iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Gabriel Toschi 🎲✂️ @gabtoschi.com · 28/09/2026

My new website (and personal brand) is finally live! www.gabtoschi.com After some years creating games and making my childhood dream become true, it was the time to rethink what I want for my design career from now on. Let's change the world, one round at a time. 💜

gabtoschi.com

Gabriel Toschi

Game Designer & Software Engineer

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Lunarpunk Games @lunarpunk.games · 22/09/2026

The Color Jam Kickstarter is now live! 🖍️ We're very excited by the design work Gene Koo and Joe Kell put into this game, along with the beautiful art by Erin Laue, and are honored we get to share it with you. We can't wait to see the incredible art you make through this cozy, puzzle-y game.

kickstarter.com

Color Jam: A Print-and-Puzzle Coloring Game

Enjoy cozy and clever coloring at your next game night. Craft the story of each hand-illustrated picture with creative color choices!

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Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Hawk and Dove Games @hawkanddovegames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A week from today, Hawk & Dove will be in Bordeaux for the Open de France des Jeux d’Histoire! I’m looking forward to meeting a whole new group of people interested in this hobby, and to finally catching up with others I’ve only known online. I’ll have prototypes for all three games in the pipeline

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I'm so excited to be part of this amazing project; I couldn't have asked for a better partner in @hawkanddovegames.bsky.social for my first published design. Let's build another, better world together.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

@gabtoschi.com I have a few literacy games I've tested lots with upper elementary students that are based on the most recent evidence-based practices. Send me a DM here or Discord and let's chat more :)

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Somewhat! Most teachers I know utilize and modify mass market games, though district curricula is increasingly adding play/games into the normal course of instruction. The two most common "education" games I've seen in classrooms are Skyjo and 7 Ate 9, but both are math focused.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Oh hey, I was on a board game podcast talking about my one of my games about community resilience and collective action. Incredibly exciting to talk about two of my favorite things!

buildingthegamepodcast.com

Episode 733: Fighting Unchecked Corruption Keeps Institutions Compassionately Equitable – Building the Game

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

I haven't logged into Bluesky in over a month because grad school has been nonstop, but this being the first notification I look at makes my heart sing :) Thank you for the kind words, Katz!! I'm even more excited to have literal and figurative time to continue working on that little game again 💗

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Honored that you asked me to help sell Adulting at IGNM this year :) It's a great game and I think a lot of people saw it as the fun and charming package it is.

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Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Tabletop Game Designers Association @ttgda.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

The leadership of the Tabletop Game Designers Association was disappointed to see the publisher CGE touting Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, a new Harry Potter-themed version of Codenames.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Got feedback from @cardboardedison.com and I'm incredibly happy with what was said about Chainbreakers, even if it's not a winner I got some work to streamline the game more (isn't that always true?) but knowing that the core foundation of the game is a solid experience is worth its weight in gold.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Very cool. Something tangible to make not-real-words real. Idio-gram-sens-ical!

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

What are the chevrons used for?

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I’ll mail you the box when I get it back from CE! And then give you a copy whenever it’s published :)

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I feel like I’ve already won — and getting feedback from the judges to make a great game even better? Incredible.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Way cool to see Chainbreakers played in the wild!!

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Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Jeff Grisenthwaite @jeffgrisenthwaite.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

🎲✂️ Learn my secrets to get your game signed with a publisher (without spending $$$ to go to a Con) in this @breakmygame.com webinar recording! www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ew5...

youtube.com

Pitch Online and Get Signed - with Jeff Grisenthwaite

YouTube video by BMG

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

It’s always a good learning experience when you get to playtest with folks who aren’t designers or otherwise immersed in the hobby. A lot of folks don’t have the experience to fill in gaps and correctly assume how a mechanic works. What are some learning experiences you’ve had with non-designers?

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BoardGameWire 🔜 Spiel Essen @boardgamewire.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Reconstruct ancient Greek pottery, decode an alien language and watch your money burn in real time: Cardboard Edison nominees revealed as unpublished games award celebrates 10th year: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20... @cardboardedison.com

Four orange cards with black writing and ancient greek designs to the left, a black and orange circle with ancient Green-style pottery designs featuring gods, monsters, pillars to the right

A box with seven white numbers inside on an orange background, with human written on top in orange. Another box is facing away with alien written on in blue. To the right are pieces of paper with nuclear atom symbols and empty white and black spaces

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Ahh thank you!! Wild that I’ve been coming to PO for a couple years now. Thank you for being a wonderful event filled with wonderful humans!

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Thank you!! I didn’t realize how much I would feel validated by this process. It’s great, but Chainbreakers wouldn’t be half the game it is without all the people who’ve shared their thoughts over the last 6 months.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Thank you!! Hopefully it goes to a publisher next haha. I’ve loved working on Chainbreakers, but my part in its journey is rapidly coming to a close.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Thank you!! I’m really happy folks enjoy the theme so much.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

So excited to share that Chainbreakers is a finalist for the Cardboard Edison Award!! I’m even more stoked, though, that about half the games were put through the wringer with @breakmygame.com and @protospielo.bsky.social. It takes a community to build great games, and I’m grateful for mine ❤️

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I'm so excited to see what these folks come up with. From playing their games over the past year, I'm inspired to make some unranked, narrative-focused designs.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

I hate making sizzle reels for games. It’s a big reason I haven’t done much pitching. It’s a thing I have to do which gives me zero joy. Does anyone have advice on pushing thru this process?

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

A rotating bike wheel to draft cards from!

