thread/15720... (forgive the many grad student-isms of my writing a decade ago!)

boardgamegeek.com

Making Space and Time | Sol: Last Days of a Star

If you'd like to read this article with better formatting (and images). You can find it over here: https://culturebytesback.com/2016/05/24/review-of-sol/ Disclaimers: 1. While at BGG CON 2015, I st...

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