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Last is “Queen Bee” a tile shedding spelling game. Players start with a CVC word then must use their cards (Add, Change, and Remove) to alter the word and be the first to have no tiles remaining. Worked the best with 5th grade.

A 5 player game of Queen Bee with all 5th graders the teacher ran.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

“Word Mountain” is a game about phonemes. Players have to match one side of a cube with the onset, median, or rime sounds to collectively build a mountain and be the first player to reach the summit. Really stretches their brain as all sides are unique words, even with basic CVC

A short solo test at my desk before putting it in front of a group of 3rd and 4th graders

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Witch of the Words is a “say-and-move” game in which players, as witches, must move around the forest to collect ingredients, make forest friends, and brew potions. Players draw a card with 3 words on it and say one of them to move 1-3 spaces and then take the action of the space they land on.

A 3 player game of Witch of the Words halfway done

An almost complete 4 player game. Players have different forest friends with special abilities that help players collect the right ingredients for their potions

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Oh got it! Mine are designed for elementary students. I’ll go over the 3 games in a few posts!

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Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 12/12/2024

You don't have enough contempt for the New York Times.

OPINION
Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero
Dec. 12, 2024

By Bret Stephens
Opinion Columnist

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

The imagined time-savings by removing (or preventing) separate bike lanes on the road kills people. The imagined comfort of drivers doesn’t take precedence over the lives of cyclists and pedestrians. One lane is enough.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Bike lanes don’t slow down traffic: intersections do. Segregated bike lanes save lives. In my city of Madison, WI — considered among the most bikeable — I cycle past multiple ghost bikes every day. More and bigger cars aren’t the answer. Stroads aren’t the answer. I want transportation to be safe.

youtu.be

The World's Dumbest Bike Lane Law Just Passed in Canada

YouTube video by Not Just Bikes

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Lex McMenamin (they/them) @lexmcmenamin.com · 11/12/2024

wrote about the media frenzy following Daniel Penny's acquittal for murdering Jordan Neely, and the disparity in the NYPD's reaction to finding Luigi Mangione, vs the stabbing of 17-year-old Yeremi Colino—about a country making some lives more valuable than others. @teenvogue.bsky.social

teenvogue.com

Why Does the UnitedHealthcare CEO'S Death Matter More Jordan Neely's?

The difference in media treatment, and in punishment, for killing seems to depend on how much money the person was worth.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Any company and industry wants a sure bet to make money, and it often comes at a cost of something more “soulful” if you will. I always think of folks like Horkheimer and Habermas that capitalism necessarily pushes homogenization of art and culture. The freedom to choose things that feel the same.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

I suppose, for me, things won’t change until we change them. If we create fun games that are outside the current “marketability” paradigm, then things will shift as people buy them — look at how well the IGNM did at PAXU! ➡️

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Read the book Read Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) @jphillll.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Luigi Mangione was taken into custody just as Daniel Penny walked free. The ruling class wants us to celebrate the murder of the vulnerable and condemn the murder of the powerful. They fail to see how killing the powerless breeds violence against the powerful. www.jphilll.com/p/who-gets-t...

jphilll.com

Who gets to kill?

Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

I have a few literacy skill building games in various stages of development. What ages are you looking at?

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Read the book Read Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) @jphillll.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Kyle Rittenhouse is allowed to get away with murder. Daniel Penny is allowed to get away with murder. Cops get away with murder all the time. The people pearl clutching about this CEO killing are really concerned with who was killed, not the act of killing.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

“As NYPD officials boasted of the resources expended finding the killer of a corporate CEO, another sidewalk murder the same week, of a migrant teen, has not received the same treatment.” hellgatenyc.com/two-manhatta...

hellgatenyc.com

Two Very Different Manhattan Murder Investigations

The NYPD spent countless hours and resources searching for a CEO’s killer, but has made little evident progress on the fatal stabbing of a migrant teen.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Playing a Hello Kitty tile laying game with my wonderful partner ❤️ Very cute and simple game to introduce some great board game mechanics!

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Reposted by Kyle Cushman

Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 07/12/2024

Newly elected Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar is already cooking www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

NBC news screenshot of interview with Texas representative Greg Casar
"The progressive movement needs to change. We need to re-emphasize core economic issues every time some of these cultural war issues are brought up," Casar said. "So when we hear Republicans attacking queer Americans again, I think the progressive response needs to be that a trans person didn't deny your health insurance claim, a big corporation did - with Republican help. We need to connect the dots for people that the Republican Party obsession with these culture war issues is driven by Republicans' desire to distract voters and have them look away while Republicans pick their pocket."

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Got a couple plays of Chainbreakers done in the Unpub room! Really happy how the game is playing and lost horrendously both times (which I love). Got lots to think thru to help streamline and make it the little bit faster it needs to be “done”! #PAXUnplugged

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Second game at #PAXUnplugged: Suitcase by Marni Abramowitz, another @breakmygame.com designer! I’ve always appreciated her designs breathing new life into classic games.

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

First game of #PAXU: Wolfchains by @vickilanger.bsky.social! We successfully built a thriving ecosystem ensured that nothing starved. I’ve had the pleasure of playing this game at @breakmygame.com in the past. Really excited to see how it’s shaping up!!

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Spending most of my Friday in the Unpub room at #PAXU ! I’m testing Chainbreakers and Paws of Anarchy at 2pm today and 8pm tomorrow!! Come say hello and build some bikes with me!

Break My Game table cover at the PAXU Unpub room, table E4!

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Kyle Cushman @goatgruff.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Two of my favorite things: walkable cities and board games. Would love to playtest!

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